Kashmir has been witnessing turbulence from the last many decades and has consistently threatened the peaceful existence of a united India. Hence it becomes imperative for every Indian today from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to understand the ground reality and the root cause for this continued unrest to defy and disown the modus operandi of playing victimized minority and thereby establish a radicalized supremacy in the name of secularism that is thrust at us day in and day out.
The Independence Act of 1947 divided British India into the dominions of Pakistan and India respectively thereby giving the princely states the choice to remain independent or accede to the dominion of their choice.
Raja Hari Singh the ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in August 1947 had chosen to remain independent but soon in October 1947 they were attacked by the Gilgit scouts, a paramilitary force originally set up by the British army that was now leased out to the Raja, but they had aligned with the Pakistani army as they wanted Gilgit to be included into Pakistan and not be ruled by a Hindu Raja. Interestingly enough the Gilgit scouts was headed by British commanding officer Major A.S.Matheison and Major William Brown who instigated and abetted the Pathans of Gilgit to seize integral parts of Kashmir! Today the Gilgit region also known as Gilgit Baltistan lays in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir with a volatile status of neither being here nor there, unattended, and underprivileged where the commoner’s voice is suppressed under the loud futility of an Islamic hegemony. But Major William Brown is a celebrated icon in Pakistan and the British never disowned him, in fact he is a renowned man amongst them!
The Gilgit region is of great significance for India because of its strategic location to the south of Afghanistan and China, occupying which has blocked India’s access to Afghanistan.
In the 1860s Kashmir consisted of 22 small towns where 16 were Hindu dominant and 6 were of Muslims, no this post is not about Hindu vs Muslims but it is high we concede to the facts and understand a little history at face value. The partition of the Indian subcontinent that was driven on the lines of religion gave birth to an Islamic Pakistan and a secular India. But in spite of Pakistan achieving its Islamic identity and India tolerantly embracing secular values the Pakistani moles continue with their odious agenda of Islamic supremacy by way of antagonistic suppression of Hindus and Buddhists. Today the demographics of Kashmir have been altered so drastically and so unapologetically with the sole intent of harvesting pro-Pakistani souls so much that there is an intrinsic radicalized Islamic rigidity being brewed amongst locals bolstering a Pro-Pak and Anti-India sentiment so as to compost an expanding illicit Pakistani dream.
But what really aides them with such acrimonious autonomy, it is the controversial Article 370, a statute that no other sovereign country in the world succumbs to when it comes to their national integrity and security.
The Article 370 that that gives special autonomous status to Kashmir was cleverly crafted at the behest of Sheikh Abdullah’s coercion upon Nehru. Sheikh and Nehru were almost like half- brothers and shared a great bonding so much that Nehru personally ensured the drafting of this bill while the integration of 561 other princely states were left to be shouldered by Sardar Patel and others.
Although the article 370 was a temporary provision that was inflicted upon India in spite of much resistance from noted personalities like B.R.Ambedkar and minister Barrister Shyama Prasad Mookerjee who died a mysterious death in protest of implementation of Article 370, this divisive article was never abrogated or amended. In 1974 the Indira- Sheikh Accord signed hurriedly in the wake of India’s Bangladesh policy that needed Sheikh’s backing, only furthered the scope of Article 370 as it was restored with more vigor and bolstered the personal vengeful ambitions of the Abdullah dynasty even when its (Article 370) implications were a staring spoiler to the very spirit of the secular Indian constitution.
Today the prevalence of article 370 has given a free run to inequality and communal bigotry which has resulted in a blatant step motherly treatment extended to the Hindu dominant Jammu and Buddhist dominant Ladakh regions and ethnic cleansing of Hindus from Kashmir where land allotments are openly made only to Kashmiri Muslims with permanent resident status. The law of the land imposes a complete ban on the acquisition of immovable property by the nonpermanent residents of the State.
This law dates back to the Rajas of Dogra who drafted it to ensure that no outside invaders or the British could grab away their lands. But today Kashmiris although part of India, abhor Indians while they clasp the hands of Pakistani terror ushers letting them into their land and lives that is fuelling this anti-India agenda.
Also the delimitation mechanism devised by Sheikh Abdullah’s National Conference Party in 1951 cleverly captured half of the total assembly and Lok sabha seats. Although Kashmiris constituted only 22% of the state’s total population then, 46 seats were baselessly allotted to Kashmir and only 37 seats for Jammu and 4 seats for Ladakh which was contrary to the rules framed under the Indian Parliament’s Representation of People’s Act and those under the relevant State Act of 1957.
All the professional and technical institutions, universities and all the big public sector industrial units in the Valley are the sole preserve of the Kashmiri Muslims or their appeasers!
Kashmiris hold 95% of the positions in Government organizations in the valley and also grab up to 50% of the jobs and educational seats in regional services of Jammu and Ladhak.
The Kashmiris control trade, commerce, transport and industry, and own big orchards as well as landed estates. None of them is without a house. Likewise, the per capita expenditure on woolen clothes in Kashmir is perhaps the highest in the world. But a vast majority of the Kashmiris don’t pay even a single penny to the state in the form of revenue due to it. It is Jammu and Ladakh that contribute over 90 per cent to the state exchequer, but a major part of this money is spent not in the extremely backward and underdeveloped Jammu and Ladakh but in the highly prosperous and developed Kashmir Valley. (Reference: Prof.Hari Om’s article)
Although the state is J&K, it is only the K factor that is often discussed. Yes the people of J&K want Azadi but from the tyranny of cross-border terrorism, from the pseudo liberal cowardice of its power hungry rulers who deny them their basic rights.
The canvas for ethnic cleansing is laid almost ready to be rolled up and if tomorrow there is a voting then they will choose to exit, with such dire threat staring India in the eye, the J&K state needs an immediate revamp in its constitutional books with iron hands and perhaps even give separate statehood to Jammu and Ladakh for their fair chance to revive and undo the injustice it has suffered at the hands of tyrant fundamentalists in the past. This will also enable the authorities to focus on Kashmir and keep the treacherous neighbors at bay.
The constitution book of J&K is designed to haunt India in an eternal loop where radicals of Kashmir will continue to play victim to terror while they breed it under their noses. They misuse the Article 35(A) of permanent resident ship while they import people from radical camps across the borders in the form of their spouses, kith and kin. Their rule book advocates a separate personal and cultural law for its people that will keep them aloof from India but will reap and enjoy all the grants and benefits from the center. The real Kashmiri voice is suppressed and a systematic cultivation of Geelanis and Burhan Wanis is propounded by aiding their children with guns and bombs. With gullible open lands of forests and hills, with cross border access via road and rail, the terrorists submerge into the local crowds amongst the urban and rural folks instigating unsuspecting locals with fear of losing their autonomous status and hate for India. With no effective rehabilitation programs for the surrendered radicals or strict action against treason they will continue to hold Indian passports but will pelt stones and grenades and kill our army personnel. When they kill it is freedom and when our men retaliate and contain it is inhumanity worth international publicity and UN interference!
The coterie of pseudo liberals will continue to chest beat in Rajya Sabha expressing their farcical anguish about the inhuman treatment extended to the so called innocent Kashmiri locals and proclaim that Indian army should contain this unrest through peaceful dialogues and lawful methods. But what according to these echelons of humanity is lawful containing of terrorism when the army is rained with bricks, stones, grenades and petrol bombs?
In a geo political scenario with an opportunist and volatile America, a bonhomie between Pakistan and Russia and a treacherous China which is again allying with Pakistan, together they may well bay on Kashmir’s insurgency and en cash upon it to lead into a 3rd world war like situation hence India should evolve and give a firm message of its national security policy and handle sternly its internal matter by strict surveillance of bordering roads and rail lines, blocking all social media sites and handles of ISI sponsored propaganda that is latching on to build local cadres, introducing compulsory government education by plucking out the roots of radicalism that are spread through Salafi Madrasas that breed this insurgency in the valley and scrape out Article 370 boldly and continue to keep AFSPA intact in these volatile regions.