This year marks the 61st year of our independence. And Kashmir is still burning. This time, some questions have to be answered by all of us. It is very sad to see that in the same week that we celebrate Indian independence, people in Kashmir wave Pakistani flags, march to the LOC, and scream pro Pakistan slogans while demanding freedom.
However being a Democratic country, we have to take this in our stride. For quite a while now, we have paid no attention to some people’s screams, their protests, their tears, their desires and their freedom.
The first question;
Do we have any right on Kashmir if the Kashmiris do not want to have anything to do with us? What right do we have to squash their desire to be free? Or even to be a part of Pakistan?
As of this moment, I don’t know of any secessionist movement in India that has ever garnered such mass support. In Assam ULFA is still demanding a free Assam, but the Assamese people have slowly started to disown ULFA’s dream of a “Golden Assam”. (Much can be credited to the ULFA’s own strategy of killing and looting its own people in this regard)
There have been such demands for freedom in other North eastern states as well; however all such situations have been more or less diffused now through a democratic procedure.
But Kashmir is different. It is not as if the Governments haven’t tried. They have, no other state is ever granted as much money as Kashmir is. There have been certain privileges to Kashmir as per which, barring defense and certain other sectors, all laws enacted by the Parliament need the State Government’s consent to be considered legitimate in Kashmir.
Yet somehow, peace is always dangling by a thread and the slightest of disturbances can trigger a new a wave of unrest across the state. It definitely has a lot to do with a deep rooted sense of resentment against Delhi. The Indian forces are still treated as army occupation. If such is the case, isn’t it a little too silly of us to talk of Tibet and China?
If India is a true democracy, time has come for us to find a durable solution to the Kashmir Problem which is as old as independent India. We can’t go on committing army excesses against the people of Kashmir. If they want to be free of fear, they have to be free of the fear of both the terrorists and the Indian Army.
I simply do not understand the logic behind hanging on to Kashmir even as they look at us with loathing in their eyes. Their Human Right to be Free has to be honored.
Besides, India wouldn’t lose anything either. Ladakh and Jammu don’t want to secede. So all we lose is the Valley. Yes maybe we lose a little of the apple business but then that is better than losing 10000 cores due to riots every year. And the other cost of our military should also be looked at, as we have already lost a lot of our Soldiers in the Valley or Valley related Terrorist acts.
At this moment, a referendum is definitely a must in Kashmir. Not because we don’t lose anything, but because Kashmiris deserve it. If we as a country were allowed our tryst with destiny, don’t the people of Kashmir too deserve their own tryst with destiny?
If we are to emerge as a true democratic state, we should allow the Kashmiris to choose their own fate, so that the children of Kashmir too don’t have the same loathing in their eyes for mainstream India as their fathers have!
Purav Goswami
[Image Source:http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/00eberPghb4mV/610x.jpg]
n 1 more thng i saw on the net ..many pepol riting tht kashmiri pepol agitating………WE R NOT AGITATING , WE R DEMANDING OUR BIRTH RIGHTES!!…. WE R DEAMNDING FREEDOM FROM THAT COUNTRY WHAICH HAD ONLY KILLED OUR BRTHERS…RAPED OUR SISTERS……LOOTED OUR HOUSE……OCCUPIED OUR ORCHARDS!!!! N ALWAYS ABUSED KASHMIRIS BY KALIN THEM TERRORISTS , ETC ETC……
WE WUD RATHER PREFER LIVING AS POOR KASHMIRIS DEN LIVING IN THIS SUFFOCATING ATMOSPHERE!!!! IZ MY HUBLE REQ TO EVRY KASHMIRI TO JOIN US….N INSHALLLAH…wE WILL GET FREEDOM..SO THT ATLEST OUR CHILDREN CAN LIV PEACFULLY in dis so called paradise !!!
aray yar mozam .. madiha.. fatima..tabu… kya kar rahe ho.. karo chup..
kuch aur sunaao ghar main sab theek hain… kahan hote ho yaar… mozam bhai aaj school gaya tha kya… fatima ji abhi bhi naraaz hai kya.. tabu se to baat nahin karni…
ok yar chalta hoon neend aayi hai..
goodnight…
talking abut da flag thing hw can da ppl of kashmir hoist it if they dnt wanna b with india…..they cant even tolerate indian brutality nw n da tym has cum to strike n strike hard so our stuggle which had started ages ago will cum to an end n da fruit will b ….FREEDOM….AZAADI…..
I WILL AGAIN MAKE IT CLEAR ….NO INDIA NO PAKISTAN ALL WE NEED IZ AZAAI ……
N WATEVER BLUNDER HAPPND IN DA PAST HAS 2 B CORRECTD…ITS LIK NOW OR NEVER………..
DATS IT
2mrw is march to EidGah..may ths march prove an imp step towards our freedom.
ya alllah we r now tired of thse alll kilings……we juz hav faith in u …n we knw tht u r always wid us…….juz help us to come out of this gr8 trouble! ……b4 dying we also want sum indepndent air…..ya alllah pleez help us!!! .Aameen..!!!!!!
Mr. Mehul..
I agree wid u… u r very much right…
But u kno u remind me of a verse of Mirza Ghalib….
Hum ko maaloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat laikin
Dil ke khush rakhne ko ghalib yeh khayaal achha hai…..
Thanks..
r u nuts…who told u we where with india..we r sayin 4rm last 62 yers we want fredom..but the army of ths so callled democratic country stoped all those protests by bringing army in kashmir n kiling those innocent protestors…….
juz tel me if u pepol say so much abt us y dun u simply giv us indepndence…..
n ya u told disrespect to indian flag Mr. kashmir has its own flag …even the hawkers dun use ur flag for storing pakodas beacuse evr1 is fed up evn wid the word india!!!…..jus get lsot wid ur falg theory ..get sum more issues n den talk!!!
n ya mahraja …..well tht mahraja was not a kashmiri ……he never consulted the pepol ….juz did watever liked 4 the sake of money n that parliment seat tht his son is njoin these days in parliment ( karan singh)..got tht!!!
you know what just update your knowledge about the deal that was signed 60 years back ..thats the controversy ….mahraja never signed the deal the maharaja was in europe at that time ..that deal was something fake…you know wot just come to kashmir ..i hope you do..people like you who just have preconceived notions..nothing on earth can open their eyes you said we should go with pakistan …either update your knowledge about Kashmir or stop talking about it i hope my message is quite loud and cleaR!
Time for Azadi for Kashmir was 60 years back. But they opted for India, we don’t care whether it was through Hari Singh or Sheikh Abdullah. Then for 45 years or so Kashmiris had no problems living as Indians. Now, they just absolutely can’t live as Indians? Well! Borders cannot be changed except at the cost of blood. And, God knows we have given enough of it. To change course would be to betray all those who sacrificed themselves in the cause. We will continue to be ready to give blood and sacrifice for a cause that has become sacred to us and if any one wants to test our resolve, we take up the challenge. Then there are many other factors that are in the play like securing our borders against an inimical China or like the effect on Indian society, in particular on about 13% of the population, possibility of a full scale civil war. You may know a thing or two about “small things”, you are no expert on politics or security or social implications. Kashmir is and shall remain forever an integral part of India. Those who don’t like that are welcome to pack up and leave. We cannot afford to endanger the integrity of our nation because it will satisfy your or any one else’s sense of fairness. May be you could also hitch a ride.
i really fail to understand the intellect of intellectual people in our country. why do they fail to understand that when it comes to territorial disputes, the only thing right, ethical and moral is to save it at any cost. local sufferings can be tackled later. unless intellectuals learn this lesson, they can’t keep the house from eroding away. and I also cant believe that Kashmiri’s failed to see through the game plan of pakistan sponsored separatism. Its not a genuine fight….. it would not continue at all if pakistan were not to support it. its okay to be muslim in india, and our federal system has room for local autonomy. then why this freedom call ?
What we saw was disrespect to National Flag in Kashmir. They burnt flags and made detirogatory remarks about country. This should have been considered as felony and the people who were recorded in video cameras should be booked for maximum punishment. No matter what a person feels about his role in Kashmir, no one gets the right to disrespect the FLAG.What happened in Kashmir and what is happening there is gross. Few hunderd people dont represent a country.My comments are more on to the people who do nt think in Indian way..Let me highlight you few some..we dont want INDIA nor do we want PAKISTAN JUST COMPLETE FREEDOM..N STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH KASHMIRIS – - – do realize dat ma country has done wrong 2 dis state..n dats y all dis is hapnin…but i still m an indian n wil always b..——So Y there is a air around for Pakistan.
acording to Un kashmir is a diputed territor so who is the indain govt to transfer the land.. So Y dont you boycot all the facilites and Indian currency. Frens we can talk day long bt this will nt stop.. Kashmiris need to identify what they want except for azaadii shit as its never going to be..either its India or Pakistan..If we allow people like to live in our country, there will be no India after a decade. Because, DMK wants separate Tamil Nadu, Sikhs wanted separate Punjab, Korkhas want separate Gorkha land, Telugu people want separate Telengana and the list goes on… Where are we heading towards. We fail to understand that, FREEDOM MEANS RESPONSIBILITY. We need to think responsibly and strive for the unity and improvement of our country INDIA. Personally, I believe Kashmir will be free soon … or rather a referendum will be held to know the will of the Kashmiris. There seems to be a deliberate synchronization of articles and news in the media making a case for a referendum, if not for outright pullout by India. The only problem is that the general public has been so well-fed and so long by the government propaganda machinery on Kashmir “issue” that it will take some time before India can resolve this issue. You can judge the effectiveness of this propaganda by the fact that despite being a Naga myself with “secessionist” tendencies, I never thought Kashmir was separate from India. It took nearly a year after knowing about how Kashmiris felt about India in the book “Alive & Well in Pakistan” before I began to believe that maybe its better for India to let go of Kashmir. Not because of how they feel but because of what India is – A Secular Democracy. Reminds me of that old story about a righteous king offering to cut his own flesh to meet the demands of righteouness. India is not an autocratic China or a split-personality USA and definitely not a Pakistan. It will do the right thing even if it takes a decade more. Also regarding the fear of secessionists intensifying their stir in other parts of the country, notably the North-East, just a word. The situation is or rather are not the same as in Kashmir. Anyway, speaking as a Naga, I would rather not have Kashmiris kept tied with India on account of us. Someone had remarked earlier that no-one in the Indian government was talking about Kashmir being an integral part of India. Perhaps its time to listen harder … maybe no-one is saying it because no-one in the know believes it anymor.
@ mr mehul
4 futher clarifications polz go thru ….the link below …n stop makin racist comes abt kashmirs who hav been sufering 4rm trauma n distress in evry field juz coz of pepol lik u!!!
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kashmir/back.htm
n ya 1 mor thng…..we hav seen aggittaion jammu…….they also protest ( in a voilent way) evidence: killing of kashmiri driver…..
y dosent police shoot them,,,i mean they use rubeer bullets n water on the mobs but in kshmir police uses bullets directly…is ths ur democracy where asking 4 justice is a crime …n ya the thng abt land..acording to Un kashmir is a diputed territor so who is the indain govt to transfer the land..i mean they dun hav any rite to do so!!!!
mr mehul
its vry easy 4 u 2 coment about d situation in kashmir frm outside..but..wats goin inside..only we..d youth of kashmir no.. n realize..though i luv ma country a lot..n m a hard core indian..but..at d end of d day..i do realize dat ma country has done wrong 2 dis state..n dats y all dis is hapnin…but i still m an indian n wil always b..n plz…dun pass such agresive coments wen u hve no damn idea about d bottom line of d situation…n btw..kashimr is not tibet..n india is not china..so lets not mix it up with dat…
welll….the prob wid pepol round the globe is tht first of all tehy consider pepol of kashmir as terrorists …
@ mr mahul leme tell u do u knw wat is POK it is pakistan occupied kashmir..tht means it is the part of kashmir…so y shld we ask the indian govt (which is only supressing us 4 last 62 yers n paviing differnt ways 4 its army to enter kashmir by makin railway n all !!! )4 going to a palce whch belongs to us..n ya le me tell u 1 mor thng…wat u indians did to us.. was tht fair…more than 120000 death n ……..more than 300 rape cases..is tht all ur jawans r doin in kashmir……huh giiving their lives…they dun giv their lives they take away lives of innnocent kashmirir pepol…..n lev tht landless..homeless !!!!
n ya……juz giv me atlest 1 eg whn did indian govt spend money 4 making education institutions in kashmir infact it only tells its army to shoot kashmiris..!!!
mr.mehul…..this is being racist by just talking abut the pandits and not about the kashmiris who die every now n then ….the indian army has been killing people here since many years and you don’t even have the count of that…we dont want INDIA nor do we want PAKISTAN JUST COMPLETE FREEDOM..N STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH KASHMIRIS
excuse me mr.mehul….when did kashmiris say that they want to go with pakistan…u knw wt the problem is people lyk you cant understand the gravity of the situation…when u dont even know what exaclty happened 61 yrs ago dont isssue statements and yah what about 120000 innocent kashmiris who have lost their life and 30000 women raped by the indian armies??
I have a better idea Mr.Purav Goswami. Let them move to POK. Wat about so many jawans who lost thies lifes in valley. And Y should we give this land to them ? If they like Pakistan they are all free to go. I know and I have seen so many Jammu Pandits been cut into pieces of death.. wat as thier fault just that they were staying at Srinagar ? You know wat China did to Tibet, We have to keep the same approach.