Kashmir Islamic Territory Vs Democracy - 1

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A minority, and not a homogeneous minority at that, of less than 30%

is terrorizing the whole of J&K, the whole of India, indeed the whole

world.

An indepth analysis by Vishwamohan Tiwari, Air Vice Marshal (Retd)

Kashmir

Islamic Territory Vs Democracy

Kashmir problem is not really a problem of territory nor a political

problem between two neighboring nations; it is by and large, a

problem caused and fueled by expansionist fundamentalist Islamist

Sunnis of Pakistan.

A List of Misguided Information

 

What most people know about Kashmir is likely to be sketchy and

misguided, which may be somewhat like this:

 

Kashmir is a Muslim majority state.

 

During partition in 1947 the Hindu King joined hands with India

because he could not withstand the mainly local Muslim rebellion. And

he invited India to suppress the rebellion.

 

Therefore the Hindu majority-India has no moral authority over

Kashmir.

 

Government of India is avoiding a referendum in Kashmir because it is

sure to lose.

 

The powerful Government of India through its brutal military is

oppressing and torturing the innocent and poor Muslims there.

 

Pakistan being a smaller country cannot help the poor Muslims of

Kashmir. Therefore locals with the help of Pakistan are forced to

rebel to gain their freedom.

 

Let us look at the holes in the above points one by one. The word

Kashmir has four meanings –

 

1. The State of Jammu and Kashmir (J& K) of India.

 

Kashmir as the third administrative unit of J&K; the other two being

Ladaakh and Jammu. Geographically it covers mainly the valley of

Jhelum, the smallest but the most beautiful area.

 

The Undivided Kashmir as it had existed before the partition of

India – J&K and POK together (U. Kashmir).

 

Part of Undivided Kashmir now occupied by Pakistan (Pak Occupied

Kashmir – POK).

 

Composition of Kashmiri Muslims

 

Both Kashmir region (99% Muslims) and J&K on the whole have Muslim

majority, but not the Jammu and Ladaakh regions. It is vitally

important to know that J&K is a multi religious, multi lingual and

multi ethnic State. Religions in J&K are : Islam (64.3%1), Hinduism

(32.1%), and others 3% {Sikhism 2.17%, Buddhism 1.17% and

Christianity 0.12%}. Nine languages are Dogri, Kashmiri, Ladaakhi,

Pothwari, Balti, Gojri, Dardi, Punjabi and Urdu. The major nine

social ethnic groups are Kashmiri, Dogra, Gujjar, Bakerwal, Dard

(immigrated long ago from Dardistan, CentralAsia), Balti, Gaddi,

Pothwari (both Muslim and non-Muslim) and Chibalis. Muslims living in

the Jhelum Valley are by and large farmers and craftsmen. Dograas

inhabit mostly the Jammu area. Gujjars and Bakerwaals, the nomadic

shepards, inhabit mountainous areas and migrate between plains and

mountains during summer and winter. Gaddis are also herdsmen who live

in the southeastern mountains of Jammu region. The Dard and Baltis

inhabit Gurez, Tilel and Draas. Pothwaris inhabit the area between

the rivers Jhelum and Chinaab. Ladaakhis are Mongoloids who inhabit

the Ladaakh region - the trans-Himalayan region.

 

Heterogeneous Muslims

 

Some people tend to ignore a vitally important fact that Muslims,

though all may call themselves so, are not a homogeneous group.

Indeed they are very often inimical to each other. Shia and Sunni

Muslims have been inimical to each other from their inception, indeed

their birth was caused by a war between two groups. Of all the Muslim

groups, Sunnis are known to be dominant and least tolerant. And

Sufis, who are the devotional mystics among Muslims, are the most

tolerant among them, and, philosophically, closer to the non-dual

Hinduism than to Islam. Traditional Kashmiri Muslims are (very soon

historians would say `were') heavily influenced by Sufi-ism, and are

even more tolerant and closer to non-dualistic Hinduism than Sufi-ism

is. Sufi Saints in Kashmir were influenced by `rishis' and were

called `rishis'. Rishi is a word from Sanskrit which means Vedic

sages. Kashmiri Rishis, who could be either Hindus or Muslims,

believed in the non-dualistic Supreme God. Kashmiri Hindus had been

living amicably with Kashmiri (Sufi) Muslims for centuries. Indeed

there were no Hindu–Muslim riots in the U. Kashmir prior to

partition. That does not mean that these liberalized Muslims were

left undisturbed by orthodox Muslims.

 

Condemnation of Kashmiri Muslims by Muslims

 

Mirza Haider wrote in his `Tarikh-i-Rashidi'2 : "The Sufis have

legitimized so many heresies that they know nothing of what is

wrongful …They are forever interpreting dreams, displaying miracles

and obtaining from the unseen, information regarding either the

future or the past. Nowhere else is such a band of heretics to be

found..... (They) consider the Holy Law (Shari at) second in

importance to the True Way (tariqat, tradition) and that; in

consequence, the people of the Way have nothing to do with the Holy

Law." (Quoted in Sufi 1947-8, pages 19-20). The famous traveler

Lawrence in 1895 ascribed the delightful tolerance between Hinduism

and Islam to "chiefly the fact that the Kashmiri Musalmans never

really gave up the Hindu religion…. I do not base my ideas as to

laxness of Kashmiris in religious duties merely on my observations.

Holy men of Arabia have spoken to me with contempt of the feeble

flame of Islam which burns in Kashmir and the local mullas talk with

indignation of the apathy of the people. Again the Kashmiri Muslim

historian G.M.D. Sufi writes in `Sufi 1947-8, p688': A number of

practices of Kashmiri Musalman are un- Islamic….The Buddhist worship

of relics has insidiously crept into India's Islam….The Kashmiri

Muslim has transferred reverence from Hindu stones to Muslim relics".

 

Though it may sound incomprehensible, by and large Sufis are not

considered true Muslims, by other groups esp. Sunnis. Kashmiri

Muslims who follow the `Rishis' tradition are certainly considered

misguided and untrue Muslims.

 

Traditionally, Kashmiri Muslims worship a hair of the Prophet

Muhammad, as a sacred relic. Some years ago it was stolen from

the `Hazaratbal' mosque, and there was violence directed mainly

against Hindus, and the Government. It appears logical that neither

the J&K government nor Hindus but recently infiltrated terrorists

from Pakistan had carried out this sacrilege not only to malign

Hindus, but also to teach a lesson in purification to Sufi Muslims.

 

Majority of Muslims Are Against Separatist Movement

 

In India also many Muslim rulers persecuted Sufis along with Hindus.

Therefore it should not be surprising to find that neither Shias nor

Sufis want to have a truck with the orthodox and intolerant Sunnis,

as is the reality in J&K. But a small group of terrorists can force

the entire group to tow its line, as has happened in Afghanistan, and

appears to be happening in Indonesia and is certainly happening in

J&K. In reality Shias and Sufis have openly declared3, at the risk of

their lives, that they are not with the demand of separatists, who

are mainly Sunnis influenced and joined by the terrorists from

Pakistan. Similarly, Vice President of J&K Congress, a highly revered

leader of the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities, Mian Basheer has

strongly urged the Prime Minister to "use force to crush the Jamait-e-

Islami, a Sunni organization, which wants to have a stranglehold on

the minorities by terrorizing them". Therefore it is mainly Sunnis of

Kashmir (valley) who are influenced by terrorists, that are

terrorizing and fomenting trouble in J&K and beyond in India.

 

In the Valley, which has 99% Muslims, Sunnis constitute only 23 % of

the population4, and yet they call the shots. Even if we were to

include the other Sunnis of J&K, Sunnis are not more than 30 % of all

the Muslims in J&K. Further not all Sunnis have the same goal. Some

want to join Pakistan, and some want an independent Kashmir, and yet

some, more autonomy within India. It may be relevant to note here

that high corruption in the Sunni dominated Government of J&K, has

also been one of the reasons for a feeling of frustration in all

Kashmiris. And as war feeds on war, the long unsettled conditions

also cause slowing of development and lack of job opportunities. Thus

it is clear that a minority, and not a homogeneous minority at that,

of less than 30% is terrorizing the whole of J&K, the whole of India,

indeed the whole world, and there is a genuine fear of a nuclear war

in the region.

 

India has no need to use nuclear weapons because it is strong enough

to frustrate any conventional aggression from Pakistan, and defeat

it. The aggressive Pakistan is likely to use its nuclear arsenal in

frustration of defeat and for saving its face. Pakistan could be sure

to launch the nuclear attack first and thus gain a definite

superiority, and may cripple India's capability to retaliate with

nuclear weapons; and also may hope that by that time the world

community would manage to impose a ceasefire. Therefore the fear of a

nuclear war is rather real, and is staring at us unless we can do

something now to prevent it. Therefore it is necessary for the world

to understand the reality of the Kashmiris who are suffering an

unending misery at the hands of terrorists.

 

– Continued

 

1. The data on population have been taken from Indian Defence Review

1995, Article Author- Hari Om.

2. Kashmir in a Historical Outline – (www.kashmir-information.com)

3. "Sadiq Ali, a close associate of Sheikh Abdullah and a prominent

leader of Shias has declared unequivocally that, "the one million

Shias in J&K are in danger as they face discrimination from the

Pakistan supported militants and 1.8 million Sunnis…".- The Sunday

Mail, 31 July – 6 August 1994; Indian Express 11 August 1994.

4. Source – Indian Defence Review – 1995.