Er. Adil Hussain Rather
Once the Emperor Jahangir (1627) visited Kashmir. On seeing the beautiful scenes of nature in the valley, he exclaimed: Agar firdaus bar rue zamin ast Hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast, (If there is Paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here. This couplet is not applicable in the sense of Kashmir being an actual paradise. However, it is right in another sense, that is, that nature has provided a point of reference in the form of Kashmir, by which one can have an idea of what Paradise is like and work towards being held deserving of Paradise in the Afterlife. Kashmir itself is the beautiful and natural place on earth but the daily situations and blockades have made it like the village of stone age where people don’t have any information around their surroundings. There is beautiful natural scenery all over Kashmirgreen trees, flowering shrubs, springs, lake and flowing rivers, and with the chirping of birds, and the abundance of fruits and flowers, the whole of Kashmir seems like a garden.This environment of nature is calling out in silent language that here there is no room for hatred or enmity. Engaging in the culture of violence here is totally against the creation plan of God and something which goes against it, can never meet with success in this world of God. In the winter of 2012, Kashmir had a snowfall which was much heavier than usual. Snowfall is a beautiful natural phenomenon. Someone has rightly remarked that it looks like spiritual rain. On February 13, 2012,“Kashmir has become white due to snowfall . White is the symbol of peace. This is the lesson from nature, and violation of the law of nature always leads to destruction. It is an incontrovertible fact that a new age has set in in Kashmir and could rightly be described as the Dawn over Kashmir. The development in Kashmir is not attributable to any external cause (as was the case in the countries of the former Soviet Union, where communism was forcibly imposed by Russia after the Bolshevick revolution of 1917) but is rather the result of fresh thinking on the part of the Kashmiri people themselves. October 1989 saw the beginning of an armed struggle in Kashmir.The kashmir journey stars from the Gulab Singh in 1846 , a Dogra, who served as the ruler of Jammu in the Sikh Empire, chose to side with the British in the AngloSikh war. After the war, the East India Company “sold” Kashmir to Gulab Singh for a lump sum of 7.5 million rupees to reward his loyalty. Under the Dogra rule, Kashmiris were forced to fight in all of Britain’s wars, including the two world wars. In fact, throughout the Dogra rule in Kashmir, the resistance against the oppressive regime was shaped by class as much as religion. In 1865, when Kashmiri shawl weavers agitated to improve their work conditions. The regime brutally crushed the uprising and in the three decades following the protest, the number of Kashmiri shawl weavers decreased from 28,000 to just over 5,000. Despite the setback, however, Kashmiri workers continued to fight for their rights. in 1924, workers from a Srinagar silk factory went on a strike for better working conditions. Leftwing intellectuals established the Reading Room Party to discuss the French and Russian revolutions and the way forward for Jammu & Kashmir. Historians say that The Reading Room Party of the 1930s played its role in shaping Kashmir’s political future. in 1931, the Dogras approved the formation of three political parties in the valley Kashmiri Pandits Conference, Hindu Sabha in Jammu, and Sikhs’ Shiromani Khalsa Darbar. This meant only non-Muslim groups were allowed political representation in the valley, leaving the majority of the population without an official political party. Following Britain’s departure from the Indian subcontinent and partition of colonial India into two nation-states. Under the partition plan provided by the Indian Independence Act, Kashmir was given the options to become independent or accede to India or Pakistan. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as a dispute over the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes. China has also been involved in the conflict in a third-party role. Both India and Pakistan claimed the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, although Pakistan has recognized Chinese sovereignty over the Trans-Karakoram Tract and Aksai Chin since 1963. India controls approximately 55% of the land area of the region and 70% of its population; Pakistan controls approximately 30% of the land, while China controls the remaining 15%. India administers Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, most of Ladakh, and the Siachen Glacier. Pakistan administers Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. China administers the Aksai Chin region, the mostly uninhabited Trans-Karakoram Tract, and part of the Demchok sector. The Pakistani tribal invasion in Kashmir which resulted another set back to the kashmir history. The sheikh’s joining with India lead Kashmir nowhere.
Kashmir also wants to see normalcy as people also want to spend time with peace and prosperity but unfortunately the conditions which they are facing are heart wrenching.
In July 1949, India and Pakistan signed an agreement to establish a ceasefire line as recommended by the UN and the region became divided. By that time, India and Pakistan had both declared themselves to be nuclear powers. Today, Delhi and Islamabad both claim Kashmir in full, but control only parts of it – territories recognised internationally as “Indian-administered Kashmir” and “Pakistan-administered Kashmir”. An armed revolt has been waged against Indian rule in the region for three decades, claiming tens of thousands of lives. India blames Pakistan for stirring the unrest by backing separatist militants in Kashmir – a charge its neighbour denies. Now a sudden change to Kashmir’s status on the Indian side has created further apprehension. Indian side Kashmir has held a special position within the country historically, thanks to Article 370 – a clause in the constitution which gave it significant autonomy, including its own constitution, a separate flag, and independence over all matters except foreign affairs, defense and communications. As the governing party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had promised in its 2019 election manifesto. The Hindu nationalist BJP hadlong opposed Article 370 and had repeatedly called for its abolishment. On 5th August, India revoked seven decade long privileged status imperial oppression. Telephone networks and the internet were cut off in the region in the days before the presidential order was announced. Public gatherings were banned, and tens of thousands of troops were sent in. Tourists were told to leave Kashmir under warnings of a terror threat. Over the years, India and Pakistan did everything they could to control the narratives of Kashmir. India not only resorted to brutal methods of oppression, such as physical violence, torture, fake encounters, rape and unlawful prosecutions, but it also concocted an alternative history, twisting data and facts to turn Indian public opinion against the plight of Kashmiri Muslims. Meanwhile, Pakistan was no innocent supporter of the Kashmirstruggle, as one of its former Presidents, Pervez Musharraf, openly admitted that the state supported and trained armed groups active in the valley. The barricades and blockaded situations halted the life of Kashmir in all respects. Fundamental rights are denied to them. While the world is fighting COVID-19 pandemic with full access to all communication facilities, kashmir is under the blockade of communication blockade. The sad chapters in Kashmir history have triggered fears of demographic change and irresistible irritations against the restrictions go unnoticed .Kashmir also wants to see normalcy as people also want to spend time with peace and prosperity but unfortunately the conditions which they are facing are heart wrenching.
(The author an engineer by profession is a human rights defender and a member of Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Admi Party. Views are exclusively his own [email protected])