[Reader-list] Trespassers in Kashmir?

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Trespassers in Kashmir?
*Khushwant Singh<http://www.hindustantimes.com/Search/Search.aspx?q=Khushwant%20Singh&nodate=1>
*
 September 19, 2008

I have yet to hear a Kashmiri Muslim describe himself as Indian. It was, and
is to this day: "I am a Kashmiri." Perhaps among the exceptions are Sheikh
Abdullah, his son Farooq and grandson Omar. Right from 1947, whenever India
played cricket matches against Pakistan, Kashmiri Muslims supported
Pakistan. If you don't believe me, read Basharat Peer's Curfewed Night
(Random House). Don't dismiss this as a trivial aberration because it does
reveal the Kashmiri Muslim's mindset. Now it has been revealed for all to
see.

They want us, Indians, out of the Valley. They may or may not throw in their
lot with chronically unstable Pakistan. But have the leaders demanding azadi
from India considered the consequences that may follow our getting out of
the Valley? The language they use to rouse the rabble indicates they
haven't. And that applies to leaders of all the separatist factions.

The most serious consequences of *azadi* will be the exodus of non-Muslims —
Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs — from the Valley. Don't accept their assurances
that it will not happen. It happened when Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley
in large numbers because they felt insecure. Mohammad Ali Jinnah and
Jawaharlal Nehru gave us similar assurances preceding the
Partition.

If and when Hindus and Sikhs are pushed out of the Valley, right-wing Hindu
groups, extending from the RSS, the VHP, the Shiv Sena, the Bajrang Dal to
the BJP will press for the expulsion of Muslims from Jammu (where they are
in majority in two tehsils) and elsewhere. The Valley's only commercial
outlets and tourism is linked to India. There is not a hotel in the country
that does not have a shop selling Kashmiri handicrafts, carpets and shawls.
Thousands of Kashmiri Muslims work as labourers in Indian towns and cities.
Will not their future be jeopardised by the call for azadi? If there is the
slightest risk of starting mass migrations, we must reject it, come what
may.

The situation has been going out of hand since 1990. Basharat Peer tells us
that ever since, thousands of Kashmiris have crossed over to Pakistan to get
military training and arms and sneaked back into the Valley to create mayhem
and murder.

The locals give them shelter and food.

The only response India could make was to send in more troops, impose severe
restraints on the locals and kill those they thought were anti-Indian
militants. Every village in the Valley has its quota of unmarked graves. How
long can this be allowed to go on? Give the Valley azadi it wants. But spell
it out to mean only internal autonomy to manage its affairs. No more. India
must retain its military presence to guard its frontiers against intruders.
But at all costs, put an end to this sorry state of affairs.