Rajni Shaleen Chopra
The twitter page of Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Geelani features the tweet and photograph that Kashmiris across the world are today sharing on twitter and facebook. It is this:
“Kashmiris collect sandbags to save Hindu temple. Locals in downtown Srinagar collected these sandbags trying to save the temple from Jhelum inundation. This is the Kashmir that India never tells you about.”
The words are accompanied by a picture of sandbags stacked next to a temple in Kashmir, trying to prevent floodwater from entering the premises. The temple is not a standalone structure. It is flanked on both sides by houses of Kashmiri Muslims, who chose to protect the temple because of the sentiment.
I do not agree with Geelani’s political beliefs. But can he be faulted on what he has stated here? Can these cynical words be disputed: This is the Kashmir that India never tells you about?
The Hurriyat Chairman’s page gives you a link to the page of IbneBattuta, who describes himself as a traveler, student and explorer. IbneBattuta has posted another photograph of Kashmir taken on April 1 with the following caption: The mosque, the temple and the shrine, all face the same flood waters. Nature does not discriminate, then who are you?
I request the attention of senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who had infamously stated on March 15 that, “God lives only in temples”, and that mosques and churches are mere “buildings” to offer prayers. Will Swami offer an explanation for why Kashmiris chose to protect a temple? Going by Swamy’s definition, Muslims should consider it merely a “Hindu building”.
Those who have some understanding of Kashmir and Kashmiriyat know that the sandbags were not placed at the temple for some photo-op. Nor were they placed by the Army or the security agencies. The protection measures were taken by ordinary Kashmiris simply because they consider the temple a house of God, which should be protected.
I suppose that Swamy and the rabid vanguards of ‘Indian National Interest’ in national news-channels know of the Shankaracharya temple on a mountain-top in the heart of Srinagar. Do they also know of the Devi temple on the road to Pari Mahal in Srinagar, another Devi temple on Gupkar Road near Dal Lake, the Hanuman temple on Hari Singh High Street adjoining Lal Chowk – a focal point of pro-freedom agitations in Srinagar. None of these temples have been attacked even at the height of turbulence in Kashmir. In downtown Srinagar, also a hub of pro-freedom agitations, morning and evening prayers are carried out peacefully at temples without the need for any security or protection by men in uniform. Temple complexes in Anantnag, Sopore and elsewhere in the Valley stand as places of worship, and are not locked or vandalized.
I write these words with complete awareness of the backlash I may receive from the protectors of Hinduism. I know that I may be branded as being part of the “pro-separatist forces in and outside Kashmir who are extremely angry with the nationalist Indian media”. As political analyst Shekhar Gupta wrote in October last year, “You have to be a brave and particularly patriotic Indian to explore if the indigenous Kashmiri also has a storyline, a point of view, a narrative.”
When the much-respected journalist and author Prem Shankar Jha can be branded so, I, a relatively anonymous person, scarcely stand a chance. A Jammu-based newspaper has recently described Jha in its columns this way: A Delhi-based protagonist of Kashmir greater autonomy and Pakistan supporter said that “the success of PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir would mean a total transformation of the rightwing party” and that “millions of people of his generation and others could not understand Kashmir or Kashmiris”.
Jha was speaking at ‘Sonth, The Jammu & Kashmir Literary Fest’ recently organized in Srinagar. The newspaper further quoted Jha: “The killing of the democratic processes of Kashmir led to tragic consequences for India as well as this region. Kashmir could provide the motive for bringing India and Pakistan together for sustained peace and development on both sides of the border.”
The Jammu newspaper now delivers its judgment on Jha: “In other words, he not only spoke for and on behalf of separatists and communalists in Kashmir but also for Pakistan endorsing the atrocious view that Jammu and Kashmir was an unsettled issue.” The genial Jha may be amused to read this whole-new appraisal of him.
I recently read about the two-day International Media Conference in Hyderabad, organized by the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in the Hyderabad main campus. The theme of the event was ‘Muslim, Media and Democracy – Perspectives and Challenges’. Speaking at the conference, print and television journalist Seema Mustafa held the national media, especially the electronic media, responsible for portraying the children on the streets of Srinagar as terrorists.
Even reading these words pained my heart, but one knows that the national electronic media has been unsparing even where Kashmiri children are concerned. Alienation in Kashmir cannot be addressed by painting any such assessment as anti-Indian.
At the India Today Conclave on March 14, MP and Peoples Democratic President (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti had given a succinct solution to the Kashmir issue. “Gun is not going to solve our problem. It is going to be dialogue. It is going to be peace and reconciliation,” she had said.
Labels like pro-India, hyper-nationalistic or anti-India and pro-separatist are not going to bring us to a resolution of the Kashmir problem. As Mehbooba Mufti correctly stated, “It’s not about land or laws. It’s about people – how do you connect with them, feel their pain.”
All those who speak about feeling Kashmir’s pain can easily be labeled by Indian nationalists as an anti-India force in the Valley. The same cannot be said for Mehbooba Mufti, leader of PDP, the party which has aligned with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in the state. There is wisdom in her healing touch proposed for Kashmir: “I understand when an army person gets killed it’s sad, but you have to show that same kind of compassion for an 11-year-old boy or a college going student when he is shot for no reason. 120 people were killed in 2010, not a single one among them was a militant. You need to connect with Kashmir emotionally.”
If such a beginning is made, it will suffice.
The twitter page of Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Geelani features the tweet and photograph that Kashmiris across the world are today sharing on twitter and facebook. It is this:
“Kashmiris collect sandbags to save Hindu temple. Locals in downtown Srinagar collected these sandbags trying to save the temple from Jhelum inundation. This is the Kashmir that India never tells you about.”
The words are accompanied by a picture of sandbags stacked next to a temple in Kashmir, trying to prevent floodwater from entering the premises. The temple is not a standalone structure. It is flanked on both sides by houses of Kashmiri Muslims, who chose to protect the temple because of the sentiment.
I do not agree with Geelani’s political beliefs. But can he be faulted on what he has stated here? Can these cynical words be disputed: This is the Kashmir that India never tells you about?
The Hurriyat Chairman’s page gives you a link to the page of IbneBattuta, who describes himself as a traveler, student and explorer. IbneBattuta has posted another photograph of Kashmir taken on April 1 with the following caption: The mosque, the temple and the shrine, all face the same flood waters. Nature does not discriminate, then who are you?
I request the attention of senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who had infamously stated on March 15 that, “God lives only in temples”, and that mosques and churches are mere “buildings” to offer prayers. Will Swami offer an explanation for why Kashmiris chose to protect a temple? Going by Swamy’s definition, Muslims should consider it merely a “Hindu building”.
Those who have some understanding of Kashmir and Kashmiriyat know that the sandbags were not placed at the temple for some photo-op. Nor were they placed by the Army or the security agencies. The protection measures were taken by ordinary Kashmiris simply because they consider the temple a house of God, which should be protected.
I suppose that Swamy and the rabid vanguards of ‘Indian National Interest’ in national news-channels know of the Shankaracharya temple on a mountain-top in the heart of Srinagar. Do they also know of the Devi temple on the road to Pari Mahal in Srinagar, another Devi temple on Gupkar Road near Dal Lake, the Hanuman temple on Hari Singh High Street adjoining Lal Chowk – a focal point of pro-freedom agitations in Srinagar. None of these temples have been attacked even at the height of turbulence in Kashmir. In downtown Srinagar, also a hub of pro-freedom agitations, morning and evening prayers are carried out peacefully at temples without the need for any security or protection by men in uniform. Temple complexes in Anantnag, Sopore and elsewhere in the Valley stand as places of worship, and are not locked or vandalized.
I write these words with complete awareness of the backlash I may receive from the protectors of Hinduism. I know that I may be branded as being part of the “pro-separatist forces in and outside Kashmir who are extremely angry with the nationalist Indian media”. As political analyst Shekhar Gupta wrote in October last year, “You have to be a brave and particularly patriotic Indian to explore if the indigenous Kashmiri also has a storyline, a point of view, a narrative.”
When the much-respected journalist and author Prem Shankar Jha can be branded so, I, a relatively anonymous person, scarcely stand a chance. A Jammu-based newspaper has recently described Jha in its columns this way: A Delhi-based protagonist of Kashmir greater autonomy and Pakistan supporter said that “the success of PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir would mean a total transformation of the rightwing party” and that “millions of people of his generation and others could not understand Kashmir or Kashmiris”.
Jha was speaking at ‘Sonth, The Jammu & Kashmir Literary Fest’ recently organized in Srinagar. The newspaper further quoted Jha: “The killing of the democratic processes of Kashmir led to tragic consequences for India as well as this region. Kashmir could provide the motive for bringing India and Pakistan together for sustained peace and development on both sides of the border.”
The Jammu newspaper now delivers its judgment on Jha: “In other words, he not only spoke for and on behalf of separatists and communalists in Kashmir but also for Pakistan endorsing the atrocious view that Jammu and Kashmir was an unsettled issue.” The genial Jha may be amused to read this whole-new appraisal of him.
I recently read about the two-day International Media Conference in Hyderabad, organized by the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in the Hyderabad main campus. The theme of the event was ‘Muslim, Media and Democracy – Perspectives and Challenges’. Speaking at the conference, print and television journalist Seema Mustafa held the national media, especially the electronic media, responsible for portraying the children on the streets of Srinagar as terrorists.
Even reading these words pained my heart, but one knows that the national electronic media has been unsparing even where Kashmiri children are concerned. Alienation in Kashmir cannot be addressed by painting any such assessment as anti-Indian.
At the India Today Conclave on March 14, MP and Peoples Democratic President (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti had given a succinct solution to the Kashmir issue. “Gun is not going to solve our problem. It is going to be dialogue. It is going to be peace and reconciliation,” she had said.
Labels like pro-India, hyper-nationalistic or anti-India and pro-separatist are not going to bring us to a resolution of the Kashmir problem. As Mehbooba Mufti correctly stated, “It’s not about land or laws. It’s about people – how do you connect with them, feel their pain.”
All those who speak about feeling Kashmir’s pain can easily be labeled by Indian nationalists as an anti-India force in the Valley. The same cannot be said for Mehbooba Mufti, leader of PDP, the party which has aligned with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government in the state. There is wisdom in her healing touch proposed for Kashmir: “I understand when an army person gets killed it’s sad, but you have to show that same kind of compassion for an 11-year-old boy or a college going student when he is shot for no reason. 120 people were killed in 2010, not a single one among them was a militant. You need to connect with Kashmir emotionally.”
If such a beginning is made, it will suffice.
Author is a Senior Journalist and Director Lehar—a NGO. She can be mailed at rajnishaleen@gmail.com
No comments