Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 2: Kashmiri separatists and fake mainstream leaders in the Valley said there are only two options available to New Delhi to end unrest in Kashmir - resolution of the so-called Kashmir problem under the UN resolutions and trilateral dialogue between India, Pakistan and Kashmiris. "We stand for resolution of Kashmir issue as per the United Nations resolutions or through a tripartite dialogue involving New Delhi, Islamabad and the 'real leadership' of Kashmir, keeping the aspirations of the people in mind," they said. Fake mainstream Kashmiri leaders like former JKPCC Saif-ud-Din Soz, who also share the separatists' nasty view that the issue of J&K is yet to be resolved, too, favour trilateral dialogue between New Delhi, Islamabad and Kashmiris. Soz, for example, bats for New Delhi-Islamabad axis, Srinagar-New Delhi axis and Srinagar-Islamabad axis.
But more than that, they also said that people of all the regions, on both sides of the divide, including Gilgit-Baltistan, so-called Azad Kashmir, and Jammu and Kashmir, should be allowed to decide their fate and choose their destiny and reiterate that the "pro-freedom leadership will not let the sacrifices go waste and fight until Kashmiris get their right to self-determination".
They do not stop just there. They claim that all in this and the other part of the State, which has been under the illegal occupation of Pakistan since 1947, are Kashmiris.
Let them say what they want but the fact of the matter is that the people of PoJK, Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh region and Jammu province are not Kashmiris. They are Dogras, Pathowaris or "Paharis", Gujjars and Bakerwals, Buddhists, all racially Mongolite, Dards and so on. They do not speak Kashmiri. They have their own distinct culture and identity and added together they constitute more than 75 per cent of the population, which is hostile to the Kashmiri-speaking ethnic Sunnis, who have been dominating the Kashmiri politics, particularly since 1932.
Even all in Kashmir are not Kashmiris. The Kashmiris are concentrated mostly in the very small Valley. As far as the hilly and mountainous areas of Kashmir region are concerned, these are mostly inhabited by the Pathowaris or "Paharis", Gujjars and Bakerwals and Dards and so on and so forth. They have their own demands and aspirations. While the Gujjars and Bakerwals, who got the ST status way back in 1991, have been struggling to obtain political reservation, the Pathowari-speaking people have been demanding ST status, saying their problems and the problems of the Gujjars and Bakerwals are the same. Only the Indian Constitutions provides ST status for certain categories of people. No Muslim State anywhere in the world provides ST status or reservation to any group on any ground whatsoever.
More importantly, even the Kashmir-speaking people in the Valley are not homogeneous. While the Kashmiri-speaking ethnic Sunnis are divided into at least five groups demanding merger with Pakistan, autonomy, self-rule, independence and India-Pakistan joint control and joint management, bulk of the Kashmiri-speaking Shiite Muslims have nothing to do with the ongoing secessionist movement in the Valley. They are as against Sunni-dominated Pakistan as they are against the Sunni-dominated State apparatus.
Similarly, the people of PoJK and Gilgit-Baltistan are against Pakistan. They want independence from Pakistan with many of them want to link their fate with India. During the past two years, these areas have witnessed many anti-Pakistan and pro-India demonstrations, which were crushed by the brutal Pakistani force.
As for the people of Jammu province and Ladakh, they are ardent champions of India in Jammu & Kashmir and there should be no doubt about it. They want the statehood status and UT status, respectively.
Then, there are nearly seven lakh Kashmiri Hindus, who migrated from the Valley in 1990. They want bifurcation of Kashmir and establishment of separate homeland within the Valley invested with UT status.
The point is that those who vouch for UN resolutions or right to self-determination in Kashmir constitute a minority. The problem is that New Delhi doesn't appreciate these stark realities in the State and only puts all its eggs in the Kashmiri Sunni basket. New Delhi needs to recognize the ground realities in the State and patronize in the State those who represent India in this strategic part of the country. Ironically, the RSS, which on Sunday expressed its deep concern over the rapid increase in Muslim population in certain States, including West Bengal and Assam, favours the Kashmiri-Sunni domination. Ram Madhav and his ilk flirt with them quite frequently and cause harm not only to an overwhelming majority of pro-India population in the State but also to the very national interest in the State. |
