|
|
|
| Home | About Kashmir Herald | |
Volume 2, No. 6 - November 2002 |
Email this page
to a friend
|
|
|
Text of the Presentation made to Amnesty
International at Chicago, USA. I would like to thank Amnesty International for providing us with the opportunity of presenting the Historical Perspective of the Kashmir conflict and the human rights violations of Kashmiri Pandits. I am going to tell you a story of a people, my people, called Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir. This is a story of people whose highest ethos, since times long gone, has been non-violence, highest aspiration the pursuit of learning, highest goal perfection in spirituality. This community has had 100 percent literacy rate until recently. And their main source of income has always been the income they could muster from their learning or land. The story I am going to tell you is not of the grandeur of their learning, but the slow but sure dissemination of these people, their institutions of learning, their arts, their lost categories, their miseries, their humiliation, the raping and murdering of their sisters mothers, massacres of their children, their disenfranchisement, loss of their land and homes. The majority of this left over community, those who still had not succumbed to the above mayhems, is languishing in the refugee camps in India. The story of their misfortune is long, about 700 years long, but I will try to sum it up for you in next fifteen minutes. I will only highlight some of the important events with the intent of pointing out parallels with the present. This story starts around AD 1320, when the first Muslim ruler of Dynasty Shah-Mir's usurped the throne of Kashmir. Shah-Mir was not a Kashmiri, but had been given shelter by the previous Hindu King. At that time Kashmir was mostly Hindu/Buddhist in nature. The main trouble started when around (AD 1381) during the reign of the Sultan Qutuibdin, when a foreign Cleric Sayyid Ali Hamdani came to Kashmir from Hamdan. This is when the first Madrasa appeared in Kashmir, and whose first pupil was the Sultan Qutuibdin. His first instruction is to follow Sharia law and to apply on the infidels. That is when the King started on a program of destroying Hindu temples. He died early and is followed by his son Sikander Butshikan, (Destroyer of idols) again tutored and influenced by Sayyid Ali Hamdani. Sulta Sikander But-Shiken (AD 1393): Rules for 26 years following the instructs and the dictates of his teacher. Systematically destroys temples, Kashmiri institution, prohibits playing and learning of Music and Dramatics, Effectively annihilates institutions of Kashmiri Learning, Forces conversion and massacres on those who resist. In one short period he killed so many people as to collect 80 Kgm's of sacred initiatory thread. (Each such thread weighs about 1 gram, making it about 80 thousand people.) During his reign large scale conversions and migration of Kashmir's took place. See Jonaraja Page 657-669 and Tarikh-I-Hasam KhuiAmi, Pir GulAm Hasan Page 178-180) Sultan Sikander is followed by Sultan Zain-ul-Abdin (AD 1414). His rule was the mostly benevolent for Kashmiri Hindus. Malik Musa Raina (AD1501-): During his reign another Sayyed from outside comes to Kashmir and becomes the major influence on Malik Musa Raina. 24000 families are forcibly converted on orders from Amir Shamasu'd-Din Iraqi, to Islam (Ref: Tarikh-I-Hasam KhuiAmi, Pir GulAm Hasan & Tohfatul-Ahbab, Anonymous )RPD. ACC. No. 1155& THK p270) On order from Iraqi, 1,500-2000 infidels were brought everyday to the door steps of Mir Iraqi; who in turn would remove their sacred thread, administer Kalima to them, Circumcise them and forced them to eat beef. (Ref: Tohfatul-Ahbab, Anonymous RPD. ACC. No. 1155, ff157) [For Graphic description of the forced Circumcision on Idgah grounds: Again see, Tohfatul-Ahbab, Anonymous RPD. ACC. No. 1155, ff 1190-191] Malik Kaji Chak AD 1518: (Promises Amir Shamasu'd-din Iraqi his following.) The forcibly Converted Hindus start going back to their old tradition. In AD 1518, 1000 leading personalities of the community, who had gone back to their old faith, were massacred in front of their families and their followers. The families and the followers were warned not to repeat the mistake of going back to their infidel ways. These leading personalities had an influence over hundreds of other families, and they all were coerced back to Islam. (Bahristan-I-shahi). These policies forced constant migration of Kashmiri Hindus out of Kashmir. However even to migrate out of Kashmir, they were forced to pay taxes along with the humiliation and the abduction of their women folk. Afghan Rule: The Pathan rule was considered the most barbaric rule our community had to suffer. It is said that during this rule only 11 Kashmiri Hindu families were left over in Kashmir. One can see from some the events pointed out above, that the main source of the of the atrocities over Kashmiri Hindus, who had by now become minority in their own land, was initiated and led by the Muslim Clerics coming from out side and establishing their Madrasas Even though the implementation was very often through local converted authorities.
Consequences to My community: From here I will jump to period from 1948 to 1989. There after this story even though still of Kashmiri Hindus, it also includes the story of the Minorities of Jammu and Kashmir state. Which are Dogras of Jammu, Kashmiri Hindus, Ladhakhis and the Sikhs.
Jammu and Kashmir (1948 - 1990)
Discrimination at the Governmental Level: By 1948 the Kashmiri Hindu population was 15 %. However they had at most one representative in the state assembly (out of the total of 75 members) and hardly ever any representation in Indian Parliament. The Voting precincts were carved such that Kashmiri Hindus would always be in minority. The state government enacted laws, which setup reservations in educational institutions and the Government Jobs for the Majority population. (The Government being the main employer in state.) Note that traditionally the main occupation for the community was secured through the education (white collar jobs). The enactment of these laws removed the possibility of education for youth within the state. Kashmiri Hindus youth were thus systematically forced to leave the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Reservation of the Jobs for the majority Muslim community blocked the possibility of the getting jobs in the state. It guaranteed the slow and steady reduction of the Kashmiri Hindus population.
Passage of the Draconian Land reform Act:
Kashmiri Hindus who left the state experienced insurmountable difficulties in claiming to be the state subject, both for them selves as well as for their descendents. Where as the Muslims who had left India and adopted Pakistan are too easily recognized as the state subject. The Kashmiri Hindu woman, if she marries out side Kashmir, looses all rights to her ancestral property and effectively the state subject.
Discrimination from Majority Populace: Regular desecration, destruction and the occupation of our places of worship never gets much press. And since the judicial system of the state is independent of the Central Government there is no recourse for Kashmiri Hindus. The tendency of our community to get on with our lives without protesting the discriminations of the local government and the Muslim community has been mistaken by many as the peaceful coexistence of the two communities. I implore rest of the world not to take the silence of the lamb as peacefulness of the wolf. The one message that is clear of to our experience is that religious bigotry was a constant theme for our community even during the period from 1948-1990. However some time around 1980 onwards a large number of Madrassas in Kashmir, (of Wahabi type) started appearing. There was at the same time appearance of large number of non-Kashmiri Muslim clergy population. This gave a serious twist to the existing but still not so extreme religious bigotry. It is during this period that religious fanaticism in Kashmir started becoming intense. By 1990 it had come to full boil, and could not be kept under lid anymore. Again notice the Influence of Madrasas and foreigners, a theme having resonance with past history.
Kashmir (1989 - Present) "If it were truly a movement for the freedom of Kashmir the content of slogans would be entirely different." However this uprising based in transforming Kashmir in to an Islamic theocracy, is presented to outside world as freedom struggle. Other slogans blurred from the loudspeakers left no doubt about the thrust of the movement. Examples of which are given below.
Starting from 1989, the situation caused by the injunction of foreign elements, dominated by Pakistan caused:
And I can tell with pride, that even during these depths of despair Kashmiri Hindus have not picked up guns to avenge themselves through terrorism, but are struggling to some how provide education to their children, for that is all they are still certain about. We have shown here that the intent of the foreign sponsored movement in Kashmir is to bring in Islamic law and to force the local minority population either to get converted to Islam or force them to leave Kashmir and not freedom. An objective in consonance with the objectives adopted historically.
PS: To see the details of the atrocities
caused on Kashmiri Hindus please visit |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Archives
| Privacy Policy |
Copyrights
|
Contact
Us | |
||
