Is India pushing the ordinary Kashmiri people further away by enforcing regular curfews, putting most of their separatist leaders under house arrest and denying them religious freedom by banning Friday prayers in Kashmir’s Jamia Masjid (grand mosque) on a regular basis to avoid violence?
I travelled to Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir this week, and saw how people were tired of violence and wanted peace and dignity in the region.
Many told me how they felt unhappy each time an incident of violence in a remote corner of the city would scare authorities into shutting down the city and forced them to stay indoors, many without any provisions.
The majority of people in Kashmir appear tired of the 20-year-old violence, involving militants and Indian troops, which has declined significantly — with almost no major attacks in the main city of Srinagar for more than a year now.
Having tasted peace for a while now, people in Srinagar want to spend time near the Dal Lake or travel to a picturesque location with their families, instead of being locked up in their homes.
Industry heads and businessmen I spoke to recollect their endless meetings with Indian ministers, requesting them to do more to restore confidence of potential investors to boost the handicraft, horticulture and tourism sectors.
Many bookshop owners, fruit sellers and students I talked to want the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, the main separatist alliance in the disputed region, to hold talks with the government.
Some separatist leaders admit that talks can help their cause.
“With militancy down, this is the perfect opportunity for talks and the onus is on India now to take advantage and resolve the Kashmir dispute once and for all,” Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told Reuters.
Could this be the right time to hold talks with the separatists to resolve the Kashmir crisis? And do Indian authorities agree?
Trackback
53 comments so far
Previous | 3 | 2 | 1 | Next
Someone compared TamilNadu with JK, irrelevant. Donot simply go by Indian English media, therez no insurgency in India to protect borders. Tamils supporting the cause of tamils in Srilanka doesn’t mean Insurgency, pakistanis also supporting (covertly) muslim’s cause in India, so do you say those pakistani’s want to leave pakistan and join India
- Posted by CholasFor the last 60 years we have been fighting for Kashmir. Huge chunks of our budget is spent on the Kashmir issue.If we had left Kashmir we had become singapore or malaysia. We went to every extent supporting Kashmir.Kashmir was and is a muslim majority state which has its historical trade and effection for Pakistan. If India is so sure that Kashmiris want to be a part of Kashmir than they should hold a UN sponsored refrendum in Kashmir and let the Kashmiris decide and let the dispute end finally.You are saying that Pakistan wants Kashmirs lands then we both should withdraw from Kashmir and declare it an autonomous region and let the Kahmiris live in peace forever, but oppressing them would even more strengthen their resolve to join Pakistan which is truly just!
- Posted by Moaaz Awantarang, virendra pratap singh
- Posted by AshokEven after 62 yrs of partition, 30 or so hindus ran for their lives and left the snake pit called pakistan and entered India seeking asylum just this past month; there are 170 muslims in India and a paltry one lack or less Hindus in Pakistan, because they were (hindus) murdered and forcibly converted since partition.
You sound like dumb idiots who don’t have anything valuable over your shoulders, so better keep your learned opinions to yourselves. What if telugu people decide to kick out non telugus out of andhra Pradesh, as they conclude that non telugus just don’t belong there. Would you, hypothetically assuming that you live in AP, pack up and go leaving your immovable property and life. If so where do you go? Since India has muslim population larger than entire Pak population, India should now demand land from Pakistan. After all, the partition was based on a noble cause of religion and accordingly, India should have more land than it was allotted at the time of partition.
Your holier than thou attitude should be kept to your selves and prompt you to start distributing your personal properties to your neighbors, and then you just go declare sanyas- just dont let that attitude of yours punish others.
Journo,
@ “KINDLY CORRECT YOUR FACTS
ONLY 1.5 LAKH KASHMIRI PANDITS HAD FLED KASHMIR.”
- In your previous post you said 1 lakh Pandits migrated. Now you are saying 1.5 lakh. Good that you have corrected your “Facts”. However I am deeply pained by the remorseless “Only” in the sentence. So if “Only” 1.5 people were driven out of their homes then “Only” some thousands killed. What’s the Big Deal!
@ “KASHMIR IS NOT PUNJAB
PUNJAB HAS CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS BOND WITH REST OF THE INDIA.
KASHMIRI’S DON’T IDENTIFY WITH INDIANS”
- Read your history correctly. Since Ages , like Punjab, Kashmir has been an integral part of India. It is/was an important seat of shivite movements. The Shankaracharya Mutt is not there for no reason.
If you and couple of your cahoots cannot identify yourselves with India then its your problem. Many in your state do identify themselves with India. And Pal you missed the 1947 bus going to Lahore. Its still not too late. Pack up you stuff and leave for pakistan if that’s where you identify yourself.
@ “CONCEPT OF INDIA - KASHMIR HAS TO DO NOTHING WITH THAT CONCEPT- BECAUSE KASHMIR WAS NEVER A PART OF BRITISH INDIA.”
- Modern india is not made up of just British India. It also has many ex-states merged into it. Kashmir was one of them. Read treaty of Annexation signed by Hari Singh in presence of Lord Mountbatten if you need more enlightenment.
@ “DELIMITATION OF SEATS IN JK - HOW DOES IT MATTER- PEOPLE IN KASHMIR ARE NOT AFTER HOW MANY ASSEMBLY SEATS THEY WILL GET.. AFTER INDIA CELEBRATED ‘KASHMIR ASSEMBLY - 2008′ … THE ONGOING ELECTIONS HAVE CLEARED ALL DOUBTS.”
- Seat Delimitation does matter. That will ensure that People in your state get what they deserve. KAshmir should not prosper at the cost of Jammu and LAddakh. As i said before, thank your lucky stars that you are in India. Care to read about what happened to 3 Baloch leaders?
- Posted by chirkutJOURNO
— No issues., but when you say ‘kashmir’, what do mean geographically, ethnically et al.
- Posted by anupKINDLY CORRECT YOUR FACTS
ONLY 1.5 LAKH KASHMIRI PANDITS HAD FLED KASHMIR.
KASHMIR IS NOT PUNJAB
PUNJAB HAS CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS BOND WITH REST OF THE INDIA.
KASHMIRI’S DON’T IDENTIFY WITH INDIANS
CONCEPT OF INDIA - KASHMIR HAS TO DO NOTHING WITH THAT CONCEPT- BECAUSE KASHMIR WAS NEVER A PART OF BRITISH INDIA.
DELIMITATION OF SEATS IN JK - HOW DOES IT MATTER- PEOPLE IN KASHMIR ARE NOT AFTER HOW MANY ASSEMBLY SEATS THEY WILL GET.. AFTER INDIA CELEBRATED ‘KASHMIR ASSEMBLY POLLS- 2008′ … THE ONGOING ELECTIONS HAVE CLEARED ALL DOUBTS.
- Posted by JOURNOKashmir’s alienation is due to Pakistan. If its trained insurgents do not cross the LoC and blackmail the population to fall by their side, Kashmiris would be all right. Everyone wants peace and livelihood. In today’s situation, Kashmir is better of being part of India. With Pakistan falling apart like a deck of cards, they will see the truth for themselves.
Long ago, during Nehru’s time, the opportunity to settle Kashmir amicably was missed. I do believe in people’s self determination and freedom. But right now, that is not the top priority in Kashmir. We need to see how Pakistan goes from here on. I feel soon Pashtuns will secede from Pakistan and merge with Afghanistan or become an independent nation. This will cause a domino effect there. Kashmir will become peaceful again as the Jihadist elements will need to go back home and fight their mentors and the ISI.
- Posted by MauryanBappa,
Why should india strive more to win hearts and minds of Kashmiri more than a bengali, a tamil or a maharashtrian?
In fact,, to me India is bending over backwards so much to accommodate Kashmiri’s whims that she has become unjust to Laddakhis and Jammuites.
In fact Kashmiri separatists should thank their lucky stars to be in India. Had they been in some other state they would have ended up as the 3 Baloch leaders in Pakistan.
To me Kashmiri Separatists are just like Taliban(In fact they share a lot of common things). The more you yield the more they ask for.
- Posted by chirkutJourno,
Strange that in spite of living in the hot bed of terrorism you are so oblivious of reasons behind Kashimiri Pandit’s migration. Pandits were threatened by Kashmiri terrorists to leave or get killed and many were killed to prove case in point. Nobody would benefit from this ethnic cleansing other than Pak and Separatists.
Responsibilities come before rights. Kashmiris behaved irresponsibly by targeting their minorities. And hence they have lost right of self determination.
And mind it, the day delimitation is done in JnK Kashmir will also loose its hold on JnK Assembly with Jammu getting more seats (rightly so based on their population) than Kashmir.
Indian Army is no Indian’s enemy unless you make them so for yourself. If anyone is under the misconception that they can challenge the Indian state by resorting to violence and work against the Indian Union Punjab could be a good example for them. (LTTE more recent if you like it)
- Posted by chirkutBappa Majumdar
“Could this be the right time to hold talks with the separatists to resolve the Kashmir crisis? And do Indian authorities agree?”
— Be Specific.What exactly do you have in mind while posing this question? What is your understanding of this ‘Kashmir crisis’ that you talk of –Only the 3.5 million Kashmiri muslim residing in the 8-9 districts of the valley? Or the remaining 3 million kashmiri pandits / jammuite’s / gujjars / leh & ladakhi’s / meleshi’s / shia’s & not to forget the pahari’s of POK / shia pop. Of Northern areas / the kashmiri land gifted to china by Pakistan etc. etc.
- Posted by anupWhen 60 out of 89 state legislative seats are won by pro-India political parties then what is the locus standi of these so called separatists? Or should India concede to their demands for their nuisance value with support from Pakistan? Isn’t J&K already an autonomous state with their own constitution?
If relgion is the basis for carving out countries, Hyderabad city can claim independence and so are the christian pockets in India.
India was formed on a secular framework; UN? What UN? I thought it was dead in the international arena for over a decade now.
Its presence is a joke at best.
- Posted by Azadkashmir today is more than just terrorism and the hurriyat, i would like to draw your attention to the amarnath shrine board committe land allotment case. painful fault lines exist now in kashmir than ever before, maybe the cleansing of kashmir of its pandits has created a change in kashmir, go to a separatist rally Mr Majumdar( try yasin mallik) and you wont find grand-dads drinkng kahwah and grumbling, you will find young men shouting pakistan zindabad slogans, personally kashmir has had enough from both india and pakistan, and yet no one is asking kashmiris???? so while some may say kashmir desrves to be in india, i say kashmir may be good if it were in indian hands but let kashmiri people say that……
- Posted by tarangIf India is trying to win heart and mind in Kashmir, it is fighting a losing battle. The population in J&K is so much polarised on basis of religion that, neither India nor Pakistan can claim the backing of full population. Jammu and Leh will try to remain with India while Kashmir valley will try to join Pakistan.
- Posted by Virendra Pratap SinghAnd as per my thinking that is the best solution as well.