Kashmiris prefer Kashmiriyat over radicalisation

New Delhi, Dec 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) Thirty years of Pakistan sponsored militancy and violence have not been able to destroy Kashmiriyat which characterises religious and cultural harmony, patriotism and pride of people for their mountainous homeland of Kashmir.

Soon after the gun toting militants appeared in the streets of Kashmir in 1990 they carried out the selective killings of members of Kashmiri Pandit community leading to the forced exodus of the entire community from the Valley.

These people left everything behind and are still living in exile. But a few members of the minority communities stayed behind and are still living in Kashmir. The Muslims have not let them down and continue to be a part of their festivities and mourning.

On December 7, 2021, residents of Begam village in South Kashmir's Kulgam district came together to help perform the last rites of their 75-year-old woman, Lajwanti Devi, a Kashmiri Rajput Hindu.

As only a few of her family members were around, Lajwanti's Muslim neighbours took it upon themselves to help perform her cremation. They shouldered her coffin and arranged wood for her cremation in the village. Hundreds of Muslim villagers participated in her last journey.

Muslims performing the last rites of Kashmiri Pandits or Hindus has been a norm in the Valley especially during the past thirty years of Pakistan sponsored turmoil. Nefarious designs of the militants and their handlers to divide the people of Kashmir on religious lines have not been able to kill Kashmiriyat.

There have been target killings and other attempts but the basic ethos and culture have not been destroyed.

Kashmir, known as the abode of sufis and saints due to the centuries-old indigenous tradition of communal harmony and religious syncretism continues to be the same. People continue to follow what their ancestors had taught them.

Ethos still alive

Radical elements during the past few years have left no opportunity to pollute the minds of youngsters by preaching hate. Killing people in the name of religion has never been a part of Kashmiri culture. But the militant handlers during all these years have tried their best to tell the gun toting militants that killing someone for him following some other religion is no sin.

Despite their attempts the hate mongers have not been able to dilute the ethos and the "we feeling" which Kashmiris have for each other.

There is nothing unusual about Kashmiri Muslims performing the last rites of a Hindu or a Pandit. Prior to 1990 when Kashmiri Pandits used to live in the Valley members of both the communities were integral parts of each other. Celebrating festivals together, going for mohalla picnics, being a part of community get-to-gathers were common practices.

The first thing which Pakistan did after sending armed insurgents into Kashmir in 1990 it asked the militants to attack the secular identity of Kashmiris by targeting the members of minority communities.

The main intention was to pit one community against another so that the idea of secularism could be buried at the very onset of the insurgency.

The militant handlers to an extent succeeded in their evil designs as the Kashmiri Pandits left the Kashmir Valley to save their lives. But these terror sponsors failed to kill the spirit of Kashmiriyat.

A few Kashmiri Pandits, who have not disposed off their properties in rural areas, have made their Muslim neighbours as the custodians with a hope that one day they will return to their roots.

The process to get back Kashmiri Pandits has already commenced. People sitting across the Line of Control (LoC) see it as yet another defeat for them. In October this year militants turned their guns towards the members of minority communities and killed eleven civilians, including a prominent Kashmiri Pandit pharmacist Makhan Lal Bindroo, five non-local labourers, two teachers -- a Sikh woman, Supinder Kaur and a Hindu man, Deep Chand -- the message was clear the militants wanted to create fear and thwart the process of resettlement of the members of minority communities in Kashmir.

Irony is that Bindroo had not migrated from the Valley and had stayed back during the turbulent times, while the Sikh woman was taking care of a Muslim orphan girl.

Muslims want KPs to return

The so-called sympathizers of Kashmiri people, who claim to be fighting for the 'Azadi' of Kashmiris, were unable to digest that members of the majority community have welcomed Kashmiri Pandits with open arms and are providing them with every possible help to resettle in their homeland.

According to Jammu and Kashmir Police. militants who were involved in the recent civilian killings, have been neutralized and there is no possibility about Pakistan succeeding in its attempt to recreate a situation like the 1990s.

The killings of civilians carried out by the militants' evoked widespread condemnation from the members of the majority community. They reacted by expressing sympathies with the bereaved families and by terming the barbaric murders as terrorism.

The difference between 1990 and 2021 was clearly visible.

In 1990 members of the majority community in Kashmir remained silent fearing reprisal but this time around they mustered courage to lift the veil from ugly face of terror.

Attempts of the adversary to kill Kashmiriyat have not worked as the people of the Valley have shown that they won't allow Kashmir to turn into another Pakistan where Muslims kill Muslims just for the sake of them belonging to different sects.

Kashmiri Pandits want to return and their Muslim brethrens too want to see them back. The inclusive culture has been a hallmark of Kashmir. Kashmiriyat signifies a centuries-old indigenous secularism of Kashmir and it cannot be torn apart by sending guns, bombs and grenades or by creating a wedge between the people who have lived together for centuries.

Before being a Muslim or Pandit, the people of Kashmir consider themselves as Kashmiris. History stands testimony to the fact that invaders like Mughals and Afghans also tried to attack the very spirit of Kashmiriyat but they failed. Pakistan too has tried to do the same but has bitten the dust as the people of Kashmir seem in no mood to abandon the legacy they have inherited from their ancestors.

Source: IANS