Contemporary History and Background - Jammu & Kashmir
Kashmir is often presented as some sort of Indian military occupation over a Muslim majority region. A brief history would help in understanding this conflict better.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was primarily Hindu until the 14th century and the birthplace of Shaivism – one of the major traditions in Hinduism that reveres Lord Shiva. The state itself is named for an ancient Hindu sage Kashyap. The tutelary deity of classical Kashmir was Sharada, a manifestation of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of wisdom, whose prayers refer to her as “Kashmira-pura-vasini” (she who resides in Kashmir).
Over the last 500 years, its indigenous residents have been the subject to repeated persecution, initially by Islamic invaders, then by Islamic rulers, all of which led to what’s called the “Seven Exoduses of Kashmiri Hindus”.
Fast forwarding to 1947, when India gained independence from the British, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was formed from parts of India. As part of the process, the various states and kingdoms of India were given the option to be with India or Pakistan. While Hari Singh, the king of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), was deliberating on the future of his state, Pakistan sent its army and tribal militia to invade Kashmir, which led to widespread havoc, destruction, and abuse of men, women, and children in affected areas.
Faced with the realization that he could not fight this assault with his army, Hari Singh turned to India for protection, in return for unconditionally acceding the whole state to India, which included the areas now known as ‘Pakistan Occupied Kashmir’ (PoK), which Pakistan never vacated after the conflict. The terms for J&K’s accession to India, signed on 26 October 1947 were the same as those signed by rulers of more than 550 princely states.
As the first battle of Kashmir continued into 1948, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru called for a ceasefire, and took the dispute to the newly formed United Nations. The result was a stalemate that lasted for decades. In later years, Nehru struck a deal with Sheikh Abdullah, a leader of Kashmiri Muslims, to grant special status to J&K, and Article 370 came into existence long after the state actually acceded to India. Article 370 was a temporary provision that gave special rights to J&K, which other states did not have.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) comprises three parts; the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, the Hindu-majority Jammu, and the Buddhist-dominated Ladakh (which constitutes 65% of J&K’s territory). Yet it is only the Kashmir Valley that dominates political discourse.
For India, a Muslim-majority state of J&K was never a problem, as the country has several areas that have large minority populations, and the country does not discriminate based on religion. However, in addition to illegally holding on to a part of Kashmir (PoK), Pakistan continued to instigate and fund religious extremism and violence in the state.
Despite Pakistan’s involvement, the Kashmir valley was largely peaceful through the 1980s. However, with the increased infiltration of terrorists in the 1980s, the once peaceful valley became a hotbed of religious extremism and terrorism, requiring the government to increase the presence of defense forces to keep peace.The Hindu minority community in the valley bore the brunt of this Islamic fundamentalist violence.
Amidst a complete collapse of the administration, taped slogans were repeatedly played during those nights of January 1990 from mosques all over Kashmir valley:
‘Yahan kya chalega, Nizam-e-Mustafa’ (What do we want here? Rule of Shariah).
Screaming from loud speakers and crowded streets was a message for the Sikhs and Hindus living in Kashmir:
Ralive, Tsaliv ya Galive (convert to Islam, leave the land, or die).
With targeted killings of Hindus reaching an unprecedented level, on the dark night of January 19, 1990, the worst nightmares of Kashmiri Pandits came true. About 500,000 Hindus were forced to flee from their own homeland to other “safer” parts of the country, virtually erasing their presence from the valley.
Even today, terror apologists conveniently ignore these genocidal events that led to the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus from their homes. While the valley has become largely peaceful after the removal of Article 370, Kashmiri Hindus continue to live as refugees in their own country.