From a Secular Indian’s perspective
Well Kashmir is like women (you can’t understand both). Uhem.. When we talk about Kashmir, we think of the muslims, Indian army, India, Pakistan, terrorists and the UN. But what about the Kashmiris? Why doesn’t “Kashmiris” strike our mind before all other terms? Who is responsible for this functioning of mind? Who to blame for the plight of Kashmiris? Is it they themselves? Or are they fully innocent? Well… we will try to UNDERSTAND.
Kashmir is considered heaven of India. Its people must have been considered as the same too. But sadly the case isn’t so in India. In present India there are many ultra-nationalists who when they see a Kashmiri student in New Delhi, tend to suspect him and throw hatred from eyes, considering him “traitor”. But the fact is they are Kashmiris who have since long become a football being kicked constantly by India and Pakistan. We need to think of them TOO. Why India never did a referendum in Kashmir? Since 1947!! Just why? India did referendum in Junagarh then why not in Kashmir? Now if you go and ask a common Indian he will say because the Kashmiris will choose Pakistan we can’t let them vote for their choice! Wow, what a democracy!! At least give some genuine reason for the delay of the referendum which was promised to them. Why won’t one fight for his own identity, his freedom? They can, they have their rights. Neither India nor Pakistan should force them to be with either country. But what fight? What kind of a fight they should do?
Fighting for your rights in a democratic country like India should be democratic too! What are these weapons? The support for violence, for terrorists in the name of Kashmiriyat or Jihad? Doing violence in the name of freedom and opposing oppression is nothing but a crime which should and must be punished by the Indian state. And what is Pakistan doing? Sending “good” terrorists over to India for fighting the “oppressive” Indian army? Is it a way for fighting for the “victims”? Doesn’t seem so. Well if you will use guns, Indian army will not stay silent. That’s for sure. You have the UN, go to them, use their help, put your official applications, go through the democratic procedure for their sake! You are only harming the Kashmiris by using violent means. There is no way you can categorize the terrorists as “good” or “bad”. Pakistan will have to pay for all the violence it has spread in Kashmir in the name of Jihad or whatever. This is not the way. By doing this Pakistan is defaming the common Pakistanis who have no hatred for the “kafir” India. And also putting in danger the lives of minority muslims of India in the hands of extremist Hindus who need such excuses for practicing their filthy hate filled violent mindset, and harm muslims.
Common Kashmiri needs to educate himself, ask questions to the Indian as well as Pakistani state, do whatever he wants to democratically, but Jihad has no place in India. Jihadis will and must be properly dealt with by the Indian army. But India needs to empathize with the Kashmiris rather than calling them traitors. They need to restrict military interference in Kashmir and only use army when its actually needed rather than for spreading fear among common Kashmiris which has become a passion for present BJP government who for satisfying their extremist Hindu-nationalist hunger are feeding on the plight of common Kashmiris. And Pakistan needs to use democratic means if it wants to do justice to the people of Kashmir.
But above all India needs to resettle the Kashmiri Pundits (Hindus) who were thrown out of Kashmir by the extremist Wahabi muslims, raped and brutally tortured by them. What about them? Why not anyone speaks about thousands of Kashmiri hindus who were thrown out by their neighbor muslims?
All this is possible only by democratic means. Period.