Sorry, Kashmir Is Happy

[beetle]

Why is it obscene to accept that a historically wounded people are ready to move on? BY Manu Joseph SRINAGAR, GULMARG ~ There was a moment when Prashant Bhushan was irreversibly diminished, and he became the Ringo Starr of Team AnnaÃÔ famous four. It happened in the middle of a television interview, when thugs broke into his chamber and beat him up for demanding a referendum in Kashmir to solve the dispute. At the time, a section of KashmirÃÔ intellectuals were still waiting to hear from Anna Hazare. They were naý×e enough to believe everything that television anchors said and to invite him to take up the ValleyÃÔ cause with the evil Indian government. After all, Hazare had demanded a referendum for the anti-corruption bill. He was surely the referendum-type? But Hazare soon made his position clear. Even as BhushanÃÔ body was still aching, Hazare publicly condemned his stand on Kashmir. According to Hazare, and possibly some other former truck drivers of the Indian Army, Kashmir was not a disputed part of India. It was another reminder for the people of Kashmir that it is almost impossible to transmit to all of India the simple fact that India has occupied Kashmir and this occupation is morally indefensible. KashmirÃÔ intellectual elite, which includes writers, melancholy poets, artists, Facebook revolutionaries, filmmakers and at least one rapper who owns a hood, have since resumed what KashmirÃÔ elite has always done. Trauma in Kashmir is like a heritage buildingÃÕhe elite fight to preserve it. ÃÂ¥onÃÕ forget, is their predominant message, ÃÂ¥onÃÕ forget to be traumatised. They want the wound of Kashmir to endure because the wound is what indicts India for the many atrocities of its military. This might be a long period of calm, but if the wound vanishes, where is the justice? India simply gets away with all those rapes, murders and disappearances? So nothing disgusts them more than these words: ïormalcy returns to Kashmir? ñeace returns to the Valley? ìashmiris want to move on? Yet, all this is true. And for the regular people of Kashmir, who do not have second homes in North America, Europe, Dubai or Delhi, who have no choice but to continue living in Kashmir, this reality is not so disgusting. Peace is designed to be fragile in Kashmir. Any moment, at the slightest provocation, its youth will be nudged by those who stand to gain from strife to erupt against the Indian Army, or militants may choose to stir things up to bolster the lucrative business of terrorism. But it is hard not to see that this is an extraordinary period of peace. A few days ago, Syed Salahuddin, chief of terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, confirmed something, which Kashmiris say is common knowledgeÃÕhat he has withdrawn all his men from Kashmir. According to Jammu and KashmirÃÔ tourism minister, in 2011 more tourists visited the Valley than in recent memory. It is believed that the figure was over a million. This winter, almost all hotels in Gulmarg, a skiing destination an hour from Srinagar, were fully booked. Zahoor, who is from Srinagar and works in Gulmarg in the winters as a skiing instructor, and who taught me how to ski, says he is enjoying the peace and hordes of Indian tourists and his newfound ability to earn a decent living. Also, in Kashmir, the political stakes in ensuring that the Indian Army does not violate human rights are so high that Kashmiris today have little to complain. On the streets of Srinagar and in the villages around, regular people, who are not writers or journalists or intellectuals, have come to hate Pakistan for what it has done to the Valley in the name of freedom. Also, what Pakistan has become, politically and economically, has ensured that accession to that country is not part of popular sentiment here anymore. In fact, there is even relief in Kashmir that historical circumstances saved the Valley from being a part of Pakistan. And what India has become, politically and economically, has made it more endearing than the Kashmiri elite wants to admit in public. But freedom from India remains a fervent wish for many, which means that an independent sovereign Kashmir stranded between India and Pakistan is the only option left. KashmirÃÔ elite, especially those who live in Kashmir, believe that a sovereign Kashmir is an impractical idea and to continue the status quo with the newly prosperous and somewhat secular India is the best way forward. Å£ut we canÃÕ say it, you know, we canÃÕ say it publicly without a lot of our brothers from Dubai and America abusing us, says one of the prominent journalists of Kashmir in an informal chat with me in the lobby of a hotel in Srinagar. Is it obscene to search for happiness in Kashmir, is it obscene for a writer from the south of India to wander around Kashmir interviewing people who will tell him that they want to get on with their lives despite the presence of the Indian Army? What is the stake of an outsider in Kashmir? The fact is that Kashmir, too, has occupied India. Kashmir is the reason why India is one of the worst victims of terrorism. All Indians have a stake in KashmirÃÔ state of mind. About sixty kilometres from Srinagar, in a crowded village hall on the slope of a hill, a meeting is underway. The district magistrate, who had arrived in a car that was followed by a battered ambulance and will leave the same way, is addressing a gathering of newly elected village leaders (there was a voter turnout of nearly 90 per cent in local elections held last year). The gathering is mostly male but there are about ten women in the back rows. The women are among the elected leaders, all of them for the first time, and they listen carefully as the district magistrate tells them how governance works. There are questions and complaints and occasional laughter. When I arrived, the district magistrate, for my benefit, started talking in English and Hindi. He even started using words like ÅÄhauvinistic to describe the men who had made the women take the back rows. His audience quickly instructed him to speak in Kashmiri. They were not here to be part of a farce; they were here to know the way forward. They want to know, very simply, the economic consequences of peace. They wanted roads and electricity and schools and hospitals. At the end of the meeting, which lasted over two hours, the district magistrate told me, ŵhere was not a word about politics. Not a word about the Indian Army or Pakistan or anything. They want to talk about things that matter to them and their families. His deputy is Shah Faesal, a delicate, affable and sharp man. Two years ago he was placed first among the 500,000 candidates who wrote the civil services exam. When the news broke, people went to his home in Srinagar playing drums and singing. Shah Faesal, now twenty-nine, was front-page news. It is hard to believe that someone who topped one of the toughest exams in the world will sit in a small village hall, in the smell of hay, and listen to the aspirations of villagers. But this is what Faesal wants to do. Faesal does not have a passport yet. The only foreign country he has ever visited is Nepal. Å£ut thatÃÔ still India, right? he says with a chuckle. A decade ago, his father, a schoolteacher and known moderate, was killed by ÅÖnidentified gunmen? Once, after a bomb blast in Srinagar, Army jawans rounded up some men on the streets, including FaesalÃÔ father. The men were beaten up and they were, according to Faesal, forced to chant, ųam, Ram. We drive together towards Srinagar. On the way someone tells us that we must turn back, there is stone-pelting going on just a few hundred metres ahead. Faesal nods. He knows what it is about. A few days ago, some boys had tampered with an electrical transformer and they were picked up by the police. The stone-pelting was in protest against the arrest. We donÃÕ turn back, we head towards the venue of the apparent protest. There are about thirty boys standing on the road, doing nothing but laughing. They were the stone-pelters. The fun was over, for the moment. In an earlier interview, Faesal told me that this period of peace inKashmir might just be the beginning of something significant. He said, Ťommonsense is finally winning. I quoted him in an article in the International Herald Tribune. I had quoted him in indirect speech. But just that comment of FaesalÃÕhat commonsense was finally winning in KashmirÃÂttracted the wrath of many Kashmiris on Twitter and Facebook, chiefly the non-resident Kashmiris who live in affluent countries. They hurled a string of abuses at him and hurtful messages. It is as if, in their opinion, peace and happiness are truly obscene things until Kashmir is resolved. They themselves are in peaceful places, they have moved on, got on with their lives, but they want the people of Kashmir to have the decency to suffer. Faesal posted his analysis of these angry Kashmiris on his Facebook page: ÃÃ¥the crop of burger-fed, Armani-attired pseudo-revolutionaries has actually harmed Kashmir, more than anyone else. The non-resident patriotic Indian, who adores Narendra Modi, and the non-resident patriotic Kashmiri are adversaries in the vacuous space of social media. But they have much in common. From the comfort of distance, they financially and emotionally support ideologies whose consequence they donÃÕ have to face. They are not just a nuisance. As a collective they are dangerous. When men capable of murder receive the affection of engineers and MBAs, it makes them potentially far more lethal. That is why, in the genocide of impoverished Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka by that countryÃÔ army, the affluent non-resident Tamils living in Europe, who supported the LTTE through money and love, are very much complicit. Srinagar does not have pubs or discos or cinema halls. Most young people there do not drink. A popular form of fun is sitting in a caf and having coffee with friends. They are still uncorrupted by city slickness and there is an endearing honesty in their words. It is almost impossible to dislike Kashmiris, especially the strangersÃÕhey are too beautiful and too civilised. One of the most popular professions among the young in Kashmir is journalism because they have for long seen their own world interpreted through this profession, which they overrate. The biggest private sector employers in Kashmir are cellphone service providers. Ÿe are crazy about mobile phones, says a 37-year-old employee of Aircel, whose job is to manage complaints from angry customers. Ŧvery Kashmiri has at least one mobile phone, he says. Cellphones have made Kashmiris feel safer. źou can reach your children at all times, the man says, ŵhatÃÔ why everyone has one. He and his close friend take me to Caf Coffee Day, which is filled with young people. Both the men work for Aircel. They say what many educated young people in Kashmir sayÃÄan we move on? Can we have development first instead of waiting forever for the Kashmir issue to be solved? We want industries to come here, we want MNCs and malls. We want to watch a cricket match in Srinagar. Ÿe want KFC, one of them says, and they burst out laughing. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/sorry-kashmir-is-happy#.T5TcJBQlBL4.twitter

[Prakat]

Nice read. Tfs. :nice: Have always believed that its the ones with nothing at stake who call for revolution.

[CSK Fan]

Why is it obscene to accept that a historically wounded people are ready to move on? BY Manu Joseph The non-resident patriotic Indian, who adores Narendra Modi, and the non-resident patriotic Kashmiri are adversaries in the vacuous space of social media. But they have much in common. From the comfort of distance, they financially and emotionally support ideologies whose consequence they donÃÕ have to face. They are not just a nuisance. As a collective they are dangerous. When men capable of murder receive the affection of engineers and MBAs, it makes them potentially far more lethal. That is why, in the genocide of impoverished Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka by that countryÃÔ army, the affluent non-resident Tamils living in Europe, who supported the LTTE through money and love, are very much complicit.

I cant agree more with this point. The most hard core of people from both sides are the non-residents always. You will find the hard-liners there. Also, most of these non-residents are stuck in a past 20 years ago about various things. India has moved on and these people still have memories of the old India and it becomes difficult for them to reconcile

[Sarkar]

Kashmir belongs to India get that Arudhanti Roy Kangresss and Pakistan.

[seedhi]

I cant agree more with this point. The most hard core of people from both sides are the non-residents always. You will find the hard-liners there. Also' date=' most of these non-residents are stuck in a past 20 years ago about various things.[/quote']Can you let us know how supporting a current Chief Minister, elected by a near 2/3 majority, enjoying popular support, amounts to being stuck in the past ? This is exactly what the electorate of Gujarat are saying - that Gujarat has moved on. The moment this article compared supporters of a Chief Minister with those supporting separatism and/or terrorism, it lost all its credibility.

[ravishingravi]

Can you let us know how supporting a current Chief Minister' date=' elected by a near 2/3 majority, enjoying popular support, amounts to being [i']stuck in the past ? This is exactly what the electorate of Gujarat are saying - that Gujarat has moved on. The moment this article compared supporters of a Chief Minister with those supporting separatism and/or terrorism, it lost all its credibility.

Now you are going too far and expecting consistency in argument.

[Precambrian]

I stopped taking the article seriously once I saw the name Manu Joseph...

[yoda]

So all iz well in Kashmir and the only issue are these nuisance NRIs who somehow prevent people living in Kashmir from carrying on with their lives by posting messages on facebook and twitter.

[Precambrian]

So all iz well in Kashmir and the only issue are these nuisance NRIs who somehow prevent people living in Kashmir from carrying on with their lives by posting messages on facebook and twitter. Guess all this talk about Kashmir being the second most volatile region in the world after Palestine is all BS propaganda promoted by war mongering NRIs.

Lol, yeah really... Manu Joseph and ilk are like attention seekers who take a opposite possition only to gain attention and to act like a "oh-am-do-balanced-guy" viewpoint

[ravishingravi]

I stopped taking the article seriously once I saw the name Manu Joseph...

Agreed Joseph is Arundhati Roy Redux

[Lurker]

I cant agree more with this point. The most hard core of people from both sides are the non-residents always. You will find the hard-liners there. Also' date=' most of these non-residents are stuck in a past 20 years ago about various things. India has moved on and these people still have memories of the old India and it becomes difficult for them to reconcile[/quote'] So are you happy now that your point got proved by usual culprits :giggle:

[Lurker]

The beauty of this article is it has in its lead a person like Shah Faesal. In his pink of life and the oppertunity that he could have received to go anywhere in India and take a nice plush job, instead he works for his people in a remote area. Thats what would take Kashmir, and India forward. We need more folks like him. :hatsoff:

[Zelch]

The beauty of this article is it has in its lead a person like Shah Faesal. In his pink of life and the oppertunity that he could have received to go anywhere in India and take a nice plush job, instead he works for his people in a remote area. Thats what would take Kashmir, and India forward. We need more folks like him. :hatsoff:

Right. Do you know what will happen to even a high profile guy like Shah Faisal if he takes a position outside Kashmir or even If he is seen to be abandoning "the cause"? One has to always work for the "cause" in their "community". In a way its good cause this man seems to have practical ideas about the future of Kashmir.

[Lurker]

Right. Do you know what will happen to even a high profile guy like Shah Faisal if he takes a position outside Kashmir or even If he is seen to be abandoning "the cause"?

No I dont. And I dont want to know either by random contribution on Internet :giggle: Far as I can see, the guy has took a position after toiling hard and has taken it a step further. You of course are free to look at it with a sense of circumspection...just dnt expect me to join you. :winky:

[Zelch]

I cant agree more with this point. The most hard core of people from both sides are the non-residents always. You will find the hard-liners there. Also' date=' most of these non-residents are stuck in a past 20 years ago about various things. India has moved on and these people still have memories of the old India and it becomes difficult for them to reconcile[/quote'] Are you comparing Expat Indians to the world renowned scum on earth, the Mirpuris ?

[Zelch]

No I dont. And I dont want to know either by random contribution on Internet :giggle: Far as I can see, the guy has took a position after toiling hard and has taken it a step further. You of course are free to look at it with a sense of circumspection...just dnt expect me to join you. :winky:

Looks like you have very balanced views

[Zelch]

I read this "Beautiful" article and according to Manu Joseph (Does he have an Indian Passport or Amreekan?) 1) Anna Hazare is a low life driver that too of genocidal Indian Army. He might also be a Hindu that automatically puts him at the bottom who cant be trusted to be fair and unbiased. 2) Kashmiris are always the romantic underdogs populated by writers, melancholy poets, artists, Facebook revolutionaries, filmmakers and at least one rapper who owns a hood. So, all the people that were killed in the last 2 decades were victims of Genocide conducted by the Indian army. The rest of the article is balanced keeping with the "current" American Geo-strategic interests of bottling Pakis and hitting where it hurts them most i.e., Kashmir and related anti-Indian propaganda machinery like ISI agent Fai arrest. In all of this, we are again mute spectators where Americans and Pakis are fighting for their respective interests. We must atleast thank our lucky stars that Pakis are so stupid that they have over played their terror card and as a consequence are now busy fighting internal terrorists and Amreekis at the same time.

[daryl1985]

You want to try and explain this unique concept of "Moving On" to a Kashmiri Pandit still living in a Refugee Camp more than 20 yrs after being evicted ? And BTW ever wonder why the author never bothers to mention the NRK's living mostly on Dole money in the UK but still sending Holy Warriors to Kashmir ( Never mind Money ) ? Also any thoughts on why the author never bothers to mention the ethnic cleansing of Pandits ? Want to see the details of brutality ? BTW it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the Godhra train incident was carried over by a Mob incited by Kashmiri Fundamentalists .... ( I cant be bothered to list numerous other ventures undertaken by the "Friendly Kashmiri" deep into India ) But I dare you and the author to find a equivalent response by a Pandit. There is a limit to amount of nonsense that anybody can take but people like the Author and his supporters confirm on a daily basis why India attracts soo much pisstaking by various tinpot organizations. Gutless country with no concept of unity and a basic sense of right and wrong let alone complicated concepts such as protecting your interests and all that.

Please post some links.

[daryl1985]

http://home.gujarat.gov.in/homedepartment/downloads/godharaincident.pdf Pg 163

Thanks a lot for the link. But that does not prove beyond reasonable doubt what you claimed in your earlier post.

[CSK Fan]

? BTW it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the Godhra train incident was carried over by a Mob incited by Kashmiri Fundamentalists .... ( I cant be bothered to list numerous other ventures undertaken by the "Friendly Kashmiri" deep into India ) But I dare you and the author to find a equivalent response by a Pandit. .

And why did they and their Pak handlers do it? To kill some 50 odd people? What was the point? The point was exactly what followed in Gujrat. Riot and communal harmony. Something which set back communal harmony and the country's image by 10 years. So in the end they won and got exactly what they wanted, didnt they?