“Rule of India” or “Anti-Indian” Feelings in Kashmir?

Diksha Dwivedi,

Correspondent (Asia: South)

 

KASHMIR – The vicious circle of separatist revolts in Kashmir against India began long time ago, in 1989. In 1990s, 1000s of lives were claimed every year.  Kashmir was handed over to an Indian King in 1947 but the state has undergone various conflicts and bloody violence because of a dispute between India and Pakistan as both countries claim Kashmir in full. Since then, anti-Indian feelings have found their way into most Pakistani Muslims residing in Kashmir. This dispute has caused serious regional differences between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir for quite some time now.

Kashmir being a divided Muslim-majority region, it is difficult to extract the opposition of Muslims against the rule of India in the state. The insurgency that has existed in Kashmir for 24 years now has killed tens of thousands of people, mainly civilians. Kashmiri and Pakistani separatists and Islamists groups have constantly pitted against Indian government security forces and their local auxiliaries but the Muslims continue demanding “freedom” from India.

The last two months of extreme violence as separatist protests burst out in Kashmir broke the relative lull in recent years. On July 18, 2013, protests broke out after news about Indian paramilitaries killing four protesters and injuring dozens of people as they fired into a crowd demonstrating against the “desecration” of the Qur’an, Muslim holy book, by security forces under influence of alcohol. Rajive Krishan, Inspector general of the Border Security Force (BSF), justifies the killings and wounds caused by security forces by calling it a move for “self-defence” as the crowd was walking towards the store where arms and ammunition’s are stored.

On the other hand, the more violent protest took place after the prayers on August 9, 2013 to mark the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, which caps the holiest month for Muslims, ‘Ramadan’. This protest became dangerous after seven hundred Muslims started chanting slogans demanding freedom from the “India rule”. This angered Hindus and they attacked the Muslims as a response to the slogans. This protest involved burning of houses, looting guns and shooting and killing people with guns. A total of 55 people were killed in this protest, the most aggressive since the separatist revolt broke out in 1989.

Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister, Jammu and Kashmir, appeals to the people to not believe in the rumours spread by political parties in order to make use of their sentiments. Muslim separatists have mainly been behind such outbursts of protests since 1989 due to their “anti-national” feelings that instigate them to spread such feelings among all Muslims in Kashmir.

Whereas Ramadan is supposed to be the purest month for Muslims all over the world, in Kashmir, Ramadan has mostly been a month for violence, protests and creating differences between Hindus and Muslims, considering the history of protests in Kashmir, be it August 2008, 2010 or 2013.

The Line of Control is the line strictly monitored by the UN dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan. However, the LOC has not been able subside the differences between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir and from the looks of it, this dispute, after the recent surge of violence, is here to stay for sometime as long as anti-Indian feelings exist in Kashmir.

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons