Opinion | A Short History Of What Really Ails Kashmir And Why The NDA Is Going Wrong
It is now clear that development is not the path to deradicalisation
The blood of Hindus will forever stain the sylvan valley of Baisaram in Pahalgam. Satanic zealots dulled by the opium of Islamist hate asked, “Are you Muslim? Can you recite the Kalma?" The slightest hesitation from the respondent was answered by a shot to the head. Relatives were asked to watch and report it all back to, as they said, “Your Modi."
Several are dead, several wounded. The limp, lifeless form of a newly married man lying prone on his back, his bride beside him staring vacantly into the distance, is yet another cruel reminder of the Indian state’s indifference to an unending genocide directed against Hindus in Jammu & Kashmir.
related stories
Nothing has changed. And if nothing is done, nothing will. The murder in Pahalgam will soon be forgotten. Like January 19, 1990. When 35 years ago, some ordinary Muslims in Kashmir turned into jihadis. Their mission then was simple. Exterminate as many Hindus as possible.
Ever since that fateful day, Hindus have become the subject of ghoulish crimes in J&K. Those who escaped simply became invisible. There was not even the pretence of acknowledging the genocide of 1990, let alone assuring survivors that they had a shot at justice.
Lakhs of genocide survivors were bureaucratically processed. Labelled “migrants", in a cruel whitewashing of their suffering, they were hustled into tented encampments where many still languish. They’ve been condemned to their fate for so long that even the Supreme Court dismissed their plea for a probe, decreeing that “too much time has elapsed".
Unfortunately, immunity for the perpetrators has bred impunity. And that’s why more and more Hindus die day after bloodstained day in Jammu & Kashmir at the hands of emboldened radicals.
Make no mistake, the Hindus who were hunted for simply being Hindus in Pahalgam by Pakistan-sponsored Islamist terror groups and their facilitators in India are the children of a lesser God.
Why else would their plight fail to stir the conscience of civil society? Indeed, where are the moderate Muslims of Jammu & Kashmir? Don’t they realise that their couch-bound protests have become so formulaic that they reek of criminal apathy?
And what of that clique of committed secularists in the opposition who lit a candle for Rafah’s dispossessed? To them we ask, don’t the lives of Hindus matter? Why aren’t you posting posters emblazoned with “All Eyes on Pahalgam"? Or donning bags that proclaim, “End hate against Hindus".
And what of the omnipotent NDA? When will it safeguard the lives of Hindus so they too can live, earn and travel without fear in their own land? How long will NDA risk the lives of Hindus to push its normalcy narrative in Jammu and Kashmir? Sure, there has been much progress in stabilising Kashmir, but the union territory still isn’t the finished item. And it won’t be till the NDA recognises that the solution doesn’t lie in deepening democracy and ushering fast-paced development in Kashmir. Don’t they realise that the so-called “secularists" have sold them a lemon? It is now clear that development is not the path to deradicalisation. If that were the case, then Osama bin Laden, hailing from developed Saudi Arabia, wouldn’t have turned to jihad. The butchers of Pahalgam wouldn’t have found a haven to operate. Just look at the numbers. Kashmiris have been enjoying a development dividend of late. They are richer per capita, they are better educated per capita, and they are in a better psychological place per capita than they were half a decade ago. So then, why is Kashmir still the cradle of Islamist intolerance in India? And why is there such overwhelming sympathy for slain Islamist terrorists? The answer is demography. And as we all know, demography is destiny.
The truth is that the “Islamist wave" has drowned India’s northernmost state. History has taught us that there is no magic development silver bullet that can neutralise Islamist radicalism. Kemalists in Turkey, progressives in Iran, and realists in Israel tried throwing modernity and money at the problem, only to be consumed by the fervour of the beast. Multiculturalists in Europe will be next. It’s still not too late for India. Provided that the nation’s leadership and commentariat end their collective denial over Islamist intolerance. Cure the disease, not the symptoms.
- Location :
- First Published: