Separatists' communal card

Hurriyat's Mirwaiz Umar Farooq protesting in Srinagar against domicile certificates to West Pakistan refugees. Whither Kashmir? No straight answer can be given to this query by any knowledgeable person on the State's highly messy affairs. There are wheels within wheels operating all levels of the polity and it is invariably difficult to say which wheel is working for which patron and for what ulterior motives.
Amidst prevailing complexities and politics of convenience even non-issues become major issues for separatists' never neverending blackmail of protests and agitations to the disadvantage of law-abiding people of the Valley. This is what we saw when several schools were burnt down in the Valley by goons in connivance with the separatists and their Hurriyat supporters.
This has been the pattern of politics not only of the separatists but also the State's mainstream parties. The only silver line in an otherwise bleak setting in the Valley was the open defiance of the Hurriat dictate by the school children which subsequently made the trouble-makers to tone down their aggressive postures to the relief of thousands of parents.

The moot point is: Is this a credible example of Kashmiriyat and secularism of the National Conference leaders? As for separatists and Hurriat leaders like Ghilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik, playing anti-India and anti- Hindu card is in their blood. Let us have no illusion on this count. For them, Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar are welcome, but not the Hindu refugees from West Pakistan living in the State for the past 70 years.

The Hurriat leaders live by agitations and thrive on the politics of negativism without caring to understand the merit or demerit of an issue. Their latest ploy for protest is the PDP-BJP government's decision to issue domicile certificates to West Pakistan refugees who have been residing in the State for decades after Partition. Nearly 20,000 such families are spread out in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts of the State.

Barring 20 Muslim families, the rest are mostly Hindus from

West Pakistan. They now number approximately 1.5 lakh. Herein lies the problem for Kashmi-centric parties, including Farooq Abdullah's National Conference and separatist groups who have opposed the move while Jammu-centric ones – BJP, VHP, Shri Ram Sena and Bhim Singh's Panther Party – support the historic decision of Chief Minister Mahbooba Mufti.

This bold move has virtually divided the State along communal lines. This is ironical since these very political elements did not raise a voice against the entry of the increasing number of Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar in the State.

Roughly 8,000 Rohingya Muslims are said to be living in the Jammu region. They work as unskilled labourers in homes and private business units as ragpickers. Some are masons and small time vendors.

Jammu leaders say that the Rohingya population is actually larger than the figure officially quoted. They also resent the settlement of new Muslim families in Jammu as they feel that this eats into the State's limited resources and job openings. But then, who cares for the voice of Jammu people since the

Kashmir leaders dominate the state polity in practically all aspects of governance and policy-making.

The British were primarily responsible for creating this situation. They sowed the seeds of communalism by institutionalizing communal differences, for example, through the introduction of separate electorate, communal representation to the services etc.

The moot point is: Is this a credible example of Kashmiriyat and secularism of the National Conference leaders? As for separatists and Hurriat leaders like Ghilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik, playing anti-India and anti-Hindu card is in their blood. Let us have no illusion on this count. For them, Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar are welcome, but not the Hindu refugees from West Pakistan living in the State for the past 70 years.

With their fourth-fifth generation now living in Jammu and around, they are Indian citizens, but not permanent residents of J & K. The domicile certificates only correct this anomaly. This would entitle them to own property in the State and allow them to get admission in professional colleges against the quota or in jobs. The question is: how does it change the demography of the Muslim majority in the State of Jammu and Kashmir?

The present upsurge of communalism among Muslims in Kashmir shows that a great regression has taken place in their psyche. With constant propaganda from Pakistan drummed into their ears, the Jamaat-i-Islami and the Hurriat have been laying down the rules of conduct and the terrorist enforcing them, leaving the Valley Muslims hardly any choice for an independent voice.

Of course, the British were primarily responsible for creating this situation. They sowed the seeds of communalism by institutionalizing communal differences, for example, through the introduction of separate electorate, communal representation to the services etc. These policies, over the years, have created vested interests for the perpetuation of communal differences, communal claims and an apparent identification for an increasing communal outlook in the Valley. This poses a big challenge to all secular forces in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country.

India, for that matter, refused to become a theocratic sate because that would have done a grave injury to the genius of our people and their civilizational values. However, the leaders should have realized (and should realise) the clear implications of such a stand. We must allow our quest for truth to continue, preserve the right to differ and remain secular, multi-ethnic and multireligious. For this purpose, we have to be bold enough to state our own precise obligations that we, as a society, Kashmir included, and as individuals, must carry forward the values and basic convictions of such a civilization. If we fail to do this, we will invite new perils.

Today, if Kashmir has become a problem, it is mainly because we continue to live in a make-believe world. A few thousand terrorists, separatists and opportunistic politicians of the Valley hold the rest of the State and India to ransom. We ought to sideline all such elements and decommunalise the process of governance throughout the length and breadth of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir.