What Kashmiri Youth Need is a Sense of History

Many writers, analysts and commentators have observed that what is urgently needed
in the Kashmir valley is not jobs and development but an understanding of the alienation
of the youth of Kashmir. Some have suggested a humane touch, such as prominent
politicians going to their homes or sitting down  with them at round tables, in conferences etc. (It may not be amiss to point out that the stats. show that Bharat has spent more than ten times what it spends on the rest of the country ,per capita)

Ofcourse, some duplicitous politicians suggest autonomy for Kashmir, although it is
not clear what that word means. One writer shockingly  quoted speculation : the youth
 see the return of the Kashmiri Hindus to the Valley from whence they had been
driven by the militants ( after considerable bloodshed ,murder and mayhem against the Hindu population) as comparable to the Israeli reluctance  to let Palestinians return to the

Jewish homeland (Badri Raina in ‘It is now or never’ Outlookindia. Aug. 13,2010).

The comparison is faulty since it is the Kashmiri Hindus whose ancestors lived on the
land, long before any Islamic presence. It is this understanding, a sense of the history
of Kashmir that the Islamic youth of Kashmir must be exposed to, not the false history
inculcated in them by their elders or fanatical maulvis and it would seem some ‘secular’ writers  also.

Such faulty readings of Kashmir history and indeed of Bharat’s overall history, propagated
mainly by the historians of JNU, have delayed the finding of a solution. It cannot be repeated too often that the Muslim presence in Kashmir began only in the 14th century.

Long, long before that, the Hindu and Buddhist presence was there. Simple commonsense, if not an historical sense, should tell the Muslims of Kashmir that chronology cannot be set aside.

Since Islam as a religion was founded only in the 7th century, it stands to reason that
Islam is a late comer in world history. It would be interesting to see what textbooks are
being used in Kashmir schools. Are the young of Kashmir being told fairy tales ? Did
history begin only with the advent of Islam ? Were there peoples,cultures and civilizations that existed long before the birth of Islam?

This is a serious question : are the youth of Kashmir being exposed to world history,
never mind Bharat’s history itself ?

The present writer suggests the following in Kashmir valley schools:

1.A short course in world history
2.A short history of Kashmir
3. A short history of Bharat

This would provide a framework for further discussions on autonomy. Ofcourse, no one
but the extremists are calling for azadi. The impracticality of this azadi is clear. The
Kashmir valley cannot stand on its own. Extremists may hope for an alliance with Pakistan, itself in dire straits. The moneys from various dubious sources may not last
forever, and so on and so forth.

Autonomy, on the other hand, can only be discussed if these same stone pelting youths
are exposed to an understanding of history. The reluctance of the people of Bharat to set aside the accession of Kashmir to Bharat is not simply communalism or chauvinist nationalism, as they have been told. It arises from the history of the land which is predominantly Hindu/Buddhist in culture and civilization.

Once the Islamic youth of Kashmir can grasp this fact, they will, if left alone without
mendacious interference,  come to see that while in Pakistan which had a Hindu population of some 30-35%, and now has only 1% left, in Bharat, the Muslim population
has doubled since independence.

Why is this so ? Not merely because Bharat took its secularism seriously, but also because the ideals of secularism, such the welfare of all living beings, is central to
Hinduism, which also happens to be a non proselytising faith.

Sarve sukinah bhavantu (May all beings be happy) is the Vedic injunction.

The Rig Vedic sages who called upon earth, the universe and all living beings to be at peace have been have been followed by the people of Bharat over the millennia. Hindus have gone to the far east as commercial entrepreneurs, not as conquerors. It was a Chinese ambassador who said : Bharat held China not with arms but by its spiritual message ,for two thousand years.

And the Muslims of Bharat, where they have not been incited by evil and diabolical
men, have lived at peace with their brethren in Bharat.

The youth of Kashmir must also be made to understand that Bharat could not have survived several millennia, if the people had not withstood invasions and conquerors.
Ergo, they will not easily yield to threats and war.

The old adage, ‘join them if you can’t defeat them’ is particularly relevant in the Kashmir valley situation. The mindset of Kashmiri youth must change by itself. And the first step is acquiring a sense of history.

Anyone who advises them differently is doing them a great disservice.

(The writer taught Political Philosophy at a Canadian university)

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