Could we also read in your paper views of Ladakhis and Jammuites?

Dear Sir,

Reference the deceptive ‘ waffle ‘ of Firdous Syed,  in his ” Understanding the dispute is essential ” – (TNIE-02 Nov).

Reading it, I was reminded of the Islamic injunction of ‘Al Taqqiya’. Indian civilization’s delinquent knowledge of the Islamic faith leaves us naïve to many of its tenets.This delinquency in understanding Islamic culture and doctrine makes us – the kafirs – vulnerable both individually and collectively. This is especially true when we examine the Islamic  concept of  taqiyya, which is defined as: “ Concealing or disguising one’s beliefs,convictions, ideas , feelings, opinions, and/or strategies at a time of eminent danger, whether now or later in time, to save oneself from physical and/or mental injury.”  In almost every reference to taqiyya in Islam it is held that there are only a very few times when it is permissible, one of them being:  ‘ To effect a peace or reconciliation ‘ !!  Says it all with respect to the current Article?

(late) Samuel P Huntington in his ” Clash of Civilizations and Remaking of the World Order ” – which of course is detested by the ‘Nehruvian Srecularists’!! – has given the reader some
‘home truths’ that stand the acid test of History. He has termed Kashmir, among others, as a ‘ Fault Line War ‘.  He then goes on to add: ” Since religion, however, is the principal defining characteristic of civilizations, fault line wars are almost always between peoples of different religions. Some analysts [ for example the Nehruvian Secularists!!] downplay the significance of this factor”.  Huntington terms that as “Secular Myopia” and adds: ” The frequency, intensity, and violence of fault line wars are greatly enhanced by beliefs in different gods “. 

If ever corroboration was needed, I would recommend a reading of the poignant book: ” Contemporary Kashmir Politcs: Some Insights “,  which is based on the political diary of a Kashmiri Pandit, ethnic cleansed from the Valley, Reshi Dev. He wrote: ” The beginning of the J&K freedom movement in 1931 had unfortunately begun with the loot and vandalizing of the Hindus of Vichar Nag and Mahraj Ganj. In 1989-90, the story was repeated. Prior to 1947, secular ideas of Sheikh Abdullah had created a ray of hope but after the attainment of freedom and coming to power, he too resorted to the same antics and manipulations, which the Muslim Conference had pressed into service”.

Reshi Dev’s foregoing statement coincides, conceptually, with Huntington writing: ” As a result, Conficians, Buddhists, Hindus, Western Christians, and Orthodox Christians have less difficulty adapting to and living with each other than any one of them has in adapting to and living with Muslims”.

The State of J&K consists of the Muslim majority Kashmir Valley, the Hindu majority Jammu and the Buddhist Ladakh. My query to the editorial board of TNIE is, how come we the readers are being bombarded with a ‘one sided view’ of only the Valley Muslims? Is it that in your paper’s opinion, the other two regions don’t count in the scheme of things?

It is interesting to give the opinions of the other two sides in this imbroglio. In an interview given to a contributor to your paper, Claude Arpi, and published in the web portal rediff.com on 05 Aug 2002, Mr Thupstan Chhewang, Chairman, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, he said: ” When people talk about Kashmir, they do not think about Ladakh, they do not think about Jammu, although in terms of area, Ladakh alone is more than 2/3 of the State. In terms of population, the regions of Jammu and Ladakh together are more important than the Valley. So how can the govt. continue to neglect these two regions of the State? They [the govt.] only have this kind of policy to appease the majority of the Valley, which are Muslims. Until the problems of Ladakh and Jasmmu are taken, there will be no solution. Article 370 has to be abrogated “.

Here is Prof. of History, Jammu University, Hari Om in the Chandigarh based daily ‘Tribune’ of 27 Aug 2000. ” Let us examine the status of the ‘alienated Kashmiris’ [read a section of the Kashmiri speaking Sunnis whose political demands range from merger with Pakistan, to Independence to greater autonomy, bordering on sovereignty] in the country’s polity. Strange may it sound but it is a fact that these Kashmiris, who roughly constitute 22% of the State’s population, have obtained from the Centre a system of Government which is almost exclusively ‘OF THEM, FOR THEM and BY THEM’ [emphasis mine]. – – Interestingly, yet not unexpectedly, a vast majority of them DO NOT PAY EVEN A SINGLE PENNY TO THE STATE IN THE FORM OF REVENUE DUE FROM IT. It is ONLY Jammu and Ladakh which contribute over 90% to the State excehequer “.

For the Editorial Board of TNIE, it is appropriate to quote Sir Winston Churchill : ‘ An appeaser is one who feeds the crocodile in the fond hope it will devour him last ‘.  Could we also read in your paper views of Ladakhis and Jammuites? That will make for ‘ balanced journalism’-  a far cry from the current one-sided ‘infliction’ of Firdous Syed .

JAI HO

Warm Regards

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