Divide Kashmir To Set Up Separate Homeland

Abandoned displaced K Hindus launch door to door campaign

Rustam

JAMMU, Dec 2: It was some 18 years ago that the internally-displaced Kashmiri Hindus adopted a resolution demanding division of Kashmir Valley and setting up of a separate homeland for them within the Valley invested with Union Territory status so that the Indian Constitution could flow freely in the proposed homeland, called Panun Kashmir. They had quit their homes and hearts in the wake of the emergence of secessionist movement. They did not quit their original habitat on their own. The extremists and protagonists of Kashmir's independence, who were backed to the hilt by their mentor Pakistan, had communalized the Kashmir situation to the point that the terrorized, persecuted and demonized miniscule minority of Hindus deemed it fit to quit and become refugees in their own motherland. The authorities in the state and at the centre watched the gory developments as mute spectators. In fact, the Indian State had abandoned them and left them to the care of anarchy. It would not be an exaggeration if someone says that the Indian State allowed the fanatics and separatists to cleanse the Valley of non-Muslims and enact anti-India acts with utmost ease.

The displaced Kashmiri Hindus did demand division of Kashmir Valley, but they did not strive to achieve their objective in the required manner. Of course, they succeeded in internalizing their issue to an extent and convincing the international community that they were the victims of an extreme form of extremism. The point is that there was no serious effort on their part to achieve their ultimate objective. The party politics within the community also played some negative role. To be more exact, the "mercenaries and fifth columnists" within the community played negative role on behalf of those who were responsible for the exodus of the community to which they belonged. They are still there; they continue to hobnob with those who want to give a particular orientation to everything in Kashmir and ensure its segregation from the national mainstream, whatever it means.

The situation took a dramatic turn a few days ago when the displaced Kashmir Hindus' premier organization Panun Kashmir resolved to launch a door-to-door campaign to give a fillip to the otherwise very weak movement designed to create a situation that could help them achieve their objective. And it was yesterday that the organization took the first concrete step in order to mobilize the opinion of the community it represents. Remember, there are three Panun Kashmirs and all the three subscribe to the view that the establishment of separate homeland in Kashmir is the only lasting solution to the problem facing the displaced Kashmiri Hindus. However, it was the Ajay Chrungoo-led Panun Kashmir which took the lead on Saturday and launched door-to-door campaign for homeland. Dismissing as "ad hoc policy measures" like creation of "concentration camps and employment policy and suggesting that these measures were aimed at "imposing second displacement and religious cleansing", the PK chairman said that the "internally-displaced Kashmiri Hindus are subjected to undeclared servitude of the separatists and fundamentalist elements in Kashmir so that the way is paved for overall annihilation of the community without addressing the causes of genocide". "The sectarian violence that has erupted recently in Kashmir clearly depicts that the policy makers have failed to accept the challenges posed by the communalists in Kashmir to the democratic and secular set-up of the Indian nation about which the Kashmiri Hindu community has apprised from time to time," he also said while addressing community meetings in Jammu. The upshot of his whole argument was that the "carving out of homeland with Union Territory status for the religiously cleansed Kashmiri Hindus is the only solution that reaffirms the free flow of the Indian Constitution in Kashmir".

The PK leader did make a valid point while advocating the need for the creation of a separate homeland in the Valley. The decision of the Panun Kashmir to launch door-to-door campaign for homeland constitutes a major development in the political history of Jammu & Kashmir. Besides adversely impacting the ongoing secessionist movement in the Valley and making the Indian nation feel that the internally-displaced Kashmiri Hindus are one of the two major factors in the political situation in Kashmir, its decision is also likely to impact the political scene of Jammu where an overwhelming majority of population is also fed up with the sectarian and separatist Kashmiri leadership and its handful of Jammu-based agents. However, it will be seen what shape the PK's movement takes in the next few days. But one thing is clear: The decision of the PK to start door-to-door campaign for separate homeland in the Valley will surely cause an extensive damage to the Kashmiri separatists and others who have been demanding autonomy and self-rule.

Source: http://earlytimesnews.com/newsdet.aspx?q=101503