> Whether we like it or not, it's a fact that the majority in Kashmir is under brutal suppression by the State.
This is one of the enduring myths of our times that has been cemented by repeated assertion. One is hard pressed to explain why the so called state suppression resulted in J&K being one of the least poor states in India, despite the absence of any industrial base. Kashmir is a state that enjoys maximum autonomy (though some of the original rights were ceded, by none other than Kashmir's own elected legislative councils), and privileges, which includes exclusion of 'outsiders' from even ownership of property in the state. The collateral damage of fighting an insurgency (with one hand tied at the back) is now projected as state suppression. Of course, it doesn't mean that the security forces always act gentlemanly - there are cases of illegal detentions and eliminations - but we should not confuse cause and effect. >I like to repeat therefore, that the Hinu-ised, manipulated ,communal andnon-secular and extra-constitutional brand of nationalism has has already enstranged the majority community (Muslims) there in Kashmir. Even if one was to concede that such a strain of nationalism is practiced widely in this country, that is not the cause of the original Kashmir separatism, the 'root cause' if you will - it is purely based on communal considerations: that is, Muslims can't coexist with Hindus. It is in fact, the minority Pandits who are really 'estranged', that is, thrown out from their own home and hearth, which underscores the communal nature of the separatist movement (despite the attempt to pull the veil of 'Kashmiriat' over its face). It is asking too much to view a movement which thought it necessary to expel a people that formed part and parcel of Kashmir for hundreds of years, with any sympathy, or 'background understanding'. >Fourteen questions on The Indian Parliament attack published by Arundhati Roy, volumes of reports archived on the enormous proportions of Human Rights Violations in Kashmir valley might warrant our attention. Of late Arundhati Roy has become the 'Useful Idiot' of all and sundry separatist and terrorist movement, though not as naively as the other useful idiots, from her own comments. It is her almost pathological hatred for capitalism (and by extension, the Indian state that according to her follows the capitalist system) that makes her go against her own wisdom (though she has been one of the major beneficiaries of one of the most hated components of the capitalist system - financial capital). That doesn't of course mean that her questions are devoid of merit per se. About the 'volumes of reports archived on the enormous proportions of Human Rights Violations in Kashmir valley', let me add that none of them can be taken without a ton of salt. Not the least because the 'human rights' organizations often turn out to be fronts of terror outfits, but because of the fantastic nature of the claims and failure of the said organizations to provide any verifiable evidence when tasked to do so. For example, the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons claimed that there are close to 10000 unaccounted disappearances, but they failed to put up a credible list of a hundred missing persons when called upon to do so: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007020601500900.htm&date=2007/02/06/&prd=th&; Again, this doesn't mean that the security forces do not ever kill innocent persons knowingly at all, but that the people who make claims of human rights violations are often motivated by extraneous considerations. The trouble is not just this however, but deliberate fudging and hiding of all relevant facts - I have read one article by Gautam Navlakha - to the uninitiated, the picture that emerges from the article is one of a hapless people brutally oppressed by the Indian state - he doesn't even mention in passing the fact that terrorism exists in the valley, that Pakistan sponsors terror outfits or any other information relevant for an accurate reconstruction of the picture . This kind of politically correct scholarship is counter-productive and harmful. Best regards, Murali. On 10/8/07, Venugopalan K M < [EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: > > Dear Sir, > Please don't misread my point. > Whether we like it or not, it's a fact that the majority in Kashmir is > under brutal suppression by the State. > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
