AR Bhat
Kashmir Valley has often been recognised as the ‘’Hallmark of Pluralism’’ where Hinduism, Kashmir Shaivism (later Sufism), Sikhism and Islam have peacefully co-existed and flourished for centuries. However the Valley witnessed changes and turmoil in its period due to political and social supremacy. Religious radicalisation and plurality are two mutually contradictory paradigms in religious life, other than in political, social, economic & cultural areas. On one hand, radicalism based on the paradigms is exclusive to exclude others, closed, extreme & uncommon militarist ideology whereas pluralism puts forward a paradigm based on values of humanity, openness & inclusiveness.
The history of Kashmir can be traced back to 250 BC, when the region was conquered by Ashoka, who subsequently sent missionaries to introduce Buddhism in the land. From 5th century to 12th century, Kashmir was characterized by Hindu civilisation & Shaivaite culture. After the advent of Islam also, the plurality of cultures was intact through most of modern history. The region has layers of religious antiquities and history built upon by successive eras and dynasties of different rules. In each era, there seems to have been a focus on political power, religious communalism, economic exploitation and social reform. The valley once lived in a religiously pluralistic context, tolerating one another until the realities of political power played and socio economic sentiments began to manifest along religious lines. Fuelling Religious Radicalisation and Counter Measures. The region of Kashmir along the ages continued to nurse the feeling of neglect and discrimination vis-à-vis each other. These feeling and perceptions have served to sharpen both regional and religious divides. Due to growing feeling of disproportionate representation in politics as well as administrative, recruitments have breed ‘RELIGIOUS RADICALISATION’.
In the contemporary era, Religious Radicalisation and terrorism in the Union Territory have extinguished the memories of communal warmth and tolerance hence, violence and discrimination take place in the name of religion. At the societal level, the outbursts of violence, radicalisation, & terrorism that have taken place in the course of the past decades, have undoubtedly led to transformation of relationships among people. Perhaps the main casualty in the conflict has been none other than religious plurality itself which today remains as a distant memory in the history of Kashmir.
A successful de-radicalization effort presupposes two crucial things, the implementing agencies must understand that the process of radicalization be equipped with robust counter negatives, and the radicalization which has already happened needs to be reversed through various Social media platforms and religious preachers. A large body of literature in the field of political science has shown that the terrorist are motivated by political goals rather than just by socioeconomic, religious or cultural factors. Community policing measures include regular communication between security forces, District administration and the religious community leaders and implementing mechanism for overcoming linguistic, cultural and social barriers
The early history of Kashmir reveals how some ancient settlers propagated the Universalistic idea of harmony and peace, rendering the distinction between Muslim & Hindus almost an impossible task. The practical solution to the existing conflict is through dialogue based ideological discourse. The religious radicalisation sources and systems that trigger radicalisation should be acknowledged and counter measures to combat radicalisation and their derivatives should be applied.
