Tahir Sona ullah
Kashmir has always been a symbol of breathtaking landscape, harsh terrain and a realm of conflicting political and religious ideologies. Kashmir has been the homeland to iconic monuments, centers of worship for Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Sikhs. Over the years, the region has been plagued by political turmoil and international attacks. Amidst all, Kashmiris resort to practicing religious, social harmony and brotherhood. Kashmiriyat emerged around 16th century, which has ideals that pertain to maintaining religious and cultural harmony, solidarity, patriotism and pride in the Kashmiri ethos. It is a classic example of a unified Hindu-Muslim culture that has diverse ceremonies, language, cuisine and lifestyle in the Kashmir Valley. This remarkable foundation of Hindu-Muslim alliance traces back to Kashmiri sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, the proponent of Kashmiriyat. Besides, the story of mysterious Lal Ded, whose body turned into mound of flowers buried by Hindus and Muslims, considered as a sign of Kashmiriyat that still thrives today.
Over the years, Kashmiris have embraced the ethos of harmony, unity and peace without religious divisions. Of late Pakistan’s desperate effort to destroy Kashmiriyat has been by means of imposing Islamic radicalization and extremism on a community that preaches and practices communal harmony, secularism and liberalism. Backed by Separatists, Pakistan tried several means to destroy the social fabric of ‘’Kashmiriyat’’ by propagating selected discourses on radical Islam among the masses as opposed to the principles of Sufism. At present, there are five major warring factions in Kashmir that benefit from Pakistan’s support namely LeT, HM, HuM, Al Badr and JeM. In addition, the western adversary’s support for these groups is based on the ongoing conflict with India which has been strategically seen as a large threat to Pakistan’s existence. This vile move to destroy the unity and peace in Kashmir by removing existing symmetries and encouraging militancy is condemnable. Besides, it is well known that Pakistan’s ISI operates with total autonomy backed by centralized agenda. Pakistan’s assistance to terrorism in Kashmir includes training, planning and funding for carrying out attacks. While it has been desperate to project itself to the world as a stage standing in solidarity with Kashmiris, these spurious expressions of so-called ‘’solidarity’’ have been debunked in the past during the wars of 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. The annihilation that Pakistani Army received at the hands of Indian Army made them pledge that they would never face the wrath and risk the lives of 10 crore Pakistani people for a meagre 50 lakh population in Kashmir. As it stands, the ulterior motive has been to capture Kashmir territory but they were never concerned about the well-being of Kashmiri people. Thousands of Kashmiris and security forces have lost their lives in Pakistan-led J&K insurgency since 1989. Their primary motive was to create social and communal division and thereby weaken the secular fabric of a community. Several women have been harassed, tens of thousands of residents in the Valley including Kashmiri Pandits had to flee for their lives.
Furthermore, the efforts to launch concerted campaign against India, deliberately to rouse emotions of Kashmiris and employ vicious forces to propagate fundamentalism has been a preferred gameplan albeit unsuccessful. After all these malicious attempts, they still make an effort to celebrate ‘The Kashmir Solidarity Day’ to please certain sections in Pakistan, which is completely farcical thereby exposing their hypocrisy. It is worth mentioning that an average Pakistani is not interested in watching such trivial events. On the contrary, the Pakistani military, political party and officials have always used this as an opportunity to gain political and economic gains at the behest of Kashmir.
In spite of Pakistan’s game plan to distort the secular image of India and syncretic aspects of a strong community, Kashmiriyat has been the embodiment of glorious traditions of communal well-being, tolerance and compassion and is still prevalent. Pakistan must realise that in a battle between fundamentalism and secularism, the latter is always the winner and the socio-cultural fabric of Kashmir will be unchanged. Kashmiriyat, the cultural identity of Kashmir will continue to strive for inclusivity and harmony and any vested interests to hijack these sentiments will face colossal failure. With unflinching brotherhood and unwavering goal towards nation-building, India will surely succeed in preserving the true spirit of Kashmiriyat and driving away the secessionist forces.
