Jammu goes crazy over Amarnath

It is really sad to see that the Amarnath yatra (pilgrimage) controversy refuses to die down.  Two young men have lost their lives in the latest protests against a decision by the state government to revoke an order transferring land to an organization (SASB) that runs the yatra.  Meanwhile, in Kashmir, one person was killed during protests undertaken in solidarity with the Muslim population of Jammu.

One thing is quite clear: the weakest sections of society will suffer the most during this turmoil which has now become a full blown communal disgrace.  In this whole affair, no one really looks good (see a nice editorial by Kashmir Times on August 5, 2008).  Kashmiri Muslim leaders who opposed the land move, did so in such a jingoistic way that I can't in good faith believe them when they claim to be supportive of an annual Hindu ritual that has become a source of angst for some people in Kashmir.  On the other hand, Jammuites (as people of Jammu are called) have given in to the intensely parochial BJP-type communalists who cannot explain how this whole controversy has become a Jammu versus Kashmir issue.  The one group that really benefits from all of this the Hindutva crowd.  They are exploiting this situation and can only hope to score big in the Indian parliamentary elections.

In India, religion is so pervasive in all the wrong ways that I sometimes wonder if religion does any good at all (but it does).  Everything about faith seems untouchable (no puns intended).  If I were to say that it is completely ridiculous to have almost half a million people attend a religious pilgrimage each year in an ecologically pristine area, people might call me anti-Hindu (I am not).   It is even more preposterous that the state government thought the best way out of this mess was to offer pilgrims complete facilitation of the pilgrimage in the hopes that they wouldn't worry about the revocation of the land deal.  Now, one might ask, and quite reasonably so, why taxpayer money should finance private religious activity?  There, I made my point.  The government should get out of the business of religion, be it Hinduism, Islam or any other faith.  

Extremists in both Kashmir and Jammu are licking their chops.  This is a great opportunity for them to ply their trade of dividing society to garner support for their causes.  The common man (and woman and child) suffers.  This cannot go on.  This madness must stop before innocent families become victims of bigots, as is already happening in some places.

Let this also serve as a warning to the rest of India.  Faith is all well and good but, in India, it keeps exacting a severe toll when mixed in with politics.  Someone must stand up and shout that we will no longer accept the tyranny of hate mongers.  

And, yes, let's please make a start by agreeing to use taxpayer money for a limited number of activities.  It is most certainly not for facilitating a Hindu's visit to Amarnath or a Muslim's pilgrimage to Mecca.

Until next time...

It is hard to keep up with death sometimes

I just wrote about the suicide of 38-year old Kuldeep Kumar in Jammu (see post Kuldeep Dies... Amarnath Controversy Lives) and now it seems life is having a hard time going on.  A day after Kuldeep died and reignited Jammu, a grenade blast killed 5 members of a family in Batamaloo (Kashmir) and serial bomb blasts have hit the cities of Bangalore and Ahmedabad, claiming numerous innocent lives.  

Thirty-two year old Rubina and her four children--12-year old Khushboo and her three brothers Ajoob (8), Qayoom (5), and Adil (4)--died in Batamaloo.  Mohammad Afroze, the husband and father is now left behind to bear the anguish of his calamitous loss.  The news cycle is fast and it is relentless.  Mohammad Afroze and his devastation will soon be forgotten and those who perished in Bangalore and Ahmedabad will become statistics.  Politicians are already blaming each other--Syed Ali Shah Geelani of the Huriyat Conference has blamed the Batamaloo blast on "Indian agencies" trying to bring disrepute to the "movement" in Kashmir, referring to the separatist movement that, as we know, has had a violent history.  On the other hand, the BJP has criticized the Indian government for essentially not dealing effectively with terrorists.  With news that a little known organization called Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the serial blasts that have now claimed almost 40 lives, there is bound to be increased tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities.  As usual, cynical politics will find a way to sustain itself with terror acting as a feeding tube.

In all of this what I wonder about is the character of the person who actually ended up lobbing a grenade or detonating explosives.  Who is this person who leaves shattered lives in his wake?  What is he made of?  What does he want?  What ideology does he serve?  Who does he serve?  Can he hear Mohammed Afroze wailing or is he numb to the daze that Afroze is in?  What about those who were obliterated by the white light and the deafening roar of the bombs of Bangalore or Ahmedabad or Jaipur or Delhi?  Does the bomber feel any of it?  Is there a life behind the mask of death?

More innocent lives will be lost.  More statistics will pile up.  Death will flow.  It is just life that seems to be in short supply.

Until next time...

Kuldeep Dies...Amarnath Controversy Lives

The Amarnath Yatra has claimed another victim.  That is the news coming out of Jammu where protests continue against the revocation of a land deal transferring forest land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board or SASB (see earlier post Amarnath Yatra Controversy).

Kuldeep Kumar, a young man in his thirties passed away, apparently committing "suicide" over the Amarnath controversy.  Kuldeep was a husband, a father, a son.  He is dead, some say because he was upset by Omar Abdullah's speech (see excerpt) during the parliamentary debate on India's nuclear deal with the United States (see earlier post Indian Muslims in the Nuclear Crossfire).  I can't find anything in the speech that would make me kill myself.   But, Kuldeep did find something objectionable or that's the story we are being told by the organizers of Jammu's protests.  It is such a tragedy.  

I have no doubt that some people in Jammu have decided that the Amarnath Yatra is a powerful issue that can be used to settle scores with Muslims or with those who don't believe in the Hindutva causes that the BJP and its ilk espouse.  I say to them that Kuldeep's death is an opportunity to help stop the insanity in Jammu.  There has been enough loss of blood and treasure in both Kashmir and Jammu.  Fanning the flames of hatred will probably take an even higher toll and we will be further away from mutual understanding.  But perhaps that is not the goal of the protest leaders--it rarely is in Jammu and Kashmir.

For anyone wishing to follow in Kuldeep's footsteps, please don't do it.  It helps no one and makes life much more difficult for those you leave behind.  The yatra will happen, the yatris will be taken care of.  But we need to do this sustainably, without harming the environment and without hurting the sentiments of those who have facilitated the yatra for over a century. We can do all this but it needs an open mind and a will to engage in civil discourse.  Please, we don't need anyone else dying over this issue.  Life is plenty difficult as it is.

Until next time...

Starting out

Welcome to KashmirGlobal.  This is one more blog among perhaps millions out there.  The goal here is to express thoughts and ideas about Kashmir, Jammu, India, Pakistan, the world, whatever.  Yes, as the name suggests, this blog is inspired by Kashmir--more by Kashmiri society and ways in which that society can be better integrated with what is going on in the rest of the world.  That's where the global part comes in.  But, our (there are a few of us writing here and we will invite others to post here as well once we figure this out a bit better) thoughts will wander from politics to sports to music to humour to anything else that catches our fancy.  And, it won't be all about Kashmir.  There is a lot going on all over the planet.  

It is hard to start out but others have done it and we hope to contribute as well.   So, do join us from time to time to participate and share your thoughts.  We hope the debates and discussions will be fun and, of course, we hope you will come back.  But, this is not about having an audience as much as it is about seeking an outlet for expressing ourselves.  So, if there's no one on the other side, that's just as well.  In the meantime, if you are concerned about the recent Amarnath Yatra flap in Kashmir or the controversy over India's nuclear deal with the US or the impact of recent food and energy price increase on Africa's poor, then stay tuned.  There will be stuff on all those things out here.  

Until next time...