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Kashmiri Separatists Let Down Their People

India has just opened a border post for trade through Kashmir to Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Yet earlier this year, massive protests had broken out in Kashmir, over the transfer of a small piece of land to a Hindu trust. The transfer was meant to facilitate an annual hindu pilgrimage, by constructing temporary shelters. Yet, the Muslims in the Kashmir valley were furious, accusing the state government of planning to change the region’s demography. The resulting protests, which gathered hundreds of thousands, eventually turned into demonstrations by separatists against Indian presence.

The sight of hundreds of thousands of muslim protesters saying prayers in public to protest against their government stands in stark contrast to what is happening to another set of Muslims not far from Kashmir. In Xinjiang to the North West the Chinese government severely restricts the practice of Islam.

To be a practicing Muslim in the vast autonomous region of northwestern China called Xinjiang is to live under an intricate series of laws and regulations intended to control the spread and practice of Islam, the predominant religion among the Uighurs, a Turkic people uneasy with Chinese rule.

Two of Islam’s five pillars — the sacred fasting month of Ramadan and the pilgrimage to Mecca called the hajj — are also carefully controlled. Students and government workers are compelled to eat during Ramadan, and the passports of Uighurs have been confiscated across Xinjiang to force them to join government-run hajj tours rather than travel illegally to Mecca on their own.

The protests in Kashmir destroyed the temporary calm and properity that had returned to the Valley, and created a massive gulf between Jammu and Kashmir. Yet, the Indian government goes forth with its peace agenda. This begs the question - what is it exactly the Muslims in Kashmir want? And are their leaders doing their people any favors?

Let us look at how Kashmiri Muslims have fared compared to Muslims in the region. What are the choices they have?

On the issue of demography it is easy to bring up China and its policies in Tibet. As Kanwal Sibal points out:

China, in Tibet next door, has changed the territory’s demography by settling Hans there in large numbers, reducing the Tibetans to a minority in Lhasa. It is ruthlessly exploiting Tibet’s natural resources, ignoring environmental norms…Its policies are guided essentially by security considerations, to establish an iron grip on the territory and neutralize any challenge to its authority there.

India’s policies have been incomparably more humane than China’s. India could have steadily changed the state’s demography, early after Independence…[or] after 1965 and 1971. India took no decisions with demographic implications even with Pakistan openly abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir post-1990 and introducing a new level of challenge to the Indian State. The reverse demographic change brought about by the eviction of the Kashmiri Pandits from the valley has still not been undone.

Let us set the record straight. While China suppresses its minorities, India goes to great lengths to preserve their identities, cultures, and territories. No other country in the world prevents free movement of its own citizens within its borders. India does, in the North East, but particularly in Kashmir.

Kashmiri Muslims also do better socially on the Indian side. The literacy rate in Kashmir was 54.46% in 2001. No comparison can be made with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir because no statistics exist on PoK. But female literacy in Kashmir, at about 45%, was well above the Pakistani average of 35% (and literacy rates are climbing). And the lack of statistics on PoK illustrates Pakistan’s attitude to the region. As Lord Kelvin said, “To measure is to know.” Appearently, Pakistan would rather keep the true state of affairs in Pakistan unknown, than give its people a chance to demand more.

Compare the vitality of NGOs active in Kashmir to protect the (obviously trampled upon) rights of Kashmiris, with the total lack of any opposition in PoK against Pakistan and the contrast is striking. Indian women are currently fighting to reserve 1/3 of all national assembly seats for women; Pakistan is celebrating more women just running for office. Kashmiris go to the polls every few years in relatively free polls - even if they do not like the outcome. When was the last election in PoK?

PoK (or Azad Kashmir) has become South Asia’s Palestine, with parts annexed by Pakistan. Pakistan relegates the residents to a legal limbo that denies them citizenship of either India or Pakistan, merely to prove a point. Meanwhile, India grants its citizens free movement throughout the world.

No doubt, the Indian state has been heavy handed in Kashmir, as elsewhere. Rights have been violated and innocent people shot. It is hard to be objective in such a situation. Yet, it is also clear that not all muslims are equal. India celebrates its authors; Pakistan relegates its to misery even when they win the Nobel prize. Pakistan’s closest ally, China, mistreats its Muslims; Pakistan stays silent. India sends a probe to the moon; Pakistan goes to the IMF for a rescue package.

If judged on fact, most governments can be faulted for something - and India is no exception. But if we measure a State on its intentions, India’s have been overwhelmingly benign. Ultimately, we are all responsible for the choices we make. The Kashmiri separatists protest - but take their right to do so for granted. By doing so they serve themselves and not their people. For those protesting, and those following, these are the choices they are overlooking.

© 2008 The Discomfort Zone.