Drishtikone Newsletter #330: Kashmir Rank and Files

A slumber is a safe place.  Slow death.  But a death without effort.  A death nevertheless.  No activity on the road to the final stop.  No waking up.  Such an existence is safe and resigned to annihilation.

Waking up takes effort.  It demands activity.  A conscious effort.  Positivity and not resignation.  Many factors stop the action.  But one pushes for that effort.

The need to do what is needed because it needs to be done.

The story of the genocide of Hindus over the many millennia is of that struggle.  The safe and assured annihilation, nay extermination.  Versus need to awaken and stand up.

But at first, one needs to realize that there are dangers.  That one has been wronged.  That one has been and is being targeted.

Just that effort has become an impossible task.  That ... just that...is the greatest tragedy facing the Hindus.

When Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri's Kashmir Files - releases for everyone on Friday, March 11th, 2022 - a 32-year long pain will find a voice.

The cast is a no-nonsense combination of actors who bring only substance, no showmanship.  For, that would have diluted the very message, choked the voice.

The greatest actor is one on whose performance you don't stand up and clap.  But one who leaves you deeply immersed in the seriousness and the depth of the subject being handled.  

The terrible genocide of the Kashmiri Pandits has been brought to life by Mithun Chakraborty as Brahma Dutt, Anupam Kher as Pushkarnath, Darshan Kumar as Krishna Pandit, Pallavi Joshi as Radhika Menon, Bhasha Sumbali as Shraddha Pandit, Chinmay Mandlekar as Farooq Malik aka Bitta (Inspired by Farooq Ahmed Dar), Puneet Issar as DGP Hari Narain. Prakash Belawadi as Dr. Mahesh Kumar, Mrinal Kulkarni as Laxmi Dutt, Atul Srivastava as Vishnu Ram, and Prithviraj Sarnaik as Shiva Pandit.

The Silencing of the Voice

On October 21st, 2010;  Arundhati Roy, Delhi University professor S.A.R. Geelani, Jammu and Kashmir University professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain, writer Varavara Rao, activist Sujato Bhadra, and writer Shuddhabrata Sengupta got together at LTG Auditorium at a seminar organized by The Campaign for Relief of Political Prisoners; where they discussed the rights of “Kashmiris” to decide out the future of Kashmir.

Outside and inside, Kashmiri Pandits were protesting and being arrested, while self-appointed keepers of Kashmiriyat – like Shuddhabrata, Arundhati were busy eloquently speaking how “Kashmiris should decide Kashmir’s future”.

What was most telling is that no one – least of all the speakers on the dais – saw any irony and hypocrisy in the situation!

Beyond the destruction of Hindu ethos, conversions in millions, the ethnic cleansing of the 80s and 90s set the stage for one of the greatest farces in the history of Human Rights and Freedom – “Kashmiri Independence”. The goal of Islamization of Kashmir was given a new word “Freedom”. And Kashmiri meant simply Kashmiri Muslim!

When generalities become euphemisms for selective specificities, and people can’t even see the obvious hypocrisy, then it speaks volumes about the sensibilities and intelligence of the common citizenry. The Arundhatis and Shuddhabratas of course have their own agendas. They have very little productive capability through which to contribute to society and earn for themselves. So they choose agendas and have their God-fathers who can help run their ego-factories.

They aren’t the ones one finds most deplorable. One is specifically disturbed about those who apparently don’t come with agenda and have the ability to earn an honest day's wage.  They should have at least seen through the hypocrisy of the situation that unfolded at the LTG Auditorium.  

But didn't.

Quite simply - the Kashmiri Pandits remained the biggest irritant in the “Kashmiri Freedom”.

To view the issue of Kashmir as a democratic or Human Rights or Human Expression and Freedom issue, therefore, is to make a mockery of our collective intelligence.

Kashmir was always a religious issue.

Actually, it is simply an attempt at Islamization. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Piety of the Demons

The subjugation and destruction of Kashmiri Hindus from that land have been orchestrated in collaboration with the pious devils.

Sikandar Shah or Sikandar Butshikan (Sikandar the Iconoclast) was the 6th Sultan of the Shah Miri dynasty in Kashmir from 1389 to 1413.  Backed by Sultan Sikandar, Sayyid Ali Hamdani - popularized as a Sufi poet -  worked to wipe out Hindus from the land of Kashmir.

The attacks on Kashmir happened very early in Islamic history.  The second Abbassid caliph, Al-Mansur had sent forces to Kashmir and took many prisoners and slaves.

January 19th, 1990 was the day that the unspeakable started in Kashmir.  The stage had been set prior to that though.

In the run-up to that day, slogans like Asi gachchi Pakistan, Batao roas te Batanev san (We want Pakistan along with Hindu women but without their men) and Ralive, Tsaliv ya Galive (convert to Islam, leave the place or perish) had been resonating in the valley for starting the Kashmiri genocide.

Many Kashmiri Pandits and Indians are shocked at the barbarism of this entire campaign.

As barbaric and inhuman as this whole campaign was, it was not the first time.  This choice had faced the Kashmiris many times.

To understand the present, one needs to know the history.

A Brief History

In 1586, Mughal Emperor Akbar annexed Kashmir. In 1752 however, Ahmed Shah Abdali conquered Kashmir and added to his Durrani empire. At the end of the Mughal empire in the late 18th century, Raja Ranjit Deo was the king of Jammu. In 1816, Jammu was annexed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and in 1819 Kashmir was also added to the Sikh empire. Gulab Singh who, as a 16-year-old had fought against Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1808, was later made commander of a Dogra cavalry contingent by the Sikh ruler. Gulab Singh helped win Multan and Reasi for Ranjit Singh.

In 1820, the Jammu region was given away to Kishore Singh, the father of Gulab Singh in appreciation of their services. After Kishore Singh’s death in 1822, Gulab Singh became the Raja of Jammu under the suzerainty to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Gulab Singh fought alongside Hari Singh Nalwa and got salt mines in northern Punjab, and the nearby Punjabi towns like Bhera, Jhelum, Rohtas, and Gujrat for his work.

After the death of Ranjit Singh, all hell broke loose. Gulab Singh conspired with the British Empire and was attacked by Sher Singh, son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Over 3000 Sikh soldiers died in that attack. Under the Treaty of Lahore, Jammu was transferred to Gulab Singh and later he defeated the Governor of Kashmir. The entire arrangement was formalized between the British and Gulab Singh in the Treaty of Amritsar in 1846.

For this, 7.5 million Nanak Shahi rupees (the ruling currency of Punjab) were to be paid to the British Government as the price for the cessation. Gulab Singh was succeeded by Ranbir Singh, who had five wives and four sons. Partab Singh succeeded Ranbir Singh as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir in 1885. Hari Singh succeeded his uncle as the last Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. He had one son, Karan Singh, who was later a Member of Parliament in India.

The Dogra kings of the hills have long been valiant but vain. They would rather fight the Sikhs, including Guru Gobind Singh, siding with the Mughals or other Muslim kings – who in turn would try to subjugate them, instead of aligning with the Sikhs. And whenever they did align with the Sikhs – or the stronger power around them – it was because they had been vanquished, outsmarted and their existence was in complete danger. So, when the history of Kashmir is written, as much as the treachery and tribal animalism of Islamic invaders and the so-called Sufis should be emphasized, the masochistic and self-serving behavior of the Dogras and other hill kings should be equally underscored!

That, Hari Singh, did not trust Pakistan was evident in the execution of the Standstill agreement – done to prevent any blockage of movement of goods and services from the West. But it was his complete naivete and vanity that he chose to be independent of India as well. What happened after that was he was consigned to the dustbin of history and ended up creating one of the most intractable situations in the subcontinent.

If you want by the yard, but are prepared to fight only for inches, you should be ready to be kicked by the foot!

Treachery of the Abdullahs

“Communal in Kashmir, Communist in Jammu and Nationalist in India“

This most perfectly describes the role of the family in the game that has been played by the Abdullahs – Sheikh, Farooq, and now Omar. In a country besotted by fair skin and the English language, it pays to be fair and well-spoken. That is enough of a currency to accentuate the ‘Nationalistic stature”, if shrouded in words well enough.

Somehow all the “fair looking smooth-talking, in English of course” politicians had a strange clique. Nehru couldn’t let go of Sheikh Abdullah as Rajiv Gandhi couldn’t do of Farooq and now Rahul won’t of Omar. History repeats within such details only for lunatics. Even the half-brained population can see through the truth if the perfidy is so well established and repeated. But Indian masses have an incredible level of lunacy unseen anywhere on the planet.

Even before Article 370 was gifted to Sheikh Abdullah’s Kashmir, strange provisions like having a separate Constitution for Kashmir (as opposed to Indian Constitution), use of National Conference flag (as opposed to Indian tricolor), and special permit for Indians to visit Kashmir have been in place. Article 370 merely formalized these and more.

The dictatorial manner of the Sheikh in administering Kashmir had raised enough hackles in Kashmiri Pandits. Pt. Premnath Dogra launched Praja Parishad, a democratic outfit to challenge the activities of Abdullah. For 3 years, as they agitated and were brutally crushed by Abdullah’s police, while the Indian Government remained quiet, Kashmiri Pandits got the first taste of the fate of challenging brutalities perpetrated on them.

Only Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee rose up to their plight and marched to Kashmir. As he reached Jammu’s border, he was arrested and thrown into Srinagar jail. He later died in mysterious circumstances.

Abrogation of Article 370 and pressure of the “pious aggressors”

On August 5, 2019, Articles 370 and 35(A) were abrogated.  These gave the erstwhile state its special status and the mandate to define its domicile rules.  On that day, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

This one action changed the history of Kashmir in many ways.  The control of those who wanted only the Islamization of Kashmir was weakened. Just that was enough for the world of “pious aggressors” to raise cudgels.  Sufis of the bygone era used the spiritual mumbo-jumbo to pave the way for several waves of genocides.  They had a psychopathic fetish to use high poetry to even justify death, bloodshed, and destruction.

The modern-day liberals have played that role to perfection.

Global pushback started with the European Union and its leaders.

The American liberals were not far behind.  They brought their own resolutions against the abrogation of Article 370.

Notice how the resolution #724 uses the words “Congress to support Kashmiri ‘self-determination’” and how “direct consultation with the Kashmiri people should play a central role in the determination of their future.

Now remember that seminar in 2010 in Delhi’s LTG AUditorium.  “Kashmiri people” to the liberals have always meant Muslims.

The Angela Merkels, the Ann Lindes, the Rashida Tlaibs and the Pramila Jayapals are busy fulfilling the work started by Sultan Sikandar ‘Butshikan’.

Of “cleansing” Kashmir of all Hindus.  And keeping it that way.

Genocide is a mindset.  Before it becomes a reality.

In a world that sanctions the genocide of only some, raising the voice of those targeted becomes a gloriously valiant act.

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has done that seemingly impossible act.

So, on March 11th, 2022, stand up for the Voice of the Targeted.

PS: IN the US, you can watch the Kashmir Files at AMC theaters. (Source)

video corner: Delhi Riots  - A Tale of Burn of Blame

A reminder of January 19, 1990, was served on the people of Delhi on February 23, 2021.  Tahir Hussain ( Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councilor) planned and worked to execute in Delhi what Yasin Malik and Bitta Karate had tried to do in Kashmir.

That story, just like one of Kashmiri Pandits, has been buried under lies, falsehoods, and innuendos.

Thankfully, some intrepid artists are compiling it for all of us.  Here is one very powerful film.

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