WHOSE KASHMIR IS IT ANYWAY.?.

Does it belong to India or National Conference or the PDP or the stone pelters or the militants or to the Army or to the Pundits?.

If one goes into history before, say, 600 years, prior to Moghul invasion from the North-west Khyber pass, the land which mostly consisted of inhabitants called Hindus as exemplified  by the mountain Indu-kush and river Indus and Him-alayas (Mountain of temples). The borders were well-defined by nature with inaccessible mountains and giant rivers. More proof exist as the ethnic features of the people living there even now, the age-old temples built, the near-permanant names of the places and locations and the reference in the ancient  Hindu scriptures. Though the underlying faith of the people were of Hindu Dharma,  the lands were a motley of small kingdoms. Among these kingdoms there were conflicts as well treaties. There were even marriages between people from different kingdoms. So the Hindu land consisted of hundreds of small kingdoms. Most of these rulers were Just and ruled wisely according to the Hindu Dharma as the basis.

The Muslims invations into India started right from 700 A.D. There were Muslim rulers in the Mediteranian who were eying India for long. Most of these powerful Muslim rulers were defeated by the Indian Kings, but they came back trying different routes, defeated weak kings and entered Indian land and their prime deed was to loot and plunder. Around 1500 AD  came Babur. I think history records that first time Babur was driven away. After some time,  the Moghul army came with reinforcements, took advantage of a weak period and crushed the small and prosperous kingdoms. This led to 250 odd years of Moghul rule wherein temples were destroyed, wealth was plundered, atrocities were committed on men as well as hindu women. Many hindus got forcibly converted to Islam. Therefore, the Indian people were under the influence of Muslims for about 1200 years.

After the end of Moghul period, the British came. Probably their initial intention was for trade. They noticed enormous wealth in the lands both in the form of materials as well as richness in culture and concepts. Greed got the better of them. Their business acumen made them notice the fragile nature of a race which was culturally united, but politically divided.  They applied themselves to the task of widening this gap. Their supressions and oppressions did not yield results because the culture identified itself with such sagacity which baffled them. Muslims among the race was their trump card. It is fate that, they could not fragment and cause division among the Hindu culture (so strong was the underlying philosophy) and therefore decided to use Muslim-Hindu divide to advantage. They were aided by the arrival ( or plant) of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Using this man, they systematically infused poison  into the same race which was united in origin, but different in Idealogy and played on the sentiment and pride of gullible people.

By that time, the conversions had taken effect and a sizable population of Muslims was ensured. The British succeeded in dividing the country possibly as a revenge on the Indians for standing up against their Empire. So East and West Pakistan got formed. In spite of the formation of these Muslim States, sizable population of muslims inhabit predominantly some parts of India such as Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, Surat and many pockets.

So historically speaking, even the lands of Pakistan, Bangladesh belonged to India and people in these countries are also basically converts whose basic cultures must have been same generations ago. The original inhabitants of Kashmir, the Pundits ( they are so called because they were the caretakers of hundreds and thousands of Hindu temples there), either were subtly resettled or these Pundits found the demography getting slowly altered and therefore migrated down to the plains. So the soul of Kashmir is Indian as demonstrated by many pilgrimage centres there. Moreover Himalayas are not just mountains, but a sacred place for the Hindus, the kesh of Lord Shiva who houses in his kesh, the Ganga and other celestial rivers. To think that, today, an indisputable sanctum of Hindu race is a contentious issue is both absurd and cruel play of fate. The Pakistan aided terrorists call the fight for Kashmir as ‘Jihad’ which can be ‘Dharm Yudh” for Hindus. The battle may be won ultimately and history will be restored to hindus, but after a lot of blood-shed. 

FABRIC OF INDIAN SOCIETY

I sense a general feeling of insecurity among the Christian community in the Country. I find many articles or write-ups of many Christian writers generally critical of the Central Government policies and reforms even if they are welfare centric. I find pronoucements by Christian Institutions very tacitly warning its followers about a threat approaching them.

The fact is that situation in the Country is not at all that fluid to warrant such a reaction by the community. True, there has been a Hindu revivalism in the past four years, but that has been more towards uniting Hindus and restoring their past pride. Great leaders of this Country fought for Independence. The leaders, post Independence penned their dreams into the Constitution to pave the way for a society akin to Utopia. But it was a fractured India, which underwent a terrible brith pang in the form of partition. Coupled with this, the Country was illiterate, with rampant Caste outlook and riddled with abject poverty and disease. The British plundered and looted the Country and left its inhabitants like the aftermath of a hurricane. The early Government servants were naivettes who, probably did the best they could. The British style of Institutions were the only form they could learn from in almost spheres, be it Governance or in Education.

Since Independence there has been a substantial increase in the population of Christians in India. Initially the Christians had a missionary zeal which provided selfless philanthropic assistance in the field of health and education. Somewhere this zeal turned into a machinery for conversions taking advantage of the innocence and poverty of people in very sensitive areas. The vulnerable areas were North East of India, West Bengal, Kerala and southern Tamil Nadu. A sizable population in these areas were converted into Chritianity with propoganda and generous aid from their drivers overseas. This practice continues even today while Indian society advanced admirably in almost all the spheres. This is probably because they thought that if India were to become an advanced country it would be Christain in nature. Even today I get at least one group in my doorstep every month professing about Christianity and looking for an opportunity to convert. Taking a cue, Muslims too started conversions in the Southern tips though it was not backed strongly by any overseas agents.  However Islam was more active in Africa where many have been converted over the years and good sportspersons they were that they could immigrate into European soils. It is also significant to mention that 320 years of Moghul rule and 120 years of British rule could not wipe out Hinduism inspite of razing of Hindu temples by the Moghuls and weakening of Hindu Institutions by the British.

Otherwise, Indian society with their tollerant attitude have nothing against Christians as long as they practise their religion without interfearing into others' territories. Somehow all religions teach the same virtues, lead to the same goal, though the path taken may differ. Therefore, each individual, whatever religion he may belong to, must respect other religions and this only can ensure harmony in a society. They must not be swayed by some self-serving parties or institutions whose motives may be malicious.