Hi Everyone,
I happened to read this post ..And his life should become extinct on the blog Soul in Exile. As I have maintained right from the start, I am not here to decide who is innocent and who is guilty – for the picture when it comes to Kashmir is always hazy. So it is better to just listen to what the other person says and then make your conclusions – whether or not they are accepted by the masses. In the comments section of my previous post I had referred to this link and for those who want to have a complete understanding of what we are discussing here, I request them to first go through the article.
Our friend Soul in Exile has made some observations and I am sure it doesn’t harm anyone if we go through his post. Now having done that, I have put in my comments which I am reproducing here – for fear of being censored at the place they are intended for.
Soul in Exile,
As I had promised I am responding to your post and I will try to be as concise as possible to avoid boring you with un-necessary things… things that you must be aware of and pleading ignorance. However, I must admit that your post (a lengthy one indeed) doesn’t make my job simpler – for you have jumped from one issue to another to third and then to fourth. I wish you had stuck to one issue. However, I will try my level best to put my thoughts here. Mind you, I am not defending Afzal Guru here. My problem is because you have a problem with someone who attempts to put the true picture in front of the public and then let the public decide.
Calls Arundhati Roy a pseudo-secular
1. You call Arundhati Roy a pseudo-secular and I cannot help but be reminded of the way a right-wing party in India chooses to call all those who raise any kind of voice for the minorities. Anyways arguing against your such perception -for you won’t be convinced – will be a futile exercise.
I must thank you for I have learnt that one who has a way-with-words will make us believe every non-sense in this world. You surely deserve an award for this new theory. Why don’t you try for some kinda Nobel or similar award.
Now lets come to the observations and counter-arguments made by you.
Ridicules Arundhati for saying Afzal Guru is innocent – because SAR Geelani was acquitted by the Indian ……
2. You have mentioned that Arundhati Roy tries to say “Courts be damned” and what not. I wish you had read the article without any bias and you would have understood what she meant. Hard as it may sound, but I failed to find a single sentence in her write-up which claimed that Afzal is totally innocent. She has merely put the pieces together, and there in what has emerged are glaring loopholes. Well, why would you talk about those loopholes – that would only make you case even more weaker. Just that one innocent professor was not convicted doesn’t mean whosoever else is tried has to be guilty. It was only due to the unrelented pressure by NGOs, reputed lawyers and thinkers, his students that today SAR Geelani is a free man.
Ridicules Arundhati Roy for mentioning Afzal Guru’s trial is totally based on all false evidence and there is nothing true in the case. …
3. What Arundhati Roy should or should not have done is none of our choices. I don’t think Ms. Roy wants people like you to believe anything – as you won’t believe anyway. She is a booker prize winner not a publicity hungry politician out to hoodwink you and earn votes (read money). Some of you have taken this famous saying to heart “Never believe what is obvious”. It is possible that Arundhati too might have had similar views as yours but now after researching the case she has changed her opinion. Let her say what she wants to – but the way you are frustrated at this clearly indicates your nervousness.
Is not impressed when A. Roy says Afzal Guru was victimized by the then government so as to be able to find premise for launching a war on Pakistan. Which war? ….
4. Why don’t you ask the big honchos of your favourite party which was in power. Operation Parakram and what not was launched at their behest. And I cannot stop laughing when you say that A. Roy has just weaved a plot for another novel and yet is so naive to discuss it in a weekly. Hey my suggestion, why don’t you take the cue (for you also have a way-with-words) and come out with a bestseller. And by the way, I never knew A. Roy is a Christian.
Madame Roy also makes a reference to her favorite Gujarat riots here – for no evident reason.
5.It is really sick to find someone refer to a pogrom as “favourite” as if one were talking about some daily soap. I hope you understood what pogrom is (not a program on your favourite channel). What Gujarat riots were and what Godhra riots were, let that be for another post .. some other time. Do you want us to believe no-one was killed in Narodiya-Patiya, Best-Bakery case is a myth, A pregnant woman did not have her womb split and her foetus burnt in front of eyes, In Vadodra no one was inside that Sumo around which barbed wire was wound before setting it on fire… I can go and on.. but as I said some other post. And when has a best selling author needed a riot and minorities support to boost her career. By the way what is the percentage of Muslims who read her… I am sure it wont be even a percent.
Says that as per Ms Roy, the terrorism in Kashmir is due to the para-military forces in the valley …
6.I found this to be the most absurd argument from your side. You are stretching her views too far and wide. What she is trying to emphasise on is the ‘terror” that is unleashed in the name of anti-militant activities by Special Operations Group or STF or SOG. But you were lucky enough to escape them so you won’t know how good (or bad) they are. So it would help if you trust ordinary Kashmiris views about them (Oh no you wont do that either.. for you think we all are terrorists).
Says that Ms. Roy has empathy for the enraged people of Kashmir, for the war-torn zone that they are living in and the pain related to it. …
7. Pain of our own making. Yes Kashmiris (read Muslims) are responsible for everything bad in this country be it Babri Masjid demolition, Mumbai riots in 93, Bhagalpur riots, Gujarat riots. So we deserve to die and we are dying. And yes, the conflict in Kashmir is our own creation – Indira Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah, Mufti Syed and yes His Highness Jagmohan had no hand in anything that has happened till now. Now whether A. Roy had condemned Mumbai blasts or Delhi Diwali blasts hardly matters for it is a different case we are discussing.
There was a media orgy forcing the judiciary and the system to prosecute someone – Afzal becoming the victim.
8. When a confession is obtained on Live TV first and only later proper procedures are followed – what other conclusion do you come to… Simply that the channel in addition to boosting their TRP wants to be knows as the channel on which “Afzal confessed”.. Pretty smart but gross. And do I need to tell you what relentless media pressure can force the judiciary to do… No you’re well aware.
Death Sentence should be abolished as it is not a civil form of punishment…
Now you are jumping to so many issues together and I don’t think my comment needs to tackle all of them issues together. Well you talk of the murder of Priyadarshini Mattoo, despite being from the other side of divide I have always wished for the punishment to guilty – whether the victim is a Muslim or a Pandit. How strongly each one of us feels about this case, have you ever wondered why? The reason is it was only possible due to the pressure maintained by the media esp. 24X7 news channels that today Santosh Singh has been convicted. Some years ago no one knew Priyadarshini and no one knew Santosh Singh’s crime either. But tomorrow if anyone stands for him, freedom of expression gives him/her the right to say what he/she wants and I don’t think we need a certificate to be issued whether the person is qualified to defend anyone.
And yeah… Vinayak, to be honest,… in relative terms I do think Afzal got a raw deal… Afterall, if Bitta Karate…
I am really amazed that even after nearly two decades whenever we talk of atrocities on Kashmiri Pandits by militants the only name that crops up is of Bitta Karate (incidentally in jail for 16 years till now). An excerpt from a blog I recently visited may be some food for thought for you…
“However, at the same point of time I have no hesitation in saying that while there are Bitta Karates on one end of the spectrum, you wont have to do much to find their equal and opposite personality. That person may not have taken as many lives (or may be even more) but he too has killed an innocent human being somewhere in Gow Kadal, Hawal, Bijbehara; hurt the dignity of women in Chhanapora, Handwara so on and so forth.
Tragedy is while you can ascribe a face to a Bitta Karate terror you cannot do the same for the other gun. The reason we all are here is we acknowledge those tragedies and feel the pain that everyone has gone through”
Hope that helps you in having some objectivity in your posts in the future.
Juz A Kashmiri
![Email [Kasheer]](http://kasheer.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/juz_a_kashmiri3.png)
Thats what i think. Link Copied here
Mr. Vinayak,
I welcome you to this blog. It would really help us if we always stick to the argument which is being made rather than start a totally new discussion. It was my attempt to reply to some of the observations made by Soul in Exile in his blog.
Now since you have posted I am sorry to say but again you are indulging in mud-slinging when none of us are interested in that. The way you are clubbing all Kashmiris (Muslims) as the aggressors (rather than victims) seems to suggest that you have a very stereotypical view of the problem called “Kashmir” and you won’t change it for any reason.
But I cannot help point some contradictions in your post. You claim that the people who started this movement had no or very little idea of what it is going to result into and also refer to the political difficulties which Indian Gov’t created. So doesn’t it seem to suggest that the movement was born out of instinct rather than out of some nefarious designs like driving out Pandits. Doesn’t this in your mind absolve normal Kashmiris from that famous M taint?
Mind you we are not interested in talking about the merits / demerits of the struggle for we have lived through it and so there is a possibility we are innure to hardships now – be it inflicted by either side. You hit the nail-on-the-head by saying “you only watched”. What justification then to call upon Kashmiris to stand up and complain.We need not any kind of tutelage for we know what we do.
Voice we will and complain we will against every agency responsible for any kind of hardships – whether the aggrieved section professes Islam or believes in Vedas – Puranas – Shastras – Guru Granth Sahib. I simply cannot agree less with you when you say that the gun-culture has taken away the right of protest. If you firmly believe in that, then it seems to suggest that the movement is indigenous and everyone is part of it. If that is the case may you desist from ridiculing it. For that matter every struggle which is popular always has some merit in it.
Now talking about raising a voice against those who hold a gun to commit atrocities on common people – I can count numerous such instances and how many can you refer to support the fact that Pandits voiced their concern against difficulties faced by ordinary Kashmiris who still live in the place they call their motherland.
But yes you have atleast spoken what most Pandits don’t dare saying – “Also it’s a not easy to be a Kashmiri muslim and being able to live in India”. I must say kudos to you for atleast making some beginning.
You have also touched upon the “supposed economic impact” of the movement (or strife as you may like to call it) – rich getting richer at the expense of poor – but I am not sure that is just because of the prevalent conditions. Isn’t this a world wide phenomenon.
May I end this post by saying please note we are not supporting the gun-culture be it from any side. I believe that for the Kashmiris to live in peace it is high time both the sides come to the negotiating table without making it a prestige issue. If India continues to repeat the “Atoot-Ang” theory then you would surely have to face the arguments from those who consider our valley as their “Sheh-ragg”. Pity Kashmiris don’t realise how their lives are being shaped by those who dont care two hoots about our well-being.
Juz A Kashmiri
Link DeletedI would like to re-iterate that this deletion of link may not be construed as an attempt to stop others from listening to your point-of-view. The comment has bee modified to ensure that the blog is not reduced to a mere place for publishing links. We want feedback (positive or negative) from all sections.
Request all contributors to refrain from posting just links. This forum is to share thoughts. Even if you want the readers to visit some other site; please provide with a basic idea of what we are talking about.
This moderation is also required in order to prevent spamming or similar activities. Hope you all share the same concern.
Juz A Kashmiri
You want me to put my 2087 words and 153 lines of reply as a comment. That’s not a comment that’s a response. Don’t you think providing a link is more meaningful and useful?
A comment is like-“Great job” or “You are bad” etc. I won’t post a link for that. Anyway, I just hope people get to see both sides of the coin
Mr. Vinayak,
Your tone and tenor does not appear to be friendly – Are you trying to suggest that we should feel obliged that you have posted your “valuable comments” here Oh sorry the link instead of your comments. I am sorry but even now what you are indulging in is nothing but (what you yourself call) “mud-slinging”. I am sorry but I think you should try to be a little more rational. May I mention this is a blog and not some government job where you have to look for reasons or excuses like “you want me to put…” and none of is (I am sure) interested in any of your reasons. May I also say that if you feel that it is not worth it to post a response so huge at our (notice – I dont call it mine) blog then I think it would be right to keep it at your blog – and we’ll visit it anyways. Or else may I suggest a concise version.
Posting of direct links in comments is not encouraged by many of the blog sites like WordPress. Hope it makes sense to you.
Juz A Kashmiri
Just curious…
Is Juz A Kashmiri a single person or a bunch of people…? Coz I am often amused by JAK’s use of ‘we’ while refering to self…
Or maybe its just a looooong hangover of QSQT syndrome… Ok with me either ways…
Dear Soul in Exile (no i wont write your name as a acronym)
Its nice to see you are curious to know us … sorry not us you are curious to know me.
Now the reason why I use we in certain scenarios; Let me tell you whenever I want to project my personal opinion I will always use “I”. And if there is something which I am sure most of Kashmiris will agree to I would always use “we”. Besides, I do not want to portray myself as someone unique – and that is why I always refer to this blog as “our blog”. If you too want to contribute here, I would really welcome that.
Juz A Kashmiri
From Bilhan koul
My open letter to Kashmiri Muslims has drawn comments. Juz a Kashmiri and others have skirted the issues covenitoly.For a start that Islam is
Fastest growing religion in America is just propaganda.
Because even an illiterate peasent from Kashmir has told me
The same thing. Let us have a censes . That is more mature
Buddist religion is reverd by Hollywood Filmstars .
Therefore,my question is : Why they don’t indulge in propaganda?
Is it so that guilt complex is reigning supreme in Kashmiris.
In other words , justify conversion in Kashmir by justifying
Conversion in America. I would like to know which Islam
Fastest growing , sunni, Shia or Wahabi . In my college days
A students was bragging that Islam is this and that . I asked him
Why is he not comfortable with his heritage, whether good or bad
Islam is his religion . Suddenly he came to senses and admitted
Though not in clear terms that Muslims are not comfortable With
There religion because it is religion of arabs in the first place.
Moving on, i am not a against Kashmiri Muslims enjoying
A degree of prosperity and happiness and freedom .But freedom
Is democracy . I may well pose a question to muslims who have answered
My letter . Juz a kashmiri wishes me well but how can he help me if I want
Kashmir to be part of America. And if ten thousands Kashmiri Pandits go to
Pok and wage an armed struggle to free Sharda temple from Pakistani clutches. As one participant in the discussion has put it that if kashmirs
Were hindus India would not have played the dirty poltics in Kashmir.
It is evident that muslims caste aspersions on others because they themselves have communal outlook. Pandit Nehru left no stone
Unturned that Indian muslims should not leave for Pakistan.
I have my self experienced muslims justifying there communal
Outlook to paint others as equally communal .
My point however is this : If 1947 is date dispute Why not 1347 when muslims came conquering from other regions to occupy Kashmir .
I am raising this issue precisely because muslims themselves think of past as date dispute .Naturally , you leave your defences open to be counterattacked .
Syeds and gillains have come under my scanner because they are more fanatics. A Kashmiri muslim friend has told
Me because they are foreign maid therefore they don’t want bonohomie
Exsisting between local hindus and local Muslims .Gillains knows
That his ancestors conquered Kashmiris . He loves islam but cares little for kashmiris. He wants islam to rule over heart and minds of kashmiris so that he can rule over them by proxy.
V.S.Naiupal has written about convertswhich applies to Kashmiris as well islam is an arab religion.Everyone not an arab
Who is Muslims is convert . Islam makes imperial demands . Persons forgets his own and he became parts of Arabs story
From Bilhan koul
My open letter to Kashmiri Muslims has drawn comments. Juz a Kashmiri and others have skirted the issues conveniently. For a start that Islam is
fastest growing religion in America is just a propaganda.
Because even an illiterate peasent from Kashmir has told me
the same thing. Let us have a census . That is more mature .
Buddist religion is reverd by Hollywood Filmstars hence
my question is : Why they don’t indulge in propaganda?
Is it so that guilt complex is reigning supreme among Kashmiris.
In other words , justify conversion in Kashmir by justifying
Conversion in America. I would like to know which Islam is
fastest growing , Sunni, Shia or Wahabi . In my college days
a student was bragging that Islam is this and that . I asked him
why is he not comfortable with his heritage, whether good or bad
Islam is his religion . Suddenly he came to senses and admitted
though not in clear terms that Muslims are not comfortable with
their religion because it is religion of Arabs in the first place.
Moving on, i am not against Kashmiri Muslims enjoying
a degree of prosperity and happiness and freedom .But freedom
Is democracy . I may well pose a question to Muslims who have answered
my letter ? If Juz a kashmiri wishes me well but then how can he help me if I want Kashmir to be part of America and if ten thousand Kashmiri Pandits go to
Pok and wage an armed struggle to free Sharda temple from Pakistani clutches? As one participant in the discussion has put it that if kashmirs
were Hindus India would not have played the dirty poltics in Kashmir.
It is evident that Muslims caste aspersions on others because they themselves have communal outlook. Pandit Nehru left no stone
unturned that Indian Muslims should not leave for Pakistan.
I have my self experienced Muslims justifying their communalism by passing the buck to others.
My point however is this : If 1947 is date of dispute why not 1340 when Muslims came conquering from other regions to occupy Kashmir .
I am raising this issue precisely because Muslims themselves think of past as date of dispute .Naturally , you leave your defences open to be counterattacked .
Syeds and GillanI’s have come under my scanner because they are more fanatics. A Kashmiri muslim friend has told
me because they are foreign made therefore they don’t want bonohomie
exsisting between local Hindus and local Muslims .GillanI knows
that his ancestors conquered Kashmiris . He loves islam but cares little for kashmiris. He wants islam to rule over heart and minds of kashmiris so that he can rule over them by proxy.
V.S.Naiupal has written about convertswhich applies to Kashmiris as well that Islam is an Arab religion.Everyone not an Arab who is a Muslim is a convert . Islam makes imperial demands . He forgets his own and he becomes part of Arab story.
I request Juz Kashmiri and others to ponder over my posers.
Bilhan Koul
Bilhan Koul more posers to kashmiri muslimsMore posers to Kashmiri Muslims
Your intellectuals and historians deliberately tries to show pandits in poor light and invent all sort of excuses so that Islam rules among helpless kashmiris.Hence it is argued by your paper that Hinduism was caste ridden, fragmented and Kashmiris were dying like a moth in a flame until light of Islam came. I must say that thisisconverts view. Iraq faces sectarian war and America’s is a superior civilization but why nobody is converting to Christianity.
Buddhism was casteless and local in character but why nobody in Kashmir converted to Buddism.And finally your historians tell us that Islam spread through logic and reason. Matters of faith spreading through logic and reason. Only Kashmir Historians can tell us! And look and behold some of those historians like Ishaq khan have foreign roots.
‘’Laws of nature say one of Dostoevsky’s characters’ live for falsehood and dice for falsehood’’ It is a matter of great regret that K.pandits kith and kin have been instigated to heap abuse on him. Dostoevsky was after all right.
If some converted Muslims ancestor who was a Hindu wakes up and finds accidentally his progeny Arabised rather than Kashmiri he will get a shock. But that is a matter of conjecture. On a reality scale I invite Kashmiri Muslims for a discussion and see who beats whom on logic and reason. If I beat them then Muslims have to be converted to Hinduism and vice versa will be the case if I am beaten. But jokes apart Kashmiri society revered Brahmans and when they were converted foreign missionaries told them that they were Muslim Brahmans. Caste had no hold on Kashmiris and certainly people of different Castes did not kill each other as was the case with Shia Sunni conflict. But project Hinduism as retrograde so that Islam endures is your motto.
From health to research everything in Kashmir was done by English people but nobody remembers them. But everybody remembers Shah Hamdan. No doubt because conversion is everything from which Kashmiris suffers.
Hindus were weak and magnanimous but nobody talks about it in Kashmir. On the other hand Arabs have to be strong and should repel everybody. If they get beaten as in the case of Iraq, Muslims are a victim .If they win as in the case of Kashmir it is an achievement. It is a convert’s view who desperately wants to see something good in Islam.
Kashmiriat has local roots and your intellectuals have fiddled it with only to find it Connected with Hindu ethos. Understand bly how could those who worship Arab Gods lay claim to Kashmir at. Therefore your intellectuals and thinkers invent a new trick. That is Universilisation of Islam. But nobody gives a thought that if Islam seeks Universilisation as a concept then why it wants to create Islamic ghetto. Islam is a foreign religion but you cry that India is a occupying force. Outsiders converted Kashmiris but that is not your concern. Iraqi occupation is. Syeds, Nakhsbandis, Galani’s dictated terms for average Kashmiri and he was told that respect Islam and turn voilent in the name of Islam. He did precisely that. They ruled while average Kashmiri was brain washed with Islam to such an extent that he developed violent disorder. The name of the diseases ‘’Islamic schizophrenia’’. Don’t be surprised. It is a real disease.
Now as I am telling the truth, I will be potrayed fanatic
My letter will be dismissed as Communal. But of course your people are good people. They don’t worry about anything.
Finally, I hold no brief for Hindus but your Intellectuals do hold brief for Islam. I use India for own benefit. You want to create. Islamic ghetto Of course you want freedom but Islam has kept you in bondage that is not your concern.
You seem to have been enslaved but that was once upon a time now you say allow us to remain part and parcel of Arabs forever. That is your motto
That is a price for Conversion.
Bilhan Koul
Dear Bilhan Koul Saab,
Please write something about the origin of your own religion Hinduism first before you can attack Islam.
BR/
hi
Dear Mr jk_pul
I hold no brief for hindus. i am an atheist. i also respect arab varitey of islam
What i do not stomach islam in kashmir . It is not their religion. I am all for
kashmiri identity. But that will happen when kashmiris realize that islam is an arab religion. i am human being first . I do not care for any religion .
bilhan_kaulid342@yahoo.co.in
plssss reply me
Dear Bilhan Koul Saab,
I am too busy nowadays to reply any blog! But I am finding a li’l time to reply you.
I am not an atheist but a proud muslim & a proud Kashmiri of course. First of all, Islam is not an Arab religion. Yeah, it had to start somewhere and it did start from Arab world.
Kashmir is a political problem and you must realise that. The earlier it is understood, the better.
BR/
Kashmiri is not a political problem . It is a religious problem poor kashmiris have been converted and they think that they are part of arab ethos .That is where problem lies . Indian christians are independent of European character .But kashmiris muslims are not free from arab haegemoney herein lies the critical difference.
Our Fraudulent Historians
Bilhan kaul
Kashmir had been conquered by Muslim invaders and its population forcibly converted. But our historians have worked a diabolic inversion, they have made people believe that not only was Islam introduced peacefully in the vale but prevailed because of its superior ideology and better man management. Guilty of such an utter lie are not only Muslim historians but Hindu historians as well. Noted Pandit Historian P.N.K. Bamzai also harbours such a myth as the one that Islam penetrated peacefully in the valley. If superior ideology and better political system was the criterion, why were British dubbed as Impearlists. Didn’t they do much in Kashmir in every field? Ancient manuscripts were found by Dr.Bhuler; Rajtarangni was translated and made famous by Stein.
Dr. Ishaq Khan noted Kashmiri historian writes that Islam spread through logic and reason. Matters of faith spreading through logic and reason! He tries to give impression in his book “Transition to Islam” that poor peasants who got converted were diploma holders in logic and reason. It is known fact that no religion spreads peacefully, particularly when it has foreign origins. Even if forces not applied allurement of various types of various types are offered. That is why poor tribal of India are susctible to conversion. G.M.D. Sufi writes that Islam did not materially change the condition of the Kashmir people .Really you are taking people away from their customs, Festivals, rituals and you are asking them to follow alien
Practices. Our venerable historians try to explain the temple breaking spree of Muslims by giving an example that Hindus broke Viharas of Buddhists. I suppose G.M.D Sufi has dreamt of such vandalism to rationalize Muslim tendency for temple destruction.
There is no record that Hindus of Kashmir broke and vandalized Viharas. Buddhists were considered by Kashmir is as their own co-set and their was mutual respect between Brahman and Buddhists. The real reasons why Buddhism Disappeared in Kashmir was its existentialist approach to life. Buddha was a cold, scientific thinker. He even negated the existence of god. Being bereft of helping hand of God Kashmir is rejected Buddhism. But that never meant they had no respect for it. In any case, G.M.D Suffi is quick to rationalize his religion’s use of violence by looking elsewhere.
Bulbul Shah Hamdan are portrayed as great saints. But they were not saints of Kashmiris. They were saints of Invaders and were thrust on indigenous
Kashmir people. Shah Hamdan introduced twenty humiliating conditions onto Hindus. He made Hindus and Muslims wear separate dress. It is classic case of apartheid. Yet we are being told he was a great saint. All we say is that he was not the saints of locals. No doubt English people did much to spread light and reason. But our historians see the light spread by Islam only. It is the price Kashmiris had to pay for being converted to Islam.
Really, Vs. Naipaul has hit the nail on the head when he wrote that” Islam is an Arab religion. Everyone not an Arab who is a Muslim is a convert Everyone not an Arab who is a Muslim is a convert. Islam makes imperial demands. A convert forgets his own and becomes part of Arab story. He develops neurosis who he or She”
I may add that Islam is not a matter of faith .It has brought chemical changes in the converted people. As every chemistry student knows chemical change is a permanent change. In similar vein Islam has permanently altered the view of converted people. They have become Arabised.
All sorts of logics and rationales and invented by historians to justify Islamic hold on Kashmiris. They will portray Hindu period a chaotic. They will tell you that there was pernicious caste system. They will add that women died on the burning pyres of their husbands.
I want to tell readers that sati was really practiced in ancient Kashmir. This was due to the Trika philosophy. Even the wives of the king Kalsa who performed Sati were not locals. His Chief Queen who committed sati was from Jallandhar.
Another bizarre theory, which has been doled out by our Kashmiri Historians, has been that it was Suhbhatt who vandalized temples of Kashmir. Sultan Sikander is exonerated of any wrong doing. The fact, however, remains that Suh Bhatta could not even have moved his little finger without Sikander’s order. But, dear reader, notice the agenda behind it! Sultan Sikander was a foreigner therefore he was peaceful. Suhbhatta was a local hence was violent. Nund Reshi was a proselytizer and Shah Hamdan, a foreigner did not even kill a fly.
Our Hindu historians, no doubt, writing with intoxicating Marxist theories in view, sometimes echo Muslim historians in running down Hinduism. Dr. Parimoo in his book ‘Muslim rule in Kashmir” credits Pandits of Kashmir as strong willed enough to resist conversion. But he is quick to balance the view by stating that Islam came as good riddance in the valley.
The whole world however knows that Kashmiris were tried of Syeds and other foreigners and made determined bid to expel them. But taking on Dr. Parimoo we may well ask him how was Islam a good omen for Kashmiris. And how was Islamic rule better then Hindu rule. Bertand Russel tells us that advance civilizations are scientific in character. Therefore we may well ask Dr. Parimoo precisely what way civilization underwent a metamorphosis during sultanate period. Did Muslim rule turned to better because it had better scientific skills to pass on the benefit to Kashmiris? Was the precapita income of Kashmiris better during Muslim rule? Did average Kashmiris under Muslim rule suffer less toothaches than Hindu period? Also, was the rice crop better during sultanate period? These are the some of the questions that come to mind and many more can be offered.
We evidence that Kashmir under Muslim invasion suffered and arrested the growth of literature and arts. The best historian of Kashmir Kalhana cane before Muslim rule. Somdev wrote Katha Sarita Sagara at the height of Hindu rule and Kashmiris were not converted to Islam when Lal Ded wrote her poetry with fury and passion. Before singing off, I will like to add that Marxist Historians have worked the similar havoc in India as well.
Arun Shourie, noted intellectual tells of them “Tarnish every person,
Institution, period from which people may derive pride, confidence/ ascribe tolerance, magnanimity to the intolerant / portray the inclusive open tradition as the One out to swallow others and the exclusivist, totalitarian ideology as the ideology of broad mindedness, of peace, tolerance / denounce as communal anyone who demands proof / Blame victims for the consequences of the ideology of the oppressors / Suppress the role of comrades in aiding imperial rulers/ Tarnish leaders, reformers who led the national movement / all the while control institutions, hog patronage, exercise power, and have a good time.”
These are lines from his book “Eminent Historians “. But I may assure that Kashmiri Historians have been for worse. But they have been let off because mainly it was are forbidden to talk about religion. Secondly, no one disputed their claim. Mistakes made by Hindu Historians of Kashmiris have been quickly seized by Muslims historians to buttress their agenda. And the agenda was completely communal.
Mr. Bilhan Koul,
Your comment will easily break every record of the longest comment on any blog in the world. I am not sure how to respond to such a comment of monstrous proportions. But somewhere I have to start, not necessarily to criticise what you’ve said but to see whether atleast we agree to disagree.
But I am not even sure which of your comments shall I reply to first because there is just too much that you have come with on-board and if I am given the luxury of just responding to one issue at a time, I would really feel my efforts are worth it.
I have so many things to talk about but today I will restrict myself to your comments on the fastest growing religion. If you feel that Islam is not the fastest growing religion (and I assume you will have statistics to prove it) but it doesnt do anything to lessen a Muslim’s belief in his faith. Like no one should question a Parsi about his faith just because their community is gradually becoming extinct, similarly any religion which doesn’t muster enough number of converts doesn’t mean that the adherents of faith have to doubt it in any manner.
Now as far as conversion of Hollywood stars to Buddhism is concerned, why should ordinary Muslims be bothered? It is their choice and mind you, a Hollywood star is no different than a roadside panwallah in the eyes of Islam. (I can easily get into details of concept of Universal Brotherhood, but let that be for next time). So this argument on the basis of conversion of movie stars doesn’t hold much water.
I am purposely keeping my reactions to one issue at a time. If you want to discuss more, do mention it in comments even if it sounds like a repetition.
Juz A Kashmiri
Bilhan,
A sincere request to you and other contributors here not to make this blog sound as one more inter-religious debate forum. As you’d have seen not even once have I tried to cast aspersions on anyone’s faith or way of living so I think its not unreasonable to expect that we all will follow a similar way of discussing rather than trying to score a point on the basis of religion.
Mind you this us v/s them debate has never helped anyone. May Almighty bless all Kashmiris.
Juz A Kashmiri
Dear Friends,
It had been well explored not only by the Muslim Scholars but as well as non-Muslim Scholars that if any faith / religion bring peace to this world that is Islam the Great. But we Muslims failed miserable to project Islam in its orginal essence – we are sinful. We nammed every agression even it is for personal / individual benifits as Jihad. Islam is the religion which teaches peace, brotherhood as cleared by the lectures delivered by the Great Scholar like Dr. Zakir Naik. Dr. Naik is really a Jihadi who foungs to eliminate ill-conceptions cropped up across the world agaist Islam. It has become a state of mind of people that every Muslim is a terrorist and indeed it will take hell of time to remove well rooted myth from thier least informed minds.
Education really liberates man and one who points his/her finger upon every Muslim he/she should fight go through what sought of Muslim he/she is. Is enemies of Islam are investing whatever they can ti malign Islam Allah has created great Islamic scholars accepted by one and all like Dr. Zakir.
I think if people across the globe iresspective of their faiths should learn anything about Islam they should either made their own efforts to explore the truth about Islam or else they should listed to the Islamic scholars like Dr. Zakir.
Even beinng a Muslim I initially had some doubt that how far it is true that Islam promotes war. Thanks to Scholars like Zakir and others whom liberate me from this darkness by projecting Quran and Sayings of Prophet Mohammad (SAW) in its real sense.
I request all Muslim as well as non-Muslim brethren to spread the good notions agaist each other.
Salim
Srinagar-Kashmir
I can be ticklish about my details inspector A joke for you! Why is a turkey more evil than a chicken? Because a turkey is always a gobblin (a goblin)