Kashmir: Where Hindu Human Rights are Ignored

By Linda Brock

Jammu, Kashmir (CHAKRA) – Hindus in Jammu fear that fresh attacks are very likely in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir (PoK).  Kashmir’s political actions reinforce the precedence of the Muslim population in Jammu and Kashmir and this in turn has strengthened Kashmiri-Muslim resistance to completely integrate with India.  Demoralizing armed and para-military forces, the state, last month refused to unfurl the Tricolour at Lal Chowk. Successive governments at the center have failed to protect the refugees and redress their citizenship and human rights.  Most of these refugees are Hindus, who migrated to Jammu and Kashmir after PoK took over parts of the state in the 1947-1948 war, and again following the wars of 1965 and 1971, the UPA has welcomed Pakistan-based militants to the valley.

Nearly one-hundred thousand Hindus remain excluded from the political and socio-economic life of the state.  They are consistently denied education for their children, bank loans, voting rights along with the right to own property since 1947. In Muslim majority areas, there is covert religious cleansing taking place, while the state government is hiding the magnitude and scope of suppression, and internal displacement.  The matter was raised to the Prime Minister’s Working Group on Centre-State Relations for Jammu and Kashmir, but it seems to have been completely ignored. The terrorists who were given free rein to unleash genocide and drive out nearly 400 000 Hindus, have been welcomed back with an open-door policy which was announced by the Centre.

Aside from 7000 families being sheltered in government camps in Jammu, the rest have been left to fend for themselves.  They suffer from health problems—both physical and psychological, unemployment and a declining growth rate of their community, but they have no place of belonging.

Yet on February 11, Mr. Chidambaram announced that the centre was ready to welcome Kashmiris who crossed the line of control (LoC) in the name of arms-training for insurgency.  Previously, he had surprised the nation by claiming that he was going to resume talks with Pakistan, despite the failure of Islamabad to take action against terrorism.

Ghulam Nabi Azad—Union Health Minister—has criticized this scheme as Pakistan could use it as a cover to push foreign militants into the country.  Mr. Azad disputes that it will be difficult to determine whether the youth being accepted across the borders are the same men who went to Pakistan for arms-training.  The state must be reminded that Islamabad is refusing to hand over the 26/11 terrorist, so how can Delhi adopt a surrender policy that facilitates further infiltration of militants into India?

Estimates state that a high number of nearly 4000 youth crossed the LoC during the 1990’s.   Many of these returned quietly but about 800 of the 4000 remained in PoK.  In 2006 these youth met with an Indian delegate to PoK and asked to be sent back to Pakistan, because they were “homesick”.  This may be true, but when separatism is a huge issue, militancy on the upswing, there is no political logic for such generosity.

The amnesty scheme is viewed by many as a new incarnation of the Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Permit for Resettlement Act, 1982, which was stayed by the Supreme Court because of a petition by Mr. Bhim Singh from the Panthers Party.  Sheikh Abdullah had started and led this legislation after his victory in July, 1977 State Assembly election.  After the Sheikh’s death, Mr Farooq Abdullah became Chief Minister in September 1982.

The UPA owes the country an explanation for the wars and sacrifices of 1947, 1965, 1971, Kargil, and the continuing violence which took place on November 26, 2008 in Mumbai.  All these issues are being ignored and untouched continuously by the UPA.  An explanation is needed for what drove the Muslim majority to hound their unarmed Hindu counterparts with violence and threats issued from loudspeakers and mosques, to molest Hindu women and threaten to keep them as captives while they watch their men being driven out of their land?  Kashmiri, Muslim ignorance and violence continues to pose a threat to national security, yet the Centre is willing to risk the security by allowing more spies and terrorists to enter the state. An explanation is needed for who is behind this destructive agenda.