25.1.10

All it takes is a temple?

One more act that will be seen as a great gesture.

A Hindu temple left in ruin in a central Srinagar locality but preserved by local Muslims in the absence of anyone to look after it has been formally handed over to a community group of Kashmiri pandits.
A statement issued by the Kashmir Pandit Sangarash Samiti (KPSS here said, "We at Kashmir Pandit Sangarash Samiti feel honoured by the stand taken by the local Muslims to save the temple. This clearly indicates that due to the few unscrupulous elements the whole community or society gets involved."


Who did they save it from? Terrorists? Others from the majority Muslim community? If it was left in ruin, why did the Muslims preserve it? Did they also preserve homes of the pandits? If they did, why is that not highlighted? And if they did not, then what is so important about the temple? I ask this because it is said that with assurances from the local mosque management committee some people have relocated “to the area to take the control of the temple”.

Who is this mosque committee and is it running the state? Who has given it the right to decide whether it can keep anything and anyone safe? What if it fails to do so? Will the strong pandit lobby again start on ‘Kashmiris and their Pakistani affiliation’? Does it take one temple to bridge a divide that was cleverly manipulated by politicians?

And is this organisation (KPSS) the representative of all Kashmiri pandits that it can ‘take over’ the temple? What if other groups want a share of the godly pie? What if they have a different opinion? Why is it emphaised in the report that the Muslims chose a Friday to hand over the temple? Because, it is an important holy day and there would be peole gathered for prayers and they wanted mileage. Simple.

It is all about garnering mileage. One pandit spokesperson even said:

“This will be known as the best example of the traditional bonds between the two communities have not fallen apart completely and there is hope and chance revive it completely provided.”


Is such a gesture evidence of a traditional bond? Do the pandits forget that many of their homes were in fact preserved, just as many were destroyed, along with those of the others? Do they forget that they got a not-too-bad deal from the respective governments? Do they forget that the Panun Kashmir group was separatist in nature? The bonds ought to be deeper than this exchange of temples and mosques when people are being killed everyday.

What has to be revived is trust and that won’t come with some fellows from either side playing footsie with various establishment types. The local population is a helpless witness in most cases. Therefore, I’d like to know who is manipulating this from behind closed doors.

3 comments:

  1. Farzana,
    Just accept and honor the graciousnes of these muslims and Pandits of Kashmir.

    Pandits continue to be IDP(internally displaced people) even in their own nation.Please stop blaming all Pandits for demand of independence by Panun Kashmir.By the way they were not Jihadi group.Raja of Kashmir ,who was Hindu wanted to remain a king till Pakistan sent the forces and he joined India .

    I am glad your blog discusses kashmir and gives me chance to put light on treatment of minority Pandits of Kashmir.No Indian and particularly Indian Muslim can be proud of how they have been treated in last fourty years.
    One of the reason of lack of progress has been absence of educated Pandits of Kashmir who have left Kashmir.Because of violence most educated Muslims have also chosen to settle in places away from shadowes of ISI.

    I am always surprised that Jammu has not asked for a statehood for itself.

    cheers

    kul bhushan
    rxri.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kul Bhushan:

    I am glad you offer a personal opinion.

    We are talking about a sensitive political issue and not individual graciousness. Who are these people?

    Pandits continue to be IDP(internally displaced people) even in their own nation.Please stop blaming all Pandits for demand of independence by Panun Kashmir.By the way they were not Jihadi group.

    How do you define displaced/refugees/exodus/fleeing/chose to leave? No one is blaming all pandits for separatist notions of a group. However, would you extend the same magnanimity towards the local Muslims who did not align with separatists? How many of them are jihadi groups and why stereotype them?

    Raja of Kashmir ,who was Hindu wanted to remain a king till Pakistan sent the forces and he joined India

    So did the nawabs of Hyderabad and Junagadh. India did not want kingdoms post independence. There were several political considerations, including the Abdullahs.

    No Indian and particularly Indian Muslim can be proud of how they have been treated in last fourty years.

    Why have you chosen 40 years as the cut off time? No Indian must be proud of several aspects of the country and that includes establishment supported riots and killings anywhere.

    Why single out Indian Muslims? How are they responsible for what happens among the various groups, New Delhi and Pakistan?

    One of the reason of lack of progress has been absence of educated Pandits of Kashmir who have left Kashmir.Because of violence most educated Muslims have also chosen to settle in places away from shadowes of ISI.

    The local militant groups were active long before the ISI. Educated pandits were given sops. Ask the Jagmohans and T.N.Kauls. Even those who are not very educated have got homes and stipends.

    Educated Muslims who left were lucky if they found professional jobs; their main source of income had been tourism and many were artisans.

    I am always surprised that Jammu has not asked for a statehood for itself.

    Let's end your surprise. The Jammu State Morcha, affiliated to the RSS, has been asking for a separate state for almost a decade. They renewed their demand during the recent Telengana crisis.

    Let us not forget Ladakh. It does not want to have anything to do with the Valley or Jammu.

    Btw, why are people not interested in preserved schools or hospitals? Would any samiti have gone to take them over?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Farzana ,
    Thanks for a sensible discussion even if we do not have the same readings.
    cheers
    kul bhushan
    rxri.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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