‘Kashmir Erupts again’
By Naveed Khan
San Jose, CA
I am astounded at the opinion of esteemed Riaz Haq under the title ‘Kashmir erupts again’ in your issue of September 5. Mr Haq has trivialized the epic and historic struggle waged by the Kashmiris for 61 years. He equates their freedom movement to merely an event of violence ignited by the political changes in Pakistan.
Nobody has started this fire, it had always been burning. It was dormant under the very myopic and self-serving dictatorship of Musharraf who tried to give all the concessions to India and often hinted at abandoning the historical and moral position of Pakistan on the rights and aspirations of Kashmiris.
Neither Musharraf's departure nor the advent of a democratic dispensation in Pakistan has rejuvenated the Kashmiris struggle. People of the Srinagar valley have always been circumspect of the Indian governments' agenda of allocating their land to Hindus under the guise of pilgrimage. The precipitous and enthusiastic demand for freedom stems from the innate distrust of the Indian government and the heightened fear amongst Kashmiri about their future when the Hindu governor allocated Muslim land to a committee engaged in organizing Hindu pilgrimage to the shrines.
The decision was arbitrary, without consultation with the Kashmiri people and in total disregard of the majority sentiment. Riaz Haq's opinion is biased and devoid of the historical context. He called it a political violence. His characterization is wrong. Kashmiri Muslims have never accepted Indian rule, they do not want to be Indians, and will one day achieve their cherished goal of freedom.
I would strongly encourage your readers to study the genesis of the Kashmiris struggle before writing very short-sighted opinions. People with some belief in human dignity and freedom should rally behind the Kashmiris and support their noble cause.
