Arundhati Roy is dangerously wrong on Kashmir by Venkatesan Vembu

Arundhati Roy is dangerously wrong on Kashmir
by Venkatesan Vembu

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Venky

http://siciliandefence.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/arundhati-roy-is-dangerously-wrong-on-kashmir/

Venkatesan Vembu

There’s a mesmeric seductive quality to Arundhati Roy’s prose. For all its verbiage, it teases, tempts and torments the mind and lures it into the parlour of a contrarian world; it then persuades it, with the sheer power of its eloquence, that the natural order of things in the ‘real’ world as we know it is wholly unnatural and completely flawed.

“So you think India is a superpower in the making?” it says, and marshalls compelling arguments for why India is more in the “bhookey-nangey” category. “So you think big dams are great for development?” it asks. “Perhaps you’ll feel differently if it were your home, your village and your livelihood that needed to be sacrificed for the greater common good.”

A fair-minded person might concede that Roy has at least half a point, even if, once the seductive power of her prose has worn off, her polemical pounding of that half-point is grating in the extreme. Heck, she’s not even the only one who holds an unflattering mirror to Indian society and forces us to reflect on our failings rather than thump our chests in pride. The social historian Ramachandra Guha does it no less trenchantly, no less controversially – and no less eloquently; but he does it with a far greater sensitivity to the burden of history, and he at least has the intellectual honesty – and the good grace – to acknowledge the merits, such as they are, of India’s democracy, flawed though it is.

But whereas the soundbite-savvy Roy’s polemics were once merely infuriatingly dishonest (even when they had half a point), her most recent public articulations on Kashmir, coming on top of her unvarnished defence of Maoist resort to violence, cross the threshold of what any self-respecting law-bound nation-state can tolerate. Roy may have declared herself an ‘independent mobile republic’, as she did after the 1998 Pokharan nuclear tests in order to dissociate herself from the BJP’s nuclear jingoism; but she’s still bound by the sedition laws of the decidedly immobile republic she inhabits.

Apart from being historically inaccurate, Roy’s words also betray an inadequate sensitivity to the enormous gravity of any loose talk of azaadi or self-determination at a time when the separatist campaign in Kashmir finally stands exposed before the world as having been propelled all along by Pakistan-backed jihadis who are playing for much larger stakes: the disintegration of secular India.

Perhaps in parlour room polemics, among calm and politically sanitised minds, there may be little risk from intellectual explorations of the merits of Kashmiri self-determination. But the Kashmir mind today is in a fevered state as a result of years of hot-headed jihadi indoctrination; only when that fever subsides can other cures be contemplated. Right now, given that inflamed state, Roy’s words have the potency to bestir indoctrinated minds into extreme action.

History doesn’t flow in straight lines, but in contours, and in Kashmir’s tortured history there are many contours to negotiate. The Indian state may not always have got it right in Kashmir, but Roy’s black-and-white delineation represents a colossal and intellectually dishonest oversimplification of the problem without sufficient appreciation of the fanatical geopolitical forces at work. It also takes her farther down the slippery slope of shrill and decidedly dangerous sloganeering which has enormous lethal consequences in the real world. Perhaps she should break the spell that her own hypnotic prose appears to have on herself and her increasingly fanatical flock of followers.



Hasmukh V Shah - Victiom of Bradford Riots, says:
October 27, 2010 at 11:39 pm

I am a victim of Bradford (UK) Riots, living in a state of siege just like the Kashmiri Hindus were living and hounded out of Kashmir by the expremist jihadists. Is Arundhati Roy supporting these jihadists who have raped, killed and massacred Kashmiri Hindus? Why does she not voice her opinion by going to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and report back from there why people of that part are so impoverished and lack any education? She seems to have ignored the genocide of Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan & vertually not allowing freedom of worship to Hindus in alomost all the Islamic countries. As opposed to this Muslims are growing in numbers in India, which Arundhati wishes to ignore.
Reply
Sumanth says:
October 28, 2010 at 8:28 pm

You see all the Human right activists were on a vacation when Kashmiri pundits were lynched, raped, tortured and eventually ethnically cleansed out of the valley.

Now the same human right activists are afflicted by selective Stockholm syndrome wherein those who say that even Kashmiri pandits are stakeholders of Kashmir, such people are conveniently brushed away in a stroke with the “term” right wing lynch mob.

Today secularism is a word used to conveniently hide behind inaction against radicalism.

I hate to hate, but I wish I could avoid but to hate these double speaking secular hypocrites, I shall however continue my spiritual journey to not to hate even these hypocrites.

I have no such double standards, what we are seeing in Kashmir is the result of indoctrination of radicalized Islam in valley enabled by inaction, double speak and of course radical elements.

India is still a young democracy and some details seem to get lost in multitude of problems, but very soon the entire nation is going to stand up for the the Kashmir cause, Kashmir is and shall remain an integral part of India.

Jai Hind


Venky says:
November 1, 2010 at 2:32 pm

@Adam. I appreciate the fact that you want to “learn more about” the issue. That’s a good starting point. I don’t have the time now to link to various reading material, but you don’t need me to give them given the material available in the public domain. You could begin by reading up on post-1947 Kashmir history, particularly the circumstances in which the princely state of Kashmir acceeded to India, and Pakistan’s repeated attempts to seize militarily, right up until the Kargil war of 1999, and through its sponsorship of jihadi terrorism, what it couldn’t otherwise. You could also read Bob Woodward’s latest book Obama’s War for a keener understanding of the perils of jihadi violence originating from Pakistan and the Pakistani state’s duplicity in combating it. India has been a victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism since the early 1980s; the Western world (including the US and the UK) ignored it, and woke up to it only when they themselves were attacked.
My point is that you cannot discuss Kashmir – or the presence of Indian troops in the State or the alienation of the local population – without discussing the role of jihadi terrorism. It is that lack of nuance in Arundhati Roy’s narration of history that I criticise.
I urge you to reserve judgement on the merits of her argument till you’ve acquired a keener understanding of the subject, and not judge the issue merely on the point of “freedom of expression” – or by her undoubtedly powerful and persuasive point of view, which as I say is unidimensional.


Hariharan says:
November 5, 2010 at 12:33 pm

> It is India’s wealthy elite that is turning its back on the nation and its people, not Arundhati Roy

It’s not just India’s wealthy elite, but sadly, the so-called intellectuals have also turned their backs on the people. And that includes Arundhati Roy. She’s is in Kashmir to make controversial remarks only for her own publicity. It’s about her alone, not Kashmiris.

RTI (Right to Information Act) activists have been threatened and murdered by wealthy elites. Why hasn’t Roy not written a single piece on such a serious issue? Syed Masood (India’s Bernie Madoff) pulled off a huge investment scam worth thousands of crores of rupees. Every penny has been seized from Madoff (who is now in prison). Why is Syed Masood not yet convicted for defrauding hundreds of thousands of people of their life savings? Why haven’t law enforcement officials followed the money trail to recover huge sums of money laundered overseas? Why was Syed Masood’s wife and daughter let go to the US and there’s no call for extradition of criminals? Why hasn’t Roy written a single article on the largest ponzi scheme in the history of India? These are just two examples and there are dozens of such issues plaguing India — the 85% of India’s population shut out from the economic miracle. Why has she not focused writing constructively on issues that matter?

> Roy’s work with the anti-dam campaign in Gujarat, which after years of struggle was unable to prevent hundreds of thousands of tribal people being forced off their land.

Roy can’t be headless enough to be anti-progress. Unfortunately, she has taken such a stance over and over again. China is not going to wait for any country as it ascends to superpower status. Building dams is not for anyone’s personal pleasure. It creates jobs for thousands of people, provides water for irrigation, and the electricity powers millions of homes. An adequate solution would be just compensation for those who lost land in the process.

> And yes, on the Kashmir issue…

Kashmir is named after an ancient Indian sage — Rishi Kashyap. Kashmir is and has always been an integral part of India for over 5000 years. Was Pakistan not a part of India not too long ago? And why did the maharaja of Kashmir sign the letter of accession with India? Or maybe millions of Kashmiri Hindu pundits never existed? Or perhaps, inside Roy’s twisted little brain, among the dozens of Muslim-majority regions within India, none was actually a part of India, ever? Or in her viewpoint, maybe India never existed, and therefore every state should call for independence? What’s all this nonsense? What’s the point of continuous hysterical diatribes against all things Indian and India?

What does she really want? Dissolution of the union? Or starvation and death of millions on the Indian subcontinent in the future by carving out yet another state, just to please some intellectually deficient folks like her? Does free press means a journalist should write how he or she ‘feels’ depending on mood swings? How does anyone know that Roy didn’t secretly get foreign cash to put on a show of whistleblower while openly engaging in seditious writings? If anyone were to take Roy’s arguments seriously, we’d have hundreds of Muslim-majority regions in the world that will need to be carved out for Muslims. That’s just plain ridiculous!

Consider this — say journalists in China were to call for an independent Tibet, they’d be quickly thrown into prison, and if lucky, avoid broken bones. Here you have an ordinary journalist, Arundhati Roy, who goes on to write that Kashmir was never an integral part of India! Really? Liu Xiaobo is a true scholar and wrote to his government about reforms on free speech guaranteed by his country’s constitution. Roy’s behavior is the exact opposite — she is taking undue advantage of free speech and free press to trample on India’s constitution and sedition laws (section 124A).

With journalism in particular, there is a difference between scholar and squalor. To cite another example, Roy says Maoists are “Gandhians with Guns.” Anyone who knows even an ounce of Gandhi will tell you that the phrase is an oxymoron and an insult to a great man who courageously stood up for a non-violent freedom struggle. There’s no reason why squalor should be encouraged in the name of free press. If democracy isn’t working all that well with a billion plus people, a new model of “socialism with Indian characteristics” might be a wise option to current anarchy.

Content matters. A free press is great but what’s missing in India is constructive solution-oriented journalism, which is a byproduct of intellectualism. The underlying foundational problem needs to be fixed through strong education. Pity the nation that produces journalists like Arundhati Roy who’re just publicity-seeking anti-nationalist traitors.

> We’ve become the repressive, authoritarian society she suggests we already are.

She’s Prannoy Roy’s cousin. That’s her ladder to star power. Who is she with an IQ of a peanut to pass judgement on the state of Indian society? Folks, express yourself freely without kowtowing to the anti-nationalist nobody Roy.

Mountbatten persuaded Nehru, Kashmir to go to Pakistan? - Dr. Raj Baldev

Mountbatten persuaded Nehru, Kashmir to go to Pakistan? - Dr. Raj Baldev
 

MIL/GBA, Oct 27, 2010
Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist
http://www.internationalreporter.com/News-6211/mountbatten-persuaded-nehru-kashmir-to-go-to-pakistan-dr-raj-baldev.html

Tags: Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist, GBA President, Arundhati Roy, “Kashmir is Integral Part of India- Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev, Traces History, ” treason, Nehru, Mountbatten, Hari Singh, Kashmir, mysteries, Pakistan,

New Delhi, India: IR Summary/GBA - Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist, GBA President, who assailed the statement on Kashmir by Arundhati Roy with historical tracing in his article “Kashmir is Integral Part of India- Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev, Traces History,” on Tuesday, doesn’t mean that Ms. Roy has committed some act of treason? Kashmir has many mysteries, one of them is that Mountbatten had persuaded Nehru that Kashmir should go to Pakistan?

Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev simply gave the background of the Kashmir issue, retracing its history how the things developed and how Kashmir is an integral part of India. Circumstances given by him does not mean Kashmir becomes the integral part of India, and it is up to the reader how one is convinced? That’s what he said,”

Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist sheds further light on the background of Kashmir issue in terms of Roy’s statement:

“I can’t press any reader to accept that Kashmir is the integral part of India, it is up to them whether they accept my argument or not,” Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist, said.

GBA President Dr. Raj Baldev, said, “To think of a charge of arresting Roy on charges of sedition by the Ministry officials is an illegal act on democracy of which we make a tall claim.

Arundhati Roy is a writer and even if she had not been a writer, but an ordinary person, still she could express her opinion freely for topic which is an international dispute.”

Roy has not said something which was totally against India, she issued a statement on a disputed issue, which she should have avoided, but since it is an international dispute, everyone has one’s own viewpoint.

It is simply India’s claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India, which is not yet internationally settled finally, even though it is firmly believed Kashmir is the Integral part of India like any other state of this country since elections are regularly held and the govt. stalled to govern the state of Jammu & Kashmir like any other state of the country.

Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist and GBA President said, “the history that I traced in my article against Roy was simply to convince her with the background, which probably she had not gone through, but I doubt whether by doing so, any one can snatch her rights of her viewpoints, not even Govt. of India?

“I simply gave my underlying reasons showing that a very strong balance of convenience in favor of India, 'Kashmir being the integral part of India',” Dr. Raj Baldev said.

"I am myself a writer, written several books, most of them against the policies of different Prime Ministers and leaders of India’s freedom struggle, how undue advantage they took of their positions, nothing happened being democracy, it’s every one’s rights and so is of Ms. Roy. How could an act of sedition be applied against her?"

Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist and GBA President said,” I would like to give some other facts about Kashmir, which may open the eyes of the people how British played a duplicity in this issue, they were internally in favor of Pakistan to get Kashmir state, having 85% Muslim majority.

“It was conveyed to Mountbatten to further transmit the message to Jawaharlal Nehru, to convince Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh in private to accede to Pakistan by taking an advantage of Nehru-Edwina affairs; Nehru was considered to be in terrible love with Edwina.

Mrs. Edwina Mountbatten was the wife of then Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten, who was believed to be a gay and probably for these reasons, he did not mind the affairs between Nehru and Edwina.

Another reason was that Mountbatten had helped India by overruling the recommendation of Whitehall, who wanted one of the two islands i.e. Andaman and Nicobar should go to Pakistan as a staging post between East and West Pakistan, but Mountbatten insisted that both these islands should go to India.

Under the circumstances, it became a difficult situation for Nehru to say no to Mountbatten, and so Mountbatten was sure that Nehru would not ignore his request and moreover it was also endorsed by Edwina. Mountbatten thus assured Pakistan that Hari Singh would accede to Pakistan and not India.

While the efforts were being thought over by Mr. Nehru, which way Kashmir should go and whether he should ask Hari Singh to accede to Pakistan with a view to honoring British Sentiments, Pakistan was so much excited and in its anxiety and based on some misinformation or abetment of their British C-in-C, Gen Meservy in connivance with Pak political leaders, violated the status quo and in October 1947, organized a massive tribal raids into various parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

By 24 October, Pakistan launched a full scale offensive attack in the valley of Jammu & Kashmir under the guise of a tribal uprising. Hari Singh, Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir, who was still to make up his mind where to go for accession, was shocked by the invasion by Pakistan. It was therefore natural for Hari Singh to accede to India, who had no other option but to look to India for help and formally signed the Instrument of Accession with India on 26 October 1947.

I would like to omit many relevant links here since I don’t want to reveal the then “India’s Flopped Military Structure” vs Political Structure, however, military structure was commonly called by the then experts as “Flawed Politico Military Structure” (FPMS), and now I would directly come to a point where Gen. Thimayya, generally known as Timi was entrusted to conduct the operations and Gen. Cariappa took over Western Command from General Russel.

There starts another story which I would not like to discuss it here to shorten the issue and moreover I being an ex serviceman would not like to malign the military lapses.

Again, the events of 1989-90 clearly indicate that if left alone Kashmir would have turned into a Taliban state

Daily Herald - Chicago, Illinois, US Newspaper

The exodus began on Jan. 19. Just after Friday prayer, mosque loudspeakers began blasting slogans, saying Kashmir was only for those willing to say, "Allah is great." Mobs encircled Hindu homes. Rioters screamed, "Nizam-e-Mustafa," or "Islamic rule." The Indian government did not respond right away. "We saw it as sporadic violence. We failed to understand the game plan," says Inspector General of Police K. Rajendra Kumar in Srinagar. "When India reacted, it was too late."

In Habbakadal, their neighborhood, militants threw henna into Hindu houses, a powder used to decorate the hands of Indian brides. The accompanying notes said, "Get your daughters ready. We are coming to make them Muslim girls." A poster glued to the Kouls' door said, "Infidels leave Kashmir." By early summer, they were one of only two Hindu families left. When rebels broke into the only other Hindu house and sprayed the family with bullets, Koul's mother called for a taxi.


Rediff.com - Indian News Website

Has Taj Mohi-u-Din heard the venomous threats that were blasted through mosques' loudspeakers during late 1989 and early 1990? Has he seen the advertisements published in Kashmiri newspapers during the late 1980s and early 1990s? Does he know that those advertisements demanded Kashmiri Hindus to leave Kashmir within 24 hours or be killed? Does he remember the slogans in which Islamic terrorists demanded that they want Kashmir without Kashmiri Hindu males but with Kashmiri Hindu females? Does he remember all that? And he has the gall to say that Kashmiri Muslims never wanted the Pandits out?


From Burning Books and Leveling Libraries by Rebecca Knuth (page 77):
In 1989, attacks on the Pandits escalated, and Muslim paramilitaries selectively tortured, murdered, and raped Pandits, using particularly gruesome techniques to underscore their demands that Pandits leave Kashmir forever. The Pandits fled en masse, carrying only a few articles of clothing. Thereupon, the militants plundered and set fire to pandit properties and temples and destroyed their artworks and sculptures. Images of living beings were offensive to fundamentalist Muslims. Books were favored targets perhaps standing for their owners. Sometimes militants piled books up and set them on fire, chanting "death to the Pandits"


From Explore Kashmiri Pandits[/i]
In July 1988, the Jammu kashmir Liberation front (JKLF, a terrorist organization) offically launched its jihad... In late 1989, JKLF began the ethnic cleansing ... In next few months numerous Kashmiri Pandits were slaughtered,..., and Sarwanand premi, an 80 year old poet whose wife and son were kidnapped, tortured, their eyes gouged out, and hanged to death. A Kashmiri Pandit nurse working at the Soura Medical College Hospital in Srinagar was gang-raped and then beaten to death. Another women was abducted, raped, and sliced into pieces by a sawmill.

In the early days of January 1990, masked terrorists filled the streets in Srinagar, waving Kalashnikovs, shooting to kill and shouting anti-India slogans. Inflammatory speeches were made from the pulpits of mosques, using public address systems for calling the faithful to prayers. Walls were plastered with posters and handbills, summarily ordering all Kashmiris to strictly follow the Islamic dress code, prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks, and imposing a ban on video parlors and cinemas. The masked men with Kalashnikovs forced people to reset their watches and clocks to Pakistan Standard Time. Notices were pasted on the doors of Pandit houses, asked them to leave Kashmir within 24 hours or face death. Slogans such as "Be one with us, or run or die" were shouted at Hindus. The government ceased to exist and the Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah fled the valley leaving Kashmiri Pandits to the mercy of the Muslim terrorists.

[i]On January 19, 1990, Jag Mohan arrived to take control of the political situation ... As evening fell the exhortations become louder and louder and shriller. Three taped slogans were repeatedly played the whole night from mosques:

Kashmir mein agar rahna hai, Allah-O-Akbar kehna hai (If you want to live in Kashmir, you have to say Allah-O-Akbar).

Yahan kya chalega, Nizam-e-Mustafa (What we want here is Islamic rule).

Asi gachchi Pakistan, Batao roas te Batanev san (We want Pakistan without the Hindu men, but with the Hindu women).

On the night of January 19, 1990, despondency gave way to desperation as tens of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits across the valley took a painful decision to flee their homeland to save their lives...[i]


Again, the events of 1989-90 clearly indicate that if left alone Kashmir would have turned into a Taliban state. Your freedom struggle, at least between 1989 and 1995, was designed in the backrooms of ISI offices. They were simply trying to do to Kashmir what had already been done to Afghanistan - waging an armed struggle through the exploitation of religious fanaticism in order to wrest Kashmir away - I wrote a bit about this in an earlier post as well.

Kashmir Is Integral Part of India – Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev Traces History

Kashmir Is Integral Part of India – Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev Traces History
Comments by Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist

MIL/GBA, Oct 26, 2010

http://www.internationalreporter.com/News-6208/kashmir-is-integral-part-of-india-–-cosmo-theorist-dr-raj-baldev-traces-history.html


New Delhi, India: October 26, 2010 – IR Summary/GBA – Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev, assailed the remarks of Activist Arundhati Roy who said Jammu and Kashmir is not an integral part of India. Dr. Raj Baldev traced the history to prove that Kashmir is integral part of India.

Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev, who is the Lead Man of God Believers Association (GBA), formerly known as National Integration Assembly (NIA), dedicated to national and international integration & Word Peace, explained here today in his regular address to members and non members of his organization that the remarks of Activist Arundhati Roy are contrary to Accessional historical facts of Jammu & Kashmir; On the contrary, the remarks carry misguiding factors.

Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev, said, “ I feel that Activist Arundhati Roy has created this controversy, perhaps, without going into the background of the whole affair.
“If Jammu & Kashmir is not integral part of India, it is also not the integral part of Pakistan,” Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist said.

Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist, who is also a famous Social Reformer, a greatly respected being multifaceted personality, who has been invited by different heads of state on goodwill mission abroad from time to time and also led various delegations of MPs on goodwill missions.

‘ I have been privileged to be near almost all the top leaders of this country as well as Mr. Jinnah and facts of Kashmir,” Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist, said.

Kashmir issue became the bone of contention between Pakistan and India not because it had a predominantly Muslim population ruled by a Hindu Maharaja, but liking for Kashmir State was already in Mohd. Ali Jinnah’s mind and soul and that’s why wanted to get it included in Pakistan. And when he could not succeed in getting it included into the state of Pakistan at the time of partition of India, he decided to get it by hook or by crook.

“I gave my views on Kashmir in chapter 5 titled “Pak Attempt to Grab Kashmir” in 1975.” Cosmo Theorist Dr. Raj Baldev said.

He further elaborated:

“What to talk of Kashmir, the idea of Pakistan struck to Sir Mohammad Iqbal, he had interpreted the assembly of words as under:

“P for Punjab, A for Afghanistan (North, West Frontier Province), K for Kashmir, S for Sind (Sindh) and TAN, last three words for Baluchistan. Thereafter the name of Pakistan was mentioned in 1933 by a group of some patriotic students at Cambridge.

When this matter was discussed by a national group of thinkers with him on the idea of Pakistan, Iqbal himself denounced this idea in 1930 at the Allahabad session.
To take the back thread for Activist Arundhati Roy, at the time of Partition there were around 555 small and big states whose allegiance to the British Crown were automatically ceased with the ending of the British rule and though they were independent principalities, their merger to either India or Pakistan were geographically important and they empowered to exercise their own options.

By August 1947, the heads of 552 States except those of Hyderabad, Kashmir and Junagarh agreed to sign Instruments of Accession and Standstill Agreements under which they had to surrender their powers in three fields, i.e. Foreign Relations, Defence, and Communications and maintaining unchanged arrangements in other matters.

Of 255 States, 216 smaller States were abolished as separate units and merged into the most geographically suited provinces; 275 were integrated to form five new unions, one ruler from each State taken as the head carrying an equivalent position of a provincial governor to be called ‘Rajpramukh’ and the solution of remaining 61 States immediately seemed inappropriate; they were thus taken under the direct administration of Government of India.

It was a big task accomplished by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patael, who was also States Minister; he persuaded the princes to accede to India with their own will and pleasure without any pressure after apprizing them of all the advantages of doing so.

Coming back to the topic of Kashmir, the Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh was absolutely free to accede to India or Pakistan but before he could arrive at such an important decision, the Pak tribesmen from the northwest frontier of Pakistan supported by Pak Army invaded Kashmir and made advances up to Srinagar.

The Maharaja of Kashmir got puzzled as to what right course he should adopt while the enemy had nearly encroached upon the capital of his State. So far the Army of his State was concerned, it neither was properly equipped nor was well trained to fight back the tribesmen who were reinforced by Pak regular forces at the base. Obviously, the only alternative left with the Maharaja was to approach India for immediate military assistance.

The Maharaja, on October 27, 1947, appealed the Indian Dominion to come to his rescue and simultaneously executed his willingness to accede to India, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, after having emergent consultations with Lord Mountbatten, Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel and other Members of Parliament, ordered air-lifting of para-troopers and armed forces to move against the invaders.

Neither war-maps, nor the exact fighting position nor any other military data were readily available with the Indian Army and Indian Air Force; still they managed to drop their para troopers to push back the tribesmen. It was a great risk taken by India; it is always criminal to risk the troops in absence of proper war-maps, conjectural assessment of the enemy strength and the latest battle position especially of the unfamiliar hills.

A fierce fighting went on both sides, One side Indian troops and on the other well equipped Pak regular soldiers in the garb of tribesmen; however, India won the battle and it was the first occasion after Partition when Pakistan played foul tactics and was defeated by the Indian Army.

In January 1948, India brought the case before the UN Security Council on the plea that the invaders were well trained, equipped and directed assisted by Pak regular Army at the rear. Though Pakistan denied the charges in the first instance but later on admitted.

A commission was appointed by the United Nations to arranges cease-fire which recommended that the future of Jammu & Kashmir should be decided by a plebiscite vide UN Resolutions dated 13 August 1948 and January 5, 1949. The hostilities in which both Indian and Pak forces were engaged came to an end with the cease-fire agreement of January 1, 1949.

As the Kashmir dispute pursued, it became worse and subsequently the cease-fire became a de facto frontier, each part of Kashmir being incorporated in practice in the territories of its occupying and supporting power. Many efforts were made by Gen. AGL McNaughton, Adm. Charles Nimitz, Sir Owen Dixon and Frank Graham between , 1950-1952, to sort out the problem but failed. Even Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan failed to reach any final agreement.

Technically and legally speaking, so far India is concerned, it is perfect within its right of holding its armed forces in Kashmir since the Maharaja of Kashmir had already executed the accession of his State to India and Pak claim becomes frivolous. The people of Jammu & Kashmir exercised their voting rights, chose their own govt. own representatives, naturally it is an integral part of India.

Tags: Kashmir, Integral Part, Activist Arundhati Roy, Dr. Raj Baldev, Cosmo Theorist, GBA, God Believers Association, National Integration Assembly, NIA, 555 States, Maharaja Hari Singh, acceded, Pakistan, Jinnah, Iqbal,

Kashmiri Wazwan

Kashmiri Wazwan

The Wazwan is Kashmir's most formal meal: a ritual serving before the guest of all the food there is in the house. This taste of hospitality must in turn be fully appreciated by the guest, for the wazwan is not a simple meal but a ceremony. Hours of cooking and days of planning go into the making and serving of a wazwan. Normally restricted to occasions of celebration at homes, the wazwan experience includes table settings for groups of four on the floor where choice dish after dish is served, each aromatic with herbs and the fresh produce of the region.

The traditional Wazwan meal is served in groups of four

First the Tash-t-Nari is passed around, and diners wash their hands from warm water in a samovar. The waza (chief cook) personally supervises each dish which comes out of his kitchen. even the ingredients for the meal have been hand-picked, and effort has ensured that each dish in this rich cuisine is one-of-a-kind. Choice delicacies such as Methi and Tabakmaaz, Roganjosh and Rista, and a variety of Kababs and vegetable preparations are served.

The Kashmiri delicacy, gushtaba, is served piping hot

The meal concludes with the Gushtaba, a very exclusive dish, and one that is never refused, Phirni for dessert and a cup of Kahwah, the green tea flavored with saffron, cardamom and almonds, and the wazwan is over - a meal that is an experience in Kashmiri hospitality.

Islam- Genocide of Hindus in Muslim majority Kashmir

How can India proceed with the plebiscite if Pakistan does not takes the first step. It has to be team work. Why should India say that its ready for a plebiscite when the first step has to be taken by Pakistan

How can India proceed with the plebiscite if Pakistan does not takes the first step. It has to be team work. Why should India say that its ready for a plebiscite when the first step has to be taken by Pakistan.
 

All of you crazy Kashmiri fanatics if you understand English and are educated then You people should first read the UN resolution on J&K plebiscite and then talk and shed your blood further. Pakistan is literally taking you people for a ride. They do so for their pockets are getting filled up with the US Aid money. The links to the UN resolution are: http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/documents/jkunresolution.html

“PART II: TRUCE AGREEMENT

Simultaneously with the acceptance of the proposal for the immediate cessation of hostilities as outlined in Part I, both the Governments accept the following principles as a basis for the formulation of a truce agreement, the details of which shall be worked out in discussion between their representatives and the Commission.
 

A.

1. As the presence of troops of Pakistan in the territory of the State of Jammu and Kashmir constitutes a material change in the situation since it was represented by the Government of Pakistan before the Security Council, the Government of Pakistan agrees to withdraw its troops from that State.

2. The Government of Pakistan will use its best endeavour to secure the withdrawal from the State of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the State for the purpose of fighting.

3. Pending a final solution, the territory evacuated by the Pakistani troops will be administered by the local authorities under the surveillance of the commission. “

I am sure after reading this you will not have anything more to say. How can India proceed with the plebiscite if Pakistan does not takes the first step. It has to be team work. Why should India say that its ready for a plebiscite when the first step has to be taken by Pakistan. So you all crazy Kashmir’s stop shedding your blood for these mullahs and Pakistanis who don’t give a shit whether you are alive or dead as long as their pockets are filled up, so that they can send their kids abroad for education and you can keep yours at home un-educated.