Rural-urban divide-I

Sir,

The write up captioned "The Rural Urban Divide in Kashmir" in the Daily Excelsior dated 1st October, 2002 is an untenable explanation of religious terrorism ravaging the State for more than a decade. To pose terrorism as a version of class struggle and characterise it as 'a movement of the deprived and discriminated rural population against the urban-elite' is misleading and far fetched. Any attempt to invest Kashmir brand of terrorism with the veneer of progressive and Marxist content tantamounts to justification of terrorism unleashed to achieve Islamic objectives including the revival of caliphate as an institution though confined to the dust-bin of history. Under the facade of the same thesis balloons of 'constituencies in exile' for Kashmiri Pandits and participation in the elections by Kashmiri Pandits were floated. The truth that has to be spoken is that neither of the two balloons has the potential of reversing the fate of genocidal ethnic cleansing that the community has been subjected to by the forces of religious terrorism. Deeply conscious of their position of being the 'other' Kashmiri Pandits by and large are convinced that any cosmetic presence or presence by default either in the legislature or in the power structure is not going to re-write their history optimistically.

With a view to overcoming their State is fatigue some elements within the displaced community appear to be in pursit of some sort of remunerative occupation. No body can object to it. But what is nauseating is the fabrication of out landish theories for removed from the deep concerns and growing anxieties of the community about their uprootment, prolonged exile, diaspora, grab and destruction of their properties. All Marxists greats have stuck to the position of uncompromising denunciation of militarised religious terrorism generating chaos and mayhem.

As per all available statistics, Kashmir is leagues away from the levels of grinding poverty prevailing in States like UP, Bihar, Orissa etc. No ostrich should wish away the gains from Agrarian reforms effected way back in 1952 and the rural Muslim population has been the beneficiary. As an immediate consequences of Agrarian reforms a big class of Kulaks emerged on the rural scenario outstripping all imaginable levels of prosperity and opulence. Sadly, this very class was trapped by the parochial ideology of Jamat-i-Islami which played havoc with the psyche of the rural masses. The city based crop of neoliterates puffed up by boons of development and larger State level employment opportunities (at the expense of other ethnic groups) turned regressively into a fertile ground for the militarised Islamic movement. Such a combine of urban-rural elements religiously motivated led to the unleashment of the sectarian scessionist movement with guarantees of immediate armed intervention from the epicentre of terrorism in the region and elsewhere.

The ominously motivated characterisation of terrorism in Kashmir as a protest or struggle of the deprived raises the fundamental querry of its sharp edge against the miniscule minority of Kashmiri Pandits wallowing in dol-drums of economic and political insecurity fostered by the rulers of all hues since 1947.

Yours etc.....
Prof. M L Koul
Talab Tillo Jammu.

II

Sir,

The write up "The Rural Urban divide is a rash explanation of religious terrorism in the State as variant of 'class struggle' which it describes as "essentially a movement of the deprived and discriminated rural population against the urban elite that ate the cake and had it."

The reason behind lending the progressive socialist content to Kashmiri terrorism is obviously in the expectation to mend faces with the separatists and to remove the stigma of terrorism and as well to justify participation in the State elections by Pandits in the hope to find a few berths in the corridors of power by way of representation in the State legislature for which attempts were also made earlier via 'constituencies in exile,' which earned its votaries a thorough rebuff and rebuke from the displaced community.

If some amongst the displaced community find it worthwhile to overcome the State of fatigue by honest renumerative occupation there can be no objection in engaging oneself in such a pursuit but to inventing theories in justification is something hard to accept.

The basic and fundamental cause of rural poverty anywhere and everywhere lies in the Agrarian question and Agrarian relations. This crucial and all pervading cause of rural poverty was removed in one go in the State nearly half a century back with the abolition of land lordism and therefore, to connect and present day terrorism to causes of Agrarian unrest and character is to ignore the basic reality willfully and lend support to Musharraf theory and exonerate Pakistan of proxy war a subtle variant of the open declared wars which it all lost failing to annex Kashmir forcibly. Thus to legitimise the ongoing religious terrorism having killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits by lending to it the socialistic aura is an outlandish attempt to distortion of the reality of the Islamic Jehad cum proxy war cum insurgency cum terrorism whatever you like to name it. And who first spearheaded the anti-Indian campaign right from 1947 for over two decades too is also well-known.

The ominously motivated characterisation of terrorism in Kashmir as a protest and struggle of the deprived leads to yet another querry: why then the earlier polls were boycotted by Pandit leadership? How has the earlier evaluation changed and why is Islamic terrorism sought to be lent a character grossly foreign to it. There seems a 'method' in this prevarication.

Any attempt to resile from the goal of home land by the substitutes like 'constituencies in exile' or 'participation in polls' would tentamount to opportunism promising victory to forces inimical to the exile community.

And how do we reconcile ourselves to the banishment imposed on us. Away from our homes and hearths how does one explain it to ones own self and in particular by those of them who have had the misfortune of a second brush with this calamity?

There is nothing new or changed about the situation that compels us to believe this newly discovered formulation about terrorism which remains the struggle to set up Nizam-e-Mustafa in the State and for permanent banishment of Hindu community and all others aliens to Islamic ideology.

Yours etc....
P N Kaul
Talab Tillo, Jammu.