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Washington D.C. (August 18, 2008) - Unrest and violence has gripped the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir once again over a Hindu shrine, raising grave concern among Hindu Americans. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) weighed in today as the Government of India failed to gain control of the situation and events continued to escalate.
The recent spiral of violence arises from a toxic mixture of a proxy war launched by Pakistan, jihadi terrorists and an unusual clause in the Indian Constitution that grants "special" status to the region, the Foundation argued today.
"Kashmir, a cradle of Kashmiri Shaivism, one of the most important threads of Hindu civilization, is today the tragic playground of separatist Islamist leaders and craven politicians," said Mihir Meghani, M.D., President and co-founder of HAF. "Indian citizens are being denied ownership of land in their own nation, and the calls to divide Indian territory could have repercussions far beyond Jammu and Kashmir."
Unrest in what had been a time of relative peace in the northern Indian state with a Muslim majority, nestled in the Himalayas and bordered by Pakistan and China, began with the legal transfer of one hundred acres of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. That body oversees an annual pilgrimage to a shrine to Lord Shiva located in Kashmir. The land was to be used to construct basic facilities and shelter for the pilgrims. The order was rescinded by the state government following violent riots orchestrated by Pakistan and Islamist separatist groups that have carried out a terror campaign to separate Kashmir from India or merge with Pakistan since 1989.
The revocation order subsequently led to protests by Hindus in the Jammu region of the State, and were brutally repressed by State authorities. Many observers commented that the protests likely reflected the anger of the Hindu minority in the state of Jammu and Kashmir over years of economic and political marginalization at the hands of Muslim political parties from the Kashmir Valley.
"The allegations made by Kashmiri separatists that the transfer of land is an attempt to create Hindu settlements in Kashmir and change the religious demography are as ironic as they are outrageous," said Samir Kalra, Esq., coordinator of the Foundation's annual human rights report. "The religious demography in the state was already altered in 1989 when more than 350,000 Kashmiri Hindus, the original inhabitants of the Kashmir Valley, were ethnically cleansed from their ancestral homeland--these Hindus and all Indians must have the right to live and work wherever they wish in their country, and the land must be returned to the shrine administrators."
Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India in 1947 when the Maharaja of Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession to India. In a bid to appease the Muslim majority of the state as they joined a secular India, the Government of India passed Article 370 that allowed the state's residents to live under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians.
"India's true potential as a pluralistic democracy can only be realized when all its people live under uniform laws, and no state enjoys special privileges that exclude others," added Kalra. "We call on the government in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir to immediately reinstate the land transfer order to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, take all necessary steps to secure the border with unstable Pakistan and abrogate Article 370--arguably the root cause of so much tragedy over the last fifty years in Jammu and Kashmir."
The Hindu American Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism. Contact HAF at 1-301-770-7835 or on the web at www.HAFsite.org.
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