|
The Indian state of Jammu
and Kashmir has been an epicenter of violence since 1989.
In that year, an insurgency composed primarily of disaffected
local Kashmiri Muslims was effectively co-opted by Islamist
militants afforded entry into India by Pakistan to wage a
jihad, or holy war, against secular India. While the ramifications
of this conflict on India-Pakistan relations in the context
of bilateral nuclear stockpiles have been amply documented,
the tragic plight of the Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir has inexplicably
been reduced to a footnote in contemporary history.
That the Hindus, the original
inhabitants of the Kashmir valley and guarantors of one of
the most significant strains of Hinduism, Kashmiri Shaivism,
have been massacred continuously and forced to flee their
homes as refugees is a testament to the atrocities perpetrated
since the insurgencies began. The United States Committee
for Refugees estimates that 350,000 Hindus have been forced
from their homes since 1989, (i) and the number of Hindu casualties
due to Islamist terrorism continues to mount despite rapprochement
between India and Pakistan. Over 10,000 civilians and 4,000
security personnel have been killed in terrorist strikes since
1990, (ii) and, despite recently increased diplomatic engagement
with factions in the state of Kashmir and with Pakistan, eight
Hindu women and children were massacred as recently as February
17, 2004 by Islamist militants. While a fraction of Hindu
exiles have resettled with family members throughout India,
over 250,000 Hindus and Sikhs remain stranded in refugee camps.
Islamist terrorism does not spare even Muslims not subscribing
to its ultra-violent and exclusivist ideology and, indeed,
the innumerable casualties since fighting began include a
proportionate number of Indian Kashmiri Muslims as well.
President Pervez Musharraf
of Pakistan no longer denies that his government morally,
fiscally and logistically pursued the proxy war in Kashmir
for the last fifteen years. And though Al-Qaeda and Taleban
associated outfits such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
and Lashkar-e-Toiba have been officially banned, their flagrant
visibility and ongoing operations against India from Pakistani
soil belie such claims. (iii)
Hindus throughout the world
are dismayed that President Musharraf and his sinister machinations
and alliances with Al-Qaeda have escaped global opprobrium
due to his ostensible support to the United States in the
“War Against Terror” after September 11, 2001.
It is a tragic reality that even the most recent rapprochement
between India and Pakistan, and Washington’s proposed
designation of Pakistan as a non-NATO ally, is inconsequential
to the plight of suffering Hindus as massacres by Pakistan
supported Islamist militants continue unabated. The Hindu
American Foundation urges the following:
1) That the
United States of America publicly and unambiguously acknowledge
and decry the religious cleansing of 350,000 Hindus from the
valley of Kashmir and massacre of thousands of Hindus by Islamist
terrorists sponsored by the Pakistan-Al-Qaeda nexus;.
2) That the
United States of America, with its unequivocal commitment
to eradicating terrorism throughout the world, voice official
support for the efforts of the Government of India to create
circumstances in Kashmir conducive to the return of the displaced
Hindus;
3) That the
United States of America condition monetary assistance ($3
billion proposed for 2004-2009), debt relief and granting
of non-NATO ally status to Pakistan on cessation of state-sponsored
terrorism within the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and
throughout all of sovereign India.
Download
as PDF
(i) http://www.refugees.org/world/articles/kashmir_displaced_india.htm
(ii) South Asia Intelligence Review, J&K Backgrounder.
http://www.satp.org
(iii) Christian Science Monitor , July 2, 2002. 4 USA Today,
May 29, 2002
|
