• In :
• Personal Growth

September 2014

On September 10, 2014, The Times of India carried a front-page report titled: “In Kashmir, ‘occupation force’ hailed as saviour.’ To my surprise, the same morning I received a much-awaited call from our Kashmir team member who told the same story. He affirmed that after the great havoc wreaked by the floods, normalcy was slowly being restored. He attributed this entirely to the efforts of the Indian army, and said that there was a new thinking emerging among the people of Kashmir about the armed forces. In his own words, he said: “Jis army ko hamne patthar mara tha, wahi aaj apne kandhon par utha kar logon ko flood se bacha rahe hain.” (The same army which was pelted with stones is now rescuing people from the flood on their shoulders). Sometimes blessings come in disguise. The recent flood crisis in Kashmir is an example of this old saying. The whole state of Jammu and Kashmir was almost under water. A massive rescue and relief operation by the Indian armed forces is on in the state. It was this same Indian army which was subjected to stone-throwing that is now dropping food packets, saving the lives of people and extending all possible help. For a very long time, Kashmir had been a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. A large number of Hindus used to visit the Sufi shrines in Kashmir. There was an ideal relationship between the Hindu Pandits and the Muslim Kashmiris. In the whole state of Jammu and Kashmir, Hindus and Muslims lived with brotherly relations and cooperated with each other in every field. Kashmir was an ideal state of communal harmony. But, due to misguidance from rabble-rousers, the Kashmiri people temporarily became negative towards India. This kind of negativity was totally against the spirit of Kashmir. Now, nature, through this calamity and the help provided by India, is giving a strong message to Kashmiris: ‘See the realities and change your mindset.’ This “change” is not merely a change – it is a return to their own past. A crisis reveals a person’s friends and enemies. This calamity has clearly shown that the Indian Army is a true friend and well-wisher of the Kashmiri people. This was a new experience in the recent history of Kashmir. According to my assessment, it was a message from nature. Nature is telling them: ‘Discover your real friends.’ The fact is that, after Independence, there was a great chance for Kashmiris to develop and build a great future for themselves. But, because of misguidance from some leaders, they were living in a state of indecisiveness This event should remove any kind of suspicion and indecisiveness from the minds of the Kashmiris. After 1947, India had been continuously providing support to Kashmir. But due to their negative mindset induced by their so-called leaders, Kashmiris were not in a position to properly utilize India’s help and were instead engaged in activities against India such as demonstrations, protests, boycotts and shutdowns.

Now, the time has come to make a U-turn and put a complete stop to these activities, so that they can fully utilize the support provided by India and develop in the same way that other Indian states are developing. A developed state will open up opportunities for the Kashmiri youth to have an education and take up jobs in their home state instead of going to other states. Kashmiris must read the writing on the wall. They must accept the realities. They have lost their first chance, now they cannot afford to lose the second chance. Kashmiris must take a decision before they are told that it is too late.