Col J P Singh, Retd
I have written about the perils of partition before also but various other happenings of the recent past prompt me to contest some misplaced horrors of partition in Jammu. Some other issues such as growing bitterness between the people on opposite sides of Bannihal; its glorification, the five months of violence in the valley, row over Identity Certificates for Jammu refugees (WPR), budget session of J&K Assembly turning into Burhan Wani session and the immediate provocation coming after hearing Prof. Rekha Choudhary’s lecture on ‘Jammu: the idea and ethos of a multicultural society’.
During her lecture on 5th January 2017 at IIPA Jammu, one Speaker brought out an alarming reference to a horror story of partition by stating that five lakh Muslims are said to have been massacred in Jammu. She further stated that while Kashmiriyat is known world over for secularism, tolerance and communal harmony, the alleged massacre in Jammu was a blot on its composite culture which Jammu has not been able to wash off despite accommodating lakhs of exiled Kashmiri Pundits and Muslim migrants from within and outside. She also stated that Amarnath land row agitation is seen more with contempt within and outside than agitations in the valley. During the interactive session I was given an opportunity to ask her the evidence of alleged massacre and requested her to tell the august audience the places where the mass graves were and whether she had herself seen any? She tried to clarify it by naming two books where such references are made but with due apologies, I wasn’t convinced. I felt that intellectuals have started taking liberties to say whatever they wish to say without being held accountable to the consequences of their utterances. To my satisfaction, various murmurs and loud voices also emerged in the hall questioning this revelation. I have known politicians violating the freedom of speech code but intellectuals are said to be conservative on this aspect.
A few months ago similar debate was initiated by some vested interests. In a private gathering I had exposure to a longish discussion of some well known citizens on the issue I have mentioned above. Their similar and highly communal views stuck me hard. With their one sided bias I found extreme lack of understanding, knowledge and acknowledgement of divergent view. There is a feeling as if the majority community views are always right. The attempts to bring home their view point was made not by the depth of their knowledge or learning but by the sheer desire of pushing the narrative of Kashmir forcefully.
Pitiful though, it is a fact that while the majority communities in all the three regions, be they Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists, are facing multitudes of serious internal social, religious, economic and political challenges, some intellectuals in Jammu stand with narrative of Kashmir, willy-nilly diverting public attention from the real issues by smoke screening them by events such as partition and Amarnath agitation possibly for neutralizing the voice of affected Jammuites and evicted Pundits from the valley. Since it coincides with the celebration of 25th year of their migration, such revelations look biased. In actuality it promotes fundamentalist Muslims’ agenda of ethnic cleaning from Kashmir and hilly areas of Jammu region by using Jammu platform to neutralize its fall out.
Somewhere in the middle of her lecture she said. “We must revisit partition, revive the phenomenon and bring it at the centre stage of our culture”. I think biggest mistake of our history has been its slavery to the external forces. It succumbed to the Kashmiri ethos after Sheikh Abdullah attained absolute political powers following accession. Despite all the contradictions of our culture we are great survivors of the phenomenon called partition and demographic change. Jammu has the unique capability of standing together for the good of others despite its consequences. As a society we have become assimilators of other’s culture. We added four lakh Kashmir Hindus and nearly half of that number Kashmiri Muslims to our inventory and many from Tibet, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Hence need if any, is to talk about the future and not the past even if it were unfortunate / undesirable horrors of partition.
Talking ill of Jammu after the Amarnath agitation has become fashionable in various forums as talking against India is fashionable in the Valley. What stands out from the above discourse is that there isn’t enough understanding and accommodation of other regions, religions, class or community anywhere despite having co-existed for centuries. Such discourses creates winners and losers. I leave it to the readers to conclude who the loser will be in this case. I think we are yet to realise that we are walking towards the volcano.
Ethos of Jammu are akin to ethos of India which are pertinent to the social and communal harmony in Jammu whereas ethos of the valley are akin to those of Pakistan which are violent and regressive. Divergent ethos are the greatest dangers to the communal and regional harmony in Jammu.
Having served in the epitome of secularism, I have something to say about the religion. In India the vile ‘two nation theory’ emerged from religion. Separatist movement in the valley derives its strength from the religion. British used religion to balkanize India. Pakistan is doing the same. It is time we consciously push the religion out of discourse as we are a secular country. Focus on religion in public life in any form can only harm our national unity and integration. Giving space to religion in governance detracts state from secularism. Keeping religion away from discourse in our public and public aided institutions of all hues is the way forward from the strife fanned in its name. J&K chose to be an integral part of India. India being secular can’t entertain any demand of separatism on the basis of religion as it goes against its secular ethos. Secularism is the only way forward to escape the masses from tyranny and violence inflicted in the name of religion. Religion consciously needs to be pushed into private space. The recent Supreme Court judgment prohibiting abuse of religion in elections should be celebrated. Let us resolve to distinguish between right and wrong; fair and foul; just and unjust and do not succumb to the dictates of religion. Least we can do under the circumstances is to resolve not to talk about religion even routinely, in 2017, leave aside discussing it formally.
Coming back to the main issue, the Parton of IIPA clarified that references of selective killings by the speaker in Jammu was to bring out the absurdities of false references and our failure in proving it wrong and malicious. He reiterated that the composite Jammu culture is Jammu’s strength. The Chairman raised question on the malicious figure by comparing it to the then population of Jammu and the population of Muslims at that point of time. That set the contentious issue at rest. Other questions from audience were also pertinent. They were why our children are being made refugees from Jammu, why the discrimination, how many students and scholars of the speaker have found jobs in Jammu etc. Some members brought out continuous migration to Jammu as economic benefit whereas others felt it as strain on resources and suggested remedies. It was also resolved to push religion to the private domain and shun it from referring in publicly.
At the end I add that what I have written should not make us gloomy of our future since it is simply an attempt to call for a reformatory thought over an illusory projection of our rich heritage. Unfortunately we in Jammu have no long term vision of politics and culture by which we can channelize collective energy in calling a spade a spade and stand as wall against malicious propaganda. The speaker’s lecture indeed was a step towards re-framing a futuristic vision about our cultural ethos. It is hoped that future agenda of Jammu would be economic, not the religious nor the political.
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