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| President’s convocation address in Srinagar | |
K N Pandita
The addresses of a Head of the State at formal functions are usually non-political and non-controversial. The University of Kashmir had the privilege of listening to the President of India on the occasion of its Convocation last week. As a formal address in the strict sense of the term, it was superb.
But addressing a galaxy of academics and intellectuals in a sensitive place like Srinagar and even guardedly referring to tricky historical situations or ideas asks for exceptional circumspection. Kashmir Valley’s history is wrapped in a plethora of intricacies and controversies made worse by subjective historiography. Aberrations happen unwittingly. VVIPs generally go by what the politicians feed them with.
A couple of instances drawn from the address of the President can be elucidated to substantiate the narrative. The President used the term “Kashmiriyat” at least three times, of course in a good sense. But it is a controversial and rather misleading term, which everybody explains according to his choosing because there is no single definition for it. If it means a specificity or uniqueness (with whatever content), then Jammu and Ladakh regions stand deprived of that forte. In other words, it means the valley has to be treated differently and with kid gloves. Herein rests the malaise of discrimination that has become pervasive and entrenched with time.
The President said that “Violence is alien to Kashmir culture.” It sounds sweet. But in the first place, Kashmir Valley culture is a depository of many leading civilizations, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Muhammadanism. The philosophy of non-violence, to which the followers of the Buddha staunchly adhere to, is enshrined only in the Buddhist liturgy, which, however, did not stand the test of time when Hinduism staged a comeback in Kashmir. Sikhism is born out of the concept of armed resistance as is evident from Sikh history. Lastly, Islam spread out of Arab conquests of Mesopotamia, Iran, Trans-Oxiana and Hindustan. In Kashmir, the cultural invasion was far more violent than the armed invasion. Medieval Kashmir was born out of the womb of cultural violence, which became a conspicuous trait of Kashmirian character down to this day.
The President said that “Kashmir is making a new beginning to regain this land’s lost glory.” Two questions need to be answered. What are the contours of the "glory" of Kashmir and in which period did Kashmir enjoy it? Secondly, if Kashmir lost that glory, what were the reasons and to whose doorsteps the onus of destroying that glory should be brought? Kashmir remained subjugated from the third decade of the 14th century down to the present day. Subjugated nations know only of servility, not glory.
Then out of unquestionable sincerity, the President lamented that "the outstanding tradition of peaceful co-existence was broken." Threadbare statements like this are strongly contradicted by scholars and commentators based on historical evidence that has been assiduously but very honestly dug out from the debris of suppressed and distorted history of Kashmir. It is no surprise that the religious minority of Kashmiri Hindus braved unimaginable atrocities and persecution during the five hundred years of autocratic and repressive rule of the Sultans of Kashmir. But what will be written in letters of blood in the history of contemporary Kashmir is the ethnic cleansing of Kashmir of its small Hindu population in 1990 in a democratic and secular India of which His Excellency Ram Nath Kovind is now the President. In his 20 minute address, he thought it apt to use the Kashmiriyat term thrice. But he considered it sacrilege to mention the genocide and ethnic cleansing that happened in the valley only three odd decades ago. Undoubtedly, he represents the Indian nation and its perception of peaceful co-existence. That is why he told the Kashmiri audience that "the whole of India is watching you with admiration and pride." How then can the Kashmiri Pandits deny the whole of India their right to "admire and be proud" of the decimation of a minuscule religious minority in a predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley? The nation has to be proud because Kashmir, as His Excellency put it, “ is the crowning glory of India.”
We were surprisingly happy to know from His Excellency’s address that Kashmir University has produced 2.5 lakh graduates and 1,000 doctoral scholars. These are notable figures no doubt and the more remarkable thing is that the females outnumber the males in a doctorate. Now, one thousand doctorates mean that one thousand theses were submitted by the candidates. Will it be possible for the university authorities to inform the public how many of these theses dealt with crucial subjects of national importance like freedom movement, privileges for Indian minorities, Salient features of Indian Constitution, rise and upsurge of fundamentalism, regional discrimination, Indian secularist experience, Investments in infrastructure, data of Kashmir valley students who studied and received their degrees in various genres from scores of educational institutions in the country, social services rendered by the armed forces, the partisan press in Kashmir etc. It is not the quantity that matters, it is the quality. As against this most of the theses in the branch of social sciences hover around myopic regional and sub-regional themes. How many theses have been published and reviewed in the past three decades is the question.
The President would have made history if he had deviated from the rhetoric and called a spade by its name. He would have broken the jinx and won the hearts of Kashmiri youth if he had compared a democratic arrangement with a unilateral and military-dominated system and impressed upon the Kashmiri youth to think where they should go from the crossroad of history. He would have made history if he had told the audience that the Kashmiri Pandits were their brethren, and they must take the initiative of bringing them back and extending all help for their resettlement. He could have made a general appeal exhorting that the lands, shops, properties and the precincts of the Hindu temples illegally occupied should be vacated and restored. He could have told the audience that he was unhappy to see people in olive green deployed in towns and villages, streets and pathways. He could have said that it pained him to hear about encounters of Kashmiri youth with the armed troops and then getting killed. He could have told the Kashmiri youth in sincere words that separation from India and accession to Pakistan or China, as is discreetly hinted at by a section of Kashmir political class, is not going to happen. The world would have understood that the President of India is above party politics and the number one citizen of India.
Alas, a good opportunity of heart to heart honest talk was lost.
(The author is the former Director of the Central Asian Studies, Kashmir University)
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