Before attempting to understand my view point about Kashmir conflict and our choice for its political future, let me tell you about some dark realities of being a Kashmiri in Kashmir. I am from Kashmir, and I will try to answer this to the best of my knowledge.
I am a youth but lost every shine of life because of my birth place with every passing day leaving behind a story of destruction, devastation, death and demolishment of properties. Let me say in clear words that the piece of land known as paradise on earth is no more a paradise but a hell .
I recall a lyric, “YEH WADIYE KASHMIR HAI JANAT KA NAZARA, HER CHERA YAHA CHAAND ,HER ZARA SITAARA” but it’s actually this now, “YEH WADIYE KASHMIR HAI JAHNAM KA NAZARA, HER CHERA YAHA UDAAS, HER ZARA ANGARA”
Alas it is now a Hell on earth as occupied forces are killing and maiming people, torturing them in interrogation centres and razing structures to ground.
The root cause of all this is not hidden and every soul on earth knows that Kashmiri people are being subjugated, killed, detained and denied their fundamental right just for their genuine demand of freedom from Indian hegemony.
People or those at the helm of affairs may ask what all is going in J&K and why people are being killed and moreover why they feel ill-will towards Indian presence in Kashmir. People may also ask what the problem is and where lies the solution.
My dear friends, we were among free nations but in 1846 when treaty of Amritsar was executed between British East India Company and Maharaja Gulab Singh. This was first sale deed that we were sold to a despotic ruler who for his personal interests treated all subjects as his slaves. Very sad to say that we were sold only for 75 lakh Nanak Shahi rupees. This is first such incident in history of mankind that a sale deed of people was executed between British empire and Dogra rulers.
Dear readers, we were a free nation and the territory we enjoyed stretched from Jammu to Kashmir, from Ladakh to Gilgit, Baltistan, Askerdoo, Jammu to Poonch, Rawlakot, and to Kotli .
Sikh and Dogra rulers treated people as their slaves, they imposed heavy taxes .No administrative measures were implemented to improve the social status of people which led to people revolt against this dictatorship or we may say SHAKSI RAJ or GUNDA RAJ.
In 1947 Britishers and Indian leadership leading independent movement in India executed a roadmap for independence and under provisions 550 princely states were asked to opt either for India and Pakistan.
We too were to choose between India and Pakistan but India neglecting the aspirations of people, landed its forces and forcibly occupied the state .
Independence theory or two nation theory if followed in real and historical perspective ,will reveal this fact that being a Muslim majority state, we had a good choice to go with Pakistan. This is not mere assumption or a theory on paper but majority of people in Jammu Kashmir would like to go with Pakistan.
I may here refer the case of Baltistan, Hunza, Askerdoo and Gilgit, the majority of people in these areas have good liking for Pakistan and similarly we in Kashmir see Pakistan as last resort. If Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Bihar or Bengal can opt and like India, then why should we feel reluctant to accept that Pakistan is our destiny. We have more geographical and cultural similarities with Pakistan than India.
After the massacre of 1947 in which more than 5 lakh Muslims were killed, the demographics of Jammu have been changed. Now, Jammu is a Hindu majority state and a good percentage of population favors India but most people in Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan would like to be with Pakistan .
I may mention here that my liking does not mean that we have no regard for other communities and that is the reason that we favor right to self-determination to ascertain the political aspirations of people of the whole state.
The air that we feel, the water we drink and the clouds we see are similar in both in Pakistan and India .
We have witnessed the plight of Muslim community in India .They are living a life of despair and sorrow, there a cow is safe than a human being .
No law prevails on earth and how can we love a country that had grabbed our rights, killed our youth and maimed our youngsters.
Everybody in despair needs an asylum, a safe house and a resort. Please tell me when a person of minister’s status in India says that the then congress leadership has committed grave mistake by not pushing all Muslims to Pakistan, the names of places and cities are changed and Indianized, why shouldn’t we go and seek a safe house for ourselves?
Look at Kashmir ,we have Rambagh, Shankerpora, Mohan Pora but In India Aditya Nath as Chief Minister of UP state is going mad to change names and nomenclature of all those cities and places named as Allahabad and now their next target is Aligarh Muslim University.
On the other we cannot say all is Good in Pakistan but no Hindu is burnt alive or molested because she is a Christian. In Asiya Bibi case Pakistan judiciary and administration acted boldly and did not bow before fanatical sections while as in India a killer is elevated to the post of PM. So, concluding my assertions I would like to say that if and when I am asked about my choice between Pakistan and India, I would definitely like to say PAKISTAN.