Then Pandits, Now Sikhs

For the past few days media reports are abuzz with the Sikh community’s expression of fear in the Kashmir valley. Both print and electronic media provided news about how anonymous letters were thrown into the premises the Gurudwaras, the Sikh religious shrines, how the warning by some of the radical leaders in the valley have rattled the Sikh community about their future in the valley. The fear is understandable, and the fear that lest not the fate of Kashmiri Pandits befall on this minority community in the valley has come loud and clear. It is known well that in the early 1990s almost the whole Pandit community left the Kashmir valley citing the factors of, among others, fear and intimidation by religious fundamentalists and militants.

Kashmir is not only the paradise on earth but is also characterised as a cultural and religious melting pot, famously referred to as Kashmiriyat. Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs lived in the valley for centuries together. Hence, one can see the dress and food patterns of Kashmiri Muslims and Hindus as similar, while the same those of the valley Muslims and Jammu Muslims are different. The famous patron saint of the valley enjoyed Hindu-Nund Rishi as well as Muslim-Nuruddin names. This is called Kashmiriyat. It is true when almost whole of India was burning during partition due to Hindu-Muslim riots; it was the Kashmir valley which blazed as a site of communal harmony and peace. As far as I remember reading somewhere, Mahatma Gandhi mentioned this greatness of Kashmir on one occasion. Though overwhelmingly Muslim majority region, the valley has never witnessed communal violence till the late 1980s. The Kashmir rulers like Zainul Abidin played great role to foster the spirit of this syncretic culture of Kashmir called Kashmiriyat.

The erosion of Kashmiriyat came with the onrush of radical version of religion as the sole guiding principle of life in the valley. And it is not varied religions, but only one religion- the majority religion the Islam that must govern the life of the valley- that dented this principle of Kashmiriyat. It is true that not all Kashmiri Muslims are radicals, or even all Kashmiri leaders are radicals, it will be absolutely foolish to paint all Kashmiri Muslims in the Islamic radical brush, but it is also equally true that there are elements that play the religion card at the behest of other powers to destroy the Kashmiriyat spirit. It is appreciable when separatist leaders like Mirwaiz or Gilani promise that the Kashmiri protests have nothing to do with religion. But the fact remains and as the past Pandit episode reflects, there are elements that want to demolish the syncretic culture of the beautiful Kashmir valley.

The anonymous letters say to the effect that the Sikhs must take part in protests along with the Muslims even if that is against their will. There are also reports that the threats also include the warning that the Sikhs must leave the valley or convert into Islam. Expectedly there was huge uproar not only in the Sikh community world wide but also in other communities at such a brazen communal intimidation. The Akali Dal and many other Sikh religious organizations have appealed to the prime minister of India, also a Sikh, to protect the minorities in the valley. All the mainstream parties in India, and also the local parties of Kashmir, particularly the National Conference, have strongly raised voice against this threat. Mehboob Beg, the member of Indian Parliament from National Conference, struck the right chord in saying that it is a shame that this threat is coming and his party will do everything to protect the minorities and protect the spirit of Kashmiriyat.

Any protest against the government of India or government of Jammu and Kashmir or even the Indian rule might have some genuine grievances underlying them. That may be comprehensible. But one may ask why the violent protests are confined only to the Muslims of the valley, not to Hindus and Sikhs and others in the valley, and why this protest is confined only to a small part of whole Jammu and Kashmir but not to other parts such as Jammu or Ladakh, dominated by Hindus and Buddhist respectively. Does it imply the radical Muslims of the valley (obviously they are the minority within their own community, as the majority Muslims in the valley are peace loving) are better custodians of true interests of the whole Muslim community or even the whole Jammu and Kashmir with India. The protests and the hands behind these protests need to be scrutinized, and with this comes the larger issue whether the violence is purely political, or it has other dimensions.

Whatever may the reason behind the ongoing protests, the threats to minority Sikhs display a design underlying nexus between violence and religion in the Kashmir valley. The saner voices in Kashmir including the moderate leaders must rise to the occasion and check this erosion in the spirit of Kashmiriyat in strongest possible ways.