What Are The People of Jammu & Kashmir Thinking After The Abrogation of Article 370?

After the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam, I had the opportunity to visit various regions of Jammu and Kashmir with colleagues from July 21 to 30 last month. Our objective was to understand the situation in Jammu & Kashmir after the removal of Article 370 and incidents like the Pahalgam attack, and to learn what the people there are thinking. Although there is now an elected government there, real power still lies with the LG (Lieutenant Governor). This is because the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir has also been stripped. After speaking with people there, we found that there is considerable dissatisfaction among them, and they are extremely angry about being treated as second-class citizens.

There were about 26 of us present there as fellows and core team members of ‘DISOM – The Leadership School’ with the aim of nurturing ethical, service-oriented leadership. We met with political leaders, social workers, spent time with pastoralist groups, went into deep valleys, walked along lush meadows and clean, flowing rivers, and spoke to citizens, elected representatives, artists, poets, and intellectuals. We also visited Sufi shrines, dargahs, and Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh religious sites.

We spent about a week in Srinagar, staying in the Harwan area. We roamed around Srinagar freely without any restriction or fear. The local residents treated us with great respect and love. Everyone we met wouldn’t let us leave without having tea, and answered our questions with deep affection. It truly felt like home. Our team was overwhelmed by this warmth. Some even said that their entire perception of Kashmir and Kashmiris had changed. They had fallen victim to the confusion spread by the so-called mainstream Indian media about Kashmir, but after coming here and meeting Kashmiris, they realized that false narratives about them are being spread across India, which have nothing to do with reality.

We visited the shrine of Sufi poet Abdul Ahad Zargar and later attended a literary gathering organized by the Zargar Foundation. The scholars there spoke about Kashmir’s syncretic culture. Poet Rafiq Raj said: “Allah created everyone. If only Islam were necessary for Him, He wouldn’t have created Hindus, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, etc.” Speaking about the progenitor of Kashmiri Sufism, Nand Rishi, he said that Nund Rishi used to say, whether you go to a temple or a mosque, take the straight path. Similarly, Abdul Ahad Zargar would ask: tell me where the divine resides within you? Reading Kashmiri Muslim poets never makes you feel they are only Muslim poets; they speak for all. If Kashmiri Sufi poetry were translated into other languages, people would understand what Kashmiri thought is. Kashmiriyat is another name for love.

Poet Haq Bari said that the land of Srinagar was once called Sharada Peeth, and has always had highly learned people. Of the 14 schools of aesthetics in the country, 12 are from Kashmir. We converted from Hindu to Buddhist, back to Hindu, and eventually to Islam. Much has changed, and yet nothing has changed. All the poets and scholars at this literary gathering emphasized: do not divide us in the name of religion or anything else. We have always been one. Kashmir has always been a shared space for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Muslims. But now, we are being divided.

We spent two days in dialogue with different political leaders. We met with leaders from the National Conference, the People’s Democratic Party, CPM, and Congress. Our first meeting was with Waheed Para, a young legislator from PDP. He explained the situation in Jammu and Kashmir very eloquently. He said that Jammu is Hindu-majority, Kashmir is Muslim-majority, and Ladakh is Buddhist-majority. There is no hatred toward India or Indians, but there is anger against the oppression by the state and its agencies. Kashmir has been an emotional issue for the country.

Waheed Para said that, ‘Pakistan has also been inciting terrorism here; it’s a multidimensional issue with many players involved. When Pakistan does something, people vent their anger on us Kashmiris. We are battling unemployment, drugs, trauma, and security-related challenges.’ He also said that he was imprisoned for three years by the NIA on charges of terrorism.

Waheed Para went on to say that, “Even Gandhi is questioned now, so what chance do we have? When you seek votes through hatred, hatred becomes the leader. That’s what is happening across the country. We were a state, and Article 370 was our protective shield, but it has been taken away from us. We now run a new assembly under a Union Territory, and are fighting for statehood. We will continue our struggle within the constitutional framework, and we hope for a resolution through legal and constitutional means.”

We went to Tosamaidan with Dr. Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, chairperson of the Jammu Kashmir RTI Movement. Using the Right to Information Act, he got Tosamaidan freed from being a firing range and opened it up for the nomadic Gujjar-Bakarwal community. Dr. Sheikh explains that due to the firing range, humans, livestock, and mountains were all at risk. We fought and won that battle, but after the removal of Article 370, it’s a major challenge to protect our land, mountains, rivers, languages, and biodiversity. He says, “We don’t want an extractive tourism; we want a tourism which connects to our land and is based on the philosophy that our natural resources, our water, forests, and land must be protected. We need special protections.”

We also got the opportunity to meet Comrade Yusuf Tarigami, MLA and senior leader of the CPI(M). During a long conversation at his government residence, Comrade Tarigami said: “As a Kashmiri, I’d like to say that we have 5000 years of recorded history. Everything is written in Kalhana’s Rajatarangini. We were once a free nation. The Mughals attacked us, and then the British came to colonize us. Through the Amritsar Deal, the British sold us to Gulab Singh; we were sold like land and animals. On August 15, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh did not accede to either India or Pakistan. He maintained telegraph relations with Pakistan. Despite Gandhi, Patel, and Nehru, the king didn’t integrate Kashmir with India.

When tribal invaders arrived, Hari Singh fled. The invaders reached Baramulla. Kashmiris, along with Sheikh Abdullah and communist leaders, held a rally in Lal Chowk and chanted ‘Hindu-Muslim unity zindabad.’ Give me back that Kashmir, where Hindus and Muslims stood together.

Our constitutional special status was granted through Article 370, and you took that from us. It was a bridge between India and Kashmir. You broke that. The Indian Constituent Assembly’s agreement with us has been annulled. Now the LG rules; the assembly or elected government has no power.”

He adds, “What happened in Pahalgam, where 26 innocent people were killed, brought the entire Kashmir to the streets. We said that this is unacceptable. They were our guests; we never considered them outsiders. This should not have happened to them. We’ve never seen the people of India as ‘others.’ Our children are in your states; please consider them your own.

Let’s stand together to protect each other.”

Advocate Altaf, known as one of the Creators of Peace, who has played an important role in healing Kashmir’s wounds and easing the people’s pain, explains the history of Kashmir in a sequence. He says that on 6 October 1586, the Mughals attacked Kashmir, and inflicted atrocities on both peers (Sufi saints) and pandits (Hindu priests). In 1819, Maharaja Ranjit Singh lost to the British, and his officer Gulab Singh bought the entire Kashmir for 7 million rupees. In 1931, the democratic rights movement began in Kashmir. In 1947, new hope emerged, but Maharaja Hari Singh made an agreement with Pakistan. Within a week, when around 3.5 lakh Muslims in Jammu were massacred by the King’s army and members of the Hindu Mahasabha, the Pathans (tribesmen) formed an army in retaliation, which came to be known as the tribals. Then the Indian Army arrived, and our fleeing Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession with India. To this day, we have not seen that original instrument. But until 1964, we had our own flag, constitution, Prime Minister, and President, all of which have now been abolished. We were given Article 370 to protect our culture, civilization, and nature, but now that too has been taken away. Advocate Altaf says, “500 kanals of Kashmir’s land were given to Aksai Chin, another area is with Pakistan as Azad Kashmir, and now Ladakh has also been separated from us. How much more will we be divided?”

For us, the meeting with National Conference MP Syed Agha Rahullah was very important. He told us that ever since the BJP came to power at the Centre, the Kashmir issue has been turned into a core Hindutva agenda. Kashmir has been made into a theater, and everyone is playing their part. From the beginning, BJP has made this a political agenda. To appease their majority voters, they want to show that they have disempowered a Muslim-majority state.

Syed Agha Rahullah says, “If we Kashmiris want to preserve our identity, how does that harm anyone?” Kashmiri identity does not mean Muslim identity. There are many people here, many languages are spoken, there is a lot of diversity. Article 370 was provided to preserve Kashmiri identity. You have Article 371 for Himachal and the Northeast, which still exists, then why was 370 taken from us? If everything is opened up for everyone, our identity will no longer survive. If a state asks for protection, it doesn’t mean it is anti-national. This is not a matter of national interest; this is a matter of BJP’s interest, and for that, Kashmir has been made a theatre. He says, “We will protect our identity. We will protect our autonomy. We had the first land reforms here. Women received property rights. There has never been a scam worth crores here. We’ve had the lowest unemployment rate. Look at the indicators of gender equality, education, health, and poverty. Despite so much unrest, we stayed ahead. And we are being punished for this. If we are thinking far ahead of the rest of the country and want to protect our identity, does that make us anti-national?” MP Syed Agha Rahullah’s question is for all of us.

We went to Beerwah, and in Ganderbal, we spoke to Sajjad Radhar Farooq and his fellow young lawyers from Kashmir Law Circle. We spoke to Mudasir Lolabi from Kashmir Calling. We met dozens of people from the Gujjar-Bakarwal community along with Chaudhary Zahid Parvez, and visited their villages. Everywhere, in every voice, the pain of losing Article 370 was strongly evident. Whether it was the Sikh community in Srinagar, or Kashmiri Hindus or Muslims, everyone seemed anxious after the abrogation of Article 370. They are deeply worried about the future of Kashmir, Kashmiris, and Kashmiriyat.

While travelling through Kashmir, we witnessed massive security movement due to the Amarnath Yatra. Security forces stood at every turn. Tourists continued to flock to the banks of Dal Lake, but the atmosphere of mistrust was everywhere. We want to win Kashmir, but we don’t want to win the hearts of Kashmiris. This is not the Idea of India. This is the beginning of the end of India’s founding values.

With these questions in mind, I reached Jammu, hoping that people there would be happy about the removal of Article 370. Because in Kashmir, no one seemed happy about it. Every section of people there felt they had lost something. In Jammu, I met with Tarsem Lal, founder of Ashok Buddha Vihar, along with Praveen Bhai and Dilawar Bhai. I also spoke with members of the Jammu Kashmir SC/ST Employees Association. Everyone said that after Article 370 was removed, reserved category people have suffered severe losses in terms of reservations. This will increase unemployment among Dalits and Adivasis. The security of our lands now seems at risk, and in the coming days, we will face many challenges.

While returning to Delhi from Jammu, I kept asking myself this question: Who has really benefited from the abrogation of Article 370? Is it truly a matter of national interest, or is it about the interest of a particular political party? Why have we all turned Kashmir into a theater?