Author: Mujtaba Ali Ahmad
Publication: www.miami.com
Date: January 3, 2004
URL: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/7624341.htm
[Note from Hindu Vivek Kendra:
Reading the English media (no friend of the Hindus, and one which has to
be coaxed to present India in a proper light, one would have thought that
there was a big change for the better in attitudes in Jammu & Kashmir.
One, therefore, wonders the real objective of this report.]
For centuries, religious, social
and political influences from across Asia trickled into this scenic Himalayan
region, making it renowned for its tolerance.
But now, caught in the middle of
a prolonged conflict between India and Pakistan, Kashmir finds itself struggling
with a new extremism - both Hindu and Muslim - that its people say has
fundamentally changed its identity.
"Our attitude of tolerance no longer
impressed the young. They suspected us of being weak," said Mohammad Hussain,
64, who sells rugs at his family store in Srinagar, summer capital of India's
Jammu-Kashmir state.
Kashmir is again in the spotlight
with India and Pakistan trying since April to improve relations. They have
restored diplomatic relations and are observing a cease-fire in the disputed
Himalayan territory, which both claim in its entirety.
But Kashmir could be the trigger
for a new war between the nuclear rivals. Since 1947, it has been divided
between largely Hindu India and overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan - a division
at the root of conflict between the two nations. In 1989, Muslim separatists
began a bloody campaign against Indian rule.
Underscoring the delicacy of the
conflict, Pakistan and India are not expected to grapple seriously with
the issue at an upcoming summit in Pakistan of the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation, where leaders from across the region will gather.
India accuses Pakistan of encouraging
extremism through radical religious groups based in Kashmir, and demands
it stop supporting them before any talks about the territory take place.
Pakistan, which is battling its own Islamic extremists at home, has said
it will not raise the Kashmir dispute with India at the summit.
On New Year's Day, the top elected
official in India's portion of Kashmir appealed to the militants to end
the violence.
"I pray to God almighty that our
youth hiding in the forests return home with safety and honor," Mufti Mohammed
Sayeed told a rally of thousands of Kashmiris.
Sayeed, who timed the rally before
the summit, said he wanted both India and Pakistan to hear the yearning
for peace.
The shift to extremism in predominantly
Muslim Kashmir, many analysts say, has less to with the rise of homegrown
Islamic radicalism than a reaction to political mismanagement and rising
Hindu militancy.
The region also has seen a seemingly
endless cycle of bloody militant attacks and heavy-handed crackdowns by
Indian security forces.
"The reaction is purely a response
to a crisis," Kashmiri Muslim scholar Ghulam Ali Gulzar said.
Extremist Muslim groups, disillusioned
by the political situation, decry democracy as a menace.
"Democracy is part of the system
we are fighting," said a supporter of a radical Islamic group.
The man, requesting anonymity to
avoid reprisal by authorities, said it was his duty to wage war against
Sufism - Muslim mysticism that preaches moderation - and tolerance of non-
Muslims.
Most separatist groups demand self-determination
so they can decide their own political future, with Islam only a part of
their agenda. But others proclaim the insurgency a religious war against
Hindu Indian rulers.
The fearful atmosphere created by
the insurgency has magnified the extremism. Some 65,000 people, mostly
Muslim civilians, have been killed. Human rights groups say Indian troops
routinely detain, harass and reportedly even torture and kill Muslim youth
on the pretext of fighting rebels.
"Preaching toleration to the humiliated,
the angry or the desperate is useless," Hussain said.