NEW DELHI:
Kashmiri Muslims
living in various areas of Delhi defined the Centre’s decision to withdraw the special status of Jammu and Kashmir
under Article 370
of the Constitution as “unthoughtful”, even “unconstitutional”, and expressed apprehensions at the disruption of the life there. In contrast, the Valley’s Pandits, migrants for decades in the capital, exulted over the decision they felt could pave the way for their return to their home state.
On Monday, when TOI visited some neighbourhoods dominated by Kashmiris, a majority were fearfully reluctant to speak about the day’s events. Those who expressed themselves did mostly to accuse the central government of taking such a big decision without consulting the Kashmiris themselves.
AISA and CPM activists protest against the government’s decision to withdraw J&K’s special statusA 54-year-old engineer at Batla House in south Delhi, a native of Badgam in Srinagar, recalled decades of struggle. “Due to regular turmoil in Kashmir, life has become hell for those living there,” he said. “Our families have lost their identities. This decision has come as a shocker for us and I am concerned that the situation will turn worse now.”
A New Friends Colony resident, a 45-year-old business originally from Sonwar in the Valley, said, “Even though I had a good shawl business in Kashmir, I had to move out of the state due to lack of opportunity. When I visit the place now, I feel saddened to see the conditions there. Our youths are living in a veritable Stone Age with little economic opportunities. That is why they pelt stones to show their anger. We are treated like outsiders in our own city.”
He added thoughtfully, “I don’t think that the move on Article 370 was the only way to usher reforms and development in Kashmir. In fact, I don’t think that the situation is going to improve in the future now.”
Many families were left in a quandary by the steps taken to bifurcate the existing state into two Union territories and worry loomed large in Kashmiri households. A 22-year-old student living in Batla House claimed making several attempts to contact his parents in Kashmir since Friday. “My sister who is married in Bangladesh also tried contacting them, but all landline, internet and broadband services have been snapped there, leaving us with no means to communicate with our relatives,” he said.
The young man was born in Kashmir and came to Delhi for higher education. He described the Centre’s decision as something that will increase resentment among the masses rather than bring peace. “A similar mistake happened in 1954, when Article 370 was introduced,” he added.
A 25-year-old Bhogal resident worried that this would only incite more problems in the Valley. “This was an unnecessary. The pelting of stones had stopped and the youth were busy playing PUBG and now this. There is no communication, and things are grim,” he said.
However, the changes proposed by the Centre provided optimism to Kashmiri Pandits, who were forced to leave the state during the years of unrest. In Lajpat Nagar, there were celebrations after news broke about the revocation of special rights for Jammu and Kashmir. The Pandits arrived with dhols, mithais, even bread pakoras, to fete the “iconic move of the Modi government”.
“We have been migrants for too long. We were forced out of homes. Hopefully this is the first step towards returning home and being able to live once more in our native towns,” said Sanjeev Gautam Raina, who had come from Faridabad to the Kashmiri Samiti at Amar Colony in south Delhi. According to Samiti members, there are up to 2.5 lakh Kashmiri Pandits living in Delhi-NCR.
Kuldeep Bhat, a Mayur Vihar-based businessman, recounted how on January 19, 1990, there were posters on the doors of their house at Rainawari in Srinagar. “‘You will be killed if you don’t run’ it said,” remembered Bhat. “This is a happy day for us. Why should Kashmir have a special status? After independence, even Hyderabad merged into India. So why not Kashmir?”
Seema Kaul, 45, in east Delhi, said they left their home in Kashmir in 1989. “My mom remembers leaving with a slipper on one foot and a sandal on the other. We couldn’t bring along a single thing,” she said. “We have been waiting for this day for a long while. I have received 25-30 calls from friends congratulating us.”
Some Kashmiri Muslims too weren’t quite unhappy with the steps taken on Article 370 and 35A. Jamal Haider, a resident of Batla House, said, for one, this would end the wastage of crores of rupees on “providing privileges” to Kashmiris. He added, “I think the country will achieve uniform development only when a uniform constitution applies everywhere. Separate sets of laws for separate cities only cause confusion.”
Mushtaq Ahmed, a 62-year-old trader in Jangpura Extension, also said it was a good step. “Common people, irrespective of religion, abhor violence. The militants and political leaders in Kashmir should be taken to task for making the state into a hellhole,” he said.
Some Pandits, however, expressed exasperation that it had taken the government so long to act. Ramesh Kitchloo, founder of Kashmiri restaurant Samavar in Pamposh Enclave and a member of the Kashmir Education Cultural Science Society, muttered, “There is no point going back to Kashmir. I left the Valley with my family in the1990s after selling our house at a throwaway price.” He wished though that Delhi government took better care of the beleaguered Pandits. “The Jagti refugee camp still doesn’t have proper civic amenities,” he noted.
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