Homeland
The community thus stands at cross roads. The question is of survival or death. The stark reality has dawned upon the community for the first time that it has to stand on its own and out of the shambles in which it finds itself, to recreate and rebuild its glorious ideals and to fight for an honourable survival. The members of the community, of all shades of opinion and of all professions, gave their unanimous approval to the Homeland Resolution adopted by "Panun Kashmir" in the 'MARGA DARSHAN' convention in December, 1991. It is for the first time that the urges and aspirations of the community materialized in the form of a political demand. The call for a Homeland, therefore, underlines the inevitable desire and will of the community to regain its status and lost honour and to find its identity again in the land which it has inhabited from times immemorial despite persecution and massacre and despite repeated exodus. The call for Homeland becomes mandatory for the community as it refuses to return to an atmosphere of discrimination, suppression and persecution at the hands of Muslimized state apparatus which it has been facing for the last four decades and to an atmosphere of siege, terror and murderous assault at the hands of gun wielding religious fanatics who hold the sway in the valley now.
The community thus stands at cross roads. The question is of survival or death. The stark reality has dawned upon the community for the first time that it has to stand on its own and out of the shambles in which it finds itself, to recreate and rebuild its glorious ideals and to fight for an honourable survival. The members of the community, of all shades of opinion and of all professions, gave their unanimous approval to the Homeland Resolution adopted by "Panun Kashmir" in the 'MARGA DARSHAN' convention in December, 1991. It is for the first time that the urges and aspirations of the community materialized in the form of a political demand. The call for a Homeland, therefore, underlines the inevitable desire and will of the community to regain its status and lost honour and to find its identity again in the land which it has inhabited from times immemorial despite persecution and massacre and despite repeated exodus. The call for Homeland becomes mandatory for the community as it refuses to return to an atmosphere of discrimination, suppression and persecution at the hands of Muslimized state apparatus which it has been facing for the last four decades and to an atmosphere of siege, terror and murderous assault at the hands of gun wielding religious fanatics who hold the sway in the valley now.
The community wants to live in peace and in ambience of
amity and brotherhood. It will fight for its rightful participation in any
negotiations, decisions or changes that may affect the constitutional and
political organisation of the State. It is determined to fight to the finish
for its inalienable rights in its own land.
What is Homeland?
Homeland is a place, a region or a country which is native to a people and where the people or the community is essentially indigenous. It is an area which naturally belongs to them by virtue of birth, habitation and evolution over a long period of time spanning centuries and millennia. The longer a community has made a place its abode and the wider and deeper it takes roots, the stronger are its bonds and commitments to that place and the greater is the resolve to retain it and preserve its integrity. Over a period of generations, the community builds physical, emotional and spiritual relationship with that region. Just as a home gives a sense of belonging to an individual so a Homeland generates a feeling of roots, a sense of identity and an umbrella of security to its people. The two are inseparable and the rebtionship is sanctified by the sacrifices of the people, affirmed by history and hallowed by time.
Homeland is a place, a region or a country which is native to a people and where the people or the community is essentially indigenous. It is an area which naturally belongs to them by virtue of birth, habitation and evolution over a long period of time spanning centuries and millennia. The longer a community has made a place its abode and the wider and deeper it takes roots, the stronger are its bonds and commitments to that place and the greater is the resolve to retain it and preserve its integrity. Over a period of generations, the community builds physical, emotional and spiritual relationship with that region. Just as a home gives a sense of belonging to an individual so a Homeland generates a feeling of roots, a sense of identity and an umbrella of security to its people. The two are inseparable and the rebtionship is sanctified by the sacrifices of the people, affirmed by history and hallowed by time.
What area do we claim for the Homeland and why?
A Homeland cannot be thought out of context of the land that belongs to the community. So the Homeland for the displaced Kashmiris will have to be conceived in the valley itself.
A Homeland cannot be thought out of context of the land that belongs to the community. So the Homeland for the displaced Kashmiris will have to be conceived in the valley itself.
We have asked for the area North and East of the River
Jehlum. The valley has to be divided in acceptance of our claim. River Jehlum
provides a natural geographial divide and, therefore, shall represent a line of
demarcation between the Homeland and the rest of the valley. The southern
region of the State to the North and East of the Jehlum with the National
Highway passing through it also happens to be the region with most of our holy
shrines including the holiest of the holy, Sri Amarnath. Logistically and
demographically, this area is most suitable for conversion into the Homeland
with a Union Territory status.
Why a separate portion as Homeland when whole
of the valley belongs to us?
Yes, infact the whole valley is the Homeland for the Hindu Community who are the original people and can be traced through the annals of history in the valley. At heart, each and every member of the community would desire the conditions to normalise in the valley and become congenial and conducive for his return to his original place of abode and settle down to a harmonious relationship of amity, friendship and tolerance with his Muslim compatriots. Yet, we must face the facts and be brutally frank. We cannot ignore the ground realities and the compulsions of recent events that have now got superimposed on the forty five years of grand Islamization of Kashmir. What prevails today is the new culture, a cult of violence for achieving an Islamic State and for its secession from India. In the new power equation, the old order, on paper looking secular but in practice discriminative, majoritarian, fundamentalist and Islamic, has yielded to a new order openly, avowedly and blatantly militant, communal, intolerant, hate- ridden and revengeful. The Government of India has kept its door open for a dialogue with harbingers of this order and is ready to concede greater autonomy tantamount to granting an Islamic State of Kashmir in a secular India. What is the place for a Hindu in this new set up? The new power brokers, amongst the numerous terrorist outfits operating in the valley, certainly have one thing in common, that is to run the State on the principles of Islamic law, and to secede from the Indian Republic. Under the Islamic law the non-muslims shall have to be satisfied with a second class citizen- ship and under the rules of 'shariat' to shoulder the burden of taxes ('Jazia') and face disenfranchisement. A small minority will be hard pressed to resist the inducements, temptations and pressures to join the Islamic bandwagon and convert itself to Islam. Already there are linguistic and cultural inroads by Islamic hegemony in the day-to-day Hindu cultural and religious practices and their conversational nuances, which were distinct from Muslims. Under the new setup their identity will slowly get defaced and lost under the weight of medievalism and obscurantism towards which the armed fundamentalists are surely and inexorably leading the valley. Besides, what guarantees will the minority community have to their life and property when the community is scattered and resettled in small settlements here and there as it was before exodus. It was because of such demographic disadvantages that the community had no representation in the legislature or Parliament and it could not offer a joint resistance to the depredations of the terrorists against the community.
Yes, infact the whole valley is the Homeland for the Hindu Community who are the original people and can be traced through the annals of history in the valley. At heart, each and every member of the community would desire the conditions to normalise in the valley and become congenial and conducive for his return to his original place of abode and settle down to a harmonious relationship of amity, friendship and tolerance with his Muslim compatriots. Yet, we must face the facts and be brutally frank. We cannot ignore the ground realities and the compulsions of recent events that have now got superimposed on the forty five years of grand Islamization of Kashmir. What prevails today is the new culture, a cult of violence for achieving an Islamic State and for its secession from India. In the new power equation, the old order, on paper looking secular but in practice discriminative, majoritarian, fundamentalist and Islamic, has yielded to a new order openly, avowedly and blatantly militant, communal, intolerant, hate- ridden and revengeful. The Government of India has kept its door open for a dialogue with harbingers of this order and is ready to concede greater autonomy tantamount to granting an Islamic State of Kashmir in a secular India. What is the place for a Hindu in this new set up? The new power brokers, amongst the numerous terrorist outfits operating in the valley, certainly have one thing in common, that is to run the State on the principles of Islamic law, and to secede from the Indian Republic. Under the Islamic law the non-muslims shall have to be satisfied with a second class citizen- ship and under the rules of 'shariat' to shoulder the burden of taxes ('Jazia') and face disenfranchisement. A small minority will be hard pressed to resist the inducements, temptations and pressures to join the Islamic bandwagon and convert itself to Islam. Already there are linguistic and cultural inroads by Islamic hegemony in the day-to-day Hindu cultural and religious practices and their conversational nuances, which were distinct from Muslims. Under the new setup their identity will slowly get defaced and lost under the weight of medievalism and obscurantism towards which the armed fundamentalists are surely and inexorably leading the valley. Besides, what guarantees will the minority community have to their life and property when the community is scattered and resettled in small settlements here and there as it was before exodus. It was because of such demographic disadvantages that the community had no representation in the legislature or Parliament and it could not offer a joint resistance to the depredations of the terrorists against the community.
If the present setup, as it existed before 1989, was so
inimical, damaging and discouraging for the healthy survival of the Pandit, how
can we ever expect him to survive in the changed circumstances, when the new
forces that have been unleashed will hold complete sway after the total eclipse
and demise of the traditional politics, of whatever worth that existed in the
State. Can this forward looking, modernistic, secular and democratic community
ever be allowed to live, let alone thrive,when preparations are afoot to
resurrect the discredited politicians of the past who brought Kashmir and the
Hindu of the valley to such a sorry pass and who were also instrumental in
bringing into power indoctrinated, armed youth and their patrons who take
orders from the theoeratic State of Pakistan and derive impetus and sustenance
from that country? If one can read the mind of the mandarins in the power
corridors of the Central Government in Delhi and others who matter, moves are
afoot to grant almost everything under the Sun to the State of Jammu and
Kashmir in order to mollify the militants and bring them to the negotiating
table. Short of secession or total independence, the Central Government is
ready to give "Azadi" (Independence) to the State within the
constitutional frame-work, whatever it means.
The fact remains that the Central Govt. has withdrawn most
of the staff from its offices in the valley and replaced it with Muslim
aspirants while the State Government institutions have already filled up the
vacancies created by the exodus of the Hindu employees. Having retracted from
civil institutions, all that remain of India in the valley are the army and
paramilitary forces. Infact, the Centre has already granted an Islamic State in
the valley. Funher autonomy through political process will only be putting the
stamp of approval for a theocratic State within India. What are the guarantees
for a Hindu ? Where does he go ? Where are his house estates and jobs ? How
does he face the institutionalized indoctrination of hate and intolerance
towards him ? How does he work towards winning the sympathy of the moderate
Muslim who was always his hope and his pillar of strength but who now has been
silenced, subdued and coerced into submission to the militants' point-of-view
and tows their religious and political ideology? How does he, with his limited
resources and numbers, counter the disinformation by militants and their
spokesmen in the length and breadth of the country who, like Goebells, have been
repeating lies after lies about Hindus having grabbed all jobs in the State?
Event the Central Government goes by the advice of Muslim leaders of the State
- discredited politicians who swear by the Constitution of India but work
towards its erosion and breach, who have left nobody in doubt about their
sympathies with the cause of the terrorists and their methods and who are
infact pressurising the Government of India to spell out the quantum of
autonomy for the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Some amongst them including two
Ex- Chief Ministers of the State have now come out openly and sided with the
militants' demand for self-determination. The Kashmiri Hindu is at pains to
explain the futility of relying on these discredited politicians who have
become irrelevant in the valley and whose bonafides and credentials as secular
Indians are suspect. By seeking their counsel and trusting them and at the same
time ignoring, marginalizing and discrediting the Kashmiri Hindus who have
borne the cross of Indian secularism for the last four decades, the State
administration and the Central Government are comitting the greatest blunder
and compounding the tragedy of the valley. The Kashmiri Hindu factor cannot be
excluded in the ultimate solution of the tangle. In fact, he has a major role
to play in the restoration of Indian hold and claim on Kashmir because with his
exit from the valley the Indian Government has given the impression that it is
not interested in protecting the rights of its patriotic citizens but in retaining
only the territory. The Kashmiri Hindu has a pivotal role in the final solution
and if he is neglected, the Government of India will be making a mockery of its
avowals of 'unity in diversity' and its claim of protecting the rights and
freedom of all its citizens and not of the Muslims alone.
All these problems beset and baffle the mind of the exiled
Hindu and he finds himself up against a blank wall, nay a Himalaya of ignorance
and obstinacy, an ocean of follies. What faces him is the stark reality of forty
five years of naked persecution followed by the onslaught of unbridled
terrorism. So the community is constrained to make the only genuine, realistic
and positive demand, staking its claim for its inalienable right in the valley,
in essence, now a portion of the valley where it can go back and live a
secular, democratic citizen of the Indian Republic. This will be an area with a
Union Teritory Status, where the Indian Republic can still look for the
"ray of hope" which the father of the nation once talked about, where
the secular democratic expriment that failed in the valley, can again be put to
test with guarantees of success since it will be conducted by the true votaries
of this faith.
In fact, the Government of India once toyed with the idea of
providing a Security Zone in the valley for the exiled Hindus. Whetber it meant
a cluster of contiguous villages and towns which could be provided security and
which would be considered in the backdrop of demographic, economic and security
logistics, was never spelled out. Infact it could have paved the way for
granting Homeland to the exiles. What we are asking is to concretize this idea
and give a proper shape to a Homeland for the displaced Kashmiris.
What claim does the exiled community have for a
Homeland?
If I die in exile
think this of me
that there is a
corner
out there in Kashmir
that was for ever my abode,
where my soul will come to rest.
- Dr. K.L.
Choudhary
The Kashmiri Hindu is
the original inhabitant of the valley of Kashmir ever since the birth of the
valley by divine intervention when Kashypa Rishi materialized it from a huge
lake. He has a history of more than five thousand years of continuous
habibtion. Raj Tarangni, to be highlighted the first historical record of
ancient India, was written by a Kashmiri Pandit Kalhana, and is a lucid account
of the Hindu Kings and the establishment of rich cultural traditions in the
valley. The ruins of the to be highlighted 'Martand' and other temples like
Parihaspura at Pattan, Narannag at Kangan and the excavations at Burzhoma in
the outskirts of the city of Srinagar speak of the architectural attainments as
much as of the religious beliefs and practices of tbe ancient Kashmir. History,
Art, Architechre, Mathematics, Astronomy, Theology Philosophy, Poetry and
Aesthetics emanated from our ancestors. Kashmir during the days of yore was the
centre of learning and the seat of a great University at Bijbehara near
Anantnag to which scholars thronged from all parts of the world for knowledge
and learning and for the study of Sanskrit, Literature, Philosophy etc.
Lawrence in 1899 wrote, "the valley of Kashmir is the holy land of Hindus
and I have hardly been in any village which does not show some relic of
antiquity".
Modern Kashmir owes a lot, for its rich cultural heritage,
its language, literature and arts, its very 'Kashmiriat', to the Hindu who laid
the foundation for the same and consolidated it as other cultures mingled with
it down the centuries. He gave Shaivism to the world in its explicit and
practical form. Now reduced to a minority, he is the inheritor of this distinct
and glorious cultural, ethnic and religious background which though having so
much in common with rest of the Hindu tradition of India is yet so distinct. It
is his duty to preserve this distinct heritage, to secure his own roots, to
assen his identity and to claim his rights and freedom- religious, political
and social. He is peace loving and tolerant. He has not taken up arms to
counter terrorist violence. He has suffered silently because he was a minority
at the mercy of a brute majority. But Minority Rights are now acknowledged
everywhere in the civilized world. The UN Secretary General in his June1992
blue-print about the role envisaged for UN makes a proposal for an
International Convention defining inalienable minority rights and a declaration
to this effect to be placed before the UN General Assembly. India, the
motherland of Kashmiri Hindus, has to recognise this right of Kashmiri Pandits,
First and foremost. It has to grant him his rightful claim and share in the
Homeland. lt is a test case for India, for the very survival of its unity in
diversity, to provide safeguards to each community and uphold the rights and
the just aspirations of every ethnic and religious minority. And, India will
have to prove to its own people and to the world community that it is
determined to safeguard and preserve the aspirations and the rights and
privileges of the Kashmiri Hindus. While, on the one hand, the Indian Govemment
is ready to concede every demand of the terrorists and Islamic Zealots in
Kashmir short of total secession, it will have to save its own face by granting
a 'Homeland' to its secular, peace-loving citizens of the valley who sacrificed
themselves at the altar of secularism and nationalism.
The year 1993 all over the world is being celebrated as the
year of 'indigenous people'. Kashmiri Pandits are the indigenous people of
Kashmir with the continuity of a distinct ethno-religious tradition of more
than five thousand years. Therefore, the world shall have to grant them their
inalienable rights to exist in their Homeland with security of life, political
liberty, freedom of thought and expression and in dignity and pride.
What are the overall implictions of granting
the Homeland?
Morally, it will be an acknowledgement of the inalienable fights of Kashmiri minority Hindu community to its own land in its own habitat, to grant them a Homeland. In broader context it may be the only lasting solution to the complex Kashmir embroglio not only to grant a Homeland to the Hindus and minorities of the valley but also to recognize the sensitivities and propensities of other regional and ethnic groups of the heterogenous State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Morally, it will be an acknowledgement of the inalienable fights of Kashmiri minority Hindu community to its own land in its own habitat, to grant them a Homeland. In broader context it may be the only lasting solution to the complex Kashmir embroglio not only to grant a Homeland to the Hindus and minorities of the valley but also to recognize the sensitivities and propensities of other regional and ethnic groups of the heterogenous State of Jammu and Kashmir.
The debate about granting of greater autonomy to the State
of Jammu and Kashmir has gathered momentum since the rise of militancy in the
valley. The Muslim leaders of the State, of all shades of political opinion,
are working overtime and in tandem with their many sympathizers in the rest of
the country to convince the Central Government about the genuineness and
correctness of this step. They are aiming at exacting the maximum concessions
from the country when they talk of the quantum of autonomy. There is also a
flurry of behind-the-scene activity at the Centre to persuade the terrorist
outfits to come forward for a dialogue. Unfortunately, the real import and
meaning of granting greater autonomy to the State is lost to the powers that be
in the Central Government, which is to surrender the State on a platter to the
Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists as a price for retaining Jammu and
Kashmir on the map of India. It is one more step towards strengthening the
secessionist forces and therefore towards the final severance of the State from
the Union of India. This step may buy illusory peace to the rest of the country
but it certainly buys time for the terrorists to consolidate and prepare for
the final onslaught for secession.
In the meanwhile, the rights of other religious, ethnic and
geographical entities of the State are being jeopardized and trampled upon,
preparing the ground for ferment in all patts of the State involving all
communities. The Jammuites have long harboured-a feeling of rejection and
deprivation at the hands of Muslims of the valley who managed to keep the reins
of power in their hands since 1947. They have been deprived of their share of
power and development and neglected in all fronts. There is an under-current of
simmering dissent and anger. Demands for autonomous Regional Council for Jammu
have been floated repeatedly. The Ladakhis have also been fighting for a Union
Territory status to esape discrimination at the hands of Muslim rulers of the
State. Infact, the Central Government had almost granted a Hill council for
Ladakhis but it was stalled at the last moment at the intervention of a Muslim
ex-MP from the valley. However, the Central Government is cornmitted to
granting a Darjeeling type Hill council for Ladakhis.
In view of the foregoing arguments many senior leaders of
the State and some others at the Centre hve proposed a trifurcation of the
State of Jammu and Kashmir to solve the tangle. However, a trifurcation does
not solve the problem of displaced Kashmiri Pandits who are refugees in Jammu
and other towns of the country for the last three years. They are guests at
these places, guests that have stayed rather long. They desire to go back to
the valley but are unwelcome there. Infact they had to leave on pain of death
and the people of the valley in general and the terrorists in particular have
threatened to execute them if they return to their homes. Therefore, granting
them a Homeland with a Union Territoty status inside the valley is the only
lasting and permanent solution to the Kashmir problem. If a Hill council can be
granted to about 60,000 Ladakhi Budhists why not a Homeland for seven hundred
thousand Kashmiri Hindus ? Therefore, a quadri-partition and not a trifurcation
of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is in order, to accomodate the rights, the
urges and aspirations of all regions and all religious and ethnic groups.
What will be the socio-political set up in the Homeland?
Essentially the Homeland will contribute to the aims a ideals of democracy, secularism, free exchange of thought, trade and culture, right to work and right to live, justice and equality for all, including women. It will not be a theocracy. It will identify with the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India and exist in amity and brotherhood with all the regions and provinces of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and with the rest of India.
Essentially the Homeland will contribute to the aims a ideals of democracy, secularism, free exchange of thought, trade and culture, right to work and right to live, justice and equality for all, including women. It will not be a theocracy. It will identify with the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India and exist in amity and brotherhood with all the regions and provinces of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and with the rest of India.
How does call for a Homeland serve the national
interest and prevent the balkanisation of the country?
It is in the best interest of the country for us to fight for a Homeland. Infact, it will be anti-national for us to keep quiet about the loss of our territorial rights in the Valley of Kashmir and the loss of our homes and hearths, lands, estates and jobs. If we don't raise our voice against what has been snatched away from us; if we keep quiet about the valley of Kashmir which has been allowed to degenerate into a theocratic Islamic enclave inside the secular Indian Republic; if we shut our eyes to the existence of this Islamic State being defended and guarded on the frontiers by the Indian forces and being run by the writ of the militants under the laws of "Shariat" now being enacted in full vigour and gusto; we will have done the greatest dis-service to India for losing our Homeland to communalists. The Indian nation will never be forgiven for the total failure of its secular-democratic experiment in the testing ground of the valley. Even Jawaharlal Nehru, the greatest champion and architect of secularism, had his doubts about the success of this experiment when he wrote on 26th July, 1962 to Shri P.N.Bazaz, "the real problem in Kashmir is whether it continues as a secular State as the rest of India or not. This affects the whole India because secularism in India also has not got such a firm foundation as I would like it to have. Anything happening in Kashmir will undoubtedly affect the rest of India with its vast Muslim pupulatiun".
It is in the best interest of the country for us to fight for a Homeland. Infact, it will be anti-national for us to keep quiet about the loss of our territorial rights in the Valley of Kashmir and the loss of our homes and hearths, lands, estates and jobs. If we don't raise our voice against what has been snatched away from us; if we keep quiet about the valley of Kashmir which has been allowed to degenerate into a theocratic Islamic enclave inside the secular Indian Republic; if we shut our eyes to the existence of this Islamic State being defended and guarded on the frontiers by the Indian forces and being run by the writ of the militants under the laws of "Shariat" now being enacted in full vigour and gusto; we will have done the greatest dis-service to India for losing our Homeland to communalists. The Indian nation will never be forgiven for the total failure of its secular-democratic experiment in the testing ground of the valley. Even Jawaharlal Nehru, the greatest champion and architect of secularism, had his doubts about the success of this experiment when he wrote on 26th July, 1962 to Shri P.N.Bazaz, "the real problem in Kashmir is whether it continues as a secular State as the rest of India or not. This affects the whole India because secularism in India also has not got such a firm foundation as I would like it to have. Anything happening in Kashmir will undoubtedly affect the rest of India with its vast Muslim pupulatiun".
Kashmir is integral to India as it has been a part of its
geographical, political and cultural mainstream for centuries. It has its own
geopolitical importance as it stands at the cross roads of various cultures and
religious, political and geographical entities. It is the meeting ground
between Central Asia, China, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan. It has to
serve as the bulwark against the pan-Islamic expansion from across Pakistan.
Iran and Afghanistan - an Indian phalanx to counter the encroaching Islamic
thrust from Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan trying to cut across
the Indian plains to join on the eastern front with Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Malaysia, etc. It is the only way to prevent balkanization of the country by
retaining as much area as possible in the valley under a secular and democratic
hold of the country and allowing the committed secularists and nationalists to
settle down in their own land. What we are seeking, therefore, is a full
accession of at least this portion of the valley with the rest of India
There is tremendous pressure on the Central and State
Governments for the formation of smaller States in recognition of the urges and
aspirations of the people, for preservation of their regional identities and
for safeguarding their rights and interests. Negotiations are going on with
people from Bodoland, Jharkhand, Gorkhaland etc. These people have not faced
the persecution and communal discrimination, neither have they been the victims
of murderous assaults by armed fundamentalist-terrorists, nor been forced into
exile from their own home state. Yet the Central Government is prepared to
discuss their demands and grant the same in some measure. The displaced
Kashmiri Hindus are placed in a worse plight. They are not only threatened with
denial, discrimination, suppression and persecution but are facing a total loss
of their identity. They have been uprooted, brutally murdered and banished from
their own soil. Their claim for their own land and for a full accession of this
portion with the rest of India is most genuine and rightful. If the Government
of India is ready to concede some form of autonomy to the State, which
indirectly means conceding an Islamic State, it will be in the interest of the
country to at least have a portion of the valley loyal to the country and which
rightfully belongs to secular democratic Kashmiris, as their Homeland. It will
be a free democratic secular island within or by the side of the Islamic
valley, having an extension of the constitution of India in its full
play.
A Homeland for the seven hundred thousand displaced
Kashmiris in the valley will be the only logical, natural and permanent
solution for the displaced Kashmiris. Homeland is where home is and home is
where land is and our land is in the valley of Kashmir. Our demand for a
Homeland within the valley, from where we have been driven out by armed Islamic
terrorists, is an assertion of our rights as much as of our patriotism for
India. In order to save Kashmir from the clutches of Pakistan which has been
instigating, encouraging and perpetuating terrorism in Kashmir, the Indian
nation has to shed all inhibitions and unequivocally declare its resolve of
resettling tbe displaced Kashmiri Hindus in the Homeland which will serve as a
bastion of secularism and democracy in an otherwise Islamic State.
Are we internationalizing the Kashmir issue by
raising a call for a Homeland for the displaced Kashmiris and by appealing to
the community of nations?
Our appeal to the international community is to open their eyes to the human rights' violation and genocide against Hindus in Kashmir by Muslim fundamentalists turned terrorists. We are infact doing what the Government of India should have done to inform and educate the world through the media, through its embassies in other countries, through debates and through meetings with world leaders. There is so much disinformation being carried out against the Kashmiri Hindus. Considerable disinformation is also going on against the so called atrocities committed by the Indian security forces in dealing with the terrorists and their harbourers and so little is being said about the barbaric treatment coupled with brutalities against the Hindus of the valley who have been tortured, gunned down and exiled. It is our duty to create awareness in the world about the true nature of the movement in the valley - a movement which is essentially one of secession from India, a 'Jehad' (religious war) spearheaded by indoctrinated youth for the establishment of a Muslim theocratic State and not a war of independence. It is an Islamic Jehad, an anti Hindu, anti Indian crusade carried out by the terrorist outfits in the valley which number more than two hundred and compete to outbid each other in the pursuit of a common goal.
Our appeal to the international community is to open their eyes to the human rights' violation and genocide against Hindus in Kashmir by Muslim fundamentalists turned terrorists. We are infact doing what the Government of India should have done to inform and educate the world through the media, through its embassies in other countries, through debates and through meetings with world leaders. There is so much disinformation being carried out against the Kashmiri Hindus. Considerable disinformation is also going on against the so called atrocities committed by the Indian security forces in dealing with the terrorists and their harbourers and so little is being said about the barbaric treatment coupled with brutalities against the Hindus of the valley who have been tortured, gunned down and exiled. It is our duty to create awareness in the world about the true nature of the movement in the valley - a movement which is essentially one of secession from India, a 'Jehad' (religious war) spearheaded by indoctrinated youth for the establishment of a Muslim theocratic State and not a war of independence. It is an Islamic Jehad, an anti Hindu, anti Indian crusade carried out by the terrorist outfits in the valley which number more than two hundred and compete to outbid each other in the pursuit of a common goal.
We are trying to tell the world and the Human Rights
Organisations, the United Nations and other such bodies which monitor human
rights violations, that it is the Kashmiri Hindu against whom the religious war
started and is now being fought to the finish. After having thrown him out of
his natural habitat, the terrorists are now vandalizing, destroying and
torching the property worth hundreds of crores left behind and appropriating his
lands and estates.
We also try to remind the Government of India of its flawed
policies towards the State where it is still pampering the terrorists in order
to win their hearts, where it is more worried about the living conditions of
terrorist detenues in jails than those of the Kashmiri Hindu victims
languishing in refugee camps.
We are appealing to free and peace loving communities of the
world against the Pak-sponsored terrorism in the valley which has turned this
heaven into a veritable hell and thus, only trying to strengthen the hands of
the Government of India.
When we give a call for a Homeland we are only reinforcing
the Indian claim to Kashmir which has been the crown of India ever since Vedic
times and the cradle of civilization of which we, the Hindus of Kashmir, are
the true heirs, defenders and inheritors. We are the true guardians of this
Indian outpost of secularism and democracy and we serve as a bulwark against
the march of Pan- Islamic hegemony from across the Hindukush, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Central Asia and Iran.
What about settlement outside the valley in the
State or outside the State of Jammu & Kashmir?
There are some people who have proposed quasi- permanent settlement outside the valley. There is no doubt that the displaced Kashmiris from the valley are the state-subjects of whole of Jammu and Kashmir and therefore, free to choose any place in the State to live like free citizens with equal opportunities. However, the hard realities betray an inherent opposition from local populations to such a settlement in the major towns outside the valley and even in remote villages. There is already a population explosion in Jammu and we face anger and resentment even to our refugee status in Jammu and neighbouring places. There has been fierce opposition to settle the employed community in the jobs or to the provision of admissions in the educational institutions for our children. There have been negligible adjustments, transfers and promotions and hardly any new recruitments to jobs in the State Government. Now some bellicose groups have been agitating in Jammu for the ouster of the displaced community and for stoppage of all relief. It is nothing short of seeking the total ruin and death of the community.
There are some people who have proposed quasi- permanent settlement outside the valley. There is no doubt that the displaced Kashmiris from the valley are the state-subjects of whole of Jammu and Kashmir and therefore, free to choose any place in the State to live like free citizens with equal opportunities. However, the hard realities betray an inherent opposition from local populations to such a settlement in the major towns outside the valley and even in remote villages. There is already a population explosion in Jammu and we face anger and resentment even to our refugee status in Jammu and neighbouring places. There has been fierce opposition to settle the employed community in the jobs or to the provision of admissions in the educational institutions for our children. There have been negligible adjustments, transfers and promotions and hardly any new recruitments to jobs in the State Government. Now some bellicose groups have been agitating in Jammu for the ouster of the displaced community and for stoppage of all relief. It is nothing short of seeking the total ruin and death of the community.
Attempts to rehabilitate this community in peripheral towns
like Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar etc. would mean living again in insecurity and
within the constraints of these outlying areas where the opportunities for
growth and development of immigrants are meagre or non-existent. It is worth
mcntioning here that those of our ancestors who fled the tyrannies of Muslim
rulers hundreds of years ago and lived in the jungles of Kishtwar and
neighbouring regions, have remained backward down the ages. The benefits of
independenece that percolated into the farthest corners of the valley never
reached these refugees of yore even remotely and they still continue to either
till barren strips of land or take up petty jobs of domestic servants, bakers,
cooks or orderlies. Freedom has yet to dawn and the loaves and fishes of
democracy have yet to be distributed to these people who were driven out like
us centuries ago. The forward looking displaced Kashmiris cannot now accept
such a situation or status. Yes, we are guests in the Jammu province by our own
right but we will have to seek all avenues of repatriation back to the valley
into our Homeland. Accepting a quasi- permanent senttement outside the valley
is tantamount to surrendering our rights in the valley.
Quasi-permanent or permanent settlement outside the State is
again an anachronism. If we are not welcome in a different region of our own
State, how can we expect any other State to accomodate us. What with population
problems and resource crunch everywhere and with regional and chauvinistic
forces raising their head everywhere? It will be unwise to seek shelter and
settlement in any other State. We will not be treated even as second class
citizens. There is no doubt that India is a free country with a constitution
which provides guarantees of life, work, property and freedom of expression and
of religious faith everywhere and does not stop us from buying land and making
a living and seeking a job anywhere. In individual capacity some of our
displaced members have sought such settlement, in the process getting scattered
and dispersed. That will be the beginning of the end for the community. It may
give a few of us, more fortunately placed, a chance to exist as individuals but
shall take away our last chance to remain as a viable, healthy and dynamic community
which has the power to offer leadership to the country. If we want to survive
both as individuals and as a community and preserve our centuries oId tradition
and culture, we shall have to fight for our own share in the valley, otherwise
we will incur the curse of our progeny
Is Homeland slogan in any way against the
interests of the community?
Infact, the community has never nurtured a political insight nor given vent to its political aspirations ever since it was subjected to persecution down the centuries of Muslim rule. It always lived on a fringe. It was always secondary and peripheral in any political, social and economic reconstruction, whenever there was one. The community only lesrnt to accumodate, acquiesce a just subsist. It always lived from day to day. Therefore, the vision of a Homeland is something difficult to believe and assimilate. 'Offer a feast to a hungry man and suddenly he loses appetite' . He would rather accept crumbs and bits and left-overs. The community has to break the shackles that have held it captive to the Muslim majority perceptions for centuries and break loose and think for itself. The vision of a Homeland may appear an impossible dream. But a dream is the first step away from unreal and a step towords reality. We have to shake ourselves from non- being into being and that is only possible when we stand for our rights and not wait for the mercy and pity of the Muslim majority.
Infact, the community has never nurtured a political insight nor given vent to its political aspirations ever since it was subjected to persecution down the centuries of Muslim rule. It always lived on a fringe. It was always secondary and peripheral in any political, social and economic reconstruction, whenever there was one. The community only lesrnt to accumodate, acquiesce a just subsist. It always lived from day to day. Therefore, the vision of a Homeland is something difficult to believe and assimilate. 'Offer a feast to a hungry man and suddenly he loses appetite' . He would rather accept crumbs and bits and left-overs. The community has to break the shackles that have held it captive to the Muslim majority perceptions for centuries and break loose and think for itself. The vision of a Homeland may appear an impossible dream. But a dream is the first step away from unreal and a step towords reality. We have to shake ourselves from non- being into being and that is only possible when we stand for our rights and not wait for the mercy and pity of the Muslim majority.
A Home1and is the minimum programme for the survival of the
community. There are some amongst us who still delude themselves with the
belief that normalcy is going to return to Kashmir and they are going to be
able to live in honour and dignity and with equal rights and opportunities to
life, and therefore, say that we should not offend the Muslims by asking for
our due share in the form of a Homeland. But you can count them on fingers.
Most of them are the yes-men or hand-maidens of power brokers and discredited
politicians, others are in league with the terrorists and have become tools in
their hands and provide them with a mask. We have a couple of thousand Hindus
still living in the valley. Most of them are living in fear and under a seige
and pay 'protection money'. They are forced to speak the militants' language. -
Some of them have converted, if not in name but in practice, to Islam. Others
have become spokesmen against the so-called excesses and atrocities by the
security forces. All of them serve as show-boys of the terrorists, who often
manage to project them in the media to plead that their movement is
non-communal, yet in the same breath being votaries of a "Jehad" with
the ultimate aim of throwing out India and running the State on the tenets of
Holy Quran. They are, thus, already a part of the Islamic crusade. This handful
of Hindus who are eking out their time in the valley, infact, are the Hindu
pockets of acquiescence and not resistance against the communal frenzy that has
engulfed the valley.
The Kashmiri Hindus have to realize that every quarter is
cashing on their disaster. The people in the valley are cashing on the presence
of those few thousands whom they have deliberately nurtured to present a false
image of communal harmony to the gullible world. The administrative machinery
ruling us in exile is trading in our misery. The relief agencies are siphoning
off the funds meant for relief and rehabilitation of the displaced people. They
have bungled crores of rupees in league with the bankers and middlemen but
managed to blame and discredit the beleagured community. Various political
parties are deriving political mileage out of our misery. The traders,
landlords and other businessmen in the host cities have a different price for
their ware for the displaced people than for the locals. How long can we afford
to be thus cheated from all quarters unless we have a place of our own, our
HOMELAND?
Our genuine demand for a Homeland does not hurt anybody 's
intrests as we have no desire to encroach upon the legitimate rights of others.
Infact, there are clear indications that the Muslim majority is irked by our
capacity to bear silently the sufferings heaped upon us than by our waking up
to our rights. The grant of a Homeland to displaced Kashmiris will be the
greatest stumbling block to their design of enforcing their version of poitical
and religious dispensation in the whole of the valley and spare this part of
the valley from degenerating into a theocratic enclave.
Is Homeland a viable proposition?
We desire the homeland to be a Union territory and it is bound to be viable. We envisage a healthy and harmonious relationship with the rest of the valley and with other regions and States. The Homeland will serve as a phalanx of Indian secularism and democracy in what has otherwise regressed into an Islamic theocracy in the valley. It will have well defined borders, a stable security and will be contiguous with the rest of India physically, emotionally and politically.
We desire the homeland to be a Union territory and it is bound to be viable. We envisage a healthy and harmonious relationship with the rest of the valley and with other regions and States. The Homeland will serve as a phalanx of Indian secularism and democracy in what has otherwise regressed into an Islamic theocracy in the valley. It will have well defined borders, a stable security and will be contiguous with the rest of India physically, emotionally and politically.
No country nor any state can ever be self-sufficient, and no
society or community is complete in itself. What makes a region viable is the
determination of its people to exploit the resources, be they natural or human
? We have the manpower and resources to ensure viability. Kashmir has been
"Shardapeeth", the seat of learning and knowledge. We can make it so
again with the expertise and manpower available to us and can start a full
fledged university, medical, engineering and agricultural colleges and
institutions of arts and commerce. The level of education can be raised to
excellence so that we attract the students and teachers from other States and
other countries. Small scale Industries especially in electronics and software
are other disciplines where we can hope to make a mark. Tourism has a vast
potential. Development of pilgrim centres can be considered on a big scale.
Agriculture and handicrafts, sericulture, pisciculture and horticulture all
have a vast scope. Besides, there can be a re-orientation and a new look at the
priorities for the Homeland. Our aim is excellence in all our endeavours. Our
goal is a peaceful and bountiful Homdand, a future model for a great country
that India can be.
What about the displaced Kashmiris settled
outside the valley?
We are Indians first and Indians last. The demand for a homeland should not be construed as an expression of ethnic or regional chauvinism but one of survival of a community with a distinct culture. It gives us pride to see our members settled in the rest of the country and contributing their valuable services to the country in various fields. They all harbour a feeling of denial and deprivation and discrimination in the valley because of which they had to leave their Homeland. The grant of a Homeland may not necessarily draw them back to the valley but will not only provide them the necessary moral and psychological courage but also regain for them their lost identity. They will be able to heIp and guide the floundering community even from their respective places of adoption. Many of them will be drawn back to their land of birth. Infact, conditions shall have to be created for a return of all those who are this time going through the trauma and turpitude of finding a ground for habitation elsewhere and all those who have become nomadic in the process of seeking shelter and survival. We have a fund of talent especially in the educational, administrative and scientific fields and we invoke the help and blessings of so many of our compatriots who are manning prestigious positions in the country and who are wedded to the noble cause of a Homeland.
We are Indians first and Indians last. The demand for a homeland should not be construed as an expression of ethnic or regional chauvinism but one of survival of a community with a distinct culture. It gives us pride to see our members settled in the rest of the country and contributing their valuable services to the country in various fields. They all harbour a feeling of denial and deprivation and discrimination in the valley because of which they had to leave their Homeland. The grant of a Homeland may not necessarily draw them back to the valley but will not only provide them the necessary moral and psychological courage but also regain for them their lost identity. They will be able to heIp and guide the floundering community even from their respective places of adoption. Many of them will be drawn back to their land of birth. Infact, conditions shall have to be created for a return of all those who are this time going through the trauma and turpitude of finding a ground for habitation elsewhere and all those who have become nomadic in the process of seeking shelter and survival. We have a fund of talent especially in the educational, administrative and scientific fields and we invoke the help and blessings of so many of our compatriots who are manning prestigious positions in the country and who are wedded to the noble cause of a Homeland.
The Homeland will provide opportunity and incentive for the
return of all the Kashmiri Pandits who will difinitely have the legal and moral
right of settlement in this part of Kashmir, inspite of them being settled in
any other part of the world.
What about Article 370 and the Homeland?
Article 370 by providing a special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir goes against the very spirit of our constitution as it works against the unity in diversity which the constitution swears to provide and strengthen. Rather than bringing the State of Jammu and Kashmir nearer to the main stream of India it has widened the gulf and paved the way for secession as the Article has been used to bolster the argument of those elements who have always questioned the accession of the State to India and who refer to the existence of this Article as an argument in favour of the unsettled status of Jammu and Kashmir. The State has been defending, protecting, enhancing and glorifying the rights of the majority community at the cost of the minority, especially the minority in the valley. While in India the Constitution provides special guarantees and privileges to the minority, in the State the constitution has been contrived in favour of the majority.
Article 370 by providing a special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir goes against the very spirit of our constitution as it works against the unity in diversity which the constitution swears to provide and strengthen. Rather than bringing the State of Jammu and Kashmir nearer to the main stream of India it has widened the gulf and paved the way for secession as the Article has been used to bolster the argument of those elements who have always questioned the accession of the State to India and who refer to the existence of this Article as an argument in favour of the unsettled status of Jammu and Kashmir. The State has been defending, protecting, enhancing and glorifying the rights of the majority community at the cost of the minority, especially the minority in the valley. While in India the Constitution provides special guarantees and privileges to the minority, in the State the constitution has been contrived in favour of the majority.
Once the homeland is granted to the displaced Kashmiris the
continuance of the article and the special status in the remaining portion of
the valley/State does not at all affect us, as we have accepted the
Constitution of India in full - undiluted, unadulterated and unalloyed. The
Homeland will be a Union Territory and will be governed by the provisions of
Indian Constitution and Article 370 will not be applicable in this portion of
Kashmir and will have no relevance.
Why is Homeland so urgent?
The call for a homeland has become not only natutal and necessary but urgent as well. The community has arrived at a water- shed in history. It is now or never that it has to fling the cloak of minority complex under which it fossilized itself into inaction through the centuries. It cannot afford to reverse the facts of history, the fact of total Islamization of Kashmir. It cannot de- communalize the socio-political milieu of the valley in which it has not heen allowed to sustain and survive. It cannot afford to relinquish its claim in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and get dispersed and lost in the teeming population of the countty, so it has to seek the Homeland and seek it now.
The call for a homeland has become not only natutal and necessary but urgent as well. The community has arrived at a water- shed in history. It is now or never that it has to fling the cloak of minority complex under which it fossilized itself into inaction through the centuries. It cannot afford to reverse the facts of history, the fact of total Islamization of Kashmir. It cannot de- communalize the socio-political milieu of the valley in which it has not heen allowed to sustain and survive. It cannot afford to relinquish its claim in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and get dispersed and lost in the teeming population of the countty, so it has to seek the Homeland and seek it now.
In the present state of exile, the whole community is going
through indescribable psychological, mental and physical anguish. The older generation
is fast fading away as they are going through the throes of disease and death
which has come prematurely for thousands. The middle generation is withering
and aging rapidly because of idleness, denial and deprivation. The younger
genetation has hecome apathetic, depressed and frustrated because of denial of
opportunities for living, denial of admissions into institutions of learning
and the apartheid that they face from all quarters. The new generation that
takes birth in exile grows up in the most uncongenial and hostile environment.
At this rate the cornmunity will not take long to dissipate. With the passage
of each day, the community gets impoverished on all fronts and is moving
towards extinction. That is why Homeland is most urgent, now.
We have to remind ourselves that only a Homeland can
guarantee us the identity that we are seeking. It is a quirk of history that a
great and large nation that is India with eighty percent Hindu population, has
no qualms of conscience in keeping silent about Hindus becoming refugees in
their own land. This can only happen in India. Only in India does a whole
nation accept with impunity the banishment of a small minority from its natural
habitat because it happens to be a Hindu minority of a Muslim majority State
which is at the mercy of fundamentalists and rank communalists. The Homeland
therefore becomes imperative and urgent before more damage is sustained by the
community, before the community gets further fragmented, dispersed and
disintegrated.
The Homeland is urgcnt because granting it will set in
motion the process of normalization in the State. The first duty of the nation
is to resettle the uprooted citizens in their natural habitat. The Government
of India has been vaccilating in its policies and priorities in Kashmir. Infact
it has no definite policy except one of drift and despair on the one hand and
appeasement of the Muslim majority on the other. The most terrible fall out of
this policy has been the genocide of the Hindu minority in the valley. If the
Central Government realises this fact, it will have taken the first right step
towards Kashmir. If it realises that it has to protect the legitimate interests
and rights of its patriotic citizens who have been fighting for India in
Kashmir, it will be the second step and in the third big leap it has to grant a
Homeland to this community.
Is it a Hindu Homeland that we are seeking?
No, it is not a Hindu Homeland that we are seeking. We fully identify with tbe secular-democratic-pluralism of our country, so how can we ask for a Hindu homeland ? We are seeking a homeland for displaced Kashmiris who have faced suppression for centuries, who have been driven out by tyrants repeatedly in the course of history of monarchies and fiefdoms in the valley and who have been subjected to genocide of unparalleled magnitude in a free and democratic India. These people happen mostly to be Hindus. These were the people who staked themselves at the altar of secularism in Kashmir. They reaped the bitter fruits of being nationalists and secular. They are now unwelcome in their own land of which they are the original inhabitants. They will not be able to live in security, safety and dignity in the altered milieu in the valley which has now become completely Islamized and which has no place for other communities. If they are allowed to disperse and disintegrate it will be a total negation of the secular democratic ideals of India. Any attempt to deny them their rightful share in their place of habitation will have far reaching consequences for the rest of the country and will unleash uncontrollable forces of religious bigotry elsewhere in other States and may lead to exodus of minorities from there. So these displaced Kashmiris from the valley are seeking an honourable settlement in the valley and will welcome all those who contribute to the tenets of secularism, democracy and equality before law. We are not seeking a division of Kashmir into Muslim Kashmir and Hindu Kashmir because an Islamic Kashmir is already a fait accompli. What we are asking is our rightful share from it to convert it into a secular democratic homeland with full accession to India and without fetters of Article 370.
No, it is not a Hindu Homeland that we are seeking. We fully identify with tbe secular-democratic-pluralism of our country, so how can we ask for a Hindu homeland ? We are seeking a homeland for displaced Kashmiris who have faced suppression for centuries, who have been driven out by tyrants repeatedly in the course of history of monarchies and fiefdoms in the valley and who have been subjected to genocide of unparalleled magnitude in a free and democratic India. These people happen mostly to be Hindus. These were the people who staked themselves at the altar of secularism in Kashmir. They reaped the bitter fruits of being nationalists and secular. They are now unwelcome in their own land of which they are the original inhabitants. They will not be able to live in security, safety and dignity in the altered milieu in the valley which has now become completely Islamized and which has no place for other communities. If they are allowed to disperse and disintegrate it will be a total negation of the secular democratic ideals of India. Any attempt to deny them their rightful share in their place of habitation will have far reaching consequences for the rest of the country and will unleash uncontrollable forces of religious bigotry elsewhere in other States and may lead to exodus of minorities from there. So these displaced Kashmiris from the valley are seeking an honourable settlement in the valley and will welcome all those who contribute to the tenets of secularism, democracy and equality before law. We are not seeking a division of Kashmir into Muslim Kashmir and Hindu Kashmir because an Islamic Kashmir is already a fait accompli. What we are asking is our rightful share from it to convert it into a secular democratic homeland with full accession to India and without fetters of Article 370.
What is Panun Kashmir and what does it stand
for?
Panun Kashmir is an expression of the innermost hopes and urges of the Kashmiris displaced from Kashmir valley, that were suppressed for centuries and lost in the nethermost corner of their subconscious. It is a natural and instinctive desire of the community to seek its roots, to preserve its identity and to assert its political, legal and historical nghts. It provides a nascent political rostrum to translate the idea and vision of an honourable and peaceful existence emanating from a sense of pride and a feeling of self- esteem which has been snatched from this community.
Panun Kashmir is an expression of the innermost hopes and urges of the Kashmiris displaced from Kashmir valley, that were suppressed for centuries and lost in the nethermost corner of their subconscious. It is a natural and instinctive desire of the community to seek its roots, to preserve its identity and to assert its political, legal and historical nghts. It provides a nascent political rostrum to translate the idea and vision of an honourable and peaceful existence emanating from a sense of pride and a feeling of self- esteem which has been snatched from this community.
Panun Kashmir is not just a party or an organization but a
people's movement. It is the milky way dotted with the stars of the community
who, having come out of eclipse, are ready to become the guiding stars. And as
a first step, the community is pledged to behave as a united whole and not just
as individuals; as masters of their destiny and not as second fiddles and
yes-men; as reformers and not slaves to outlandish customs and rituals; as
confedrates and not as plotters against each other; as respectors and
appreciators of each others worth and not as critics and cynics. Any body who
wants to join this galaxy is welcome and we say unto him, "Come to us when
you start feeling the pangs for your land - your Kashmir, rather than for your
house, property and job. And we will talk to you about Homeland".
It is the awareness of your duty as much as of your rights for your
homeland that is paramount and no sacrifice will be too great to salvage the
honour, dignity and integrity of your community and country. Pious wishes alone
will not give you the homeland, you have to be ready for action. Numbers should
not daunt us. If we have the conviction of our ideals and aims, we will
succeed. And we have to take the path of non-violence; we have to take the pen
to fight the sword; we have to educate not only our own community and our
country but the whole international community of our rights for the
Homeland. Source : Ikashmir.net & Panunkashmir.org & special thanks to Sunil Fotedar for preserving it
