When will the Natives Return
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 he native people and culture of Kashmir are often overlooked; even though these natives, the Kashmiri Hindus have faced repeated genocidal exoduses. The last one, in 1990, has left just a few thousand of them in the valley. However, a recent effort aimed at asking them back to Kashmir has brought some attention and debate to their cause. Shehjar has taken a few crucial opinions from this debate regarding the return of the natives and is presenting those in this issue. If we get requests, we may compile other opinions and make those a part of the next issue.In Kashmir, on the banks of its many lakes and the river Vitasta, near ponds, springs and streams, where the natives performed their austere rituals, they built temples for several thousand years. Building resources of knowledge, working with joy, they established a cultural platform and created a strong economy, which they had the courage and ability to safeguard. In the shade of trees, besides open fields of wild flowers, overlooked by tall mountains, their families would picnic, with the women laying out the spread and the children enjoying a day of frolic. Covered for their needs amidst the bounty of nature,listening to the chirping of exotic species of birds, watching the cover of forests till high up on the mountain path, the natives did not feel lacking any possessions. Walking the slopes of mountains, drinking from the passing streams running down from the glaciers, working with the breeze, many of these natives would feel the presence of Bhagwan Ji and the Divine Mother and take to the path of spirituality. Their reverie snapped as they were drawn into the kind of battles that did not know any culture. Over time, they kept loosing ground and their people. At one time, they were decimated from the valley. Yet, they preserved their culture and customs and came back to rebuild. That was then but now is a new world. When and in what circumstances will the native return, post the exodus of 1990? Their neighbors have forgotten their names and existence in the last 20 years and the new generation does not even know them. Their jobs, lands and homes have been taken over and their temples encroached upon and vandalized. The innocence of past relationships between people of different religions seems a mere dream and the cultural transformation that has taken place will seem like a nightmare. There are no obvious signs of reconciliation, any statement of apology or an official acknowledgement that a generation has been deprived of their motherland. To a casual world, Kashmir even seems an unlikely place to look for native Kashmiri Hindu culture. There is a day visit to Kheer Bhawani, a visit to Shankaracharya and an annual pilgrimage to Amarnath but that is tokenism. Today, the names that the natives gave to places seem haunting, seemingly at odds with the prevalent culture of the day. That may be a reason why there is an ongoing movement to change the given names of centuries, even for places like Anantnag, Hari Parbat, and Shankaracharya. Believe it or not, the names Srinagar, Sopore and Kashmir-itself are not guaranteed protected. Under these circumstances, could the natives return to their old “way of life” or the “feeling of home”? There are always tales of an old couple or some other people who ventured to return and were not hunted or hurt. There are also the statements of some present-day "local" leaders that they would be welcoming of the natives’ return. They need to know though that the natives have experienced freedom and are aware of their abilities to be self-sufficient. Now, more than requiring anything else, they would want to be equals in all matters and contribute directly to decisions that impact them. While criminals log the little remaining forest cover and run the lakes and rivers dry with unimpeded encroachments, environment cannot become an issue only when the pilgrimage to Amarnath is discussed. Some unemployment in the valley inhabitants cannot become a cover to deny return of those jobs to the natives that were so menacingly snatched away from them. There are many opinions regarding when and in what circumstances but in my opinion, when equality for all purposes can be ensured in some way, that will be when the natives will return. Given the polity of the place, it will be an extraordinary struggle for the natives to earn this package. |
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