19 Dec/17 Tuesday:   ‘They asked us to speak in Kannada. Then they attacked. It was scary”. Intolerance of all kinds is dangerous. It can be in any color i.e. cast, religion, region or state-based. This is what had happened to our Kashmiri Brothers in Bengaluru. We should understand “Intolerance Breeds Intolerance”.

Situation in Kashmir: Intolerance breeding Intolerance

Sitting inside Kashmir valley these Hurriyat leaders spit venom on India and want to brace Pakistan. Did anyone of them notice what harm they are doing to us? These leaders are breeding intolerance against India and Indians. Our children are very meritorious and do get various scholarships from various authorities for studying in premier institutions in India. Similarly, students from various parts of India come and study here in Srinagar.

Some back i.e. in Apr 2016, female students from other parts of India studying in the NIT Srinagar were threatened with rape. How can this happen in Kashmir valley, “A Heaven on Earth”.  We should remember that there cannot be a Heaven where women are raped or security of women is not ensured.  We have issues of violence against women in Kash ir already. This happened on a small issue such as a cricket match between two countries. On that day India lost to West Indies in the World T20 match on March 31. Male students i.e. Kashmiris and non-Kashmiris first had a clash then the NIT machinery started unprofessionally on non-Kashmiri students. Clearly, non-Kashmiri students came to Srinagar just to study. They study here and our children get accommodated into the other NITs in different parts of the country. This exchange of students is essential to bring a standard into the Engineering Institute.

Central Govt Action

Unlike Pakistan where there would have been immediate retaliation, the Min of HRD Govt of India sent a team to deal with the situation. New Delhi always sees intolerance breeding intolerance. As a fallout, several Kashmiri students in Jodhpur were attacked as a retaliation. We can clearly see that these Kashmiri students affected were just children of common Kashmiris, not influential people. It is learnt from reliable sources that the female students were threatened by Kashmiri students who have influential backgrounds.

Situation around the world

Politicians world over are looking for unnecessary attention. With the advent of easy publicity of they are picking up a small issue and then blowing it out of proportion. This gives them a chance of being in limelight and in News thus creating support base. This is what gets them power. Coming to see today every politician is making an issue of nothing. They change their stance as their situation changes. If they are in power, they will say something and if they are in opposition they have a completely different narration. This is how they survive. Some politicians who never objected or fueled the Srinagar incident might take advantage of this incident. Lets not loose the Kashmiriyat left in us and maintain patience.

The police have already arrested the culprits. The culprits are again jealous of the outsiders and want to just breed intolerance. Let’s not fall prey to their fake calls. This is not an attack on Kashmiris its just another an attack on outsiders. The victims happened to be Kashmiris.

Hate Mongers

The leaders like Hafiz Saeed and other infamous Islamic clerics wanting power are preaching the teachings of Prophet in the wrong way. They are preaching hatred and are dangerous to our society. Instead of blindly following them we should use our own path towards god. Every day a Kashmiri mother is losing a child who takes the path of hatred. It is better that way – no one will have to die as a victim of a suicide bomber or wear a suicide vest.

Saving Kashmiriyat in us

We should remember that Kashmiriyat does not preach killing, it preaches peace and tolerance. Tolerance breeds tolerance.  We better learn fast as else we are aiding and abetting in killing not only outsiders of Kashmir but also brothers within the community in the name of who is their employer. It’s time for us to think do we need someone else to kill Kashmiriyat, we are killing Kashmiriyat ourselves?

mohdrahirshafi@gmail.com