Kashmir is a picturesque mountain state with clear rivers, evergreen forests and breath-taking views. It has a history of Muslims and Hindus staying together, celebrating their respective festivals wherein other community wholeheartedly participates with equal gusto and shares happiness.
Kashmiris are very simple people. They believe in small boons of life. Stay of the author in a houseboat Dal Lake was an extremely pleasant experience. Interaction with the houseboat owner helped in developing an insight into the lives of Kashmiris. Their houses are speckles and extremely organized. Kashmiris bring up their children very well, enthusing good values and impeccable manners. They are very particular that their children should be soft-spoken, have good etiquettes and ethos.
Unfortunately, a proxy war brews in Kashmir. It devours dozens of lives every day, Kashmiris have suffered untold horrors in the hands of mercenaries and terrorist groups.
Statistical Scrutiny of Valley’s Population
The ethnic and spiritual diversity in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has contributed to the complexity of the Kashmir problem. The majority of Jammu and Kashmir’s population of 14.7 million is resident in the Kashmir Valley. The region is divided into three subparts.
The population of Kashmir is 8.1 million Kashmir religion is 98 percent Islam with distinct Sufi characteristics. Jammu Division, on the other hand, has a population of 6.2 million, over 62 percent of who are Hindus and 33 percent Muslims, where the latter represents a majority in three of Jammu’s 6 districts.
The languages are dialects of Punjabi and different from Kashmiri, spoken largely in the valley. The third component, the largest of the three in the area and the most remote, is Ladakh, with a population of approximately 0.4 million, which has a slim Muslim majority. Here the populace is mostly Shia, distinct from the overall Sunni majority in the Kashmir valley.