![the writer is a columnist he is also a former editor of the mumbai based english newspaper mid day and the gujarati paper divya bhaskar aakar patel tribune com pk the writer is a columnist he is also a former editor of the mumbai based english newspaper mid day and the gujarati paper divya bhaskar aakar patel tribune com pk](https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/493111-AakarPatelNew-1358010049/493111-AakarPatelNew-1358010049.jpg)
There are over 20 Urdu dailies published from Srinagar, which is more than in the rest of India and more even than in Pakistan. One reason for the enthusiasm is the money that comes easily to the papers from the government. Both the central and state governments struggle to put their message out in a hostile environment and must pay to occasionally have the press on their side. The January 2 editions of dailies in Srinagar carried a full-page report of Omar Abdullah’s achievements. This was a list of things he had inaugurated (there were pictures of a drainage, library, bridge and an aqueduct) and a long note on how he had brought peace and prosperity to the state. This was not in the form of an advertisement but as a news item. The text in all papers was identical.
Is there much effect of the propaganda paid for by Indian taxpayers on Kashmiris? The papers suggest that isn’t the case. India’s defeat in the second One-Day International on January 3 was headlined ‘Eden Gardens par shaheenon ki buland parwaz’ (‘The eagles soar at Eden Gardens’) in daily Uzma Kashmir. Similarly, the Indian victory a few days earlier, in the second Twenty20 was headlined Pakistan ko shikast (‘Pakistan loses’), rather than India wins. Sports pages carry features on Javed Miandad’s visa, Mohammad Yousuf’s retirement, Mohammad Asif’s biography and Shahid Afridi’s troubles. Little or nothing on India.
In Rozanama United Times, Abid Tahami wrote on poverty and politics (Kya ise insaniyat kaha jayega? — ‘Can this be called humanity?’). He recounted the story of Allah Bakhsh, a father of six in Rajanpur town, who had died. He tried to steal wheat from a government silo and was killed when he made a hole in the bottom-most sack and the ones on top fell on him. Tahami said he wanted to ask the wazir-e-azam (prime minister), who said he owned no cars but wore suits that cost Rs2.1 million, why the poor were killing themselves to feed their children. The prime minister had also spent tens of millions on his house in Multan. It is at this point that the reader realises that Tahami is speaking of Pakistan’s prime minister.
Writing on Aaj Ki Jang’s op-ed page, Mohammad Azam Azim Azam praised Jinnah (Millat ka pasban wa Islam ka nishan — Mohammad Ali Jinnah — ‘Sentinel of Muslims and seal of Islam, Jinnah’). “The child grows up to be king — these words became true on the Indian subcontinent when an independent Muslim state came into being. The Muslims of India had dreamed of this for two centuries and saw it happen on August 14, 1947. It came to be because of Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah’s integrity, intellect, bravery, political foresight and unshaking resolution. His actions gave immortality and security to Islam on the subcontinent by producing the Muslim nation of Pakistan”. Meanwhile, it appears that the violence in Kashmir has ebbed. Roznama Zabarwan Times said in its editorial (2012 talkh aur shirin yaadon ka saal — ‘2012, a bitter and sweet year’) that 128 people were killed in Kashmir during the year. Of these, 77 were militants, 24 were army and police personnel and 27 were civilians. This was the lowest in memory.
The only piece in Wadi Ki Awaz’s January 2 round-up of 2012 was on violence in Pakistan. It was the worst year in Karachi’s history and more than 2,000 people were dead from ‘targeted killings’ (meaning due to rivalry between Pashtuns and Urdu-speaking Mohajirs). Meanwhile, the tribal areas were peaceful because the Pakistan Army had given up on its operations against the Taliban. However, Pakistani and Afghan Taliban were now at war after the suicide bombing on Mullah Nazir in Pakistan and 2013 would see new violence on this front. In Roznama Udaan, Maulana Israrul Haq Qasmi wrote that Muslims were forbidden from celebrating the New Year (Naye saal ki dhoom-dhaam aur Musalman). He said such adoption of European traditions was dangerous and it was possible that this would destroy Muslim nations. Valentine’s Day had already corrupted the youth and now they had also begun to exchange cards and SMSes wishing one another a happy New Year.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2013.
COMMENTS (39)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
@ABC:
Most Indian Muslims yearn for Pakistan especially the older generation. Either they are extremely stupid or the conditions of Muslims in India must be really bad that they will prefer Pakistan over it.
Your intentions are appreciated but your generalisation is faulty. Obviously where the pulls are greater among split families; there is a desire to reunite with long lost cousins. ( Do see an old movie named "Garm Hawa" if you get the opportunity.) What you say may also have some relevance to the older generation of UP & Bihar Muslims but not much elsewhere, hardly any in South (except old Hyderabad) and practically none in Orissa, Bengal & Assam. Then there are some men leading desperate lives who may peep over the fence, with optical illusion, at neighbour's lawn. And irrational hope driving them would go to any length, their poverty wearing a garb of piety, to appeal to sentiments of the brotherhood for refuge. After all, the word "mohajir", even if now used like a pejorative, has historical & honourable meaning close to a Muslim's heart. That phase is over. .
@Watan dost:
"he is saying kashmiri valley muslim culture is similar to punjabi muslims"
I am still right. More than Kashmiri Muslims, Punjabi non-Muslims share most of the cultural traits. Take Basant or the Language or other cultural stuff..
Just because you share aspects of culture doesn't mean you own that region. So, will you ask for Indian Punjab next?
" there are huge assimilated kashmir valley muslim diaspora in central and northern punjab like Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Rawalpindi etc"
Kashmiris are all over India. Suresh Raina is a Kashmiri Pandit. Our first PM was one as well. I've met many Kashmiris, Muslims as well as Hindus, in Bangalore, taking advantage of the IT boom making a living. Whats your point?
Just because there are Kashmiris in Pakistan justifies your demand over it? Well, we can claim the same thing!!!
"I am a punjabi muslim and have learned from my experience with indian punjabis that other than language we do not share that much culture to assimilate in indian punjab."
There have been articles after articles in Dawn and ET of how Pakistan shares cultural traits with India.
Take Mehendi for example. Or, the kind of music that gets played in Weddings in Pakistan. Its got India and Hinduism written all over it.
You are so desperate to justify your claim over Kashmir, you forget the glaring loopholes in your argument!
@Blithe
Have you ever read the UN resolution 47 on J&K?
Plebiscite was preconditioned with "Full Withdrawal of Pak Army and insurgents" Doesn't seem to matter to you.
Shut it on the UN resolution, dead and gone.
@Watan Dost Mate, not sure what your definition of "culture" is but the only difference between an Indian Punjabi and a Pakistani one is the religion (and that too applies only to the non-muslim east Punjabis). And this comes from years of experience interacting and being friends with punjabis west of Amritsar. Now you could argue that even different regions of Punjab are culturally a bit different from each other like malwa, doaba, pothohar etc, but then where do you stop? A lot of Kashmiris have settled in different parts of India too,as far south as Bangalore and maybe more. Does that mean it was because their culture is similar with south Indians? No, it is because of the economic reasons, as Kashmiri economy is not too diversified. And if you want plebiscite "as enshrined in the UN resolution", vacate the areas you stole and let the ethnic balance return to what it was and then maybe we can talk.
Quite a revealing article. Worrying was the absences of some regular commentators. However, this time @Indian is talking sense. Thanks.
@John B: Let's not talk in 'brute ' terms ( as is the name of your compatriot ). Instead of putting a military boot on the Kashmiri aspiration , please be open minded and fair enough to accept UN resolutions on this disputed area .
@BruteForce: If this were Indian newspaper and I would call you an idiot , I would certainly be censored . Luckily , Pakistan publications as jingoistic and chauvinistic as those accross the border.
Now , my friend (not the Dostoyevsky's village idiot ) , Kashmir is a disputed area. If you claim that Kashmiri's have imore affinity toward India , simply agree to allow a plebecite , as enshrined in UN Resolutins .
Let's apply the KISS principle ( I'm you are clever enough to know what that stands for ).
You need a person like Mr. Modi to put an end to the farce that Article 370 is.
First of all congratulations to all commentators for keeping it a healthy discussion. Personally, I can endorse almost all of the content that @Indian has expressed in his first comment. But at the time for this moment of present India must not allow Kashmir to go into hands of Pakistan.
In coming years, Both countries need to educate (not mere literacy) their domestic masses to come with a maturity level that they can accept any decision of the Kashmiri population no matter how painful it is for any of the party. Unless our masses gain maturity in their thinking we can only move in a circle from one battle/war to another.
But at this moment there will not be a political will due to domestic compulsions.
is Kashmir a issue ....no
Most Indian Muslims yearn for Pakistan especially the older generation. Either they are extremely stupid or the conditions of Muslims in India must be really bad that they will prefer Pakistan over it.
I personally think that they should try to integrate more in Indian society because honesty speaking my Grandparents migrated and Urdu-speaking are quite marginalized in Pakistan. A normal Pakistani will say a lot of chest-thumping emotional narratives about conditions of Muslims in India (Not including Kashmir in this) but if someone asks if they want to shift Indian muslims over here since Pak was built for Indian muslims you will be met with incredible silence. Some people from KP even say that since Afghan Muhajireen are being sent back so should Indian Muhajireen. People don't like to write Siddiqui, Burni etc. with their last names because these are associated with Urdu-Speaking people and try to hide their identity from others.
@BruteForce:
Have you read his comment properly, he is saying kashmiri valley muslim culture is similar to punjabi muslims, which is also corroborated by the fact that there are huge assimilated kashmir valley muslim diaspora in central and northern punjab like Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Rawalpindi etc. If there was no cultural similarity between kashmiri muslims and punjabi muslims then this would not have happened. There is definitely something that made large number of kashmir valley muslims to assimilate in these muslim dominated areas of punjab after their settlement here just two centuries ago. I am a punjabi muslim and have learned from my experience with indian punjabis that other than language we do not share that much culture to assimilate in indian punjab.
@Fed Up Indian:
The main reason behind this divide in distinct dardic ethnicity of muslims living in kashmir valley. Kashmir valley´s tagging with Jammu region is a forced marriage because the two regions are both liguistically and culturally totally different from each other except kashtwar area in jammu region which shares languge and culture with kashmir valley. Similarly kashmir valley people are also distinct from the people living in Azad kashmir region of pakistan. Kashmir valley is 99% muslim, their language is kashur which is closely related to Shina and kohistani languages spoken in Gilgit, chilas and kohistan swat area of pakistan. Kashmiri muslim culture of kashmir valley mirrors the central asian iranic cultures like pamiri tajiks, north eastern afghans, and northern dardic speaking areas of pakistan. On the other hand there is no connection between the language and culture of jammu to kashmir valley.
Nothing new here. Support for Pakistan extends to areas beyond Kashmir. Go to Hydrebad, Deoband, Aligarh, Ghazipur, Azamgarh and see it for yourself. Not sure what anyone can do to about it. There are lot of tears shed for Kashmiri this and that. At a human level there should be. But no Muslim will talk about the persecution of Hindus and Sikhs from the valley. What is happening in Egypt, Pakistan and Iraq has happened in Kashmir already. Minorities must be chased away. There is no credible opposition to the persecution of non-Muslims by Muslims.
@Yoghurt lover: "When i visited Srinagar, I saw a RAW agent first buying a news paper, then stomping on it, then throwing hot boiling water on the paper, then tearing it to pieces, then feeding it to the dogs". Was that sarcasm?.Anyway I had complimented India for such freedom, given hostlie Indo-Pak relations. "These Kashmiri parties does nothing but milk both Indian and Pakistani government for their own selfish reasons. These parties are worse than blood sucking leeches" Agreed 100%. .
@Author, I have recently read The Onion and The Ironic Times and hereby I conclude that Americans are crazy.
@Indian: Kashmir should have acceded to Pakistan in 1947. A lot of things happened in 1947 that shouldn't have happened. Millions died. Tens of millions were uprooted from their homes. It is regrettable that Kashmiri Muslims never got a chance to exercise their right of self-determination, but so didn't those tens of millions whose destiny was decided by others. If millions can die and tens of millions can leave their ancestral homes to satisfy the vanity of one man, surely a few can accept a not-too-uncomfortable-living in India to satisfy the vanity of a billion people.
@Blithe: Very smart reply. But I reiterate what I have been saying for a while.
Asking Indians to gift Kashmir to PAK is asking Jews to forget Jerusalem ; or in your level, asking KSA to gift Mecca for Qom. If you don't understand this, you don't know India.
You have said it correctly though ; Kashmir is PAK's jugular vein and India chocked the jugular vein of PAK and PAK has been suffocating ever since.
If Article 370 is repealed, there may be more newspapers in Gujarati rather than Urdu. . Article 370 makes no sense in the current context as after Pakistan's inaction towards the UN resolution put forward by Nehru, the Shimla accord and the forced migration of Kashmiri Pandits, there is no need to maintain the place as frozen in time. It is shameful that successive governments have enabled this pot to boil for so long.
I wonder if these urdu daily are mainstream dailies in kashmir or are there any kashmiri dailies as well? If these guys are so much interested in urdu and other pakistani behavior like offering namaz on cricket ground why don't they go and live in Pakistan. But they should remember the misery of other urdu speaking muslims of pakistan who are still living in refugee camps of bangladesh and India because pakistan doesn't accept them as being pakistani enough.
@BruteForce: "Times have changed. There is a elected Govt in the state, with a sensible Centre". I understand if you drag Pakistan in Kashmir issue but what have Islam to do with that? Calling someone idiot (Blith) on difference of opinion is asking others to call oneself idiot on the same principle.Would you like it.
@Blithe:
"Culturally they are most similar to Punjabi Muslims"
Don't you see the gaping holes in your argument?
The people most culturally similar to Punjabi Muslims are Punjabi non-Muslims, in Indian Punjab!! Not Kashmiris!
You don't ask for that, do you.. You ask for Kashmir, because majority are Muslims. But, Pakistanis butchered their own 'Muslim' Bengali brothers..
So, what DO you care about? Being Muslim? But, why do you ignore China's treatment of Uighur Muslims if you indeed care about Muslim interests? Why did you people rape and kill your own Bengali Muslim brothers?
Your argument makes no sense!
If Kashmir is culturally close to Punjab in Pakistan, then its similar to Punjab in India. I would like to call you an idiot, but that would mean this comment would be censored. So, I will desist from calling you one.
Urdu dailies in UP are worse..they only see Muslims as victims..and more often have pictures of Muslims been killed in diffrent part of the world..and the govt just ignores it as they need Muslim votes..so indirectly the vote bank goverments encourages separatism..
Kashmir is nothing new the govt of India not only let's out funds for Urdu dailies..but many terrorists are given pensions..and think about Kashmir..and it's natives language Kashmiri is sidelined because Kashmiri is not associated with Arabic or Urdu..so the Muslims made Urdu the state language not Kashmiri..it;s like the Persians making Arabic the state language rather than Farsi..but then this is how muslims majority works..
So basicly we pay Taxes to GOI...and it uses it to pay it to renegades..
@sabi:
Times have changed. There is a elected Govt in the state, with a sensible Centre.
Censoring the media will only turn out to be counter productive.
With regards to Kashmir, more than media its the Tourism industry which will define which way Kashmir turns.
Last year more Tourists visited Kashmir, than the number of Tourists visited Pakistan!!!
The Industry is starting to recover and will start to boom. When such great money to be made, by lawful means, Islam and Pakistan will take a back seat. Pressure will on the seperatists to not to disturb the peace and hence, the Tourism industry.
My previous manager spent a week in Kashmir last year. I see Photos on Facebook all the time of people spending their holiday's in Kashmir.
The Govt of both the state and centre should stay out of Kashmir. It should play the role of an enabler. Things will work out just fine!
*News like Shia killing, Ahmadi killing are being published in those news papaers ? It doesn't matter whether these are being published or not , but truth always comes outside.Do these news papers publish what kind of anarchism happen in Pakistan now a days and How their so called sentinel or seal has been a failure ? Well , someday these same people will speak truth from their heart , because religion is incapable of hiding the truth , satyam eb jayate !!! *
Interesting. Proud that even newspapers espousing anti-India views are allowed publication and circulation, even while the writer claims (purely on account of a single press release) that they are funded by the Indian state. I guess the Kashmiri muslims who indulge in such thinking have the best of all worlds - enjoy the Indian taxpayers money in the one country where muslims of all hues and sects can live without fear while thumbing their nose at their benefactors and singing praises of Jinnah and others. They should really be sent for a crash course to G-B, Balochistan, Karachi or Xingjiang.
@John B: There is no need to put a question mark at the end.
Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan . Culturally they are most similar to Punjabi Muslims (even chief minister of Pakistan Punjab is of Kashmiri extraction as our a lot of other politicians in Pakistani Punjab).
It's best that India realizes this and let's go of her occupation .
Pakistan is also of vital business interest to these dailies. It is a question of survival & of getting bread buttered on both sides, by the competing sides. The importance that Indian Govt gives these dailies is directly proportionate to the importance the dailies give to Pakistan.
Kashmir being a part of India makes it more peaceful or else being a part of Pakistan will start sectarian killings and terrorism. Moroever being a part of rich India will make it economically strong and violence and poverty will subside. They should be proud of being a part of India.
@sabi who writes "Don’t these newspapers get tortured by agencies?"
Yes sir. When i visited Srinagar, I saw a RAW agent first buying a news paper, then stomping on it, then throwing hot boiling water on the paper, then tearing it to pieces, then feeding it to the dogs.
Very interesting.
Yes, India is failing miserably to reach out to Kashmirirs.
I can think of three ways to achieve this.
1) the presence of the army. Armies does not belong in cities/towns. Army belongs in the border and barracks. India should device an effective plan to take the army out of the streets of Kashmir and send it to such places where it does not disrupt day-to-day life and yet be easily available when service is required.
2) Special status of the state must be removed immediately for a better integration into the country. Special status is only hurting India's cause.
3) The local governments (whether Abdulla's or Mufti Saeeds') should become pro-people and pro-active and less selfish. These Kashmiri parties does nothing but milk both Indian and Pakistani government for their own selfish reasons. These parties are worse than blood sucking leeches.
You are talking about the Sunni separatists. The Shias and Ahmedis of the Kashmir valley (yes there are some Ahmedis in the valley) no longer consider Pakistan home. They have accepted being a part of India and will (secretly) do anything to defeat the separatists.
Not surprising, Kashmiris are Pakistani by heart and no one can change this fact.
Any word of what newspapers from Jammu or Ladakh say? It appears that Muslims are the only ones who matter when people speak of Jammu & Kashmir.
As an ethnically Kashmiri Hindu (whose entire extended family had to flee Kashmir in 1990 and whose houses and belongings were looted or destroyed then) I should probably be the last kind of person to take this stand, but here it is: Kashmir should have acceded to Pakistan in 1947.
Why? Realities. I despise the ideology of Pakistan, but that doesn't change reality. All that it would have meant is that Kashmiri Hindus, instead of leaving Kashmir in 1990, would have left in 1947 like Punjabi Hindus did. Kashmiri Muslims taught us the two-nation theory in 1990. No difference.
For me Kashmir is as much a foreign land as is Pakistan. Kashmiri Muslims overwhelmingly support the Pakistani cricket team, to give a trivial example. On Facebook, they favorably contrast Pakistani cricket players celebrating in "namaz" style after a century, etc., unfavorably with Hindu Indian players, who don't do that. Purely religious-loyalty based support. Although the only ethnic Kashmiri ancestry person in either the Indian or Pakistani cricket teams is Suresh Raina, from Rainawari near Srinagar, in the Indian team. Kashmiri Muslims obviously don't accept him, a Hindu, as a Kashmiri.
So, just realistically, it's a fact that Muslims have a very strong in-group solidarity, and out-group hostility. Iqbal was right. Jinnah was right. Not "good", or "moral", just right. It's not to say they, or their ideas, or the idea of Pakistan, was good or moral. It's just an accurate description of reality. I would have been very happy if at any time from 1947 to 1989, before the insurgency broke out, Kashmiri Muslims had ever accepted an Indian identity. But they never did, though ethnically Kashmiri Hindus did. Ahmedis did. Christians did . Even many Shia did. But never most Kashmiri Valley Sunnis. And that's the basic problem India always had in Kashmir. It's as clearly a problem similar to Jinnah, the Muslim League, the demand for Pakistan, the Partition and all the rest, as it could possibly be.
Solution's simple. Hindus and Sikhs and Christians etc. are about 7% of the original Kashmir Valley's population. Partition the Valley, give 7% of the land to non-Muslims, and let the rest of the Valley have a referendum on whether to join Pakistan or be an new independent Islamic Republic. Sad, but that's they only thing they want.
How much better a world we would have had if religion died out...
And Kashmir publishes only Urdu newspapers, and all Kashmir Muslims read only Urdu newspapers and no one other than Muslims live in Kashmir and all Kashmir Muslims want to be part of Pakistan .......?
Copy paste from Urdu newspapers, add Kashmir and viola you get published in Pakistan. Congratulations!
Very intresting. How big is the circulation of these newspapers.Don't these newspapers get tortured by agencies?.