The writer is a journalist with Scroll.in in Delhi. He is a Multani from Lucknow, who finds himself trapped in the Republic of South Delhi. He tweets @DilliDurAst
Like Indian and Pakistani nationalism, Kashmiri nationalism is also reflected upon the sport in these ways. It is no secret that most Kashmiri Muslims don’t like India and don’t want to be called Indians. If there’s a big India-Pakistan match and you’re in Srinagar, you’d think you are in Pakistan.
Until the onset of militancy and the forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, Kashmiri Muslims used to burst crackers outside the homes of Kashmiri Pandits if Pakistan won a match. This is not Kashmiri Pandit propaganda: a pro-freedom Kashmiri Muslim activist told me as much. They also used to keep the lights off on India’s national days and throw stones on the houses of Pandits if they switched the lights on.
I once asked a Kashmiri Muslim journalist working for an Indian newspaper what he thought of the idea of Kashmiri Pandits returning to their homes. “After the conflict is over,” he said. But I contested; who was he to decide whether someone could return to their home or not? “How will you feel if Pakistanis come and stay next to you?” he asked. (I’d be delighted, but that’s just me!)
If you ask Kashmiri Muslims about what led to the Pandit exodus, they will say it was an Indian conspiracy. The idea was that if the Indian forces moved in to suppress the Kashmiri (Muslim) armed rebellion with the Pandits living amongst them, there might have been reprisals against the Pandits. Does that mean, I asked them, that they would indeed have killed their fellow Kashmiri Hindus in retaliation for Indian forces killing Kashmiri Muslims for rebelling against India? When they are a little more honest about the Pandit exodus, they say that Pandits were killed and asked to leave not because they were Hindus, but because they were Indians.
I am not using the Kashmiri Pandit bogey to deny that Kashmiris are being denied the right to self-determination, like so many other peoples in the world. All of Jammu and Kashmir and all its ethnicities, sects, regions, castes and communities deserve that right. There is no doubt that India is holding on to the Kashmir Valley through the military jackboot, like many such places tend to be. My point is that the Kashmiri nationalism prism, even as it is one of resistance against occupation, does not have the space for Kashmiri Pandits if the Pandits see themselves as Indians.
I dream of a world where anyone can reside in any territory and think of themselves as members, supporters and passport holders of any nation and cheer for any team. But until such a world comes about, I don’t see how a private university in Meerut could not have taken action against Kashmiri Muslim students cheering for Pakistan. Not taking action against them would have escalated the violence at the university and in the city. The Indian students at the university were responding with the same sentiment that makes Kashmiri Muslims suspect their Hindu minority: the sentiment of nationalism. How acceptable would it be to a Pakistani if some in Pakistan openly and publicly cheered for the Indian cricket team in a match against Pakistan?
The argument of Kashmir’s occupation is somewhat irrelevant here because Meerut is not in Kashmir and is not claimed by Pakistan.
What’s even more bizarre is how much the Kashmiris love the Pakistani cricket team when most of them don’t, in fact, want to be Pakistanis. They want to be an independent nation-state and contribute another team to the menace called cricket. If that dream were to come true, Parvez Rasool may not find a place in such a team. After all, he plays in the Indian Premier League. As a Kashmiri Muslim joining Indian cricket, Rasool got endless abuse from pro-freedom Kashmiris. It seems Parvez Rasool can’t have the right to self-determination.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (56)
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@MAD: Its not about supporting any Afganistani cricket team or any Persian team in Pakistan, its about supporting any 'Indian' team. Consider some religious minority people (suppose Hindu) in ur country cheer for the Indian cricket team. What will be ur reaction and if the news comes in media, what will be the country's reaction?...even if u do not take any action, what ll be ur feelings?...do not reply me, just ask this to urself.
Same story every where in South Asia. Innocent Kashmiri Pandit had to leave Kashmir 24 years ago not even Hindu radical politician Modi helped them but wants to help Hindu from Bangladesh. These countries should learn to respect all "others" as part of the society. Beena Sarwar I hope South Asia learn a lesson from history and do not do the same mistakes. Pakistan was created on grounds of protection of minority and they are the one who are unable to manage problems of minority which is self created on both sides in India and in Pakistan. No culture/no civilization/religion/society/country can survive if it attempt´s to be exclusive. Instead of creating more jobs for youth we would go for conflict with other side of the line and the winners will be weapon exporting nations/industry at the cost of poor tax payers of the region. So they might have atom bomb but no basic 24x7 electricity for common citizen. When fly over Indo-Pak border area during night hours you can see high voltage lights along the boarder. Is this not wastage of resources? Solution would be if South Asia build own joint peace forces and control the area jointly! Well this needs visionary people on both sides but none of them could produce one since 1947. A lession we can learn from Élysée Treaty which gave base to long term peace in Europe where as we might end up as slaves of Chinese industry one day.
I agree with Rajeev. The days of self-determination are long gone. in a democratic set up, every ethnic group has a say. India is a vibrant democracy. As a tamilian, i feel bad about the way tamils in SL are treated but i would never vote for their self-determination simply because it will not do them any good. SL tamils, like the kashmiris, have come to believe that they have a unique culture and that they cannot live with the Sinhala majority. Yes, they are still facing repurcussions but they should strive for maximum autonomy within the federation. Ditto for kashmiris. Have they learnt any lessons from Pakistan which broke up in 25 years time? Does it make any sense to aspire for freedome in a landlocked state that would perenially be dependent on India for survival? Ethnicity is a narrow definition. What is my ethnicity? I was born in a small town in Tamil Nadu, grew up in New Delhi, learnt to speak hindi fluently. Later migrated to US and now live in US. Only when you shut yourself up in a narrow space, you feel claustrophobic and want to be on your own. kashmiris should go out of their state and mingle. You never ever hear of Kerala christians wanting a seperate state. This ethnic community is all over India and outside India looking for better opportunities.
@Adnan Bhat: Your argument doesn't seem valid...Indians settled in foreign countries is different from Indians living in India...I understand your displeasure with Indian Government may be but that does not stop you from being Indian. Kashmiris want to eat and feed in India and then abuse India doesn't make sense. I am from the same place and much Kashmiri as you are but if you feel Pakistan is even close to India in terms of anything you are lying to yourself or completely ignorant
@author,
"It is no secret that most Kashmiri Muslims don’t like India and don’t want to be called Indians."
Did you do some research on the "most" Kashmiris? If you did, you will realize that it is 8% of Kashmiris who are separatists. About 65% of Kashmirs are made up of HIndus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Shia and Ismailies, all who are perfectly happy to be called Indians. Of the remaining 35% who are Sunni muslims, only a full 25% are sworn to India and rule the state. The 10% hardcore Islamists are the ones who throw stones and cause terrorism.
@harkol: Strange argument when you say: But, freedom has many facets. Let us say, if Majority of Indians decide they don’t want Muslims in India, and want to push them out – would it be acceptable? I beg your pardon? Hitler wanted to get rid of Jews and tried to eliminate them. History will never forgive nazis for the evil Designs. Now if majority of Hindus wanted to do that, as you use that as an argument, all I can say is good night India. Most of hindus use such arguments to scare. If Kashmirtis get independce, Indian Muslims will have repurcursions. I say do it. The world should see how democratic India is. Kashmiris have to be sacrified one way or another in your opion. I tell you this: India has more Muslims than Pakistan and it has to learn to live with them. There is no other alternative. The world will not accept another holocast. Jews had no country which was jewish. That is not the case with Muslims.Kashmiris did not start freedom struggle with religious leaders. Only when the efforts of liberal Kashmiris were not heeded by India, the struggle became more fundamentilst. We all know that.
If the Kashmiri students just cheered or supported the Pak team the state has no business to lodge criminal charges.However if the students have raised anti national slogans and provoked the community I believe that action is warranted.This incident is no different from the students who were suspended in prestigious All India Institute in New Delhi in 1973 for making catchall during hoisting of national flag on an Independence day. There is a limit to seldetermintion in modern world.We see the example of Yugoslavia where the massacres took place because of Balkanisation. Modern societies need to learn to live together. This supplies to both majorities and minorities.
If the Kashmiri students just cheered or supported the Pak team the state has no business to lodge criminal charges.However if the students have raised anti national slogans and provoked the community I believe that action is warranted.This incident is no different from the students who were suspended in prestigious All India Institute in New Delhi in 1973 for making catchall during hoisting of national flag on an Independence day. There is a limit to seldetermintion in modern world.We see the example of Yugoslavia where the massacres took place because of Balkanisation. Modern societies need to learn to live together. This supplies to both majorities and minorities.
It is unbecoming for India ,a progressive Democracy to act as if it was a third rate Banana Republic ...Let the students cheer whom they want , let the best team win ....
Dear All Friend, It is true NC,Congress,PDP lost Jammu to BJP, it is only because of KM supporting Pakistan, Freedom and r anti India. The more they become anti-india, the more trouble they will face in future. It is not only students, it is business in India, Jobs in India, Kashmir cannot survive with out India's support, it may be aid fm the center or any other commercial dealing with India.
So they have to be very very careful. In general all those organisations who have some sympathy with KM, will stop supporting them in near future, if they continue to be anti-india.
The fact is that Kashmiri pandits were supressed in kashmir when they supported Indian cricket team. I would say that what happened in Meerut is exactly the same thing. Both incidents can be wrong or right but not the other way round. To be fair, those who criticise meerut, should also criticise what happened with kashmiri pandits since centuries.
@Waqar Qureshi: Don't talk about Democracy when you have least knowledge of it!
@Yasir: When even Pakistan and Bangladesh were India how can you say that Kashmir not India ? Kashmir was part of India long long before Pakistan was created.
A kashmiri (muslim) from the Dutch suburbs ! Couldnt agree with you more. I wish we could live the way we live here back in the subcontinent. Tolerance is what we need!! Having said that - my best friend is a Kashmiri Pandit (never left kashmir even in 90's) and I would have loved to see hime when Afridi hit Ashwin out if the park. That was the highlight of my weekend.
In the first half of the article the author criticizes Kashmiri Muslims for discriminating against Kashmiri Pundits based on their nationalism. He then uses their (Kashmiri Muslims') argument to justify the absurd action taken against the students! As to how acceptable it would be if someone cheered for India in Pakistan, please watch India/Pakistan series in Lahore 2003/2004 where the whole stadium cheered for India when they won.
@F: You are right till the point you use that word islamism.... intolarance has nothing to do with islam... rather peoples mindset.
It is amazing to read all the excuses for an utterly immature and wrongfull action by a university that not only was supposed to protect the freedom of speech/expression but also the rights of minorities. In any civilized country the rights of minorities are given special privilages. These Kashmiri students had every right to cheer for any team without persecution. The university and the local government should have dealt strictly with the local students to show the whole populace that freedom of expression will be protected. Instead they used an excuse to punish the Kashmiri students themselves by suspending them. How many of the local students were suspended if they are the ones that posed a threat to these Kashmiri students? None that we have seen in reports, and that's what is deplorable. This is also why these Kashmiri students cheer against India - because of their continued victimization. The majority has to be magnanimous, instead India wants the minority to be subjugated.
True, Meerut is not Srinagar, and Kashmir is NOT India.
These things show one thing clear, its very easy create hatred based on religion, nationality, ethnicity etc etc etc... but its difficult bring people together. In India what Kashmiris are missing than rest of the Indians (in fact Kashmiris are having more rights than rest of Indians) the only missing point for Kashmiris are religion, India is not a Islamic nation, so even if India gives paradise also Kashmiris don't want... this shows how deep hatred is created based on religion... this kind of hatred is not good for humanity.
A lot of rationalization here. if cheering for an opposite side can cause mayhem and a public safety situation there's clearly a problem here. In any case, the poor kids were just having fun. I wonder if those kids crying their hearts out in the face of Afridi's blitz against Bangladesh would have been arrested or accused of sedition if the match had been in Pakistan.
A ridiculous overreach by the state being justified by all means possible. If it quacks, it's a duck. India needs soul-searching here - if it really hate the Kashmiris so much then why hold on to them?
It is really funny to see how spineless individuals in Pakistan and India take cricket to be a matter of sedition. Aren't they both ex-colony of UK? They still wrestle to make a mark in the old art taught by their masters namely cricket. Only a couple of days back a young Kashmiri was complaining that they were not treated as Indians. True. I asked him if he is for Azad Kashmir (Free Kashmir), he said yes. Then why don't you strive for that? Why do you want to become Indian? He then told me that he would like to just get saleable education and go abroad. Then what will happen to Azad Kashmir? He said, who cares, we just want to have fun in life, don't you. I did not know the university these kids were studing in, nor did I had the knowledge that Kashmiris go and study to some obscure university like that. The university, the sudents and the cricket match fall into another paradigm which has nothing to do with identity, freedom and values. They all belong to a world called opportunist and exploitative mode of civilization. It is rather far more intelligent to think about (and waste newsprint) food security of the poor of the world than taking seriously what these mediocre aspiring lot got treated in an equally mediocre university. Haha
Yes ,Meerut is not Srinagar . For us Country comes first always . Cheering for Pakistan for a person living in India is not acceptable for us . India should ban all Pakistanis who come India for bread and butter . No need to entertain these terrorists and beggars . similarly those who visit Pakistan must be left with their own luck. India should encourage all sane organizations fighting against Pakistan .
@priyadhar: It actually happens in parts of Balochistan and KPK. Not by the Baloch though. Mostly Persian speaking Pukhtoons. They support Afghanistan whenever they play Pakistan.
If students from baluchistan studying in some lahore college cheer for india and celebrate pakistans loss what is going to be the reaction there.
Why doesn't he name the people he his quoting randomly. A Kashmiri Muslim Journalist, A Pro-Freedom Party Leader. I always find him quoting imaginary figures. And this man is lying by saying would pakistan allow any pakistani to cheer for India in a game being played inside Pakistan. He forgets how Sehwag and other players were cheered in 2004 game by Pakistanis when Indians went to Pakistan. Interestingly, Pakistan was never shown that large-heartedness when they visited India thereafter. Here is the link: http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/17/stories/2004031709322101.htm
i agree with the article, but saying that All Kashmere muslims want independence from india is exaggeration. Apart from a vocal and hysteric group in Srinagar and a few other cities no one want to waste his time in these activities. Common normal population of all religions and regions be it jammu, kashmir or laddakh want to live normal live and toil hard to achieve that.
Surprised to see this author admitting the persecution of Kashmiri pandits. But I have 2 questions.
Indians have posted these queries many times to this author. Let's accept at face value your claims on "self determination".
1) why don't you EVER write about self determination of Balochs, Tibetans and Uighurs??!
2) you will be happy to have Pakistanis as your neighbours . Where?? In Delhi perhaps. Because in Pakistan you will be living in fear as a Hindu second class citizen next to your Pakistani neighbhours.
ET moderator, please allow my comment and request a reply from this author.
And then they came for me........... These ultra-nationalist have to learn learn Arend Lijphart's Consociationalism. What wrong have Kashmiri Pundits have done that they antagonized and made their lives difficult.
As a bunch of some immature kids, they should be let go with a warning instead of dropping sedition charges on them. Raising anti India slogan doesn't cause the collapse of the only surviving 5000 year old civilization in the world.
Why is it unacceptable to call Pandits from the area Kashmiri Hindus? They are natives of the soil just like Muslims are. Yet no one talks about the harrssment and abuse heaped upon them by Muslim neighbours with whom they have lived for eons. Kashmiri Muslims don't see them as Kashmiris or human beings - but Indians - and hence deserving of expulsion! Kashmiris Muslims want their voice to be heard but feel no remorse in trampelling on fellow human beings because they happen to have a different faith. We see this level of intolerance primarily in Muslim societies inspired by Islamism.
The world is increasingly aware of the duplicity practiced by Islamists. Kashmiri Muslims will find it hard to convince others of the rightness of their cause and means that they have adopted.
And if some believe that the Indian Army is primarily deployed to protect the Kashmiri Hindus then so be it. Someone has to protect the outnumbered and the weak from the tyranny of the majority. Wish the Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Ahmadiyas and Shias could say the same of the Army in Pakistan.
Kashmiris supporting any team that plays against India (not just Pakistan but even Zimbabwe) is a symbolic form of resistance against occupation which would sober down after Kashmiris become free. But I agree with you on why all kinds of resistance need to be inclusive or recognize a similar demand for dignity by a sub-community or individual.
A losing proposition to lose the "high moral ground" on a petty cricket match.Modi will get a few more votes nonetheless.
We really don't need an Indian author with left leaning views to tell us who most Kashmiris support !!
Well, as far as your question goes, Pakistanis are quite open-minded. If any one cheers or claps for India in Pakistan (or for that matter, for Bangladesh in Karachi), every one takes it as a game. Maybe some will not like it but they won't slap sedition charges on just cheering a team. Please do not give excuses; you can not defend the indefensible. India has now made a laughing stock of itself. Even for moderates like me, all the memories of Kashmir have come back. It's not as if we want Kashmir to accede to Pakistan but just give them their voice. They have a right to their land
If you might know long before Parvez Rasool came to limelight for being selected in Indian cricket squad for Zimbabwe, Abdul Majeed Kakroo represented India in 1984 Asian Cup. Years later Mehraj-udin-Wadoo and Ishfaq Ahmed also represented India. All of them are highly respected individuals in the valley. So I don't know what you are talking about? And please don't make points through your boring tales of talking to some journalist when you both were probably sipping coffee.....
Should Indian's who have settled in other countries stop cheering for India just because it may irk someone there? What will be your reaction then?
indian propaganda starts now
Kashmir has always wanted to be independent - India got sucked in only and only because Pakistani military created havoc in Kashmir right after independence.
If Pakistani military stops it's interference and enables normal trade, travel and tourism between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, violent elements will lose influence and only then can we hope for lasting, peaceful solutions emerge.
Sensible words from a great liberal. Kashmiri pundits have as much right to live and participate in politics as anybody else. But things have gone from bad to worse. When India played against Pakistan earlier this week, some 40 kashmiris studying in UP showed happiness when India lost. The vice chancellor of the university threw them out of university and sent them back to Kashmir. There are two important points here. One that Kashmiris are pro Pakistan and second democracy in India is not as mature as some might want us to believe.I remember I was sitting in Delhi airport ten years ago and talking to my son in German and this guy came and asked me which language we are speaking. When I told him where I come from, he embraced me and said: I live in Kashmir India but my heart is with Pakistan. Perhaps those Indians commenting in this paper tell me if they agree with freedom and how well this gives a negative image of the country. And I am not anti India, only pro freedom.
I agree with the author that it was more to do with anti Indian sentiment rather than pro Pakistan feeling. People do react emotionally but government should react sensibly.Sedition charges are too much.
Sir, you're not trapped in India. There are people who love you and sometimes agree with your views out there.