You are not a Kashmiri
By Dr Shabir Choudhry 02 October 2004

Not only I call myself a Kashmiri but I am proud to be a Kashmiri
nationalist. Whereas an ordinary person living in Kashmir could be an
Indian or Pakistani first and Kashmiri second, or he could not have
developed consciousness of being a Kashmiri; but as a nationalist
Kashmiri I am Kashmiri first and Kashmiri last.

And when someone tells me that I am not a Kashmiri just because I don't
speak a language which is spoken in one part of the State of Jammu and
Kashmir, I feel I have been humiliated or sworn at. It is insult to me
that I have to prove my 'Kashmiriyet', and request others or persuade
them to accept me as a Kashmiri.

A Pakistani friend told me that I was not a Kashmiri because I didn't
speak the Kashmiri language. I explained to him that I am a Kashmiri
because I was born in Kashmir, and that the Kashmiri law recognise me
as a Kashmiri.

The State of Jammu and Kashmir generally known as Kashmir consists of
the Valley, Jammu, Ladakh, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit and Baltistan. In
all regions of Kashmir different languages are spoken by native people
with Urdu being the language understood by nearly everyone. In other
words, like other nation states in the world, Kashmir also has regional
languages, and not every citizen of any country speaks all regional
languages of his/her country.

If a person can't speak Kashmiri, a language of the Valley, it doesn't
take away from him/her 'Kashmiriyet'; and anyone who speaks the above
language he/ she does not hold higher social status just because of
this, or becomes a better Kashmiri. If and when a referendum is held we
will all have one vote, and those with ability to speak Kashmiri will
not have two votes.

This sense of humiliation gets deeper when a fellow Kashmiri with
ability to speak Kashmiri doubts my 'Kashmiriyet' and calls me a
'Punjabi. I speak Punjabi or more precisely Pahari, and I am proud of
what I am; and this does not make my loyalty to the cause of united and
independent Kashmir any weaker, if anything, it gives me additional
sense of belonging.

India has hundreds of languages and not everyone speaks Hindi, but they
are all Indians. Similarly there are many languages spoken in Pakistan
and not everyone speaks all regional languages, and yet they are all
Pakistanis; but when it comes to Kashmir anyone who cannot speak
Kashmiri is sometimes not considered a Kashmiri.
Time and again we have explained that we are Kashmiris under the "State
Subject" Definition Notification dated 20th April, 1927, according to
which I am class one citizen; and no one can take this away from me.
Definition for the term State Subject Class one reads as follows:
Class I : All persons born and residing within the State before the
commencement of the reign of His Highness the late Maharaja Ghulab
Singh, Sahib Bahadur, and also persons who settled therein before the
commencement of Samvat year 1942, and have since been permanently
residing therein.
And note two of this Notification clarifies this further:
Note11 : The descendants of the persons who have secured the status of
any class of the State Subject will be entitled to become the State
Subject of the same class. For example, if A is declared a State
Subject of Class II his sons and grandsons will ipso facto acquire the
status of the same Class (II) and not of Class I.
After this clear legal position about my Kashmiriyet, I don't need a
certificate from any Tom, Dick or Harry, especially from those who have
confused sense of belonging and misplaced loyalty. I am a Kashmiri
whether I speak Kashmiri, Balti, Gojri, Punjabi, Sheena or Pahari; and
even if I don't speak any of the above I am still a Kashmiri, as
language is used to communicate with other fellow human beings rather
than to ascertain some ones national identity.

Those Kashmiris who call themselves as Indians, do so because the
Indian constitution regards Kashmir as part of India, but those
Kashmiris who regards themselves as Pakistanis do so in contradiction
to the Pakistani constitution which does not regard Kashmir as part of
Pakistan. It is strange attitude of these Kashmiris who insist to be
known as Pakistanis, yet the Pakistani constitution does not accept
them as Pakistanis.

It further surprises the outside world when some notable Kashmiris
claim that we are fighting Pakistan's war; and what this means is that
we are not fighting for our own rights and right of self determination,
but we are fighting Pakistan's 'proxy war.' After very clear message
from notable Kashmiris we expect the world to help us that we can win
this 'proxy war' based on religious sentiments and become part of
Pakistan, which according to the outside world could give support to
fanaticism and extremism.

Sardar Anwar Khan was a serving army general when decision was taken to
appoint him as a President of Azad Kashmir, of course they had to make
certain changes to laws before he became the President of this
unfortunate territory. In his statement in New York published on 1
October 2004, he said, 'In reality Kashmiris are fighting Pakistan's
war., and that issue of fence on the LOC will be challenged in the
International Court of Justice'.

I have dealt with the first part of his statement above, and second
part is totally illogical, and yet I will deal with it. When the fence
was in the process of being built no one cared to take it to the
International Court of Justice to get it stopped, and now that it has
been erected with tacit agreement and support of Pakistan, general
Sahib threatens India with a court action.

I wonder if General Sahib knows that it is only the nation states who
have right to take issues to the ICJ, and a territory over which he
'presides' is not recognised as a country; and he is merely considered
as a 'puppet' of Pakistan. He should also know that Pakistan will not
take this issue to ICJ because it was with clear agreement of Pakistan
that India built this fence, and Pakistani government will not endanger
its newly found friendship and much needed peace process.

In view of this who is our 'talented' and 'all powerful' president
trying to fool? For the past 57 years we have been told that Pakistan
is doing its best to get us 'liberated', and now we learn that Pakistan
is only interested in getting some more territory, some more
concessions and has agreed to division of the State. Is our President
having us believed that Pakistan government will take this issue to
International Court of Justice; or his he just playing with sentiments
of divided and oppressed Kashmiris?

President of Azad Kashmir seems to be very concerned about rights of
Kashmiri people on the other side of the divide, but he needs to be
reminded that people of Gilgit and Baltistan are also Kashmiris; and
that these people also deserve to enjoy political and social rights.

Writer is a Chairman of Diplomatic Committee of JKLF and author of many
books and booklets. Also he is a Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.
Email: Shabir@doctor.com




--
Dr Shabir Choudhry