There is a saying, “The crying baby gets the milk”. This quote has been perfected into an art by the Kashmiri Muslims. A historic decision was taken by the Modi Government in the recent past, that of abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution. Most of the National and International Media seem to be obsessing about the territory of Kashmir and how the rights of the Kashmiri Muslims is being stifled. Why is it that no one is asking questions about the rest of the people of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir? It is almost as if the Dogras of Jammu and the people of Ladakh never existed.
Even in the past, the Dogras and the Ladakhis had been ignored by the Government because they always followed the rule of the law. The Kashmiri Pandits followed the law and did not venture into terrorism. The crores of Rupees which were pumped into Kashmir never reached the other areas of the state because one territory gobbled up the funds. If one were to look around one would be surprised at the number of goodwill measures taken up by our Armed forces in the Valley alone – be it flood relief, health camps, sports encouragement or education. But the same measures taken up in the Jammu region would be a rarity. I do not remember last when any special sports camp for the people of the Jammu region, was held or publicised.
Despite all of the above, it is only one territory and people of only one territory who are crying “Victim” – yes, the ‘intellectuals’ of the Valley. The international terrorists – be it the actual terrorists on the ground or the intellectual terrorists of the Media, all talk only about the Muslims of Kashmir. Why is that? Is it because they have zeroed in on one particular section of society to perfect the art of ‘greed’ or ‘whining’? Is it that the other communities have their own self-pride to such an extent that they don’t want to been seen as greedy or liars? If one were to look around, one would find this tendency in a country called Pakistan too. Today, the world over Pakistan has the malodourous labels of “Terrorists”, “Beggars”, “Liars”. And these labels have not been given by the Indians – these labels have been given to them by the other countries who have repeatedly helped them by giving them loans and funds for self-development and to destroy terrorism in the region.
It is time that the people of Kashmir realized the endless pit of shame that they are digging for themselves and fought back to regain their pride of belonging to that land which was, is and will remain, the crown of Bharat. It is time that they realized that selfish garnering an undue share of the funding for their territory will not help them in improving their lot. There’s a lot to be gained by living peacefully and in a friendly environment with the people of Jammu and the rest of Bharat. Transforming the pilgrims of the Katra and Shiv Khori region of Jammu and the tourists of Patni Top to the tourists of Kashmir would help people of both the regions and this will happen only if friendly relations are maintained by both regions of Jammu and Kashmir. It is time Kashmiri Muslims shed their ‘Victim’ tag and became proud stakeholders of progress in the New India. “Vikas, Vishwas aur Abhimanke Saath” should be their new Mantra.
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