Double standards ?
For the last few days, I have been engrossed in reading ‘Temptations of the West’ by Pankaj Mishra. Mishra is from the same tribe of activist writers like Arundhati Roy, very anti-establishment. One of Mishra’s more famous travesties against the Indian state was the allegation that Hindu nationalists were behind the massacre of Chhatisinghpura in Kashmir.
Anyways, the last part of the book is about Tibet. I’m sure many of you are well aware of the recent history of Tibet – the Chinese invasion and occupation, Dalai Lama in India and the sporadic protests in Tibet and India. It’s also well established that the Chinese use brutal and violent measures to quell the brewing resentment and uprising in Tibet. After reading the book, I was brimming with support for these ‘forgotten freedom fighters’, while the Muslims fighting for ‘freedom’ get ample attention throughout the world and get bankrolled by oil money, the Tibetans seldom get an earful.
As soon as I’d thought of a free Tibet, Kashmir propped up in my mind.What about the ‘freedom fighters’ in Kashmir ? Why was I so moved by the Tibetan’s plight and not perturbed by the Kashmiris’ ? Was I, a Hindu unsympathetic towards the Kashmiris only because they were Muslims ? Am I a hypocrite who sees wrong only in others ? I reasoned with myself, I searched within and I came up with the conclusion that I was resentful of the situation in Kashmir but Kashmir was no Tibet, not for me. The reasons why I say this are -
1. Tibet was invaded by the Chinese with a singularly imperialistic motive. The most hardcore of Kashmiri advocates would agree that India only reacted to the invasion by Pakistan.
2. At the time of accession, the most popular democratic representative of the Kashmiri muslims – National Conference led by Sheikh Abdullah was pro-India.
3. The Kashmiri ‘freedom struggle/terrorism’ is largely a religious war unlike the Tibetans’ struggle. Also, the situation in Kashmir is a proxy war being fought by Pakistan.
4. India hasn’t tried to impose a foreign culture on Kashmir unlike the Chinese. There haven’t been mass settlements into Kashmir either. In Lhasa for instance the Han Chinese outnumber the Tibetans 2 to 1. Kashmir in comparison is still Muslim majority and it were the Kashmiri Pandits that were hounded out of their homes.
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“Double standards ?”