Being Politically Incorrect

What is wrong in calling a disputed territory exactly that? According to the United Nations and the rest of the international community this region (Jammu and Kashmir) landlocked between Tibet (sorry I don’t recognize that region as part of China), Pakistan, India and Afghanistan is a disputed territory. For calling an axe an axe I would be branded unpatriotic. People talk of the havoc caused by the terrorists in the valley (their activities are well known). While they are the primary cause of violence and bloodshed in the valley the Indian armed forces have been known to commit several atrocities. According to a Human Rights Watch report our security forces in Kashmir have deliberately executed hundreds of suspected terrorists in custody without trial. Rape, torture and opening fire in crowded markets and residential areas are some of the other excesses indulged by our sacred armed forces. These are seldom talked about within India and there is virtually no tolerance to anyone who dares point this out. Kashmir is a fashionable topic to display jingo patriotism. Our authorities and media make sure it remains that way. One of our family friends, who wishes not to be named, mentioned an incident once when he received a map from a friend working in German Radio, which shows Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory. It was confiscated by our airport authorities,and the relavant area was defaced before it was given to him. I do not see a solution to the Kashmiri problem within my lifetime. I wonder when the time will come when we start recognizing Azad Kashmir as Pakistan and they start considering the region currently under Indian control as legitimately Indian. Maybe never. The Kashmiri people are sick of both India and Pakistan.Tanushree who was my classmate in school has a Kashmiri mother who is a pandit. She used to mention how her mother had fled the valley along with her family as a young girl. She said that whenever the Kashmiri pundits got together they would inevitably talk with great heartache and longing about their homeland. Let us not compare ourselves to Barbarian government’s like most of the Pakistani rulers post partition. As a responsible and more mature country we need to take the initiative to ensure that the Kashmiri people’s peace and not games of one-upmanship with our neighbor are our primary concern. My own belief is that granting nationhood to Kashmir is the best possible solution. This would ensure that the region would not get divided like Punjab between India and Pakistan.Tagore in Gitanjali aches for a utopia “Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls”. Let us begin with Kashmir. We owe it to the Kashmiri people. Our People.