Defiant Young and Bright Minds a Ray of Hope for Kashmiri People

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Since 1947, lives of Kashmiri people is hanging is imbalance. This is because both the countries India and Pakistan consider Kashmir as their lawful part, which is one reason why both these nations have already been involved in three wars till date over this sensitive issue. The current Indian Govt has clearly stated that they don’t want to negotiate any terms with Pakistan related to the Kashmir conflict.

Although Indian government considers Kashmir as its lawful part, this hasn’t stopped them from killing and torturing the innocent lives of Kashmiri people, be it old men, women or children. Pakistan on the other hand has supported and fought for the independence of the state of Kashmir. According to latest Kashmir news, their public now wants to breathe in their independent country which wouldn’t be a part of India or Pakistan. The freedom fighters of Kashmir have always remained active for this reason.

With each passing day, as we continue to live our lives without realizing and even imagining the hardships that the people of Kashmir have faced, they have stood through all them with great patience. Just like any other country in the world, the people of this beautiful valley are enthusiastic and take keen interest in the development of their country. Today, you would see the youth of Kashmir taking interest in technology, engineering, medicine and all other fields which shows that even though the dream of an independent Kashmir state is yet to come true, the people are moving on with their life to show the world that they are no less when it comes to the intellectuality and talent.

This is heartening to see that even though the bloodshed and massacres have prevailed in the valley in the past, the fervor and zeal of its bright youth remains focused for their cause which is to bring laurels for their country.

Kashmir a Valley where the lives of people are left in Jeopardy

Dating back to the division of sub continent, Kashmir has been the main bone of contention between Pakistan and India. But the present day Kashmir seems to be more divided and commercialized than it was back in 1947. Although regular attempts by both the countries have been made to resolve the dispute through various meetings and bilateral talks but nothing so far has been fruitful, thus leaving the lives of the Kashmir human rights in imbalance.

One of the main reasons is the intensified promotion of religious politics by main political parties from both the countries. When one side tries to justify the two nation theory highlighting the point that Muslims cannot live with one another, the other side starts promoting nationalism by demanding that Muslims must be considered as second class citizens. Due to this reason, the gaps between the Hindus and Muslims living in the Kashmir have been widened enormously.

Political History

The Kashmiri people on the other hand have been very active to get the freedom that they deserve. Dating back to 1932, first political ever political party named as the ‘Muslim Conference’ was founded by them in 1932 whose president was Sheik Abdul. Sheik Abdul was influenced by liberal ideas and believed that the feudal system which existed in the city back then was the reason for the Kashmiri people living a miserable life. Later on the name changed from Muslim Conference to National Conference to allow people from all communities to join hands against the monarchy of Maharaja Harj Singh, but the problem started when at the time of partition Maharaja was reluctant in joining either India or Pakistan, sheikh Abdullah supported India.  He was also appointed the prime minister on March 17, 1948. 

Under his rule many Muslims which were mere labors, go their lands under the radical land reforms and this kind of efforts made him a popular leader amongst the people. In 1953, the Indian government sacked sheikh from the Prime minister ship for the betrayal against them jailed him from 1953 to 1975. In the meanwhile the Indian constitution ranted a special status to the state guaranteeing its autonomy except for defense, foreign affairs and communications. Until the death of sheikh Abdullah in 1982, Kashmir stayed politically calm and stable. The movement started again in April 1988 which gathered momentum through a close nexus between Jammu & Kashmir liberation front and Pakistan reaching its peak in the mid nineties. The present controversy on Amarnath Shrine Border and other subsequent incidents are also deeply affecting the whole freedom fighting movement of the Kashmiri people

Sikhs part in the Indian Army, back from the British Rule

Only 2% of Sikhs make up of whole Indian population and reside mostly in the upper parts of the country in Punjab. But even then a fair share has been reserved for them in the Indianarmy. According to the exact figures, Indian army has got 18 reserved seats for Sikhs at separate ranks.

Dating back to the era when the British ruled the subcontinent, they had a concept of martial and non martial races in India. They graded Sikhs as a martial race after observing them in the Anglo Sikh wars, where the Sikhs showed their impeccable war skills. Whether or not you agree with the concept of martial race, it’s no denying this fact that there are certain races that faced the brunt of invasion more than any other race which makes them almost perfect to face any kind of situation in the battle field. If I am to say that the Sikhs are one of such race, I may not be wrong at all.

The First Battalion

The first ever troop of Sikhs that was formed by the British Indian Army was in 1846, a bit before the Punjab was took over. At the time, Sikhs were considered to be the main force and therefore became the integral part of the British Indian Army, thus constituting as much as 33% of the British Indian Army strength during the Raj days.

Proving their Worth

But as the Sikhs were given a high share in the army, they also proved their worth, thus covering many glories in various battle fields for the British. One of the most notable was the fight that they gave to the tribesmen of the Frontier at Saragrahi which constituted a horde of 10,000 people.    In addition to that they have also fought bravely in the first as well as the Second World War.