Kashmiri Muslims shout pro-freedom slogans as others prepare to carrythe body of Tanveer Ahmed Handoo during his funeral.
Kashmir's Fuse Alight (Commentary) by Howard Schaffer
and Teresita Schaffer -- Washington Times
and Teresita Schaffer -- Washington Times
An estimated million Kashmiris marched through the streets of Srinagar, the disputed state's summer capital, on Friday, Aug. 22, many waving the green flag of Islam and demanding freedom - azadi - from Indian rule. A harsh crackdown followed.
The United States has not paid much attention to Kashmir for the past few years, confident that an active India-Pakistan peace process would prevent any crises on that front. It no longer enjoys that luxury. If the current unrest leads to another India-Pakistan confrontation, the whole area from Afghanistan through India will be affected, with critical U.S. interests in play.
Like the mass upheavals in 1963-64 and 1989-90, this Kashmir crisis was triggered by a specific event. This time it was the state administration's ill-conceived decision to make 100 acres of public land available to a Hindu religious organization to build facilities for pilgrims to a popular shrine in the state's Himalayan range. The land transfer provided ammunition to Kashmir's anti-Indian politicians, who made wild claims that it was part of a conspiracy to reduce the state's Muslim majority to minority status. Amid growing unrest, the government rescinded the transfer. Nationalist leaders in predominantly Hindu parts of the state started violent demonstrations against the revocation. Scores have since been killed in Hindu-Muslim clashes and firings by police and military units on civilian protesters.
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My Comment: The religious hatred between Hindu and Muslim in Kashmir is off the scale. From an outsider like myself, it is incredible that by allocating only 100 acres of land for a Hindu shrine can result in so much communal violence .... which from my point of view makes me think that they are nuts.
But when one analyzes the history of the Muslim and Hindu conflict, this is just one of many disagreements and differences that has resulted in war and ethnic cleansing. History is just repeating itself again.