Kashmir a Muslim majority state, in the Himalayas is contested between India, Pakistan, and China for over 70 years now. Recently it has become a flashpoint as bordering on ethnic cleansing, India has revoked its constitutional rights and protection inherent to its Muslim identity and geography and against the UN resolutions and prior commitments. This piles on the already large contingent of Indian army in the area and the stifling of the political voices and venues of the native people.
Imagine the United States army taking over Puerto Rico, killing Puerto Ricans and choking their political process and way of living, then effectively changing the demographics of the place by infusing outside non-Puerto Ricans and all this to forcibly annex it as a state.
Like Palestine in Indian held Kashmir, it is the Muslims on the receiving end of massive atrocities for decades, and thus not a hot button issue for many, never realizing the cost paid by the entire world with the resultant increase in Muslim extremism better known to us by the name, terrorism.
AN UNEASY MIX OF STATES IN THE REGION
China, India, Pakistan, are all nuclear powers. Add in the Afghanistan/American nexus and the Iran conundrum and of course the looming neighbor Russia. Is the world ready for such a regional conflict?
HINDU TERROR AGAINST MUSLIM TERROR MIXED IN WITH WHITE TERROR
Muslim extremism turned terrorism is born out of Muslim suffering all over the globe, and especially in Palestine and Kashmir. The White supremacy and terror and the Hindu extremism and terror are born out of misplaced nationalism.
Unlike the Muslim and White terror, which are crude, the Hindu terror is sophisticated and thus not easy to discern. It is backed by the entire machinery of the state. Its results are the same as those of more crude forms of terror with lots of people ending up maimed and dead. Not convinced, then please seek and listen to the Kashmiris now, and if you are unable to do just that even after trying then know that India has an efficient curb over the news of their plight.
This state-sponsored Hindu terror is born out of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brand of nationalism, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) brand of Hindu extremism. They have gained legitimacy by the nationalistic wave of the West and especially in America.
In taking away Kashmir’s constitutional rights, Modi has stirred up a hornet’s nest. With no political or diplomatic solutions as options, the local and widespread Muslim reaction and extremism are likely to rebound and counter this. Add to the mix the rising White supremacy and extremism in the West, and this potential conflict of extreme ideologies becomes a direct threat to the entire population of this planet.
Unless the world is ready for an invigorated war between the Hindu, Muslim, and White terrorism with all its potential sequelae, Kashmir matters to all of us, and it matters now.