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Fellow Kashmiri Hindus: It has to be you and me
Lalit Koul

It was just after two in the afternoon on 28^th of September 1989. I was at my work in Rajbagh, Srinagar. Everything seemed normal. People seemed to be busy earning their livelihood. But then came that call. Shabir Shah was arrested near Ramban on Jammu-Kashmir national highway. Next thing we saw was that everybody at work started leaving. Upon inquiring, I was told that things are going to be worse. And was thus advised to head home right away. And as soon as I reached Lal Chowk, the center of the town, things actually did take turn for worse. All the shops had closed down their shutters. Shabir Shah's supporters were already on the roads pelting stones and shouting slogans against the government.

And since then the situation in Jammu & Kashmir has never been better.

One might wonder why I am talking about something that happened in Jammu and Kashmir more than 12 years back. Well, I want to remind my fellow Kashmiri Hindus and other minorities in Jammu & Kashmir that what started twelve years back has not stopped and will not stop until and unless we, the sufferers, make an attempt to stop it. It has been more than twelve tumultuous years since we Kashmiri Hindus have been on roads, hoping someone somewhere will listen to our misery and come to our rescue.

But I strongly believe that time has come that we cannot and should not depend upon anybody, any government, any charitable organization or any non-governmental organization. We, Kashmiri Hindus, have literally wasted more than a decade, hoping that some ruling party in New Delhi will take care of our interests. In the past decade or so, we have seen every possible political party in power in New Delhi. And every time, we saw a change in New Delhi, we hoped the new ruling party will empathize with us and take measures to reverse the ethnic cleansing we have gone through. Alas! We have seen no positive actions from any government. And I mean: any government. May it be Congress, may it be Janata Dal, may it be United Front, may it be BJP and its allies, each one! of them has shown no empathy whatsoever towards our endangered community. Each one has taken our victimized community for a long long ride.

Now is the time to shed our old clothes and wear new uniform to fight for our just rights. Let us take a closer look at the political landscape and see how things are changing. In the recent election for Member of Parliament from Jammu constituency, the only constituency in Jammu and Kashmir that used to be secure for candidates who would look after minority interests in the state was lost to someone who has no respect for minorities. One party that we all were fooled to believe in (BJP) has started losing in key states and would have a tough time retaining control in next election.

So where should a Kashmiri Hindu refugee, who was ethnically cleansed from his homeland, turn to? In my honest opinion: civil disobedience. One of the greatest tactical weapons Gandhi has given to human mankind is the weapon of civil disobedience. And that is the only way we Kashmiri Hindus have to regain our birthright for our homeland. We all have to stop whining about our situation. We have to stop our long and empty discussions in our living rooms, dissecting the causes behind our pathetic situation. We have done enough of that in last decade. We have beaten this horse to a literal death.

It is about time to ACT and ACT for our own cause. We got to control our own destiny. After more than 12 years, we cannot afford to not act. If we don't, our future generations will not condone our behavior. They will never ever forgive us for our inactions. If we want our homeland back, we have to fight for it. I implore all those fellow Kashmiri Hindus and other minorities in J&K, who were forced out of their home and hearths and are now living like refugees in Jammu, Delhi and other parts of India, to come out in the streets and engage in civil disobedience. I implore all of them to show their outrage by stamping their feet in the streets of India. Let us not forget that! it was millions of feet that followed Gandhi on his Dandi March that forced British Empire out of India. Number of feet in a civil disobedience movement does matter and we need every pair of feet out there demanding the reversal of our ethnic cleansing. We don't believe in violence but we cannot believe in inaction either. We have to get out on the roads, every day of the week, every week of the month, and every month of the year until and unless we get back our homeland, where you and I can live freely without any fear for our lives. We have to remind every free citizen of this world about our lack of freedom. We have to make sure that nobody forgets what we all have gone through during last so many years of persecution. We got to stand up for our own rights.

So please wake up, read the tea leaves, smell the roses, act and fight for your own cause. The fact of the matter is that nobody else is going to fight on our behalf.

It has to be you and me.

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