Article #46: The Story of Kashmir Part 2

Having read about the origin and intense history of Kashmir in the last article, this article continues to tell you about the story of Kashmir that includes its beauty, culture, food, economy and current situation.

Kashmir is known as the Paradise on Earth. The place is world famous for its scenic splendor, snow-capped mountains, plentiful wildlife, exquisite monuments, hospitable people and local handicrafts. Srinagar is the largest city in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Dal lake is the most beautiful place in Srinagar with houseboats and shikaras. Along with it, Shalimar Bagh, Hazratbal Shrine, Tullip Garden, Char chinar, Pari Mahal are the major attractions in the city.  

Gulmarg is another beautiful destination in Kashmir. It is famous for skiing scenes in India. It also offers the famous Gondola ride, the highest and longest cable car in Asia.  

Sonamarg is one more amazing place in Kashmir. Thajiwas glacier is a lovely vantage point in Sonamarg to observe snow and picturesque Kashmir valley. There’s a sparkling blue lake in Sonamarg called Vishansar Lake surrounded by lush green meadow, alpine flowers and white and silver mountains. 

Pahalgam is another wonderful place in Kashmir with famous Aru Valley and Betaab Valley that are known for scenic meadows, tall deodar trees and pine forests. Pahalgam is also a host to the famous Amarnath Yatra which takes place each year during the month of Sawan (July to August). 

Ladakh is famous for many things like Zanskar Valley, Pangong Tso lake, Nubra Valley, Magnetic Hill and many other Buddhist monasteries.  

Jammu is known for many religious temples like the famous Vaishno Devi Temple, Raghunath temple Ranbireshwar Temple and so on. 

On the other hand, Azad Kashmir in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is famous for Neelum family, Ratti Gali Lake, Mangla Fort, Gurez Valley and so on. 

In Gilgit Baltistan, Hunza Valley is the most beautiful destination. Do you know that the minimum life span of people staying in Hunza Valley is at least 125 years and there are also people who have a life span of 165 years here. Kunjerab Pass is one more awesome place where the China-Pakistan border exists. A travel on the Karakoram Highway with a view of Nanga Parbat in Gilgit Baltistan would be once in a lifetime experience for anyone. But unfortunately, Pakistan don’t issue tourist visa to Indians to visit this beautiful place Gilgit Baltistan as it is under Pakistan’s control.  

Talking about the China Occupied Kashmir, Aksai Chin, it is one of the mysterious and dangerous places on the planet. It is completely a deserted, yet beautiful place. The main Chinese route from Xinjiang to Tibet runs through Aksai Chin. Chinese government counts it as part of Tibet and everyone needs a special permission along with the normal visa to visit any part of Tibet as per Chinese government rules.  

Now, moving on to the culture of Kashmir, it is heavily influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. The famous Panchatantra is said to be originated in Kashmir.  

Coming to the Cuisine, Rice is the staple food of Kashmiris along with meat. Despite being Brahmins, most Kashmiri Hindus are meat eaters. Dum Aloo, Rogan Josh, Kesar Phirni are some of the famous dishes in Kashmir. We will get a special chai in Kashmir called Kahwa tea. 

Kashmir is also quite known for producing some unique items like Saffron, Kashmiri red chilies, Apples and so on. 

The economy of Kashmir is mainly dependent on agriculture and tourism. In the last 10 years, Kashmir was one of the top tourist destinations in India. 

Now, coming to the major part of this episode, the current situation in Kashmir. Let me tell you the analysis from various viewpoints, what do India want from Kashmir? What do Pakistan want from Kashmir? What do China expect from Kashmir? Lastly what actually the Kashmiris want? 

As everyone of us know, India is a peace-loving country. India expects Pakistan to handover the illegally occupied territory in Kashmir, that is Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. At the same time, India is completely against the terrorism development in Kashmir. India knows better ways to retaliate the loss of its soldiers as we can see from the URI-The Surgical Strike movie that is based on the real-time events. The abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A was a brilliant move by India because Kashmir is an integral part of India. India wants to develop infrastructure, employment and growth opportunities along with tourism for the people of Kashmir. Lastly, India recognizes Aksai Chin as part of its Union Territory of Ladakh and also doesn’t tolerate the expansionist polices of China. The recent clash with China along the Pangong Tso border is the example. China was unable to bear the infrastructure development along the Ladakh border in India as it would be a threat to its expansionist policy. But India is not ready to lose any inch of its existing territory in Kashmir. 

Now, Let’s see what Pakistan want from Kashmir. The major role here is of the Pakistani military forces who manipulate the people of their country with different stories of Kashmir because the maximum budget of the country goes to the Pakistani military forces who thereby use it for their own purpose and survival and also spend some of it for promoting terrorism. Pakistan says that it needs Kashmir due to its maximum Muslim population. But it is completely a false statement. Water is the main reason for Pakistan’s claim on Kashmir. The Indus river which originates in Tibet along with its tributaries is the mainstay of Pakistan’s Irrigation system and with a country 92% of whose population depends on Agriculture it would be an understatement to say that Pakistani economy is dependent on this river system heavily. The problem is most of these rivers either originate in Kashmir or pass through them and India has heavily dammed the river system so Pakistan has an internal fear that in a state of conflict India can cut off its water supply. Moreover, if it really cares for Kashmir and its population, it would have never ceded the Saksham valley to China and now, don’t dare to construct dams in the region of Gilgit Baltistan along with the China in the name of CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor). 

Now, Let’s understand what China want from Kashmir. China is basically an expansionist country. Starting from Tibet, Hongkong, Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in India, China says all these are an integral part of its country. It occupied Aksai Chin in Kashmir in 1962 war with India. Now, it is trying to occupy the Ladakh portions like Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley. It is also establishing infrastructure in Gilgit Baltistan in the name of CPEC along with Pakistan to expand its territory and trade business. 

Lastly, what do the people of Kashmir want? There are many opinions here. Maximum of the population in Jammu are Hindus and they are proud to be Indians. Most of them are the migrant Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to flee the Kashmir Valley as a result of being targeted by Islamist insurgents during the year 1989. They are eagerly waiting to return to their homeplace. Perhaps, you would have seen the movie ‘Shikara’ 

Similar case with Ladakh, the people are very happy that India recognized their place as a Union Territory and they are moving towards growth and development in their region. However, people in the Kashmir Valley have different views, some would like to be part of India, some would like to be part of Pakistan, whereas some would like to remain Independent or neutral. People in Azad Kashmir, the Pakistan Occupied Territory are more inclined towards Pakistan as the Pakistan military keeps spreading false propaganda about India and its army in Kashmir. As per the latest reports, people in Gilgit Baltistan are not supporting Pakistan and its plan to consider the area as another province of the country. There are even strikes happening to stop the illegal construction of dams by Chinese in the name of CPEC. 

Most of the international media focuses on the military presence in the Indian Administered Kashmir and says that it is one of the most militarized zones on the planet. But rarely they tend to mention the details on why it is this case? The answer is very simple, it's because of the cross-border terrorism promoted by Pakistan. You might ask me, why only it happens in Kashmir when Pakistan shares its border with other states of India like Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat. It is because of the look-alike of the people from Pakistan. If they enter into other states, the maximum population there are Hindus and these people coming from Pakistan would be easily identified, whereas it's not the case in Kashmir Valley as almost all of them are Muslims in the Valley. One more reason for the Indian military presence in Kashmir is due to its unemployed youth who easily get manipulated in the name of money and come up with stone pelting. Indian army is there only to control all such things and prevent violence in the Valley. 

Now, talking about the solution to the Kashmir issue. The major problem creator is Pakistan. It should stop promoting terrorism and handover the illegally occupied territory to India. Once it is done, India would develop the region just like the other states and we would be on the path to progress. Let’s hope sometime someday in future, peace exists in the Valley and the entire princely state of Jammu and Kashmir would be administered by India as per the legal instrument of accession executed by the ruler Maharaja Hari Singh.