How M K Gandhi would have responded to a situation in which Kashmir landed after August 5? The man who led the freedom movement in India with emphasis on non-violence has, to his credit, some of the historic statements on Kashmir, minorities and the communalism. He actually found the “ray of hope” only in Kashmir at the peak of communal massacres before and after the partition of India in 1947.
“What can be the meaning of communalism in a state which is overwhelmingly one population according to religion? What can communalism mean in, say, Kashmir or the Frontier where the population is predominantly of one faith?” Gandhi wrote in Harijan on September 17, 1938. “The doctrine of minority is a good hobby to ride up to a point. But it must be at least numerically a fair minority. Even a minority of one can expect perfect justice.”
How could Gandhi reconcile with the current situation in Kashmir in the backdrop of his statement on April 19, 1942: “If Kerala and Kashmir were speaking the same language, I would treat them as two distinct provinces.”
“Is Kashmir a Hindu State because a Hindu Prince happens to rule a territory which has an overwhelming majority of Muslims as its inhabitants? Or is Hyderabad with its overwhelming Hindu population a Muslim State because a Muslim Prince rules their destiny?” Gandhi wrote in Harijan on February 18, 1939. “I regard this kind of talk as a libel on nationalism.”
But to understand Gandhi’s Kashmir story, one must get into the details of his association with Kashmir. He knew Kashmir for a long time but visited only once and that too reluctantly. That visit was hugely consequential. Recorded by the historians, his involvement with Kashmir can be chronologically traced from 1931.
KASHMIR WOOLLENS
This story is from the October 06-12, 2019 edition of Kashmir Life.
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This story is from the October 06-12, 2019 edition of Kashmir Life.
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