Dear,......,
Hello. I hope my last blog post forced you to look back and understand how and what happened to our ancestors. Two years back, I had posted similar analysis in a whatsApp group. One of the group members who is a very serious student of history, reacted and sent back his comments. I am reproducing what he wrote.
"What I read someplace, the
economic persecution of Kashmiris continued under the rule of Ranjit Singh of
Punjab when they fought against Muslims....and thereafter under the dogras as
well.....I don't know if the portrayal has a political notation, but it was
claimed that Kashmiris did better when British control was established....but
it may be a false narrative spread by the colonials... This was mostly in the
form of heavy taxes… even if they were Hindu rulers… that”s also the time the
culture of the plains as well as religious practices were established in
Kashmir… some 150-200 years ago…. May be I
am mistaken. It is interesting to note that Kashmiri civilization dates
back some 5000 years… where did we evolve from or where did this civilization
arrive from to settle in Kashmir…? Do we have some awareness of when and how
Kashmir Shaivism was established? There are records of great works delivered
around 900 AD by Shri Utpaldeva and Abinav Gupta. but this must be predating
their times… it will be fascinating to understand where our culture has evolved
from…"
I wrote back and my response is was below.
"Dear Sir, thanks for joining the conversation. There are two different subjects here. The first one is regarding the condition of Kashmiri Pandits. They have faced different types of persecution all the time. They did not seem to be under control and dictating the issues. They had one type of problem when invaders had not come. When the Muslims came, they were crushed, converted, and persecuted. They were able to survive by engaging themselves mainly by involving themselves in reading, writing, and teaching. They did not engage in trade or businesses etc. During Sikh/Dogra rule, although there was no Jazia Tax to be paid and there was no pressure for conversion, jobs which were mostly held by Hindus were now shared by the outsiders imported by these rulers from outside. This caused the Hindus serious problems because their bread and butter were taken away from them. There was an attempt to force them to join the military and this was another torture because they were not used to this type of life. It was these Hindus who agitated and pressured the rulers to impose restrictions on giving jobs to outsiders. (This was which we called Article 370 Later.) As mentioned earlier, we Hindus would all get educated and seek jobs in the system. With time, they learned to be scholars of the language of the court and administration. Thus we find them, master, in Sanskrit, Sharada, Persian, and then English. When Englishmen came, they needed men for police and administration. Bhatta's easily filled the gap for the clerical posts. This naturally helped the community. The community appears to be happier during their rule. When Englishmen started Mission School, it was the Bhattas joining in hordes. They needed to learn English Language. Subsequently, they became teachers when more schools were opened by the administration. The issues listed gave them the means to subsistence. This is a very big and complex subject and probably beyond the scope of the conversation in this group. I had to touch on this subject, in brief, to attempt to draw a picture of the times our ancestors lived so that when we narrate their story we keep the perspective in mind. I do not want them to be ridiculed. Regarding the evolution of the Kashmiri Civilization and dating it to beyond 5000 years is a much deeper subject. I leave it there. If you individually are interested in this subject, I would suggest a book - Kashmir Its Aborigines and their exodusÈ written by Colonel Tej K Tikoo, Ph.D. Thanks and God bless you."
I have read a good number of books on Kashmir and its politics. If anyone of the readers is interested to know more, he would be welcomed by me. I would share with him/her all that I have read. I can suggest reading material. However I will continue to post interesting political blogs as we move on. For sure, I shall not loan my books. My recent experience is that it takes a lot of efforts and energy to get the books back. That distracts me from my normal working. Bye till tomorrow.
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