Embrace Islam Or Leave Valley, Sikhs Threatened

[kdsingh80]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Embrace-Islam-or-leave-Valley-Sikhs-threatened/articleshow/6346853.cms

SRINAGAR: Sikhs in the Kashmir Valley have received anonymous letters from Islamic militants asking them to either embrace Islam and join the protests against civilian killings or pack up and leave the Valley. The 60,000-strong Sikh community is the single largest minority group in the Valley.

An organisation of Kashmiri Sikhs said that several community members have received these letters. "Community members have received unsigned letters at various places," said All Party Sikh Coordination Committee (ASCC) coordinator Jagmohan Singh Raina. He said the community has decided to stay put and fight these "evil designs" at a meeting in Srinagar on Thursday.

Raina quoted a letter as saying: "When you are enjoying the joys here, why can't you share the grief and sorrow of Kashmiris as well? We know you are afraid of bullets... Hold protests inside gurdwaras or leave Kashmir." He added, "Some letters have asked Sikhs to embrace Islam."

Raina urged both factions of the Hurriyat, JKLF and PoK-based United Jihad Council to take serious note of the threats to maintain amity and brotherhood in the Valley.

Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has reassured the Sikhs saying they shouldn't feel threatened and should ignore the "fake letters". He assured the community that nobody would force them to join the protests.

Earlier, Geelani has made an emotional appeal against forcing minorities to join the protests and said harming them would be like "inflicting a wound on his (Geelani's) body".

The state unit of Akali Dal (Badal) president Ajeet Singh Mastana described the threats as acts by anti-social elements. "The threats can't break us and reduce our love for our motherland," he said.

Read more: Embrace Islam or leave Valley, Sikhs threatened - India - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Embrace-Islam-or-leave-Valley-Sikhs-threatened/articleshow/6346853.cms#ixzz0x61CgxIb

[amardeep]

Sounds like divide and conquer techniques from GOI..

[Mithar]

Sounds like divide and conquer techniques from GOI..

Exactly. The letters are not signed. The hard-line leaders are not supporting the letters. This seems like a GOI plan. I wouldn't be surprised if the Indian army again repeats the chatisinghpura massacre and blames it on the separatists.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Mithar

[SURYADEV]

CAnt always blame everything on GOI or RSS, you know!

[amardeep]

No but most of the time you can!

[kdsingh80]

Sounds like divide and conquer techniques from GOI..

Why do you think that it is strategy of GOI.Already 5 lakhs kashmiri Pandits have left valley and barely 60,000 sikhs are left in valley .If GOI will kill sikhs then valley will become 100% muslim Like Afghanistan.Anyway whoever is responsible The victims are going to be sikhs as they are again in crossfire

[kdsingh80]

Sounds like divide and conquer techniques from GOI..

Why do you think that it is strategy of GOI.Already 5 lakhs kashmiri Pandits have left valley and barely 60,000 sikhs are left in valley .If GOI will kill sikhs then valley will become 100% muslim Like Afghanistan.Anyway whoever is responsible The victims are going to be sikhs as they are again in crossfire

[chatanga1]

what do you think their future is?

[amardeep]

PLease show me one source mentioning the pundits

[Mithar]

PLease show me one source mentioning the pundits

During the late 80s, lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave Kashmir by Islamic militants (mostly Paki-Punjabi origin). Most of them settled in Jammu, Delhi and other parts of North India. A lot of them still live as refugees. Sikhs have remained untouched.

[dalsingh101]

When I read Niddar's book about Hazoor Sahib the impression I got was that stiff resistance on the ground and the threat of backup/retaliation from the then powerful Sikh empire played a big role in providing a degree of security for minority Sikh communities.

Thing now is that - what, other than goodwill, is there to discourage attacks on and harassment of Sikhs in such situations today? Be it Kashmir, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc.

Can we really put it past the government to manufacture attacks on Sikhs for their own agenda. I mean it isn't like it hasn't been done before.

Yet another example of apnay stuck dead in the middle of other people's friction.

[SURYADEV]

Amardeep,

In the 90's There was a plaque raised by the pandits at Anandpur Sahib. At the gurdwara where the sis of the 9th guru was creamated, I think.

They came there to do ardas and ask for Guru Teg Bahadur to AGAIN save them from the persecution by the Islamists.

[jaikaara]

this situation makes me remind of the poem i came across on the net :

First they came for Punjabi / Sindhi / Bangladeshi non-Muslims

But I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Punjabi / Sindhi / Bangladeshi non-Muslim

Then they came for the Kashmiri non-Muslims

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Kashmiri non-Muslim

Then they came for the Jammu / Ladakhi non-Muslims

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Jammu / Ladakhi non-Muslim

Then they came for the Assamese non-Muslims

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Assamese non-Muslim

Then they came for the West Bengali non-Muslims

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a West Bengali non-Muslim

Then they came for the Nepali non-Muslims

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Nepali non-Muslim

Then they came for me,

And there was no one left to speak out for me.

When this hoologanism first started and when kashmiri hindus were asked to leave, mr. simranjit mann had gone to kashmir to appeal to the militants to not touch sikhs, they can do any of their stuff ....was this an action responsible of a kirpan carrying Khalsa sikh ??????

who will protect you when u look the other way ?

[chatanga1]

When this hoologanism first started and when kashmiri hindus were asked to leave, mr. simranjit mann had gone to kashmir to appeal to the militants to not touch sikhs, they can do any of their stuff ....was this an action responsible of a kirpan carrying Khalsa sikh ??????

what was wrong with what Mann did?

[jaikaara]

u can take reference from the poem, read it , u will understadn what wrong he did....if he was right, the very existance of Khalsa will be put to question...

[kdsingh80]

When this hoologanism first started and when kashmiri hindus were asked to leave, mr. simranjit mann had gone to kashmir to appeal to the militants to not touch sikhs, they can do any of their stuff ....was this an action responsible of a kirpan carrying Khalsa sikh ??????

who will protect you when u look the other way ?

What Mr.Mann did was may be the demand of time.Everyone knows 80s was very bad for sikhs.84 riots ,fake encounters etc.May be Mr.Mann thought that this could

safeguard the interest of sikhs valley for time being.Even sikhs in 18th century made temporary alliance with muslim rulers who were there bitter enemies

[kdsingh80]

what do you think their future is?

In areas Like Kashmir What type of Future could a person can expect if they will side with India then islamists will kill them and if they will support kashmiri's Then Indian Army will harrass them.So Its better for them to save money and purchase small plots in other parts of India particularly in Punjab so incase situation got worse they will not become Refugee's

[tonyhp32]

Simranjeet Singh Mann went there when there was still a militant struggle going on in Punjab so it was natural for Sikh leaders to see the Kashmiri struggle in the same light as they saw their own. Mann's attempt was to see to it that the situation did not become one where Kashmiris kill Sikhs and Kharkoos kill Muslims in Punjab in retaliation. Until Chattisinghpora there had been no killings of Sikhs by Kashmiris and it is no coincidence that by 2000 there was no Kharkoo retaliation in Punjab as they had lost their ability to take such actions. Simranjit Singh Mann's actions were the need of the hour and if you take a moral position that this was akin to giving a green light to the killing of Pandits in Kashmir, then you also need to realise that Sikhs had no one to protect them and the Pandits have the whole of the Indian state to look after their rights. The fact that that state has done zilch to protect them is a moot point.

[Mithar]

The Kashmiri people clearly do not want to live with the Indian union. They do not call themselves Indian. As history of India has shown, the Muslims ultimately do win when they face Hindus(with the exception of the Marathas). Sooner or later, Kashmir will be a part of Pakistan. If Hindu government is smart they will immediately separate Kashmir Valley from the non-Muslim areas of J&k (Jammu and Ladakh) and just give it to Pakistan, otherwise they will see Jammu and Ladakh also being conquered along with Kashmir Valley.

Kashmir Valley where most of the problem is and which is the hub of the Muslim population in the state is less then 20% of land mass of the state. So giving up that small land mass to Pakistan will only be like a drop of water for the Indian Union, but Kashmir itself is an ocean of problems for India. Even the Hindus of Jammu and Buddhists of Ladhak want separation from the Muslim dominated Kashmir Valley. In fact if you look at history, before the Sikhs took this area under their Raaj (good old days), Kashmir, Jammu and Ladhak were never one state.

As for us the Sikhs, we can only sit back and wait for the right time to get back our raaj. The centralized Indian Union much like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia is an artificial state forcing many ethnic groups to live as a single nation state. But with violence in Kashmir increasing, Naxalites getting bolder and stronger, what will happen in India in the next 20 years will be a drama to watch. Besides this, many other ethnic groups are now getting independent minded and militant in their approach such as the Marathas under Raj Thakre. Tamils are also another independent minded group, who have a large population and do not like north Indians.

[dalsingh101]

I'm thinking also, when America does leave Afghanistan, I would bet there will be a mobilisation of Jihadis in the Kashmir area soon after (presuming Kashmir hasn't gone by then that it). That is not to say that Kashmiris themselves do not want independence but rather that these other forces are likely to come into play in future, once they arefreed from fighting the yanks.

Can India handle this?

I doubt it.

But what I think India will get, is a LOT of support from western nations who want a safe friend in the region. America, has blatantly nailed its colours to the Indian mast in this respect.

They are probably looking at India as some sort of saviour to help rejuvenate the dwindling western economies/markets?

Edited August 21, 2010 by dalsingh101

[survivalist]

Thats an important observation. India is completely siding with US.

If the US empire falls (which it looks like it will ), India will also disintegrate. There will be a CIVIL WAR in India and there will be so much bloodshed that its hard to even imagine. This is what Sikhs in the west need to do.

[Mithar]

I'm thinking also, when America does leave Afghanistan, I would bet there will be a mobilisation of Jihadis in the Kashmir area soon after (presuming Kashmir hasn't gone by then that it). That is not to say that Kashmiris themselves do not want independence but rather that these other forces are likely to come into play in future, once they arefreed from fighting the yanks.

Can India handle this?

That is another angle India will have to face. Sooner or later the Americans are going to leave leaving a weak government in place just as the Soviets did. Ultimately the Jihadis/Taliban will take over. When that happens, many Jihadis in the region will want to then take on the other great Kafir power in the region, which is obviously be India. If the Americans are having a hard time fighting the Taliban, just imagine how the Hindu army will face the ferocious Pathan hordes who will unleash a Jihadi war in Kashmir. If the Hindus are having a hard time fighting the Kashmiris what chance will they have in containing the Pathans?

I feel sorry for India for the next 20 years. I hope Sikhs do not act like Hanuman this time and look after Hindu interests first instead of Sikh interests. Hopefully circumstances will raise a capable Sikh leader of the level of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawala to lead the Sikhs and prevent us from making past mistakes.

Edited August 21, 2010 by Mithar

[amardeep]

I dont think that once Taliban has taken over, they will extend their power to India. As Jason Burke states in his ground breaking book on Al Qaeda, it is a misunderstanding that there was a firm cooperation between Al Qaeda and the Taliban. There were lot of internal fights between the two groups during the late 90s and the Taliban even tried to seek help from US to get rid of Al Qaeda. One of the main reasons for this was Al Qaedas global interests in conducting global war whereas Taliban were mostly concerned with local affairs (not even an islamic state but rather a pashtun tribal state disguised in islamic clothing).

Al Qaeda is preety much gone in Afghanistan at present leaving the Talibans for themselves, who are only interested in their own ancient pashtun traditions. There has never been any international terrorist attacks conducted by the Talibans simply because they are not interested in overseas affairs.

However if the arabs come back to Afghanistan (Which I doubt, why would the Taliban want to share power with the foreign arabs?)..

then India might be doomed.

[dalsingh101]

I dont think that once Taliban has taken over, they will extend their power to India.

This isn't really about extending their power, rather experienced jihadis joining in a battle on another front.

I recall reading how India was intercepting radio messages in Pashtun in Kashmir many years ago, well before 9/11. ISI do have firm connections with the Taleban. Whilst they may be playing these down now, in order to receive their 'blank cheque' from the yanks. They will probably divert at least some fighters/leaders to Kashmir in future.

Another thing Sikhs should notice is how Paks have become master diplomatics these days - who are able to position themselves slap bang in the middle of all manner of nefarious things and still have the west pumping huge sums of money to them. All of us in the UK know they have strong 'mufti' (freeloading) tendencies, but we can no longer put them down as simpletons, they have learnt the political game masterfully. Our lot in comparison still seem like easily outwitted pendus.

[chatanga1]

but we can no longer put them down as simpletons, they have learnt the political game masterfully. Our lot in comparison still seem like easily outwitted pendus.

nothing changed there then.