The Islamic radicalization of the Kashmir valley is taking the predictable route that history has shown time and again. First, the non-Muslim kafirs are targeted. Once they are eliminated, then the Islamic fundamentalists turn on each other. The fault-line could be anything – a different sect, school of Islam jurisprudence, ethnicity, region.
Anyone not deemed ‘pure’ or orthodox enough can be declared a munafiq (outward Muslims who inwardly conceal disbelief)Â or even worse, kafir, which makes them wajib-ul-qatl (deserving death).
Now that the Taliban has come back to power in Afghanistan and the extra attention IS (Islamic State aka ISIS) and Al-Qaeda are focusing on the subcontinent, their sympathizers have been emboldened.
In recent days, ‘SHIA KAFIR’ slogans have appeared on walls of Shia Muslim houses in Srinagar.
As per Census 2011, Muslims constitute 68.3% of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir’s total population of 1.25 crore. The state was split into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh after revocation of Article 370. Out of this Shias constitute around 15 lakhs and Sunnis are around 70 lakhs.
Most aspects of the Kashmir conflict and Indian Muslim society have been hidden from ordinary Indians by our Hinduphobic, left-liberal intelligentsia. Shias see Sunnis as oppressors and thus have mixed feelings about the terrorist movement for ‘Azadi’ that rages in Kashmir.
That being said, we must not forget that Shias too have extra-territorial loyalties – in their case towards Iran and groups like Hezbollah. It would also be prudent to remember that both Shias and Ahmadis were as fierce advocates of partition as Sunnis. In fact, Jinnah himself was a Shia, although some claim that he converted to Sunni Islam before his death.
But the fate that Shias and Ahmadis are facing today in Afghanistan and Pakistan, awaits them in Kashmir and the rest of Bharat if the Sunni fanatics prevail in their Dar-ul-Islam goals.
Another Islamic school that is on the radar of Sunni extremists are the Sufis.
Touted as the moderate face of Islam, Sufism is said to be the inspiration behind the much-talked about Kashmiriyat. Of course, when it comes to kafirs like ‘idol worshipping’ Hindus, Sufi Islam is no different from Sunni Deobandi or Wahhabi Islam. Sufis played a key role in the Islamization of Bharat, often in the wake of bloodshed, temple destruction and intolerance.
Yet, for fundamentalist Muslims (both Sunni and Shia), certain Sufi practises like celebrating a Sufi saint’s death anniversary (urs) or venerating a saint’s mausoleum (dargah) are forbidden as they are deemed bid’ah or shirk (un-Islamic practises). So when Sufi shrines start getting burnt down, be sure that its a signal that Talibanization of Kashmiri Muslim society is underway.
The conflict in Kashmir is religious, it is Islamic jihad. Young, intelligent and objective Muslims can also see that clearly –
Yet, Lutyens’ elites keep ignoring the elephant in the room and keep repeating cliches of a ‘political solution’ and ‘talks with Pakistan’.
Even Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE know that keeping the Islamic fundamentalists and mullahs on a tight leash is the only way to ensure peace and stability in their country. So why is ‘Hindu majority’ Bharat living in the delusion that it can negotiate and reason with Islamists like Mahmood Madani or Maulana S’aad?
