Fact behind Jammu & Kashmir

Contrary to popular misunderstanding, Kashmir is not a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan but about the right of the Kashmiris to determine their own future. This has been recognized under International law and enshrined in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

There is widespread misperception among many people, especially in the West, about the nature of the Kashmir dispute. It is generally assumed that Kashmir is a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. Wikipedia, the layman’s encyclopaedia, for instance, says, “The Kashmir conflict is a territorial dispute between the Government of India, Kashmiri insurgent groups and the Government of Pakistan over control of the Kashmir region.” True, Wikipedia is not the most authoritative source of information but the fact that it carries such assertions gives clues to the widespread misinformation about a very tragic situation involving the future of 12 million Kashmiris.

While the two countries, India and Pakistan, are intimately involved —India, as occupying power and Pakistan as the aggrieved party — at its core, the Kashmir dispute is about the fundamental right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to self-determination.

Where we are lacking?

In Islam difference of opinion is permitted but in a respectful manner. Sectarianism is a deliberately propagated ideology of hate in which one group of Muslims denounces another as ‘kafirs’ and even resorts to killing. Such hate ideology must be exposed and confronted.

O you who have become securely committed [to Allah]! Be overcautious of Allah [and His retribution] as is due to Him, and do not allow death to overtake you before you have surrendered yourselves unto Him (i.e., become Muslims).And hold fast, all together, unto the bond with Allah, and do not draw apart from one another… (3:102–103).

There is hardly a Muslim of any “sect” — Sunni, Shi‘i, Deobandi, Barelvi, Wahhabi, etc. — who is not aware of these words of the majestic Qur’an. While Allah (swt) calls us Muslims or mu’mins, we have adopted other labels and some of us even kill those of other “sects” that we disagree with. Nowhere in the Qur’an does one find the word Sunni or Shi‘i, so how did we end up with these designations?