Chapter Sixteen

Peace in Kashmir The veracity of this statement is clearly evident today in every Muslim country where people have adopted violence to attain their objectives. This is what has happened in Kashmir, too. The culture of violence that has gripped Kashmir has had no beneficial consequence at all. On the contrary, the destruction that it has caused has been so enormous as to be simply indescribable. It has devastated Kashmir’s economy and educational system. It has led to the death of over a hundred thousand people, with many more being injured and crippled for life. It has played havoc with moral values. The Kashmiriyat in whose name this militant movement was launched was itself destroyed. This culture of violence forced huge numbers of capable and highly educated Kashmiris to leave Kashmir and shift elsewhere. Kashmir’s tourist industry, which played a major role in the state’s economy, was decimated. In short, this movement, launched in the name of the Kashmiri people, produced no benefit whatsoever for the common Kashmiris, although it has certainly benefitted the selfstyled leaders of Kashmir. The Quran clearly tells us: You may not grieve for what has escaped you (57:23) This Quranic verse tells us of a law of nature that God has established in this world. According to this law, every person and every community has to experience some form of loss, at some time or the other. No person or community is exempted from this law of nature, for this is part of God’s creation plan. In other words, this is God’s law, and so it is impossible for anyone to change it. But, along with this, there is another law of nature—that in this world opportunities never cease. Here, whenever one opportunity is lost, at once another one emerges. Hence, wisdom demands that we should forget our lost opportunities and, instead, should make use of the new ones that are available to us. This is precisely what the Kashmiris should do today. Exploitative leaders thrive on fanning people’s feelings of