When Will India Learn Gandhian Nonviolence in Kashmir?

I just received a virus from a friends email address book who is a journalist in Kashmir. I tried to write back to her to say her email was being violated. In the subject heading it had iluvterror. I opened the email to find this message luvterorr&terroristundrmilittywach

I am in no doubt which government responsible for this. I know this wonderful woman, I having studied with her on the Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies course in Bangkok. I spent 3 months getting to know this brilliant woman. She is a journalist in Kashmir and one of the bravest women I have met. She has an excellent mind (photographic) for all the human rights atrocities undertaken by the Indian military against the Kashmiri’s over the 60 years plus Indian military occupation of Kashmir. This is a distinct people who are divided geographically, culturally and politically between Pakistan and India. The people of Kashmir are muslim yet I learned they have Sufi origins, I found them to be more like the Afghans than the Pakistani’s. From my long discussions with Assabah the people do not want to belong to Pakistan or India, they wish to be independent.

When I received this email virus I wondered if her life was in danger. I don’t know if she is okay or not as she speaks truth to power. She is a very honest person and well educated. I sat here thinking what can I do? My blog came to mind to inform others about the travesty in Kashmir.

I will point out firstly I am on neither side of this conflict, I am pro peace.  Although the one bias I do have is that I feel love for both Kashmiri’s and Indians. I had the pleasure to travel both their countries, I was hosted by Indians who made me feel welcome and shared their culture. I was hosted by muslim Kashmiri’s in Kashmir who shared their food and gave me hospitality. I felt a warmth and kindness from both people. This is where peace is built. I caution people to not believe hate messages, that comes from discrimination and is used to divide rather than find solutions. People can be easily manipulated if they watch T.V. and believe all they hear. The key is to go into your own heart and know thyself, that is where truth is found. All conflicts are here to teach us about ourselves, to face the truth within, as there is indeed a higher intelligence waiting to guide all to freedom.

I had long conversations with my friend about not allowing hatred towards the Indians to take root.  To remain centred on truth but to not enter into negativity.  This of course is hard when people suffer, however it is important as emotions of revenge become the focus rather than solving the problem.   What I have learned about conflict resolution is that where it is effective is when one looks into one’s own negativity and hatred, that is where peace starts, you have to be able to find where you can meet the other.  Perhaps it is the mainstream people you reach out to to show them ‘we are one’.  I think of a Falun Gong story I read, where a practitioner was being beaten by a chinese interrogator and she handed him a hankerchief to wipe his brow.  She showed compassion, which appears incredible to many, as hate would be expected to be there.  When you practice peace it is the hardest road as you must find peace within first before you see it outside yourself.  This message is for both Kashmiris and Indians. Gandhi was wise ‘Be the Change You Wish to See’!! 

When I was in Kashmir I was thinking of Gandhi a lot. I studied Gandhi’s nonviolence and I researched the British occupaton of India. How the Indian people were humiliated, murdered and oppressed brutally by this imperalist power. It reminds me of the Israeli’s and Palestinians, the same strange twist where the people who were persecuted become the oppressors. I sit and wonder how they cannot see they are doing to others what was done to themselves? Is it the blindness of greed? Perhaps revenge? ‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’ (Gandhi). Is it the dominance of militarism? Is it the fear of loss? Economic gain? The need for control? A territorial dispute? What is the perceived justification that drives behaviours unable to see history repeating itself. It gives a clue that something has not been learned. If it was learned, it wouldn’t be happening. I think of the Law of Attraction here, this works on the premise that emotions/thoughts attract. Thus if you see yourself as a victim, you will think over and over that you are and attract situations reinforcing this. It may come from low self worth, powerlessness and other negative thought forms. Another may be in conflict as negative thoughts are projected onto others turning them into the enemy, because the one projecting cannot own their own insecurity, low self worth and powerlessness. They are acting unconsciously. This is what is termed like attracting like. So to be the change we wish to see in the world is to think new thoughts that are positive, and grounded, in who you really are. If you believe in justice, then be just, if you believe in truth, be truthful, if you believe in peace, be peaceful and so on. You stand as an example, but condemn no-one. That is true power.

I ask the Indian people do you remember Gandhi? I recall when I was in India I met many who disregarded Gandhi to my surprise, occasionally I met people who felt a pride in his legacy. I was surprised to see his face on the rupee, he himself made clear, he was no fan of capitalism. Some may recall he believed in self reliance and home spun as a symbol of independence. Gandhi himself felt a failure at the end of his life, he believed he hadn’t achieved unity between Pakistan and India. Indeed has his dream been supported, the situation in Kashmir would not be the bleeding heart of South Asia. So that conflict had its seeds in the splitting of Muslims and Hindu’s, believing they could not live together and highlighting their differences. Yet in truth, had the focus been on the spiritual values that unify utilising the image of the one Mother India, both would experience a much grander fate today. I never saw Gandhi as a failure, it was the nation that failed to learn from very wise lessons being shown through Gandhi’s unremitting leadership, upon which he suffered greatly and grew immensely, spiritually. He took upon himself full responsibility for peace by an unyielding patience, acknowledging weaknesses all possessed as he marched nonviolently to the sea of Dandi to collect salt to defy British unjust laws. He refused to see the British as the enemy, instead he envisaging waving them off as friends. That is a unity consciousness that is not present in today’s leaders. He showed the power of purity through honesty and nonviolence of which Indian culture and spiritual traditionsa are deeply embedded. He lead the people back to their own power through having the courage to stand up to injustice but to not strike back. To learn to take their pain. This is where soul force emerged, as it evoked love and respect in the other.

I ask where are the Indian’s marching to New Delhi or other major cities to highlight the unjust occupation of Kashmir in rememberance of their own oppression by the British? Are the Indian people holding democracy as true and reminding their government that oppression is not democracy? As members of a democracy are they considering that rather than spending on the military that money be spent on conflict resolution and funds directed to pressing social problems within India? Are any of the spiritual guru’s, richi’s, holy men and women, meditators, peacemakers in India sending blessings to the Kashmiri people and leadership and the Indian government/military? Are they making their love of peace visible? Do they hold silent vigils, lighting candles for peace in Kashmir and India. Do they hold their brothers and sisters in prayer in order to clear the negativity from Kashmir and India sending enlightenment to all parties for the highest good?

I saw the oppression in Kashmir first hand and it shocked me to see the barbed wire in a place that looks like Switzerland. This place could have been the jewel of South Asia and a wonderful place for visitors to see. High mountains and grand lakes with houseboats bobbing gently up and down and a bouquet of flowers in bloom in parks and public spaces. I saw the Kashmiri people moving about their daily lives in between curfews. I saw some begging for food, others getting by on meager livings. I talked to boat operators who said tourism is destroyed by the military presence and living in constant uncertainty. I heard accounts by Kashmiri’s of the despair and incredible difficulties of being under house arrest for long periods, the psychological harm, frustration, stress in families, mental illness and the intermittent murdering of civilians (many children), the difficulties of getting food and the constant surveillance by the Indian military. I saw the military on every corner to my utter amazement. I saw soldiers wip Kashmiri’s with long sticks, as methods of social control.  I wondered at a country calling itself a democracy yet acting as a oppressor dictating the terms of life for another people. I saw that India’s actions do not embody the principles of true democracy. That is to say, if you believe in democracy then you believe in allowing freedom of speech of all people. That requires and open and transparent media that is not towing particular party lines or narratives, but one that is revealing truth on both sides. The Levesson Inquiry in London is showing the world the complicitness of the media and how it shapes the news, and the issues of ethics and political biases of media owners and reports etc. That of course has a massive impact on public opinion. Where do the Indian people learn about the truth of Kashmir? Are there debates in the Indian media with fair representation from both sides, so people can get an idea of what is happening? Until the people, not only the Kashmiri’s but the Indian people as well, until they rise up with a shared sense of living truth and nonviolence, asking for transparency, democracy and peaceful coexistence with their neighbours, the situation in Kashmir will play out in other parts of India. Democracy becomes diminished to a brand name, as has been the case in so many countries. It was Gandhi who said of democracy ‘I think it would be a good idea’.

I wonder how Gandhi would regard the India of today and what he would say. I can hear his words “The only devils in this world are those running around in our own hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought.” Byron Katie would also state ‘all war should be on paper’ (www.thework.com). I can see him travelling to Kashmir and proving to Indian’s there is nothing to fear from brothers and sisters. He would show the Kashmiri’s indians who feel just like them, that are one in human rights and justice. I wonder if there are indian’s wise enough to wear Gandhian T-shirts as symbols of ahimsa (nonviolence) and satyagraha (holding onto truth) willing to go and visit their Kashmiri brothers and sisters and join them in unity as a prayer for peace. Interestingly, as they free the Kashmiri’s they free themselves to live the dignity Gandhi worked so hard to make visible. To show the Indian Government a nonviolent way, to help them to see the wisdom of responsibility and bring a peaceful settlement. To recognise the value of the dignity of the Kashmiri’s just as the Indian people themselves were bashed and broken by the endless thumps of batons on their heads, taking the pain of the British. This injustice was witnessed by the American journalist Vince Walker who said of the British, and I quote:

“Whatever moral ascendancy the West once held was lost here today. India is free, for she has taken all that steel and cruelty can give and she has neither cringed nor retreated.”

This is the message to Kashmiri’s. The same applies to India, there is no moral ascendency in murdering women, children and men in the name of imperialism. They will go the same way as the British.

Here are some quotes to remind people of what Gandhi stood for, since so many Indian’s and Kashmiri’s have forgotten. I would ask you to note the difference between words that unify and words that divide. Words spoken in love and stating what is so (truth) lead to unity, they emanate from a higher source. Words that lead to division pit one against the other through hate, demonisation and revenge. It never works and conflicts will not heal until wisdom is found again in truth and reconciliation. There is wisdom in both India and Kashmir, now is the time to find it and live it with one voice. Here is Gandhi’s wisdom …

Nahari: I’m going to Hell! I killed a child! I smashed his head against a wall.
Gandhi: Why?
Nahari: Because they killed my son! The Muslims killed my son!
[indicates boy’s height]
Gandhi: I know a way out of Hell. Find a child, a child whose mother and father have been killed and raise him as your own.
[indicates same height]
Gandhi: Only be sure that he is a Muslim and that you raise him as one.

Gandhi: I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you.

Colonel: [moments before the Amritsar Massacre] Should we issue a warning, sir?
Gen. Dyer: They’ve had their warning. No meetings.
[pause]
Gen. Dyer: *Fire!*

Gandhi speaking to Vince Walker:
The function of a civil resistance is to provoke response and we will continue to provoke until they respond or change the law. They are not in control; we are.

Vince Walker: You’re an ambitious man, Mr. Gandhi.
Gandhi: I hope not.

Edward R. Murrow: [at Gandhi’s funeral]

“The object of this massive tribute died as he had always lived – a private man without wealth, without property, without official title or office. Mahatma Gandhi was not a commander of great armies nor ruler of vast lands. He could boast no scientific achievements or artistic gift. Yet men, governments and dignitaries from all over the world have joined hands today to pay homage to this little brown man in the loincloth who led his country to freedom.”

Pope Pius, the Archbishop of Canterbury, President Truman, Chiang Kai-shek, The Foreign Minister of Russia, the President of France… are among the millions here and abroad who have lamented his passing.

In the words of General George C. Marshall, the American Secretary of State, “Mahatma Gandhi had become the spokesman for the conscience of mankind, a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires.” And Albert Einstein added, “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.”

What is your conscience? Can we create a greater world where we resolve all conflicts, we shift the veil of fear which is behind all war and start to see others as ourselves, come together around the table and create new futures based on a win/win. I believe we can.

This blog is dedicated to the courage and strength of my friend and a person who lives her truth nonviolently, who condemns terrorism in all its forms, and speaks up where many fear to tread.  Perhaps the women of India hear this call to peace?  The truth is always found in the heart.

Now some information on Kashmir from a reliable source.

http://spyeyesanalysis.blogspot.com.au/