IS God DEAD?????

The State of Jammu and Kashmir is in constant turmoil. Many a times people outside of this State and outside India do not make an effort to uncover the truth behind this tragedy. How is reading a three hundred page book on the plight of a community alien to the reader any different from the vast swarms of newspaper headlines, detailed editorials and documentaries that have scrutinized the Kashmir issue? The pages that follow this introduction have been written dispassionately and will arouse a heightened sense of rationale in the reader. What is Kashmir? Where is Kashmir? Who is a Kashmiri? An answer to all these and a reason as to “Why only Kashmir?” lies ahead for the reader. So embrace yourself for a walk in the paradise. Until the mid 19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. However today Kashmir denotes a larger area that includes the Indian administrated state of Jammu and Kashmir (the Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Ladakh), the Pakistan Occupied and administrated (Gilgit Baltistan), the so called- “Azad” (free) Kashmir Provinces, and the Chinese administrated regions of Aksai Chin and Trans Karakoram Tract. In the first half of the first millennium, the Kashmir valley served as a prominent centre of Hinduism, which later also integrated Buddhism. Shahmir became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir & established the Salatin-e-Kashmir of Swati dynasty. For the next five centuries Muslim monarchs ruled Kashmir, this included the Mughals who ruled from 1526 to 1751 followed by the Afghan Durrani Empire that ruled for another seven decades. Maharaja Ranjeet Singh annexed Kashmir in 1821 and made it a part of the (then flourishing) Sikh empire. Once the British East India Company had brought a sufficient number of princely states to submission, via the false pretext of commerce, they marched on to conquer the Sikh army of Punjab. The victory came finally in 1846 and Gulab Singh, who was a former official at the court of Sikhs and had spied for the British in Anglo-Sikh wars, purchased the Kashmir region from the British. Under the newly signed treaty of Amritsar he was given the title of Maharaja of Kingdom of Jammu. In the year 1947-48 this region became a point of contention once again. The Himalayan kingdom was connected to India via Hardoyi a district of Punjab, but its population was 77% Muslim and it shared a boundary with Pavidhan, Pakistan. Hence it was anticipated that the Maharaja would accede to Pakistan once the British occupation ended. When he hesitated to do this, Pakistan launched a guerrilla onslaught meant to frighten its ruler into submission. Instead the Maharaja appealed to the governor general for assistance who agreed on the condition that Kashmir would have to become a part of Independent India. Indian soldiers drove out the Pakistan sponsored irregulars from all but small section of the state. The United Nations was then invited to mediate the quarrel. The U.N. mission insisted that the opinion of citizens of Kashmir must be taken into account. India insisted that no referendum could occur until the entire state had been cleared of irregulars. In the last few days of 1948, a ceasefire was agreed upon. But since the plebiscite demanded by the U.N. was never conducted, the Princely state became a contentious territory, now administrated by three countries India, Pakistan and Peoples Republic of China. We have put forward a brief explanation of the geographical, political and religious tangents that intersect and divide this land which was once known as “The Paradise on Earth”. These facts also lead to the only formidable solution not only for the Indian audience but also readers abroad. Today the whole world brought together by social media is raising their eyebrows and demanding justification for the happenings in Kashmir without actually knowing the problem in Kashmir and its fundamental roots. Everybody has heard somewhere or the other that Kashmir is the only paradise on Earth, but nobody knows- how many Kashmirs exist within this paradise? And everyday this paradise inches towards new hellish depths. This book is going to present the facts that have been historically recorded. With the sole purpose of raising the awareness level of students, teachers, politicians, corporations and in general every global citizen who is interested in justice, we strongly recommend the inclusion of this book in the curriculum of all major Universities. Since Jammu and Kashmir has big potential for tourism (being the only paradise on Earth) this book should be placed in every room of all the 3 star and 5 star hotels around the world. The writers also invite the Police, Military, Intelligence agencies and other security establishments to read this book and send comments to the writers through publishers. This book should be made available to Kashmiri Pandits, all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhist living away from India as they are a conduit of peace and love for all the people of World. The book has a strong message for Muslim countries, NRIs, embassies of various countries on global basis. In conclusion of all the facts mentioned above, the book calls for a support from every corner of the world and every section of making that the original inhabitant of Kashmir – Kashmiri Pandits – should be rehabilitation in their native habitat so that Kashmir remains a real paradise as it is known to be. Without the this rehabilitation this paradise will be a paradise in name only because it is under the thumb of those who are carrying on demoniac activities on this sacred land which was once the habitat of angels and gods.