Jammu & Kashmir's future with India: Deoband - The Times of India

"Which stupid person would want to go with Pakistan?"

The Indian Muslims, even the most conservatives of them, have spoken publicly about the fate of Jammu and Kashmir. It's about time that Pakistanis should listen to the Muslims of India.

Kamal Farooqui of the Muslim Personal Law Board in India, was more direct about his views as he eliminated one possible option about the future of Kashmir,"Which stupid person would want to go with Pakistan?"

Farooqui is not alone. The Muslims I spoke with after the Friday prayers at the main mosque in New Delhi on my trip to India in 2004, and later in Agra, were of the same view. They couldn't understand why the Muslims in Pakistan were so concerned about the Muslims living in Jammu. "We have no problems with the Hindus of India", said one Muslim man who was resting in the shade with his family inside the main Delhi mosque. "We have to live and die here in India, not in Pakistan", he told me in 2004. Now Kamal Farooqui is saying the same rather more explicitly.

Is someone listening in Pakistan?

Rakhi Chakrabarty, TNN, Oct 11, 2010, 02.00am IST

DEOBAND: Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, the powerful body of Deobandi clerics, on Sunday backed the demand to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and remove security forces and barricades from civilian areas in J&K.

In a resolution adopted at its Kashmir Conference organized here on Sunday, the JuH also demanded an independent inquiry commission to probe human rights violations and trace "thousands of lost and missing youths", repeal the Public Safety Act, and ensure compensation to victims.

It asked for the promise of a special economic package to be kept, and asked the Centre to take other steps to facilitate a settlement "within the framework of the Constitution".

This is the first time JuH has taken up the Kashmir issue. The resolution stressed, "We don't consider interests of the Kashmiri people to be separate from the interests of Indian Muslims." It also called all like-minded people and organisations to campaign for peace and justice in Kashmir and "thwart enemy forces bent upon disintegration of Kashmir".

When asked why were they silent so long, All India Muslim Personal Law Board's Kamal Farooqui said, "Muslims were not comfortable talking about Kashmir for fear of getting branded and harassment by police and intelligence agencies."

Asked about the prospect of resolution of the Kashmir issue, he said, "The country is in a reconciliatory mood, be it on J&K or Ayodhya. So, reconciliation within the Indian Constitution is the way out. An overwhelming section of Kashmiris want it, too. Which stupid person would want to go with Pakistan?"

The 11-point resolution slammed lethal methods of crowd control and appealed to protesters to adopt peaceful means to fight for their constitutional rights and abjure violence.

Jammu & Kashmir's future with India: Deoband - The Times of India