At the Heart of "Sufi traditions"

By Arjimand Hussain Talib "NC's Sins, PDP's Lies" - Kashmir Observer - Shrinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Sunday, July 6, 2008

What we have seen so far is probably just a ripple on the surface. There is much more behind the diabolic curtain

It is like a false wirlwind after a real storm. The Jammu & Kashmir cabinet's land revocation order seems to have stirred a new wave of paranoia among Hindu fanatics. Suddenly over all they are up in arms – accusing J&K government of "surrender". But has J&K government really surrendered?

The people in J&K are today rejoicing, for they feel they have got their prized land back. On the other hand, the Sangh Parivar has rallied up, unleashing a wave of xenophobia against Kashmiri Muslims throughout India. But could the land revocation order of the State cabinet in any way hinder or undemine the Amarnath Yatra?

(...)

One of the most important aspects that is being missed around the whole debate on the forest land transfer of Baltal is India's new environmental laws and its National Environmental Policy (NEP). The whole area around Amarnath cave falls under what internationally is called Environmentally Sensitive Zone (ESZ). An ESZ has to be protected through proper laws.

That is why the first thing the current government needs to do is to frame an Environment Policy for the State. It must go beyond the old-fashioned discourse of the Pollution Control Board (PCB). I believe if we use the term "environmentally affordable number (EAN)" to argue why we want the number of people going to the cave to remain under control, our argument would make better sense.

In the absence of an Environmental Policy in J&K, NEP by default applies on J&K state as well. It is strange that neither the erstwhile National Conference government at the time of drafting the SASB Act [Shri Amarnath Shrine Board] nor the present coalition at the time of transfer of the forest land at Baltal obtained the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) clearance.

It is possible that in the future facing further pressure government might undertake an EIA. Going by the past experience with EIA done at governmental levels, it is a foregone conclusion that such assessment would be a sham. We must demand an EIA, which must have international expert involvement from agencies like UNEP, World Conservation Union (IUCN) Green Peace and Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Without international involvement no environmental impact assessment would be credible.

(...)

One of the most significant aspects of the NEP is that it calls to regulate tourist inflows into mountain regions. In section 5.2.6 on Mountain Ecosystems it says, "[governments must] Take measures to regulate tourist inflows into mountain regions to ensure that these remain within the carrying capacity of the mountain ecology and consider particular unique mountain scapes as entities with "Incomparable Values", in developing strategies for their protection."

The promotion of the idea of "Sufi syncretism" in Kashmir over the years – mainly by the Governor's office - has committed a grave folly: it has sought to subscribe religious brotherhood, pluralism, tolerance to "Sufi ethos", rather than Islamic principles. This approach has been self-defeating.

As a spin off, this approach has resulted in misunderstanding about Islam and its demonization, closing the doors on understanding Islam's ethos of pluralism. It has also sought to vilify Islamic teachings - as drawn from the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) - as unaccomodative and ambiguous.

Resultantly, most non-Muslims fail to appreciate that it is Islam as a religion that has given this world the concept of human equality as never practised before. It is basically the universal message of brotherhood of Islam which lies at the heart of what are today called "Sufi traditions".

To vilify Islam as "intolerant" and "radical" closes the door of understanding of Islam and its universal appeal of human brotherhood. There has been a serious aversion by certain Hindu groups to accepting that the ethos of compassion, tolerance and accommodation among Kashmiri Muslims, which are ascribed to Sufism, are basically rooted in Islam.

And it is this approach of sidelining Islam - while promoting Sufism as an antithesis to Islam - that has given rise to a situation where Kashmiri Muslims find their faith under attack.

That is one reason that explains the groundswell of public anger and outcry on Kashmir's streets today. Kashmiri Muslims are today, by virtue of their struggle for justice, most vulnerable to be labelled as "intolerant communalists."

The occasion might even be used to show case to a section of the international community susceptible to Islamophobia "the radical danger in Kashmir." This has the potential, in turn, of even turning the sympathisers of Kashmiri political cause away. That should not be allowed to happen.

We must begin with an Environment Policy and lobby with international environment agencies to argue why we are calling for an EAN for Amarnath yatra. Afterall, every human imperative – including religion - must reconcile with the imperatives of environment for the larger well-being of humanity.