Kashmiriyat

The Jwala Mukhi Mandir in Khrew, located in the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, hosts the Jwalamukhi Mela annually that is celebrated by both Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Muslims.[1] The joint celebration of religious festivals by both Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Muslims in the Kashmir Valley is said to be an emblem of the spirit of Kashmiriyat.[2]

Kashmiriyat (also spelled as Kashmiriat) is the centuries-old indigenous tradition of communal harmony and religious syncretism in the Kashmir Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir.[3] Emerging around the 16th century, it is characterised by religious and cultural harmony, patriotism and pride for their mountainous homeland of Kashmir.[4]

Kashmiriyat exemplifies the joint Hindu-Muslim culture, festivals, language, cuisine and clothing in the Kashmir Valley.[5] In the spirit of Kashmiriyat, festivals of Hinduism and Islam are celebrated by adherents of both faiths.[5] Kashmiriyat, with the Hindu-Muslim unity it encourages, was promoted by Kashmiri sultan Zain-ul-Abidin; the story of the Kashmiri mystic Lal Ded (also called Lalleswari), in which her body turned into a mound of flowers that was buried by both Hindus and Muslims, serves as an emblem of Kashmiriyat that keeps it alive today.[5]

In recent 2007 poll conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, 84 percent of people in Srinagar want to see the return of Kashmiri Pandits.[6] A 2001 MORI survey of popular opinion in the then-state of Jammu and Kashmir, including the Kashmir Valley, found 92% respondents opposed to the state being divided on the basis of religion or ethnicity.[7][8] However, scholar Christopher Snedden states that the concept of Kashmiriyat has been 'romanticised' and Kashmiriyat could not prevent antipathy and rivalry between the Kashmiri Pandits and the Kashmiri Muslims.[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sajnani2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Koul2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Tak, Toru (20 April 2013). "The Term Kashmiriyat". Economic & Political Weekly. The term Kashmiriyat has come to signify a centuries-old indigenous secularism of Kashmir.
  4. ^ Hans Classroom (19 March 2018). "Kashmiriyat". The Hans India. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Murphy, Eamon (2013). The Making of Terrorism in Pakistan: Historical and Social Roots of Extremism. Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-415-56526-4. The form of Islam that emerged in Kashmir had been strongly influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. The three religions have produced a unique sociocultural and religious fusion known as Kashmiriyat, with its shared cuisine, music and language, which draws upon the mystical traditions of the devotional worship of Islamic Sufism and Hindu Bhakti. Kashmiriyat had been promoted by the fourteenth-century Muslim ruler Zain-ul-Abideen in order to promote harmony between Hindus and Muslims. The most popular face of worship in the Kashmir Valley are still Sufi shrines, which attract Hindu, Muslims and Sikhs. A Hindu woman mystic, Lal Dedh, is still revered by both Hindus and Muslims. A strikingly beautiful, popular myth in Kashmir is that after her death, Lal Dedh's body turned into a mound of flowers, half of which were buried by Hindus and the other half buried by Muslims. The practice of urs - an annual festival that is held at the shrines of Sufi saints to mark the anniversaries of their deaths - is traditionally celebrated by Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, despite attempts in recent years by extremists to stop them.
  6. ^ 87 pct in Kashmir Valley want independence - poll, Reuters, 13 August 2007
  7. ^ Kashmiris reject war in favour of democracy, Frontline, 8 June 2002.
  8. ^ MORI Survey in Jammu and Kashmir, South Asia Terrorism Portal, 2001.
  9. ^ Snedden, Christopher (2015). Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781849046220.