Kashmiriyat is alive and well in the Valley, where Hindus and Muslims are showcasing how they are placing humanity above religion everyday.
Recently a video of Kashmiri Pandits welcoming Hajis at the Srinagar airport went viral on social media. The Pandits were singing traditional Na’at to welcome people returning from Hajj, the holy pilgrimage of Muslims. Na’at is poetry praising Prophet Mohammed. The Hindus also offered their Muslim brothers and sister roses, handshakes and hugs.
Our Kashmiri Pandits welcoming Hajis at Srinagar airport today by singing traditional Naat seeking the blessings of Prophet. This is our syncretic culture believers of Islam are enablers of Amarnath Yatra & the followers of Shavism are messengers for unity. pic.twitter.com/5E7egZ2D7p
— Mohit Bhan موہت بھان (@buttkout) July 16, 2022
This is especially heartening given the history of Kashmiri Pandits in the region. A vast majority of the community had been forced to flee in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s due to pressure from Pakistan-sponsored terrorist organisations. But the local Indian Muslims had always shared a deep bond of friendship and brotherhood with their Hindu neighbours. This is how Kashmiriyat was born and survives to this day, even as 808 non-migrant Kashmiri Pandit families still live in over 200 refugee camps across the Valley.
This incident comes just days after local Muslims set aside Eid festivities to help the Indian Army’s disaster relief teams with rescue operations involving Amarnath yatra pilgrims who had been affected by the cloudburst and flash-floods in the region. The Muslim vendors including pony service providers and shopkeepers did not go back to their village to celebrate Eid with their families, and instead stayed back to help the Army with the rescue operations. Watch this report by TV9 Bharatvarsh:
The entire Kashmir region has been on the edge, not just in wake of the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, but also because of the recent spate of killings of Kashmiri Pandits. But it looks like Kashmiriyat, the humanity of the ordinary Kashmiri, is the key to maintaining peace and communal harmony.
Related:
Everyday Harmony: Muslim employer performs last rites of Hindu employee
Everyday Harmony: Muslim groups organise drinking water in flood ravaged Silchar
Everyday Harmony: Humanity shines through the rubble of Hate
Everyday Harmony: Hindu families help ensure peaceful wedding for Muslim neighbour