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Militants must reciprocate with truce

EVERY year, Kashmir wishes to celebrate Ramzan with serenity and devotion. The beautiful recital of Azaans and Duas creates a divine atmosphere in the valley and one gets the vibes of the age-old Rishi-Sufism back to his mind even today, especially during this holy month.

Militants must reciprocate with truce

AFP



Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi
Scholar of classical Islamic sciences and researcher in communication studies 

EVERY year, Kashmir wishes to celebrate Ramzan with serenity and devotion. The beautiful recital of Azaans and Duas creates a divine atmosphere in the valley and one gets the vibes of the age-old Rishi-Sufism back to his mind even today, especially during this holy month.

Ast this juncture, the conditional ceasefire in Kashmir has come as a glad tiding for the Muslim-majority region in the beginning of Ramzan. The Centre has asked the security forces to not launch operations in the region during the next 30 days so that they can observe their religious obligations-fasts and constant prayers-without inconvenience.

This offers a sigh of relief for the beleaguered Kashmiri people from the fright caused by both militant attacks and anti-terror operations. It also echoes an empathetic view towards the concerns of Kashmiris that prevails in the larger part of the country. Hence, not only the political leaders but also ordinary people in Kashmir are hailing this decision as a hugely welcome peace initiative during the Kashmir unrest.  

Now, it will be utterly shattering if the same is not reciprocated in kind by the militants in Kashmir or the military in Pakistan. While a large number of Kashmiri people have supported the Centre's move, what remains to be seen is whether the Hizbul Mujahideen-the most active militant group in the local population-will show any reciprocity to New Delhi's offer.

Worryingly, much against the sanctity of the Ramazan, jihadists in Kashmir turn this occasion of mercy into a month of mayhem,  particularly on the 17th Ramazan, the eve of Ghazwatul Badr-an Islamic battle. With a willful misinterpretation of this defensive battle, popularly known as "Jang-e-Badr", the 17th day of Ramzan is treated by terror groups-particularly in South Kashmir-as a call to arms and not reconciliation or ceasefire. 

Inevitably, soon after the ceasefire was announced, it has been rejected by the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In an emailed statement, LeT chief Mehmood Shah Mahmood said: "We deem it as sin and disgrace to the sacrifices offered by people in the struggle. We are the heirs of the martyrs. Opting for such choice is treachery to the blood of martyrs."

It is the brainless Pakistani jihadism which is conducive to this predicament supplemented by the ignorance of the religious Kashmiri leaders of the older generation who have put such a poisonous seed in the minds of the youth that even the rich cultural and religious tradition of the valley is not being venerated.

These claimants of false Islamic martyrdom bred by foreign interests should realise that the rejection of ceasefire would be counterproductive for the so-called 'mujahidin' (militants), and that it would also be against the true Islamic principles of reconciliation (musalahat) as established through several peace treaties during the wars in the Islamic history. This is the view of authentic Islamic scholars supported by the holy Koran and several Hadith traditions. But the problem is, the militants' message finds resonance among angry and frustrated Muslim youths who fall prey to the twisted interpretations of the Islamic doctrines. Consequently, militants aspire to become martyrs (Shuhada) by launching suicide attacks and unleashing violence. Thus, they expect Allah to welcome them into heaven. Worst of all, they find support from a fringe of the half-educated clerics. 

But the well-established ulema and classical Islamic scholars counter this false paradigm for martyrdom. An eminent Islamic scholar well-versed in the Islamic theology, Prof Ebrahim Moosa, counters this view. He says: "The whole idea of a martyr or shahid is that you fight until death and you give your life for Allah and community. But you don't go into battle saying 'I will die,'" he said. As proof, he recounts one of the hadiths (Prophet Muhammad's sayings) about a martyr, who is rejected by Allah when he arrives in heaven. Allah tells him: "You gave your life so people could remember you as a cause. You didn't do it to satisfy me."

Many established Islamic intellectuals like Professor Moosa point out that Islam condoned only fight for "justice" and that too was ultimately aimed at restoring peace. But it set down strict rules on when and how to fight and also when to stop. In the Prophet's era, Muslims waged war only after all else had failed and they were fighting against injustice, oppression and on behalf of those expelled from their homes. "The Qur'an says: 'Fight those who fight you, but don't transgress. Do not let the injustice of others lead you to injustice'," says Dr Khaled Abou al Fadl, world-renowned scholar of Islamic law. "But if the enemy says, `Let's make peace', then you must make peace with them. You don't start killing them," a prominent professor of Islamic studies at DePaul University, Dr Aminah McCloud, says.

Reportedly, in a bid to violate the ceasefire, a BSF jawan has been killed as Pakistani troops fired at forward posts to push infiltrators across the International Border (IB) in the Samba sector of Kashmir. Now the onus for any such act of violence will be on the Pakistani troops and or their sympathisers and militants in Kashmir. The public consensus is that any attempt to provoke violence and sabotage this historic peace measure will be seen as the 'real animosity' towards the people of Kashmir. Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of J&K, has rightly stated that if terrorists fail to respond to the ceasefire offer, they will stand exposed as the "enemies of the people."

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