Is it my Kashmir or does it belong to the guy on the other table?
He turned to me and asked if I was from Pakistan...I said no.
Then he told me he overheard my conversation about Islamic schools in United Sates (an article I am working on) and asked me if I was a Muslim...I said no again.
I told him he could talk to me if he wanted.
He is from Pakistan. i told him we could be friends. We are the same people, at least we were till 58 years ago when we parted ways.
His roommate came over to our table, who is a Kashmiri pandit.
the conversations became complicated, winding ways through our own understanding of the issue, our attachment or detachment and our dilemmas. It lasted for hours till we were the only people left in the library.
We talked about Kashmir, a place I have never been to. Have only seen the beauty in filsm or read about it in history books or took a peek at the snow-laden mountains in coffee table books.
Who does Kashmir belong to? And why do we lay our claims on it? Why do we fight over a piece of land? Is land that important for our being and for our self-assertion that so much blood has to be shed in order to keep it or not lose it?
I feared being misjudged by him and at the same time I dreaded being misunderstood by his roommate, who seemed to be really affected by the situation. He had not been to the place where he was born since 1989.
the conversation became convoluted, taking its course through history and movements and philosophy.
Both had valid points. And both made sense.
I suggested an idealistic solution. Let's all get back together. But that was not acceptable. Why not?
The Indian guy said India can rule Kashmir better because it is a secular state. The other one said the Kashmiris wanted to be with Pakistan for the precise reason that it was an Islamic state.
I digressed and wondered about Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal and the rise of militant Hinduism. Are we insecure about our identity that we have to force millions to choose?
We are made to believe that Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Across the border, they are made to believe that Indians are not letting Kashmiris be what they want to be and Pakistan is their savior.
I don't care if you eat beef or hate idols...I can talk to you still. And you stay with a pandit and we all drink soda.
We all have our own ways and quirks but isn't that the beauty of the world we live in?
How many more lives will we lose for a piece of land...however beautiful that land may be...when will we get rid of our own egos and stop laying claims to a divided land...a divided people, torn between love and faith and kept apart by politics...