‘I miss my Kashmiri pandit friends’

visakhapatnam:tere mathe pe ye anchal khub hain lekin agar is ka parcham banalethi to achha tha was how 23 year old shabnum ara from kashmir concluded her speech at the 6th national conference of the all india democratic women's association in visakhapatnam. ara, an articulate aidwa member studying journalism in new delhi, in an exclusive interview to the times of india, gave a fresh dimension to the kashmiri issue.she questioned the attitude of the government of india on claiming that kashmir is an integral part of india. only kashmir? not the kashmiri people? was what she had to say on the issue. according to her, this attitude was the fundamental reason for the kashmiri people losing faith in the government of india. kashmiris are not treated as equal citizens by the government. it seeks to resolve the crisis by use of force that would only increase the anti-india feeling,she says. ara says, kashmir is a political problem, it needs to be resolved politically.the failure of the government to understand the issue was being taken advantage of by pakistan. in a simple but effective argument she warned against any move by the bjp to abolishing article 370 , saying,it is the only link that binds kashmir to india, if it is broken... she leaves the rest unsaid and raises her arms skywards with a mischievous smile. according to her, the government failed to honour commitments made during the time of accession to the people of kashmir. she wants the people and the government of india to realise that we are not pakistanis, we are kashmiris, we are indians. she said that kashmiri culture was secular and because of the common thread of secularism the future of kashmir with india is bright. she says i miss my kashmiri pandit friends.one close friend said she would be back in a week and i haven't seen her since.