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I study in kashmir (NIT) and I get to interact with locals (who are studying with us and otherwise) , so i can summarise their stand on kashmir conflict (being unbiased myself) .
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Before coming to the college i had very little or no knowledge about the history of kashmir and its implications but was also very keen to know it. During my first visit to the college for registration purpose i was just stunned in vow for couple of minutes at the entrance of the college . Yes that was really how i imagined my college as.
After that i needed to go home as classes were going to start after 3 weeks , on my way back i took regular taxi for kashmir jammu road-ways along with some of my friends with their parents (I was alone) .
It was a night long trip and the driver and some of the people travelling with us were kashmiris so i started shooting questions to them about kashmir and pakistan . My friend's dad stopped me once i got to the limit “who do you love more india or pakistan?”
Then for the first time i got to know how serious was the problem and what was the mindset and thinking .
Driver and others were seemingly talking to us with utmost respect and that touched me . He told me that you are tourist to us and we need to respect tourists as tourism is a major industry in kashmir. Although by their way of talking one could ascertain they favoured pakistan.
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I reached home and started going through the history of kashmir . How ? When? Why?
My tickets for returning college were of 17th aug’14 and i was kind of sad that i was going to miss INDEPENDENCE-DAY CELEBRATIONS but only when i reached college i was informed that there was no celebrations, no flag hoisting, no national anthem .
And why ??
Later i got to know that Administration don't allow to let that happen on the grounds of ‘disputed land’ . “what if someone burned, or snatched your flag” , college Security incharge was found saying .
I’m in 3rd year and i never witnessed any independence day or republic day celebration.
How our fellow kashmiri students reacted ??
Ah ! It was normal for them .
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We used to talk to security guards about the topic as most of them were ex-military . One night i approached a pair of guards who were warming up aside fire (kashmir’s weather , uff) i asked him. He said they never supported pakistan (people would say , why would they? they were military) , but what they more stressed on was that youth of kashmir was being wasted , education is important to move ahead but here everything is different . They said educated Kashmiri's know that there well being is only with India, and pakistan is trying to manipulate Kashmiri's for their geological interest. (yes ! He said it)
So i needed an educated kashmiri to talk to .
Later some day i attended my first physics lecture. The lecturer seemed knowledgeable, he told us about his achievements , areas of current research (i googled) . yes he was educated!
In that first lecture only his love to the other side of border erupted and we were just listening him criticising indian govt with every angle. (I started doubting about what that guard told me)
Slowly, much of the administration i encountered with or got to know about was more leaned towards that side.
Why??
They had reasons .
I thought i could talk to my kashmiri fellow mates about this and get to know what they think . “I hate india, I hate being called indian” , he said.
Ok ! What now ?
He clarified a bit what he said “ We dont hate you guys , or any one coming from rest of india but we definitely hate Indian govt , Indian army “ . He took indian army’s name many a times on that short talk after.
why indian army?
He started telling me about how army atrocities had killed people in valley, violated human rights everywhere. (i googled again , and some of them were true)
He neither advocated for pakistan but his love for pakistan was merely because of hate for India.
They always tend to clear this , they hate Indian uniforms.
why indian govt.??
“Why not, they never fulfilled their promise of conducting the plebiscite in Kashmir” , he said. I asked him whether he knew about the UNSC resolutions according to which plebiscite demand is raised. Yes he knew!
Then he cursed pakistan for five minutes.
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