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SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 2021 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/sunday-magazine ACROSS RAZDAN PASS People with a difference Col Satish Singh Lalotra tress. Unlike the valley Muslims who are strict sunni by fol- lowing and nurture a lot of angst and prejudice against any " I have just three things to teach.. simplicity, patience Indian dispensation, Gurez valley has a smattering of shia and compassion….. Issac Newton. population too who are a perfect antithesis of their valley Very often it has been observed in life that solutions to counterparts in all respects. the most vexed problems are found in the simplification of The reason for such a huge dichotomy in the overall out- the same . Human beings by nature have been gifted with look of these Muslims has myriad reasons to it which are the most advanced of intellects on this planet, which often covered subsequently in this write-up. Gurez valley part of is in a seesaw of battles with various issues involving the which lie straddled on the other side of the LoC in PoK has morality factor. Morality, that intangible factor which is the been traditionally associated with the world famous Silk sum total of various actions which are ingrained into the route which was a razzmatazz of colours, smells, races, reli- psyche of a child by his parents as to the righteousness of gions and businesses as well and considered the nerve cen- any action undertaken by him/her. In a similar vein the ter of civilisations of yore. Gurez is divided into three conscious keeper/s of a community are certain factors often regions with the area from Toabat to Sharda peeth adminis- framed by circumstances which are sometimes beyond the tered by the Pakistan administration as Neelum district command and control of that particular community. In case ,area between Kamri, and Minimarg again by Pakistan as of our own country, the northern most part i.e Jammu and Astore district, Gilgit Baltistan and that from Gurez tehsil Kashmir too has various communities which seldom and its part of of the india administered as Bandipur dis- exposed to the outside world have been conditioned to trict. With my unit deployed close to the route leading to the behave as per certain extraneous factors not entirely in their Burzil pass as also to Achoora village near Dawar, the HQs control. of Gurez tehsil, I was an occasional witness to the humdrum A predominantly Muslim dominated area, the region of and business of life flowing along the Kishan Ganga river in Jammu and Kashmir mesmerizes the world to no end. its full finery. Though ravaged by the time and tide of events from times of Kanzalwan and Dawar, it was hyphenated in its thinking their Kashmir counterparts is yet to be over without the Having spent the greater part of the year 2003 and most and development enforced sadly as a result of official apathy final factor coming into play to make them whatever they yore, it still retains its nascent purity in matters of human of first seven months of 2004 logging up and down the river interactions unadulterated as mentioned above. A similar or indifference but definitely by the magnitude of the physi- seem to be to the world at large. The factor of combined Kishan Ganga as part of army retinue during some impor- cal distances further magnified by its various mountain effect, of deceit, treachery and torture by the tribal lashkars seesaw battle as stated earlier is being waged by the tant visit or exigencies of situation imposed by an emerging Muslims across the famous 11,672 feet Razdan pass in passes like, Razdan etc. More over with the overland pas- in 1947 perpetrated from the winters of 1947 till the June of situation calling for an immediate military intervention, I sage closed for about 6 months in a year due to closing of 1948 when finally the yoke of oppression and dehumanizing northern Kashmir valley who have to constantly juggle was struck by the genteel and reserved demeanour about between factors ranging from geographical obscurity to , Razdan pass owing to heavy snowfall, the siege mentality so treatment was lifted by the arrival of Indian army . Gurez the Gurezi Muslim's general disposition towards others as enforced by the physical vicissitudes cast a vice like grip on probably was the only area of northern Kashmir which identity crisis foisted upon them by the travails of well as the Indian army while coming crossing in my way on Geostrategic compulsions to drudgery of daily existence to its people's thinking caps which unfortunately has not gone slipped into Pakistani control for more than 6 months in a sundry tasks. Going through the general topography of the away even this day and time. The above developments have row and witness to mass acts of torture and punishments Darveshes of Shia Muslims impinging upon their majority area ,habits and habitats of these Dard people, I zeroed on faith. As everyone is aware since 1989, the narrative in the left the average Gurezi people resigned to their fate with a meted out by the tribal lashkars . In a well-coordinated mil- to three discerning factors which I suppose are the lynch fatalistic attitude to life. itary operation called as "Operation Eraze" Indian army UT of J&K has undergone a drastic change which has pins in identifying them as to their true colours. These three wrought unprecedented spate of events contrary to the The other factor weighing heavily on the psyche of the drove out the invading tribal lashkars who had captured factors are viz, Geographical isolation or distance from Gurezi people and making them "Muslims with a difference" much of Gurez valley after the fall of Muzaffrabad . nature of peace loving Kashmiri people. The majority of peo- main Kashmir valley, Various Sufi Darveshes arrival in this ple of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir fall under is the age old benevolent effect of sufi saints/Derveshes The tribals had captured Kanzalwan and were waiting for Dard area and their combined effect on the general populace which were brought to this land by Sayyid Ali Hamdani an the snow to abate so as to re-enter Kashmir valley via the the ambit of Sunni sect of Islam religion and speak the from times of yore and lastly the everlasting memory of Kashmiri language . Iranian sufi muslim saint of the Kubrawiya order and is Tragbal pass. But then with some bold tactical moves the joint effect of treachery and torture unleashed by the tribal reputed to have visited the place in 774AH/1372 AD . It is tribal lashkars were evicted from Gurez area once for all but The Muslims of Kashmir valley per se stretching from lashkars and Pakistan army in the wake of 1947 tribal raid said that he brought along with him about 700 followers and not before leaving scars of brutality which still linger on in Qazigund the gateway, to the high mountain passes of Zozila making them a darling of the Indian army in return. and Razdan are homogenous in thinking, acting and their lots of crafts and industries from Iran to Kashmir. Of these the minds of the older generation of Muslims of that area. As far as the physical distance from the valley and places 700 followers of him, 7 settled in Gurez valley known as interactions guided by the centuries old customs and tradi- of reckoning contributing to Gurez's so called backwardness The stories of mass tortures have been passed on as a lega- tions ingrained in their psyche . But here ends the difference "Sadaats" and included Baba Abdur Razaq Shah and Baba cy in the form of word of mouth to the future generations by or staid attitude in its people is concerned it has to be under- Derveish whose shrines are located next to hamlet of in the demographic profile of Muslims of Kashmir valley the elders , which have naturally coloured the world view of stood that this place was the official 'Shikargah" or hunting Fakirpora . The other faquirs whose shrines are located near since across these passes lie an entirely different set of ground of the Dogra kings from the very beginning. With the modern day Muslims across the Razdan pass. Self in the Muslim population. In essence the demographics of near Chorwan, Bagtore, Dangital Tulail across the Kishan river Kishan Ganga full of world class trout fish and a deli- Ganga river are quite prominent. The Sufis as is well known capacity of staying there way back in 2003/04 and undergo- Muslims in Kashmir have been affected more by geographic cacy for the royal tables of Dogra kings , the general ambi- ing a wide area interaction with the older generation of peo- constraints than by anything else. Though self from Jammu the world over are given to non-violence cult of living and ence prevalent in that remote corner of Kashmir was of a have a profound effect on all those who come in contact with ple of more than 80 years particularly in areas like Badaub, & Kashmir I was not all that aware of the subtle and placid environment amongst its people ready to serve its Hasangam, Malangam and Neeru of Tulail valley left me nuanced differences of Kashmir Muslims that are a reality of them. Moreover the entire valley of Tulail was once inhabit- master as and when they came for their brief sojourn. This ed by the Buddhists which I suppose has lot to do with the with no doubt that ultimately it is the religion of humanity vale of Kashmir until I crossed the 11,672 feet high Razdan very facet was given a further fillip when even after inde- which knows no bounds that holds together the fine relation pass also known as Tragbal pass which remains closed for peaceful demean our thus exhibited by the Gurezi people at pendence our first PM Nehru and his daughter Indira pre- of human beings .

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