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Milestone Journey with Shehjar - IV

Milestone Journey with Shehjar - IV

Arun Koul

Update
The :Milestone Journey with Shehjar” team has already started interviewing the community activists and leaders nominated and listed in Update No. III. We will start carrying those interviews from our next issue onwards. We are outlining below the requirement for the study as well as the process that will be followed. The actual Survey Questionnaire and the methodology for the survey will be released at the appropriate time. This will be a pioneering, scientific survey with far reaching implications to the Kashmir situation.

Please read the details below.

Thanks and Warm Regards
Arun Koul
On behalf of the Shehjar Editorial Board

A Study on the Political Posture of Kashmiri Hindus, their Leadership and Organizations in the Post 1990 Exodus Scenario

Conducted by
The “Milestone Journey with Shehjar” Team

Sponsored by
Shehjar
A well rounded magazine of the people, around Kashmir
On the web: http://shehjar.com
Contact: editor.shehjar@gmail.com

Background

The world knows that there has been a low-grade military conflict ongoing in Kashmir. Pakistan’s national army and intelligence agencies operating covertly are spearheaded above ground by Pakistan trained and abetted Muslim fighters and they are pitted against a secular India. The stated goal of these military efforts is the establishment of Kashmir as a theocratic Islamic state, separate from secular India. A plethora of politico-religious outfits in Kashmir refer to this military conflict as a justification for their existence and advocate various positions and issues with a view to carve out their own niches and identities. Fair-weather mainstream politicians such as Mufti Syed attempt to create a base with militants and politico-religious outfits and have them generously use their tactics as a means for gaining “legitimate” political power through “elections”. And such politicians as Mufti Syed and a platoon of politico-religious outfit leaders are doled largesse by the Indian State with a view to minimizing their “nuisance value”, creating thereby a self fueling process for the “discontent generation machinery”. Not to be left behind in this dole-a-thon, Islamic foundations and donors the world over, suckered into the “cause” contribute mightily in a belief to curry their own influence. Due to such largesse, Kashmir, without any economic output worth its name, boasts among the highest per-capita incomes of any state in India. Less of a war-zone, more of a tax-haven, property prices have hit the roof, people having all the unexplained income required for their purchases. Population numbers are rapidly rising and individual welfare indicators look good.

Caught in the vortex however, if one may, are the more than 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus who faced an en-masse exodus from the valley in 1990. With a remaining global population of about 750,000 (still rapidly dwindling), this community still does not have an established leadership structure. But within the community, is there some form of issue based consensus or can such a consensus be created? Can opinions be consolidated and then transformed into a meaningful action plan? Who, in your opinion is representing Kashmiri Hindus now and what should the future leadership look like? What are the present ground realities and what do you think does the future behold?

Through the medium of this study, Shehjar embarks with you on the journey to find out. We will carry interviews and dialog with those who have been the bulwarks of our community for decades now. And also come to face with the youth who have made a difference lately. Very importantly, we will launch a survey for our dedicated readership base of which more than 10000 are families of Kashmiri Hindu origin.

The Survey and its administration

This study is intended to evaluate and present the political posture of the Kashmiri Hindu community in the post 1990 exodus scenario. The participants will be Kashmiri Hindus, their organizations and leadership.

The study consists of two components.

The first part precedes the second one and contains an interview-survey for an assessment of the Kashmir situation, particularly from the perspective of Kashmiri Hindus and the compilation of the varied or similar political viewpoints of the interviewees. Since the survey treats the different aspects of the Kashmir situation in great detail, may be customized to the background of the interviewee and may also require explanations, it is recommended that a qualified interviewer should administer it. Wherever this is not possible, a questionnaire, which is in part customized to the background of the interviewee, may be administered over email backed up by interactive email exchange with a qualified interviewer. Unless any other community member expresses interest in participating in this survey, we will restrict ourselves to interviewing the already nominated leaders and organizations in response to our earlier requests in several issues of the Shehjar magazine.

The second component has a survey in which a mostly closed-ended questionnaire will be administered to a Kashmiri Hindu Community Member, acknowledged and accepted leader of the community or a designated representative of the participating Kashmiri Hindu organization, during an interview process. In most part, this survey will be conducted through a form submission over the Internet. This survey will take place after the report from the first part of the study is duly published. It will in certain ways also be a referendum on many matters before the Kashmiri community and comprehensive participation of the community will be essential.

Shehjar, A well rounded magazine of the people, around Kashmir is sponsoring this study and providing the required tools, resources and expertise.

Assumptions

The study is designed with the following assumptions about the political behavior of Kashmiri Hindus, particularly post the 1990 exodus:

Political empowerment is becoming an issue of central importance from being a peripheral one
Political involvement is now considered by most Kashmiri Hindus as an essential component of the complete engagement framework with their community affairs and not just as something that just a few connected people ought to do
Kashmiri Hindu Organizations have become more responsive to changes in the political environment and have developed some framework for advocacy of the rights of Kashmiri Hindus over Kashmir.
Their leaders have become mindful of all the key areas of concern of the community, including, maintaining of a distinct identity in exile, economic recovery after the disastrous exodus, security of those remaining in Kashmir or contemplating a return and continuity of the Kashmiri Hindu way of life in many ways.

Assessment

The “Milestone Journey with Shehjar” team will conduct an Assessment after Part 1 of the survey has been completed. Responses and the various inputs received during this phase will help in developing a second phase survey questionnaire. Experts and seniors from the community will advise during the assessment process as well as in the secondary stage questionnaire design process.
Expert analysts will manually validate the findings, confirming issues, discarding false responses and uncovering the layers of data to reveal information. They will also analyze the impact and bearing that various actions would have on the future of the community.

Results of the study

The results of the first phase of the study will be provided to you in the form of features which will be carried in Shehjar over several issues as part of the “Milestone Journey with Shehjar”.
The results of the overall study will be compiled in the form of a report, to be shared with the community without directly identifying any of the participating organizations or individuals.

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Comments

This will be a crucial effort. You have all of my support.

Added By Vijay Dhar

The shehjar is crossing milestones fast.It needs dedication and vision to sustain it which you have in abundance.We also need to emulate it to plead our case and cause.Is someone listening please?

Added By pushkar ganjoo