The progress taking place in the last four years under the shadow of the Chinar is bringing a new confidence to the whole of India.
The Chinar is not just a tree, it embodies an entire history. The Chinar has witnessed the changing circumstances of Kashmir up close. After every autumn, the Chinar stands firm with the belief that the spring of peace will return to the valley. Today, once again, the Chinar is witnessing a changing Kashmir. It is found in all our religious places, in holy springs. We consider it as a blessing from the goddess. There are also Chinar motifs on ancient inscriptions found in Gil git dating back 1,700 years. The Rajatarangini also mentions the Chinar. In spring, it looks like a large green bouquet. When all the other trees shed their leaves in autumn, its leaves turn red. Cutting any green and shady tree is forbidden in Islam. This tree is also a religious belief for our Kashmiri Pandit brothers. It is found in all their major religious places and temples, and they call it “Boonyi.” They consider it as a form of Bhawani. There are more than 35,000 Chinar trees in Kashmir, ranging in age from six to 700 years. The progress taking place during the last four years under the shadow of the Chinar and along the banks of the Jhelum is bringing a new confidence to the whole of India. However, anxiety is increasing in the parts of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan. Paki stan’s puppet government and oppressive army are losing sleep.
After the abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019, there has been a significant decrease in terrorist incidents, and for the first time, after peace and progress gained momentum in the region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a huge rally by visiting Srinagar on Thursday and instilled a new confidence in millions of people. On the changing face of Jammu As a journalist, I have had the opportunity to visit Jammu and Kashmir many times from 1977 to 2019. I have a long history of writing and speaking on the pol itics, corruption, and terrorist activities there. In fact, I am per haps one of the few editors who had the opportunity to travel by road from Islamabad Rawalpindi to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in July 2000 and see the deterio rating conditions there. At that time, General Musharraf was in power and a South Asia Media Conference was organized with the cooperation of a newspaper and an international organiza tion. President Musharraf was also troubled by some of our questions, but only with the help of his military officers were some editors able to reach Muzaffar abad. Interestingly, when we raised the question of Pakistan’s sup port for twenty lakh terrorists in the name of jihad, their Major General claimed that their num ber was ten lakh and that the government was trying to control them. Anyway, this number kept increasing and decreasing. Not only that, after our visit, the horrific terrorist attack by Osama bin Laden’s men took place in the US. Then there were terrorist at tacks on the Taj Hotel and the Indian Parliament in Mumbai. This terrorism has now created a serious socio-economic crisis in Afghanistan, Pakistan and its occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan-administered Kashmir is in a very poor state. Pakistan incites the people of this region to fight against India, assuring them that once this area becomes a part of Pakistan, its development will begin with economic assistance from Paki stan. However, the truth is that Pakistan trains terrorists in this region. The government in Pakistan-administered Kash mir, which operates there, is completely controlled by Paki stan. The situation there is very bad. Human rights violations by the Pakistani army are often reported. Several terrorist orga nizations are active in Pakistan administered Kashmir, and they run training camps there and prepare terrorists against India. Therefore, Pakistan’s assurance of development in this region is nothing more than a deception. During discussions on the Kashmir issue, it is important to focus on its background. The original state of Jammu and Kashmir, which joined India in October 1947, was 222,236 square kilometers. However, to day, India controls only 106,566 square kilometers of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan-administered Kashmir (POK) is smaller, at 72,935 square kilometers, and the Shaksgam Valley, which was given to China on lease in 1963, is 5,180 square kilometers less. The China-administered Kash mir (COK) includes 37,555 square kilometers, including Aksai Chin and the Shaksgam area swal lowed for years, totaling 42,735 square kilometers. India’s border touched Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor in the northwest and China-administered Tibet (Ak sai Chin) in the north. There was no border between Pakistan and China. The Shaksgam Valley (Indian territory), which was il legally given to China on lease in 1963, is 5,180 square kilometers.
The China-administered Kashmir (COK) includes 37,555 square kilometers of Aksai Chin and Shaksgam, which China has occupied, totaling 42,735 square kilometers. It is ironic that while the British wanted to keep Gil git-Baltistan with them to fight against the Communist threat from Russia and China in the fu ture, Pakistan has now become a vassal state of Communist China and is also enticing Russia with weapons. During 1967-70, Pakistan cor rectly depicted the Line of Con trol (LoC) in its official maps, as per the United Nations and other global atlases. However, in 1967, the American Defense Mapping Agency began showing the India Pakistan border on the military pilotage chart from NJ 9842 to the Karakoram (KK) Pass with out any legitimacy or documen tation, starting the display of the India-Pakistan border on the military pilotage chart. The en tire Siachen-Saltoro region was given to Pakistan. This was prob ably done due to America’s soft stance towards Pakistan, aiming to establish relations with China. After the American Defense Mapping Agency began showing the India-Pakistan border on the military pilotage chart without legitimacy, several official private cartographers and atlas makers followed suit, and eventually, Pakistan also adopted it. Despite all the efforts of Paki stan and China on the border, the Government of India has rapidly implemented programs for peace and development in recent years. With new enthusiasm in the ag riculture and tourism sectors, the political atmosphere is also changing. The biggest thing is that now every citizen of Jam mu and Kashmir is getting the benefit of the laws and welfare schemes implemented in other parts of the country. Whoever comes to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vid han Sabha elections will have a big responsibility. However, the panchayat and local body elec tions held in the last few years have brought about a new politi cal consciousness and the youth are developing confidence to be come self-reliant and successful. It is to be hoped that the pace of economic progress in Kashmir will create a golden futureand Kashmir, even journalists like us are reminded of the old and new situations.