Hindu-Muslim Relations in District Anantnag and Srinagar Kashmir (1947-1989)

The active synthesis of divergent ideas woven into a well knit fabric dyed with nativization has remained the cardinal feature of Kashmiri cultural setting. Like other cultures Kashmiri culture has never been homogenous. Broadly speaking there were two cultural categories. One was related to the corridors of power, political elite, religious discourses and the state philosophy. The other category was the culture of masses. To maintain hegemony, state always promoted a discourse in discursive sprit, where religion, justice, duty and nation etc. have been harnessed to serve the agenda of segregation. On the other hand the culture promoted by the common masses has always been based on, solidarity, compassion, sense of one-ness and allocation for differences. The divisive cultural trends in Kashmir have always emanated from urban centers where stake holders in power apparatus used every finger and fork to safeguard their interest. On the other hand culture in rural areas of Kashmir has always been accommodative, common and diverse. From a closer analysis Kashmiri villages by and large during the period of our study were “pretty republics” governed by the unwritten codes of commonality, social sharing and tolerance. The predominately Muslim population in Kashmir willingly tolerated the minorities especially Kashmiri Pandits. As villages have predominately agrarian economy which calls for greater social sharing leading villager to accommodate the different creeds. The people professing Hindu and Muslim faiths in rural Kashmir together forged the common grounds based on exchange of services, and good neighborliness sharing each other‟s joys and sorrows despite the two irreconcilable ideological persuasions