海角大神

After a gap of 24 years, the Dalai Lama is visiting the Kashmir Valley 鈥� a region, as with the Tibetan spiritual leader's homeland, where many yearn for independence.

The Dalai聽Lama spoke about the futility of violence and, as with Tibet, urged people to follow the path of nonviolence, a message that some here argued was misdirected.聽

鈥淰iolence will lead nowhere,鈥� the Dalai Lama told school聽children in Srinagar鈥檚 Tibetan colony. 鈥淒ifferences聽and disagreements should be resolved through聽dialogue. Violence can solve nothing; instead, it can聽create more problems."聽

Kashmir, one of the oldest remaining conflicts in the聽world, saw a violent armed resistance to Indian聽rule in the 1990s. Hundreds of thousands of Indian security forces ultimately put down the insurgency, but most of the forces have stayed on.

Over the past decade, most independence-minded Kashmiris have opted for nonviolence after seeing the ravages of war and fearing a "terrorist" label from the West after 9/11. An Indian Army officer told the press today that only about 280 to 300 militants are present across the predominantly-Muslim Kashmir Valley. The conflict in Kashmir has made a transition to more nonviolent forms of resistance such as mass protests, stone throwing, and debates and campaigns on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

But the Dalai Lama鈥檚 appeal for nonviolence did not resonate with local people in Kashmir who聽were irked that he preached nonviolence only to the聽people and not to the Indian forces that are accused聽of gross human rights abuses in the region. Security forces have killed more than 100 unarmed youth, most during protests, in 2010. And police have detained many dissenters, some merely for what they post on Facebook.聽

鈥淐onsidering the politics between India, Tibet, and China 鈥撀燼nd India鈥檚 support to Dalai Lama 鈥撀爐he聽statement is understandable and he didn鈥檛 go beyond聽the official line of Indian government,鈥� says Gul聽Mohammad Wani, a professor of political science at the聽University of Kashmir. 鈥淏ut he should have at least聽talked of the same autonomy for Kashmir that he聽does for Tibet.鈥澛�

A 'one-sided' plea

Kashmiri separatist leaders also聽took strong exception to the Dalai Lama鈥檚 "one-sided plea for nonviolence" and聽issued statements denouncing the idea of "peace聽without justice."

鈥淲e respect Dalai Lama and recognize his genuine聽cause, but peace is only possible with justice. Until聽justice is done, there cannot be peace,鈥� said Mirwaiz聽Umar Farooq, one of the main separatist leaders.聽Senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani called the聽statement, 鈥渟ympathizing with oppressors instead of聽the oppressed.鈥澛犅�

The six day private visit is the Dalai Lama鈥檚 third visit to Kashmir. He sites turmoil in the region as the reason聽for not visiting in the past 24 years.聽He is the top guest of聽the state government, which is aligned with New Delhi, and has been put up at a posh聽residence surrounded聽by heavy security.

Jammu and Kashmir's Chief聽Minister Omar Abdullah has been accompanying the Dalai Lama on many of his visits across Srinagar and聽other places.聽

"When I visited [Kashmir] the first time, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was [governing] here; second time聽Farooq Abdullah [his son governed] here; and now Omar聽Abdullah [his grandson is governing]," the Dalai Lama said.聽

Omar Abdullah recalled meeting the Dalai Lama on his last visit. "Much time has since passed. Our state has been through an extremely聽dark spell of violence," he said. "Things are now gradually聽improving and I request His Holiness to pray for permanent peace in聽the state."

Kashmir's Buddhist roots

The Dalai Lama went to the Tibetan colony in Srinagar聽and paid visits to places of Buddhist importance and聽other religious places in the valley. Apart from that,聽his visit to the valley is restricted to meetings with聽high ranking Indian officials, senior state ministers, bureaucrats, and does not include any meetings聽with local people, civil society organizations, or the聽separatist leadership.聽聽

Kashmir has a significant Buddhist past. Buddhism聽was the major religion here for a time; the聽city of Srinagar was founded by the Buddhist ruler聽Ashoka around 250 BC. It is widely believed that on a聽hill of ancient ruins almost five miles from Srinagar, the聽Fourth International Buddhist conference was held in the second century BC.聽