**The reason I ask is because i came across a quite disturbing article on Times of India.
I have read numerous posts on this forum , and almost every time people say that they are Muslims first and country / culture all come second.
So can Indian Muslims be trusted ??? Should be all be migrating to Pakistan or other Muslim countries. Why stay in India and say no I am not an Indian but a Muslim.
Although some might say well this article is about Kashmir, Kashmir’s are Pakistanis anyway. Well No. Originally Kashmir belong to Hindus, who have been driven out of Kashmir and its only in the past century that there is a Muslim majority.
But is it that all Muslims feel this way ??? If Pakistan wants Kashmir b/c they are muslims , y not all Indian Muslims then ???**
SRINAGAR: Like rest of the subcontinent, Srinagar shut down for the semifinal clash between India and Pakistan. But, the team they cheered for wasn’t the Men in Blue. In hotels and homes, at roadside stalls and in Srinagar’s downtown sprawl, in villages and small mohallas, Kashmir was rooting for Shahid Afridi and his team.
This support for Pakistan appeared to cut across caste and class, united mainstream politicians and separatists, and brought together prosperous businessmen who live half the year in Delhi and the shikarawalas who ceaselessly circle the Dal Lake.
On the day of the semifinal, children took a day off from school. India batted first and every Indian wicket prompted a blaze of firecrackers. When Pakistan started batting, every run was cheered. What does this tell us? Widespread support for Pakistan in the Valley? Not quite.
Most people who cheered for Afridi’s team have no love lost for Pakistan with its failing economy and daily violence. The reality of Pakistan has done what the Indian state could not for years: made “Kashmir banega Pakistan” vanish from all protests. All that the Kashmiris have done is separate the reality of Pakistan from the idea of Pakistan.
Thus, the murder and mayhem in Lahore and Karachi represent the reality of Pakistan; Shahid Afridi’s team in Mohali represent the idea of Pakistan. It is the best example of the mix of history, emotion, resentment and pragmatism that Kashmir is today. The generation applauding Pakistan today grew up fixated on the idea of Pakistan before the spiral of insurgency in the 90s.
“There is a connectedness, in the emotional sense, in the hearts of Kashmiris. We don’t bleed blue, we bleed green,” said Abid Hussein, a young professional.
It was at battleground Sharjah that India was humiliated. A young man spoke about how a television remote was hurled at him for cheering India in a match. And it was his grandfather who did so. The generation today is older. They have become politicians and businessmen firm in their knowledge that India is the way forward for Kashmir. They shake their heads at every blast in Pakistan. But once it comes to anything that represents the idea of Pakistan, like the Pakistani cricket team, they remember their love for it.
“In spite of my saying I’ll never support Pakistan after they lose, I end up watching them play. Ath wanan (it means) true love. We curse them, we abuse them, we hate them but also always love them. Kashmiris have a deep emotion with Pakistan, and not only because of religion,” said Farhan Faisal, a businessman.
Kashmiris are provincial in their actions, but Kashmiri nationalists in their mindset. This faultline makes them turn out and vote for bijli, sadak, pani in elections, scrutinise the increase in Central grants in the state budget, makes thousands vie for posts in the police. It also makes them throw stones and spray “Go Back India” on the walls. It makes them kit out in Pakistani colours and also makes them compliment the administration for imposing section 144 to prevent violence that would hurt business.
It makes them admire India, its plurality, its progress and its strength; and resent it for these very reasons. As Naveed Tariq described it, “I think today two matches were telecast. One which the whole world saw was played between Indian cricket team and Pakistan cricket team and was played in the spirit of the game. The other which some Kashmiris saw was played between the Indian Army team and Kashmiris.”
) I would gladly sign up to defend the British Isles from any invasion or external threat such as Terrorist Attack etc.