Kashmir: A View from Mauritius

In his Friday Sermon of 23 August 2019 ~21 Dhul-Hijjah 1440 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International, Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius spoke on the significance of obedience to God-ordained teachings brought by the Prophets and the saints for the guidance of people in every era. Illustrating the different trajectories in the life and fate of the peoples before Islam, especially with reference to the progeny of Prophet Abraham (as), Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) points to a larger spiritual truth: while those who adhered to the Covenant of God (or the Divine Law) inherited material sovereignty and spiritual blessings in equal measure; the generations of Law-breakers among them were reduced to slavery and servitude under alien occupation, especially when they ignored and trampled to dust the enduring wisdom in the Covenant of God. 

Even as Islam promises material advantage and spiritual fortunes to the true believers; it also warns the community of devotees of God to learn from the mistakes of other nations before them- including the children of Israel who refused to abide by the Pact of God in shaping their destinies. In our own times, Allah (swt) has raised Hadhrat Saheb (atba) with a clear message for the whole of humanity, especially the true believers in the Islamic Way, and he has been repeatedly appraising the world about the messages from the Unseen- revelations that contain pearls of wisdom and dire warning about the many dangers lurking behind for our small world. Commenting on recent political developments around the question of Kashmir, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) calls on both India and Pakistan to respect the dictates of justice and equity and to recognize the wishes of the people of the region- Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.- to exercise their inherent right to self-determination in shaping their common destiny. Speaking also about the on-going natural calamities in India and elsewhere in the region, Hadhrat Saheb (atba) calls the attention of the world for justice, empathy, compassion and solidarity with victims of all catastrophes visiting our common humanity.     

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon Below:   

After the revelations I received in Mandarin on Wednesday, 05 December 2018 at Mathra (Kerala) in Noor’ul Islam Mosque, where Allah made us understand that in the coming days the events that will happen throughout the world will be terrible and Allah has also revealed how much hate Narendra Modi, Donald Trump and the President of China among others (regarding their conflict and hatred) have for Islam and in these revelations there was also the mention of landslides, floods, cyclones, and many other problems around the world.

The Great Conflict in Kashmir & a High-Risk Wager 

Since Monday 05 August 2019, the Indian authorities have shown a very dark face of their history, a total blackout of democracy. The overthrow of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the revocation of Indian Kashmir autonomy is a high-risk wager that could reinvigorate the separatist insurgency and exacerbate tensions with Pakistan. 

In summary, Indian forces in Kashmir were placed on full alert Friday, 09 August 2019, during the Muslim prayer day [Jummah], said the Indian agency PTI, quoting a security official in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Jammu and Kashmir State, of Special Constitutional Status of Jammu and Kashmir, State of North India with a Muslim majority. And so, the terrible decision of the Indian government since its re-election in May to implement this project has caused a wave of panic in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir is the administrative entity of the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, with about a third of this Himalayan region controlled by Pakistan. Each of the two nuclear powers of South Asia claim that Kashmir is theirs, but the state has in fact been divided between them and for more than seventy years there has been strong military and diplomatic tensions between the two countries, especially since the partition of the British colonial empire of India in 1947. With 12.5 million inhabitants in the 2011 census, Jammu and Kashmir is the only predominantly Muslim region in India. It is made up of the Muslims who are in majority in the Valley of Srinagar to the north, which is the heart of the region. (Inset: Kashmir Map, India Defence Review, 30 September 2015)

According to the residents of Srinagar, they have lost hope in Indian democracy. After making preparations in the utmost secrecy, the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has revoked the constitutional autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir and voted to dislocate it through the Indian Parliament at the risk of sparking the region plagued by violence and separatist insurrection for thirty years. For thirty years, India wanted to control all areas of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan, on the other hand, announced that it would expel the Indian ambassador to Islamabad – and which indeed it did – and suspend bilateral trade with India.

After India’s revocation of the constitutional autonomy of the part of Kashmir it controls, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan wants to bring the issue of Kashmir at all international forums. And he (Imran Khan) also claimed before the Pakistani parliamentarians: “We will fight against this (measure) before all the authorities including the UN Security Council” and he added that his government also intended to resort to the International Court of Justice.

What I can say is that the situation is very critical, and we must pray for the people of Kashmir in the state of Jammu and Kashmir to regain their country as a whole, and that neither India or Pakistan gets a share of the pie in this country. I pray that Kashmir be returned to the people of Kashmir, without India or Pakistan seeking their share in it. Above all, Kashmir belongs to the people of Kashmir. Just as India belongs to Indians - be it a Muslim, Hindu or Christian Indian - and not for Pakistan, and Pakistan belongs to Pakistanis, even if they are Muslims, Hindus or Christians. So justice must be done right.

Here, as Mauritians, would we be happy to see other people from other countries come to claim their rights on our little Mauritius? If people use such strategies, then it will be similar to the camel that gradually enters the tent, and it ultimately kicks the owner out, leaving him on the streets! Today the world is talking about democracy but no one is implementing it in the right way. The state of Jammu and Kashmir like their autonomy, and India stands like a villain on their way, and boycotts them in many ways.

May Allah help the people of Jammu and Kashmir, be it Muslims, Hindus and Christians, and people of other religious faiths, so that they may retrieve their rights again and Insha-Allah, Allah will show His support for the truth and wipe out all falsehoods and the malicious conspiracies of the wrongdoers. Insha-Allah, Ameen.

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In Burma : The death toll of a landslide caused by the monsoon in eastern Burma has increased to more than 51 deaths, while rescuers continue to search for the missing.

In China : The death toll caused by typhoon Lekima in eastern China has risen to more than 45 deaths as rescuers search for the missing, and more than a million people were evacuated.

In India : Floods continue to ravage India. While the southern states of Karnataka and Kerala are still dealing with the destruction, northern India is now bracing for the worst.

There are six states reported to be affected by flood so far – Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. At least 251 people have died and over 20 people are missing in northern Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra, with several thousand evacuated.

Humanity is facing great trials. Humanity is suffering, and we, as humans, and especially as Muslims, must help humanity as the future of the world rests on our goodness. It is us who must give the best example, and help build a better world. Humanity is us, and if humanity suffers, we suffer too. 

We pray that Allah will have mercy on all of us as one nation, and that people will understand that taking the wrong path [the crooked path] does not bring any good. On the contrary, it only brings hatred, destruction and desolation. 

So, we must do our best to help our neighbour, [our fellow citizen (of the world)] and we must do our Dawa (invite people to Allah - the One God) so that the world knows their true God and can turn to Him and worship Him and do the good that will bring him closer to his Creator. Insha-Allah, Ameen.

To read the first Part, click here.