called upon to sacrifice

Some human beings need the concrete, the hard reality of life, to make sense of the trials and tribulations that we all go through. They see the cycle of life repeating itself on a daily basis and can talk to what surrounds them(people or things) for help during the turbulence life deposits upon their shores.

Others find solace in relating to an other worldly spirit that they can speak to and pray to for help when they experience tough times. They can blame the spirit when things go wrong and they can reward the spirit when things go right.

All humans find their needs met either in the reality of daily existence or the spirituality of something greater than them. Neither way is better than the other if it accomplishes the goal of helping one through the vagaries of daily living.

From the dawn of humanity whether we believe or don't believe, all of us make sacrifices. We endeavor not to be obliterated by it but we do have a universal custom of giving up something when we understand a benefit will accrue for us or for others.

But can we sacrifice too much?

We can accept unreasonable demands upon our selves to perform in ways that aren't beneficial to all of mankind. We may have to deal with the benefit that accrued being limited in scope for what we thought was a sacrifice could have been judged by those affected as evil or abuse.

Have we been guilty in our dealings with one another, can we as a nation say that our sacrifice hasn't actually harmed others? Isn't every human being, by virtue of his humanity, to be accorded the right to live in peace?

How many warriors sacrifice the sword for peace?

One young, man who has been called a terrorist by many, who admits to killing to reach his goals has put down his sword. Yasin Malik used violence to reach his goals when he felt he had no other options, he spent years in jails, he was tortured and hunted while continuing to fight for an independent Kashmir but gave it up in favor of peaceful means. He has traveled throughout the US, Kashmir, Pakistan and India trying to bring people together for a peaceful transition to independence. He speaks to all in his quest to accomplish the goal of an independent Kashmir, a Kashmir that does not have to be divided between Pakistan and India. A Kashmir that can rule itself.

After 1994, Yasin Malik declared a unilateral ceasefire with India and is pursuing a non-violent struggle on the ground. He claimed there was a lot of provocation from the Indian state: "they killed 600 of my colleagues after the cease fire; they tried to send me back to underground politics. But we've shown a lot of patience." he said.

Patience.

During an interview in 2004 Yasin claimed that:

"Kashmir is secular and it will remain secular. I don't think anybody can change that. Whenever we talk about Kashmiriyat in Kashmir's history, it is not a political institution, it is a spiritual institution. It has taught the Kashmiris to love human beings, and respect all irrespective of color, creed or cast.

"You can find an example of this from the 1947 Partition - when the whole subcontinent was burning. Even in Jammu, where thousands and thousands of Muslims were massacred by Hindu chauvinist forces, it didn't create a dent in the region's secular tradition. And it was acknowledged by Mahatama Gandhi who said: "If ever I've seen a ray of hope and humanity, I've seen it on the soil of Kashmir".

The highest spiritual shrine of the Hindus is in Amarnath. It is a cave shrine that has an ice stalagmite, believed to be the symbol of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration that is revered. Incidentally, not a single Hindu lives in its vicinity of 20 kilometers. It was discovered by Muslims and the custodians are Muslims. Every year, when Hindus come to visit the place, 30 per cent of the charity goes to Muslims for they are the caretakers. Well when the Indian government decided to transfer 100 acres of forest land to the shrine's trust a month ago all hell broke out.

Hindus and Muslims have been killed as a result of the tension, fruit farmers have had the roads blocked making getting to market impossible and separatists are on hunger strikes protesting the land transfer.

Recently Yasin Malik came off a hunger strike protesting the giving away of the land the shrine is located on. The Indian government made the deal and now they have rescinded it in hopes the strife will calm down but it hasn't. i find the whole incident confusing. Western accounts don't detail who exactly the shrines trust represents, i believe it is Hindus? So it makes sense that if Muslims are the guardians of the shrine they would be incensed. But now the Hindus are incensed also because the land was taken back.

Regardless, the meddling by the Indian government caused a crisis in a community that had been experiencing relative calm. Now the Indian government is having to backpedal so as not to further inflame the residents of Kashmir.

Sacrifice should really exist to bring peace to the world and repentance is part of that sacrifice. The Indian government has already started the process of sacrifice by offering to purchase the fruit crop and insuring that the roads being blocked will be opened, a first step in resolving something they started. It only took them a month to realize the error they made. For us, we are still trying to claim invading Iraq was not a mistake.

Until there is a period of accountability in our country the sacrifice we all made for our national honor is meaningless, eventually we will be called upon to sacrifice for that preemptive strike. i hope we, as a nation, are up to the task.