Governor General Sinha in his over enthusiasm to promote the “Golden Hindu Period” of ancient Kashmir has inadvertently woken up Kashmiri Muslims from a deep slumber and they are headed for yet another upheaval likes of which have been seen earlier also. Kashmir has had two Governors who have inadvertently rendered great service to the people here. One was Jagmohan and the other is General Sinha. Historically speaking during last four centuries there have been many uprisings in Kashmir, which were put down with a strong hand by the outside rulers. In the recent past, Kashmir’s movements have been diluted by machinations, manipulations, and sometimes with brutal suppression. However, like a sleeping giant the people have been rising off and on and the wake up call has been generated by the clumsy behaviour of the rulers. In a way, Kashmiris should be grateful to these chauvinistic Indians who have given a shot in the arm to their Freedom Movement. If Jagmohan can take credit for initiating the Movement in a massive manner, then General Sinha must be credited with fully rejuvenating it! In 1990 there was a nationalistic uprising led by JKLF who had been aiming at an Independent Kashmir. Jagmohan who was brought in by Mufti Sayed, the then Union Home Minister, tried to bull doze the movement. On one hand he let loose a reign of terror to suppress the uprising while on the other he engineered an “Exodus” of the entire Pandit community which had been living in complete harmony with their Muslim brethren for centuries. In fact, ISI, which had been planning to hijack Kashmir’s movement to follow their agenda had been facing problems because of the vast and extensive sources of intelligence which the Indian authorities had created over a long period of time. The “Exodus” of this entire network rendered the security forces totally blind and they had to resort to unpopular method of cordon and search. Earlier they could get pin-point intelligence as their sources existed virtually in every locality in the valley but after the “Exodus”, they were looking for needles in a hay stack. It was like trying to catch a “rogue” fish in a big lake. They had to check every fish to locate the mischievous one! This generated extreme alienation among the whole population and the members of the security forces got automatically brain washed to consider every Kashmiri Muslim a potential “terrorist”. It was during this period that Hurriyat was born as a single voice of Kashmiris struggling for Freedom. The situation was somewhat redeemed by Governor Garry Saxena, the former head of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing, India’s external intelligence organisation). He meticulously rebuilt the entire intelligence network and actually indexed every Kashmiri whether from opposition or from mainstream. It was his clandestine effort which ultimately resulted in the break up of Hurriyat. He was assisted in his task by the other side who too wanted factions toeing their line to prosper at the cost of Kashmiris’ cause. Had Governor Saxena continued for a longer time, he may have succeeded in completely taming the movement. Well, Nature sometimes has strange ways of dealing with the situation. At a time when the Movement was almost fizzling out and the leaders spearheading it had run out of steam, General Sinha has offered them on a silver platter a cause about which Kashmiris are super-sensitive. Historically there are two main things about which every Kashmiri feels very strongly. These are the land and their religion. It is a fact that for centuries Kashmiris had been deprived of their land. They would toil with blood and tears but their produce was usurped by the autocratic state as they did not own the land. It was Sheikh Abdullah who in a dramatic manner in one stroke of the pen transferred the entire land to the tiller. It is because of this historic gesture that people continued to adore him in spite of his political somersaults. They could never forget that he made them owners of their land which they never dreamt even in their imagination! The sensitivity of land can be judged from the violent clashes which often occur in rural areas on sharing of irrigation waters. The land disputes in Kashmir’s rural area are a legend. Thus any encroachment on land especially in rural areas reminds Kashmiris of the worst times they have faced during the autocratic rule. General Sinha has inadvertently touched a raw nerve and has brought the situation back to square one. We may again see an upheaval similar to 1990. The second sensitive issue is the religion. Kashmiris may not be professing Islam like the Arabs or the Iranians but they are very sensitive about any onslaught on their Islamic character. It is a fact of history that all through the last two spells of external rule of the Sikhs and the Dogras it were the Kashmiris Muslims who were treated as absolute serfs. They were the most down trodden and God forsaken people. The first uprising against the autocratic rule in 1931 gave birth to Muslim Conference. All through last 60 years or so the brunt of all problems has been faced by the Muslims. The Islam practised in Kashmir is different in many ways than what is practised in Saudi Arabia where it was born. This is especially true of the Shrine Worship which has Iranian touch. In addition, the Kashmiris practise the religion of Islam without having given up certain Hindu and Buddhist traditions which have been ingrained in their psyche. Outsiders should have accepted and respected our way of life rather than attempted to indianise it which the Governor has been trying his best to do. The religion in Kashmir is also a weapon of resistance to political, cultural, and economic assault. It precisely resembles similar situation which existed in Poland and Czechoslovakia under the hegemony of the erstwhile Soviet Russia. Those people also used religion to beat the atheistic communist Russia. Similarly, Kashmiris find religion an easy handle to beat the so called “Secular” India. The Governor has again touched this sensitive issue by promoting something called by him, the “Sofi Islam” on one hand and on the other he has been vigorously promoting “Hindutva” through Amarnath Yatra. In a way he has damaged India’s cause in Kashmir beyond redemption. A welcome result has been not only the Hurriyat unity but their concern for other issues than abstract “Azadi”. They have for the first time started giving substance to the slogan of “Azadi”. It is hoped that they would not stop at land transfer only but go beyond to take up all environmental, social, cultural, and economic issues which are facing brazen as well as clandestine assaults. They have the capability and the means not only to make people in general aware about these dangers but to lead them for resisting the onslaughts. In the long run, by a strange turn of fate Kashmiris may ultimately feel indebted to General Sinha for waking them up from a deep slumber.