Suspicious of the other

New Delhi, August last year, 24-year-oldUmer Sofi, a resident of Jamia Nagar, was unexpectedly forced to evict therented apartment that he was residing in. Reason being his Kashmiriidentity. He struggled to look for another accommodation since not many peoplewere ready to accommodate him. This incident happened around aweek after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.Like Sofi, many Kashmiris living outside Kashmir have been ina similar situation at some point, more so since the abrogation.

On August 5, the Central government inIndia diluted Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which gave specialstatus to the state of Jammu & Kashmir (now Union Territory) basedon an instrument of accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1947according to which Indian  government could make decisions in only threeareas- Foreign Affairs, Defence and  Communication.

   

Internet and communication services inKashmir were blocked and curfew was imposed, which has been partiallylifted but still continues after seven months. This gave riseto apprehensions and fear amongst Kashmiris living in as well as outsidethe state. Those living away started facing problems in their day-to- day lives,one of which is discrimination based on their identity while looking foraccommodations. They are often either denied accommodation or are asked forexponentially high rents.

Since he first came to Delhi to studyengineering in 2016, Sofi’s experience with renting homes hasn’t been a goodone. He faced troubles before the dilution of Article 370 too but itsworsened post that. “Before moving to Delhi, I had alreadyspoken to a broker and made arrangements to stay in a flat for which I hadalso paid the security deposit. I had all my belongings with me and when Icalled the landlord, he told me that I cannot live there because I am fromKashmir. I was standing in the middle of the road with my luggage anddidn’t know where to go,” he said.

Sofi had to live with his friends till hefound a place for himself back then. He had to repeatedly face such problemsseveral times but the worse was after Article 370 was abrogated. “I was livingin one of the apartments in Jamia Nagar and my landlord asked me to leave theplace for no reason. When I asked why he is  doing this suddenly, hisanswers would vary every time. One day he told me that his relatives wouldlive there and the next day he said that he wants to renovate the flat. I wasgiven only two days to vacate the flat, after which I couldn’t find a placeuntil a month, of course due to my Kashmiri identity,” he said.

S. Shah, a former college student in Delhifaced similar problems last year, more so because she was a Kashmiri anda woman who wanted to live alone. “While looking for my secondhouse in Delhi, which I wanted to be in a quiet place, I faced rejection from anumber of places. People living in quieter neighbourhoods wouldn’t allowKashmiris at all, so I started looking for a place in populated areas withMuslim majority and there too I got similar reactions. It didn’t matter tothem if I’m a Hindu or a Muslim, all that mattered was that I’ma Kashmiri,” she said.

From taunts to typecasting and blatantdiscriminatory remarks, she heard it all. “Akeli ladki, aur upar seKashmiri. Ab chalo akeli hai, magar Kashmiri hai na (A Kashmiri girl who wantsto live alone? For once it’s fine that you will be living alone, but you’re aKashmiri). These are the kind of reactions I got. Some would say bizzarethings like ‘last time we rented our flat to Kashmiris, they broke thingsin the house and kept it unclean.’ Some simply wouldn’t talk on getting toknow that I am from Kashmir.” said Shah.

Suspicious gaze and othering followKashmiris everywhere. They are forced to prove their innocence at everystep. Five years ago, Ahmar came to Delhi to pursue his bachelors inEconomics and back then he and his flatmate who is also a Kashmiri did not faceany hinderance in finding a flat near Kalkaji Mandir where majority ofpopulation is that of Hindus.

Ahmar lived there for two years.However, when he was looking for a flat last year after scrapping of Article370, he faced rejection at several places. “After hearing no fromseveral places, we found a flat in Ghaffar Manzil, where the landlord wasa doctor. He agreed to rent his place to us and we thought that since he’san educated man he wouldn’t discriminate, but when we told him that we’refrom Kashmir, his tone shifted and he said he’ll let us know. A few hours later,we got a call from the broker saying that the landlord is not comfortablewith us living there because we’re from Kashmir,” he said.

Irfan, one of the brokers in Jamia Nagarlocality has several times heard landlords asking him to give excuses to denyhousing to Kashmiris. The reason he says is that they’re suspicious of thembecause of the negative image that has been created. “The owners think thatKashmiris might be involved in illegal activities, they’re all scared becausenobody wants to be stuck in any such case. I think that a few dirty fishes turnthe entire pond bad, the same is the case here,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had saidthat Kashmiris will have the same rights as the rest of the citizens ofIndia, but soon after the abrogation many Kashmiris took to social mediasaying that several hotels denied them lodging citing that it is an orderfrom the central government. “My friends and family members from Kashmirhave been outrightly denied stay in hotels in Delhi after their ID proofswere checked. This has happened several times after the abrogation, despite itbeing against the law,” said 23-year-old Mehreen, a college student in Delhi.

There seems no one reason or solution forthis discrimination. The problem lies deeper than one can think of. Hanan,a research professional and journalist says there’s no fast-track to solvingthis and that various factors are responsible for the prejudicestowards Kashmiris. “Discrimination while leasing homes, on basis ofreligion, caste and region has been normalised in Indian cities. Peopleliving in Hindu majority areas prefer renting their homes to Hindus fromthe same caste and same goes for people from other religions,” he said.

Hanan says culture, eating habits andregion are other factors that are looked at and that in Kashmir’s case, peopleare suspicious thinking they might have a certain politicalideology, different from their own. “Thediscrimination escalates every time an incident involving Kashmir occurs likethe Pulwama attack or the abrogation of Article 370. According to a report in Indian Express,Kashmir was the safest place for tourists in India because the crime rate thereis very low compared to other states but often the media chooses to highlightonly one side forming a negative image of Kashmir and Kashmiris,” he said.

Danish Pandit is a media student from JamiaMillia Islamia University, New Delhi

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