Sincerity Vs Bias / 'Pakistan-Kashmir' Comparison

By a Facebook Page : Kashmir Goes Global- Rises Up for Khilafah

In all of the arguments and their refutations among the people of different factions in Kashmir, regarding the political discourse, some ostensible arguments of those who argue against the 'general concept' remain unanswered in broad terms. The cause of the idea which is contrary to what is generally accepted by people at large can only be discerned whilst studying the nature and base of the dichotomy and the authenticity of the blaims blamed by the blaimers against the 'general concept'. Hence, we will -insha'Allah- dive into the dim, disparagely, to put some light on what is being exaggeratingly associated with us and the bias of the blamers who indulge in deviating the masses to add more people into their illicit and heretic camp.

{Just for those who may vary in the opinion as to what is the 'general concept' ragarding the political solution of Kashmir, i convey to them that it is Kashmir's Merger with Pakistan based on Islamic brotherhood; and the blamers who criticise this idea are our so called "Roshan-Khaya

l" (seculars) people and those who are newly formed, seemingly (as it seems to me), a wall between seculars and common ideological people.}

Lets proceed:

1. They say: "That Pakistan is an occupier of Azad Kashmir and they only want Kashmir's land and resources, Pakistanis dont care about people of Kashmir but just its water."

Well lets say that the part of Kashmir which is administrated by Pakistan is actually occupied by Pakistan, but it rapidly takes us back to the history of the conflict where we find that these were Kabayli Mujahideen of Pakistan who after hearing the Jammu mass massacre of 700,000 Muslimeen at hands of patiala (indian) army and maharaja's army in a joint operation to clean jammu of its vast Muslim population (whose stories of sufferings of muslims if you hear even now, you would pity on yourself from sitting back and not taking revenge), they landed with their ammunition on the border of Kashmir, entered the areas of Kashmir and engaged in Jihad and drove hindu army back from the territory which is today's Azad Kashmir. It was with the help of Allah that they conquered or liberated Azad Kashmir but unfortunately were unable to advance to occupied Kashmir. The lies which have been ascribed to these pious Mujahideen of Pakistan and the way these seculars believe upon them shows the corruption in their Emaan. If only, these Mujahideen had fought hindu forces in Azad Kashmir for the sake of worldly benifits, then we should atleast be able to see some of the Kabayli descendents living in Azad Kashmir in these times or there must be any sign which elucidates Kabayli occupation of Azad Kashmir, the reality is that - they fought, won and left the place to its inhabitants. So where do you see these Soldiers of Allah committing any transgrssion against their Muslim brethern? If you argue on this, then we surely ask you for the authentic proof to defend your claim. How poor you are, O seculars ! how has shaitaan consumed you and has seized your head and has with held you from recognising the truth and rejecting the falsehood.

If Allah has created everything according to His wisdom and Will, then how come you blame Pakistan for having policy against Kashmir's limited resources. It is natural and logical that whatever suffices people for survival, they care for that and try to maintain that. Moreover, it is a phenomenon carved out by Allah that all the rivers of Kashmir should flow towards Pakistan, why do you disapprove Allah's design? or why are you jealous from it.? If we claim that Pakistan only fights for Kashmir because of water, it is tantamount to the thing that Pakistani people would claim that Kashmiri's only want to merge with Pakistan because of rice. Have you not heard anything about 'interdependence', this is not a distant country coming to loot you so your claim would be considered genuine, Pakistan is in our vicinity and we get to see many things we share with each other. If only Pakistanis will utilise their resources, which Allah has bestowed upon them,upto little percentage, they would be able to buy Kashmir and whole of north india from their wealth if allowed. So, even if we stop the waters of Kashmir from reaching Pakistan, by Allah, Pakistan will not be destroyed at all, instead, they will rely on mineral resources which will turn it into more prosperity. You should think of something different to lay blame upon Pakistan and falsely pretend to expose the bad intention of Pakistan. Where do you consider Islam in our relation with Pakistan? This secularism has made Ayaat of Allah obscure for you.

(We have during the passage of time witnessed the emergence of a different class of people, who call themselves as staunh Islamists but disagree Kashmir's Merger with Pakistan for some unknown reasons. It will be more sensible to refute their arguments than countering seculars, as of now, as they are the prime focus of this topic. So lets proceed)

2. They say: " We dont want to merge with a country where there is secular and democratic form of government, we dont want to live with them".

I see much sincerity in your arguments, by Allah, but what prevents you from opting for our merger with Pakistan needs to be explored and discovered. You say there is secular government in Pakistan!, you must acknowledge that the people there are fundamentalists by nature and we dont need to prove that, it is already established. However, i say there is no secularism in Pakistan's policy of governance, there is no freedom of speech against Islam, no non-muslim is a legislator in Pakistan's parliament. There is democracy but not secularism, and the only thing which prevents Pakistan government from implementing Islamic law is their own state of weakness in Emaan but not secularism. Moreover, if you desist from merging with Pakistan only because of secularism then i ask you, "why do you not consider secular population of Kashmir, who openly stand for secularism here?" Will you thow them out of Kashmir after freedom? or You will yourselves migrate to some desert, where there are no people against you? The answer to both these questions is NO, if a muslim is made to enjoin good and forbid evil. The only way forward to deal with seculars in Kashmir is to engage them in religious dialogue and convince them about Islamic values, and if they dont agree with you, the last resort is to fight them and with the help of Allah establish an Islamic state infront of them. Why should we not employ same policy regarding Pakistan, why should secularism or little number of seculars hinder the hearts of believers from uniting with each other? You are talking of Islam minus Muslim unity, how on earth we shall accept this when Muslim Ummah is one Ummah only! We are surely helpless as of now, but that should not procrastinate us and thus make us reject main objecticves of Ummah. Conclusively, the non-existing secularism in Pakistan does not prove your point here, we ask you for furthur reasons.

3. They say: " We dont want to merge with Pakistan because they have miserably failed to establish Khilafah and instead became slaves of United Snakes(states). So, we dont want ourselves to become slaves of america."

This is the truth, but there should be some equipment or process which we whilst using/applying, can tell us if all of the Pakistani people are slaves of america or just few factions of it. Imagine! if whole lot of people of Ummah say that "all Kashmiris are the slaves of india and there is no fun to help them through different means" - you will see them supporting their statement after looking at the mainstream political parties of Kashmir who are generally all puppets of india. What shall be your reaction towards them? If you ask me, i will drag them and get hold of their neck and tell them that all of the kashmiris are not the slaves of india. Similarily, when we put all Pakistani people in the same boat of american slavery, we find that we are unjust and BIASED against the innocent population of Pakistan. We must acknowledge the constant work done by Islamist organisations of Pakistan regarding the renaissance of Islam. When Tanzeem-e-Islami was created, Dr. Israr Ahmed -Rahimahullah- with the help of Allah was able to create 10,000 personnel in first two years, who were ready to sacrifice everything (what Dr. Sahab used to call Tann, Mann and Dhann) for the sake of Khilafah and from that time the number went on an increasing trend, today hamdulillah, we see there are a vast number of people who are totally into this work, sacrificing whatever they can for this pious goal. I ask you, my brothers -How many of us are ready to sacrifice our lives and wealth for the sake of Khilafah. We might recruit a good number of people for this job, but it needs to be organised to carry forward any work, which Pakistani Islamists are very good into, they are very well organised, their work is result oriented and we are '0' in organisation. And besides Tanzeem-e-Islami, Tableeghi Jamaat has done wonders in Pakistan, Jamaat-ud-Dawa has been very instrumental in different fields of Islamic renaissance. How should our conscience allow us to dissociate ourselves from these noble people, except when we understand things in a completely contrary manner? There is a need of analysis on our part about this subject, about which we have always been invariable. If i ask you why are Kashmiris slaves of india? why cant w relieve ourselves from it? Your answer will be simply that, we are living under indian occupation and we are helpless, then we must understand that if we are occupied by one country i-e, india, Pakistan is fought not by one country or two countries but three countries which are India, Israel and United Snakes, these enemies of Islam are trying to destroy Pakistan at all levels, these bombings and all are done inorder to dis-integrate Pakistan. The recent Karachi killings and Altaf Hussein's statements should be enough for us to understand that Pakistan is faced by many enemies within, who bow down to enemies of Islam wholly. Now, you may ask that Pakistan is a failed state then. I do not consider Pakistan a failed state even after this much dejection because i believe untill the Islamists of Pakistan keep working in their way, the help of Allah is not far. And -Naoodbillah- if these Islamists seize their work and bow down to enemies, that will be the only sign for calling Pakistan a failed state. See brothers, i am not supporting the so called government of Pakistan at all, but we should also take into account the support Pakistan government has provided to Kashmir by organised Jihad, financial support and many other things. It is them who trainded our Mujahideen, it is this heretic goernment which have alaways raised the issue of Kashmir when all other rulers and kings of Islamic countries have forgotten it. This ingenuine government of Pakistan has achieved what no other province of Islam has achieved, they have atleast obeyed one Ayat of Qur'an where Allah orders us to gather things of power against disbelievers, so as to strike the enemy of Allah and our enemy. I ask you, how many ayaat of Qur'an have we been obeying? The situation of Pakistan is such that if the Islamists inside it are not supported, applauded and adhered, the Ummah will have to face serious catastrophes. You must not ask to us the questions like, why only Pakistan? Why not other countries like malaysia, indonesia or egypt...?? By Allah this does not make any sense. Allying ourselves with Pakistan does not mean we dont like or love rest of the Ummah, but Pakistan is only more popular in Kashmir because of the nature of its cause, our love for all Muslims is equal to that of Pakistan. Reverberating the word 'PAKISTAN' in Kashmir serves the strategic interest. You must know that why india is providing more ground to seculars of Kashmir. If any political party works without any hindrance in Kashmir, it is only those associated with secularism. This must be aptly understood as to why seculars of Kashmir have more freedom to ask for freedom of Kashmir than other people. The thing is that they are void of Islam and they falsely deem Pakistan as same as india, which benifits none but india itself in a sense that it asks Pakistan to vacate Kashmir and stop raising this issue in any international forum. So at the end india wants kashmir to become its internal issue, so that no one would question them for whatever they do with us.

Furthur arguments...

4. They say: "There is much Shirk in Pakistan, we dont want to be a part of Mushrik state. Let Pakistan establish Khilafah first, end this shirk, then we will think of merging with them".

As for what you claim about presence of shirk in Pakistan, i cant say no there is not. Indeed a vast number of Pakistanis are invloved in shirk like grave worshipping and other things. We must definitely be concerned with this grave situation. But a glance at our own backyard tells us something same. Driving from Hazratbal to Lalchowk in srinagar, we see Mazaars and Astaans after every handspan with people thronging them for worship. We must strongly stand up to finish off shirk from all societies. And coming to your opinion that let Pakistan establish Khilafah first, I cannot dispute this because this is your opinion and it is different than my opinion and this is a thing where difference of opinion does not prove more fatal. I would prefer to merge even with democratic Pakistan for the reason that it will give me a chance to work with the noble Muslims of Pakistan for the Islamic renaissance, who are very well organised in their work and updated about all developments of world regarding anti-Islamic policies of anti-islamists.

However, i think that any prior judgement in this regard does not hold any significance as this depends upon how things will unfold in future.

5. They say: "We want to live as a seperate province and not as a part of Pakistan in a Global Islamic Khilafah"

If in all of your arguments, i see the most valid and genuine demand, it is this above one. But sincerely, this demand needs a specific time to be asked and it cannot be asked to anyone except the chosen Leader of Believers. We as Muslims have a right to ask for such things to our Ameer but only when there is such a system present among us. So for the time, it would be absolutely gracious and appropriate if you brothers would stand with us for the greater good, keeping your own desires, for which this is not the perfect time, aside for a while.

May Allah unite us for His cause. If we ask our enemies that whom they are afraid of the most then they say:

" We have defeated the arabs.!! Now, we have no fear of them at all. But we must have fear of Pakistan that they may rise up and stand in our way against us to destroy us."

These are the words of David ben gurion - Israel's first prime minister, he spoke them in Paris when Israel defeated 6 arab countries all at once in 1967 war which continued for 6 days. This was the time when Pakitan even did not possessed Nuclear weapons.

David Ben Gurion furthur says:

"There is a country called Pakistan. They are the lover of the arabs.These Pakistanis are more dangerous to us than arabs. They hate jews, they want to finish us. They are only second country to have an ideology like us, based on religion. We have to finish these Pakistanis, wipe them off the map, India can help us to finish them. We have to get rid of them, kill them, plot bomb blasts there, send spies. We have only one option.. kill Pakistanis or get killed. Whereas, the inhabitants of indian peninusla are hindus whose hearts are full of hatred against Muslims, throughout history, like those of christians of spain, that they had demonstrated in 1492, by eliminating all of them, after they had ruled them for eight centuries. Therefore, india is most important country that provides the base for us after spain to work there against Pakistan. It is important for us that we exploit this base and strike and crush Pakistanis, the enemies of Jews and Zionism, by all disguised and secret plans."

December 6 1983 speech.

I would not feel reluctant to compare these words of David Ben Gurion with the words of Abu Sufyaan which he spoke at Uhad. It was when Rasulullah SAW and Sahabas gathered on a mountain pass after the assault of Khalid bin al-Waleed, Abu Sufyaan advanced to the mountain pass and shouted:

" Is Muhammad (SAW) among you"?

Rasulullah SAW ordered all Sahabas to stay calm and dont reply.

Abu Sufyaan furthur said:

"Is Abu Bakr (RTA) among you?"

again no reply from Sahabas.

Abu Sufyaan furthur said;

"Is son of Al-Khattab (RTA) among you?"

again no reply from Sahabas.

Abu Sufyaan went on saying: " all of them are dead! and thats why you dont reply me''. after this, Sayyedina Umer Ibn al-Khattab RTA said to him:

"Our dead are in Jannah and your dead are in fire."

The similarity between words of Abu Sufyaan and David Ben Gurion can be easily understood. Abu Sufyaan, a very intelligent man knew that if after Rasulullah SAW, there was anyone among Muslims who could unite them and keep them intact upon their deen, it was none other than Abu Bakr RTA, and that is why he asked for Abu Bakr RTA after Rasulullah SAW, and if after Abu Bakr RTA, there was anyone who could keep Muslims united and keep them intact upon their deen, it was none other than Son of Al-Khattab RTA and thats why he asked for Ibn al-Khattab RTA after Abu Bakr RTA. So my point is that David Bin Gurion knew in 1967 only that if the jews have to fear any other country after arabs, it is none other than Pakistan and that forced him to discuss Pakistan with his fellow zionists even before Pakistan achieved nuclear weapons. Do not think that David ben gurion was foolish, wallah he was as inteligent as Abu Sufyaan, who could easily conceive every action of enemies and their threats and thus plan accordingly. The intelligence of Abu Sufyaan holds high status in history, he escaped Rasulullah SAW and Sahabas when they tried to attack his caravaan which came from syria to Makkah which later resulted in Gazwa e Badr. When some passer by told him that he saw around 300 soldiers marching somwhere, Abu Sufyaan feared that they might be Muslims of Madinah coming to attack his caravaan. So he marched back from other route from where Muslim army had passed before and took the camel dung from there and found that it contained seeds of dates. After that he said: Indeed none among the arabs feed their cattle with dates except the people of Madinah for they have date crops in abundance, so with this he was sure that Muslim of Madinha were following him. so he took other route and reached to Makkah, mobilised his army and met Muslims at BADR.

This comparison must keep us vigilant about the intelligence of our enemies and we must fully employ all sources to withstand them. Now, it is clear to us atleast that if there is any threat to enemies of Islam from the Muslim camp, it is none other than Pakistan. When Sahabas and Tabi'eens would give up their lives in the way of Allah for securing the walls of their fortresses from enemy attacks, should we not stand to secure the most valuable asset of Ummah which is in Pakistan, wallah, if we do not secure this asset, i see this will become highly vulnerable. Instead of dissociating our ways from this asset, we must rally around it to guard it for this is the blessing of allah upon us. If untill this time, Masjid al Aqsa stands, it is by the grace of Allah and this asset of ummah.

Comparatively, we see many things similar between Kashmir and Pakistan, and our blaim against Pakistan for those shortcomings which we also possess ourselves cannot be called SINCERITY at all but BIAS. Furthurmore, i see that Pakistan is better than Kashmir in many faith and conviction based areas, which need to be acknowledged to replace the BIAS with SINCERITY.

Any furthur arguments from any section are most welcomed and shall be with the grace of Allah answered in a decent manner.

Thanks for your time. May Allah bless you and me.

Untold Miseries Of My Land

By: R’ Cayed

All alone I walk to search peace and prosperity,

And I feel like from past two decades I’ve lost me,

In the bullet-shells and smoke gases that roam through my street,

And somewhere a gunman has another to meet,

This is the battleground of a fight of greed,

We have never been asked what we need,

From childhood I’ve nothing to seebut blood,

I walk by the roadside to save myself from this flood,

Nothing but the unmarked graves screaming for attention,

Of justice that keeps delaying in their own destroyed nation,

In my own dreams, each night I wake up and weep,

From the end of 1980’s I’ve lost my sleep,

Whenever I be in candle-light, remembering the past,

I feel like the Kashmiri inside me will ever last.

I live within cries and funerals everyday,

Live within the people, who can’t even say,

Can’t even pen down their wishes and pains,

Can’t even wash-out the blood-stains,

I’ve a habit to get my lunch box checked before school,

Been taught about geniuses when I myself am a fool,

Even my hands are open in the prison but I-Can’t break my rule of never speaking a lie,

Whenever I feel like happy, I go to graveyard,

And stare at the graves, which were dug by the fraud,

I ask myself what for I’m given birth,

And feel like my own life isn’t worth.

Whenever I walk, I need to prove my identity,

When they beat me like an animal, nobody even pays pity,

I learn the scolds when I was bound to fun,

Before holding a pen,

they show me the weight of gun,

As I walk after dark,

they shot me and state it self-defense,

I fall on the road; A schoolboy holding his pens,

How can they call an innocent a terrorist?When even to hold the sand,

we lack the strength of fist,

Each night I’ve a war to fight,

From years I’ve forgotten the pleasure of night,

I never rested for everyday I’ve to shoulder,

Someone whom they again call a victim of self-defense.

Now don’t ask me why I took up a stone,

I’ve to pelt it for my brother,

now Igot a chance to mourn,

I’ve no fear of death; this life’s a curse,

At the end of every day my wound is getting worse,

I throw it at them, without fear and sight,

May be this stone would end my plight,

I stand in front of your gun; it’s time you shoot me,

Remember! I would be dead but still you won’t get the key,

That unlocks the door of paradise on earth,

My sacrifice for my land makes me feel worth,

This is the land of saints and it’s just ours,

This the land for which our forebears kept vigil for endless hours,

Remember O! Tyrant, this is my land,

It would always be mine, sooner shall you understand.

Arundhati Roy Calls For End To Indian ‘Occupation’ Of Kashmir

Renowned Indian novelist and political activist, Arundhati Roy Friday called for the end of the Indian occupation of Kashmir.

Arundhati Roy made a strong case for Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination before an American audience, with an impassioned call for an end to the brute Indian occupation of Kashmir. “I think that the people of Kashmir have the right to self- determination—they have the right to choose who they want to be, and how they want to be,”he said in the course of a discussion on ‘Kashmir: The Case for Freedom’ at Asia Society. “Kashmir is one of the most protracted and bloody occupations in the world and one of the most ignored,” Roy told a large number of people jampacking an auditorium. “While India brutalizes Kashmir in so many ways, that occupation brutalizes the Indians,” said. “It (the occupation) turns us into a people who are able to bear a kind of morally reprehensible behaviour done in our name, and the fact that so few Indians will stand up and say anything about it is such a sad thing.”

She called for the demilitarization of Kashmir as a step towards peace in the region. “Why the international community doesn’t see that when you have two nuclear-armed states, like Pakistan and India, there couldn’t be a better thing than a buffer state like Kashmir between them, instead of it being a conflict that is going to spark a nuclear war.”

In her remarks, she lamented the fact that so little is known about the atrocities being committed by more than half a million Indian troops, the continuing repression and indignities let loose on Kashmiri men, women and children.

More than 700,000 troops were concentrated in the tiny valley, with check points at every nook and corner of Kashmiri towns and cities, The huge Indian presence is in sharp contrast with 160,000 US troops in Iraq, she said.

Two other Indian scholars—noted writer Pankaj Mishra and a Ph.D student, Mohamad Junaid ,from Indian-held Kashmir—also deplored the fact that the international community gave such little attention to the suffering of the Kashmiri people.

Both Mishra and Junaid read out their respective papers containing moving stories of the Kashmiri victims of brutalities of Indian occupation forces. Under the Indian military rule in Kashmir, Roy added, freedom of speech is non-existent, and human rights abuses were routine. Elections were rigged and press controlled. She said the lives of Kashmiris were made miserable by gun-toting security personnel were harassed and terrorized people with impunity.

Disappearances were almost a daily occurrence as also kidnapping, arrests, fake encounters and torture. Mass graves have been discovered and the conscience of the world remained unstirred. Roy attributed the apathy towards Kashmir, especially in the western world, to their pursuit of commercial interests in India where they were more eager to sell their goods than human rights.

India had also successfully used the argument that if it gave up Kashmir, another Islamic state would emerge—a prospect the West feared. That’s why India had made no effort to bring back to the valley the Kashmiri Pandits who fled to camps in New Delhi at the height of the 1998 uprising in the state. “Aren’t 7000,000 troops enough to protect the Pandits?”

“Even as the world speaks about the Arab spring—three years ago there was massive unarmed uprising in the streets of Kashmir,” she said, adding that the Indian army or the security forces were not looking away; they were killing young children.

Roy acknowledged that Islamic sentiment was prevalent in Kashmir, but the Kashmiris were not radical Islamists, Wahabis or jihadists as India portrayed them. In this regard, she strongly deplored the Indian attempts to demonize Kashmiris who were moderate Muslims. She reminded that before his election, President Barack Obama had pledged to resolve the international dispute of Kashmir between Pakistan and India. But seeing “consternation” in India over the remark, Obama hasn’t said a word about Kashmir since, she said, adding that he was more interested in selling military aircraft and Boeings to India.Despite the threat of being slapped with sedition cases, Roy told the Americans that Kashmir was not an integral part of India, as New Delhi claimed. She reiterated that Kashmir was never part of India historically.

Secularism was a misnomer in India, she said, citing the killing of Muslims and other minorities across the country. Was the killing spree in Gujerat several years ago represented secularism, she asked. India should find some other word for secularism.

Lava Of Anger Too Close To Surface

Guest Post By: Hassan Zainagiree

Last year’s spontaneous and massive uprising blew to smithereens the ‘integral part’ rhetoric Indians are hooked to. Instead of respecting the democratic voices of people, Indian political leadership decided to muzzle the voice and curb the dissent through the barrel of the gun. True, for a while, they succeeded in defusing the anger and controlling the situation, yet in the heart of their hearts they are privy to the naked reality that every act of suppression, far from forcing Kashmiris to reconcile to their fate and fall in capitulation before Indian military might, adds to the lava of anger and makes them more furious and determined in their resolve. Dressed in semantics though, the realization is piercing their hearts. Our resistance though they don’t acknowledge as struggle for freedom, nonetheless, in scaling it down to ‘alienation’ they know the brittle nature of relationship. And the close proximity of ‘anger bubble’ ‘close to surface’. And its intrinsic nature of getting exploded. Anytime. How long they can run away from what Kashmircries for. Call it ‘alienation’, call it Intifadah, the destination point is not far away. And stands all visible.

Recently the Delhi nominated interlocution panel submitted its hundred page report to Home Minister P Chidambaram. The report according to official sources, stressed the need fo r addressing what they say ’sense of victimhood’ and genesis of Kashmir problem. It said:

‘Alienation runs very deep in the valley. Anger bubble is close to the surface and risk of mass protests breaking out again is still present…. The deep rooted alienation of youth was underlined by the unrelenting protests and consequent tragic deaths last year.’

The very acknowledgement of the ‘alienation’ on part of interlocutors gives lie to the Indian propaganda that Kashmiris have reconciled to Indian rule and ‘expressed their faith on Indian democracy’ {the leitmotif we hear after every election amidst the boycott call by Hurayat Conference}. It also is reflective of the indigenous nature of the movement and deflates the Indian balloon that the movement is Pakistan sponsored. The amount of violence in movement too melts down before the assertion of the panelists. It also underlines the factor of deep rooted alienation behind the last year’s summer uprising. In a way the panel headed by eminent Indian journalist Padgoankar turns approver against the political establishment which manufactured violence and resorted to ‘give the dog a bad name and kill it’ strategy to suppress the movement.

Read the “confession” again. As gets outpoured from the interlocutors {sometimes pricks of conscience force you to vomit out you want to hide under proverbial seven covers}, it is the fear of Intifadah breaking out again and holding Kashmir in its thrall that continues to weigh heavily on the minds of rulers in Delhi and their lackeys in Kashmir that Kashmir continues to be ruled through regime of AFSPA and PSAs. The fear is also reflective of the imperialistic hold of Delhi, ‘exposing’ simultaneously, its democratic claim. That is why we see leaders like Geelani being deprived of his right to offer Friday prayer in the Masjid and restricted him from holding peaceful assembly.

How Do You Think Of A Mass Grave?

By Suhail Akram

When you think of a mass grave, what do you think? Do you think of it as a warm grassy patch of land in some distant meadow wedged between the lofty mountains with little or no tombstones and just rectangular pieces of clay protruding here and there numbered two hundred fifteen two hundred sixteen two hundred seventeen and so on and so forth…? Or do you think of it as a proper cemetery with regular clearly visible marble engraved names of unknown men on her hazy epitaphs? Something, I am sure must be coming to your mind. What is that?

When you think of a mass grave, do you feel the heaviness of the word mass? Do you weigh it in your hand? Does it choke you a bit? Do you know anyone personally who haplessly in broken whispers tells you that they fear one of their lost one’s might be in that mass grave? Do you know what do they think of a mass grave than what you think of a mass grave? What is the difference? Is there a difference? Who are in the mass graves, by the way?

When your parents said one day that you be around the house and that they are locking you from outside and that they will return in some time, did you feel the scary loneliness in the big house with fear of Djinnslurking there amidst the eerie silence? Or when your elder brother jokingly tried to bury you under the heavy weight of the big Cashmere quilt and it was black and breathless inside and you felt like dying of claustrophobia, or when you heard that you will get stitches on your knee wound you got when you hurt yourself while learning to ride bicycle, how exactly scary did you feel at those moments? Can you elaborate pain in twenty six letters? Can you draw a diagram with exact angles of a mass grave, forty degree here sixty degree there? Which compass will you use? How big will it be? Can you measure how frightened you get when you see a dead battered body, in kilos? How, in units of electricity, I am asking, terribly black and lonely must be it inside a mass grave?

When you think of a mass grave, do you get upset or angry or both? If someone just grabs you from behind, drags you to the nearest ground outside and forces your legs down into the ditch he has already dug for you and buries you half in and half out, how tragic and nonsense would it feel? Or what if , God forbid, he just buries you the other way round, half in and half out but the legs facing the sky and your head and shoulders and your arms buried quite ruthlessly in the ground, would not it be more tragic and more stupid and thus ultimately a more bizarre an affair which cost you your life? That is not done, is it? Why should you be grabbed in the first place? Is there no justice?

When you think of a mass grave, what exactly do you think of a mass grave? After you involuntarily draw a sad picture of a foggy mass grave in your mind, what do you do after that? Do you go to sleep? Or do you rush to have dinner? Or do you go to the toilet? What do you do after you bury the pictures of mass grave into your head? Do you also bury them just like that? Or do you swallow a two fifty milligram Paracetamol tablet?

Do you find it difficult to breathe when the old grave digger tells you the stories of the young men inside the mass graves? ‘There is somebody’s leg sandwiched between the skull and the feet of somebody else’s, sandwiched between the yellowy wormed leg bones of somebody else, all bullet ridden’ how does it feel, if he asks you? What crayons would you use to draw that on a canvas? Where would you buy those crayons?

How many old men are grave diggers? Who is the oldest grave digger? Where does he live? Are his hands different in texture and colour than what you know of hands of an old man? Can you measure the depth of that small wrinkle among many bigger wrinkles on his hand? How deep should be a wrinkle to qualify you to be a grave digger? If some wrinkles are so deep that they qualify to be a bruise or a fissure, do you get more stars, more points I mean? Are there little specks of black clay still trapped inside the rim of his finger nails? If he has a habit of eating his nails, is he also eating the soil of mass graves? Is it a sin to eat the soil of the mass graves? Are there any religious injunctions about it? What does religion speak about a mass grave?

re there any young men as grave diggers? Young men who in their twenties were forced to perform this drudgery, to dig the earth in the dark numbness of a dawn, hurriedly, as quickly as they can, while the soldiers kept vigil and area cordoned. And do these youngsters don faded jeans in the afternoon and nice T-shirts and go to colleges? During the lectures do their books vomit gnawing scenes of red rotten flesh squirming on the text pages here and there, page number two hundred fifteen page number two hundred sixteen, all in front of their eyes? Is their mind stuck with the haunting memories of the dawn and its burial? Do they want to focus on their books and study well? Why can’t they? How does it feel to think of someone inside a grave, leave aside a mass grave? And then how does it feel to think of many inside a common grave?

What handkerchief would you use to keep away the stink of the open mass graves, if they ever open them? Or would you just use the hem of your old Pherans’ sleeve? Would you manage to catch a glance of those small pieces of dried brown mud still smudged on the lower hem of the grave diggers’ Pheran sleeve? Would you tell him to wash it off? Or would you just tell him to curl it up because, unbeknown to him, the dirty hem is constantly getting dripped into his ovalish salt tea cup as he gingerly picks it up towards his hungry mouth?

How many grave diggers are there? How many mass graves are there? Are there any women grave diggers? How red and gory are the scenes in your head when he tells you how he had to bury only a mess of intestines and couple of teeth because the body was blown away? Do you want him to stop telling you all that because you feel it is gut churning? Do you plead, please stop, I can’t take it anymore? And does he look at you with surprise, eyes wide open, ‘If you have come here all the way to know the truth, see it, it doesn’t come easy. Have guts to face it. Truth is like my old shovel I dig the graves with. You got to be strong to hold it…?’ Does he say all this or you just imagine it?

What do you think of a mass grave when you think of a mass grave? Do you curse your helplessness or do you trust your vengeance when he tells you that sometimes he feels like burying himself with the dead itself, that he is tired and sick of all this and he wants to retire some day? What if he had boycotted from burying the dead, what would have happened to the dead then? If it was not for a mass grave, could it have been a more horrendous mound of flesh? Or just scattered pieces of flesh lying here and there, some charred some broken some torn away?

And do you thank him and tell him that his is a thankless unfortunate job? Or in a second thought you tell him, no a thankless but fortunate job, because otherwise it could well have been a horrendous mounds of flesh scattered through the meadows and mountains of Kashmir. How do you thank a grave digger? Do you smile at him? Or do you just shake his old wrinkled hand firmly with his hand cupped inside yours and your head sadly dropped in remorse? What is that you want to convey with this posture? And when you return from mass grave what do you do? Do you rush to have food because you have been hungry? Or do you go to sleep? Or do you go to a toilet? What do you do after you have heard the tales of graves and grave diggers’? Do you just walk, contemplating with measured steps ‘what the hell…’ or do you run? Or do you just walk because you can’t run since you are shy? What if, by now your friend, the grave digger had been shy? Would he have dug just a small ditch and left it there, unsure how to go ahead with his benumbed shivering hands? Who would have volunteered to dig the next grave? If there were none, who would have been dragged out to dig with apt geometrical precision a big fit for all mass grave of mass graves? Where could it thus be located? What beautiful flowers would innocently grow on its surface? What shall be the fragrance of those flowers? Who will measure the wafting fragrance of these flowers in the overwhelming stink of the dead beneath?