2011: Unfortunate, Tragic And Painful

Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society today reviewed the overall situation in the year 2011 and again termed it as tragic and unfortunate year for Kashmiris. The body provided a detail data and statistics

TOTAL KILLINGS

Year 2011 has just passed, and many have declared this year, a peaceful year in Jammu and Kashmir. Of course, assertions of peace by various quarters are relative. Enforced silence cannot be construed as peace. Despite the hype of peace, people of Jammu and Kashmir have witnessed unabated violence, human rights abuses, denial of civil and political rights, absence of mechanisms of justice, heightened militarization and surveillance. The figures of violent incidents suggest that 2011 as usual has been the year of loss, victimization, mourning and pain for the people, the report said.

The report also said that in 2011, a total of 233 people have lost their lives due to violent incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of 233 persons, 56 were civilians, 100 were alleged militants, 71 armed forces personnel and 6 were unidentified persons and counter insurgent renegades.

Out of the total 56 civilians killed this year, 11 were students, amongst whom 7 were minors. Also amongst the civilians killed 6 were women.

UNMARKED GRAVES AND MASS GRAVES

The body once again raised the issue of mass graves in their brief report and said that this year has been very significant for those struggling against the human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir. “It is for the first time a state institution like State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) endorsed the findings of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and International People’s Tribunal for Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) regarding the presence of unmarked graves and mass graves in north Kashmir, besides acknowledging the possibility of burial of some of the people subjected to enforced disappearances in these unmarked graves and mass graves,” the report added.

So far APDP/IPTK has submitted the prima-facie evidence of 6217 unmarked graves and mass graves in 5 districts; Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Poonch and Rajouri. While as the SHRC has acknowledged existence of 2156 unmarked graves and mass graves in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora. The SHRC inquiry in Poonch and Rajouri is not yet concluded, the report firther said in its findings.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

The report also accused state government for not initiating any step to solve the saga of ‘enforced disappearances’, this year APDP submitted a list of 1417 cases of enforced disappearance to the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and urged the government to inquire into all the cases of enforced disappearances, but so far the government continues to be indifferent.

Enforced Disappearances is not an issue of the past. People have disappeared even in this year. Atleast 2 persons, Susheel Raina of Aishmuqam, Anantnag and Nisar Ahmad Banday of Chechal, Banihal disappeared this year. The government as usual has failed to initiate any conclusive investigation into those who disappeared this year.

Successive governments have given contradictory statements about the total number of people ‘missing’ in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2002, the National Conference government said 3184 persons are ‘missing’, then in 2005 Peoples’ Democratic Party led government claimed 3931 persons were ‘missing’ and in 2009 the present National Conference led government divulged that 3429 persons are missing in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. In this context APDP on 7th October 2011, applied for information under Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009 from the State Home Department for providing all the lists of ‘missing persons’ as claimed by various governments. More than 2 months have passed the state government has failed to provide any information regarding the contradictory figures of ‘missing persons’ divulged by various governments on the floor of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

CUSTODIAL KILLINGS

The JKCCS in its brief report submitted the alleged custodial and extra-judicial killings in the state. “The year 2011 has not been free of custodial killings and fake encounters. 7 persons were allegedly killed in custody. In all the cases of custodial killings, the government has failed to either prosecute or conduct an impartial conclusive investigation. Whether it was the killing of Ashok Kumar, a mentally challenged person who was killed in a fake encounter in Surankote, Poonch or the killing of Nazim Rashid of Sopore who succumbed to custodial torture or the custodial death of ruling National Conference party worker, Mohammad Yousuf, who died after he was handed over by the Chief Minister to the Crime Branch officials, the practice of impunity is consistent. No credible investigations have been carried out, thus creating space for cover ups, which otherwise also is the norm in Jammu and Kashmir” the report said.

JKCCS on 4th August 2011, had filed an RTI application for seeking information regarding the investigations being conducted in the killing of Nazim Rashid of Sopore, but so far the Jammu and Kashmir Police has failed to provide the information.

PROBES AND INQUIRIES

Questioning the probes and inquiries the JKCCS said that in 2011, the government has ordered 8 different probes on various human rights abuses. So far no probe has yet yielded any results, which is nothing unprecedented as even in the past probes have been announced by the government to neutralize the public pressure. From 2003 to 2011, different governments have appointed 151 probes but justice remains elusive.

The report alleged the state government for its non-seriousness and said: “It appears the basic objective of the government to appoint probes is not to convict perpetrators but to only deflate the public anger. If perpetrators would have been punished as a result of meaningful and effective probes in the past, it would have helped in creating deterrence for the recurrence of these crimes. We urge the government to ensure that investigations and probe should not be politically motivated, but aimed at holding the perpetrators accountable.”

KILLINGS OF POLITICAL WORKERS

Condemning the killings of political workers and attack on people’s lives JKCCS expressed its shock and termed the killings unfortunate incidents. The report stated that killings of civilian political workers continue to be an unabated phenomenon. In the year 2011, we have recorded killings of 8 civilian political workers. 4 out of the 8 political workers killed belong to ruling National Conference party, 2 were from Indian National Congress, while as 1 belonged to Peoples’ Democratic Party and Moulvi Showkat Ahmed Ahmed Shah of Jamiat Ahle-Hadith. Killings of civilian political workers at the hands of state or non-state actors, is completely unacceptable. Killing of civilian political workers only creates a culture of intolerance and chokes dissent. It is therefore, JKCCS has been urging all the combatant forces – Indian military forces and the members of United Jehad Council to refrain from killing any civilian political workers.

JKCCS appreciated the speedy probe of death of Molvi Showkat Ahmed Shah. “Somehow government was very quick in probing the death of Molvi Showkat Ahmed Shah, which is a welcome step, but investigations into the killing of 7 other civilian political workers have not yielded any results so far.”

JKCCS demands an impartial and independent investigation into all the killings of civilian political workers. Impartial investigations would help bringing the perpetrators to justice and also act as a deterrent.

SUICIDES AND FRATRICIDES BY ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL

Suicides and fratricides by the personnel of the Indian armed forces, continues to exist as an issue in the year 2011. This year 15 armed forces personnel committed suicides in Jammu and Kashmir due to unknown reasons and another 9 were killed in fratricidal incidents of violence.

TORTURE/HARASSMENTS/ILLEGAL DETENTIONS

The paranoia of government regarding the summer uprising of 2010, was very evident this year in the actions taken by the government. Even in 2011, when there was no apparent street uprising, hundreds of boys were detained on the pretext of being stone pelters. These young boys are subjected to torture, intimidation and harassment. In many police stations boys are illegally being detained; sometimes for few hours and sometimes for few days. Some boys are regularly being called to police stations on one pretext or the other. There is complete disregard towards the juvenility of the boys being detained. This year many minors were arrested on charges of stone pelting.

In some cases people alleged that police officials have been demanding ransom for releasing these boys who were illegally detained in various police stations.

RAPES AND MOLESTATIONS

State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) passed a judgment on the Kunan Poshpora mass rape case of 1991, demanding re-opening of the case and also filing a case against the then Director Prosecutions. It is for the first time a government institution has acknowledged this mass rape incident. It took state 20 years to acknowledge the crime and it isn’t clear how long government will take to convict perpetrators.

This year in Kulgam area of south Kashmir, there was an allegation of rape, where a woman alleged that she was raped for 2 days. The way police conducted investigations into this case and also kept the family literally under house arrest, raised more suspicion against the government.

Fear and social stigma makes it difficult for the victims to report the rape or molestation cases. One such case, by coincidence came into the notice of JKCCS in north Kashmir this year where the rape victim did not want to report her victimization. In the month of February a woman (identity withheld) from north Kashmir was allegedly raped in police custody infront of her husband. The husband was kept under detention as a hostage so that his wife would not report her case. The woman did not want to file complaint as she had no hope of getting justice and also was worried that by filing the case she would endanger her husband’s life.

IMPUNITY

Government of India has been claiming that despite the imposition of AFSPA, mechanisms of justice are functional and deliver whenever anyone is found indulging in human rights abuses, but facts provided by the state institutions this year contradict the claim of the Indian state.

In a reply to an application under Right to Information Act by JKCCS, the State Home Department of the Jammu and Kashmir government on 6thSeptember 2011 claimed that from 1989 to 2011, they have applied for sanctions for prosecution from Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs under section 7 of AFSPA in 50 cases only. Out of these 50 cases, 31 pertain to Ministry of Defence and 19 others have been sent to Ministry of Home Affairs.

Within these 50 cases stated to be applied by the State Home Department for sanctions under AFSPA, sanction for prosecution is awaited in 16 cases and declined in 26 cases. The State Home Department claimed sanction for prosecution has been recommended in 8 cases. A deeper study of these 8 cases where the State Home Department says that the status is “recommended”, it appears that the information given is incorrect as the cases according to Defence Ministry are still in the category of “under consideration” or sanction has been declined.

Above facts reveal that the provision of sanctions for prosecution under AFSPA is a fig leaf and the truth is that there is 100% impunity for the soldiers operating in Jammu and Kashmir.

In the context where in Jammu and Kashmir we have more than 8000 cases of enforced disappearances, thousands of cases of custodial killings and fake encounters, thousands of cases of rape and molestation and thousands of cases of torture etc; applying for sanctions for prosecution in only 50 cases speaks volumes about the seriousness shown by the State Government so far for protecting the human rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir.

This year there have been voices raised by politicians regarding the revocation of AFSPA, which is also aimed at generating an impression that human rights violations will end by the revocation of AFSPA. The fact is that Jammu and Kashmir Police has been an equal partner in crimes committed on the people. The Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel also have been responsible for a huge number of human rights abuses.

The armed Village Defence Committees (VDCs), Special Police Officials (SPOs), and the counter insurgent government sponsored militias like Ikhwan have also been responsible for perpetrating heinous crimes. Which law allows the creation of these groups? Which law encourages them to perpetrate human rights abuses? Which law sanctions their impunity? It is the law of lawlessness.

Revocation of AFSPA from some areas would not help in ending the human rights abuses as the sense of immunity in the soldiers is not derived from laws but from the political culture of impunity, for which State Government and the Government of India are largely responsible.

The government should help the processes of justice and help prosecute officials accused of human rights abuses. The mechanisms of justice which have been forced to not function by the government should be empowered to punish the guilty, which would be a meaningful confidence building measure for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

We urge the Government of India to end the culture of impunity and not just AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir.

KILLINGS DUE TO UNEXPLODED SHELLS AND LANDMINES

This year 8 persons have lost their lives in explosions, which were caused due to unexploded shells used during counter insurgency operations and 1 out 8 deaths was reported due to landmine explosion.

ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS OF JUSTICE

State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has tried to assert its existence by passing some very significant judgments this year. Prominent amongst the cases where SHRC passed the judgements was the case of unmarked graves and mass graves in north Kashmir, Kunan Poshpora mass rape case and the plight of prisoners languishing in various jails across Jammu and Kashmir. Besides these judgments SHRC has been actively helping in the cases to provide ex-gratia relief.

Judiciary in Jammu and Kashmir continues to show an abysmal performance and has failed to live up to the expectations of the victims. Amongst the people of Jammu and Kashmir disillusionment regarding judiciary is at its lowest, as it has failed in holding perpetrators accountable. Notwithstanding the powers to protect life and liberty of citizens, judiciary has disappointed people of Jammu and Kashmir. Judicial activism for protecting the civil and political rights and seeking accountability from the state actors is very apparent in India, but it seems to be completely absent in the Jammu and Kashmir judiciary.

Graffiti: Expression Unadulterated

Guest Post By: Imran Muzaffar

The ‘Palestine-imitated’ ubiquitous form of expression – graffiti, which remained the mostpowerful tool of expression for messengers in the Indian Administered Kashmir to assure that their ‘freedom struggle’ memos are conveyed to public directly without any censorship, during the times of unrest and media gag, have now been either rubbed off completely from the walls of the different constructions of Valley or have been overwritten, distorting the ‘original’ messages used by Kashmiris as a means of resistance.

Graffiti writers of Kashmir, who wish to remain anonymous, say that they had used it as a form of true information sharing approach for their Kashmiri brethren, when they were deprived of every other medium.

Shakeel Ahmad, (name changed), a painter, has been scrawling Graffiti for the past eight years. He maintains that, they (Graffiti makers) were serving a duty to educate and inform their people in the times of ‘misleading and wrong information.’

“Mainstream media will never say a word of truth. In 2008 and 2010 when our brothers were falling to the bullets of security forces, people remained uninformed about the real stories. We used graffiti as an alternative channel to the mainstream media, to disseminate the true information, which often was kept back by the latter. Somehow we succeeded”, he says.

“The government is engaged with Graffiti rubbing drive, but it will hardly upset the sense of message. The matter of the fact is that, it is there and will remain ever”, Shakeel says.

Be it the teachers or students, parents or their children, there is no hesitation when it’s about expressing the undercurrents of resentment against the authority through the means of Graffiti. Women also take part when the circumstances demand.

“Everyone among us is a Graffiti writer”, says Rouf Ahmad (name Changed). This form of expression, according to him has been imitated from Gaza, Palestine. “We have imitated it from brave Palestinian brethren who, like us, are also fighting for a true cause”, he says.

In reaction to the rubbing Graffiti drive of authorities on the walls, in a sense to distort the message, they say that graffiti does not either breach the constitution or break any international law.

“There is nothing wrong in this form of protest. Why are they rubbing graffiti off the walls? They bear true messages. The frustration stares obvious in their (authorities) faces. Graffiti does not break any law; it lies under the purview of ‘freedom of expression’”, adds Rouf (name changed).

Writing on the wall being vivid and uncensored, another Graffiti writer says that their focus also remains at tourists and outsiders who might understand their sufferings. “We write them directly our true state of affairs without any hidden discourse. We write from our hearts our true messages. We tell them stories in one line so that they may understand our pain and agony”, says Mohammad Waseem (name changed).

Waseem says that he has no fear of being caught or booked, for writing on the walls gives him internal satisfaction. “I do not fear anybody. I do my duty. I tell truth to my people”. He articulates.

The Sher-e-Khaas of Srinagar City - Nowhatta and its nearby area - Hawal, during the summer unrests of 2008 and 2010, were most popular in graffiti writing, with every wall being painted or sprayed with one-liners.

An amateur graffiti writer in Nowhatta says that he had a deep hatred against those who had killed his friends. “My writing on the walls was resentment against those who mercilessly killed my innocent friends”, says Ishfaq (name changed), a class 11 student.

“Their distorting of messages does not bother us. They are actually insulted by these kinds of writings as they are open. I will write again till our suppressors are brought to book,” he says.

The clique of graffiti writers have even tried to convey the message of resistance to high-profile people, who visit the valley to observe the situation at different times.

“The walls from Airport side are full of messages which are for those high profile people who visit the valley in order to understand problems and aspirations of people here”, says Wahid Gul (name changed), an artist, adding that he will never stop writing on the walls.

Taking a look back at the history of movements, where graffiti had been one of the influential tools of expression, a professor of English says that graffiti has played a significant role in framing and at times changing public opinion.

“We use graffiti in teaching people about the facets of life. It may be a word of resentment or any message which has a vast impact. Students use it for social awareness. University federations across India extensively use graffiti to inform students about the important issues,” says Dr. Mohammad Aslam, professor of English.

He says that it is difficult to rub graffiti and suppress the message it gives. “Nobody can rub the hidden part of graffiti. Even a rubbed graffiti speaks a tale. It makes people curious to understanding that some significant and resentful messages are hidden behind the rubbing stokes”, Says Mohammad Aslam.

A tourist from Rajasthan, who had been on a visit to enjoy picturesque Valley, says that he can perceive the trauma and judge emotions of Kashmiris through writings on the wall. “It is vivid and clear from their writings that they are in a conflict. They speak their heart out”, says Santosh Raina, a software engineer.

Graffiti, according to a research scholar, is a common man’s writing which he writes in order to transform true messages to others in an alternative away, through a different medium which is accessible to all. “It is just an anonymous person’s expression who just writes his state of mind to inform others or for that matter teach them. Its main aim being motivating people”, says a journalism researcher on Graffiti, Arif Bashir.

This new clan of supposedly free writers say that they shall continue with the writings till they properly inform people about the truth. “As this form of writing is purely legal and without censorship, we will never stop informing people about the pros and cons of struggle and peoples’ sufferings. The most unproblematic of the things is that graffiti does not go against any constitution”, says Shakeel.

Who Wants Autonomy?

Guest Post By: Zahir-u-Din

Kashmir is a place where `separatrism' still sells. Even senior Congress leaders have admitted this harsh reality. The mainstream parties in the state have to pursue a `separatist’ agenda in Kashmir because it sells here

Who wants autonomy in Jammu Kashmir? The people of Jammu hate it, Ladakh has already got it and in Kashmir it is a non-Issue. And, is New Delhi interested in restoring autonomy to the state?

History is witness to the fact that the Jammu people hated autonomy. They launched an agitation seeking Eak Nishaan, Eak Pradan and Eak Vidaan (One flag, one prime minister and one legislature).

The Bhartaya Janata Party (BJP) and Panthers Party (PP) MLAs registered strong protest on March 17 this year over intended change of nomenclature of the top posts in the state. They warned against any compromise on the unity and integrity of the country. There is no denying the fact that the National Conference believes that autonomy was the best solution to the vexed problem. How to achieve the goal? Can it be granted by the prime minister and his cabinet? According to constitutional experts, the government has to go to the Parliament and amend the constitution, or re-induct the omitted articles that spoke about autonomy of the state. This also is not possible. The government lacks the numbers required for passing such amendments. The opposition shall oppose such move tooth and nail for obvious reasons.

There is no denying the fact that the population of Jammu division is heterogeneous. A good number of people identify with the Valley. To put it plainly they are interested in Azadi and not autonomy.

The people of Ladakh stand for total merger with India. Of course some voices of dissent have been heard here and there in the cold desert but such feeble voices hardly make any difference. They want to get rid of what they call Kashmir hegemony. The civic body created a political storm in the state by adapting a new symbol and abandoning the use of state flag. While the commoner in Kashmir and Jammu remained indifferent to the issue, the main opposition party of the state, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a serious note of the development. The PDP president, Mahbooba Mufti said it was an act to dilute the special status of the state. "Any act aimed at diluting our special status shall be vehemently opposed", she said. Political circles equated it to the beginning of trifurcation of the state. "The LAHDC has taken a decision which the Legislative Assembly cannot afford to take", said a Srinagar based lawyer. The chief minister, however, played cool. "The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) is as good as a municipality and like Srinagar Municipality it has a right to have its own logo and flag. The chief minister further said that he was watching the developments. "I am watching the developments. A final decision shall be taken after ascertaining the facts", he said. The chief minister’s `casual’ comments evoked some sarcastic remarks.

"Yes, Srinagar Municipality has its own symbol but it does not take political decisions", said an agitated University teacher. According to him, the Srinagar and Jammu municipalities are even scared of poisoning the stray dogs. The Srinagar Municipality had procured poison worth Rs 15 lakh a few years ago but it could not be administered to the canines for fear of the animal rights defenders. Almost seven months have passed since the LAHDC adapted the new symbol. The chief minister has not taken any action. According to informed sources, the chief minister does not want to add to his woes by annoying the Leh people at this juncture. The State flag, it may be mentioned, has been evoking heated discussions for the past few years. While LAHDC has taken the bold decision, the people of Jammu have always resented the state flag. They want Eak Nishaan, Eak Pradhan and Eak Vidhaan.

Restoring autonomy, political experts believe, is simply impossible for New Delhi at this point of time. According to them, "Jammu Kashmir is a very sensitive issue. The gullible people in India believe that Jammu Kashmir binds them to the Indian union. Therefore, developments in the state are viewed with extreme caution and interest. Scores of states in India are up in arms against New Delhi. Some demand absolute sovereignty and some are unhappy with the system. Granting autonomy to Jammu Kashmir, therefore, will have a serious bearing on government of India. It may end up in a change in the pattern of governance. Is India prepared for a federal system of governance? This perhaps is the reason that the BJP government did not consider National Conference’s autonomy document."

And in contemporary Kashmir, it is a non-issue. Barring a few National Conference leaders nobody is interested in autonomy in Kashmir. It (Kashmir) is a place where `separatrism' still sells. Even senior Congress leaders have admitted this harsh reality. The pro-Indian parties have to pursue a `separatist’ agenda in Kashmir because `separatism’ sells in Kashmir. This is a harsh reality and the pro-Indian groups have understood it.

On May 10 last year, veteran Congress leader, Ghulam Rasool Kar while addressing a convention at Sopore made a landmark statement. He said: "Every Kashmiri is emotionally attached to Pakistan whether they are in Congress or National Conference", he said. He also said that every heart in Kashmir (including his) beats for Pakistan.
Kar made this statement as senior Congress leaders watched helplessly. He urged the Congress leadership to accept this harsh reality. "Congress should have cordial relations with Pakistan. The party must strive for resolution of all disputes with Pakistan especially the dispute on Kashmir", he suggested.

He also urged the government of India to start a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan. He said: "I am an Indian but I am pained to see Pakistan in trouble. When a Pakistani gets killed in a bomb blast, my eyes get moistened automatically. This is how every Kashmiri feels."

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been accused of nurturing `separatist’ tendencies from the very beginning. The PDP Chief Mahbooba Mufti emerged more `separatist’ than the `separatists’ at times.
The National Conference also played the separatist card last year. Unnerved by the agitation, the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah caused a political storm in the subcontinent by challenging the totality of accession during his address in the Legislative Assembly.

Omar was accused of failure to deliver. Even New Delhi talked about `trust deficit’ and `governance deficit’. During the agitation, a harsh reality dawned on Omar Abdullah. ` You have to pursue a separatist agenda in Kashmir’. And that is exactly what Omar did.

He is the first Chief Minister who rejected totality of accession on the floor of the house. He even went to the extent of saying that Jammu Kashmir was an issue with international dimensions. "Jammu Kashmir has not merged into India. The accession is temporary and conditional", he said.

Community First "Falahudarien"

Baramulla’s unique charitable organization has made a name for itself. Inam Ul Haq reports on the men behind the mission.

On a chilly afternoon in 1999, perhaps around the beginning of Chilaikalaan, a few likeminded friends from Baramulla, distressed by ‘social evils and degrading values’ met in a dilapidated room to find a way out.

These ten men in their mid 20s decided to provide moral and religious teachings to young men and women of their town. But soon, they realized that only “preaching” isn’t enough.

“There are widows with small kids with no means to feed them. How can we preach morality when people have empty stomachs? These people get forced into different kind of evils and wrongdoings. So we decided to contribute from our own pockets and help them first,” said Suhail Ahmad Kar.

These thoughts eventually led Kar and his friends to form The Idarah Falahudarien with the aim to build an ideal Islamic society – honest and charactered – in Baramulla.

“Our community has appreciated us for this small effort of ours, and youth have especially been volunteering themselves for this benevolent cause,” said Kar, who is a founding member of the organization and a government employee by profession.

With more than 200 volunteers, Falahudarien now distributes more than 5 million rupees per year to the needy and destitute of Baramulla town.

Presently, Falahudarien is providing financial assistance to more than 250 families per month; helping unemployed youth setup their own income generating units and provide basic housing facilities for the houseless families of the town. The organisation also generates awareness about the menace of drug addiction and provides helping hand to the poor parents in marrying their daughters.

Falahudarien, a social and welfare organisation, has a different modus operandi, which is not just providing money or one time support to a destitute family. Idarah does not even run an orphanage, rather it provides need based support, said Fayaz Ahmad Mir, president of the organisation. It has a wing of Mawneen (supporters). Each Mawin, assigned to a Mohallah, goes to each needy family, discuss with them and assess the need of the every month and provide help accordingly.

“It is a sustained effort. We help orphans or poor children for their complete schooling even until they reach university level,” said Mir. “Their tuition fees, books, uniform or any other expenditure is provided until they need it. We have some students who qualified state competitive exams, NET (National Eligibility Test) and JRF (Junior Research Fellowship).”

Some of the students whom Idarah supported are now working at good positions and are now giving back to the organisation. “They volunteer, and some have even become monthly contributors, making Idarah feel proud,” said Mir.

The organisation has laid down strict principles for raising funds and utilising them. “We do not accept any aid from government, NGO or any other body,” said Zahoor Ahmad Dar, who heads the social work wing. “Our all income is based on the donations of the people of the town who want to help the poor and needy. But all the expenses needed on managing the office, its rent and other expenses related to office and volunteers is paid by the volunteers from their own pocket and not a single penny from donors money is spend on that. No office bearer is paid all people work on voluntary basis.”

To maintain the transparency and accountability, organisation audits the accounts by a charted accountant every year. Besides all the monthly income and expenditure are put on the organisation’s website: www.falahudarian.org.

Though describing Falahudarien as an Islamic center, Mir said, the help provided is purely on humanitarian basis without taking religion into consideration. “We help any person of the town in the need, whether he be a Muslim, Sikh, Hindu or a Christian. And we do not have any missionary motives,” he added.

To eradicate the menace of drug addiction, Falahudarien is holding regular awareness campaigns. Identifies drug addicts and provide them counselling. “We have registered more than 400 drug addicts. We provide them counselling and medicine and take them to district de-addiction center. At least100 people have left using drugs with our help,” said a volunteer, Iqbal Hafiz Ganai, who is doing his Ph.D. at SKUAST.

Ganai said that organisation also organises blood donation camps, provides career counselling to students and conducts general knowledge test every year. Besides a yearly Seerat conference, Falahudarien conduct many conferences to discuss modern day problems and issues. It also publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Tazkeer, to impart moral and religious education among youngsters.

The next goal for the organisation is to establish a state of art Islamic Research Center to conduct research on complicated issues in Islam surfaced due to modernity and technology. Land for that has been already acquired and construction of the building is going on.

Earlier Published On : Kashmir Life

Making A Mark Online

Kashmiris are going online to express and establish themselves. Syed Asma surveys some Kashmiri websites that emerged in 2011.

Amidst the bans and restrictions on mainstream media in Kashmir, youth in the valley are finding alternative spaces to share stories—by starting their own websites.

“We have a passion for writing and it would do no good if it’s not used to tell the stories of Kashmir, for Kashmir holds a galaxy of untold stories,” says Samreen Mushtaq, a part of the three-month-old website Kashmir Currents. It was Samreen’s idea to start a website but she credits her team for making it a reality. Samreen is a presently pursuing her Masters’ in political science from Jamia Millia Islamia.

One day Samreen and her friends visited a woman in Kupwara who had

lost her four sons to the conflict, but had received no media coverage. It was then that Samreen and her friends decided to provide a platform for such unreported stories. “We wanted these untold, unheard stories to be told and re-told. Media [mainstream] often fails to follow up few stories,” says Samreen.

Fahad Shah seconds her view. He has turned his blog into a full-fledged website called The Kashmir Walla. He says organisations have their own pressures to handle but alternate media is the medium for the people and of people. “It reports what mainstream media cann

ot report because of its limitation.”

Fahad’s blog, set up in 2009, came from a need to write about Kashmir for his non Kashmiri friends who did not know much about Kashmir and the conflict.

Online enthusiasts in Kashmir say it is the global reach of the internet that plays a part in them turning to the web for highlighting conflict stories.

Sheikh Saaliq says online media is the main media source in today’s world. He believes repeatedly reporting on Kashmiri suffering to Kashmiris does not make much sense now, and that it is time to highlight these issues on a wider platform so it reaches the larger global community. He considers Internet to be the best medium for this.

Saaliq runs a website called The Vox Kashmir, meaning ‘voice of Kashmir.’ It started as a blog in early 2009.

“My website’s second issue had 15,000 hits in the first three hours of being uploaded, of which only 4,000 where from Kashmir, which suggested people outside are reading Kashmir,” says Saaliq.

The Kashmir Walla’s mention in Sunday Guardian, Indian Express, Mint Lounge, NDTV and Al Jazeera speak volumes about its readership in just the second year of its existence.

Kashmir Currents, The Vox Kashmir, The Kashmir Walla, The Parallel Post and other websites owned by Kashmiri youth came into existence after the recent unrest from 2008-2010. Limits on media during this time compelled them to create their own spaces for expression, they say.

At first, they turned to social networking sites such as Orkut, where they discussed issues with friends and refined their ways of expression. Then they started blogging and eventually turning to sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Each online outlet helped the young generation of Kashmir move one step closer to discovering and developing themselves in the virtual world—and gradually led to independent websites—designed and operated by Kashmir youth.

“We are all Orkut immigrants,” says Saaliq. “These social networking sites encourage us to use them to tell our stories. We have now moved on to more formal and authentic media, e-magazines and websites,” he says.

In addition to giving a voice to unheard stories of Kashmir, these websites have provided an opportunity to many individuals, and given them the chance to show their skills. Each website’s team includes trained journalists, passionate writers, graphic designers, and IT enthusiasts.

“The idea is to encourage new writers who are not established or who are amateur writers. We aim to encourage people beyond their social, intellectual, cultural and political existence,” says Anees Zargar.

Anees is a part of Kashmir’s online magazine, The Parallel Post.

“The Parallel Post also aims to help youth develop skills in various fields like filmmaking, writing and photography,” he adds.

Most of the youth running these websites are passionate to the extent that they sustain the websites with their own pocket money.

Saaliq says, “Tying up with other organisations means that they too will have a say in the content. It increases the tendency of outsider’s interference and may lead to some compromises as well. So, this makes us hesitant of trusting anyone.”

The enthusiastic young website owners say they may suffering on the financial grounds but are not ready to compromise in their content.

PUBLISHED ON KASHMIR LIFE

Forgotten Prisoners

GUEST POST BY FRONTLINE KASHMIR FAN

In the dark cells do we hang around and wait,
To hear the news about the world we hate.
What’s the current situation of the Muslim nation?
Are they soldiers of Allah, or guards at the police station?

Restlessly walking around the tiny mole holes.
Asking Allah to forgive us and protect our souls,
Quiet it is every day and every night
Where are your letters that you used to write?

Life in the cells is indeed cold and grim
Our hearts cry out loud, deep down from within
Why are my brothers and sisters so quiet all the time?

Do you not see these chains around his legs and mine?
Yes we are the forgotten prisoners of today.
All day do we wait to read what you have to say,
The kaafir next door has no trouble at all
His nation never forget him, sending him many letters for sure.
We do not ask for the world, sun or moon,
Only duaas written on paper, that we are released soon.

Paper and pen is all it takes my dear brothers
Do you have no time for those who left their mothers?
Plain are our walls, with only a written Du’aa or two
From our mothers, wives, children, nieces and nephews.
If only the walls were covered with the words which are great.

Indeed when I see the walls, do I shudder in disgrace
What a time I am in, where I must beg for support
It hardly comes willingly – though I wish it would
I cry and I weep, every night and everyday.
Remember me in your du’aas, write to me today.

An ummah of 1.5 billion is just a figure of no use
You enjoy your life as you watch us tortured and abused.
Our situation is no movie, why do you not understand?
Please, write to us – Let us see the words of your hand.
Lonely we are in the cold cells deep
Days and nights are horrid, we can hardly sleep.
Forgotten prisoners we are, our loved ones have all gone.

Though our Lord is always besides us, He is the only One!!

Living in despair, Kashmir half widows hopes still alive

Guest Post By: Yasir Ashraf

Today Javaid would have been celebrating his 37th birthday, if ‘security’ forces had not picked up him 21 years ago. On August 18, 1990 Javaid was taken away for never to return.

During the first years of militancy in Kashmir sixteen year old Javaid Ahmad Ahangar, class 11thcommerce student, was staying at his uncle’s house for the night when he was picked up by the ‘security’ forces and bundled into a vehicle. Till now his whereabouts are unknown.

Parveena Ahangar along with prominent human rights activists founded an organization in 1994(split into two organizations in 2006) Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons to know the whereabouts of their dear ones. Parveena told Agence India Press that, her son was taken mistakenly. “The security forces had come to arrest Javaid Ahmad Bhat, a JKLF militant in neighborhood, but instead picked up my son Javaid Ahmad Ahangar,” remembers Ahangar.

Every month she organizes a sit in protest with others like her whose dear ones are missing. Ahangar says that we are one family: “They are my family, their sufferings are mine, and we fight for same cause. The search of our dear ones,” says Ahangar.

Mothers, sisters, and wives of the disappeared have organized under the association of parents of disappeared persons (APDP) towards bringing justice.

Today they are protesting against the enforced disappearances of their relatives, and one among them is Naseema Bano. Naseema is sitting silently on a road here with a candle in her right hand and wearing black pheran (a long cloak to cover body) to mark the International human rights (December 10) day as black day. She is a ‘half widow’.

Women whose husbands have been subjected to enforced ‘disappearances’ but not yet been declared deceased are often called ‘half widows’.

By conservative estimates there are 1,500 widows in Kashmir.

Indian forces have been accused of human rights abuses against civilians since 1989. By conservative estimates, 22 years of strife have left more than 70,000 dead and more than 8,000 disappeared.

Such disappearances have been carried out by government forces—police, paramilitary, or military—or by militants. However, the number of the disappeared carried out by militants is significantly lower than government forces.

The British Raj, which once controlled Kashmir, a Muslim majority princely Kingdom ruled by a Hindu monarch Maharaja Hari Singh. End of British rule in sub-continent or independence in 1947 split this sub-continent into two sovereign states of India and Pakistan. The two nations have paid with strife and bloodshed to establish their conflicting claims over the disputed region.

Kashmir has signified a major source of tension between India and Pakistan since their birth, 1947, and has seen armed conflict since 1989.

Currently, 4000,000 to 750,000 (the exact number remains unknown and disputed) Indian military and paramilitary remain in Kashmir, making this one of the world’s most militarized regions. The Indian government has passed security legislation—such as the Disturbed Areas Act, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, and the Public Safety Act—giving military and police forces special powers to suppress insurgency and maintain a fortified presence in the region.

Naseema’s husband, a painter, left for work on 21 July, 2000, never to return. She lives in a rented one-room apartment with no curtains and scraps of calendar and news papers over the walls and the ceiling, as if hiding their poverty. She lives with her brother-in-law, her mother-in-law, and her 11- year-old daughter Shazia. Naseema, herself about 27-years-old, is effectively the breadwinner of the family.

She was married to Anwar Shah in 1998; she belongs to south Kashmir’s Islamabad district. They were living happily after their marriage, but their happy life lasted only for two years. Anwar went missing as if he never existed. He vanished as thousands of others like him vanished in Kashmir and get the term ‘disappeared’. She has no clue about what happened to her husband.

Anwar’s disappearance was the beginning of the family’s sufferings. Mushtaq and his Mother, Haseena Bano, who went looking for their loved one, are sent from one military base to another, one jail to another, each suggesting some clue at the next.

They went from pillar to post in order to register a missing report, but the police officials refused to file any report.

Mushtaq along with his mother appeared in the year 2006 to the district magistrate Srinagar with an application for filing a missing report. Again the applicant has filed an application to the District magistrate 16-06-2007. Finally, it was 11 February, 2008 an FIR was lodged in the police post Bona Mohallah, Fateh Kadal on the directions of Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar. The irony of the officials and the judiciary did not stop here, the orders were wrong instead the officials filed a wrong date of the missing, as the orders were given by the CJM himself to lodge a missing report in 2002. But Anwar went missing in 2000.A question mark on the judiciary and casts a shadow over its verdicts so far.

The family felt relieved to get a copy of FIR but the irony of the justice is that they ordered a wrong date of the missing report. “We get copy of an FIR, so we thought it will be alright. As an uneducated how could we see such details? And our lawyer also did not speak about it,” laments Mushtaq.

The family has received no compensation for the disappearance. Naseema’s brother-in-law and mother-in-law made several trips to the District Commissioner’s office, all unsuccessful bear no fruits.

The family has a copy of a confidential report by the Special Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) report from October 2009 that states:

"...as per reports the subject has not come to averse notice prior to his missing."

That is, the CID affirmed that Naseema’s husband was not part of the militancy and is thus not believed, even by the CID, to have potentially left with a militant group or gone to Pakistan.

Naseema no longer hears from her natal family. While her parents are long deceased, her siblings refuse to help her unless she re-marries.

Only a small fraction of half widows choose to remarry. Many half widows do not contemplate re-marriage, believing they will eventually receive some information about their husbands. Even more give up the option of remarriage on account of their children; there is a deeply held fear that a stepfather will never accept his wife’s children or give them his best. And for those who want to remarry, social stigmas around remarriage remain strong, while religious interpretations of the rules around remarriage remain contested, says a report titled Half widow, Half wife? Compiled by Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS).

A well known Kashmiri Sociologist, Prof Bashir Ahmad Dabla, carried out a survey in which he says that one of the tragic consequences armed conflict has been experienced in terms of emergence of huge widows and orphans, 16,000 widows in 2000, their estimated number has increased to 32,400 with 97,000 orphans in 2008.

The research says, having the provision for re-marriage in Islam, only 8.66 percent had remarried. "Rest doesn’t want remarry because they wanted to devote themselves for the development of children of the dead husband."

"89 percent had not married till date and had no intention to marry again because children emerged as the crucial problem,” adds study.

The social taboos around remarriage are cultural rather than religious. Islam encourages widow remarriage.

In Islamic law, Shariah, there is no consensus around the marriage of women who are half widows, because there is no special provision for the phenomenon of enforced disappearances. All major schools of Islamic thought provide different guidance about re-marriage.

However, the concept of ‘Ijtehad’ provides for scholars to extrapolate an opinion regarding any topical issue that has no instance in Islamic jurisprudence, if done in accordance with the context and urgency of the issue and without violating basic Shariah. Thus, though the Hanafi School has declared that a woman has to wait 90 years after her husband’s disappearance but, Maliki School says that a woman either wait four or seven years, and if husband remains missing, without information about his whereabouts even after proper investigation the marriage is deemed to have been dissolved.

“If I get married, my daughter’s life will be ruined. If it was a son, it would still be fine, but she is a girl, what will she do without me?”asks Naseema.

The absence of husbands renders women economically vulnerable. In already socioeconomically weak families, this is the status of most families that have suffered disappearances, such vulnerability leads to destitution.

Generally, the husband is the sole breadwinner in the family and his disappearance results in an abrupt paucity of income.

Naseema works in neighborhood homes, cooking and cleaning and doing domestic chores as required. The money fluctuates and everything she makes is spent on food for the four family members, her daughter’s school supplies, and medicines for her mother-in-law. Her brother-in-law, Mushtaq Ahmed, has a disability since birth and walks with difficulty. He cannot earn for the family.

They believe she is squandering her energy taking care of an ailing old mother-in-law, a brother-in-law with debilitating disability, and a young girl. Mushtaq says that if this family have nothing to eat in the house, but they will never beg.

The half widow is mostly not equipped, educationally or socially, to begin earning for her family. As a result she, as well as any children she has, become dependent on others, most often the husband’s family (given the cultural context where parents live in a joint family with their sons and daughters-in-law, not with their married daughters). In the in-laws’ family, relationships often sour after the disappearance.

“I have no mother, no father, and my husband is lost. Where shall I go leaving all of them?”Says Naseema.

In their desperation, many half widows visit pirs, fakirs, darweshs (‘holy men’), make offerings at Sufi shrines, and some even patronize fortune tellers.

“I have also visited Shrines and pirs to get a clue about him, maybe someday he will be back to his home,” says Naseema.

Amidst this socioeconomic insecurity, women battle their emotional traumas while struggling as single mothers, many of whose children also often show manifestations of trauma.

The various socio-economic pressures together have psychological effects on half widows that largely go unaddressed.

Most half widows report anxiety (often described in terms of “speeding up” or palpitations), sleep disorders, and lack of interest in everyday activities. Many half widows exhibit Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); anxiety attacks may be triggered by memories of the disappearance or the disappeared.

The Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital in Srinagar continues to receive 200 patients a day in its Out Patients’ Department. However, doctors there report not seeing half widows or other family members of the disappeared come in for treatment very often; the families continue to harbor hope without recognizing that retaining such hope has taken its toll on their own mental well-being. Half widows are known to self-medicate, consuming easily available antidepressants, resulting in further health issues. In a vicious cycle, the worsening mental and physical health has adverse effects on their economic situation, which further worsens their social standing and vulnerability, entrenches their isolation and suffering, further compromising.

Valley’s well known psychiatrist Mushtaq Margoob told Agence India Press that most of the half widows have insecurity and uncertainty. “They are always in a state of turbulence, because they are over burned with responsibilities of their children,” says Margoob.“Their whole world changes, their entire life, suffering a perpetual trauma and having extreme psychological agony. Which many times magnified, after months or years, because of their loneliness. They have also hope at the same time. They think Creator’s powers are not limited, it would create a miracle and finally their husband will come back,” elaborates Margoob.

“He always come in my dreams and says he will be back soon,” says Naseema with a hope in her words.

“Agar hai su aeshaa yem maslie ma gasheen” (if he, Anwar, would have been here, there would have been no problems), says Mushtaq in a broken voice.

“I am living on a hope that he will knock at the door and declare I am back,” says Naseema finally.