KASHMIR: THE LINES DRAWN WITH BLOOD

Rivers are red; blood is flowing in the rivers from Kashmir. Raja Mujtaba

By Brig Samson S Sharaf

The story of Kashmir is a Greek Tragedy with successive lines drawn in blood. The struggle of the aspirations of the people aside, it is also an endless tale of betrayals, geo strategic intrigues and cantankerousness.  The intrigues within, Nehruvian biases, Patel’s Machiavellism, the Kashmiri uprising followed by the tribal invasion, Radcliffe Award, the divided riparian, accession of Bikaner, Tibet, the Ceasefire Line and now the Line of Control.

If Narendra Singh Sarila the ex ADC to Lord Mountbatten is to be believed, all this was the fallout of the British geostrategic designs to contain a communist Russia and China. He goes on to write, “In agreeing to Jinnah’s project, the British also managed to whittle down Jinnah’s territorial demands to the minimum required for Britain to safeguard its defence requirements”. Plan for smaller Pakistan was not worked out by Mountbatten in 1947 as generally believed but by Lord Wavell in 1945”

Tragically, Pakistan’s unstinted support has been shadowed at crucial moments by the same overbearing allies. When I hear slogans like, ‘Kashmir runs in our Blood’, I often take it a prelude to forgetting the Kashmiri People and putting Pakistan’s interests first. But beyond the true aspirations of the people it also demonises those who played a role to stir the freedom struggle, amongst them, the Progressives of Lahore.

The late Professor Samuel Martin Burke, a founding member of Pakistan’s Foreign and Nuclear Policy understood the Congress and AIML mindsets. His books on framing of Indian Policy elucidate just that. He wrote that accession of Kashmir was crucial to Nehru’s dream of a rediscovered India of antiquity. A Muslim majority state suited his concept of secularism. Fabian socialism held a romantic appeal for the progressives, amongst them Faiz, Mian Iftikharuddin and Khan Abdul Qayum Khan who were also the Congress points men for Sheikh Abdullah, the symbol of resistance to the rulers of Kashmir. The division of Punjab ensured that India retained a land route to Kashmir, control of rivers and important head works in East Punjab. Bikaner, the State with biggest ammunition depots of united India ceded for these waters. In the days of Hind Chini Bhai Bhai and enamouring a socialist agenda, Nehru-Patel even traded off Tibet for Kashmir. These facts blow holes through Sarila’s belated revelations that undermine the struggle for Pakistan.

But the progressives of Lahore once the pride of Congress knew and challenged these motives. The trio of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dr. MD Taseer and Mian Iftikharuddin enjoyed close relations with both GM Sadiq and Sheikh Abdullah. Later Hafiz Jullundri and Maulana Daud Gaznavi also made efforts to win him over to the AIML. This is precisely why Indian historians label these gentlemen as shameless intriguers of Pakistani left and a blot on the history of left movement in the Indian sub-continent. But these stalwart leftist Muslim Leaguers were also a pain in the neck for the feudal Unionists who were to later become the power base of Muslim League in Punjab. Close to the partition and later, they effectively insulated Qaid e Azam from these leftists and later drew their blood through military regimes.

Radcliffe had hit Pakistan’s interests in multiple ways. The Indian plan for annexing Kashmir was obvious. It is debatable if Jinnah knew of the invasion plans. What is definite is that Dr. Taseer and Mian Iftikhar travelled repeatedly to Kashmir to galvanise support in favour of Pakistan.  They found an ally in Prime Minister Liaqat Ali who after the aborted visit by Mr. Abdullah in October 1947 gave the go ahead for the invasion. The invasion plans were a secret shared only with Khan Abdul Qayum Khan, Mr. Aslam Khattak, Khurshid Anwar and General Akbar. Some researchers write that an understanding to levels of over confidence existed between Jinnah and the Maharaja of Kashmir and that Jinnah was sure that Kashmir would join Pakistan. Ultimately, India managed to scare him to submission. Some opine that the tribal invasion was the catalyst.

A careful reading of the Instrument of Accession signed by Maharajah Hari Singh is convincing to the minute legal details. It is a deliberate, well drafted and a sound document seeking to secure the immediate and long term interests of the Kashmir-India Nexus. In no way does it appear to be a document prepared in a hurry when Lashkars from Pakistan were knocking at the doors of Srinagar and Sheikh Abdullah threatening a local uprising. If we carry out an analysis on the amendments in the Constitution of India as regards Kashmir, it is revealed that the progression of amendments is chronologically congruent to the points enunciated in the Instrument of accession in that progressively all control ultimately shifts to India.

Field Marshal Manekshaw’s own memoirs challenge the Indian version and describe the confused state of mind of the Maharaja when he flew to Srinagar with V P Menon to get the Instrument of Accession signed. He writes,

“We went to the palace. I have never seen such disorganisation in my life. The Maharaja was running about from one room to the other. I have never seen so much jewellery in my life – pearl necklaces, ruby things, lying in one room; packing here, there, everywhere. There was a convoy of vehicles. The Maharaja was coming out of one room….Eventually the Maharaja signed the accession papers and we flew back in the Dakota late at night”.

If this be the state of the Maharaja’s Palace, how could he be logically expected to write such a fool proof document?  It is most probable that Sardar Patel and VP Menon with the help of some jurists first made amendments to the 1935 Act (a contravention of the Partition Plan) and finalised the Instrument of Accession.

Manekshaw’s memoirs also contradict the Indian assertion that the Maharaja wrote a letter on 26 October 1947 to the Government of India, the same day that Menon and Manekshaw landed at Srinagar. He also narrates that the entire entourage of Kashmiri Leaders led by Mr. Abdullah and those who later supported India were present at the Srinagar Airport lighting the runway with pine torches to see off Menon. This proves that these elements acted on the beck and call of Sardar Patel and Nehru to scare the Mahraja into submission and that Jinnah was right in ignoring them as double gamers.

The amended Government of India Act of 1935 provided in Section 6 that “a princely Indian state shall be deemed to have acceded to either of the dominion on the acceptance of the Instrument of Accession executed by the Ruler thereof” as a logical heir to the British Crown was legally misconceived. In the case of Madhav Rao, the Supreme Court of India found it strange that India should have claimed that the Government of India inherited any aspects of the paramountcy exercised by the British Crown. Again the Indian Supreme Court in Premnath Kaul and the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, in Magher Singh, observed that with the lapse of the British paramountcy, the princely Indian state became an independent and sovereign state in the fullest sense in international law a stand also taken by Pakistan. As the Governor General, it was Mountbatten’s duty to ensure that clauses of the Independence Act of 1947 should not have been changed by India in the 1935 Act and therefore declare the Instrument of Accession illegal. He did not do it and troops were airlifted to Kashmir within minutes for a pre determined occupation

Published by Opinion Maker

Endless Kashmir Movement

An Endless Journey Must End

By Sajjad Shaukat

India claims that Kashmir movement has slowed down and the situation is returning towards normalization. But since the partition of the Sub-continent, after passing through various faces, this war of Kashmir’s liberation has become an endless movement which continues unabated.

As regards the latest phase of Indian state terrorism, like the past, intermittent curfews, crackdowns, arrests, detentions and massacre by the Indian forces have continued against the non-violent mass uprising (Intifada) of Kashmiris. Thus more than 3000 innocent people have been killed during this new phase of the struggle.

In this connection, on July 10, 2010, a rigid curfew was imposed in most of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK), while shops and businesses were closed and public transport was off the roads after the All Parties Hurriyat Conference declared a strike. During strike, none of the nearly 60 newspapers published from Srinagar for four days.

Rocked by intermittent violence and unrest, the intensification of the uprising in the Indian controlled Kashmir could be judged from the fact that the Valley is now facing the threat of a civil disobedience as seven senior civil and police officers have refused to take up their duties. A large number of officers have refused to accept challenging assignments in different districts including Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara and preferred being posted in relatively peaceful areas of the state. Last year, following the killing of a youth in Baramulla district, the state government had ordered a reshuffle in the police administration.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has urged India to immediately release the jailed persons in the Indian occupied Kashmir and repeal a harsh law that allows detention for up to two years without trial.

The current phase of Kashmir struggle began on August 12, 2008 when Indian forces killed Hurriyat Conference leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz along with five other persons who were protesting against the government decision to give land to the trust that runs Amarnath, a shrine of Hindus.

However, many innocent people have so far been massacred by the Indian security forces in the controlled territories of Kashmir since the new uprising started. It also includes the people killed by the Indian forces in the fake encounters. While, the issue has moved beyond the land allocation to the Kashmir’s Muslims, sparking a massive movement of Kashmiris, calling for their genuine right of self-determination.

Unlike the past, this time, Indian occupied Kashmir has become a special focus of world’s attention including India itself.

In this respect, Washington Post had reported on August 28, 2008, “Despite the government’s use of force, many Muslims in Indian controlled Kashmir seem determined to find peaceful ways to voice their aspirations as the nonviolent movement by the unarmed protesters flourishes, especially among the young.”

New critical situation has also affected other parts of India and its gravity could be judged from the fact that even Indian intellectuals have favoured the independence of the occupied Kashmir.

In its editorial, the editor of The Times of India wrote, “On August 15, India celebrated independence from the British Raj. A day symbolising the end of colonialism in India became a day symbolising Indian colonialism in the Valley.”

The editor further elaborated, “We promised Kashmiris a plebiscite six decades ago. Let us hold one now, and let Kashmiris decide the outcome, not the politicians and armies of India”. It was also admitted that subsequent state elections were also rigged in support of leaders nominated by New Delhi.

On August 16, 2008, Hindustan Times wrote: “Nothing has really changed since 1990s. A single spark such as the dispute over Amarnath land can set the whole valley on fire—Indian forces are treated as an army of occupation. New Delhi is seen as the oppressor”. The paper further indicated, “The current crisis in Kashmir is a consequence of Indian establishment, raising the confrontation to a new level”. It realised that during the present demonstrations, “there is active hatred of India, threatening to further internationalise the present crisis. The world looks at us with dismay”. This Indian newspaper clearly suggested a referendum in the Valley, writing, “Let the Kashmiris determine their own destiny—whatever happens, how can India lose? If you believe in democracy, then giving Kashmiris the right of self-determination is the correct thing to do”.

It is of particular attention that demanding immediate withdrawal of Indian Army from the Indian controlled Kashmir, a renowned Indian author and book prize winner, Arundhati Roy, while criticizing the Indian media had already pointed out in 2005 that it failed to highlight the plight of ordinary Kashmiris, exposed to brutalities perpetrated by the Indian security forces.

As regards Indian delaying tactics in connection with the solution of Kashmir dispute, it has become fashion to blame Pakistan and its intelligence agency ISI for infiltration, using it as a pretext to crush the Kashmiri’s war of liberation which is indigenous as recognized by even Indian media.

Under the cover of ISI, New Delhi also wants to distract the attention of the west from its own atrocities, being perpetrated on the Kashmiris. In the recent past, hundreds of unidentified graves with more than 3000 bodies were discovered in the Indian-held Kashmir. Sources have accused Indian RAW of the custodial killings of the Kashmiri people through brutal methods. In this context, even the European Parliament has passed a resolution, condemning New Delhi for human rights violations.

Since 1989, India has deployed more than 500000 troops to quell the freedom movement of Kashmiris, but it cannot eliminate it at present as it could not do so through many years of oppression. Instead, a study report, prepared by Indian government revealed that Kashmirviolence has been affecting Indian forces’ psyche. In this connection, the report has disclosed that disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir have had adverse psychological problems found especially among the officers and Jawans such as an increase in short tempers, quarrelsome attitude, mental disorders and abnormal behaviour. Sometimes, the situation leads to suicide attempts or attacks on their seniors and colleagues.

Nevertheless, the Kashmir movement has entered the stage of ‘now or never’ due to the failure of Indian continued tactics of state terrorism such as curfew, firing at innocent Kashmiris, killings and arrests which could not reduce the strong determination of the people of the Valley, calling for freedom of their land.

At present, it is a turning point for the liberation of Kashmir as the Valley is burning and bleeding. It is ample clear that India still wants to equate the innocent Kashmiris with terrorism and is keen to continue its state terrorism in Kashmir. It does not show any serious willingness to settle this issue in accordance with the wishes of struggling Kashmiris. Every body will agree that it is the right hour to resolve this old dispute on which Pakistan and India fought three wars.

Nonetheless, the magnitude of the current movement is unprecedented in the history. The slogans for liberation in every nook and corner of India have strained New Delhi since independence. No doubt, Kashmir has reached the phase of solution. Taking cognizance of the new developments seriously at this sensitive juncture, Pakistani and Kashmiri leaders must take steps, making combined efforts to resolve this thorny issue. In this context, Pakistani government, Kashmir leadership, other Kashmiris, living in the Sub-continent and abroad must keep the tea pot boiling by highlighting the dispute, voicing the aspirations of the people for freedom.It is hoped that the day is not far away when the Kashmiris will be blessed with the fruits of independence.

Originally Published on  Opinion Maker

"I am a Stone Pelter "

by : Faizan Rashid

I work so hard for my freedom it’s beyond belief 

When I think of it I feel no fear just relief 

When I hold a stone in my hand I feel secure 

Coz I know, the hurt and pain will be no more 

I wipe the sweat on my head with clumsy fingers 

That smell of tear gas and bullet still lingers 

I think of freedom every day and night 

I know someday it surely will come to my delight 

I hardly care what’s wrong and right in fight 

I don’t love it; I’m just fighting for my Right 

Can’t wait to feel the freedom running through my vein 

Just the dream of it takes away my pain 

Nothing else matter when it’s YOU vs. ME 

I have no men to support but I’m the army 

My land is heaven or the closest I can get 

Until the day when my maker is met 

I don’t care for death 

I just want to be free 

And if you kill me for I ask freedom 

Then let it be…

"I weep for Kashmir from far away land"

Life seemed so perfect. Everything was falling in place. I was joined by a leading businessman seated next to me on a plane from Bombay to Srinagar. We had a conversation about market trends. How to start a business, maintain it and milk the cow for the rest of one’s life. It was a pretty educating insight as on my return home I wanted to start with a business.
I bid goodbye to the businessman as our plane landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Indian capital New Delhi.With nothing to do I plugged my ears with the latest ‘Creative’ headphones I had brought from Lamington Road in Bombay. I played Beatles – Tomorrow never Knows.
The plane took off once more, the rest of a journey was catalepsy of trance playing to my ears. I was coming back home after two long years and in this excitement time seemed to have paced up its speed.Unaware of the events back home, we landed at Srinagar. I alighted the plane waved at my dad who was standing there with a million dollar smile. We hugged and took a taxi back home. On the way, uptown Srinagar was calm considering the fact that last five days had been a curfew and today was a 'civil curfew'. A self imposed stay at home in which people impose curfew like restrictions on themselves to protest the denial of the rights to live.
For last sixty-three years Kashmir has been an occupation. Thousands of young Kashmiris have died, have been killed in the fight for liberation. An armed struggle which began when I was a kid went through different phases - from a popular mass revolt to a conventional guerrilla struggle.
Twenty years, after young Kashmiri boys crossed the border for arms training at the camp in Azad Kashmir, the struggle has passed onto another generation. My generation, my friends with whom I played cricket and rode a bike on the streets of Downtown Srinagar were fighting a brutal enemy. And this fight was unequal - my friends threw slogans at the enemy and the enemy responded with bullets. Taking away lives and silencing the dissent.As the taxi rode on the streets of Srinagar there was not even a single shutter or a road which did not carry the graffiti “Go India Go Back” , “We Want Freedom”.These words were written by a new generation who had choose the path of revolt against a sophisticated form of occupation, which unlike the one in Iraq and Afghanistan, is more cunning and more dangerous.
We enter Downtown. There was smell of burning tires near the Jamia Masjid. Groups of angry men and women faced the Indian occupational apparatus, some shouting for freedom, some carrying bodies of the injured and those killed by Indian Army, some pelting stones and others stuffing a ‘bag full of limbs’ which were scattered on the road.Women were showering the protestors with flower petals and dry fruits from the rooftops and windows. Others were singing folklores for the martyrs. Blood, tear-smoke and the spirit of freedom was all I could see.As we moved on the driver explained to me the events taking place here. How an old man who wanted to hug the dead body of his son was beaten to death, of how tear gas cannisters were aimed with an intention to hit the heads and how trigger happy the Indian soldiers were. How even the funeral processions of people killed by Indian forces were not spared and fired upon.How the dual rape of Shopian sisters took place and how the leading investigation agency of India, the CBI managed to fabricate the lies. They bestow ‘Chakras’ to the soldiers who rape women here, aid them to flee the country and evade law, said an old man I met at the Islamia College the next day.
I ought not to believe all this, not because I had not lived in Kashmir before but due to the fact that now I had spent quite a time in India, with people from India, with friends from India with whom I shared the food on one single plate, and how could I forget the taste of that crab cooked as per Maharashtrian cuisine -- it made me forget my religion.The jam-packed residential buildings had induced a spirit of secularism into me. We drove the same car irrespective of whom it belonged to, my language had a certain twist to it, I had started to speak Mumbaiya (combination of words from Hindi and Marathi).
This dual facet of India was hard to swallow. I grabbed the copies of all the newspapers from past thirty days. I wanted to see and analyze all this by myself. Page after page I came across the innumerous inhuman practices experimented upon the Kashmiri population. I came to know of the woman who was washing blood stains outside her home and how Indian media had edited the scene.I came to know of an eight year old kid with a toffee in his mouth was beaten to death, ruthlessly by the Central Reserved Police force. When his body was taken home, the toffee was still in his hand.I came to know about a neighbor mechanic, who as a kid used to play cricket with me and was a super fast bowler, who had his arm amputated when hit by a tear smoke shell.I felt an acute change taking over my being. It was time to free Kashmir from the shackles of slavery and chains of sufferings. A stone would come handy for most of my friends back home vouched for one.A stone in my hand and courage in my heart that is how we protest the illegal occupation of India at Kashmir, with bare chests and a desire to dance and die in the dust of Kashmir is how we protest the illegal occupation.
In the rain of bullets it takes courage for a mother to send her son out and fight the occupation. I salute the mothers of Kashmir who bid farewells to their grooms when they leave for their last journeys.

By Junaid S

India; Stop Human Rights Abuses In Occupied Kashmir

 By Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan

Why the world is silent on Indian brutalities, will they ever answer this question?

The Asia Watch and Physician for Human Rights carried a joint investigation of human rights violations by Indian security forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir in 1990s. In the summary of the report, the investigators clearly mentioned that; “In their efforts to crush the insurgency, Indian forces in Indian Kashmir have engaged in massive human rights violations including extra-judicial assaults on health care workers. Indian security forces have systematically violated international human rights and humanitarian law. Among the worst of these violations have been the summary executions of hundreds of detainees in the custody of security forces in Kashmir. Such killings are carried out as a matter of policy. More than any other phenomenon, these deliberate killings reveal the magnitude of the human rights crisis in Kashmir.”

From 2006 to 2010, thousands of unidentified graves have been discovered by human rights organizations in various parts of the Occupied State as indicated by the members of the frightened families of those killed by Indian security forces. Most of these graves have been found in the Uri, Baramula, Srinagar, Badgam and Anatnag (Islamabad). These mass graves are of those innocent Kashmiris, who met the fate of custodial killings after having been tortured by Indian security forces. The European Union Parliament through its resolution in 2008, demanded the Indian Government for an independent probe of this human massacre. The Parliament noted that, “It cannot be excluded that the grave sites contain the remains of victims of unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other abuses which have occurred in the context of armed conflict persisting in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989.”

Indeed, EU showed its severe concern over Human Rights in Indian Occupied Kashmir and Indian laws relating to abuses by the security forces during military operations. Apart from emphasizing the Indian Government for ensuring independent and impartial investigations into all suspected sites of mass graves in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the EU Parliament has also stressed for securing of these grave sites in order to preserve the evidence. The resolution of European Parliament has also stressed the Indian Government to make necessary amendments in the Human Rights Protection Act, so that independent and even Indian National Human Rights Commission can undertake the investigation of the human rights abuses by Indian armed forces.

International community and human rights organizations of the world have been frequently insisting India for securing the human rights in its occupied portion of the Kashmir. More recently, Ms. Margaret Sekaggya, the United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on human rights defenders, visited Indian Occupied Kashmir and emphasized India to repeal the barbaric laws, which give its security forces, absolute power to violate the human rights in Kashmir. She addressed a news conference in New Delhi on January 20, 2011, seriously objecting to the laws, giving Indian security forces, wide-ranging powers of arrest, illegal detention and torture to the people of this heavenly state. The UN human rights defender particularly mentioned that, during her visit to the occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir, she learnt through the grieved families about the “killing, torture, ill-treatment, disappearances, threats, arbitrarily arrests and detention,” of their loves one by Indian security forces. 

Ms. Sekaggya particularly insisted for the immediate repeal of two laws viz; the Armed Forces Special Power Act and the Public Safety Act. India enforced these inhuman laws in Kashmir, in 1990s, after the massive public uprisings in the State, against the illegal Indian occupation. In 1990, Governor Rule was imposed in the occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir and Indian Security Forces were given sweeping powers of arrest and detention, through; the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA). They could even shoot to kill with virtual immunity. These special legal provisions contravene most of the human rights provisions laid down in international human rights instruments to which India is a party, notably the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or to arbitrary arrest and detention.

The discriminatory law, permits people to be detained for a period up to two years on vaguely defined grounds to prevent them “from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the state or the maintenance of public order. The broad definition of this act permits the authorities to detain persons without trial for simply asking whether the state of Jammu and Kashmir should remain part of India. This contravenes their right to express their opinions guaranteed in Article 19 of the ICCPR, which provides that any individual arrested or detained be brought promptly before a court in order to decide immediately on the lawfulness of the detention.

Through the Armed Forces Special Power Act, the Army and Para-military forces in disturbed areas have the power to shoot to kill any individual who is violating or behaving in contravention of the law enforced. Provisions of this act are; “It is necessary so to do for maintenance of public order fire upon or otherwise use force even to the cause of death against any person who is acting in contravention of any law or order for the time being in force in the disturbed area prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons or the carrying of weapons or things capable of being used as weapons or of fire arms, ammunition or explosive substances.”

Apart from this, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), is yet another discriminatory law, enforced in the Occupied State to maltreat the Kashmiris. The inhuman law permits Indian Security Forces, to detain the people arbitrarily for just inquiring whether Jammu and Kashmir should remain part of India or discussing the possibilities of plebiscite. This cruel act allows the authorities to arrest and detain people just on mere suspicion and people can be remanded up to 60 days in police custody. Amnesty International has found the provisions of TADA, is a gross violation of the international Human Rights Laws.

The unlawful powers granted to Indian security forces provide sufficient ground for shooting of detainees and suspects even in custody. In spite of expression of concern by Human Rights Organizations and Amnesty International over these “cruel laws” which contravene the right to life, Indian Government has not bothered to soften the provisions. All these laws make the security forces of India operating in the state of Jammu and Kashmir immune from prosecution for acts committed while exercising powers under these laws. Thus, members of the forces are encouraged to act with impunity. UNO, Amnesty International, and Kashmiris strongly feel that these laws are a license in the hands of the Indian Security Forces to kill the helpless Kashmiris in custody as well as on open roads and streets. Since no member of the security forces including police can be prosecuted, and alleged to have committed human rights violations, therefore they are free to do anything with the lives of any Kashmiris under the cover of these the laws.

In spite of fraudulent treaty of accession of the state by Maharaja Harisingh, the people of Kashmir have never accepted their state as part of India. It was only in 1990, that, they formally started an armed liberation struggle against the Indian subjugation, upon pushing them against the wall. It was purely an indigenous uprising of the Kashmiri youth. In 1989/90, Kashmiri boycotted the Lok Sabha elections and started peaceful protests for their right of self-determination in the light of UN resolutions. This provoked India, which moved over 700,000 security forces in the occupied territory to suppress the Kashmiris. Indian forces were deployed in each nook and corner of the state. Indeed, through a unanimous vote, Kashmiris had rejected the Indian Lok Sabha elections under the Indian constitution in 1989 by casting even less than 2% votes. Thus, 98% people remained off the polling stations. This action of Kashmiris caused a panic in the ranks of the Indian government and they perpetrated brutalities on Kashmiris, continuing even today. Indian forces battling the Kashmiri freedom fighters in the state were given unlimited powers to suppress the popular uprising through above-mentioned discriminatory laws.

Since the outbreak of renewed insurgency in the state of Jammu and Kashmir by its people in 1989/90, a reign of terror and repression has been let loose by the Indian authorities. In the garb of so-called terrorism, a veritable war was started against the defenseless masses, obviously for their open and large-scale support to this new phase of the decade’s old movement for the right of self-determination. Siege and search operations, the ransacking of the houses during searches, identification parades, dusk-to-down curfews without break, random arrests, mostly of the youth including teen-age boys (in the age group of 14-19 years) were the most common features of Indian forces. Besides this, unprovoked / indiscriminate shootings, massacres, target killings, severe beating of civilian irrespective of age and sex for fun or revenge killings, physical torture at improvised centers, night raids, rape are continued even today.

Apart from the independent human rights organizations, the world body (UNO), feels that, “The Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Public Safety Act should be repealed, and application of other security laws which adversely affect the work of human rights defenders should be reviewed.” Indeed, it is high time that, India should listen to the global voices on its grass human rights violations in its occupied portion of Kashmir and give Kashmiris, their right of self-determination.

Published by : Opinion Maker

CRACKDOWN ON FUTURE

August 2010:"I have come to Kashmir after a long time to spend some time with my relatives for couple of weeks. After I landed at Srinagar Airport, one of my cousins is waiting outside for me along with his driver. After seeing me he greeted me loudly by saying “Asalaamu alaikum” in a typical Kashmiri style. After that he hugged me and grabbed my luggage trolley which was subsequently passed on to the driver and we walked towards the parking lot where the vehicle was parked. While walking towards the parking lot I enquired the about the well being of everyone back home.

I got inside the new SUV which my cousin had recently purchased. We sat on the rear seat very comfortably. Driver started the vehicle and we drove towards our home situated in one of the new and upcoming localities of Srinagar city. While travelling, I could see only gloomy faces all along the road. Police and Indian Paramilitary forces manning the empty roads was quite a monotonous sight. Shops were shut, traffic was thin, visible marks of violence of previous days were imminent all around. Burnt tyre marks, scattered stones and bricks all around. Atmosphere was full of tension. I was already quite aware about the happenings, thanks to my Facebook activism, so I did not ask many questions. I was only experiencing everything with my own eyes now.

We reached home. My father, uncles, aunts and cousins were waiting for me. As I entered the courtyard, everyone came out to greet me. I was so happy to be in the company of my loved ones.

After having my lunch, I requested everyone to excuse me for a nap as I was feeling the jet lag. I went for the sleep. I got up before the Maghrib prayers. Quickly took a bath and joined my father and uncles for the prayers at the nearby mosque. After the prayers, everyone in the mosque came to greet me and to enquire about my well being. We started to leave the mosque one by one and on the road outside the mosque some teen aged boys along with few young men had assembled. They were shouting in the middle of the road. Most of them were masked and some had bricks in their hands. They were shouting, “We want freedom”, “Allahu Akbar” and “Waseem ko rehaa karo” (Release Waseem). I stopped there and asked one of the boys , “what has happened, why are you protesting in the evening. Is everything OK”. He said, “Police has arrested our friend Waseem who is only 17 years old. He has been lodged in the Police station. He is innocent. They are beating him”.

I became curious and asked, “Who is this Waseem ?”. He replied, “Waseem Ahmed Dar, son of Shaheed (Martyr) Fayaz Ahmed Dar”. When he uttered the name of Fayaz Ahmed Dar, I automatically was taken aback into the past. It was a flashback.




April 1995:

It was a pleasant morning. I had come to my home for the post exam vacations. It was already the second week of my vacation. I was awakened by an announcement through the loudspeaker of our mosque. My mother came rushing towards my room to wake me up. She knocked at the door of my room and called me to come out fast. I asked her to enter the room. After entering the room, she said, “Crackdown”. I said, “I heard the announcement”. She said, “Wait for others to come out and then join them”. I quickly had my bath and offered my Fajir prayers in my room. I saw everyone had already come out on the road including my father, my cousins and my uncles. I too joined them. We were flocked to a nearby field and asked to sit in lines by Indian Armed Forces, who were all around in huge numbers. It was already 8 AM in the morning now. Whole day passed peacefully. Indian Security Forces had laid siege of our locality and were searching all the houses one by one in the absence of men. Houses were without men and only small children were allowed to stay put with their mothers. All the men had been held at the gunpoint in the field outside. It was already 6 P.M in the evening; we were now feeling the cold and hunger severely on us. We had already sat in that field at the gun point for 12 hours. As we had started to show our resentment, some young boys were asked to line up in front of a vehicle in which a masked Mukhbir (informer) was sitting. As boys started walking past that vehicle suddenly the informer blew the horn of the vehicle. Boys were one by one asked to look into the window of the vehicle. Informer sitting inside identified three boys, who were whisked away to some unknown location. I was a bit lucky that day. I was not paraded in front of the vehicle. We all were asked to return to our homes and assemble again in the field by 6.30 A.M the next day. We all walked fast towards our houses. As we entered our houses, all the women folk were waiting for us at the main entrance . They were exhausted and looking tense.

We were offered tea and Bakirkhanis (Puffs) bought few days earlier. After having the tea, all of us stood up to offer the prayers which we had unintentionally skipped during the day. My mother and my aunts had prepared food for the family quickly. That day instead of 10 PM in the evening, we sat around the Dastarkhwan (Dining cloth) at 9 PM only as we were hungry and had to get up early the next day to sit in the Crackdown again. We were all having the dinner and women folk were narrating the whole day’s proceedings. We asked, “Did they misbehave with you”. My mother replied,” Although they were very rude, they however did not touch us but they came inside the rooms with their dirty shoes on”. We asked, “Are you sure they did not steal anything while searching our house.” Mother replied, “Allah knows, but they were tricked by us as we did not let them search back room where gold ornaments and other valuables has been kept. But still they ransacked our store room, overturned the rice drums and other food stuff.” My mother fearfully however could not hide something very important from us. She said, “We all were in too much fear because Fayaz Dar was in the house hiding”. We all were taken aback and asked, “What Fayaz Dar ?. How did he enter the house and how did he save himself from getting caught”. Mother , “As soon as you all left for the crackdown, Fayaz jumped over the boundary wall into our compound. He wanted to flee from the locality. He wanted to cross the lane into the other locality but he could not cross our compound as there were too many army men guarding the lane. He got stuck up here”. After a long pause my mother continued,” As I saw fear in his eyes, I told him do not risk to cross the lane. We will try to save you from them. I asked him to put off his jacket and start washing all the clothes piled up in the laundry. He obeyed and started to wash the clothes. I brought all the bed sheets and table cloths to him. I gave him too much of stuff for the whole day”. As army men entered our house, they had enquired about him and asked, why did not he join the men in the field to which my mother had replied that the guy was a domestic servant. “He has a lot of work to do here”. She had even cursed Fayaz in front of army men for being too lazy. She had told army men that,” this man will be happy to sit idle in the field with others as he loves laziness”. The officer among the army men had laughed at my mother and had asked her to send the guy for the identification parade next day. As the crackdown for lifted for the day, Fayaz had fled to some other location leaving behind heaps of washed clothes, Lenin and other stuff.

We were expecting that siege around our locality will be lifted during the night but to our surprise it was further intensified. We all went to bed one by one. We were again awakened by loudspeaker announcement the next day. No Azaan was called in our mosque that morning.

It was 6.30 A.M. We all were again herded back to the empty field. This day the morning was bit chilly. We all were again asked to sit in lines. As the field started filling up I was looking at every face and every face was frightened. Looking forward to a less tiring day I started to look for the neighborhood boys with whom I was friendly in my line. On the back, I found my younger cousin sitting and in the front, I was surprised as well as frightened to see Fayaz Ahmed Dar sitting with his head down. He was reciting Quranic verses silently. I called him by name, “Fayaz” to which he quickly responded in a very low pitched voice. He said, “Do not call me by this name. Pretend you do not know me.” I understood what he was expecting and what he was conveying. He carried on with his recitation of Quranic verses. Fear had left his mind. He was preparing for the worse. He did not stop even for a minute. He kept on reciting.

Then there was a call for the identification parade. As the soldier asked the line next to us to stand up for the parade, Fayaz started to recite, “Ashadu’an Laillaah il Lallaah, wa Ashadu’anna Mohammadur (SAWS) Rasoolul Laah” (There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger) all bit more loudly. I became fearful for him and everyone else. I too started to recite with him. As our turn came, our line stood up. We started to walk in front of the vehicle in which the informer was sitting. I was 7th or 8th in the line and Fayaz was before me. We walked slowly. 1,2,3,4,5,6, including Fayaz passed the informer without any problem and horn started buzzing. Army men pounded upon me and caught me by neck. They took me closer to the vehicle and showed my face to the masked man inside. He shakes his head and whispers, “ not him but the other one” pointing his finger towards Fayaz. I was left with a kick on my back and Fayaz was caught. He was thrown inside the vehicle in which the informer was sitting. After half an hour, Army men ordered us to leave to our houses. They had got the man, they were looking for.

We went to our homes relieved and this time too early. People were having a sigh of relief except me. I was frightened to death. We all were predicting the fate of Fayaz sitting at our homes. My mother was too sad. She was praying for his safety. I could see tears in her eyes. She was all the time narrating about the sequence of events of the other day. She had become hysteric.

It was 5:30 in the evening. Gunshots were heard. After a pause of five minutes, gunshots were heard again. This time they were more intense. We were all frightened. Everyone in our house had taken a cover. After a wait of 15 to 20 minutes, I peeped outside through my window. I could see army vehicles were leaving one by one.

After an hour we heard wails of women and some shouts outside on the road. I came out. Before I could ask what has happened, I saw wife of Fayaz had fainted on the road. I now understood Fayaz has been killed. They had taken Fayaz after his arrest to his home, in search for weapons and then to his in-laws house and then to the nearby abandoned Pandit house. There in that house he had been showered with bullets.

Fayaz had received in all 20 bullets on his body and had died instantaneously. After few days of his martyrdom we came to know that Fayaz was asked to hand over weapons by army men. He told them that he has hid them in his house. They took him there. He met there with his father and mother. He could not find his wife and children there in his house. His father told him that his wife has gone to her father’s home along with the children. Fayaz tricked army men again and told them that he had hidden his weapons in his in-laws home. Army men had beaten him ruthlessly in front of his father and mother. They took him to his In-laws house. There he meets his wife and children. Tried to kiss his son Waseem who was just two years old then but army men did not allow him. After that he tells the officer that, he has no weapons. He only wanted to have a last glance of his family. He was straight away taken for the execution from there. Fayaz left behind his two years old son and few months old daughter along with his widow and old parents. Fayaz was a militant who had never harmed any innocent. Fayaz was a pious and fearless man. He was just too brave to die naturally.




Back to 2010:

His son was arresting for street protests. Then he was accused of stone pelting which he never indulged in. He was slapped with PSA (Public Safety Act). Presently Waseem is lodged in a jail too far for her poor mother to visit. I am sure when Waseem will be released; it will be too late for him. He will come out from the jail not as Waseem but as Fayaz Ahmed Dar. He has been punished for his father again and again and their thirst for the punishment is unending. And the cycle carries on……



All the events narrated above are true but names of people have been changed.

© 2011 Koshur Mazloom