A Tribute to the Woman of Kashmir

By : Muhammad Faisal

It was a raw urge and an emotional outburst, i wanted to write about to get some closure over the pain i had seen recently. I saw the mother of Sameer Jan, the 8 year old boy beaten to death and trampled with jackboots in the 2010 Uprising.

                                    Sameer Jan 8 jackbooted to death


I came home feeling enraged and saddened, came to my room, closed my eyes and my world wandered,
Wandered around the bloodied paradise that Kashmir had become.It was painful, felt like a dagger cutting your body in half,slowly like the merciless butcher. I couldn’t bear the pain of seeing Sameer’s Mother, of her eyes haunted by the blackened body of her son.
I needed something to vent, so i wrote this:-
Kashmir, the world’s most militarized zone, suffocating with over 500,000 thousand strangers thumping on its soil, once called the Paradise on earth is now in shards, reminiscent of the conflict that has been going on for six decades. The six decades which have been full of pain, tears, passion and suffering for the people that live in its misery.

Over 400,000 souls departed since 1947, while others survived the pain of massacres, mass-rapes, torture, disappearances and sufferings that sounds like wrath of the evil over the good. Justice is hardly delivered and the procedures to seek it are never ending,

A Mother who lost her son, killed while she was dreaming about the henna on his little finger the day he would have been married, was returned with a coffin. The pain of losing her son kills her every moment his flash passes by, silently.

Her daughter awaits the return of her groom who was taken into the darkness, never to be seen again. The boy, who she was in love with, whom she wanted to tease and play games with, is nowhere. She wonders if he ever will comeback, is he alive or is he dead somewhere in the mountains. She is an empty soul wandering and staring at the knob every night.

Her sister haunted by the nightmares of the time when her soul was torn apart by the beasts in the dark of the night. Her screams and cries for a saviour gagged by their hands. She sought justice and the door was shut on her, Her family and the hypocritical society banished her. She survived the pain but the Pain took everything of her, took her dreams of being married, of having a family, of being humane. She now lies in the dark corner of the room, a life less soul.

She looks with a sigh to her neighbours’ abandoned house whom she used to gossip about her never-ending chores, of her annoying Hash (Mother in Law), left her amidst the chaos and fear. She wishes for her to return to the house occupied by the gun-toting troops of the country down south.

This mother has been the rock of resilience, survival, strength and hope. This mother is KASHMIR.

The hope has never faded in the hearts of the people living in Kashmir, Hope of a glorious future, of a new beginning, of a new dawn, of Freedom

"Muhammad Faysal is a Human Sciences student, He writes at www.muhammadfaysal.wordpress.com"

Kashmir’s war journalists - Special Report by Kashmir Life

From Afghanistan to Libya, Iraq to Thailand, the world gets to see the conflict through the cameras and pens of war-groomed Kashmiri journalists. P A Mushtaq reports.

In the second week of April, Srinagar-born Associated Press photojournalist Altaf Qadri, 35, got separated from a battery of reporters covering conflict in Libya in North Africa. Qadri escaped unhurt the battleground of eastern Libyan city of Ajdabiya and reached safely to his office in Benghazi after 30 hours. Qadri’s work reflecting trail of the battle between Libyan head Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists and rebels were published across the globe, opening a window for readers to peep into the war from a distance.

“I went into hiding when Gaddafi forces launched a surprise attack on the rebels, who made a hasty retreat. My driver drove off without even waiting for me.


I was hiding for 30 hours and left the area only after the rebel forces regained control of that area,” recalled Qadri, who won the prestigious World Press Photo award in the People in News category this year.

Twenty-two years of bloody conflict in Kashmir has given vast experience to journalists with many of them covering conflicts across the globe and winning recognition and laurels. Photographer Rafiq Maqbool of Associated Press was nominated for Pulitzer Prize for a picture taken in Afghanistan.

“Kashmiris have always excelled. It has, to my mind, been always a matter of getting an appropriate opportunity, just like anyone else anywhere else. What has helped Kashmiri professionals of late is a more critical assessment of the relationship between a conflict and how it is portrayed in the mainstream media. That has added to the quality of international reporting opportunities they have been able to bag successfully,” said Parvaiz Bukhari, first among Kashmiri journalists to cover wars like Iraq and Afghanistan during his stint with Zee News and Star News.

Bukhari, at present a freelance journalist, traces growth of Kashmiri journalists in their reach to outside world. “Travelling by Kashmiri journalists across the globe has also been in some way a function of how the global corporate media has been evolving – sourcing talent from wherever it is available. And also because the Internet has enabled work of journalists to travel and be noticed better than ever before,” said Bukhari.

International and national news organisations choose Kashmiri journalists to report from war zones as they have experience in reporting conflict.
“In 2001, I was asked to cover Afghan war. My experience in the Kashmir valley made me the best option available with my organisation to select me to cover Afghanistan. They have already seen my handling of the Kargil war single-handedly despite various technical constraints. It was a two-month assignment in Afghanistan initially and my photographs found place in leading papers and the websites around the globe, prompting my office to call me again for five more trips to the war-torn nation between 2004 and 2010,” said Tauseef Mustafa, a photojournalist with the Agence France Presse (AFP).

But the wars have never been an easy story for journalists. “The most dangerous moment I encountered was when I went to report the fall of the last bastion of the Taliban control, the city of Taluqaan, in Afghanistan. Along with a small group of reporters, I entered the city even before the Northern Alliance troops spread to take control.

I have never seen so many dead bodies lying at one place – all over the roads and streets of the town. The town had witnessed intense aerial bombing by the US B52 bombers the previous night. Locals said ‘no Pakistanis’ present in the area were spared. I was trying to align my Sat-Phone when a group of Northern Alliance armed men appeared in front of me in that chaos and thought I was a Pakistani. They were about to shoot me when I managed to take my passport out and quickly shouted who I was and showed them,” recalls Parvaiz.

It was a close brush for Suhail Bukhari, a reporter with NewsX television, too in Libya. “On the outskirts of Ras Lanuf, I was interviewing a 65-year-old rebel, whose two sons were killed by the Gaddafi forces. While the interview was on, we were bombed by Gaddafi’s airforce, the incident was captured live. I am really happy to be alive,” said Suhail.

It’s not only the wars in the Muslim countries which were covered by Kashmiri journalists. “I am the first photojournalist to cover Red Shirt protests in Thailand. I clicked the pictures of the final day when Thai army launched operation to evict protester who had occupied many of Bangkok’s main squares. The army tanks destroying Red Shirt camps were very much appreciated by my office and were played globally,” said Fayaz Kabuli, a photojournalist with Reuters.

Ironically, it has been easy for Kashmiri journalists to cover conflicts abroad then the one they live in. “Reporting your own conflict is perhaps the most difficult to do in journalism, even though there may be a lot of advantages in terms of knowing the complexities and nuances. Kashmir, to my mind is perhaps the most complex conflicts in the world – not because of what it is about as much as how it plays out given its prolonged nature and propaganda that surrounds it. Reporting Kashmir is much about dealing with entrenched perceptions helped create by the same entities or spaces a journalist may be reporting for,” said Parvaiz.

But Suhail sees Kashmir conflict a low-arms conflict with lesser risks than places like Libya. “Unlike the urban warfare that is more prevalent in Kashmir, Libya has been an experience with far more risks involved. We haven’t seen bombing by air here. Moreover, Libya is a full blown war,” said Suhail.
Kashmir or Libya, journalists from the state have proved a point: they are masters in covering the conflicts.


Braving odds

Tauseef Mustafa, 39, who clicked Iraq and Aghan wars for AFP, says that one needs to confidence to work in a war zone.

Kashmir Life: You covered Afghanistan war. How did it happen?

Tauseef Mustafa: In 2001, I got a call from my office to get prepared for the assignment in Afghanistan for two months, which incidentally was my first assignment outside India. In my opinion, my experience in the Kashmir valley made me the best option available with my organisation to select me to cover Afghanistan. They have already seen my handling of Kargil war single handedly despite various technical constraints. The digital cameras were not available and we used to work by noikon FM2 Film Camera. Kargil war coverage and the appreciation I got gave me a tremendous boost.

KL: For how long did you stay in Afghanistan?
TM: It was two month assignment in Afghanistan. My photographs, however, found place in leading papers and websites around the globe, prompting my office to call me again for five more trips to the war torn nation from 2004 to 2010.

KL: How difficult is it to cover conflict?
TM: Covering conflicts is always a danger. You don’t know what is in store. A minor miscalculation could land you in trouble. There is always a risk. Blasts, firing, suicide attacks and ambushes are a regular feature.

KL: Have you worked in other conflict zones?
TM: I have worked twice in Iraq, including the dangerous Falluja, Mousul and Basra. My first trip to Iraq was in year 2004 for two months. I was again called for covering the events in the country next year. I also got an opportunity to cover the first elections after the fall of Saddam Hussain. It was more dangerous than Afghanistan.

KL: Any memorable episode, you would like to share?
TM: I was in Stryker vehicle with the US army in Mousul in Iraq. Suddenly, a blast occurred and the vehicle, weighing 50 tonnes, was thrown up more than two feet in the air. Luckily, all the occupants escaped unhurt. Sniper fire and rocket attacks were a daily routine in the country.

KL: Why do you think Kashmiri journalists/photojournalists are being asked to cover conflict zones?
TM: Kashmiri journalists or photo-journalists have an edge over their counterparts as they have been, braving all odds and threat to their lives, covering Kashmir. Keeping the experience of covering the conflict zones aside, you have to exhibit your potential and work hard to win the confidence of your employer.


Leaving footprints

Fayaz Kabli of Reuters was among the few photojournalist who were present when army removed the Red Shirt protestors from main squares of Bangkok, Thailand.

Kashmir Life: You were only Kashmiri reporter who covered the Red Shirt protests in Thailand?

Fayaz Kabli : Yes, I am the first photojournalist to cover Red Shirt protests in Thailand. I clicked the pictures of the final day the Thai army launching operation to evict protester, who had occupied many of Bangkok’s main squares. I also captured the army tanks destroying Red Shirt camps. The pictures were played globally. There were many dangers. I was briefed by my colleagues and chief photographer of Thailand Damir Sagolj about the dangers of covering the protests. There were reports of many protesters holding weapons and using them against the army.


KL: You have also won awards?
FK: I think if I am satisfied with the job I do honestly, that is the best award for me. Yes, I received 2nd prize in General News category in China International Press photo Award for a picture of Indian police beat up Kashmiri protesters during first phase of state elections in 2010.

KL: You have worked in a few conflict zone, which one did you find the most difficult to work in?
FK: I think the Red Shirt protests in Bangkok, Thailand, was the most difficult to cover. There were many reasons. First many of Thai people don’t speak English and to communicate with them was a difficult task. Second, the nature of protests. It was all over Bangkok and protesters were defying everything.

KL: Any memorable incident in Thailand?
FK: During a pre-dawn operation by the army against protesters on the final day, my hotel was just next to the main site of protesters camp. When a journalist friend of mine from India woke me up at 2 am in the night to say that army had started operation, I looked out from the 32nd floor of my hotel room.

I was shocked to see army tanks moving on a flyover and cordoning the area. At that point of time, I was surprised that no army soldier stopped me from coming out of the hotel. I was thinking that not this may be other soldier will shout at me and ask me to go back, but there was nothing of the sort. But, surprisingly, the soldiers on the streets in Bangkok offered me water and advised me how to be on safer side while covering situation. The soldiers at every point were so polite and humble that I started compare in my mind the two armies, one at home and one offering me water during their biggest operation.

KL: How do you see Kashmiri journalists emerging on the world scene?
FK: I think Kashmiri journalists are at par with other international journalists. They have left their foot prints across the globe.


Making a mark
Twenty-seven-year-old Suhail Bukhari was sent to Libya to report the conflict in Libya

Kashmir Life: At a young age you were asked to cover Libya. How was it reporting conflict for the first time?

Suhail Bukhari: When I was entering Libya through east, the rebels didn’t allow me and asked me to return to Egypt. When I asked why, they said it was not fair that I was arriving after 15 days of the first strike in the country. I was depressed as nothing seemed to be convincing them till I told them that I was from Kashmir. It meant not only entry but great facilitation, including guidance and a cup of coffee.

KL: Was it a challenging job?
SB: It was a close brush on the outskirts of Ras Lanuf when we were approaching a check post of the rebels. The area was bombed by Gaddafi air force. Earlier we decided to return to Benghazi but finally went ahead. After examining the impact of the bombs that hit the area barely a 100 meters from where I was, I started interviewing a rebel, whose two sons were killed by Gaddafi forces. While the interview was on, we were again bombed by Gadaffi forces and the incident was captured live. I am happy to see myself alive.

KL: Any other memorable incident...
SB: We were returning to Benghazi from Tubruk. It was 10 pm, the city came under attack from Gaddafi navy. It was raining missiles that lit the dark night. Our driver abandoned the car and fled. We were left literally on the road. Thankfully, I had a Jordanian journalist accompanying me, he could speak Arabic. We managed shelter in a civilian house for a night and went to hotel next day. Interestingly, the owner of the house in response to our thanks said that it was his seer who had organized our stay in his house and facilitated everything. He named Sheik-ul-Mashaikh Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeenai (RA). He didn’t elaborate. I am still trying to figure out.

KL: How do you see the growth of Kashmiri journalists?
SB: I see it happening and hope in the days to come Kashmiri journalists will make a mark at the international level, particularly in covering conflict by virtue of sheer courage, determination, grit, appetite for taking risks, ready to go beyond comfort zones for a responsible and comprehensive reportage.


This Report was published on Kashmir Life on Monday, April 18, 2011

"Yeh Ghazi yeh Tera Pur'israar Banda "

AN HOUR BEFORE DAWN ON 7 JUNE 2010,  the day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was scheduled to visit Kashmir, I drove to Geelani’s home to meet him again. It was 4 am and Geelani was about to begin his morning prayers. A white-bearded man opened the gate and led me to a mosque just inside Geelani’s compound. Inside, there was a small gathering of bearded men, some old, some young, waiting for Geelani to lead their prayers. I heard some tentative footsteps approaching the mosque. It was Geelani. His nicely trimmed beard, not the kind attributed to fundamentalists, complimented his subtle expression and appearance. He looked extraordinarily fresh when he gazed at me through his moist green eyes.

Protesters clashing with police has become all too common.Geelani finished his prayers and led me inside his study room. He took down the Qur’an from the bookshelf, sat down cross-legged, and began reading the Arabic text until the morning sun breached the edge of the white curtains. He slowly guided his index finger along the written verses.

“Each time you study the Qur’an, you find new things, new inspirations.” Geelani said. “This book guides you on how you walk, how you treat your neighbours, your friends, your parents, your brothers, your sisters.”

“Is there any important political decision the Qur’an has helped you to make?” I asked.

“Yes, in every aspect,” he said. “It says sovreignty lies with almighty Allah. Sovreignty is not for the people, not for any dignity, or any family. It only lies in the hands of Allah.”

For a moment, the fiery old man seemed like an obedient student. Then the conversation turned back to politics. His demeanour changed. His body stiffened. “Just recently, I heard the news that some 12 years ago, two persons were arrested and put inside the Tihar jail,” Geelani said. “Now they have been proven innocent. Is this a law? Is this justice? It is very unfortunate that Islam is not seen as a complete way of life.” He was advocating sharia law.

“How do you see the Taliban?” I countered. “They say that they also follow Islam.”

“No, no, no... not at all,” Geelani said. “The Taliban does not represent Islam. Their actions are based on revenge.” He took a deep breath. “Islam doesn’t allow the killing of innocent people.”

He raised his arm toward the ridge of the wall and grabbed a portable radio set. It was now 7:30, and he tuned into a news bulletin from Pakistan. With his head down, he listened intently. As in India, the stories covered shortages of electricity, a water crisis, unemployment, etc. He turned off the radio.


Geelani takes his morning dose of medication in the study of his Srinagar home. His health has been failing him for the last four years.He paused for a moment to finish his breakfast, two boiled eggs and milk custard. He has a history of chronic illnesses—kidney cancer, heart disease and bronchitis. He often wears a surgical mask to avoid the dust. He began reading a newspaper before I again interrupted him.

“What is your stand on militancy?” I asked.

He paused for a few minutes, seated in his centrally heated room, facing his bookshelves. He finally spoke. “India denied Kashmiris their right to self-determination by using their military power,” he said. “Our peaceful efforts were rejected. What alternative is there apart from fighting with guns?”

I asked him about the many foreign militants active in Kashmir. He invoked Bangladesh’s war of independence: “You know, once upon a time there was East Pakistan, do you remember? They raised the voice for Independence from West Pakistan, and India sent a regular army to help them. What is the justification? When we people do it, how is Pakistan wrong?”

Then the conversation turned to Pakistan’s covert actions in Kashmir and the idea that the UN’s plebiscite had become irrelevant. “What else do we have without the UN’s promise?” he asked, “and Pakistan is in that promise” He looked angry as he stood up and asked me to excuse him for a while. Soon he re-entered: “Those people [who given up on the plebiscite] are tired, it’s not their fault. Such things happen in a freedom struggle, that doesn’t mean we alter our history.”

A group of young men entered the room. They shook hands with Geelani. A short-bearded man began to speak, but Geelani cut him short. “Last Friday, you misbehaved in the gathering, you chanted slogans despite the fact I was speaking at the microphone. You actually disrupted my speech.” In a few moments, Geelani seemed happy again, as if nothing had happened. His back was touching the wall. Behind him hung a calendar inscribed with a promise from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, to the people of Kashmir. It affirmed their right to the plebiscite.

This article was published on Disputed Kashmir. The title of the article has been altered.

Mudasir objected to the beating of women at cost of his life

(Mudasir was on of the young martyrs of 2010 uprise)

 Screams of women and children beaten by police touched Mudasir. He objected to this at the cost of his life.

Eyewitnesses said: On August 13 curfew was in force in Trehgam town of this district. Indian Cops didn’t allow Nimazees to offer the dawn prayers at Jamia Masjid Trehgam and beat up the seharkhawn and Nimazees triggering unrest in the area.

Protesters including women and children defied curfew and poured onto the streets to protest the excesses by the Indian troopers and SOG men. To quell protests the CRPF troopers and SOG men resorted to cane charge and indiscriminate tear gas shelling.

The troopers barged into houses, broke windowpanes and beat ruthlessly everybody who came their way.The Indian troopers and SOG men did not even spare the women protesters. According to eyewitnesses they opened fire on women protesters injuring 60-year old Janti Begum wife of Sidique Malik who received bullets in her left leg.

The Indian troopers caught hold of a girl identified as Tasleema Bano daughter of Abdul Ahad in Shah Mohalla and beat her up with bamboo sticks and gun butts resulting in fracture to her leg.
“She was lying on ground and writhing in pain. Her screams touched Mudasir and he came out of his home and objected to this behaviour of the troopers and SOG men, though I insisted him not to step out,” said Hameeda Begum, mother of Mudasir.

The wailing mother said the confrontation resulted in a heated argument between her son and an SOG man and the latter pointed his gun towards Mudasir and shot at him from a point blank range leaving him in a pool of blood.

“It was like a doomsday for me. My son was writhing in pain and blood was oozing out of his body,” she said.
She said they were not allowed to take his body to hospital and within minutes he succumbed to his injuries.
Curiously, for Hameeda this was not the first tragedy. Years before, she had been struck by a tragedy of equally appalling magnitude when her husband had gone missing.

“Since my husband went missing in mid nineties, Mudasir (16), my elder son, was the only source of income for the family,” she said, adding that in addition to his studies he worked at a bakery and looked after “me and my younger son Jahangir Hussain who is also studying.”


Interestingly, Mudasir, according to her mother, had told her that he felt he would be martyred and if that turned true “I should be buried in Shaheed Mazar (martyrs graveyard).”

“Just a day before he was killed by Indian force, he advised me to take care of mother and family affairs,” said Jahangir Hussain, his brother.

“My brother was deliberately targeted by SOG,” added Jahangir.
Relatives of Mudasir told Greater Kashmir that bullets pierced through his neck and shoulder. “When his body was being taken to hospital in a procession, CRPF men resorted to tear gas shelling and firing and his body fell on the road twice,” they said. Following the protest demonstrations, more than 25 mourners including some of his relatives were arrested by police and his relatives were asked that not more than 5 persons would be allowed to bury his body.However, when residents didn't agree they were allowed to offer the Jinaza around 3 PM.

“When we took the body towards Shaheed Mazar for burial, mourners were again fired upon and tear-gassed resulting in bullet injuries to a retired head master Haji Muhammad Sikandar Malik and injuries to scores of other people,” said the residents.Mudasir was laid to rest in Trehgam Shaheed Mazar.

Article was published on Disputed Kashmir

State Sponsored Violence against Kashmiri Children by Indian Forces

By : Urooj al Ummar

The state sponsored violence against children within Indian Occupied Kashmir is not a new phenomenon. It started right from the day when Indian forces occupied Jammu & Kashmir in 1947 with use of force. Thousands of innocent children have been killed in cold blood, thousnads molested, tortured and have gone missing in last 63+ years. Few days ago I met an Indian citizen who told me that this practice is common all over India during tribal or family feuds, where children become main targets of violence. He further told me that the idea behind this brutal practice is simple "If you kill the father his son will take the revenge, but if you kill his child there is no one who can take the revenge, the family gets shattered and is never able to even live a normal life after the death of their moral, emotional and physical psychological support, their son." This ruthless practice has well taken by Indian Occupational Forces or Forced Backed by Indian agencies.

Javaid Ahmed Dar was one of those kids who became victim of Indian brute and tyranny.Javaid's maternal grandfather admitted him into Child Care Public School after he persuaded his parents to that he will get good education in Srinagar. On 3 October 1990, he was enforced to Involuntary Disappearance. After a lot of efforts his family was informed by police that he was lodged in Joint Interrogation Center, Jammu on 16 January 1991, but he could not be traced afterwards. His grandparents died in his longing but he still remains a Victim of Enforced Disappearance.

Today hundreds of Kashmiri children languish in Indian Jails and one of them is Tawseef Hussain Bhat, who is 16 years old. High Court quashed his PSA. But He still languishes in Jail for alleged charges of stone pelting on Indian Occupational Forces.

"Come on My Brothers" - By Lonesome Kashmiri

Come on my Brothers we have work to do.
What do you see in the skies when the sun rises? Do you see the beauty of the dawn or do you see the crimson blood of our Martyrs? What do you see when the dusk approaches? Do you see the ebony beauty of the dusk or do you see the black shadows of India? What do you see when you see the bright yellow Mustard flowers blossoming in the fields? Do you see the golden beauty or do you see the endless graves of our brothers resting peacefully? What do you see when the waterfall glimmers in the sunlight? Do you see crystals dancing in sunlight or do you see the tears of a violated sister? What do you see when you see the snowcapped mountains in the distance? Do you see the peace it exuberates or do you see the shrouds of children Killed by our enemy. What do you see when the spring announces the arrival with fresh leaves decorating the branches of the walnut tree? Do you see the innocent and charming display or do you see the forthcoming Islamic revolution?



What do you hear when frogs croak in the yards? Do you hear nature’s symphony or do you hear the cries of a mother who lost her son? What do you hear when the winds play music in the night? Do you hear the melody or do you hear the shouts for freedom? What do you hear when the birds play their mesmerizing tunes? Do you hear the songs of harmony or do you hear the painful cries when a sister was raped? What do you hear when water gushes through the canals of Kashmir? Do you hear the nature laughing or do you hear the sighs of a brother in prison? What do you hear when the cricket plays its amusing song? Do you wonder at the nature’s mystery or do you hear the boots of the soldiers. What do you hear when rain falls on the window panes? Do you hear the perfect sync or do you hear the sound of bullets whizzing past by you. What do you hear when the hooves of the horses create miraculous harmony? Do you marvel at the strength in the legs of the beasts or do you think of the great warriors of Islam?

What do you think when you start eating the food you mother has cooked for you? Does it remind you of the ones who do not have anything? What do you think when you sit in the exam hall? Do you think of the marks you will get or do you think of the examination on the day of the Judgment? What do you think when you buy new shoes or new clothes? Does it remind you of how smart you will look or does it remind you of the brothers who lost their legs and arms in a protest? What do you think when you start writing on the Notebook or typing on your PC? Does it even remind you of the obligations that you have towards the Islamic Revolution? What do you think when you leave for College in the morning? Do you think of the ones who left everything back home to fight for the sake of Allah? What do you think when you leave for work in the mornings? Do you think of the ones back home who have no one left to earn a livelihood? What do you think when your daughter hugs you when you come back from work? Does it fill you with joy and love and then do you remember the daughter of a Mujahid who has not been to home for so long?

Be your own judge when you reply to the above questions. And believe me, my Brothers we have work to do.