GM Stadium: Tufail’s last journey

The stadium in the heart of Old City is no longer just a playing ground. Now it is remembered as a place where Tufail was shot at last year. Aalia Shaikh revisits the stadium a year after the teen's death.

By: Aalia Sheikh

The word stadium evokes vision of a vast ground encircled by stands, and young boys playing. But the Gani Memorial Stadium in Rajouri Kadal of old city is not just another playing field. For Kashmiris, the circular ground has become a testimony to the blood of Tufail Matoo spilled on its field last year.

An angled fligh of steps leads to the ground from the Rajouri Kadal road. The gate walls left behind give a sense of enclosure from the streets outside. But it’s an uncomfortable enclosure - like a shroud cocooning a body. It’s claustrophobic.

Boys play cricket between the goal posts at two ends of the stadium. Among the players are cattle grazing in the field. But one corner of the ground is devoid of any life. No one goes near it. Even vegetation has deserted it. This desolate spot is where Tufail Ashraf Mattoo, 17, was killed in government forces' action on June 11, last year.

Gazing at the death spot is Shafiq, a local. In his late-twenties, he was a regular here, and would spend hours with his friends playing here. “It has been a year since I entered this stadium, although it is right outside my house,” he says. Like him, many other boys have abandoned playing in the stadium. They have seen Tufail dying here.

Leading the way to his home, Shafiq informs that his mother, Arifa, is the sole 'official eye-witness' in the case. A wall, a short walkway, is all that separates the house from the Stadium. The living room on the ground floor, however, is like an extension of the ground itself. The same claustrophobia engulfs it.

Arifa enters the room with an air of uncertainty. Over fifty-year old, she appears haggard and tiredness emanates from her eyes. Despite a hot summer day, the windows that open towards the Stadium are shut tight. “It was 11th June, a Friday. There was a loud bang,” Arifa recalls, imitating the loud sound.

The boom, that many people in the vicinity thought to be of a grenade explosion, 'was actually the sound of a tear gas shell being fired'. The firing was preceded by hooting sounds coming from the street outside. Young boys were jeering at the police and paramilitary forces deployed at Rajouri Kadal, echoing protests happening in many other parts of the old city.

Moments before hearing the explosion, Arifa saw three young boys running towards the stadium from the Saeed Sahab shrine side. “Two of them entered the grounds and shut the gate behind them. But the third one was still left outside,” she recalls.

As the two boys saw another boy running towards them, followed by 'two Jammu & Kashmir Police (JKP) officers', they opened the gate and beckoned for him to enter. However, they did not wait for him to join them and ran away as fast as they could. The third boy who was closely being chased by the men in uniform was Tufail.

“Tufail entered the gate but couldn’t go too far as he slipped on the mud. Two JKP officers came out of the Gypsy and followed him to the ground,” recalls Arifa. They were hurling abuses at him in Kashmiri, saying ‘We will not leave you.’

"The officers aimed at Tufail from a close range and fired a tear gas shell straight at him. The shell hit him in the back of his head. He fell, face forward, on the ground. The officers went near the prostrate body," she claims. But the loud bang brought out people from their home

s and 'they ran away'.

“The fired shell shattered Tufail’s skull and killed him instantly,” Arifa says, ch oking back tears. Tufail, who was returning from the tuition class, had a school bag strapped on. His le ft hand had grass clutched from the mud beneath, which he had uprooted in his death throes. In his right hand a five rupee coin was found - it was the fare to travel back home.

Pieces of his brain were found scattered around him. Locals picked them up and buried them in a corner, which has now become a memorial for the slain boy.

What she witnessed that day moved Arifa to act in a way she would never have imagined. In her words, she managed to catch hold of the right arm of the officer who had fired at the boy and started slapping his face. Another officer, who had ordered the former to shoot, pushed her to the ground and freed his sub-ordinate from her grip, she says. They escaped in the same white Gypsy they had arrived in.

On seeing Tufail dead, she lost her nerves and took out her dupatta, tied it on her hand, and waved it over as a signal for others. And then she repeatedly called out: ‘O people, please come out from your homes. An innocent boy has been martyred...’

While there were many others who witnessed the gory killing, Arifa was the only one who dared to testify in the court. Thus far she has gone for identification parades, identified the

culprits. “Everything is so clear. They are stretching the case for no reason. I just want his family to get justice. I am tired of fighting now,” she says angrily.

She has been living under the shadow of Tufail’s death for the past one year. But the evasive justice has made her skeptical. She has stopped going to the police station. She no longer attends parades.

In the stadium, a small child, all of seven, is cleaning the headstone of the burial place where Tufail’s brain pieces lay buried. On being asked what is in there, he says, “Tufail Mattoo! They shot him in the head.” This is what he knows, and keeps repeating to anyone who visits this quasi-shrine.

Young boys slowly trickle out of the gates as the sun comes down on the Gani Memorial stadium. At approximately the same time, this place was a death scene a year ago, and will remain so forever.

(Names of people have been changed on request)

Indian Army To Deploy Prostitutes As A Women Battalion In Held Kashmir

Report Published in Sept 2009 by Christina Palmer

NEW DELHI, India—The Indian Army is deploying around 200 women prostitutes under the cover of Border Security Force constables in the Indian occupied Kashmir. The new female battalion will be deployed along the Line of Control, the ceasefire line between Pakistan and India, The Daily Mail has learnt through authoritative sources.

According to the sources, the decision on recruiting prostitutes for deployment in the held valley was taken some six months back and Indian Army Chief General Kapoor finally approved it. The Daily Mail has learnt that this decision was taken as a result of discussions and consultancies regarding the alarmingly increasing incidents of suicides and killing colleagues by soldiers of Indian army that are deployed in the Indian occupied Kashmir to fight the Kashmiris.

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that the factor of rising suicides among Indian soldiers and the random shootouts on colleagues by Indian soldiers in the held valley had become a big problem for the Indian army top brass. When the figures went up earlier this year, the army leadership approached different consultants and analysts. The consultants and analysts reached the conclusion that Indian soldiers deployed in the valley were committing suicides and killing colleagues out of acute frustration and depression. Medical and psychological consultants and analysts were of the view that since majority of the soldiers deployed in the valley were married and were away from their wives for very long periods, they were in the grip of sexual frustrations which ultimately transformed into mental frustration.

These consultants suggested that soldiers posted in Kashmir should be sent back to India on leaves to be with their wives at least once a month.

This came as another dilemma for the Indian Army’s top brass as it was not possible at all to send such a huge number of soldiers on leaves with regular intervals. The Daily Mail’s investigations further reveal that upon this a Major General was sent to Moscow to learn from the best practices of the old Soviet army in a country with a big size.

Mak. Gen. Kumar returned from Moscow with a very interesting solution. Russian military experts told the Indian army that the since the soldiers in the valley were 'women-starved', they should be provided with women to meet their genuine and natural needs.

The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that at this stage, the Indian Army Chief constituted a committee under the command of Lt. General. Raj Kumar Karwal who currently posted as Director General of a training facility of the Indian army while Major General. Sanjeev Loomba, Brigadier Anil Sharma, Colonel N. K. Khunduri and Colonel Sanjay Rai were members of the committee. The committee finally came up with the solution that since it was not possible to provide street whores directly to the soldier thus professional prostitutes should be recruited with the title of sex workers and than they should be given basic military training and should be posted in Kashmir as soldiers so that the male soldiers can establish relations with them. It was also decided that the recruitment should not be made publicly and that RAW’s help should be sought as RAW maintained a huge network of prostitutes in different cities of India. The Daily Mail’s investigations reveal that RAW completed the assignment successfully and provided a batch of some 300, semi educated prostitutes to the committee after proper medical checkup of every individual. The committee then approached the Army Chief and it was decided that these new recruits should not be made part of mainstream army but should be adjusted in Border Security Force (BSF) and from there their services would be made available to the Northern Command of the army. The project was completed by the end of August when the new recruited batch of 300 completed a basic military training and Army Chief was informed that recruits were ready for deployment in Kashmir.

When contacted by this correspondent, Inspector General of BSF Himmat Singh confirmed that a batch of 178 female soldiers was being sent to Northern Command where they would be deployed along with Indo-Pak border to check the border violations by women, working in the field. Mr. Singh further stated that these women were not fully trained for operational military duties however in the next phase, after further training, they would be given the duties of operational Border security. Mr. Singh refused to admit that these female soldiers were actually prostitutes and were being dispatched to the valley as undercover sex workers. When contacted, Rohit Sharma, a senior defense analyst here in New Delhi, said that the move was a creative step by Indian army leadership as it would boost the medical and mental health of the soldiers.

Newly wed youth illegally detained in IHK

Srinagar, June 07 : In occupied Kashmir, Indian police have illegally detained a Kashmiri youth after four days of his wedding.

Family of the 21-year-old groom, Rauf Ahmad Butt of Donipawa area of Islamabad, said that the police was implicating him in false cases.

Mehak Rauf, the newly wed wife of Rouf and her father-in-law, Nazir Ahmad Butt are running from pillar to post to get him released.

Mehak told newsmen that Rauf was arrested on the fourth day of their marriage. “I, Rauf and my mother-in-law, went to the local Janglat Mandi market where policemen detained my husband. My mother-in-law and I resisted but they took Rauf along with them,” she said.

She said that the police had arrested Rauf in 2008 but it could not prove the charges levelled against him, following which the court had ordered his release

Indian Army admits molesting and misbehaving with tourists in occupied Kashmir

Srinagar, June 08 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, a day after an Indian army trooper molested and misbehaved with female Indian tourists and assaulted several others in famous health and tourist spot of Pahalgam in Islamabad district, the Indian army had admitted the involvement of its trooper.

The trooper of 3-Rashtriya Rifles, eyewitnesses said, misbehaved with women and thrashed the male tourists with gun butts in Pahalgam. Several people including women were injured in the assault by the soldier, who was carrying a rifle at the time of the incident.

Lt Gen S.A Hasnain, AVSM, SM, VSM, GOC Chinar Corps, deployed in Srinagar, ordered a fast track enquiry and found the trooper’s involvement, said a statement issued by Indian army’s spokesman in Srinagar.
 
"The Army has taken strict disciplinary action against the erring soldier for misbehaviour with tourists," Indian army spokesperson J S Brar said in a statement.

The statement, however, did not mention what action was taken against the guilty trooper.
 
“The Army man pointed their guns on my chest and tried to shoot me. Had the locals not come to rescue me, I would have been dead by now”, an Indian tourist Sunil Mishra had told media men after the incident. The incident brought scores of taxi drivers, traders and locals on the streets, who staged strong anti-India and anti-Army demonstrations. Chanting slogans, the protesters demanded stern action against the trooper.

Meanwhile, reacting to the enquiry set by the army, civil society groups in Kashmir have said that there was nothing surprising in the move. "The Omar Abdullah regime is hyper-sensitive to tourist need and support. There is nothing surprising in the action against trooper," Khurram Pervez, Coordinator Jammu and Kashmir Civil Society, said.

Source: Kashmir Media Service

KASHMIR - A FIEFDOM IN SEARCH OF THEIR BRAND OF ' PEACE'

Hartal ! This is the emotional topic which many Kashmiris love to discuss. Majority of Kashmiri people think that Hartal is the only weapon available to make their voices heard and get their protests registered. But there are some people who love to call themselves as intellectually wise, upwardly pushing and dashing citizens, who always love to trash every call for the protest strike by calling it a harmful exercise done in vain. There argument against shutdowns is: Economy suffers, Poor get deprived of livelihood, Education suffers, Tourism suffers, People get killed and above all Disturbance of ‘peace’ occurs.

So they come up with the solution: No hartal, no protests and no struggle. Just work, live, eat, reproduce like lizards and keep minds shut for any yearning for dignified life. Cherish the one sided ‘peace’ and carry on with the normal chores of enslaved life. They say, “Enough of bloodshed has taken place. Let us move forward now.” (Towards God knows what).Good attractive emotional sermons and well thought over points of argument by them.

This note of mine is actually addressed to those who oppose the sustenance of struggle by whatever means available with us. Though they criticize every act of defiance by people of Kashmir but they have never come up with a valid, achievable, realistic and sustainable alternative to the shutdowns. But still I want some answers from them.

Where are the answers?

My dear advocates of peace and development,
I respect your sensibilities and am ready to buy your arguments against protest and strikes which are frequently called in reaction to the injustices perpetrated against the innocent people of Kashmir. But, can you please answer my few points before firing your salvos against those who sustain this struggle for Freedom with their own personal Freedom.

If giving peace a chance is the solution of Kashmir issue then who is not giving it that chance. Of course those who call for Strikes do not call for the violence. They just react to a violent act of oppression with a non violent method of protest. It is always the opposite camp which gives reasons to us for these strikes and protests. If you have not deemed it fit to remember, then let me refresh your mind. It was on the 11 of June 2010 when some Policemen blasted the skull of a 17 years old innocent boy Tufail Matoo by aiming directly at his head with a teargas missile without any provocation on part of the victim. After ensuring that the boy has died with his brain parts scattered all around, Policemen kicked the innocent victim a couple of times before leaving the spot. That boy was just heading towards his home after coming back from his tuitions. What was his crime? What should be the reaction of people after witnessing such a brutal dance of death?
Protest or maintain peace?

Let me remind you further. Prior to Tufail Matoo’s murder three other innocent boys were killed by Indian security forces and the local police. A boy named Inayat was mercilessly killed at Lal Chowk by CRPF, Wamiq Farooq was killed by Kashmir Police at the same place where Tufail Mattoo was killed and Zahid Farooq was killed when a BSF party directly fired at him at Nishat locality of Srinagar. All of these boys were killed without any provocation whatsoever.

Prior to all these killings, three young boys from district Kupwara were taken to the forests of Machil and killed in the cold blood by India army. They were labeled as ‘Terrorists’ and the officer in charge of that ‘encounter’ killed them only to get himself decorated for killing ‘dreaded terrorists’. He however planned his action is haste and could not hide the real identity of those whom he killed. This resulted in him getting exposed but not arrested or punished. And prior to these killings someone else somewhere was killed in the same fashion and prior to that someone, somewhere else. This vicious cycle of innocents being killed is not new but an old misery which is not ending at all. Who can break this cycle? Ordinary Kashmiris cannot do anything as those killed are their sons and those who kill are the enemies. Kashmiris can only protest by observing occasional shutdowns as they do not have the liberty of protesting differently. Subjugators simply have deprived them of all other alternative means of protests.

Protest is a natural trait.

If a dog is run over by a speeding vehicle on a highway, other dogs protest by barking and running after all the vehicles which pass by the spot of death of the slain. This way dogs protest for hours all together. These are dogs, which are called as stray animals. Any atrocity on any living being does not go un - protested. Even animals like dogs protest and weep at the killing of their companions. This is all natural.
And we humans too react in the way, in which nature has crafted us. Why should we defy our inner feelings by pretending to be insensitive, since protesting against the killing of brethren is quite natural a trait. If you want us to be silent, then you are not a living being. I cannot even call you an animal as animals too protest in these situations. I would simply like to call you a stone instead.

Give an alternative please

Then the argument is, “Shutdowns are counterproductive and hence should not be used as tools of the protest”.My counter question is, If not shutdowns, then what? Is there any other tool to express your anger against injustices? Kashmir is not New Delhi nor is it Egypt or Tunisia. You cannot come out on the roads and protest in big numbers. You will be beaten, arrested and subsequently fired upon. You too can become a figure in the statistics of death count register. We have seen massacres in the past.
Recalling a few of them: Gawkadal massacre, Zakura massacre, Bijbehara massacre, Hawal massacre, Pathribal massacre, Handwara massacre, Sopore massacre and so on.

Giving peace a chance


Argument is, “why protest in the first place. Let there be peace and things will improve automatically.”
Who can say that peace is not good? Peace is after all what we all strive for. But our perception of peace is altogether different from their perception of peace. We want peace through the achievement of our freedom and they want freedom to enforce ‘peace’ through subjugation. We have seen their ‘peace’ blown up into pieces in the past. Kashmir has had a relatively ‘peaceful’ atmosphere for more than 40 years from 1947 to 1989. Did it improve anything? No, it did not. Killings and atrocities happened then as well. Infrastructure did not get developed; Economy, Healthcare and Education did not get any boost either. Tourism too did not shine.

In return, our Ecology suffered, Dal lake shrunk to the half, Aanchar lake vanished, Wular lake started to shrink, our other water bodies became extinct, our forests became subjects of loot and plunder, our glaciers started to melt, our rivers turned into streams. All of this happened during ‘peace’. Kashmir issue too did not find any solution during that ‘peace’.

What fuelled rebellion of 1989 in Kashmir?


Peaceful democratic activity called elections fuelled the tumult. So is their brand of ‘peace’ in Kashmir any solution to all the miseries. Kashmiris were killed while protesting against the hike in power tariffs during 80s or protesting against “Satanic Verses” or protesting against the theft of the holy relic. Is all this ‘fragile peace’ a blessing? Yes, it is a blessing for those who treat Kashmir as their fiefdom. Those who have constructed majestic palaces and golf courses on the banks of Dal lake need this peace to enjoy their comfortable five star luxuries. Those who have slaughtered forests of Kashmir to fill their coffers need peace to flaunt their wealth around. Those who behave like Arab royals riding in highly expensive SUVs and treating whole of Kashmir as their oil field, need this peace to dig for more wealth. As Arab royals have sold their oil wells to their benefactors in the west, same has been done by our own breed of Sheikhs. Whatever is left has been sold to Indians without any objection. We are asked to maintain peace and wait for the development to come but at the same time our institutions are being destroyed. One of our self made, self sufficient institutions named J & K Bank too was not spared. It too has been gifted to our subjugators. Our main catalyst of economical development is also under their control now. Our educational institutions have been politicized and centralized. Our healthcare infrastructure is still in pre – historic infancy; our Industrial sector is ailing, our ecology and water bodies are dying which will result in the death of our much talked about tourism industry in the long run. These all things are happening not because of the struggle but because of reasons for which we struggle.

Who is the sufferer?

Those who have lost their children, their only bread earners never complain about the emptiness of their bellies. But those who feed their dogs with imported dog biscuits and mutton complain the most.
Why those who are least affected by protests, shout more? Why those who do not offer a penny from their wealth as charity or alms to the poor, all of the sudden become so concerned about the poor?
Those who normally treat ordinary Kashmiris like cattle, start to show concern for the people.

These people do all this because they fear. They fear that the subjugated may succeed in their struggle for freedom and their castles of loot may eventually become bonfires of victory. They do not want to lose their oilfields. That is why they strive so hard to sabotage the just struggle of masses by their hoax concern and hypocritical activism.

Tail-piece:

Our children are shining in the field of education despite the struggle. During the peaceful days of pre – nineties, securing more than 80 % marks was considered as an achievement but not anymore. Our students are securing more than 90 % marks in exams; our folks are passing competitive exams with flying colors, our boys and girls qualify for IAS, IFS and KAS exams in good numbers now. We could hardly find anyone during Pre - nineties who had qualified in these exams.

What does this suggest? This suggests, education is not subservient to their brand of ‘peace’. It is only subservient to the urge and hard work. Longer agitations can affect schooling but not the education.Fighting for your rights and freedom requires countless sacrifices, hardships and a strong commitment towards the cause. If you are not ready to offer any of these, then you better stop dreaming about a free life. And if you do not have any urge for living a dignified life in the first place, then no one can force you to suffer in this struggle. But you cannot raise your voice against the struggle either, because living a life of subjugation does not allow you to protest against anything whatsoever. Why do you then protest this? Are you speaking in this tone because you have been coerced to speak or do you belong to the class of our home grown Sheikhs who do not want to lose their oil fields? These are the questions to which we need some honest answers.

Koshur Mazloom © 2011

Protect children in Jammu and Kashmir-Sign The Petition

It’s not much fun being a teenage boy in Kashmir

Despite an obligation under international law to treat anyone below 18 as a child, police in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) continue to jail 16- and 17-year old boys as adults!

17-year old Murtaza Manzoor was detained without charge by the police in January 2011. He was held for nearly four months in a prison that had no special facilities for children.

Although India has amended its national juvenile justice law to make it consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the law in the state of J&K has not yet been updated.

Murtaza is not alone. Many other boys aged between 16 and 18 years are falling through the cracks in J&K’s juvenile justice laws and being treated as adults.

The Chief Minister of J&K, Omar Abdullah, has recognised the need for reform in this area. To make sure these reforms happen, we need you to urge the Chief Minister to begin by amending the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice Act (JKJJA) in the 2011 Monsoon session of the J&K Assembly.

Your signature can make a difference!

We will deliver your signatures in the form of a letter to the Chief Minister of the state as well as other key parliamentarians.

Take Action:

I call upon the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice Act, to bring it in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child...

Click this link to sign the petition:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/protect-children-jammu-kashmir