20 years on, Father waits for his son to return from the cricket fields

By:Majid Maqbool

"Twice selected to represent J&K in Ranji Trophy, Fayaz was 19 when he disappeared in custody. His family has kept his memory alive through an annual cricket tournament in his name in Baramulla"

As a young boy Fayaz Ahmad Gashoo was passionate about sports, particularly cricket. An all-round cricketer all through his high school and college years, he could bowl as fast as the West Indian fast bowler Malcolm Marshal earning him a nickname "Fayaz Marshal" in Baramulla and "Fayaz Fire" in Srinagar. Fayaz was selected twice to play in Ranji trophy. On a Saturday afternoon of May 19, 1990 he was waiting near a court complex in Sopore to board a bus to reach his home in Baramulla. A CRPF convoy that was passing by swooped on him and picked him up. Fayaz has never been seen since.

His family is unable to reconcile with the loss. Fayaz has disappeared but his family believes he has been killed. At their residence in KhawajaBagh, Baramulla, Fayaz's elder brother opens a grey briefcase - a briefcase full of memories, containing certificates, photographs and documents related to his disappearance. In one envelope - "yadien" written on its cover - pictures of Fayaz holding trophies he won in different cricket tournaments before he disappeared in CRPF custody in 1990.

In some pictures, he is smiling in the company of his college friends and teammates. Other pictures show Fayaz in a skiing gear on a snowy slope with his friends in Gulmarg. In other pictures he is receiving the man of the match trophy and shaking hands with dignitaries. Surrounded by his teammates, he is seen jubilantly holding up the trophy. One envelope from the briefcase reveals a newspaper cutting of Fayaz, mentioning his achievement in the caption:

"Fayaz Ahmad, B.A part 1 - All round best player of the year, 1987." Fayaz's mother has been in a state of shock since the day he disappeared. She cannot stand the sight of cricket matches shown on television. She cannot bring herself to talk about her son, her elder sons say. Fayaz's elder brothers have to conceal all his photos, clothes and other belongings from her. They can not talk of Fayaz in front of her. She never passes from the college cricket ground where Fayaz used to practice. She avoids places Fayaz would frequent.

On a cold day in December, 1989, Fayaz Ahmad left home. He told his brothers that he was going for skiing in Gulmarg. He was 19 then, a teenager. That year armed rebellion had broken out in Kashmir against Indian rule, and many of Fayaz's friends had crossed the LoC.Fayaz, too, crossed the border without informing his family. He returned after 3 months. "We didn't know that he had crossed the border as he never told us," says his elder brother. "Those who had gone with him sent some of his belongings home and that is how we came to know about it."

After he returned in March 1990, his brother says, Fayaz came home only three times. "He would stay at home for a brief time and wouldn't talk about what he did during those three months." A second year commerce student in Baramulla Degree College, Fayaz resumed studies in college after his return.

On May 19, 1990, Fayaz was waiting for a vehicle near a college in Sopore. Notebook in hand, he was headed home. Eyewitnesses later told the family that a CRPF convoy that was passing by made a brief halt, some troopers came down, and he was taken away. His notebook dropped on the street.

Fayaz's family came to know about his arrest four days after his disappearance. Another young man, who was detained along with Fayaz in a CRPF camp, had somehow escaped. He later sent a message to the family that Fayaz was held by the 50 battalion of CRPF in their camp in Sopore.

"The officer in charge of that camp Kripal Singh denied having arrested Fayaz," says his brother. Months later, another friend of Fayaz, who was also held in the same camp had more bad news for the family. He was later sent to Tihar and after his release from there a few months later, he told the family that Fayaz was tortured inside the CRPF camp in Sopore.

"He had heard cries of Fayaz in the camp," Fayaz's brothers recalled. "He told us later that Fayaz was abused by a CRPF officer who was interrogating Fayaz inside the camp." After an altercation, he heard a few gunshots. And then there was silence, the friend had told Fayaz's family.

If they have killed our brother, we don't know where they kept his dead body," said his brother, eyes brimming with tears. "If he is dead, they should at least have handed over his dead body to us." After the custodial disappearance of Fayaz, his brothers approached CRPF and army camps all across the valley. They searched in every jail in the valley. They also went searching to jails in Rajasthan. But no trace.

"If someone spoke of having seen him in some jail, we would immediately rush there," says his elder brother. For three months in 1990, the brother hired a taxi and went to every CRPF camp and approached every CRPF officer stationed in the valley.

Fayaz's family says the CRPF and Army kept harassing the family in the years after his disappearance. They would ask for the gun of Fayaz. Every time the family told them that they don't know anything about the gun. They had never seen Fayaz carrying any weapon.

One evening in 1994, a group of soldiers raided their house. "They asked all the men to come out. But we told them that the women will also come out and then they can search the house," says Gul Mohammad, the elder brother of Fayaz. The army men got angry on this. "They beat all of us, including children, old men and women," the brothers recall.

On the same day one of their younger brother, Bashir Ahmad Gashoo, was taken away by the army. "He was released after 10 days in half-dead condition," says his elder brother Gul Mohammad Gashoo. "He was severely tortured in the nearby army camp. He could not even stand after his release and he was unable to talk for months."

Gul Mohammad has kept pictures showing torture marks on his brother's body. "He had to be hospitalized and was brought home after 3 months of treatment in SKIMS."

As a teenager Fayaz was fearless. He wouldn't tolerate any curbs on his freedom. During his high school student days, he was walking on a curfewed road in Baramulla. His brothers say a police officer, who was driving by in a police gypsy, stopped Fayaz in his tracks and rebuked him. He asked Fayaz to get lost and stay at home. "Fayaz got so angry on this that he slapped the police officer," recalls his elder brother. "He told the police officer that he cannot stop him from walking on the road." Fayaz had to be kept in hiding for a month to prevent his arrest.

Fayaz's brothers remember him as a brave young boy who loved playing cricket. Endowed with the physique of an athlete, he was the tallest among all his three brothers. At 17, Fayaz was selected twice to represent J&K state in Ranji trophy in 1987 and 1989.

One day Fayaz had gone to Srinagar to play in a tournament. "He had no money to return home," recalls his elder brother. "He slept beneath a Chinar tree in the same ground where he played during the day. Next morning, he got up and played in another match in the same ground," his brother recalls his enthusiasm for cricket with a poignant smile.

Most of the matches he played Fayaz would win the man of the match award. "He is the only player in Baramulla who once hit a ball so hard that it landed on the street outside the Baramulla degree college," recalls his brother. He says when people would come to know that Fayaz is batting or bowling, they would assemble in huge numbers inside the college ground just to watch him play. "People would even come from far off villages in buses to cheer him on."

After Fayaz's custodial disappearance, his brothers kept his memory alive. They started an annual cricket tournament "Fayaz Memorial" cricket cup in 1997. It was a tribute to a promising young cricketer. Every year some of the best cricket teams in Baramula compete in the memorial tournament. Fayaz's elder brothers give out trophies to the best teams and the most promising players. Had he been allowed to live, his brothers say, he would have brought more laurels and made his homeland proud.

"Whenever I see a dream, I see Fayaz playing cricket in his college ground," says Gul Muhammad. His room is adorned with all the trophies of Fayaz. He has even preserved one of the worn out cricket balls Fayaz played with.

"Whatever respect we have earned among people here, it is because of Fayaz," his brothers say in unison. "We're known more as Fayaz's brothers." "And we will never forget what was done to our brother."

Shocking Brutalities in Kashmir

Guest Write up By: Sajjad Shaukat

The question of unmarked graves which shows shocking brutalities of Indian security forces in the Indian-Held Kashmir is appearing with more details which were concealed by New Delhi. In this respect, in its recent report which was also published by several Chinese newspapers, China’s leading News Agency Xinhua has unearthed more gruesome details on world-stunning unmarked graves in Poonch, in the Indian occupied Kashmir. While quoting reliable local sources, the report disclosed the statement of Sofi Aziz Joo, caretaker of a graveyard as saying, “Police and Army used to bring those bodies and direct me to bury them. The bodies were usually bullet-ridden, mutilated, faces disfigured and sometimes without limbs and heads.”Xinhua’s report said, “Burials are carried out quietly without involving the local people…burials of those killed by army and police usually stoke protests in the region against police and army with the demand of end to New Delhi’s rule.”

On September 27 this year Amnesty International said that lawmakers in Indian-held Kashmir should discuss the recent discovery of unnamed graves containing more than 2,000 bullet-riddled bodies and should demand an independent panel be set up to identify the bodies, noting the same recommendation made by the Jammu-Kashmir State Human Rights Commission which had yet to be acted upon. It repeatedly emphasised, indicating, “The state government must also ensure that all past and current allegations of enforced disappearances are promptly, thoroughly, independently and impartially investigated”, adding that anyone found responsible should be prosecuted

. It is notable that after widespread allegations of human rights abuses in the Indian occupied Kashmir by the army, paramilitary and police, a commission was set up in 1997. However, Indian Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has officially acknowledged in its report in August this year that innocent civilians killed in the two-decade conflict may have been buried in unmarked graves.

According to the report of the Indian commission, “Hundreds of unmarked graves in Kashmir hold more than 2,000 bullet-riddled bodies that may include innocent victims, despite police claims that they were militants fighting Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan territory.” Indian Commission’s report indicated, “2,156 unidentified bodies were found in mass graves in three northern mountainous regions, while 574 other bodies were found in the graves have been identified as local residents.

The probe said it noted 851 unknown bodies in Baramulla, 14 in Bandipore, 14 in Handwara and 1277 in Kupwara. While concealing actual details, it also acknowledged that few bodies were defaced, 20 were charred, five only had skulls remaining and there were at least 18 graves with more than one body each. Before this admission, Indian high officials have been emphasising that all these bodies were of militant fighters—claimed by police when they were handed over to villages for burial. While, rights groups have disclosed that more than 8,000 people have disappeared, accusing government forces of staging fake gunbattles to cover up killings. The groups also revealed that suspected rebels have been arrested and never heard from again. Notably, Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), which in March 2008 released a report, titled, “Facts Underground”, had indicated the presence of unidentified graves. The APDP, which estimates around 10,000 people went missing during last two decades, claims, “many missing people may have ended up in these unmarked graves.” In December 2009, another human rights group, the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights had released a report claiming that unnamed graveyards “entomb bodies of those, murdered in fake encounters and arbitrary executions.” Earlier, on August 23, 2011, Amnesty International had said that the investigation of graves in three regions also needs to be widened to the entire Indian-held portion of Kashmir. It insisted, “All unmarked grave sites must be secured and investigations carried out by impartial forensic experts.” In fact, since 1989 when movement of liberation in the Indian-controlled Kashmir accelerated, more than 70,000 people have been killed by Indian forces and police. Indian security forces employed various techniques of ethnic cleansing such as unlawful confinement, kidnapping, sieges, curfews, shelling of civilians, the destruction of homes and mosques, rape, torture, beating etc. And these inhuman methods contunued till the death of innocent Kashmiris. Besides, a number of unarmed individutals were killed by the Indian military, para-military troops and police in the fake encounters. So unnamed graves include a majority of those Kashmiris who were tortured to death by the security forces or directly killed by the Indian secret agency RAW. It is of particular attention that on June 28, 2010, BBC reported, “Three men went missing in Indian-administered Kashmir in April…but some time later their bodies were discovered near the Line of Control…a senior officer of the Indian army had kidnapped them by offering them jobs as porters. The troops later informed the police that they had killed three militants. Kashmir’s law minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar says there have been several proven cases of fake encounters in the past 20 years.”

BBC explained, “There are hardliners in the Indian Army and intelligence agencies, who think that by raising the bogey of infiltration and gun battles near the border they can create terror among people and also put pressure on Pakistan.”

Over the 20 years of violence in Jammu and Kashmir, Human Rights Watch has documented numerous failures to ensure protection of human rights. It has called for the repeal of laws such as the Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act and the Public Safety Act. These laws provide the armed forces with extraordinary powers to search, detain, and use lethal force, leading to numerous human rights violations. They also provide immunity for security forces. Prosecutions of security force personnel, even where the facts are well established, are rare. In the recent past, WikiLeaks have also pointed out the involvement of Indian Army in extrajudicial killings and other gross human rights violations in the Jammu and Kashmir. The related-cable has urged the US to secretly divert UN attention towards the genocide of innocent civilians at the hands of Indian forces. It seems that non-condemnation of these Indian acts of massive human rights violations by the so-called civilised international community has further encouraged New Delhi to step-up its brutalities on the armless Kashmiri masses. Indian authorities are not willing to talk with Kashmiri people on political grounds. India perhaps reached to a conclusion that only bullet is the right way of dealing with Kashmiris, demanding their right of self-determination. Surprisingly, Indian successive governments are trying to ignore the dynamics of the Kashmiris movement for the freedom from the Indian alien rule. Reliable sources suggest that India has partially withdrawn the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which was introduced in 1990. But it has only been amended in black and white, because in practice, it continues as Indian armed forces have totally failed in crushing the liberation movement of kashmiris with perennial wave of state terrorism. There can be no lasting political settlement in Kashmir unless human rights abuses that have fueled the ongoing uprising are addressed. Surprisingly, despite the assurances by New Delhi and Indian-puppet regime of the Kashmir so as to take punitive action against the concerned security personale with a view to stoping humanitarian crisis in the occupied areas, there has been no policy change in the repressive activities of Indian security forces as schocking brutalities and human rights violations in Kashmir continue unabated.

Nevertheless, the Indian government’s disregard for human rights in Jammu and Kashmir means that in practice, people reportedly died in custody and the whereabouts of the disappeared persons continue to be unknown. Therefore, more unmarked graves could be discovered from the Indian-held Kashmir in furture as with the help of local people, various human rights organisations and media are making strenous efforts in this matter.

PEOPLE OF KASHMIR SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN FORGRANTED

BY: SAYED ALI SAFVI

A four-year old boy dressed in green among a huge tsunami of protestors at the historic Eidgah on Friday August 22, waving a green flag, vociferously chants: “We want freedom.” I wonder whether he knows the meaning of the word or not, but one thing is for sure, he wants to become a part of the history that is in the making in Kashmir. He wants to breathe free, not under the shadow of the gun and the lurking fear, but under the umbrella of lasting peace and tranquility that have eluded the strife-torn valley for centuries.

The sentiments of the boy clearly indicate that all is not well in the so-called paradise on earth, Kashmir. Wherever you go in the valley today -- from north to south -- you will feel the anger emanating from a range of slogans reverberating through the valley.

However, amid the cacophony of slogans and screaming, there is one slogan that stands out: “We want freedom.” “Azadi” is literally in the air in the valley. “Azadi” is the most frequently uttered word in Kashmir today. People from all walks of life -- traders, employees, doctors, lawyers, students -- thronging the streets are demanding “Azadi from India”.

“People can live under unbelief, but they can not live in oppression,” declared Imam Ali (AS). It seems Kashmiris have finally woken up from the deep slumber of the decades-old oppression, started paying heed to the call of conscience, and realized that ‘enough is enough’. The deprived children of a wounded, widowed, and harassed mother called Kashmir have decided to break free her shackles.

What we are witnessing in Kashmir today is a classic example of a people’s movement. It is the denizens of the strife-torn vale of Kashmir who are calling the shots, and not the leaders. Separatist leaders may boast of having organized five massive rallies since August 11, but the fact of the matter is that it is the people who are driving the leaders this time. The valley is in no mood to be taken for a ride.

The valleyites can not be misled this time. The common man of Kashmir has suddenly become uncommon. The uncommon majority is fighting for the only thing they want: the right to self-determination.

“The separatist leaders who do appear and speak at the rallies are not leaders so much as followers, being guided by the phenomenal spontaneous energy of a caged, enraged people that has exploded on Kashmir’s streets,” activist, renowned author, and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy wrote in an article entitled “Land and Freedom”, which was published in the August 22 edition of The Guardian.

As long as the leaders fall in line with the people’s aspirations, they are the kings, but if they give up, they too would be in the line of fire. No leader is bigger than the movement. Perhaps Kashmiris have finally learned this basic principle of a resistance movement. By all means, what we are witnessing in Kashmir is a people’s movement. On top of it, this time there is no apparent support or backing from Pakistan or ISI, as has been religiously claimed by India in the past. The people on the streets are common Kashmiris -- old, young, women, children --who are demanding the right to self-determination, promised by India’s first prime minister -- a Kashmiri pandit -- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. They are not “terrorists” brandishing weapons or an uncontrollable mob on a killing spree.

The Hurriyat Conference and its leaders have the opportunity of a lifetime to turn woes into wows. In Sheikh Aziz’s death, the Hurriyat got a new lease on life. People have rested faith on Hurriyat leaders who have regained their lost political space. Geelani is perhaps at the end of his life and he would like to see the resolution of the Kashmir dispute before he closes his eyes. The support separatist leaders enjoy today is arguably unprecedented in Kashmir’s history. They must not let the sacrifice of Sheikh Aziz and others go to waste. They must ensure that the movement does not die down this time as it did in the early 1990s. New Delhi will try its best to sabotage the movement. So, you better keep your eyes wide open.

“Of course there are many ways for the Indian state to continue to hold on to Kashmir. It could do what it does best. Wait. And hope the people’s energy will dissipate in the absence of a concrete plan. It could try to fracture the fragile coalition that is emerging. It could extinguish this non-violent uprising and re-invite armed militancy. It could increase the number of troops from half a million to a whole million. A few strategic massacres, a couple of targeted assassinations, some disappearances and a massive round of arrests should do the trick for a few more years,” Roy wrote in “Land and Freedom”.

The Kashmiri youths spearheading the protests today are the generation of youth who have grown up during the militancy. They have seen it all. They have been brought up under the shadow of the gun. They have grown up, as Prem Shankar Jha said, “hating India and engorged with fear of the Indian army.” They have dashed all the psychological boundaries and the fear psychosis that Indian troops so vigorously tried to infuse into them over the past two decades.

“For them (Kashmiri youth) it is nothing short of an epiphany. Not even the fear of death seems to hold them back. And once that fear has gone, of what use is the largest or second largest army in the world?” Roy observed in the article in The Guardian.

Kashmiris, irrespective of political divide, are out on streets demanding the right to self-determination. Up to now, the demand for a plebiscite had primarily been put forth by Kashmiri separatists, but the current crisis in the state has compelled India’s leading strategic analysts to call for a referendum in Kashmir, a demand they considered a taboo only a couple of weeks ago.

India’s most read columnist, Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar, in his August 17 column in The Times of India, urged India to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir to allow the people of Kashmir to decide their destiny. “We promised Kashmiris a plebiscite six decades ago. Let us hold one now, and give them three choices: independence, union with Pakistan, or union with India. Almost certainly the Valley will opt for independence. Jammu will opt to stay with India, and probably Ladakh too. Let Kashmiris decide the outcome, not the politicians and armies of India and Pakistan,” he wrote.

Swaminathan also castigated India for drawing parallels with the colonial British. “The British insisted for a long time that India was an integral part of their Empire, the jewel in its crown, and would never be given up. Imperialist blimps remained in denial for decades. I fear we are in similar denial on Kashmir,” he said.

Vir Sanghvi, in his column in the Hindustan Times, called upon India to hold a referendum in the valley. “I reckon we should hold a referendum in the Valley. Let the Kashmiris determine their own destiny. If they want to stay in India, they are welcome. But if they don’t, then we have no moral right to force them to remain… If you believe in democracy, then giving Kashmiris the right to self-determination is the correct thing to do. And even if you don’t, surely we will be better off being rid of this constant, painful strain on our resources, our lives, and our honor as a Nation,” he wrote.

Sanghvi questioned India for hanging on to the people “who have no desire to be part of India.” “Why are we still hanging on to Kashmir if the Kashmiris don’t want to have anything to do with us?” he wrote.

The call for Azadi in Kashmir today is much louder than it has ever been. Slogans may be many but the real demand is Azadi.

Arundhati Roy has called for Kashmir’s Azadi from India, much to the dismay of New Delhi. “India needs azadi from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India,” said the celebrated author. Arundhati Roy attended two massive rallies in Srinagar, at the Tourist Reception Centre ground and the Eidgah, to show solidarity with Kashmiris.

“Every banner, full-throated cry or slogan today is an expression of anger with India. Be it in favor of Pakistan, Nizam-e-Mustafa (Islamic state), or simply freedom. There may be many contradictions in the movement, but the desire for independence has erupted suddenly again, with a zeal that can almost be romanticized as revolutionary,” writes Saba Naqvi (Outlook, September 1, 2008).

However, not many Kashmiris endorse Kashmir’s integration with Pakistan.

“When someone on the street here (Kashmir) says Pakistan or Nizam-e-Mustafa, what are they trying to convey? What he (the Kashmiri) is saying is that he rejects the present system. This does not necessarily mean he would choose Pakistan. People here know what has been happening within Pakistan. They are disappointed in what has become of the political system there. There is also a feeling that Pakistan has lost interest in Kashmir,” says Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (Outlook, September 1, 2008).

The writing is on the wall. Kashmiris want the right to self-determination, which India has denied them for six decades. The ball is in New Delhi’s court. Being a democratic country, it cannot turn a deaf ear to the incessant demands of Kashmiris, else everlasting peace will never be achieved in Kashmir.

PHOTO FEATURE: PRAYERS AND PROTESTS TODAY

Eid-ul-Aazha is being celebrated across Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. In the Kashmir valley the largest congregation was held at the historic Jamai Masjid in the Old City where thousand of people assembled. However, the day also saw protests in some parts of the Valley. Lens-men Syed Shahriyar show you some frames from the day

Clashes erupted between protesters and government forces in parts of Srinagar's Old City, eyewitnesses told Kashmir Dispatch here on Monday. They said, soon after Eid congregational prayers got over at various Mosques of the historic city, scores of youth marched through the streets and roads raising pro-freedom slogans.

The groups of youth were confronted by police and Central Reserve Police Force troopers, who were stationed in the area to thwart protests. The youth hurled stones at the forces triggering fierce clashes, they said. A youth was injured during stone-hurling protests that erupted after the Eid prayers in apple town of Sopore in North Kashmir, about 55 kilometers from here, an official said. Protests erupted soon after the Eid congregational prayers finished at the Jamia Masjid in the town as youth tried to march onto the the roads raising slogans.

Thousands of women and children also gathered at the grand Mosque.

Imam Hai led the people in Eid Prayers.

Scores of people, including top policemen, were wounded after clashes erupted between groups of youth and government forces in south Kashmir's Anantnag (Islamabad) town, soon after Eid congregational prayers got over, on Monday, sources said. They said clashes erupted in the Janglat Mandi area after groups of youth tried to march through the streets of the area, raising pro-freedom slogans. The youth clashed with a contingent of police and Central Reserve Police Force troopers. Senior Superintendent of Police RK Jalla, Superintendent of Police, Zahid Malik, Deputy Superintendent of Police Tanveer Jeelani, Station House Officer Liyaqat Khan were among the scores of policemen and and protesters who were injured in the clashes, sources said.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq addressed a huge gathering at the historic Jamia Masjid in the Old City. In his sermon the Mirwaiz urged the people to celebrate Eid with austerity

The shackles of slavery will break

By Abdul Aala Fazili

My dear brothers, sisters. Assalaamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu, Allah is the most merciful and Allah is the All Knowing. At the outset I would like to congratulate all of us for our steadfastness and sacrifices which Alhamdulillah are bearing fruits now. There is no need to be in anxiety and despair about the success of our freedom struggle. I have this total and farthest belief; we will finally achieve freedom – Insha’Allah.

Success, my dear friends is not an event, it is a process – it is a path, which we need to tread on so that we reach our destination – freedom. Alhamdulillah, the unflinching resistance of our young protesters and nation as a whole has set the movement into an irreversible motion on the path of success.

The resistance in last three years has been the most important phase so far in our freedom struggle. We may not have succeeded in chasing India out yet, but certainly we have succeeded in shaking their hold over Kashmir and creating ripples within their establishments – we have succeeded in tearing their mask of non-violence and democracy – we have exposed their demonic criminal conduct before their conscientious people – they stand demoralized – their confidence is shaken – their rhetoric of arrogance is changing – their claim of integral part has no takers anymore.

The mass uprisings in the recent pat have pushed the discourse out of ambiguities and made our political discourse clear and direct. It has dispelled the Indian propaganda unleashed primarily to confuse the public opinion within and outside Jammu and Kashmir.

The awareness has heightened and mobilization/participation has touched majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir irrespective of age, gender and region. Voices of resistance remain now loud and clear in the remotest parts of Jammu & Kashmir. An informed commitment has transferred to the younger generation and they feel confident in continuing the struggle more creatively, courageously and effectively towards liberation. This generation has also been victim of and witness to the struggle and sufferings that this nation has been enduring for the cause of liberation and justice.

The resonance of our resistance has reached the global power corridors so emphatically that it has become impossible for anyone to ignore our struggle and sufferings.

The shackles of slavery will break – Insha’Allah, but for that my dear friends, lets us pledge that we will not forget the sacrifices our dear ones who have been taken away from us by the violence of Indian state during last sixty-three-years. We have to refrain from the disease of forgetfulness. We have to refrain from being inconsistent. We have to refrain from being indifferent and callous.

Let us share the pain of those families who lost their loved ones in last three years, rather with all those one lakh families whose members have been killed during the freedom struggle. The most important contribution for the movement would be taking care of these families who need our moral, financial and political support.

Let us build the memorial walls, in which the names of our martyrs are inscribed. Let us institutionalize their memories in our daily lives. These memorials will become an instrument of our strength, solidarity, remembrance, and motivation for future.

India has been tyrant to us, but by forgetting their crimes we will become an accomplice. We remember the killings of two and a half lakh Muslims of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi in 1947. We remember the killings of fifteen hundred people in 1953. We remember the killings and incarcerations of thousands of people, especially those of Poonch and Rajouri from 1965 to 1989. We remember killings of more than 1 lakh people since 1989 till 2010. We remember the molestations and rapes committed on thousands of our daughters. We remember those ten thousand people who have been subjected to enforced disappearance. We remember the bones and bodies of our men discovered in thousands of unmarked and mass graves. We remember the arrests and detentions of thousands of Kashmiri people. We remember the worst forms of tortures and humiliations being inflicted on us by Indian troopers. We remember and we shall never forget all this.

India may have succeeded in killing of our people – in arresting and torturing our people – in destroying our properties – in brutalizing our society, but they will never succeed in the death of our dreams – the dream of free Kashmir – the dream of justice – the dream of living a dignified and prosperous life – the dream of living a life without fear. Our resistance will ensure our existence, which is under threat from Indian control.

On the occasion of Eid ul Azha, let us all pledge in the name of the blood of our martyrs and tears of mothers and sisters:

- that we shall always remember their sacrifices,

- that we shall never stop our struggle for freedom, truth and justice,

- that we shall never allow India to divide us.

In last sixty-three-years India has invested into terrorizing, corrupting, co-opting, and exhausting our people. Also internationally India has tried to malign our movement by categorizing it as terrorism. All their investments seem to be going waste, Alhamdulillah. This is the direct outcome of our valiant struggle, resilience and sacrifices. We have given befitting responses to Indian political machinations and tyranny. This is a source of contentment and let us feel encouraged to carry on the march for freedom with hope. Time to celebrate will follow – Insha’Allah.

ALLAH, BLESS KASHMIR

Abdul Aala Fazili is a scholar at University of Kashmir.

Exclusive: Mass graves found in south Kashmir too

Zubair Ahmad* points at the mud-covered graves. He is jittery - playing in his mind are flashbacks from the day in the mid-’90s when security forces handed over three charred half-bodies to the local Auqaf Committee for burial.

Ahmad, who was in his early 20s then, witnessed the burial, in the village graveyard, of unidentified bodies of alleged ‘militants’. The graveyard gradually became the resting place for more and more unidentified bodies brought there by the security forces.

“From the mid-’90s to the early 2000s, security forces and the police brought bodies in vans for burial in the graveyard,” he said. “Once, five boys who looked like they were teenagers were brought for burial.”

For several years, body bags continued to pour in until the graveyard was filled to capacity. The local Auquaf committee says there could be more than 70 unmarked graves in the cemetery.

“It used to be a village graveyard,” says Molvi Bashir Ahmed, the Mirwaiz of Jama Masjid and chairman of the central Auqaf Committee. “Since Bindu village is central in the Breng area, and the police station is nearby, the bodies were handed over to us. We, as Muslims, thought it was our religious duty and buried them in the local graveyard.”

Bindu is a strategically located, with Kishtwar in Jammu region on one side and Anantnag on the other.

“We were told that these bodies belonged to unidentified militants. But we did not know who they were. People from different areas, including Kishtwar, came to us enquiring whether any of their kin were buried in the graveyard. We referred them to the police station, telling them that cops might have photographs of the dead,” says Molvi Bashir.

South Kashmir has, so far, remained insulated from the unmarked graves controversy, even as north Kashmir remains in the limelight after the investigative wing of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) found 2,156 unidentified bodies buried in 38 graveyards across three districts.

Jammu and Kashmir minister of state for home, Nasir Aslam Wani, said he will look into the matter of unmarked graves in south Kashmir. “I have to check this. Since you told me, I will look into this,” he said.

Defence spokesman Lt Col JS Brar refused to comment on this issue. Human rights groups say this only proves that no district is free from the unmarked graves. “The fact of the matter is that no district in Kashmir is free from unmarked graves,” said Khurram Parvez, Liaison International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice (IPT), and programme coordinator, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society.

IPT had come out with a report titled ‘Buried Evidence’, documenting 2,700 unknown, unmarked, mass graves, containing 2,943 bodies, across 55 villages in Bandipora, Baramulla, and Kupwara districts of Kashmir. The report was based on research conducted from November 2006-November 2009.

The IPT report was the second, and comes on the heels of an Association of Parents of Disappeared People (APDP) report in 2008 about nameless graves. Titled ‘Facts Under Ground’, the report detailed 940 to 1,000 nameless graves of unidentified slain people.

“I remember chief minister Omar Abdullah telling people to come forward for DNA testing. But nobody came forward,” says Mustafa Kamaal, additional general secretary and spokesman of the ruling National Conference.