The state of affairs in Kashmir University; Perspective of a student activist.

With despair I compose this message to express the real state of affairs in Kashmir University as far as student activism is concerned. The activities of Congress backed NSUI & the statements made by the officials of KU are a matter of great concern to the stake holders of the varsity. I would like to convey my displeasure by the following points:

1. The recent press release of NSUI which was published in local dailies communicate that their membership drive was a success by recruiting 475 voters in KU. If you have a look at the official website of NSUI, you can find the member list of J&K and KU in particular, wherein the complete list of the students involved in this heinous affair is available even mentioning the department & the batch they belong to. It comes as a surprise to see that the total no. of students out of the 6000 plus students of KU is only 110. Out of the 110, only 37 votes have been polled. And out of these 37, 80% belong to a particular batch of Dept. of Law.

2. It is but obvious from the list that NSUI has published on their website that they have managed to rope in only one or two pro-active workers who belong to the particular batch of L.LB. Logical instinct leads me to believe that these pro-active workers either have a pro-Indian family background or have some support from a faculty member of the department.

3. The PRO of Kashmir University recently issued a press release wherein he mentioned that NSUI does not exist in varsity, based on the information found on the website either the PRO’s statement Is blatant lie or KU administration is not doing their job well.

4. Authorities in KU had banned every sort of student activism as they say it does pertain to academics. I would like to question what according to them comprises the domain of academic activism. Is it the unfair recruitments (an example being a student of home science being appointed as PRO), Is it the sponsored meeting of selected few with Indian ministers of the rank of Kapil Sibal & Rahul Gandhi or Is it the cases of alleged sexual harassment by officials of University (Zafar scandal) or is it the Christian conversion controversy with some professors being allegedly involved in it.

5. Talking of political activism which the authorities fear & over which the KUSU office was demolished, I want the authorities to make their stand clear whether they think protesting against the Shopian Double rape & murder case and killings of innocent school going youth amounts to politics.

6. According to my information the election of this 35 member voter list was held at the residence of a lady who calls herself Rabia Baji & claims to be a revert . She runs an NGO which facilitates social programs for CRPF & Indian Army. The recent Shehar-e-Khaas U-14 cricket tournament played at the Kashmir University grounds where General Hasnain & IG of Indian police SM Sahai were chief guests was also facilitated by her. I would like to question this “Baji” how in the world does she fit in, to facilitate NSUI elections.

7. Taking into consideration the volatile environment in Kashmir majority of the students cannot afford to put their careers & lives at stake by aligning themselves with the real representatives (HURRIYAT-G) of the people, for they have no desire to become a resident of another unmarked grave. So, I wonder what the KU administration is really afraid of. It’s but obvious the suppression of genuine student voice is a pretext to inhibit us from speaking on behalf of the people of Kashmir.

8. I honestly believe that even this voter list is fake & these 110 students in the list of NSUI have been fold into something they have no idea of. They should come out in public as far as their stand over this matter is concerned or else their silence will be taken as admission to the guilt they are involved in.

9. Some students pursuing MBBS in GMC & JVC are also a part of the voter list. It should be of no surprise that out of these students majority of them with their names like Rahul & Akash are from Jammu.

10. All these activities & the silence of local pro-Indian political parties compelled me to believe that it all is a part of big conspiracy which has been hatched to strengthen the roots of Indian military occupation in Kashmir & to show to the outside world that Indian sentiment is prevalent amongst the youth of Kashmir, with some important officials of KU being a part of this conspiracy.

It is my appeal to the pro-people intellectuals of Kashmir to speak & question the KU administration on my behalf, for their silence will amount to acceptance of defeat.

Martyrs Charged By Police

Five persons killed in police and security forces firing during protest demonstrations at Tangmarg last year against the desecration of holy Quran in USA have been charge sheeted by police along with 15 others.

A police spokesman said the 20 persons including five deceased persons have been charge sheeted for the crimes punishable under section 307, 436, 147,148, 149 RPC.

He added that they charge sheet was presented before a court today in a court for setting ablaze government property worth crores of rupees at Tangmarg.

The incident had occured on September 13 following reports of desecration of holy Quran in USA. Police had opened fire on the protestors killing a number of persons. Curfew was imposed in the affected area for several days.

Police spokesman said the mob had burnt down different government buildings including tehsil office complex, animal husbandry department building, social welfare office building, Tyndale Biscoe school building.

A case FIR number 91/2010 under section 307, 436, 147,148, 149 RPC was registered in police station Tangmarg.

The spokesman added that during the investigation, police identified the accused persons who were leading the mob and orchestrated the arson, through photographs, video-clips and eyewitnesses.

Joining a Dinner in a Muslim Brotherhood Home

By: Nicholas D. Kristof

If you want to understand the Islamic forces that are gaining strength in Egypt and scaring people here and abroad, let me tell you about my dinner in the home of Muslim Brotherhood activists.

First, meet my hostess: Sondos Asem, a 24-year-old woman who is pretty much the opposite of the stereotypical bearded Brotherhood activist. Sondos is a middle-class graduate of the American University in Cairo, where I studied in the early 1980s (“that’s before I was born,” she said wonderingly, making me feel particularly decrepit).

She speaks perfect English, is writing a master’s thesis on social media, and helps run the Brotherhood’s English-language Twitter feed, @Ikhwanweb.

The Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as the dominant political party in parliamentary voting because of people like Sondos and her family. My interviews with supporters suggest that the Brotherhood is far more complex than the caricature that scares many Americans.

Sondos rails at the Western presumption that the Muslim Brotherhood would oppress women. She notes that her own mother, Manal Abul Hassan, is one of many female Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated candidates running for Parliament.

“It’s a big misconception that the Muslim Brotherhood marginalizes women,” Sondos said. “Fifty percent of the Brotherhood are women.”

I told Sondos that Westerners are fearful partly because they have watched the authorities oppress women in the name of Islam in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan.

“I don’t think Egypt can ever be compared to Saudi Arabia or Iran or Afghanistan,” she replied. “We, as Egyptians, are religiously very moderate.” A much better model for Egypt, she said, is Turkey, where an Islamic party is presiding over an economic boom.

I asked about female circumcision, also called female genital mutilation, which is inflicted on the overwhelming majority of girls in Egypt. It is particularly common in conservative religious households and, to its credit, the Mubarak government made some effort to stop the practice. Many worry that a more democratic government won’t challenge a practice that has broad support.

“The Muslim Brotherhood is against the brutal practice of female circumcision,” Sondos said bluntly. She insisted that women over all would benefit from Brotherhood policies that focus on the poor: “We believe that a solution of women’s problems in Egyptian society is to solve the real causes, which are illiteracy, poverty and lack of education.”

I asked skeptically about alcohol, peace with Israel, and the veil. Sondos, who wears a hijab, insisted that the Brotherhood wasn’t considering any changes in these areas and that its priority is simply jobs.

“Egyptians are now concerned about economic conditions,” she said. “They want to reform their economic system and to have jobs. They want to eliminate corruption.” Noting that alcohol supports the tourism industry, she added: “I don’t think any upcoming government will focus on banning anything.”

I told her that I would feel more reassured if some of my liberal Egyptian friends were not so wary of the Brotherhood. Some warn that the Brotherhood may be soothing today but that it has a violent and intolerant streak — and is utterly inexperienced in managing a modern economy.

Sondos looked exasperated. “We embrace moderate Islam,” she said. “We are not the ultra-conservatives that people in the West envision.”

I heard similar reassurances from other Brotherhood figures I interviewed, and I’m not sure what to think. But opinions vary, and I’m struck by the optimism I heard in some secular quarters: from Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, an 80-year-old leftist who is a hero of Egyptian feminism, and from Ahmed Zewail, the Egyptian-American scientist who won a Nobel Prize and is passionate about education.

Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and Arab League secretary general who is a front-runner in the race for president, was similarly optimistic. He told me that whatever unfolds, Egypt will continue to seek good relations with the United States and will unquestionably stand by its peace treaty with Israel.

“You cannot conduct an adventurous foreign policy when you rebuild a country,” he said. “We must have the best of relations with the United States.”

When I raised American concerns that Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood and the more extremist Salafis might replicate Iran, he was dismissive: “The experience of Iran will not be repeated in Egypt.”

I think he’s right. Revolutions are often messy, and it took Americans seven years from their victory in the American Revolution at Yorktown to get a ratified Constitution. Indonesia, after its 1998 revolution, felt very much like Egypt does today. It endured upheavals from a fundamentalist Islamic current, yet it pulled through.

So a bit of nervousness is fine, but let’s not overdo the hand-wringing — or lose perspective. What’s historic in Egypt today is not so much the rise of any one party as the apparent slow emergence of democracy in the heart of the Arab world.

Why Kashmir is Important to Me?

(The statement of Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai which was issued at the Alexandria Court House, Virginia)

The Kashmir issue is simply this: the people of a large territory which is not part of any existing sovereign state were assured by the entire international community represented by the United States that they would be enabled to decide their future by a free vote. Until now, this assurance has not been honored.
I, as an American of Kashmiri origin am profoundly grateful to the Administration for upholding the position of principle which the United States has sustained throughout the existence of the contentious issue relating to the status of Kashmir.

When the Kashmir dispute erupted in 1947-1948, the United States championed the stand that the future status of Kashmir must be determined by the will of the people of the territory and that their wishes must be ascertained through an impartial plebiscite under the supervision and control of the United Nations. The U.S. was a principle sponsor of the resolution # 47 which was adopted by the Security Council on April 21, 1948 and which was based on that unchallenged principle. It was also upheld equally by both India and Pakistan when the Kashmir dispute was brought before the Security Council in 1948. The commitment of the U.S. was indicated by a personal appeal made by President Harry Truman that differences over demilitarization be submitted to arbitration by the Plebiscite Administrator, a distinguished American war hero: Admiral Chester Nimitz.

It was most gratifying for Kashmiri American community when President George W. Bush (Republican) said on February 22, 2006 that the United States supports a solution of Kashmir dispute acceptable not only to India and Pakistan but also to “citizens of Kashmir.” It was equally gratifying for us when President Barack Obama said on October 30, 2008, “We should probably try to facilitate a better understanding between Pakistan and India and try to resolve the Kashmir crisis so that they can stay focused not on India, but on the situation with those militants.’

Today, Kashmir is a living proof that it is not going to compromise, far less abandon, its demand for Azaadi (independence) which is its birthright and for which it has paid a price in blood and suffering which has not been exacted from any other people of the South Asian subcontinent. Compared to the sacrifice Kashmir has had to endure, India and Pakistan themselves gained their freedom through a highly civilized process.

The scale of the popular backing for Kashmiri resistance can be judged from the established fact that virtually all the citizenry of Srinagar (Capital city of Kashmir) - men, women and children - came out multiple times on the streets to lodge a non-violent protest against the continuance of alien occupation. The fact that they presented petitions at the office of the United Nations Military Observers Group shows the essentially peaceful nature of the aims of the uprising and its trust in justice under international law. At times the number of people in these peaceful processions exceeded 1 million. India has tried to portray the uprising as the work of terrorists or fanatics. Terrorists do not compose an entire population, including women and children; fanatics do not look to the United Nations to achieve pacific, and rational settlement.

That is a most poignant truth. But even more bitterly ironical is the contrast between the complex and decades-long agony the Kashmir issue has caused to Kashmiris, to Pakistan and to India itself and the simple, rational measures that would be needed for its solution. No sleight of hand is required, no subtle concepts are to be deployed, and no ingenious deal needs to be struck between an Indian and a Pakistani leader with the endorsement of the more pliable Kashmiri figures. The time for subterfuges is gone. All that is needed is going back --- yes, going back --- to the point of agreement which historically existed beyond doubt between India and Pakistan and jointly resolving to retrieve it with such modifications as are necessitated by the passage of time.

That point of agreement was one of inescapable principle- -- that the future status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be decided by the will of the people of the State as impartially ascertained in conditions free from coercion. The two elements of a peaceful settlement thus were, first, the demilitarization of the State (i.e. the withdrawal of the forces of both India and Pakistan) and a plebiscite supervised by the United Nations.

Between India’s insistence that a settlement must be “within the four corners of the Indian constitution” and Pakistan’s demand that it must be based on the international agreement embodied in the UN Security Council resolutions, there cannot be a meeting point which the two governments can find by themselves. Neither can disentangle itself from the massive under growth of the dispute. There needs to be a third way which neither admits nor challenges any claim or proposition on the question of sovereignty over Kashmir nor on the desirability or otherwise of the partition or reunification of the State. Both these questions need to be set aside if the dispute is to be put on the road to a settlement.

There is nothing in the United Nations plan that is incompatible with pluralism. We do not wish to foreclose any of the three possible options for the people: independence, accession to Pakistan or accession to India. We refuse to believe that fairness is an impractical proposition.

Its object should be not to answer what is the correct or best solution of the Kashmir problem but how that solution can be arrived at. In other words, it should by itself neither promote nor preclude any rational settlement of the dispute, be it accession to India or Pakistan or independence. Rather than seek to impose a settlement on Kashmir, it should engage the peoples of each region of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir to work out a settlement themselves without any external constraint.

I am equally proud of Kashmiri pluralism. The term fundamentalism is quite inapplicable to Kashmiri society. One of the proud distinctions of Kashmir has been the sustained tradition of tolerance, amity, good will and friendship between the members of different religious and cultural communities. It has a long tradition of moderation and non-violence. Its culture does not generate extremism and fundamentalism. Kashmir conflict was never a fight between Hindus and Muslims. It was never a struggle between theocracy and secularism. It has always been about the destiny and future of 17 million people of Kashmir, be they Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs or Buddhists.

The Policy Of Kashmiri American Council

After the uprising in Kashmir in 1989, a group of Kashmiri Americans established the Kashmiri American Council (KAC) in Washington in 1990. The primary objective of KAC was simply to raise the consciousness of the international community toward the issue of Kashmir; and to seek the understanding of the United States to help achieve the right of self-determination which was guaranteed to the people of Kashmir under the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The U.S. has, since the adoption of the UN resolutions in 1948, always held the position that Kashmir is a disputed territory; that it is not an integral part of either India or Pakistan; and that India and Pakistan should resolve the issue, taking into account the wishes and aspirations of the people of Kashmir. Therefore, there was no need to influence U.S. foreign policy which has always been consistent with the goals of the Kashmiri people. However, we felt that there was a need to educate and encourage policy makers to take concrete steps to help achieve this goal.

Who I Represent

Kashmiri American Council and I have always tried to represent the sentiments of the people of Kashmir, irrespective of the religious background and cultural affiliations. Sometimes it meant to state the hard facts which people in the halls of power in New Delhi or Islamabad might not always find agreeable. But unfortunately facts are facts and ignoring them would not have done justice not only to people of Kashmir but to the people of both India and Pakistan. This fact can be understood from an article of mine which was published in Washington Times on January 18, 2004, when I was analyzing various possibilities that could lead us to a just settlement of Kashmiri issue. I wrote, under the title, "The taproot of South Asian turbulence,” (an article particularly harsh to the sensitivities of both the Indian government and the government of Pakistan.) "Finding a solution to the stalemate over self-determination in Kashmir, however, is vastly more complex than articulating the problem. Some in India profit from Kashmir's tumults. They appeal to extreme Hindu nationalists who insist on Muslim inferiority and envision India as an expanding sun in the South Asian universe. Likewise, some in Pakistan gain by keeping Kashmir unresolved. It distracts attention from Pakistan's enormous domestic faults, and provides indigenous militants with an outlet unthreatening to [its own] government."

Had it been true that I was being dictated by someone from New Delhi or Islamabad, then it would not have been easy for me to publish my article in Boston Globe on January 5, 2002, "Kashmir Rights Cannot Be Denied," I wrote, "There are suggestions in some quarters that the United Nations should broker a deal on Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Kashmiris wish to stress that their land is not real estate that can be parceled out between two [non-resident] disputants but the home of nation with a history far more compact and coherent than India's and far longer than Pakistan's. No settlement of their status will hold unless it is explicitly based on the principles of self-determination and erases the so-called line of control, which is in reality the line of conflict. "

Likewise it would not have been easy to question the involvement of India and Pakistan in the talks to resolve the Kashmir issue. I wrote in The Quarterly Magazine About the Developing World published by the National Peace Corps Association in its August through October 1998 issue, Volume 11, number 4, entitled "Colony Kashmir, a Voice for independence." I said, "I wish to emphasize the point that as the dispute involves three parties-- India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir -- who are the most directly affected. Any attempt to strike a deal between two without the association of the third, will fail to yield a credible settlement. The contemporary history of South Asia is abundantly clear that bilateral efforts have never met with success."

In that same article, I also stated, "but we believe that India and Pakistan cannot by themselves reach a settlement over Kashmir without associating the genuine Kashmiri leadership--All Parties Hurriyet Conference--with the negotiations. It would be performing Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark."

My approach has been consistent and there was absolutely no reason for me to do otherwise, and that is to inform the world powers that India and Pakistan by themselves are not able to resolve the issue of Kashmir. They have tried over decades but failed. That's why in an article called "The New Clinton Doctrine" which I published in July 1997, I wrote: "But the Kashmir problem should not be viewed as a territorial dispute between these two countries. The reality is that it is first and foremost a problem that involves the life and future of the thirteen million people of Kashmir-- a people with a historical identity, a distinct individuality and the same aspirations for freedom as that of any other people on earth."

The most important constituency which we have to address is not United States, not Pakistan, not elsewhere, but India itself. Meeting with Indian officials was fundamental to my strategy in communicating with New Delhi to find the means by which we as Kashmiri Americans could contribute to peace in that part of the world and in resolving the crisis in Kashmir. During the past twenty years, I along with Ambassador Yusuf Buch, former Senior Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General and late Dr. Ayub Thuker, President, World Kashmir Freedom Movement, have met with various Indian Cabinet Ministers, belonging to the administrations of Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister Atel Behari Vajpayee and current Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. And during the past eleven years, I also met with four different officials at the Indian embassy who succeeded each other periodically and introduced me to the new incoming official before leaving for a new post.

It has always been my habit to keep the channel of communication open to the Indian embassy. I have met with the officials of Indian embassy in Washington since 1999, sometimes monthly, sometimes bi-monthly. From March 2006 onward we met monthly and at times twice a month. Whenever we had a seminar or a conference on Kashmir I would invite the Indian ambassador to speak. I had a habit of exchanging information and establishing the details in advance with an official of the embassy, and then a final copy of the invitation for the ambassador would be given to the official, whom I usually met at a public cafeteria. An Indian official called me either on July 18 or July 19, 2011, the day I was arrested. He left a voicemail that we must meet, which I heard ten days later after my release.

I have made personal mistakes that I deeply regret and I feel great sorrow for that, but I have never compromised our goals of independence and self-determination for the Kashmiri people and our commitment to peaceful negotiations between India, Pakistan and the leadership of the Kashmiri people. My own passion for the plight of Kashmir is clearly nothing unique. As a child of Kashmir, born and raised in this environment myself, I am just one of the hundreds of thousands of youth who, through no fault or choice of their own, have become directly or indirectly involved and deeply and passionately motivated to do something positive for their country, however insignificant in the context of global affairs, to make a difference. A country can be destroyed but a nation cannot be defeated. Our own independence from this tyranny is the song in our heart, the poetry on our lips, and the vision that solidly unites us. It is the bedrock of our determination to continue unrelentingly to seek justice and truth for the people of Kashmir, despite our seeming powerlessness in the face of this occupation. Our hope is in our unity, in our love for one another as a people, as a nation, and as a divine spirit that pervades our history as a people with a unique cultural identity regardless of race, religion or creed, and our lasting belief that we cannot be denied our birth right to self-determination.

Conclusion

Win-win solutions are further important because they safeguard against prospective bitterness or humiliation that are the fuel of new conflict. If one party to a solution feels exploited or unfairly treated, then national sentiments to undo the settlement will naturally swell. We must not belittle, embarrass, or humiliate any party. Every participant should be treated with dignity and humanity. Charity, not the triumphal, should be the earmark of the negotiating enterprise. Also, we should not sacrifice the good on the altar of the perfect. Compromises are the staple of conflict resolution. To achieve some good is worthwhile even though not all good is achieved.

Wailing woes of Kashmiri women

By : Saeed ur Rehman Siddiqui

Inspite of the fact that the violations of human rights in Kashmir are in direct disregard to the principles of international human rights, humanitarian laws including the Geneva Conventions and the protocols additional thereto, no attention has been directed to address the issue at national and international levels. An appropriate response is necessitated by the fact that the violations of human rights in Kashmir's armed conflict have had a direct bearing on its civilian population. Civilian victims, mostly women and children, often outnumber casualties among the combatants [1]. But women suffer in both differing and complex forms. They suffer directly by being subject to rape, molestation and torture and others whose relations are subject to atrocities suffer because of being related to them. It therefore becomes imperative to try and analyse the impact that the past 18 years of conflict have had on Kashmiri women. More so, because there needs to be an awareness and understanding that armed conflict and its impact affect women physically, psychologically, socially and economically [2]. The International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC) places the impact of armed conflict on women under eight themes: Displacement, security, sexual violence, missing persons, detention, access to medicare, access to food and other assistance and protection under international humanitarian law [3].

Rape cases

A study done by Medecins Sans Frontieres in mid 2005 reveals that Kashmiri women are among the worst sufferers of sexual violence in the world. It further mentions that since the beginning of the armed struggle in Kashmir in 1989, sexual violence has been routinely perpetrated on Kashmiri women, with 11.6 per cent of respondents saying they were victims of sexual abuse. Interestingly, the figure is much higher than that of Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Chechnya. The state home department has no specific data in this regard for the last 17 years. This serves as a telling comment on the plight of women and on the indifferent attitude of the state towards addressing the issue. Cases of rape and molestation abound in Kashmir and many go unreported because of the fear of social stigma, and of reprisal by state agencies. And even in those cases, where the victims manage to transcend these fears and report the matter to police, they achieve little or no justice. More often, police refuses to lodge an FIR against the troops.

In Kunan Poshpora, a small village in Kashmir, the soldiers of fourth Rajputana Rifles allegedly raped about 30 women on the night of February 23, 1991, during a search operation while men were taken away from their homes and interrogated. The ages of women raped ranged from 13 to 80 years. According to newspaper reports, on June 17,1994, troops of Rashtriya Rifles accompanied by two officers Major Ramesh and Major Rajkumar entered into village Hyhama and allegedly raped and molested seven women. In another incident, troops raped a mentally ill old woman in her house in Barbarshah in Srinagar on January 5, 1991. Medical reports confirmed rape and locals lodged an FIR with the concerned police station, but the police did no investigation. She later died in 1998 while the FIR still awaits action from the state government. In another gruesome incident, an army Major in Badra, Handwara, raped Aisha, a 29-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter, Shabnum. These being just a few examples, incidents like these are plenty in Kashmir and ironically pass unheeded for.

Due to immunity of troops from prosecution and their own court martial proceedings, which are far from being unbiased, they are left free to do as they please. Dr Maiti, a professor of political science at Rurdwa University, West Bengal, explains, "Rape continues to be a major instrument of Indian oppression against the Kashmiri people while the majority of victims are civilians. This concept stands fortified by a report of ICRC dated March 6, 2001, where it has been mentioned that women are raped in order to humiliate, frighten and defeat the enemy 'group' to which they belong. Rape in a war is not merely a matter of chance; it is rather a question of power and control, which is 'structured by male soldiers' notions of their masculine privilege, by the strength of the military line of command and by class and ethnic inequalities among women [4]. One of the reasons given by Radhika Coomaraswamy for sexual violence in armed conflict is that violence against women may be directed towards the social group of which she is a member because 'to rape a woman is to humiliate her community'. Complex and combined emotions of hatred, superiority, vengeance for real or imagined wrongs and national pride are engendered and deliberately manipulated in armed conflict. For the men of the community, rape encapsulates the totality of their defeat; they have failed to protect their women [5]. The Special Rapporteur appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in former Yugoslavia termed rape as not only as an instrument of war but as a method of ethnic cleansing intended to humiliate, shame, degrade and terrify the entire ethnic group [6].

A study done by Medecins Sans Frontieres in mid 2005 reveals that Kashmiri women are among the worst sufferers of sexual violence in the world. Interestingly, the figure is much higher than that of Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Chechnya

The Geneva Convention related to The Protection of Civilian Persons In Times Of War, 1949 and Additional Protocols of 1977 provide that women shall especially be protected against humiliating and degrading treatment; rape, enforced prostitution or any form of indecent assault [7]. The Vienna Declaration and Programme Of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in Situations of Armed Conflict states that violations of human rights of women in situations of armed conflict are violations of the fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law. Even though states are under an obligation to make grave breaches of Geneva Conventions and protocols additional thereto subject to the jurisdiction of their own courts and punishable by severe penalties. The domestic courts do not peruse the law laid down under the said convention for rape trials in conflict areas like Kashmir. However, rape is not explicitly listed as a grave breach of Geneva Convention, although acts willfully committed and causing great suffering or causing grave injury to body or health do constitute breaches.

The fact that rape has been systematically committed against Kashmiri women and that justice has not been delivered in these cases makes rape in Kashmir eligible for an appropriate legal response at the international level. The state has to be held for breach of its obligations under various relevant treaties and customary international law.

The prosecution of individuals alleged to have committed rape should be done by the international criminal tribunal on the precedent of Nuremberg as the domestic courts and military court-martials have failed to deliver justice in these matters and are motivated by a state centric approach [8]. The focus of the tribunal should be to punish the wrongdoers, not on providing compensation and support to the victim.

The International tribunals are unique in that, they can be established during the continuation of the conflict and therefore they are untainted by the notions of 'victors justice'. Prosecutions must be brought against the alleged perpetrators and those higher up in the chain of command [9].

Rape is a grave crime as its consequences extend beyond the actual commission, often lasting for the rest of the life of a woman [10]. The social stigma associated with rape renders a raped woman unmarriageable, deprived of respect in the society and traumatised for the rest of her life. In some cases women become unacceptable even to their own families. The necessity to bring the perpetrators of rapes in Kashmir to justice can be understood from the fact that parties to conflict often rape as a tactic of war and terrorism [11].


Half-widows of the Valley

Enforced disappearance is one of the most harrowing consequences of the armed conflict in Kashmir. During the last 18 years of conflict, the Association Of Parents Of Disappeared Persons (APDP) [12], an organisation of the relatives of people who have disappeared after custody, claims more than 10,000 people have been subject to enforced disappearance by state agencies and were mostly picked up by the troops. Of the disappeared persons, between 2000-2005 a majority were married males. Although men have been subject to disappearance largely, but women have been adversely affected because of being related to them as daughters, mothers, sisters and wives. In the absence of any information about the whereabouts of the disappeared men, their wives have acquired the title of ' half-widows'. These half-widows apart from other relatives of disappeared persons are left without any entitlement to land, homes, inheritance, social assistance and pensions. Most of these women also suffer from harassment by the troops.

Fahmeeda Bano, 37, lives in a remote Kashmir village of Kupwara and 14 years back the Indian army picked up her husband. She has gone from pillar to post searching for him but to no avail. She said, "If my husband is alive I want to see him. I want authorities to tell me where he is. If he has been killed let them hand over his body to me..."

The Indian government does not provide any relief to half-widows before the expiry of seven years from the date of disappearance. And even after the completion of seven years from the date of disappearance, they get either a one-time grant ranging from US$1,000 and US$2,000 or a monthly pension of US$10 [13]. Further, a half-widow cannot remarry until the expiration of seven years from the date of disappearance of her husband whose whereabouts must not be known in these seven years. In the meantime, the right to her husband's property are often threatened. Some widows, who intend to remarry, largely do not find men who are willing to marry them. A study titled, 'Women And Children Under The Armed Conflict In Kashmir' done by Prof A G Madhosh, a Kashmiri educationist and activist, reveals that the migration of widows with their children resulted in a sudden break in normal family life. Women had to assume the roles of breadwinners for their families and the future of their children became insecure.

Every month the members of APDP gather for a sit-in-protest at Central Park in Srinagar. Their continuous protests should have served as a resonating alarm for the authorities, but they seem to have turned a deaf ear to the woes of these people. Fahmeeda Bano, 37, lives in a remote Kashmir village of Kupwara and 14 years back the Indian army picked up her husband. She has gone from pillar to post searching for him but to no avail. She said, "If my husband is alive I want to see him. I want authorities to tell me where he is. If he has been killed let them hand over his body to me. [14]"

Psychological Impact

With killings, torture, rapes, molestations, disappearances and detentions becoming the order of the day in Kashmir, psychiatric disorders have seen a sharp increase post-1989. In 1989, about 1,700 patients visited the valley's lone psychiatric hospital and by the year 2003, the number had gone up to 48,000. Before the onset of the armed struggle, certain disorders that were not known to Kashmiris started showing a significant presence amongst the civilian population. The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD), one of the psychiatric diseases, which was completely unrecognised before 1990 has witnessed a major upsurge. Major Depressive Disorder (MDO) follows this. There are other mental diseases like bipolar disorder, panic, phobia; general anxiety and sleep disorders that have also shown four-fold increase as told by Dr Arshad of the Psychiatric Diseases Hospital in Srinagar. Substance Use Disorder or drug addiction and suicidal tendencies has been another repercussion of the ongoing conflict in Kashmir. Dr Arshad further added that the patients who come to seek help are largely in the productive age group of 25-30 years [15]. Dr Mushtaq Marghoob, a leading psychiatrist of the valley states that women bear the brunt of every tragedy. They have to support the family after the death of their husbands, fathers, sons or brothers. Dr Arshad further adds that women form a major part of the patients who are suffering from PSTD (almost 50 per cent). For women whose husbands have died, psychotherapy has failed to produce desired results.

A woman from Batmaloo, Srinagar saw the body of her brother who was killed in custody by soldiers of the Indian army, the body had been split open and his heart had been taken out. The shock rendered her in a state of disturbed bereavement and PSTD ever since. According to Dr Marghoob, women have become increasingly suicidal and are resorting to sleeping pills, injections and inhalations [16]. Even though a large number of people visit the Psychiatric Diseases Hospital in Srinagar, however, this is only a tip of the iceberg as large numbers of patients visit hospitals at the district and sub-district levels.

Nearly every person, particularly women, suffer from general anxiety and the uncertainty pertaining to the security of their family members. This always keep them in a state of unrest and anxiety. Even in their houses people are harassed, beaten up or taken into custody by the troops. The fact that the situation doesn't seem to get any better, doesn't promise a better mental state of the civilian population, especially women, in Kashmir.

In past few years, murders, rapes, torture, custodial deaths, and enforced disappearances have witnessed an upsurge, but the response of the state in addressing these atrocities doesn't promise hope for justice. The official figures of these atrocities are far too less than the reported ones. The factual human rights situation in Kashmir has always been rendered invisible by the national security concerns of the government and the state centric approach of the Indian media [17]. Living in this environment of hopelessness, there are people like Parveena who are still willing to give a tough fight to powers-that-be. Parveena says, "I am determined to fight till my last breath, with or without anyone's support". People like Parveena need to be lauded for their determination.

It is being constantly projected in the mainstream media that the situation in Kashmir has improved, but the ever-increasing rate of human rights violations in the valley tell us a different story. People continue to suffer while the much-hyped slogan of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proclaiming 'Zero Tolerance' towards human rights abuse stares him hard in the face!

REFERENCES

1. UN Fourth World Conference On Women, Beijing-China, September 1995.

2. UN Commission on Human Rights; Sub Commission on the Promotion and Protection Of Human Rights, Fifty Fifth Session, Item 6(a) of the provisional agenda.

3. ICRC, March 6, 2001.

4. Christine Chinkin; Rape and Sexual Abuse of Women in International Law. European Journal of International Law.

5. R Coomaraswamy; 'Of Kali Born; Violence and the Law in Sri Lanka'; In M Schuler (ed), Freedom Of Violence; Women's Strategies from Around The World.

6. Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, Report pursuant to Commission Resolution 1992/S-1/1/ 0f 14 August 1992, E/CN/4/1993/50/10 February 1993.

7. UN Fourth World Conference On Women; Beijing-China; Strategic Objective 144(C); Governments should fully respect norms of International Humanitarian Law in armed conflicts and take all measures required for the protection of women and children in particular against rape, forced prostitution and any other form of indecent assault.

8. Strategic Objective 143(C), UN 4th World Conference On Women; Beijing-China, Sept 1995: Governments should take action to investigate and punish members of the police, security and armed forces and others who perpetrate acts of violence against women, violations of humanitarian law and violations of the human rights of women in situations of armed conflict.

9. In ' Re Yamashita' 327 USI, 6 Section 340 (United States Supreme Court 1946) the accused was charged that as commander of the armed forces of Japan…he unlawfully disregarded and failed to discharge his duty as commander to control the operations of the members of his command, permitting them to commit brutal atrocities. Although Yamashita was not physically present during the commission of the atrocities, he was found guilty.

10. The Supreme Court of India has ruled in a case that rape is a graver crime than murder as murder kills a person only once, while rape kills a woman again and again.


May Peace Prevail on Earth. May Peace Prevail in Kashmir

Published @ Kashmir Newz

Human Rights Day comes and goes, Kashmir suffers in silence

By : Ishfaq-ul-Hassan

Haneefa Akhthar (name changed), 23, wanted to forget the horror of her past when she got married last year. Destiny, however, had other things in store for her: Haneefa’s husband divorced her just six months after marriage because of social stigma and the gynecological problem she suffered during torture in Indian police custody.

Haneefa was allegedly kicked in her abdomen during interrogation in the Indian force's custody when she was a ninth class student in 2004. “I have got 22 stitches in my abdomen. I suffered blood loss as my uterus was impaired due to the kicking by the Indian officer,” she said

The Indian forces had allegedly picked her up suspecting her of knowing one of the boys accused of killing of a resident of her village in Kupwara district.

She later approached the state human rights commission, which awarded Rs 75,000 compensation to them. “But the police officers were not even touched,” she lamented.

Haneefa’s case is just the tip of the iceberg of human rights abuses in the strife-torn state.

Take the case of 51-year-old Manzoor Ahmad Naikoo of Pahalallan-Pattan who was tortured to the extent that his genitals were burnt and stick inserted into his rectum making him debilitated permanently.

Naikoo, a shopkeeper, was picked up during an army crackdown in his village in 1991 when he was 30.

“They demanded a gun from me. I pleaded that I am shopkeeper but they did not listen. I was taken to a government school building where they first stripped me then tied a cloth on my genitals and set it on fire. Later they dipped my head into a bucket of water and inserted a stick into my rectum,” he said.

The worst was yet to come. Some youth mustered courage and took him to hospital where colostomy procedure was done so that he could pass stool through a hole made in his abdomen. “For the last 21 years, my abdomen is having a hole which leaks stool. I though cover it with my cotton but I can’t go anywhere,” he said.
Naikoo approached the court which directed the state and the Centre to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation. “But the culprits have not been brought to book,” said the father of three.

Human rights groups say the police and security forces use torture as an instrument to choke the voice of dissent in the state. “Torture is widespread in Kashmir which has gone unreported. Torture has made people permanently disabled,” said Khurram Parvez, programme coordinator Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society.

Published @ DNA