Cousin Of Afzal Guru ‘Condemned’ in KAS interview, Moves To HC

Cousin brother of Parliament attack convict— Afzal Guru, Yasin Satar Guru has moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against Public Service Commission for “condemning” him during an interview for Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS).

In the writ petition Yasin Satar Guru, brother of Showkat Ahmad Guru who was sentenced ten-year jail in the parliament attack case, says that he “aggrieved” of the selection process by the PSC while holding that he was condemned.

“The petitioner (Yasin) who secured 1093 marks in the written test examination has been condemned in viva voce by giving him only 30 marks while some other candidates (named private respondents in the petition) who have secured very very (Sic) less marks in written test have been given 190 to 205 in the viva voce,” Yasin says in the writ.

All this has been done, he says, “out of venom because the petitioner belongs to Guru clan two members of which were allegedly involved in the attack on Parliament House."

Yasin (Roll No: 1101283) stood behind only 22 candidates among hundreds who appeared in the Mains. With 1063 marks, he required 65 only to reach the Open Merit cut off – 1128 marks but got paltry 30 marks.

“I was asked question pertaining to surname and thereafter was shown exit gate,” he says while seeking indulgence of the High Court for justice.

Referring to his interview, he says, “The petitioner believed that 250 marks fixed for the interview were divided by the members among themselves and the marks would be given for the interview/viva voce to the candidate by each member as that the only reasonable and fair assessment made by the members of the commission during the interview.”

However, he says, the actual details about the division of marks and the marks awarded to the petitioner by each member can be better stated by the commission to the court to find out as to whether there was fair play in action in the award of marks during the course of interview.

“The petitioner was first asked by the respondent N0.3 (a Member of the Commission) as to what is meaning of the word Guru”.

“It appears that particulars about the identity of the petitioner were available to him and to other members of the commission as otherwise such a question which pertaining to the Surname of the candidate would not normally be asked during an interview for selection of the candidate to the gazette service. The petitioner replied the question saying that “Guru” has its origin from Sanskrit and means “Teacher”.

The second question, he says, followed was whether the petitioner belongs to the same Guru families who have been involved in the Parliament Attack. “This created a very embarrassing scenario in the interview hall and the members of the interview hall and the members of the interview board started whispering with each other giving impression to the petitioner that even before conducting the interview he has been condemned because he belongs to the Guru family of Deobgah.”

During the interview, he says, one of the members put another question. “The petitioner was giving narration of the events pertaining to the question, but the whispering by the other members continued and .......the petitioner was shown exit gate from the interview hall.”

In the petition, Yasin has prayed that court may grant certiorari (seek record) for quashing the appointment of private respondents (13 in number) together, appointed vide government order number 434-GAD of 2011 dated 08-o4-2011.

He has also prayed directions in the nature of mandamus commanding the respondents to reframe the selection of the best and talented candidates and declaring the interview conducted by the commission as farce.

Lastly, he has prayed that court may grant any other relief which it deems fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.

Dr. Ayyub Thakur- Great Son Of Kashmir

The First Nuclear Scientist And The Freedom Fighter Of Kashmir

Muhammad Ayyub Thakur (1948 – March 10, 2004) was Kashmiri freedom activist, philanthropist,and founder-president of London-based World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM), an organisation dedicated to finding a peaceful political solution to the Kashmir Conflict. He was known for his work to the humanity at the platform of charity organization, Mercy Universal and for coordinating at the international level for the right of self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr. Thakur had lectured extensively on Kashmir issue. He attended hundreds of seminars and conferences around the world in universities, think tanks and other institutions, including the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and United Nations bodies. Dr Thakur was a Trustee of the UK-based charity, Mercy Universal, which he had founded in 2000 and was the Director of the Justice Foundation, which he founded in 2003 as a registered UK company to advance the Kashmir cause through public advocacy. Mery Universal provides humanitarian assistance mainly to the war-torn Kashmiri people.

Early life:

Muhammad Ayyub Thakur was born in 1948, in a poor peasent family, in Pudsoo village near Shopian, district Pulwama in Indian administrated Kashmir. He was the eldest of four children

Political activities:

Dr. Ayyub Thakur obtained his Doctorate (Phd.) in Nuclear Physics from the University of Kashmir. In 1978, after a brief stint at the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (Zakoora, Srinagar) he became lecturer in the Department of Physics in the same university. He had a keen interest in the social and political issues of Jammu and Kashmir. He started his political career in early 1970s as a student leader in the University of Kashmir. He rallied Kashmiri youth and students and founded Jammu and Kashmir Students Islamic Organisation in 1974 and continued to be its patron till 1977. This organisation later merged with another organisation and changed into Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, which he headed from 1977–1981. He was also the president of Kashmir University Students Union and Kashmir University Research Scholars Association. As a student leader, Dr. Thakur attended international youth and student conferences at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1979, Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1980 and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the same year. In these conferences, Dr. Thakur put forward the Kashmiri viewpoint and drew the world attention towards the Kashmir problem. In Kuala Lumpur conference in 1980, he was instrumental in passing a resolution condemning the Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. Dr. Thakur organised meetings of the youth and students to challenge the Kashmir’s accession to India which he considered as fraudulent. He strongly opposed the accord between unionist Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974, as being aimed at strengthening Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.

After becoming lecturer at the University of Kashmir he intensified his peaceful political activities. He began organising students and colleagues to form an intellectual response to the Indian occupation. In August 1980, he and many of his colleagues at university and students organisation, Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba, organised an international conference on the issue of right of self-determination of Kashmiris as outlined in the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir. Indian government, however, banned the conference and dismissed Dr. Ayyub from his job as a university teacher, and later imprisoned him along with his colleagues under Public Safety Act (PSA). During his five month imprisonment, he was subjected to inhuman torture of all sorts, but he refused to compromise on his political ideology. After his release in 1981 he bagan to travel far and wide in Kashmir to mobilise the Kashmir youth. But police always tried to intrupts his activities every now and then. Tired of playing a cat-and-mouse game with the police, on May 25, 1981 he opted to accept the offer of a lecturer in the King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia where he served up to 1984.

In exile:

In 1981, Dr. Thakur joined the Nuclear Engineering Department of King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia as Assistant Professor. During his stay, he tried to mobilise support for the Kashmir cause and organised camps for the Kashmiri pilgrims during Hajj. He married the daughter of a respectable man from Baramulla in 1981, in absentia. Probably the first marriage where groom’s consent was taken on phone and the bride flew to Jeddah. After six years of his service, he went to London in 1986 for post-doctoral research programme and simultaneously started organising support for the Kashmir issue. Later in 1990, he took over as the founder president of the World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM). He was also trustee of the UK-based charity, Mercy Universal, which he had founded in 2000 and Director of the Justice Foundation, which he founded in 2003

World Kashmir Freedom Movement:

The World Kashmir Freedom Movement (WKFM) is an umbrella organisation of expatriate Kashmiris from Indian administrated Kashmir working internationally for the promotion of the Kashmir cause. It was set up on 17 June 1990 with Dr. Ayyub Thakur as it president and has offices in Europe, Americas and Middle East. In July 1991, the World Kashmir Freedom Movement organised an international conference on Kashmir issue in Washington, D.C. A large number of US congressmen, members of British Parliament and European Parliament as well as distinguished intellectuals and academicians participated in the conference and supported tri-partite talks for the resolution of Kashmir dispute. During his address to the conference, Dr. Ayyub Thakur, urged Kashmiri militants to renounce the misuse of force no matter how compelling the self-determination aspiration. He was the first Kashmiri leader to offer conditional and issue-based moral support to the Kashmiri militants. The conference was a great success and generated a lot of debate in media and political circles much to the annoyance of India. The Indian Government took the success of the conference very seriously, and accused Dr. Ayyub Thakur of sending money to the Kashmiri freedom fighters for terrorist activities. Under the directions of various Indian intelligence agencies, many cases ranging from terrorism to sabotage were registered against him. The Indian Government booked him under infamous Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). This case later formed the genesis of the famous Jain Hawala Corruption Case, in which 38 prominent Indian politicians were charge sheeted and later discharged. Dr. Ayyub Thakur also attended the 1991 Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Foreign minister meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, the 1993 OIC summit meeting in Dakar, Senegal and World tactics did not yield the desired result. On this occasion Dr. Ayyub Thakur led a delegation and highlighted the Indian intransigence and the massive human rights violations. World KKashmir Freedom Movement also joined other Kashmiri groups and attended March 1993 session of United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) and later the World Conference on Human Rights at Vienna, Austria in June 1993. As the World Kashmir Freedom Movement activities were growing, Indian Government tried to extradite Ayub Thakur on charges of financing ‘terrorism’ and secessionist plotting. He became India’s chief nemesis. Indian government twice sought his extradition from the UK in 1992 and 1993. After its failure, they finally impounded his passport in 1993. This left Dr. Ayyub stranded in United Kingdom for about four years along with his family. However, in 1997 the British government issued him with a travel document, which he used till his death.

During the visit of British Home Secretary Jack Straw to India in May 2002, Indian Deputy Prime Minister, LK Advani in his meeting with him accused Dr. Thakur of diverting funds to the Kashmiri militants for terrorist activities. He first demanded the arrest of Dr. Thakur under the new anti-terrorist laws and when it did not work, demanded his deportation or extradition to India. The Indian Government tried to build the pressure and made repeated demands for his extradition. Moreover, the Indian intelligence agencies launched a vicious propaganda campaign in the Indian media against Dr. Thakur. Later, in August 2002 when Mr. LK Advani visited UK, he again demanded the extradition of the Dr. Ayyub Thakur. In addition, the Indian High Commission in London reportedly formed a two-member committee to follow the issue on day-to-day basis.

Mercy Universal:

In 2000, World Kashmir Freedom Movement president and its leaders formed, Mercy Universal. Mercy Universal is an International Humanitarian Organisation registered with the Charity Commission in the United Kingdom. It works for the mitigation of peoples suffering in some of the world’s poorest communities in South Asia and East Africa. It also provides humanitarian relief in the UK.

It has so far rehabilitated than 2000 people in Jammu and Kashmir . Among the beneficiaries include hundreds of widows and orphan children whose parents were killed by the Indian army. Mercy Universal carries out its work without being prejudiced by political views of its organisers and helps any body who is a victim and has suffered during the ongoing freedom struggle. However, the Indian Government has accused Mercy Universal of funding terrorist activities and arrested many its volunteers.

Family members harassed:

During the last 15 years all of his family members, relatives and friends were subjected to torture and harassment by the Indian army and its various agencies. His ancestral house in Kashmir was raided many a time and his old parents threatened.

Both his parents died in a hope to see their son, whom they hadn’t seen for more than a decade. His father, Khwaja Ghulam Ahmad Thakur died in November 2001 after a brief illness. He was 75. A year later his 73-year-old mother, Fatima Begum died in December 2002. On both the occasions, Dr. Ayyub could not see his parents or offer their last rites.

His son Muzammil Ayub Thakur is a successful London based Financial Consultant, despite his busy career he attempts to follow the footsteps of his father with the aim and dream of a liberated Kashmir. The Indian government has denied him the right to visit India for good because he has been accused of inciting hatred against Indians, is an extreme right wing Kashmiri nationalist, and has fabricated cases of being subject to physical abuse by the Indian authorities, he promotes himself on television interviews.

Death:

He died at the age of 55, in London on March 10, 2004 after protracting an illness. He was suffering from pulmonary fibrosis His funeral was held at the London Central Mosque, Regent Park, and he was laid to rest at the Garden of Peace, in Greenford, West London, close to where he had been living for many years. The Indian Government refused to allow his remains to be returned to his homeland. He is survived by a widow, a son Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur, who has followed his fathers footsteps, and two daughters.........

Indian army involved in extra-judicial killings in Kashmir: WikiLeaks

The latest leaked cables by the WikiLeaks reveals that Indian army tried to link Kashmiris with Pakistan after killing them in 2007.

A WikiLeaks cable reveals that Kashmiris were in a state of anguish and grief over extra-judicial killings during 2007. The Indian army labeled the victims as Pakistanis after killing them.

In a recently leaked cable, the website said that a Kashmiri carpenter, who was killed in 2007, was labeled as a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba and a resident of Multan.

The cable (ID 95785) issued on 2/8/2007 issued from the US embassy in New Delhi stated that Srinagar was once again gripped with protests on February 7th, as police officials announced that they had dug up five unmarked graves in an ongoing investigation of custodial killings.

Our interlocutors say Prime Minister Singh is influencing the investigations as a confidence building measure with Islamabad by urging security forces and the judiciary to address longstanding accusations that Indian police and security officials have tortured, killed, and disappeared thousands of Kashmiri civilians in the course of the 17 year long insurgency. While staged encounters and extrajudicial killings are by no means uncommon in India, the case has also prompted clashes in the J&K General Assembly between ruling coalition leaders Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad, of the Congress Party, and former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Said’s daughter, Mehbooba, of the People’s Democratic Party.

Widespread protests began in Srinagar on January 28th after the GOI began an inquiry into the custodial death of Abdur Rahman Padder, a Kashmiri carpenter. Press reports say the carpenter was arrested on December 8th and killed in a fake encounter staged by the Special Operations Group of the J&K Police. The police officers then announced to the press that he was a Lashkar-i-Taiba terrorist from Multan, Pakistan, claiming they had recovered an AK-47 rifle, three magazines, 36 rounds of ammunition, and a grenade from his body.

Police investigators later uncovered the killing because an officer involved in the incident gave the victim’s cell phone to a “surrendered” former terrorist as a reward for information. Investigators say the police were motivated by a desire for the recognition and rewards doled out to officers who arrest or kill a suspected terrorist and that the weapons were likely planted on the victim. The Police have now widened the investigation, digging up four more unmarked graves of terrorist suspects killed in similar encounters to see if their DNA matches those of other Kashmiri civilians who recently went missing. Press reports say the Senior Superintendent of Police, Ganderbal Hans Raj — who has a particularly brutal eputation for encounter killings — as well as his Deputy and the two junior officers directly implicated in the case are being held in police custody during the pending investigation.

Ravi Nair explained further that the Prime Minister had launched a policy to end the “scorched earth” method of putting down the insurgency in Kashmir, and that this was a key confidence building measure India was putting in place in talks with Pakistan. He said there has been a reexamination of the way India deals withadvantage over China, internal army corruption, distrust of Pakistan and a desire to keep hold of advantageous territory that thousands of Indian soldiers have died protecting.

The cable stated that every time India and Pakistan came “very close” to an agreement on the Siachen issue, the prime minister of the day would be forced to back out by the Indian defence establishment, the Congress Party hardline and opposition leaders.

When the 2006 India-Pakistan Foreign Secretary talks set up a joint mechanism for discussing counter-terrorism issues ended with rumours that Pakistan had made a concession on Siachen, observers had said that the prime minister will be significantly constrained in any part of his agenda with Pakistan in the coming months, especially in the face of significant opposition from within his own party and an emboldened BJP that viewed the joint mechanism as an opportunity to portray the Congress Party as soft on terrorism.

New Delhi And State Govt. Prolonging The Detention Of Hurriyat leaders : Sayed Ali Shah Geelani

Insisting on the immediate release of detained Hurriyat leaders and works Syed Ali Geelani Chairman of Hurriyat conference said that, puppet regime is prolonging the detention of Hurriyat leaders with out any justification. This situation has made the whole valley like prison cell. The chairman of Hurriyat conference pays tributes to the martyred children and other people of the wullar tragedy on the eve of the fifth anivisory.He also felt sorry that the people who done this crime are not brought to justice till date. This is the reason that the parents of those diseased are living with sufferings. The chairman yesterdas went saidakadal srinagar where he shows sympathy to the old aged and ailing mother of Hurriyat leader Genral Mousa and pay the special blessings to his mother. In a press release the Hurriyat chairman said that the General Mousa has spent almost last twenty years in jail.During this period he suffered from various shocks.He was in jail when his father Moulana Sadiq sahib was martyred and he is also in prison till date when his old mother is near to death. The puppet regime is prolonging the detention of General Mousa..He also pays tribute to the General Mousa for his steadfastness. He also said that one of the brothers of Generaal Mousa has also got martyred in the freedom struggle of Kashmir. He himself has given immense Sacrifices during this struggle. He also suffered from numerous diseases in the detention center. By not providing the proper treatment in the jail he looks like premature aged person.The Hurriyat chairman said today no war charges is against the detained Hurriyat leader but has been detained by the puppet regime only because of draconian laws. The Hurriyat chairman also said that the general secretary of Hrriyat conference Mr. Ghulam Nabi Sumji is also detained from several years. On the other hand his daughter is suffering from deadly cancer. His health has also badly suffered and is at dangerous leavel.Instead of issuing releasing orders in favour of Mr. Sumji the puppet government has kept him imprisoned only because of taking revenge. The chairman said that another person namely manzoor ahammad khan is also detained for the last two and a half years. During this detained period his mother, wife died. Suffered from this major tragedy, still the puppet authorities did not released him so far. Instead of releasing him the puppet government is searching for the reasons to prolong his detention. The chairman also said about the Mukhtar ahammad kumar of wanihama hazratbal who has been detained this time at Udhampur jail on the other hand some days back his father Ghulam Mohammad kumar died.The deatined person was the only earning hand of the five sisters and old aged mother. His family is living in miserable conditions. Despite all these happenings the government is not releasing him so far. Due to this their family is starving. The Hurriyat chairman said that the issue of detainees is not only the political but also a human one, and all those, detained from Kashmir are political prisioners.and illegally detained without any crime. They are honorable citizens of the society. They have been kept imprisoned only just for their political ideology. And this is the serious violation of human rights. The chairman also said that the Government has chosen the path of rigidity towards the political prisoners and is not releasing those prisoners whose family members have died or suffered from deadly diseases during the detention period. Chairman of Hurriyat Conference said that even though the releas orders are issued from New Delhi, but the puppets here are so unconscious they do not bother to talk about the hot and burning issue. The Hurriyat chairman appealed to the Amnesty international and other groups that they should took the serious note of this issue and force the Indian Government to release all the detainees with no more delay.

Held Kashmir and introspections

By: Naveed Qazi

Indian-Held Kashmir has been transformed from a beautiful vale to a wretched conflict, like a despondent poet, blossoming in pain, reciting ballads of war and violence. It has been torn to pieces by the many ill facets of ghastly wars. Only failures have made a political history here, awakening the memory of death and suffering every hour amidst the countless helpless victims of the conflict.

Indian-Held Kashmir is a land of failed political conjectures, broken dreams and frenzied mistrust. Words like ‘hope’, ‘agreements’, ‘developments’ have existed here, but only as rich rhetoric, through various political commentators and stillborn leaders. Ever since the conflict intensified, Held Kashmir has become the literary obsession of various observers, historians and activists, whose dissent has been faced with strong confrontation. The scope for visionary introspection has been weakening, like a senile old man struggling to resist. As time passes, India is now attempting to completely move away from calling the Kashmir issue as any dispute at all. In recent years, governance and elections have been taken as a final resolution. Any discourse attempted is taken into consideration only under the ambit of the Indian constitution. Western countries and Indian allies are viewing the problem as silent spectators due to their geo-strategical and economic interests. Reasoned debate has also started to get eroded. Many Hindu nationalist intellectuals have been rewriting history and projecting India as a Hindu country rather than a secular country. This propaganda has concerned Pakistan about the Muslim brethren across the Line of Control. A clear and coherent public opinion needs to be institutionalised and revolutionised. The psychological attitude pertaining among Kashmiris in Indian-held territory is that they feel occupied.

There is no substitute for a resolution other than a sincere dialogue and process of self-determination. Kashmiris are frustrated due to lack of political freedom for decades and are saddled in social and economic grievances. It has made the need for a resolute resolution more pressing. Unless someone won’t recognise the depths of these wounds, it will only help in facilitating brinkmanship and belligerence. –Countercurrents

Shopian tragedy: Asiya, Neelofer die every day for us, says family

Shakeel (husband of Neelofar) and her 3 years old son praying for her on her grave at her 3rd martyrdom anniversary

The family of Neelofar and Asiya Jan, the Shopian women, who died mysteriously except for Central Bureau of Investigations CBI, says that justice has been brazenly denied.

“Two years have been completed since my wife Nelofer and sister Asiya Jan were killed and there is no day when we don’t remembered them, they die every day for us,” Shakeel Ahmad Ahanger, head of the victim family, says.

“We futilely went to every forum for justice,” he adds.

Shakeel also hit at mainstream as well as the separatist parties in Kashmir.

“While government sabotaged the entire incident, the face of those who claim to be inheritors of martyrs was also bared. Martyr dies for their family only,”

Meanwhile, the Shopian district observed strike against the alleged rape and murder of the two women in 2009.

The bodies were recovered on May 30, 2009. While people maintain that the sisters-in-law were raped and murder, the Central Bureau of Investigation claimed that the duo died of drowning.