This day, that year: 11 June 11 photos (Photo Feature)

A pictorial depiction of Srinagar's old city on June 11, 2010, the day Tufail Mattoo was killed.

Shaheed Tufail Ahmed Matto lying in the pool of blood

Protests intensified after news of Tufail's killing spread in the Old City.

A youth snatches gun of a policeman near Rajouri Kadal.

A protester hurls a stone near Bohri Kadal

A protester and a policeman throw stones at each other during a protest in the vicinity of Jamia Masjid.

Clashes were witnessed between protesters and government forces soon after the congregational Friday prayers ended

People pray during Friday prayers inside 500-year-old Jamia Masjid

A boy arrives at Jamia Masjid for Friday prayers.

Protesters hurl stones at Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers during a protest in Old City.

A girl leans against a pillar during Friday prayers inside 500-year-old Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.

Tear gas billows during clashes between demonstrators and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers near Rajouri Kadal.

Kashmir upsurge and social networking

By: Zahoor Bhat

The last three years have seen an upsurge in protests against Indian rule in Kashmir. We saw mostly teenage boys and young men in their 20s, have been killed. From an armed rebellion in 1989, the opposition to Indian rule in this restive state is morphing into an “ammunition-free” struggle, on where youth make use of both traditional and more sophisticated methods of protest such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.

The Issue

Kashmir has got its own language, its own natural resources which provided self-sustainment

and autonomy, and its own rich, ancient and distinct culture completely different from rest of the subcontinent. Before the British Raj officially came into being in 1858, the British colonizers already had vast amounts of soldiers occupying several parts of the South-eastern Asia subcontinent including Kashmir, which they wanted to strip of its history and absorb into their growing Indian empire. The Britishers sold Kashmir to a monarch in 1846, making the Dogra dynasty the undisputed rulers of the Valley. The Dogras committed a century of atrocities against

the Kashmiris.

When a student of history scans through the events that led to Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh to sign the Instrument of Accession and sending it to Lord Mountbatten, the then Governor General for acceptance, one finds that while accepting the Instrument of Accession Lord Mountb

atten wrote a letter to Maharaja Hari Singh, in reply to his letter which had accompanied the Instrument of Accession, wrote “my Government have decided to accept the Accession of Kashmir State to the Dominion of India. In consistence with their policy that in the case of any State where the issue of accession has been the subject of dispute, the question of accession should be decided in accordance with the wishes of the people of the State, it is my Government’s wish tha

t as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and its soil cleared of the invader, the question of State’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people”.

A lot has been written and said about Kashmir problem yet it defies resolution. The dispute has led both the nations to war at more than once occasions. Several options have been proposed for solution of Kashmir dispute but this problem has remained unsolved so far.

Social Networking

By social networking, internet users use networks of online friends and group memberships to keep in touch with friends, reconnect with old friends or create real–life friendships. Some social networking sites help members find a job or establish business contacts. In addition to blogs and forums, members can express themselves by designing their profile page to reflect their personality. The most popular extra features include music and video sections. Members can read bios of their favorite music artists from the artist’s profile page as well as listen to their favorite songs and watch music videos.

Users are making decisions and getting information from conversations taking place on social networking sites, online tools that help people connect with others who share similar interests, or with those who are interested in exploring new interests and activities. Social networking sites can help organizations to increase awareness about an issue, find signatures for a petition, and encourage supporters to take action. Maintaining social networking profile is like maintaining a mini website.

Tool in the times of crisis

Social networking sites are being used as a tool in times of crisis. A college student backpacking in Southeast Asia started a Facebook group called Support the Monks Protest in Burma to draw attention to the pro-democracy protests led by the country’s revered Buddhist monks. The group found more than 400,000 supporters from around the world and helped attract attention to the monks cause.

Social networking in Kashmir

The streets of Kashmir Valley during unrest of 2008, 2009 and 2010 were not the only places burning with angry protests over the civilian killings. Youngsters were using their personal or community internet pages in the Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, Youtube etc to express their anger. Restrictions like curfews may have prevented youth to vent their anger on streets in shape of protests but it certainly could not stop them from expressing their anger on social networking websites including Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and Youtube.

At some time the state government banned local News Channels and sms-service in realizing that it was the medium through which people were communicating and spreading information across. But youths started social networking sites as alternative source. With student discussion group banned and thousands of security operatives believed to be snooping on protesters, the youth of Kashmir were using Internet as a virtual meeting place.

Social networking sites, though presumably under Indian surveillance, have proven to be more effective than any previous form of political communication in Kashmir. The protesters were using Facebook to debate the weekly calendar of protests, discuss ways to hold Kashmiri leaders accountable and trade daily news updates as we saw last year. Marketing and information technology experts estimated last year that at least 40,000 Kashmir residents are on Facebook.

Social networking sites provided a platform to the people of valley to have their say. The social networking sites have tens of thousands of users from valley. Ironically, hundreds of communities active on issues like culture and entertainment have also engaged in political debates and been busy breaking news about unrest in the valley. Users were regularly reading the status through the posts for latest happenings across the valley the times reeling under curfews.

Cutting across the barriers and borders, users from almost every part of the world are also connected to Kashmir conflict through these social networking sites.

Social Scientist’s Speak

Social scientists argue that social networking sites can help cool tempers and make masses less tense because people to vent their anger and stay connected which in turn helps in lowering of tensions and anxiety, as people get to know well-being of relatives.

In Short

Social networking sites have emerged as a fast means for circulating news for beleaguered residents of Kashmir. The social networking sites are providing a chance to arrange virtual get-together for friends and relatives who have not been able to see each other due to the turmoil. The ‘Social Networking revolution of 2010’ in Kashmir if didn’t achieved the desired goal but it certainly made the over 10 million Indian online community aware that the people in Kashmir want justice. It also led to increased international media interest in the Kashmir agitation.

Police Filed Case Against Naeema Ahmad Mehjoor

Police have filed a case against a London-based BBC journalist of Kashmiri origin on the charges of spreading “disaffection”, following the death of a businessman at Lal Chowk here earlier this week.

Addressing a press conference here, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range, S M Sahai said, “A case has been registered against foreign-based journalist of Kashmiri origin Naeema Ahmad Mehjoor for spreading disaffection as she had claimed that the shooting at Lal chowk on June 6 was carried out by the police.”

Mehjoor has been booked under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act; using the IT for spreading dissatisfaction against the state.

Sahai also said it was wrong to link the shooting at the Lal Chowk as revival of militancy in the summer capital.

“It is not a militancy related case. It was a criminal conspiracy arising out of a land dispute in which a released militant was involved," the IGP said.

He said involvement of released militants in criminal activities was worrisome.

“It is leading to criminalization in the society which needs to be stopped,” Sahai said.

Talking to KNS over phone from London, Mehjoor rejected police claims. “I didn’t blame police on Facebook, but quoted some media reports as why police will kill the businessman. Police should have looked into what I had written on the Facebook and then reacted.”

“As a journalist, I am working for peace,” she claimed.

Meanwhile, three persons Farooq Ahmad Dar, Parvaiz Ahmad Tantray and Shabir Ahmad Parray have been arrested by the Police in the case so far. “Weapon of offence (Pistol) has also been recovered at their instance. Search of other persons involved in the conspiracy is on,” the IGP claimed.

GM Stadium: Tufail’s last journey

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

By: Aalia Sheikh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

s and 'they ran away'.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Names of people have been changed on request)

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

Report Published in Sept 2009 by Christina Palmer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Newly wed youth illegally detained in IHK

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

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

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

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

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