SAARC must ask India to free Jammu Kashmir!

By :DR. ABDUL RUFF

Continued occupation of Jammu Kashmir by its neighbor military India is a treacherous issue affecting the lives in South Asia. India hides its crimes while the notorious UNSC shields Indian crimes agaisnt humanity.

As the first ever meeting between them since terrorist India, encouraged by the Obama drone terror attack on Pakistanis, in the company of its colonial master UK and by using the bogus cricket body ICC, indirectly called Pakistan a fraud nation fixing matches at individual levels, the terror and puppet Premiers of India and Pakistan met 10Nov in the capital of Maldives that is hosting the summit of Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a South Asia regional outlfit led by monopoly India, to discuss ways to combat regional “terrorism” and build “trust” between their rival countries. The SAARC group comprises India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. The SAARC grouping is now holding 17th meeting in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Maldives. Obviously, Jammu Kashmir would be major item on the agenda.

Arabs feel proud of shaking the bloody hands with Israeli leaders who keep killing the Palestinians. Pakistani terror PM Y. Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh of the cruelest terror nation killing Muslims in and around planned to meet for 30 minutes during a meeting of and more ferocious he South in the Maldives. Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani said that the meeting would deal with “terrorism” and the "trust deficit" between the sides. She said they have many, many long miles to move ahead still.

Pakistan and India have been vying with one another to court the USA to take its blessings for leadership in regional terrorism and they have fought three wars since independence from “great” Britain, mainly over the disputed region of Kashmir.

An attack in 2008 in India's financial capital of Mumbai was yet another international hoax, like the Sept-11, by India but used by Indian leaders to freeze an already slow-moving peace process that has only recently resumed. In the latest positive sign, Pakistan last week announced normalization in trade ties with India. But soon India hatched the cricket conspiracy to spoil any possible improvement in ties that might eventually make India quit Jammu Kashmir.

CIA nuts create the impression that Indo-Pakistani regimes are now engaged in creating anti-Pakistani atmosphere in occupied Jammu Kashmir so as to make the pro-Pakistani Kashmiris behave well and support the Indian illegal case.. The destabilization of Pakistan by NATO terror syndicate also perhaps as a part of multilateral ploy against Kashmiris to stop longing towards Islamabad and look towards New Delhi's fanaticism.

Pakistan as an obedient puppetry of Washington just plays the role offered by the CIA in the entire episode, including the Indo-UK cricket spot fixing conspiracy. The issue of sovereignty for occupied Jammu Kashmir remains the most important problem creating unnecessary tensions in the region and Pakistani leaders Gilani and Co met their Indian counterparts who are in Mali where the South Asian leaders converged to discuss common issues must come forward to shed the colonial item called Jammu Kashmir.

Hopefully, the SAARC conclave in Maldives would push arrogant and, hence insensitive and irresponsible, India to quit Jammu Kashmir and let the Kashmiris live peacefully without being besieged or massacred by Indian terror forces in blood stained democracy uniforms.

India is already guilty of murdering over 100 000 innocent Muslims in occupied Jammu Kashmir since 1947. But these days international criminal leader are the most respected lots.Shame on democracy!


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The bruised Childhood of Kashmir

By: Advocate Babar Jan Qadri

“A Nation’s Welfare depends upon the prosperity of its children”

We define minor as a living human usually in his teenage more specifically 16 or less than 16 years. Just after the infancy, starts the minor age of a human being. This age is associated with innocence and grooming of childhood. How a nation shapes its minors on that paradigm depends the future of that very nation. Being a Kashmiri , I think the day our nations sovereignty is plundered and snatched , the same day we the children of conflict have lost our child hood “ curse to occupation “

Unfortunately, revolutionary circumstances prevailing in the Kashmir over the past several decades have not even spared the “Childhood”. The state repression has come with its full force over the children of this deadly conflict zone. Virtually India has waged war against minor revolutionaries of the wounded paradise.

On this global Children Day, we are reminded of horrible scenes .We are reminded of so many young toddlers being beaten to death by merciless men in uniform. We are reminded of constant fear on the faces of our minors.

This year we were heartened by the images of minors being flocked to jails and brought to courts and examination centers in a quiet disgraceful manner by the state forces. The minors on account of alleged involvement in revolutionary activities were subjected to third degree torture .How sham it is for a country that claims herself to be the biggest democracy of globe and boasts of having high morals of loving and catering to young souls.

Probably, after the Nazi Germany, our part of the world is the only places were minors have faced such an unprecedented state brunt. A minor having revolutionary thought is seen as an “Enemy of Nation” by the state and its institutions and is constantly threatened and mentally tortured. Out of state fear, even other parents fear to make their child accustomed with a revolutionary minor .The state even after releasing a minor constantly perpetrates violence on him, as they have to constantly report to their concerned police stations wherein they are humiliated and tortured.This is unknown to any criminal justice system in the world that a person is arrested for want of others surrender " a worst kind of human exchange policy ", but the same happens in Kashmir , as the father/ brother is arrested to force a son / brother to surrender

Indian state might be the rare state wherein the minors, especially the minors of Kashmir have often reported evil deeds like sodomy reported against them. The state has left no stone unturned to turn the childhood of our minors into a virtual nightmare. By hook or crook you have to be a conformist and should remain dumb over the brutalities of the state otherwise the norm has been to crush the innocence and logical rebellion of minor.

One is only dumbfounded by the revelation that state machinery slaps unthinkable charges like “War against nation” against the minor souls of Kashmir.

On the other side of the spectrum, even if the bail is granted the police does not honor the orders of judiciary. The judiciary is made defunct by the villain’s of police department. For a Kashmiri these minors represent hope i.e. the urge for freedom has passed on to next generation in spite of all state terror tactics being employed by the state to quell the sentiment of freedom.According to section 18 of juvinyle justice act , a minor is to be released on bail on the very first day of production before court with or without sureties . According to the same section a juvenile can be sent to juvenile home if required but the role of police is to be minimized by court by handing over the minor to in-charge juvinile home but the same is not complied with , instead it is police personal who administer minors even when they are sent to juvenile home thus putting the minors at risk .

On this children day, India over its track record in Kashmir has shamed the noble institution of childhood by unleashing very possible brutal measure over the minors of Kashmir. The conscience of India should wake up from the slumber and let dawn of freedom and liberty spread its wings over the browbeaten land of Kashmir.

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

By:Majid Maqbool

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shocking Brutalities in Kashmir

Guest Write up By: Sajjad Shaukat

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PEOPLE OF KASHMIR SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN FORGRANTED

BY: SAYED ALI SAFVI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTO FEATURE: PRAYERS AND PROTESTS TODAY

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

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

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

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

Imam Hai led the people in Eid Prayers.

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

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