Why Kashmir Separatists Disappoint!

By Rajinder Puri

Everyone talks about the need for a Kashmir solution. Nobody puts cards on the table to declare what is wanted. The mealy mouthed approach of the Indian and Pakistan governments is understandable even if inexcusable. The governments protect their respective negotiating stands - the whole of J&K belongs to India, or the whole of J&K belongs to Pakistan! It is the Kashmir separatists who disappoint.

If they do not represent one government or the other, if their personal affluence is not related to foreign funding that makes them puppets on a string, why don’t they say what they want? Instead they keep parroting clichés about human rights violations, about the need for a solution, about their participation in any Indo-Pak dialogue process, and so on. Honest revolutionaries and radicals never fear stating what they want. The separatists of Kashmir do not appear to be honest.

This scribe has never hesitated stating what he wants in terms most explicit. And now a credible opinion poll in J&K carried out by Chatham House of London vindicates his view. According to the poll, the first of its kind conducted on both sides of Kashmir’s Line of Control (LOC), only 2 percent on the Indian side favour joining Pakistan. Fifty-seven percent on the Indian side and 56 percent on the Pakistani side oppose independence. However in the Valley 75 percent to 95 percent seek independence. Both joint sovereignty and the status quo were ruled out by the respondents. Fifty-eight percent favoured making the Line of Control as a permanent soft border. Only 20 percent on the Indian side and 37 percent on the Pakistani side believed that violence is helpful.

What do these results suggest? First, that the UN plebiscite resolution which limited choice to entire J&K going to India or Pakistan has become irrelevant considering present ground realities. Secondly, the majority on both sides of the divide does not want independence, but the overwhelming majority in the Valley wants independence. Thirdly, both sides want to convert the Line of Control into the international border provided people on both sides can freely intermingle. Fourthly the status quo as well as joint control of J&K by India and Pakistan is disfavoured. So what remains?

The results indicate precisely those suggested by this scribe’s formula. The formula was: give the right to opt for India, Pakistan or independence to the five distinct sectors of undivided J&K – Valley, Jammu, Ladakh, POK and Northern Areas around Gilgit; make the precondition that whatever the result all sectors of J&K would be part of a South Asian Union comprising India and Pakistan having joint defence, common market and eventually no visas once terrorism is eliminated. Going by the Chatham House poll the likely result of this referendum would be that Jammu and Ladakh would remain with India, POK and the Northern Areas with Pakistan, and the Valley would become independent. Because neither India nor Pakistan would countenance a third power making an independent Valley its base in South Asia, the precondition of making the Valley part of a South Asian Union becomes imperative.

One thought the separatists would take up this proposal. One thought that the Indian government would accept this proposal in principle and urge the separatists to persuade Pakistan to accept it. One thought that Pakistan would see the wisdom of this proposal that would satisfy all sides. An independent Valley would even the score of losing East Pakistan that continues to haunt many Pakistanis. A South Asian Union would reclaim the cultural nationalism of the subcontinent represented by undivided Hindustan which would delight many Indians. A South Asian Union would facilitate trade and friendly relations with China provided Beijing would focus on developing democratic values. China could become the world’s leading power much more rapidly through economic development rather than through subversive activities to promote hegemonic ambitions in a mere region. For all sides this formula is a win-win deal.

But someone must bell the cat.

Who else but the separatists are best suited to do that? One must compliment the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party for clearly stating that they want autonomy and soft borders with Pakistan. Well, let the people decide what they want. Given good administration for one year and clear articulation about the implications of independence versus remaining in India it is entirely possible that people in the Valley too might opt for India provided genuine self-rule is given. As for the rest of India, it should be noted that within the European Union citizens of one country have more rights in another than what rest of Indians presently have in J&K. So independence for the Valley in the arrangement of a South Asian Union would not in any way disadvantage citizens of India or Pakistan.

What is required is for all segments in Kashmir to unite in a common cause and take the initiative to move forward this proposal. Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti should team up with the Hurriyat leaders and take the lead. Omar should recall that his grandfather, Sheikh Abdullah, was at Pandit Nehru’s behest in Pakistan on the mission of making Kashmir a bridge for an Indo-Pak confederation. Pandit Nehru’s death aborted the effort. Should not the leaders of Kashmir pick up the baton and resume that mission? On Friday terrorists killed 80 in Pakistan, 73 in India. The situation demands urgent action. And time is running out.

Once upon a time, there was a Queen!

By M H Ahssan

While documenting the plight and pluck of women, the film captures the everyday lives of young girls and women whose lives could be trapped in a no-exit situation at any moment, without dramatizing this. "Difficult ethical questions are a part and parcel of documentary filmmaking," says Kavitha Pai who, along with her friend and peer Hansa Thapliyal, were commissioned by Other Media, an NGO that functions in Delhi and Bangalore, to make a film on Women, War and Peace in general, and in particular on peace initiatives by women in conflict-ridden states. The outcome is a 105-minute incisive documentary called Yi As Akh Padshah Bai (There was a Queen) on peace initiatives by the women in Kashmir, in conflict-ridden areas not read much about in the media.

The beginning was uncertain. "We were uncomfortable with the entire premise of the film. We were not sure whether their gender predisposes women to non violence," explains Pai. "At that point, we were not even sure what the word 'peace' meant vis-a-vis our film, the women we were going to research and the life-threatening situations they live and work in. When we first went for the field survey, above everything else, they wished to talk about injustice, the brazen violation of human rights, and their total lack of geographical, social and economic freedoms."

After the first field survey, Pai and Thapliyal went to shoot with a technical crew composed enitrely of women. For all that, the film does not reveal any gender bias. So, alongside the women who come across with very powerful voices, we find the camera closing in on some men. One of them is a former militant; a second man had sent his son for training across the border with his blessings. The third man is a school master who lost his son in gun battle only to realize that he was a militant. The fourth is a schoolboy whose brother was killed in crossfire. And as they spoke to the men, they realised there is a difference in the narratives of men and women.

"While every story in Kashmir has the power to shock and move, and the stories of both men and women were compelling in their honesty, in their rage, in their grief, in their helplessness, in their contempt, in their fierce refusal to forget; the women's stories are markedly different - in their determination to survive, to nurture," Pai elaborates. It is through these women - proud, strong, with an undying zest for life - that they have tried to explore what peace means and how it can come about in Kashmir. There Was a Queen is a film of conflict and peace in Kashmir. It is about Kashmiri women who talk openly about terrorism, militarism, peace and their daily life. It is a record of political voices of women representing many sides in Kashmir.

While documenting the plight and pluck of women, the film demonstrates the uncertainty the everyday lives of young girls and women whose lives could be trapped in a no-exit situation at any moment, without dramatizing this constant risk. A young girl learning tailoring in the Zainab Skill Centre in Maisuma in the heart of Srinagar, is being teased by her friends for wearing lipstick. She says, "Who knows whether I will remain alive tomorrow? So, why not fulfill my desire and have some fun while I am alive today?"

The Zainab Skill Centre was established around 1991-92 to provide support to girls affected by conflict. The centre was founded by Agha Ashraf, father of the late Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali. It is run with donations from non-resident Kashmiris. Kavitha says that every girl here has lost a brother, father, husband, son or some male member. "Their smiling faces say that this is nothing extraordinary for them. They dot their stories belting out lines from popular Hindi film songs, sometimes lamenting when this onslaught would finally end," Pai adds.

The crew reached Sopore two days after two young girls Shahnaza and Ulfat, both 17, studying in pre-university were killed. Kavitha Pai says that they did not wish to shoot the funeral of the two girls because it would be intruding into very private moments of grief. "But the family insisted that we do, because they wanted the rest of India to know what was happening in Kashmir. As one of the dead girls was being bathed by her wailing mother, I could not bear it anymore and Hansa took over. 'Did you see the mehendi in her hands' Hansa asked me afterwards. I hadn't because I felt guilty in some way," says Kavitha.

Hansa was stronger. "My predominant emotion was rage, which made me place the horror, the shame and the sorrow of it on record, for all to see," says Hansa. "So I shot the mothers bathing their little girls, stroking their seemingly unscarred bodies, gently combing their hair and kissing their fingers," she adds.

A year later on the editing table, they debated whether they should use the funeral footage at all because it was too sensational and too intrusive. "We finally decided to keep three shots to drive home the gravity of the crime - the murder of two innocent girls," Pai points out. Some said they were killed in crossfire while others said it was the Indian army who were responsible. In the end they decided it did not matter who had ended the lives of these children; what mattered was that two innocent girls had been killed, just when their whole life was about to unfold ahead of them.

The documentary not only traces the plight of the women, but also shows the video footage of the movement of the convoys of security forces personnel in busy areas of Srinagar city. Parveena Ahamgar, whose son is missing, and Parvez Imroze, a lawyer who works in the area of human rights founded the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in 1994. The APDP is an important initiative by women towards bringing peace in Kashmir. Tasleema Bano, a resident of Malangam-Bandipora and a member of APDP says how her husband was picked up some years ago, and has never been seen or heard of again.

Women who have lost their near and dear ones are united in carrying forward a joint struggle, demanding the return of their missing husbands, sons, brothers and fathers. "If they are dead, give us their dead bodies so that we can give them a decent burial," says one woman. These women are neither involved in the political issues that plague the state, nor are they part of militant groups. Their tragedy is that the male members of their families have been picked up either by militants to join the movement for Azaad Kashmir, or by the security personnel, or by the Indian Army.

Hajra has lost four sons. Yet, a ray of hope keeps this old, frail, but brave woman get on with the business of living. She says that conceiving a situation of peace is impossible in an environment where guns keep roaring and where women lose their dearest ones, taken away by the security forces, never to be seen again. The camera closes on the wrinkled face of Ghulam Rasool Paddar, father of Abdul Rehman Paddar, killed in an encounter (a 'fake' encounter, says the father) at Ganderbal.

While many voices are anguished, some are vengeful and harsh too, and the film does not overlook these. At one point in the film, we see a young girl who is ready to take up arms to avenge the killing of her sister by the security forces at Sopore. Her mother echoes this, proclaiming she would take up arms so as to "eliminate" the security forces personnel.

The film pans through extensive interviews, the nature of crackdowns carried out by the security forces and how the women cope with the situation once the security forces cordon a given area. Naseem Shifai, a famous Kashmiri poet, says that it is necessary to remove the stigma of every Kashmiri being labeled a militant by the rest of India. Hameeda Nayeem, reader in the English Department of the University of Kashmir claims that every Kashmiri should be given the right to self-determination, and asks why the militants would kill their own people.

Misra, one of the men interviewed, who lives in Malangam, said that more appalling than the indifference of the State was the tragedy of the Kashmir leadership abandoning the families of those they call martyrs. "Some of them seem to have seen the light after the Amaranth protests last year when there was a consolidated attempt by some parties to give compensation to the families of those who had died in the firing, to pay for medical aid and for the education of the children. But given the scale of devastation as a result of the 20-year-old conflict, much more needs to be done," he said.

There was a Queen leaves us with strange feelings of shock and guilt - shock because of the meaningless death and disappearance of hundreds of people, and guilt because so many of us have done nothing to help these women who are trying to carve out pockets of peace in their disturbed lives. The conflict has created a large number of widows, 'half-widows' (those whose husbands have disappeared), mothers who have lost their sons, daughters who have been subjected to rape, women pushed out of employment and people suffering from acute stress and trauma. The sheer banality of such acute suffering is striking, throughout the film.

The film ends with the recent protest demonstration by the parents of disappeared persons at Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi. The scene is ordinary, by the standards of high emotion elsewhere in the documentary. But its ordinariness also captures the everyday nature of the pain that people live with, and the alternating realities of intense conflict and peaceful democratic protest.

Pak not guilty, but not innocent either

By Nicholas Kristof

The educated guess is that the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks were from Lashkar-e-Tayyaba or Jaish-e-Muhammad, both Pakistani groups that have focused on Kashmir. The result is that we face a real danger of escalating tensions that will be bad for India and bad for Pakistan and Afghanistan. The risk is that Indian nationalists, such as the hot-headed chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, use the Mumbai attacks to gain ground and be more confrontational toward Pakistan. That in turn would empower Pakistani nationalists and radicals, and we would see more terror attacks in Pakistan and India alike. Moreover, since Afghanistan is one of the fields of competition between India and Pakistan, Afghan’s future would be compromised as well.

That said, Pakistan has to face its responsibility. The Pakistani government, particularly the ISI and other intelligence agencies, have had longstanding links with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Muhammad. Those ties were cut back after pressure from Washington in the aftermath of 9/11, but Pakistan never really cracked down and put either group out of business as it could have. It just told them to pipe down and put pressure on them to behave better, and it curbed infiltration into India.

As I noted in a blog post before the Mumbai attacks, I heard during my trip to Pakistan that the government of Asif Ali Zardari has again allowed more of these infiltrations of militants into Indian Kashmir; it’s not clear to me if that’s because Zardari wants to put pressure on India or create a foreign scapegoat for his own problems, or if he just doesn’t want to spend his political capital tackling jihadis in Pakistan (there’s a view in the Pakistani security forces that it’s best to redirect hotheads toward India so that they don’t bother Pakistani targets).

So Zardari and other Pakistanis are right that the Islamabad government is innocent of any direct involvement in the Mumbai attacks. But I also think that if the government and intelligence agencies were serious about stopping infiltrations, they could. I also think they could be far more aggressive in uprooting Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Muhammad. The Pakistani security forces have always tended to see militants as tools to be used in India or Afghanistan, rather than as threats to stability. So I don’t think the Pakistani government is guilty, but I also don’t think it’s quite innocent.

As for India, its harsh violations of human rights in Kashmir — and the brutal anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat — have empowered groups like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (in much the same way that America’s policies in Guantanamo have empowered Al Qaeda). And India was slow to react to olive branches from General Musharraf, missing the chance to ease tensions in Kashmir. There’ll be a tendency for enraged Indians to want to follow the Dick Cheney model now and fight back, but that Cheney model didn’t work so well for America and I would counsel Indians not to follow it.

At the end of the day, India’s interest is in a calmer, less militant, more economically vibrant Pakistan. The last thing India should want is a western border with the Taliban. When I made references to Kashmir in my first Pakistan column, Indians erupted in anger and asked why they should give up Kashmir to Pakistan. But that’s not what anybody is talking about, and indeed that’s not what Kashmiris want. A starting point is to introduce oversight and transparency in Kashmir, so that security forces don’t rape and torture Kashmiris with impunity. I would also see more trade and tourism ties between the two countries, to support moderates and undermine extremists.

But, alas, I’m afraid we may be on a downward spiral, with Indian and Pakistani nationalists alike gaining ground and empowering the other. I just hope that the Indian business community will step up to the plate and demand moderation and stand up to the Hindu nationalists.

Saffron - The Costliest Spice On Earth Costs Rs.2 Lakh / Kilo

It's almost as costly as gold and as lucrative a commodity to smuggle. The rich and the blueblooded around the world have loved it for millennia. The richest country in the world, the United States, loves it so much that even (clandestine) imports from Iran are okay. India's elite loves it, too, and it provides the most pleasing link between politically troubled Kashmir and the rest of the country.

It's, therefore, a super-premium product that trumps geopolitics. So, what is it? More clues. Cleopatra bathed with it, Alexander the Great used it to heal battle wounds, it adds that special touch to Indian biryani and Italian risotto, to super premium cakes and lavishly cooked kheer, and it enhances the quality of your skin as well as that of your sex life - if you can afford the Rs 2 lakh/kg price tag.

Massive Infiltration Surges To Disrupt 2014 India Polls

By Kajol Singh / INN Live

Three hundred and fifty of them are already waging a bloody war in the Indian mainland, and 700 more are across the Pakistan borders with Kalashnikovs hung from their shoulders, waiting to sneak in—to disrupt Indian democracy’s biggest exercise next year, the General Elections. 

As the winter sets in, Pakistan Army has already ratcheted up its small arms and mortar firing, aimed at facilitating infiltration of a large number of militants into Jammu and Kashmir.

Five Years On, Omar Retains Grip On Valley, But Just About

By Nazneen Wani | Srinagar

He was the youngest Chief Minister of the state at 38. He had credible political experience (as minister of state for external affairs in the Vajpayee-led NDA government). Revolutionary changes were expected in governance. That was five years ago. As Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah completes five of his six-year term in office on January 5 with Assembly elections slated for sometime late in November, precious little seems to have changed in the state during the time he has been at the helm. His report card is a mixed bag, his tenure a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows.

Kashmir's Lake Dal gently weeps

By M H Ahssan

For more than a century, stunning Dal Lake has been the resplendent jewel of Kashmir's tourism trade. Enshrined beneath glacially serrated Himalayan peaks and encircled by blossoming orchards and tulip gardens, its idyllic beauty is legendary.

The late George Harrison, guitarist for the Beatles, and Bengali sitar maestro Ravi Shankar once strummed their strings on its shores. British comedian Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, Academy Award winning actress Joan Fontaine and former United States vice president Nelson A Rockefeller all vacationed by the peaceful waters.

Dal Lake, located in Srinagar, the summer capital of the northernmost India-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, has also been a favorite of India's own rich and famous, including musician Zubin Mehta and three generations of India's powerful Gandhi family, to name just a few. (Last year, Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi presided over the harvest of Dal Lake's tulip plantation - the largest of its kind in Asia.)

A scenic, tree-shrouded boulevard winds its way along the shore, lined with parks, monuments and Moghul gardens planted in the 16th and 17th centuries. Overlooking the lake are the historic Shankaracharya and Hari Parbat temples.

Dal Lake is also famous for its Victorian-era houseboats originally built as vacation homes for British administrators during the Raj. Aboard these buoyed getaways or the gondola-like shakiras, which serve as the lake's water taxis, visitors can glide through innumerable floating gardens - yet another reason why Dal Lake is the most-photographed lake in India.

But there is another picture that isn't so pretty. Environmentalists say Dal Lake is dying a slow death, with rampant pollution, urbanization on its banks, and the blockage of fresh water channels and natural springs spoiling its once-pristine waters.

Dal Lake - once described as "the most beautiful lake in India" - now figures among the 100 most polluted lakes in the world. In the past 20 years, the lake has shrunk from 25 square kilometers to 11 sq km, and its depth has decreased by four meters.

More recently, Dal Lake has become a battleground between environmental groups concerned with the lakes' conservation and locals who depend solely on the tourist trade. Floating precariously at the very center of this roiling dispute are Dal Lake's famous houseboats.

Environmental broadsides
Hand-carved cedar houseboats were first introduced in Dal Lake by the British as early as 1888. At the time, British troops stationed in present-day Pakistan escaped the scorching lowland summers in cooler Kashmir. The beloved houseboats - many with incongruous monikers such as The Buckingham Palace, Mona Lisa and Helen of Troy - soon become symbolic of "the Kashmir holiday", and staying in one was considered a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In recent times, however, the houseboats have been singled out for the worsening condition of Dal Lake. About 1,200 houseboats are moored year-round at Dal Lake and their raw sewage goes directly into the water. Local officials claim that roughly 100,000 liters of untreated human waste enter the lake from the houseboats each day.

Although the construction of new houseboats stopped in 1991, the existent boats continue to operate without any change of design. Now, in what they claim is a bid to save famous Dal Lake from extinction, authorities in India-administered Kashmir have ordered a ban on the houseboats moored in its waters.

The state high court, which has been hearing the case, has given the option of installing a US$4,000 sewage treatment device, but houseboat owners say they don't have the financial means as two decades of violent insurgency in Kashmir have dried up the tourist dollars.

Meanwhile, houseboat owners deny the officials' claim that they are the primary cause of pollution.

"Houseboats contribute to just 3% of Dal pollution and there are other reasons for the present condition, which the authorities are overlooking," Azim Tuman, president Houseboat Owners Association, told Asia Times Online. "A large amount of city sewage still goes into the lake untreated and the water circulation system though different canals in the city has been blocked resulting in stale condition of Dal waters."

Some experts agree that the main problem is the unhindered flow of sewage into Dal Lake's waters from nearby Srinagar - a city of some 1.3 million residents. The government has established three Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to stop unchecked flow of sewage in the Dal waters. Environmentalists, however, say a system of about a dozen big and small STPs is needed to completely check the seepage.

Rocking the boats
Sewage discharged into the lake results in a process called "eutrophication" which causes aquatic weed growth, damages local flora and fauna and results in the clogging of fresh water arteries.

Four fresh water channels feeding Dal Lake have been blocked due to unplanned urbanization of Srinagar city. Despite a ban on littering in the lake, most of its 700 natural springs have been choked by polythene and other industrial wastes.

Government corruption and inefficiency have also been blamed for the lake's present condition. According to reports, millions of dollars are being spent on Dal Lake's conservation, but locals allege that only a fraction of the amount is actually put to its intended use.

Despite receiving monetary compensation, some 60,000 people residing inside Dal Lake on reclaimed land are yet to be relocated.

The lake is a major source of drinking water for Srinagar, supplying about 40% of city's population. Lately, there has been an alarming increase in the detection of deadly elements such as arsenic, cadmium, manganese, copper, lead, nickel in the lake basin - posing a grave threat to any living thing that consumes the water. There are often reports of people in Srinagar becoming ill after consuming water supplied from water filtration plants from the lake.

The lake's aquatic life has already been hit. Fishing, the area's second-biggest industry after tourism, has seen a rash of unemployment due to the decreased in fish population in the lake.

Even today, as the government attempts to stop the discharge of 100,000 liters of sewage per day from houseboats into the lake per day, millions of liters of sewage from other sources go unhindered. Environmentalists say that if real action is not taken, Kashmir's glistening Dal Lake lake will be gone in 50 years.

'I Saw My Passengers Drenched In Blood, Many Were Weeping': Bus Driver Salim Sheikh Who Powered Through A Hail Of Bullets 'Showed Exemplary Courage'

As the bullets rained down on his bus Salim Sheikh (above, right) kept driving through the darkness. His courage under fire saved the lives of dozens of his pilgrim passengers during a terrorist attack in Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir government and Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) separately announced rewards totalling Rs 5 lakh while Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani has said he would recommend Salim's name for a bravery award. Seven of the passengers were killed and more than a dozen wounded in the attack.

Opinion: Kashmir Youth On Fire: Common Man Call The Shots

By SEEMA MUSTAFA | INNLIVE

They come out in large mobs at any time of the day. Even at night, when they march through the localities in Kashmir carrying candles and shouting slogans. And defying curfew without fear. 

They are within the age group of 7-25 years. And listen to no one.They have no leader except the dead Burhan Wani. The parents cannot control them or keep them at home, even though several worried mothers have tried in vain to do so.

Point Blank OpEd: Is Kashmir Losing India?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Today, alienation is a necessary identity for the stone-throwing, Book-bound revolutionary. Home is not India any longer; it is an idea delivered by an angry god.

A couple of days before the horror in Nice, there was this story in The New York Times about a philosophers’ spat over Islam. Very French indeed. It was between two former friends who have written some of the most original arguments on the single most powerful idea that continues to terrorise the world: radical Islamism. Their differences are more than a matter of phraseology; they reflect the persistence of a divided perception that goes beyond talking shops to the highest offices of power in Paris and Washington and even Delhi.

Union Minister Rahman Khan’s crazy Thinking On The IM

By Swamy Thakur (Guest Writer)

“I can’t believe that!” said Alice. “Can’t you?” the queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again, draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said. “One can’t believe impossible things.”

“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

He’s clearly been practicing the art of magical thinking, has K Rehman Khan, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs. Earlier this week, Khan went on record to say he’s sceptical the Indian Mujahideen exists, because “nobody knows what it is, where it was formed, and who runs it”. “The Muslim community,” he went on, “is not buying its existence”. Khan says these aren’t his personal views—”the community has that feeling”—but added that no Indian Muslim had ever been actually convicted of involvement in terrorism. “A few are suspected,” he said, but “their involvement is not proved.”

Kashmir Unrest: Why Are The Crowd Control Failures Of 2010 Being Repeated In 2016?

By LIKHAVEER } INNLIVE

Despite scores of casualties six years ago, the forces continue to use pellet guns that can blind, maim and kill.

“Despite the curtailment of militant activities in Jammu & Kashmir, the public order dimension in the state has become a cause for serious concern. We need to revisit standard operating procedures and crowd control measures to deal with public agitations with non-lethal, yet effective and more focused measures.”

In The Valley, After The Trauma, The Cost: Loss Of Sex Drive

By Rizwan Vani | Srinagar

Kashmir has now become the destination of some of India’s top infertility experts as the ongoing turmoil in the state has led to the twin afflictions of infertility and loss of libido.

A JKLF militant commander in the late 90s, Farooq Ahmad, remembers with horror even today the time when security forces detained him and subjected him to inhuman torture like giving electric shocks to his genitals. Now, more than a decade later, when Farooq has settled into mainstream life, he is living another nightmare: his failure to consummate his six-year-long marriage. Visits to quacks, psychiatrists and andrologists have yielded little result.

Focus: India's New Sizzling Cricket Star, Parvez Rasool

By Ashraf Jani / Srinagar

Srinagar’s relative calm was shattered this week by the BSF firing on protestors in Ramban and sectarian strife in Badgam, to remind you that this is a place plagued with conflict, militancy, protests and death. The elusive peace seems a distant dream though India would  like to believe that the selection of  a talented Kashmiri Muslim to the Indian cricket team would assuage the sentiments of an alienated community.

Has Parvez Rasool, the 24-year-old all-rounder, replaced the gun-toting rebel or a stone pelter as the pride of the valley?

Telangana Liberation - A Peoples Struggle

After a great struggle and sacrifice of Indian people, the British parliament passed an act. It was the act of independence 1947. According to this act, two separate countries, Indian union and Pakistan came in to existence on 15th August 1947. British declared Independence to more than 500 princely states along with India and Pakistan. These princely states were out side the British Indian Dominion. British gave to these princely states their own independent decision to chalk out their future course. They were left free to join either of the states i.e., India and Pakistan or to remain as separate independent states. Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister of India took a stern actions to integrate all the princely states. With a stroke of pen all the princely states except Kashmir, Hyderabad state and JunaGadh, decided to join Indian Union.

The people of Junagadh rose in revolt. The Government of India was forced to take over the control of the Junagadh. Jammu and Kashmir remained as independent state for some time but Pakistan encouraged people in North West and also invaded Jammu and Kashmir at that moment. The Maharaja of Kashmir appeared to Indian union and signed the instrument of accession. . The Indian troops went into Jammu and Kashmir and fought the invading forces, and thus Jammu and Kashmir became part of India.

The state of Hyderabad was very big in area. There were 8 Districts of Atraf Balda, Medak, Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts in Telangana; 6 districts, Aurangabad, Nanded, Beed, Osmanabad, Bidar and Parbhani, Maratwada. Gulbarga and Raichur, 2 districts in Karnataka area. Altogether there were 16 districts. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the Nizam of Hyderabad was the ruler. He was having his own currency, postage and stamps. He had his own railways Nizam state railway (N.S.Railway), Bus services, airport and air-services. He had his own armed forces. The state was rich with abundance of minerals, coal, iron, and other valuable metal reserves, further more he was regarded as the wealthiest king in the world. Keeping in view of all the resources, wealth and abundance of natural resources, the aristocrats, i.e. the Nawabs and Jagirdhars, who were around him provoked and forced the Nizam of Hyderabad to declare independence.

On 15th August 1947, the Nizam declared independence and the yellow coloured flag the Asafjahi Jhanda was hoisted. Though the ruler was a Muslim, the majority of people in the state were Hindus. Obviously majority of the people wanted to join the Indian Union. Sensing revolt from the people, the Nawabs and Jagirdars began to make plans to crush down the upsurge of the people if any.

Laique Ali was the chief minister and he was the mastermind behind the entire aftermath happenings in the state. A private army called "Razakars" was formed. Most of the Muslim youth were enrolled as Razakars and they were given military training. "Khasim Razvi" an High court advocate was made the state leader of the Razakars, Razakars is a urdu word meaning "volunteer". General public in the state were very much disappointed and protested against the imperialism of the Nizam rule. Some people went under ground and fought against the police and Razakars. But the regular police along with the Razakars let loose the terror among the people. There was arson, loot, murder and rapes through out the state. The unrest and upsurge of the people were called disturbances. With the pretext of maintaining peace the regular police and Razakars committed all kinds of atrocities, some of the rich people went out of the state and took shelter in the neighboring states of Indian union. Particularly the people of Telangana area went to Andhra area. The Telangana people, who expected sympathetic treatment from the Andhra people, were greatly disappointed. Instead of showing sympathy and stretching helping hand, they ill-treated them. At every place they were humiliated and insulted. All the essential commodities and foodstuffs were sold to the telangana people at double rates. The house rents were also increased. Thus the telangana people suffered economically and mentally. Here in the towns and cities, the locks of the vacant houses were broken and they were occupied by the Muslims brought from the villages, where there was threat to their lives from the Communists. Almost all the big towns and cities were full of Muslims. The plight of Hindus in these towns was very miserable. There was constant fear and terror and they were living with a danger to their lives. In those days every Muslim even a boy used to say that Hindus were "Gaddar", "Gaddar" is an Urdu word which means, "traitor".

Among the people who remained in their houses the police took some prominent persons in to custody that they thought could organize and create trouble. They were put in jails. In Jangaon also some prominent person like Peddi Narayana, Dr.Shankar Rao, K.P.S.Menon, Arvapalli Narayana, U.V.S.Shastri and Harakari Srinivasa Rao were taken in to custody and put in Chenchalguda Central Jail in Hyderabad. Like wise all over the state police arrested a number of influential and prominent people and put them in central jails. Due to the short of place in jails, the Ajanta and Ellora caves were also made Jails. Dasharathi Krishnama Chari, the state poet was also arrested and kept in the Ellora and Ajanta caves as prisoner, where he wrote his familiar poetic line, "Naa Telangana, Koti Ratanala Veena", such was the patriotism of Telangana people.

During the period of Nizam, there were a number of Deshmukhs, Jagirdars and Jamindars who were familiarly called as "Doras". With the blessings of Nizam Doras enjoyed full powers to rule the villages at their will and they used to collect the land revenue too. All the villagers, living in small huts were either tenants of their lands or workers working in their fields. These Deshmukhs were very cruel, notorious and unkind to the people. The atrocities of these Deshmukhs were no less than the Razakars. Particularly in Telangana Region there were a great number of Deshmukhs, who let loose the terror and violence among the villagers. Hence the people of this region were forced to join the Communist movement only to check and stop the atrocities of these "Doras".

In old Jangaon taluk there is a village named Visnoor, where Rapaka Ramachandra Reddy was the Deshmukh. There were 60 villages under his control. He built a big bunglow with the free labor of the villagers. Nothing was paid to the workers. It is called "Vetti". The workers and other villagers rose against the Deshmukh. They could not tolerate the atrocities of the Deshmukh and his hench men. There was a fierce battle between his men and villagers. Many villagers were seriously injured and "Doddi Komaraiah" was killed. At that time the Andhra Mahasabha led the people movement. They held a big rally in Jangaon town and arranged seminars and meetings for three days where "Doddi Komaraiah gate" was erected in his memory. Many leaders like Ravinarayana Reddy, Baddam Ella Reddy, Arutla Ramchandra Reddy and his wife Arutla Kamala Devi and Arutla Laxminarasimha Reddy spoke. They described Visnoor Deshmukh as "Kaliyuga Ravanasoor". Slowly the struggle started by the common people of the region against the imperialism, started bending towards communism. Thus communism got its birth in this area mainly because of Visnoor Deshmukh.

During the period of Razakars i.e. after the Nizam of Hyderabad declared independence the entire state of Hyderabad was caught in fear and terror and full of disturbances every where. At that time lakhs of Muslims came to Hyderabad in special trains from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. They were all uneducated workers land laborers. Their clothes were shabby and dirty. They were called " Phanagazeen". It is a urdu word meaning "refugees". So the entire responsibility of their rehabilitation fell on the state administration. The Nawabs, Jagirdars and Deshmukhs took some of these refugees to their areas and looked after them. They were given food and shelter. These refugees were also given the army training and they were also supplied guns and made Razakars. These refugees were used to crush the peoples struggle and upsurge.

Babu Dora was the elder son of Visnoor Deshmukh. He was very cruel and notorious. He took hundreds of these refugees to Visnoor and kept them under his control. They not only guarded the Deshmukh building but let loose terror and committed atrocities among the villagers Babu Dora along with the armed gang of these refugees used to go to some villages and harassed the villagers. Every day Babu Dora killed one or more persons wherever he went. In Devaruppula village three persons were burnt alive. He was so notorious that he made some of the women dance naked. Villagers were very much afraid of this Babu Dora. So the Communists of this area fought against these forces. Under this Visnoor Deshmukh there was one village named "Kadavendi". A youth by name "Nalla Narsimhulu" of this village became the leader of Communists of this area.

All the Deshmukhs and police personnel were afraid of Nalla Narsimhulu. They could not get sound sleep to hear his name. Gabbeta Tirmal Reddy and his brother Madhav Reddy were also organizers of Communists and fought against the feudalists and their atrocities. Arutla Ramchandra Reddy and his wife Arutla Kamala Devi, and Arutla Laxminarsimha Reddy organized the Communist Dalams in Alair and Bhongir area. All these leaders had to go under ground and organized armed dalams and fought against the police and Razakars.

To counter the uprising of the people in Jangaon area, a special Deputy Collector was posted at Jangaon. He was given extra-ordinary powers and the armed special police battalions to crush the peoples upsurge and to maintain peace, law and order in this area. In Jangaon, just behind our house there was a private Muslim doctor, by name Azeejullah. He was well versed in Telugu language. He used to tell Harikathas in Telugu. Azeejullah was made leader of Razakars in Jangaon. The deputy collector used to go to one or two villages every day along with special police and Razakars with the pretext of maintaining peace in the area. Doctor Azeezullah, the leader of the Razakars used to give lectures in Telugu supporting to the government and to eliminate the Communists who were regarded as unsocial elements.

Whenever the villagers heard the sounds of approaching trucks and lorries the men and youth used to run away from their houses without even caring for their children and women. They used to run away in to the fields and forests to save their lives. The villagers who ever remained in villages were gathered at central place and enquired as to who gave food and shelter to the Communists, and then police took such people under their custody. Meanwhile the Razakars attacked the houses and took away all the costly and useful articles, most of the villagers were beaten and killed and the women were humiliated, insulted even some were raped. There was arson, loot, murder and rape wherever the Razakars went. The police use to take some of the youth to taluk headquarters i.e. Jangaon and they were beat and tortured for some days and lastly they were taken out side Jangaon town and shot dead at a small hillock called "Pottigutta”. The dead bodies were left in the open place to rot and were eaten away by beasts and vultures. There was evil smell of the dead bodies around the Jangaon town. The regular police and Razakars under the direction of government officers and the deputy collector committed all these atrocities.

On the other side whenever the Communists entered the villages they also used to enquiry as to who gave information to the police. They used to beat them and took them out side the village and sometimes even killed them. The people in the villages were living in the state of terror and fear feeling threat from both sides i.e. the police and Razakars on one side and Communists on the other side. Their plight was very miserable.

In every state there was a representative of Indian government called resident. Sri K.M.Munshi was the resident on Hyderabad state. He stayed at Thirumalagiri near Bollaram. There was some Indian army with him. Indian government received the reports from Sri K.M.Munshi that there was complete break down of law and order in the state and people are agitating against the Nizam government. But the state government sent contradicting reports stating that there were no disturbances at all in the state. There was perfect peace and no reasons for the Indian government to doubt the Hyderabad state authority in maintaining the law and order .

Villagers in the state particularly in Jangaon taluk was very much vexed with the atrocities of the police and Razakars. There is a village named Bahiranpalli in Jangaon taluk. This village had a "Buruj" built of mud and stones and it was in the centre of the village. By standing on the "Buruz" one can see all around the village. So they employed some youth and kept them on this buruz to guard day and night with guns. They kept watch on borders of the village. They used to fire from the top of "Buruz" and prevented the police and Razakars and even Communists. Thus they protected themselves and saved lives of their children and families.

The deputy collector of Jangaon one day went to this village along with his armed special police and Razakars as a routine of his mission to maintain peace among the villagers, when the guards on the "buruz" of village saw the vehicles of the police and Razakars, they started firing. The police also fired at the "buruz" but could not break it. Further the police and the Razakars could not go even a step forward and counter the incessant firing from the guards of the village. The deputy collector felt humiliated and went back to Jangaon. He sent a wireless message to Nalgonda, the district head quarters. In his message he stated that a few villages at Bahiranpally area are acting as the centers of Communist activity. They have built a strong "Morchas" and also strong-armed men to fight against the government forces. He also requested to send some additional forces with strong machine guns and cannons.

The next day additional special reserved police with military trucks, guns and cannons arrived at Jangaon on 27th August 1948. The deputy collector went to village of Bhairanpally along with his special police battalion and Razakars. At first the police surrounded the entire village so that no one can run out of the village. Then they fired the cannons aimed at the buruj. At once the upper part of the buruz collapsed and the guards on it had to run away from there. Then the police and Razakars entered the village and killed all the youth and men leaving only the children, old men and women. The entire village was full of blood and dead bodies. It was a mass killing. It reminded of the massacre of Jallianwalla Bagh in Punjab on 13th April 1919, where more than 1000 men were killed and several thousands got wounded. It was the most uncivilized atrocity. The Govt. of India got the reports of this massacre committed by the regular police. Sardhar Vallabhai Patel sent a warning to the government of Hyderabad state. He stated that the state government failed to maintain the law and order in the state and its people were put to many unseen and unknown troubles and many people were killed. So the government of India was forced to send its own army to the state of Hyderabad to maintain the law land order to save the lives and properties of the common people. If the state government tried to prevent the army from entering in to the state the army will take action and use force. The state government of Hyderabad protested and countered that the Government of India was having a false report. There are no disturbances in the state. There is complete peace and law and order is fully maintained.

But at zero hours on 13th September 1948, the Indian army started moving in to the state on all sides. On the same day two fighter planes came to Mamnoor police camp and bombed the Aerodrome so that no plane from out side can come and land there. When the army from eastern side came to Khammam, the Razakars went in side the fort and closed the doors and fired on the Indian troops from inside the fort. Two bombers fighters came and bombed the fort from above. Thus the Indian troops advanced from all sides and major general J.N.Chowdhary who advanced from Maharashtra side could reach the Hyderabad on 17th September 1948 and made the Nizam of Hyderabad to declare that he is joining the Indian union. Thus the Indian government took over the control of the administration of the state on 17th September 1948. That is the day Telangana has been liberated.

Major General J.N.Chowdary was made the military administrator of the state. The state of Hyderabad was under the military rule for one year. Even after the military took over the administration of the state, the Communist who went under ground did not stop their movement to fight against the imperialism of the Deshmukhs. Nalgonda and Warangal districts were declared disturbed areas and General Nanjappa was appointed special officer for these two districts. He was given extraordinary powers to crush the Communist movement. Many Communist leaders were taken as prisoners and presented before the court for legal proceedings. Nalla Narasimhulu the Communist leader who terrified the Deshmukhs and Nizam was arrested and presented before the court. After the trial for few years in different courts the Supreme Court acquitted him finally. He continued as the leader of the Communist party and lived in Jangaon till his death. Gabbeta Tirumal Reddy who was also arrested but was killed by the army in a fake encounter. Arutla Ramachandra Reddy and his wife Arutla Kamaladevi and Arutla Laxminarsimha Reddy were arrested and after the trials in the court they were acquitted. Charabuddi Jagga Reddy father of Sri Charabuddi Dayakar Reddy, the present Chairman of the C.D.R.Hospital Hyderabad was also an under ground Communist leader. He was also arrested and after the trial in the court he was acquitted. Ravi Narayana Reddy, Baddam Yella Reddy and Govind Rao Sharab were the leading Communist leaders. They contested the general elections and won the elections. Arutla Ramachandra Reddy and his wife also contested and represented the Communist party in the assembly. Sri Ravi Narayana Reddy contested parliament elections and won the Nalgonda parliament seat with highest number of votes in whole of India. Thus the under ground movement of Communist came to an end. Magdoom Mohiuddin a Communist and a well known journalist won MLA seat from Jangaon. The Communists left the armed struggle and started participating in the mainstream political process and contested the assembly and parliament elections. The underground movement of armed struggle came to an end once forever.

Jammu Kashmir: Royals, Govt Battles Out For Raj Bhawan

A battle royale has unfolded in Jammu and Kashmir after Dr Karan Singh, the heir of the last Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, moved a local court demanding the state government to vacate the Raj Bhawan of Jammu, since the lease for the sprawling property has been terminated last year.

Principal sessions court Jammu issued notices to chief secretary and others asking them to file their objections to the suit filed by Hari-Tara Charitable Trust through its trustee Dr Karan Singh seeking evacuation of the winter home of the Jammu and Kashmir governor.

Kashmir's Sheikh Abdullah's Grand-Daughter Revealed Her Grandmother Never Marries 'Lawrence of Arabia'!

When Prof Nyla Ali Khan, a US-based Kashmiri academic and granddaughter of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, writes about her grandmother Begam Akbar Jehan, she demolishes “many a myth”. 

According to her, the biggest fiction being peddled as history is that Sheikh Abdullah was Akbar Jehan’s second husband, after the latter’s divorce from T.E. Lawrence, alias “The Lawrence of Arabia”.

Leftist historian Tariq Ali had written that Jehan married Lawrence in 1928, while he was on a visit to Kashmir.

Exclusive: Sexual Violence Routinely Used As A Weapon In Conflict Zones Across South Asia

By MENAKA RAO | INNLIVE

In Kashmir and Balochistan, Chhattisgarh and Nepal, sexual violence is used with impunity to subjugate women, say researchers.

There is an exponential increase in the incidence of sexual violence – which is often used as a tool of punishment, for revenge and to teach other communities a lesson – in areas of conflict in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These are the findings of a three-year long project exploring sexual violence and impunity in South Asia, which were discussed during a conference in New Delhi on Saturday.

Opinion: Why Indian 'System' May Completely Change?

By Rajinder Puri | Delhi

Not too long ago BJP leader  Narendra Modi addressing a public rally in Jammu said that Article 370 imposed in the state needed to be debated. The reactions this evoked were amusing. The BJP went on a panic drive to assert that there was no change in the party’s policy towards Kashmir and it continued to oppose Article 370. J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah retorted that Article 370 was permanent because Kashmir acceded to India by reference to the state’s Instrument of Accession which mentioned Article 370.  Modi responded by stating that a debate on all issues related to J&K was desirable. Upon that this writer urged a debate on the entire Indian political system.

Roll Up! It’s A Media Circus

The breathless coverage of an unpopular Mufti’s fatwa helps distract from the real issues. 

The controversy over a music band formed by three Kashmiri teenage girls is a fabricated one, and yet another reminder of how a section of the Indian media (egged on, this time, by their Kashmir-based reporters) has trivialised the debate on Kashmir. While the Valley still mourns the killings of the past 23 years, and relatives of the dead are yet to find justice, the media has used every opportunity to ignore those uncomfortable truths. They cherrypick evidence, real or concocted, that might link Kashmiris to religious fanaticism. Such misrepresentations are then hurled back at Kashmiris to delegitimise their political struggle.

Indeed, it is tragic that some stray, abusive comments against the band on social media by a few anonymous youth — which snowballed into a controversy after the highly unpopular ‘Grand Mufti’ in Kashmir jumped in to issue a fatwa against music and women performing on stage — has now put these teenagers’ future in music in jeopardy. TV channels picked the story to paint Kashmiri society either as a threat to India’s secularism or as misogynist. Most Kashmiris don’t have access to social media. The broad brushes of generalisation, however, which work in tandem with stereotypes against Muslim societies, paint all of them as uniformly extremist.

Mufti Bashiruddin, not unknown to controversy, issued the fatwa after news channels ran round-the-clock stories as if the band members were under an imminent threat. It is likely that the latter’s real or pretentious championing of the band’s right to play music may have caused the attention-hungry mufti to step in.

Are such media outlets genuinely interested in freedom of expression in Kashmir? From the large number of Kashmiris booked under the notorious Public Safety Act, or threatened for activism on Facebook, to professors arrested for setting question papers that the state authorities deemed seditious to the police witch-hunt of Kashmiri rapper MC Kash, the Indian media has rarely taken the issue of free speech in Kashmir seriously.

Many powerful groups, including the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, rejected the fatwa, and the pro-freedom women’s organisation Muslim Khawateen Markaz (MKM) too expressed support for the band. The MKM used the opportunity well, criticising both the military occupation and the male-dominated pro-freedom groups, thus opening a fresh debate within Kashmiri society on the question of women in the pro-Azadi movement. The media needs to report these complexities.

There are certainly serious questions related to gender and women’s equality that Kashmiris, like every other society, must deal with. Although the news channels have played up the opposition to the band, it is also true that the band has not found support among young Kashmiri men. Perhaps because the band had performed in an event organised by the paramilitary CRPF. The force is widely hated in the valley for its role in the 2008 and 2010 killings. But this argument is inadequate since there were many other bands that participated in that event, yet only this band was targeted.

One of the tension-laden problems associated with any political movement that seeks to liberate itself from foreign domination is that gender inequalities come starkly to the fore. Women are unfairly turned into symbols of honour and shame. The Kashmir issue can only be resolved through the critical involvement of women in the political struggle.

If Kashmiris, who are passionate about their historic struggle, want to liberate their emancipatory politics from the false issues and deceptive images spread by the media, it can only be achieved through creative critique. Music is part of that critique, not music that is meant only to give pleasure, but music that stings. From Habba Khatun to the present day Sufiana singers, Kashmiri women have historically been part of that process.