The crisis of Kashmiri Pandit Identity January 17, 2012

19 January 2012 will complete 22 years in exile for Kashmiri Pandits(KP).This minority community of Kashmir were forced to leave their hearth and Homes 22 years back as there was total anarchy and oglocracy in Kashmir. some rabid , religious fundamental zealots were on rampage and Target shooting of KP’s had become their Hobby.In this whole chaos KP homes were plundered and some pyromaniacs set many KP houses on fire. All this happened on the name of Jihad.

At least 4 lakh KP’s left their homeland in the chilling nights of jan 1990 to safeguard their lives, honor and dignity. Today this beleaguered community is scattered all over world-Thanks to Govt. Apathy-with majority of Kp’s dwelling in India particularly Jammu and Delhi Region.

Even after 22 years GOI has no blue print to bring back KP’s to their Homeland-Kashmir. GOI has negated the fact that KP’s are refugees in their own country, they better call KP’s Internally Displaced. Technically or terminologically they may be right but this terminology is more of a Hogwash, a misnomer as “Internally displaced” tag of KP’s misleads one to think that Govt. is going to reverse the migration of KP’s from Kashmir. Till today-even after 22 years nothing has happened.

Post 1990,The successive governments led by either National conference or PDP, came to power in J&K with the support of congress(i), have been pre-occupied with other things and most of their activities are executed with one thing in mind-to increase the vote bank-Unfortunately KP’s do not form any sizeable vote bank and thus the Rights of KP’s have been depredated from time to time, especially since Jan 1990.

Jammu region has a majority of Hindu population and overall in J&K, Hindus constitute around 30% of the total population. Being a Muslim majority state most of the policies are majority centric. Hindus of J& K have felt disadvantageous at many times, particularly in Govt. employments, they also don’t get the subsidies which their counterparts enjoy in Kashmir. Till today there has not been a single Hindu who has made it to become the chief Minister of J&K.

Religion and Culture are the bipods of healthy community, Jammu being a Hindu majority Region has given ample scope to everyone to practice their religion and Culture unlike Kashmir where KP’s faced the brunt of religious apartheid.
Today, K.P’s stand at crossroads, their homeland is so near still so far, their culture and religion is at the brink of extinction, their identity is being erased slowly by the polity of that Nation for which they were killed, raped, hounded and exiled. The need of the Hour is to preserve the unique culture and identity of KP’s, the unique identity that was soul of Kashmir, all that can happen only when KP’s come back to Kashmir-Their motherland .

The million dollar question arises,” can they come back to Kashmir and live as they used to?” the answer is a big “NO”. Most of the houses belonging to KP’s have been either sold out in distress, or they have been burnt down or they have been illegally captured by nefarious elements backed either by Govt. Machinery or Pakistan backed terrorists. The fact is they have nowhere to go if they come back to Kashmir.

Government knows this important point, they have in fact built some ghettos for KP’s where some Kp’s are residing, particularly those who were given jobs in Kashmir, Some of these KP’s have alleged that 4-5 people share a common room in these Ghettos and many basic facilities are missing in these government flats. These temporary ghettos are not a answer for reverse migration of KP’s. This way religious freedom and cultural identity of KP’s cannot be preserved. Anyways Ghettos give a feeling of being a alien.

The other viable solution is a separate homeland which is most popularly known as “Panun Kashmir”. This Homeland can preserve the religion, culture and identity of KP’s for generations. Panun Kashmir is a Homeland demand of KP’s that will enjoy a union territory status like Chandigarh and all those will be welcomed here who believe in India and Indian constitution.

For some reasons the present Govt. is opposing this demand also. Some of the govt. agencies have twisted the concept of Homeland of KP’s as sacrilegious and projected this demand akin to accession of Kashmir with Pakistan.

In either ways the Govt’s apathy is driving KP’s to oblivion. Govt at State or at center should make it a point that KP’s are brought back to Kashmir.22 years has passed and nothing concrete has been done to preserve the identity of Kashmiri Pandits. These 22 years have made me believe slowly but steadily that in future also Govt. will not do anything except wait and watch.

Tibetans have been given infrastructure, environment and everything else by the Indian Govt. just to protect their identity whereas KP’s have been deprived everything that can preserve their religion and culture. I have come to this conclusion that Govt. should now do one last favor to KP’s- Declare KP’s as Refugees and let KP’s reach out to other countries who have laws to protect the religious freedom and culture. At least that way cohesiveness of KP’s will prevail and their culture and religion will be saved.

I will be more than happy if my conclusion will be proven wrong by Govt’s deeds in coming 365 days.

Jews and HIndus: Building A Passage to India January 12, 2012

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11102#.Tw6VhYHU5hw

Jews and HIndus have both been victims of attempted extermination by Islamics. Of course, not all Muslims are terrorists. But today, most terrorists are Muslims. A speech to Hindu youth in Pune.

On January 8, 2012, I delivered a rather passionate speech in Pune, India via skype. I was invited to do so by “Youth 4 Panun Kashmir.” The organizers were especially interested in my drawing parallels between Israel and India, Jews and Hindus both of whom have, historically, been genocidally exterminated and driven out of their holy places.

I was approached to speak partly because I have written about Islamic terrorism in India before and partly because I recently took up the case of Dr. Subramanian Swamy, an Indian political leader and economist, who was wrongfully dismissed by Harvard after twenty years for daring to take a “controversial” stand against Islamic terrorism in India.

 Here is part of what I said. I think it will be of interest to the readers of Israel National News and perhaps to Israeli diplomats who are in touch with their counterparts in India, because Dr. Swamy was the highest ranking Indian leader to first visit Israel in the early 1980s. His visits led to the establishment of an Indian Embassy and an Israeli Embassy in Israel and India.

My speech:

 It is my great pleasure to be with you today. Namaste. There should be an international outcry on behalf of the near-extinction of the Hindus of Kashmir, an outcry at the United Nations about the Hindu refugees who were forced to flee Kashmir to escape horrific Islamic violence.

 The Indian government is also afraid to confront the growing threat of Islamic terrorism. Now, only two-three thousand Hindu Kashmiris dare to remain; they are in a very dangerous situation.

 Why is the world utterly indifferent to this—your—tragedy?

 Because today, there is only one refugee group in the world that matters. It is the utterly imaginary group known as the “Palestinians.” This group is composed of four to five generations of Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, Iraqis, Bedu, and tribes who once lived in the Holy Land under the Romans, the Christians, the Turks, and the British but who themselves claimed no nationality until well after World War Two, when their so-called nationality became the justification for a terrorist campaign against the only Jewish state in the world.

This privileged group of refugees has been living on enormous world sympathy and on UN, European, and American funding; rather, their leaders have been living well on UNRWA funding and using the excess monies to wage a ruthless war against Israel.

The UN does not care about your people, the Hindu Kashmiris, who are facing extinction and who wish to return to peacefully practice their religion where their ancestors once lived and flourished. You are not demanding the exile of Muslim Kashmiris. But, like Jews and other infidel groups, you have been terrorized and persecuted by the intolerant practices of Islamic religious apartheid.

 The UN is a morally bankrupt organization of tyrannies. Neither India, nor Israel, nor the United States should be supporting it. As you may know, Western thought has grown exceedingly “politically correct,” but in a way that only George Orwell or Lewis Carroll could fully comprehend. The world is, quite simply, completely upside down and not all “pigs” are equal. The democratic West, Israel, and India all value freedom, a free press, separation of religion and state, and individual rights. This is one of the reasons that free countries are demonized as quintessentially evil. America and Israel are repeatedly accused of imperialism, colonialism, racism, “occupation,” and apartheid.

 University professors at the most distinguished institutions have absolutely no idea about Islam’s long and terrible history of colonialism, imperialism, forced conversion, racism, slavery, and both gender and religious apartheid. Islamic culture practices gender and religious apartheid for which they are never held accountable; Israel is falsely scapegoated as an “apartheid” state when it tries to defend itself from terrorism.

This is something that you in India, especially those of you who are longing to live safely and proudly as Hindus in Kashmir know a good deal about.

We now know that Muslims mass-slaughtered Hindus and buried them in mass graves in the 1990s in Kashmir. As of 1989, Pakistan funded the terrorists to do this. Sixty thousand people died. Kashmiri Hindus fled in droves to India. But they yearn for Kashmir and for Kashmir’s holy temples, many of which have been turned into mosques and masjids.

 When one tries to talk about Islamic religious and gender apartheid or about Islamic terrorism, one is immediately demonized as an “Islamophobe” and a “racist.” One loses one’s reputation as a “good” person. One also loses one’s friends and employment possibilities.

This has just happened to one of India’s true heroes, Dr. Subramanian Swamy at Harvard University. I have recently written about this and will say a few words about this travesty shortly. Today, a person may find herself on trial for committing the crime of “hate speech” by telling the truth about certain Islamic practices. This is happening all over Europe. One is censored. One begins to censor oneself. Cartoons that offend, criticism, however accurate, that offends…Muslim fundamentalists and their western supporters, are simply not published.

The speech, the illustration, is seen as the “provocation.” The violent response is overlooked. Let me be clear. Not all Muslims are terrorists. But today, most terrorists are Muslims. Many Muslims wish to live in peace, yearn for peace. And yet, they do not risk standing up to their Islamist leaders. Those who do are in prison or have already been tortured or murdered.

But let the facts be known. Eighty million Hindus were slaughtered by Muslims in only five centuries. Hindu Temples became mosques and masjids. Even today, Muslims are entering India illegally and carrying along with them both criminals and terrorists.

The Indian government, including the police, is afraid to stop them. The Indian government certainly does not want to fight Muslims and Islamists and terrorists for the sake of Kashmir. They are allowing these illegal immigrants to kidnap, rape, forcibly convert and marry Hindu girls to Muslims. They are also allowing illegal takeovers of land.

Jews—my people—were also persecuted and genocidally exterminated. We lived in exile, mainly suffering, sometimes flourishing, never giving up our longing for the Holy Land. Through religious practices, prayer, and culture, we found the strength to return again and again to our homeland, our roots. We now have the only Jewish state in the world: Israel.

The Muslim Middle East cannot abide an independent Jewish presence, however small, in its midst. Israel has been at war, militarily since its birth in 1948. It is still under existential siege. It is scapegoated for the sins and crimes of the Arab and Muslim aggressors—who are seen as “victims,” noble, pure, innocent.

 Kashmiri Hindus are not welcome in Kashmir, their legendary birthplace. The numbers of Kashmiri Hindus who are willing to live there under dangerous conditions, has dangerously dwindled. Barbarian Islamists have committed atrocities. The United Nations has not weighed in against this. It is a useless organization of tyrannies. Kashmir is the symbol of Muslim genocide and Muslim imperialism.

That is why Dr. Swamy has called for the Indian government to revoke Article #370. It represents a policy of appeasement towards Muslim Pakistan at the time of partition Memories linger, fester. There is no one who is willing to stand up to Islamic aggression on behalf of Hindus who have the same right to live in Kashmir as Muslims may have.

 Dr. Swamy has pointed out the numerous and egregious crimes committed by Muslim fundamentalists in India: terrorism, kidnapping, religious and gender apartheid, colonialism, imperialism, barbarism. Identifying and stating the problem is the first necessary and courageous step in this battle for human justice. We need to retain and develop a collective mindset to stand against the terrible and increasing threat of Islamic terrorism.

 As you may know, the dismissed professor—the shame is entirely Harvard’s to bear—I am talking about Dr. Swamy, is also something of a swashbuckling hero. In 1976, Dr. Swamy exposed and challenged corruption in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s “emergency authoritarian” rule in India and had to flee the country twice as a result. However, due to his campaign Gandhi allowed long overdue elections. In 1972, Swamy lost his professorship at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, due to his crusade for both academic freedom and for the union rights of non-teaching Institute employees. After twenty years of litigation, the courts reinstated Swamy with full honors.In 1987, Dr. Swamy undertook a fast unto death to demand an inquiry into the illegal killing of Muslim youth by the police in Hashimpura, Meerut. The government finally yielded to his demand for which Swamy was hailed by India’s minorities.

I am especially glad that Dr. Swamy initiated a normalization of relations between India and Israel. This is an important alliance for many reasons.

I am reminded of a quote by Mahatma Gandhi: “One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.” Similarly, Ben-Gurion said: “Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.”

Revealed:How ‘ISI spy’ Fai pushed anti-India agenda in US December 8, 2011

In the first such known case in United States’s history, an American citizen — Srinagar-born, Kashmiri separatist leader Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai — has admitted that he acted as an operative of the Inter Services Intelligence.

Fai, 62, admitted to acting on the Pakistani spy agency’s specific instructions and funneling thousands of dollars to try and influence US policy — particularly through illegal lobbying in the US Congress — towards Kashmir. He simultaneously urged US lawmakers, who were the beneficiaries of these contributions, to malign India for its alleged draconian policies in the Valley.
 
Fai was undisputedly one of the most influential Kashmiri Americans in the country. He was the founder and the executive director of the Kashmiri American Council, headquartered in Washington, DC, that espoused independence for Jammu and Kashmir.

Fai pleaded guilty Wednesday in the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia to one count of conspiracy of receiving at least $3.5 million from the ISI between 1990 and 2011 and to one count of impeding the Internal Revenue Service to collect revenues of $200,000 to $400,000.
 
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Fai admitted that he would submit his strategy plans and budgets to his ISI supervisors, specifically to a point man named Javeed Aziz Khan, who also was known as ‘Brigadier Abdullah’. Khan would then review these plans, revealed Fai, and send back suggested topics to be used at the Capitol Hill conferences the KAC would host to secure Congressional support to influence administration policy toward independence for Kashmir.
 
Following Fai’s arrest on July 19, after which he was put under house arrest in his Fairfax, VA home in the suburbs of DC, his defence team initially claimed that he was not an agent of the ISI and all the lobbying he did as the head of the KAC was his own. They claimed that the funds received by the KAC were from donors who were Kashmiri Americans and supporters of the separatist cause.

But, facing an iron-clad case, which the prosecutors presented with ample evidence of funds received for his illegal lobbying from the ISI and the unraveling of the network of straw donors through which this money was funneled, his defence team saw the writing on the wall and agreed to a guilty plea agreement. This could necessarily lead to a lighter sentence on March 9, where the judge is expected to also take his ill-health into consideration. Two years ago, Fai had suffered a serious stroke.
 
Law enforcement sources told rediff.com that if Fai had not entered into a plea agreement and the case had gone to trial, the prosecution with its iron-clad evidence and several affidavits by witnesses could have asked for a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
 
The sources said it is likely that Fai, now free on bond, would now get off with a considerably lighter sentence. He may be put under a kind of house arrest in a half-way house with a couple of years probation time.
 
When Fai was arrested in July, Zaheer Ahmad, 63, a US citizen and resident of Pakistan, was charged along with him.
 
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which arrested Fai when he returned from one of his many overseas trips, said in an affidavit that he received approximately $500,000 to $700,000 per year from the government of Pakistan.
 
As part of the plea agreement, where he pleaded guilty, he admitted to only a generic count of conspiracy and impeding the revenue collection of the IRS, but there was no mention of the violation of Foreign Agents Registration Act.
 
Fai’s attorney Nina Ginsberg argued that all the lobbying Fai did was of his own volition and not under the specific instructions of the ISI.
 
She also issued a statement by Fai after his guilty plea sating that “the Kashmiri American Council and I have always tried to represent the sentiments of the people of Kashmir, irrespective of the religious background and cultural affiliations.”
 
The KAC also issued a statement welcoming the court’s decision to not prosecute Fai for the violation of FARA and maintaining that it was independent of the ISI. It also pointed out that the KAC had issued op-ed articles that had strongly criticised Pakistan’s policies on Kashmir as much as it did India’s.

But US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride, dismissing these arguments, said that it was a no-brainer that Fai was “a paid operative” of the ISI and that his links to the ISI were extensive.
 
“For the last 20 years,” he asserted, “Mr Fai secretly took millions of dollars from Pakistani intelligence and lied about it to the US government.”
 
McBride said, “As a paid operative of ISI, he did the bidding of his handlers in Pakistan while he met with US elected officials, funded high-profile conferences, and promoted the Kahsmiri cause to decision-makers in Washington.”
 
Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco, echoing McBride’s sentiments, said, “Syed Fai admitted his role in a decades-long scheme to conceal the fact that the government of Pakistan was secretly funding his efforts to influence US policy on Kashmir.”
 
Earlier, McBride had said that Fai’s decades-long scheme had only “one purpose — to hide Pakistan’s involvement behind his efforts to influence the US government’s position on Kashmir.”
 
The KAC, established in 1990, regularly held press briefings at the National Press Club and hosted conferences, including a major annual conference on Capitol Hill, which was attended by influential US lawmakers, including members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee like Congressman Dan Burton, Indiana Republican and a longtime bete noire of New Delhi, Congressman Joe Pitts, Pennsylvania Republican and Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat who would bemoan the situation in the Valley and the human rights abuses perpetrated by Indian security forces and paramilitary groups.
 
These conferences would also always be attended by the Pakistan ambassador to the US, and senior Pakistan government officials as well as legislators. Till he was fired a month ago for his role in the Memogate issue, Pakistani ambassador Husain Haqqani was  a conspicuous presence at Fai’s Capitol Hill conferences, as were earlier ambassadors like Maleeha Lodhi.
 
These conferences have also been able to draw some leading South Asian experts and former diplomats like Howard Schaffer, a 36-year veteran of the US Foreign Service and the author of the recently published seminal book on American diplomacy and intervention in Kashmir, The Limits of Influence: America’s Role in Kashmir, published by the Brookings Institution.
 
Fai has also, over the years, hosted some Indian journalists and Indian American academics.
 
Indian embassy officials, including the Indian Ambassador to the US, have also over the years been religiously invited by Fai to attend and speak at these annual conferences. But as far as this correspondent can remember, not a single embassy official has attended these conferences, let alone speak at these two-day parleys.

These Capitol Hill conferences have almost always been attended by the prime minister and former prime ministers and senior officials of Pakistani Occupied Kashmir.

Whenever Kashmiri leaders like Mirwaiz Farooq, former Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik or others from the Hurriyat Conference visit Washington, they usually stay with Fai at his Fairfax home. He arranges meetings between them and  US lawmakers, administration officials and organises seminars and forums for them at Washington, DC think-tanks.
 
Fai also constantly traveled around the world, delivering speeches, and regularly visited Vienna and Geneva to appear before the UN Human Rights Council to make a case on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the constant violation of their human and civil rights by the government and the troops in the Valley. Over the years, he has also been a regular speaker at universities and colleges across the US.
 
The government’s affidavit submitted with Fai’s arrest in July alleged that although the KAC held itself out to be a Kashmiri organisation run by Kashmiris and financed by Americans, the KAC is one of three “Kashmir Centres” that are actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including the ISI. The two other Kashmir Centres are in London and Brussels.

According to the affidavit, a confidential witness told investigators that he participated in a scheme to obscure the origin of money transferred by Pakistan’s ISI to Fai for his work as a lobbyist for the KAC in furtherance of Pakistani government interests.  The witness explained that the money was transferred to Fai through Ahmad, an American living in Pakistan. 

A second confidential witness told investigators that the ISI created the KAC to propagandise on behalf of the government of Pakistan with the goal of uniting Kashmir.  This witness said ISI’s sponsorship and control of KAC was a secret and that ISI had been directing Fai’s activities for the past 25 years.
 
When questioned by the FBI about these relationships in March 2007, Fai allegedly stated that he had never met anyone who identified himself as being affiliated with the ISI. 

In March 2010, the Justice Department sent Fai a letter notifying him of his possible obligation to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department.  In his written response to the Justice Department, Fai asserted that neither he nor KAC had ever engaged in any activities for or provided any services to Pakistan or any foreign entity.  In a March 2011 interview with the FBI, Fai again denied having any relationship with anyone in the Pakistani government.
The affidavit alleges that Fai has acted at the direction of and with the financial support of the Pakistani government for more than 20 years. The affidavit alleges that four Pakistani government handlers have directed Fai’s US activities and he has been in touch with his handlers more than 4,000 times since June 2008.  Fai’s handlers have also allegedly communicated with Ahmad regularly.
 
For example, the affidavit alleges that Fai repeatedly submitted annual KAC strategy reports and budgetary requirements to his Pakistani government handlers for approval.

One document entitled “Plan of Action of KAC / Kashmir Centre for Fiscal Year 2009″ laid out Fai’s intended strategy to secure US Congressional support in order to encourage the executive branch to support self-determination in Kashmir; his strategy to build new alliances in the State Department, the National Security Council, the Congress and the Pentagon, and to expand KAC’s media efforts.
 
According to the affidavit, Fai also set forth KAC’s projected budgetary requirements from the Pakistani government for 2009, including $100,000 for contributions to members of Congress. There is no evidence that any elected official who received financial contributions from Fai or the KAC was aware that the money originated from any part of the Pakistani government.
 
The affidavit further said that Fai and the KAC have received at least $4 million from the Pakistani government since the mid-1990s through Ahmad and his funding network.  The money is allegedly routed to Fai through Ahmad and a network of other individuals connected to Ahmad. Ahmad allegedly arranges for his contacts in the United States to provide money to Fai in return for repayment of those amounts in Pakistan.

 When Fai was arrested, Schaffer told rediff.com, “If the Inter-Services Directorate or some other organ of the Pakistan government has been footing the Kashmir American Council’s bills,  as seems so obvious, it is hard to conclude that they have been getting their money’s worth.”

Schaffer, who was the lead panelist on the session on India-Pakistan Relations: Breaking the Deadlock over Kashmir at the last International Kashmir Peace Conference in August 2010 on Capitol Hill, said, “For all its efforts, the council’s lobbying has had minimal success in persuading the Clinton, George W Bush, and Obama administrations to change their basically hands-off diplomacy on the Kashmir dispute.”

However, Schaffer said, “It is regrettable that the charges against Fai have been raised at a point when US-Pakistan relations face a host of problems far more consequential than alleged wrongdoings by Pakistan’s lobbyists in Washington.”

He recalled that at these Capitol Hill conferences, “Members of Congress play bit-parts. Some of them, such as Representative Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, are familiar with the Kashmir issue, or at least Pakistan’s interpretation of it, and apparently feel strongly about it. But many others appear to have come to the sessions with scant awareness of the nature of the dispute. They customarily appear briefly, read prepared scripts, and hastily depart.”

At the annual Capitol Hill Conference on August 10, Pitts called on President Barack Obama to keep his campaign pledge to help resolve this dispute between India and Pakistan.

Pitts recalled that “during his campaign, President Obama suggested that the US should help resolve the Kashmir crisis. I heard one suggestion that they have a special envoy for Kashmir. And we need to develop that kind of expertise in our own government — in our own State Department. I wholeheartedly agree and hope this administration will engage productively on this critical issue.”
 
At the same conference, Pitts recalled his several visits to Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir and Pakistan and said he had founded the Kashmir Forum “and we support the idea of self-determination for the people in the area.”
 
Both Burton and Pitts later claimed that they had absolutely no idea that the funds they received from Fai were sent by the ISI.
 
Subsequently, they said they had donated these funds to charities, including the Boy Scouts of America.
 
Burton told the New York Times that he was “deeply shocked” because he had known Fai for 20 years and “in that time I had no inkling of his involvement with any foreign intelligence operation and had presumed our correspondence was legitimate.”

Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-how-isi-spy-fai-pushed-anti-india-agenda-in-us/20111208.htm

AFSPA-should it be repealed from Kashmir? November 7, 2011

The present

AFSPA is in the center of limelight for good or bad reasons, some say it should be removed immediately while security experts say that time is not right for the removal of this act in J&k. Mr. Omar Abdullah had hinted  that AFSPA will be removed, Some days later Dr.Mustafa Kamal who is also the uncle of Chief Minister  and leader of  National Conference(NC) circumlocutory indicated the same thing and  alleged that Army was responsible for the grenade attacks in Srinagar so that AFSPA should remain intact . His statement was snubbed by his Brother DR faroq Abdullah and termed it  out of line from NC policy, later on Dr. Mustafa Kamala retracted his statement.

The opposition party PDP also vehemently voiced their opinion on removal of ASFPA, knowing  well that it won’t be removed in the present circumstances, but nonetheless they knew that this outcry will surely garner some more sympathy and probably more votes in next elections.

Looking at the past 1989-90

In Dec 1989, Suddenly it looked as if every teenager Muslim was either going to Pakistan for arms Training  or has already come from Pakistan after the training,  It was promised to them by Pakistan’s ISI  that they will attack India once these armed insurgents attack the politicians, Kashmiri Pandits, Government establishments and officers. In jan 1990 a Doordarshan news revealed that 10,000 militants are active in the Valley to carry out the orders of their masters from Paksitan.

Then Chief Minister Dr. Faroq Abdullah, failed to give any security to anyone whether the politicians, Government officials or Kashmiri Pandits and finally he was removed from his responsibilities on  jan 1990 and Mr. Jagmohan became the new governor of J&k. Incidentally  the major exodus of Kashmiri Pandits also happened on 19 jan-20jan 1990.So no question of Jagmohan being responsible for exodus of Pandits.

Dr. Faroq Abdullah spent major part of his time outside Kashmir from 1990-95, when Kalashankov(AK-47) had become the symbol of Kashmir, Fashion and Its culture, mind you AK-47’s don’t fire Roses but Bullets designed to kill Humans.

The PDP Patron Mr. Mufti mohammed sayed was the home minister back in 1989-90,He is equally responsible for the Kashmir imbroglio. It was during his period that militancy reached a cult status, his dereliction made him  that  fiasco which India will remember for a long time..

Afganistan-pakistan

Then(80’S-90’S)- Pakistan with the support of U.S.A was assisting the Islamic militants in Afganistan against Russia.Zia-ul-Haq had Islamized Pakistan under his  decade old regime, The Frankenstein of Islamic extremism was created by The dictator with the help of ISI.

The soviets withdrew from Afganistan in 1989 leaving the armed Jihadis without job. Pakistan  started exporting these Jihadis to Kashmir as a part of low cost warfare with India.Many Army personnel lost their lives while fighting these merceneries.

Now(1996-2011)

The frankestien created by Zia-ul-haq  has become the greatest threat to the existence of Pakistan.The Baluchis are detesting every move of Pakistani Government , the residents of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir are also resisting Pakistans’s plan to change the ethnic population for long now .In Karachi  sectarian violence is all time high  and  The economy of Pakistan is in a cauldron.This precarious situation of Pakistan can be compared to that of Afganistan in 1980’s and 90’s.

It is most likely that Pakistan will push some more jihadi elements into Kashmir in the present future.

Pakistan China Connection

Pakistan and China are still a big threat to India both externally and internally. It is not a co-incidence that Maoists are coming closer to Jihadis of Kashmir as both aim at destabilising India.It is a well known fact that China gives financial aid to the Maoists of India, Today the Maoists have become a existential threat to India. in some pockets of Chattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkahnd, they are known to use terror tactics and death sentence for those who don’t adhere to their gag orders.

Pakistan on the other hand is also trying  best to use the sentiments of the Muslims in India for its vested interests. So far they have been successful in Kashmir valley and met with some success in Kerala, Maharashtra and Hyderabad. The Madrassa of India unfortunately are palying in the hands of Pakistan and saudi arabia-Madrassas biggest donor’s

In Kashmir, the sousl of Kashmiriyat – Rishi and sufi tradition were mauled by the Saudi funded Wahabis, who have given large sums of donations to the madrassas of Kashmir and are  responsible for the extremist mindset such as that of syed ali shah geelani, who has openly criticized sufis of Kashmir.

China has already taken a large part of Kashmir in ladakh,every now and then we hear from the news channels of Chinese aggression on India-China border. India needs large number of troops to be posted in J&k in order to safeguard our International Borders and also a stand by in case of immediate emergency.Kashmir serves the purpose of that stand-by.

J&K Police(1989-2011)

Back in 1989 and throughout the nineties, the pusillanimous attitude of J&K became evident, In late 89 and early 90’s many policemen turned blind eye on the crimes committed by the militants. The role of the police was almost zero and they did not dare to apprehend any terrorist although they knew everything about them. This attitude was not wrong  as they knew that nobody will come to their rescue .Anyways they paid for being a “policeman” as they were the “pariah’s” of the 90′s in Kashmir..                                                                                                      

The situation has improved a lot since 1996, they have done a good job in the 2008 as well as 2010 agitations as people don’t support the terrorism like they did in early 90’s.Having said that, they won’t be a match to the Pakistan sponsored muslim mercenaries if Pakistan decides to re-create the situation that was prevalent in 90’s of Kashmir.

 

Role of Indian Armed forces in countering terrorism(1989-2011)

 The Indian Army enforced law and order at the time(1990) when there are total anarchy and the rule of terrorism and mobocracy. The local police at that time proved to be total failure. Many government buildings, schools, bridges were burnt down by the new zealots/terrorists, properties of Kashmiri pundits were plundered and burnt down by these gun flaunting extremists ,Girls and women were raped and there was no one to challenge them except the Indian Armed forces who fought them tooth and nail and brought back Kashmir to normalcy. It was the AFSPA that helped the armed forces to counter the Pakistan sponsored terrorism. Even today Kashmir is not totally free from terrorists as still officially hundreds of terrorists are active in the valley, unofficially the figures will run in thousands if we consider those also who are hibernating in sleeper cells.

 

THE PRESENT AGAIN(KP’s VIEW)

Kashmir has somehow left the past and has emerged into a new era but its past will haunt it for a long time.4 lakh kashmiri pundits were forced to leave their hearth and homes in the middle of night to save their lives and honor, For many years this beleaguered community lived in tattered tents and in penury, but as born survivors bounced back and today with their hard work they are among one  of the most educated community in India and many of them are working in India and abroad at high positions. Still many of the KP’s would love to come back to their motherland .

“Kashmir will not be same unless Kashmiri Pandits come back to Kashmir” has been said by many Muslims in the past including some of the separatists leaders, but even today time is not ripe for the return of the Kashmiri Pandits, still their biggest threat remains-security

 

CONCLUSION

It is eventually the army who has to decide when to quit from the valley of Kashmir. They have already  reduced their numbers in the valley, they can not depend upon the state leadership as the state governments will try to politicize everything in order to be in power. The Two patrons of main political parties of Kashmir in 1989-90 deserted Kashmir and left it in a lurch, there is no reason that they will not do it again in case AFSPA is repealed and Pakistan pursues the same old policy…

AFSPA should stay for the time being…..

open letter to Anna hazareji/India against corruption October 15, 2011

To

                                                        Sh. Anna Hazareji/India against corruption

                                                       

 

 

Respected Shri Annaji,

Pranaam!

My name is Sandeep koul and I am internally displaced person/Refugee from Kashmir .

 

Sir,Day before yesterday when I switched on the T.V, I was surprised to see Mr. Prashant Bhushan being slapped by young Inder verma, Though I don’t support any form of violence, at the same time one cannot condone the  anti-national statement of Mr Bhushan. I was surprised even more when they showed the pictures of other two accused-Tejinder pal singh Bagga and Vishnu Gupta, surprised because I can recall vividly meeting Tejinder at jantar mantar, when you were on fast ,so that Lokpal could be tabled in next session.He was there managing the long queues along with other volunteers. Prashant Bhushan’s statement offended them so much that they took law in their own hands, which was off course wrong, But don’t we eulogise Chander shekhar and Bhagat singh, even though they choose different path than Gandhiji, for the same goal.

I was present when you-Annaji- were Fasting at Janatar Mantar,  I also fasted  that day as a mark of solidarity with you Sh. Annaji.I could not attend at Ramlila, But I did pray to God for the success of anti-corruption movement, I also prayed to God for your good health  and all those who fasted with You.I participated in the solidarity marches as well as candle light processions with my neighbors. I bursted crackers when You proved Your mettle again. I also went to Medanta city hospital where you was recuperating. Since then I started to keep a photo  of you in my wallet and admired it whenever I opened my Purse. When people compared You to Mahatma Gandhi, I used to feel that you deserves that epithet.

 

Like many, I was feeling that a new dawn will make India emerge stronger and more prosperous, But the gods above had different plan. My dreams were shattered when I heard the Team Anna’s Prashant Bhushan openly advocating plebiscite on Kashmir. It was as if I have been stabbed on my back by my loved one, I could not sleep whole night as I was haunted by the memories of my childhood which I spent in Kashmir, Suddenly I could hear those clarion calls for killing of my brethren in the name of jihad, The cacophony of loudspeakers from the nearby mosque of my locality kept ringing in my ears wherein  the Mullahs termed my community of Kashmiri Pandits as traitors, the strident noise of stones falling on the roof top made of tin sheets, that  shriller could pierce anyone’s heart and make even the strong shudder with fear. Those unpleasent reminiscences were re-created by the statement of Prashant Bhushan-Noted lawyer of India.

I felt I have been wronged and cheated yet again!

 

But There are some questions which  needs a answer and Justification from those whom I trusted-Team Anna.

 

sir,as we Know ,Last two days have put Kashmir back to the center stage, this time though from someone whom the Nation considered to be a torch bearer of new-renaissance-Mr Prashant Bhushan-core team member of Team Anna. While you are trying to re-unite the whole nation , your colleague is trying to break our nation by his blatant utterances on Kashmir. Mr. Prashant Bhushan’s  obnoxious  statement on Kashmir  is what Pakistan and its stooges -the separatists of Kashmir-have been advocating since last many decades.

 

Is the responsibility of plebiscite only India’s obligation? How can we forget the other half of Kashmir  which is illegally occupied by Pakistan since last may decades! Isn’t Mr. Bhushan aware of the fact that Pakistan has changed the whole demography in P.O.K on the same lines as China has done in Tibet! How can Mr. Bhushan forget  Pakistan’s obsequiousness to China, by illegally  gifting Aksai chin, which is a part of unified Jammu and Kashmir. Doesn’t  India give people of J&k right to  participate in referendum  every five years in the form of General elections!

Pakistan has changed all the equations which existed in 1947,  it has also tactfully used the religious sentiments of majority community in Kashmir to alienate them from India, thus making it a definite possibility that in case of Plebiscite, Kashmir accedes to Pakistan.

 

The results of Plebiscite in Kashmir will be detrimental to people of India and I fear that if it happens ever, India will witness probably the worst carnage, and I fear  most of the minorities will be at receiving end. We have already seen the India-Pakistan Partition wherein it is estimated that at least a million people lost their lives. Are we preparing ground for another holocaust by  advocating  Plebiscite on Kashmir!

 

What about the families of all the Martyr’s of India who gallantly fought the wars with Pakistan in 1947,1965,1971 and 1999.They must have been filled with chagrin by the statement of Mr. Bhushan. Had Mr. Bhushan, not been associated with Anti-Corruption Movement, His statement would  have hardly raised so many eye brows,It seems Mr Bhusham has forgotten the fact that that with the anti-corruption movement spear headed by you, His stature has also grown mammothly, his statement on anything will be seen as the statement of his whole group, hence he should have been more careful .

Adding fuel to the fire, he still stands on his stance on plebiscite on Kashmir thereby putting a big question mark on his Patriotism and also the group which he represents. The other members of the group –,Mr Arvind Kejriwal and Mr Kumar Vishwas have clarified their stand on Kashmir and termed it as an integral part of India with you-Annaji- saying that “ Kashmir was a part of India,is a part of India and will remain so”..

 

The Question arises “ If other members of team Anna feel so strongly about Kashmir, why haven’t  you and your team ousted Mr Bhushan from your team?” From my point of view any remark on anti-corruption or patriotism by team Anna will be an unctuous statement till Mr Bhushan remains a part of the core team. we, the people of India will have to prioritize our issues between anti-corruption and National integrity, we can fight corruption only when we remain together as a Nation, Otherwise we can keep on fighting corruption and in this process we may have to wash our hands from North-East, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maoists infested states of orirsa, chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar and Many more and not just Kashmir…

 

Best regards

Sandeep koul

date-15-10-2011

 

omar,Anna Hazare and KP’s September 1, 2011

Anna Hazare did it again! Once again he was able to galvanize people from all walks of life, he was able to merge their voices into one voice-voice of India- His non-voilent way of protesting against Sarkari Lok pal Bill proved to be too much for the Government and the “sarkar” yielded to the sentiments of the People .As Anna Said,”This is not the full victory but Half victory”, full victory will only be achieved once the government clears the bill proposed by the civil society or should I say “Anna Hazare”. For two weeks people from all walks of life supported Anna, I saw common man coming to streets in villages, towns as well as in cities, The “anna Effect” was seen everywhere, with many scholars terming this movement as an epoch for young India. It was a very disciplined movement and everyone irrespective of their caste, creed or religion participated, no one was disparaged at least on the basis of their caste or religion.

Not too far away in Kashmir, politicians and religious leaders were keeping an watch on this whole movement and thinking hard to use the present “Anna Effect” for their use. Chief minister of J&k  tweeted on Anna in a very diplomatic way, But things changed a bit when High court of Tamil Nadu stayed the execution of three convicts  for killing late Mr. Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991.Mr. Omar Abdullah tweeted “If J&K Assembly had passed a resolution similar to the Tamil Nadu one for Afzal Guru would the reaction have been as muted? I think not,” There was lot of hue and cry especially from BJP, Who have strongly advocated that the death sentence of Afzal guru should be carried out as soon as possible.

Afzal Guru was incriminated in Parliament attack ( 2001) and was sentenced to death by both high court as well as supreme court of India. The majority of Kashmiri muslims have a soft corner for Afzal Guru and his execution or saving his life will have a huge effect on the vote bank of Jammu and Kashmir. The question remains “ will Afzal Guru be hanged? Ever?”.I think “NO”….Never, Not even if BJP comes to power.

Afzal guru is a “hot potato” and no politician will open this Pandora box. During last 9-10 years he has become a hot political point both with the ruling party as well as the opposition. The ruling party seems to have given a tacit approval for delaying his death sentence whereas the opposition have raised his issue several times vociferously.

Another Omar- the Maulvi, in the eid celebration gathering has emphatically urged “Anna” to lend his support for the alleged “mass graves” of Kashmir.!Is it possible that behind the curtains, Arundhati roy may have played the role of pedagogue to sepratist think tank and thus  the  political appeal to Anna Hazare by Maulvi Omar!It is a known fact that she supports the separatist movement of Kashmir . She has not digested the huge following of masses for Anna  and  thus alleged that Anna movement was run by the RSS and the media. God save the world from megalomaniacs!!!  the role of another “judas” Swami Agnivesh(fraud swamy) also can not be ruled out in this whole episode ,as he is also a known supporter of the Kashmiri separatists .I have heard the he has slipped quietly into “vipassana ” , well,it may be an excuse after all that happened which exposed him as a “black sheep”, good for him to introspect…

Are there any mass graves in Kashmir? I don’t know but if there are any such graves, it should come in the notice of general public. Let truth prevail. …..by the way,Some of the leaders like Sajjad lone, and Maulvi Omar faroq have in the past directly or indirectly accused the separatists for killing their Father while as Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat accused the separists of killing his Brother.What keeps these bigot leaders away from raising their voices and getting justice from the law, when they know who killed their father and brother! Has the prospect of coming to power politically, choked their voice of truth and their conscience..

The forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their motherland by these separatist leaders is a stark reality for me, I was a witness to one of the most shameful acts by these demagogues. The house where I was born , the house where I spent my childhood, That house was snatched from me .Those temples where I  genuflected and prayed to god are in ruins now, the schools run by Pandits were burnt by these so called freedom fighters, But no body stood by me because I was a Kashmiri Pandit.

The initial years after I became a refugee in my own country, were worse, I was a witness to the misery of my brethren, I was a witness to the old generation’s yearn to see their motherland at least once, I was a witness to Shame on being a Kashmiri Pandit,I was the witness of that frustration and helplessness of the youth,I was also the witness of Government apathy towards my community for leaving away Kashmir and not saying “Pakistan Zindabad”

Now after more than 21 years in exile, Kashmiri Pandit has learned to live without physically being in Kashmir, But that does not mean they have altogether forgotten Kashmir,  the return may take another deacde or even decades , but the terms and conditions for return will be my own .By given jobs to Kashmiri Pandits the government of J&k is  confusing the government at the center ,as this will not facilitate their permanent return to Kashmir.The government at the state and the centre need to retrace that path through which a KP fled Kashmir. It should be noted that not a single Kp left Kashmir because of lack of government jobs for them, The mass exodus of Pandits had nothing to do with jobs, Their exodus was the result of Target killing of Pandits by the so called Islami Jihadis ,and JKLF tops the list of that terrorist organization which hunted down the pundits for the sheer pleasure. Give Kashmiri pundits Justice first!

Call to  “Anna” ,by the anti-India separatist  leader,  to unearth the so called mass graves in Kashmir is a way to grab the attention of the nation as well as media.some of these so called leaders even claimed that two lakh kashmiri people got killed, and others exaggerated on the number of women raped by the armed forces,But these separatists have alwaysremained mute spectators, when  people were killed by militants or when women were raped by militants.This cunning duplicity is a blot on the character of these so called leaders, in fact calling such people leaders is  a misnomer.These people who yearn and live to see the Balkanisation of India need to introspect -especially those who are responsible for the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.Let them first muster the courage to fight against their own who are responsible for the death of their kith and Kin….

but above all let truth prevail…..

Kashmir resolution introduced in the House of Representatives August 4, 2011

pasted below the Kashmir resolution introduced in the house of representatives by Frank Pallone….

HRES 387 IH 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 387 Recognizing that the religious freedom and human rights violations of Kashmiri Pandits has been ongoing since 1989. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 1, 2011 RESOLUTION Recognizing that the religious freedom and human rights violations of Kashmiri Pandits has been ongoing since 1989. Whereas Jammu and Kashmir has an ancient culture of religious tolerance and pluralism, where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Christians practiced their faith freely in an atmosphere of mutual respect and peace until 1989; Whereas Kashmiri Pandits are the original inhabitants of Kashmir, tracing their heritage and culture back several millennia; Whereas Kashmiri Pandits have been the victims of documented human rights violations resulting in the severe curtailment of their religious freedom for more than two decades; Whereas the Kashmiri Pandit population has declined from 400,000 in 1989 to a current level of less than 4,000 in the Kashmir valley and many Pandits continue to live in refugee camps; Whereas international human rights organizations have noted the campaign of intimidation and violence directed by foreign militants and foreign terrorist organizations against Kashmiri Pandits; Whereas thousands of Kashmiri Pandits, elected officials, and military personnel have been killed in terrorist attacks; and Whereas numerous groups that have claimed responsibility for these attacks have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States Department of State: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives– (1) condemns the extremist violence, lack of religious freedom, and human rights violations committed against Kashmiri Pandits, which they have endured for more than two decades; and (2) insists that terrorist infrastructure in the region must be dismantled and terrorists should be held accountable for their actions.

source:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.RES.387:

Islamization of Kashmir through Media Manipulation July 21, 2011

 On August 15, 2008, on India’s Independence Day, Kashmir valley witnessed an unprecedented event as Pakistani flag was hoisted in Lal Chowk in the heart of Srinagar while Indian security forces stood by as moot and passive spectators. Following this, on August 18, 2008, separatists organized a huge rally attended by over 100,000 Kashmiri Muslims denouncingIndiaand demanding Azadi and the imposition of Islamic rule inKashmir. The demonstration was led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani an ex-government school teacher and Congress supported former Member of J&K Legislative Assembly. He was accompanied by other Kashmiri Muslim leaders such as Mirwaiz Omar a religious leader, former terrorists Shabir Shah, Yasin Malik and invited guests such as leftist writer Arundhati Roy and other fellow travelers for maximum propaganda effect.

 

According to press reports (Guardian 8/22/08) “there were green flags on every lamp post, every roof, every bus stop, and on the roof of chinar trees. A big one fluttered outside the All India Radio building. Roadsides were painterd over.Rawalpindithey said or simplyPakistan”

 

Everywhere there were Pakistani flags, everywhere the cryPakistanse rishta kya? La illah illah (What is our bond withPakistan? There is no God but Allah.) Azadi ka matlab kya? La illah illah (What does freedom mean? There is no god but Allah). The crowd chanted “crushIndia”, “When Lashkar comesIndiawill be defeated”, “Kashmirki Mandi-Rawalpindi”.

 

Syed Ali Shah Geelani a leader of Pro-Pakistani faction of Hurriyet began his address with a recitation of Qur’an told the crowd that the only way for the struggle to succeed was to turn to Quran for guidance. He said “Pakistanwas created for Islam and must continue to safe guard interests of Islam. Likewise inKashmirnationalism will not work, the American world order will not work, only Islam unites us……….”

 

In an interview (Rediff.com) with Asha Khosa on August 25, 2008, Mr. Geelani expounded on his plans forKashmir. He said “I have a three point target, first to impose Islamic Nizam (jurisprudence) inKashmir. Islam should govern our political thought, socio economic plans, culture and the ongoing movement. The creed of socialism and secularism should not touch our lives and we must totally be governed by Koran and Sunnat (precedents from Prophet Muhammad’s life)”.

 

Watching this scenario unfold in theKashmirValleymust give the rulers inPakistan, the Pakistani Army and ISI great satisfaction. Having failed to annex Kashmir by force in 1947, 1965 and 1971 wars withIndia,Pakistanwas finally achieving Islamization of Kashmir through subversion, intrigue, media manipulation and terrorism.

 

ISLAMIZING KASHMIR VALLEY

 

To achieve the goal of Islamization, Pakistan ISI had been working hard for over 30 years to change the centuries old Kashmiri Muslim outlook of secularism and Kashmiriyet to the ideology of fundamentalist Islam. This was done by implanting seeds of subversion and terrorism in two stages:

 

Stage I began in 1965, with operation “Gibraltar” with heavy infiltration of Pakistani nationals as well as  military training of Kashmiri Muslim youth. These youths were recruited by Jamaat-i-Islami a theo –fascist outfit with connections to Rabita-ul-Islam the international headquarters of the Islamic fundamentalist movement based in Saudi Arabiaand Pakistani Jamat-i-Islami. This organization developed an elaborate infrastructure for propagating Wahabi style Islamic ideology through mosques, study groups and schools in Kashmiri towns and villages with the connivance of civil adminstartion funded by Indian tax payers. Study circles received money directly from Arab countries through the medium of Muslim Welfare Society, ostensibly for promoting Islamic culture. In mid seventies these Study Circles started operating openly in colleges and universities as well as in Government offices. Moulvis were recruited from UP and Bihar in Indiato whip up communal and secessionist passions. These Moulvis have played a critical role in subverting the Kashmiri Sufi-Islamic tradition and whip up passions against secular and liberal Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims. To expand its influence among women Shoba-i-Khowateen was launched. It advocates strict observance of Islamic codes for women. Its impact began to be noticed when Kashmiri women who for centuries never accepted veil now were using Arab style Burqa. Many members of this organization formed Dukhtarain-i-Millat with the goal of supporting Islamic terrorists by engaging in intelligence gathering, ferrying arms, keeping under custody the kidnapped victims as well as raking up false stories of human rights abuse and accuse Indian security forces of committing rapes in order to gain international media attention. Stage I produced Kashmiri leaders such as Yasin Malik of JKLF, Syed Ali Shah Geelani of Jamat, Dr. Ayub Thukar of World Kashmiri Movement, Ghulam Nabi Fai of Kashmir American Council as well as Syed Sallahudin of Hizbul Mujahdeen based in Pakistan. These people have been at the forefront of media manipulation to denigrate India and present Islamic movement in Kashmir as a movement for liberation and freedom to hoodwink Indian and foreign Journalists, Academics and Politicians.

 

 Stage II of Pakistani subversion and terrorism began with operation “TOPAC” in late 70’s after the defeat of Pakistan in 1971 war with India. It was designed as part of a proxy war byPakistanagainstIndiato wrest control ofKashmir. Having established a viable fundamentalist Islamic infrastructure through Jamat controlled schools, colleges and with thousands of trained sympathizers in the police and civilian government, Operation TOPAC aimed to bleedIndiaand make it powerless inKashmir. The goal was to providePakistancomplete deniability of its involvement as the conflict would appear as an indigenous uprising by Kashmiri Muslims fighting for Azadi against “oppressive Hindu Indians”. Operation TOPAC was conceived by Gen. Zia Ul Huq as an Action Plan for incorporation of Kashmir intoPakistanthrough Jihad and creating a grass roots movement of freedom fromIndiausing Islam as the uniting force.

 

 

 

OPERATION “TOPAC”

 

Operation TOPAC had four aims:

1. Train Kashmiri youths in handling of sophisticated arms

2. To destabilize and discourage the state administration

3. To makeKashmirvalley a Hindu-less Muslim area.

4. To prepare Kashmiri Muslims for Jehad.

 

This was to be accomplished in two phases:

 

Phase 1

1. The sentiments of students and farmers be aroused againstIndiaand their cooperation will be sought for anti-government demonstrations and riots.

2. Create chaos and spread terror

3. Impart military training to Mujahdeen for fighting Para-military forces and the army

4. Disrupt communication links between the valley,Jammuand Laddakh.

5. Help of Sikh militants be sought for insurgency activities inJammuregion in order to divert the attention of security forces in the valley and make the governments position awkward and disgraceful

6. Take control of the areas where security forces are camped.South Kashmiris suitable for this action.

 

Phase 2

 

1. Mount pressure on the Indian Army in Siachin, Kargil, Rajouri and Poonch areas in order to bring down the morale

2. Sudden and vigorous attacks be made on the Army depots and Army convoys atSrinagar, Pattan, Kupwara, Bandipoa and Chowkibal.

3. Afghan Mujahdeen would be infiltrated from Azad Kashmir (PakistanoccupiedKashmir) in order to intensify the freedom struggle of Kashmiri Mujahdeen.

4. Mistake in carrying out “Operation Gibraltar” of 1965 should not be repeated.

5. Special task force under the command of retired Pakistani Army Officers, mainly Afghans will be sent to blast the railway stations, Aerodrome, Jawahar Tunnel, Leh Sonamarg road and Army cantonments etc. After successful operations in the valley, parts ofJammuand Laddakh will also be brought under the full fledged armed insurgency operation.

 

OPERATION “TOPAC” IN ACTION

 

The very first evidence of the presence of arms and trained terrorists in the valley came in August 1988 during the riots that occurred inSrinagarafterPakistanPresident General Zia-ul-Huq’s death in an air crash. The entire town ofSrinagarwas in turmoil with wide spread looting and arson. Curfew had to be imposed on several areas of inner-citySrinagarstrong hold of Jamat-i- Islami. During curfew hours mobs attacked the paramilitary police with semi-automatic weapons, a phenomenon which was unknown before this time.

 

After a lull of one year violence started again in September 1989 with the murder of prominent Kashmiri Hindus such as a prominent Lawyer Mr. Tika Lal Taploo, Justice Neel Kanth Ganjoo, famous Kashmiri poet Sarwanand Premi along with thousands of Hindu teachers, engineers, doctors and civil servants.

 

Mosques became the hotbed of terrorist activity during the winter months of 1989-90 for the recruitment of Kashmiri Muslim boys for the cause of Jihad. Video shows describing terrorist tactics and guerilla warfare began running on a 24 hour basis in the mosques and other public places.Pakistantelevision and radio started creating a sense of hysteria by broadcasting vicious propaganda aimed at arousing the religious feelings among Kashmiri Muslims. Posters started appearing inSrinagarand other towns asking people to observe strict Islamic codes regarding dress, food and entertainment. Video shops and cinema theaters were forced to shut down, drinking of alcohol was banned. Pakistani currency started to appear in circulation and several attempts were made to ban Indian currency. By the end of 1989Kashmirvalley had become a de-facto Pakistani territory with each move of the terrorists legitimized and accepted by the public under duress. Young men wielding guns and pistols began to be accepted as a status symbol inKashmirand being called a Mujhdeen became a real honor for the Muslim boys and their families.

 

HINDU EXODUS

 

On January 4, 1990 Aftab an Urdu daily ofSrinagarpublished a press release from Hizbul Mujahdeen asking Kashmiri Hindus to leaveKashmiror face annihilation. Alsafa another Urdu newspaper repeated these warnings. On January 19, 1990 JKF, Hizbul-Mujahdeen and other terrorist outfits declared the introduction of Nizam-e-Mustafa (Islamic rule) inKashmir.

 

On the night of January 19, 1990 all mosques in the valley began to issue threats and warnings to Kashmiri Hindus with loudspeakers broadcasting taped messages, continuously for 24 hours for three consecutive days creating a psychosis of fear and doom.

 

“Kashmir mein agar rehna hai; Allah-o-Akbar Kehna hai” ( If you want to live inKashmiryou will have to convert and chant Allah-o-Akbar)

 

“Asi gachchiPakistan; Batao roas te Batni san” (We wantPakistanwith Kashmiri Hindu women but without their men folk)

 

“Yhan kya chalega; Nizame Mustafa” ( What kind of law will work here Islamic law)

 

These threats led to the exodus of 350,000 Kashmiri Hindus form the valley ensuring complete Islamization.

 

MANIPULATION OF MEDIA

 

1. Misguided Youths, Militants, Jehadis and Islamic Terrorists

 

The manipulation of Indian media by Kashmiri Muslims began in late sixties after 1965 Indo Pak war with the formation of Jamat-i-Islami affiliated Al-Fatah and Muslim Janbaz Force. These outfits were at the forefront of armed terrorists acts inKashmir.  Their cadres received training inPakistanand funding from Arab countries, eventually morphing into JKLF (Jammu and KashmirLiberation Front) and present day Hurriyet with the active backing ofPakistan. JKLF and Hurriyet touts itself as a secular even though its core ideology is to impose Islamic rule inKashmirand banish Kashmiri Hindus. No one in the media ever questioned why its leaders were only Muslims if it was indeed secular. When some of their activists were arrested and convicted for murder, loot and arson the sympathetic J&K Government Officials would release them by referring to them as Misguided Youths. As reported inIndiaToday, April 30, 1990 “Between July and December 1989, 70 hardcore terrorists were released by Farooq Abdullah government. All detentions had been confirmed by the Advisory Body headed by the Chief Justice of theJammu and KashmirHigh Court”. No one in the media took Farooq Abdullah to task for releasing convicted killers and thus encouraging more terrorism.

 

These misguided youths later became, Militants, Jehadis and now Islamic terrorists

 

2. Migrants, refugees or internally displaced people

 

Kashmiri Hindus forced to flee their homes were dubbed as Migrants by Kashmiri Muslim press. No one in Indian media challenged this terminology. Calling them refugees or internally displaced people would call into question the secular façade ofKashmirvalley and its Muslim Leadership who were in cahoots with the Congress Government.

 

3. Militant religious organizations operating under secular garb

 

InKashmirvalley many organizations espouse to be secular where as their core membership comprises of people with close association with Jamat-i-Islami such as People’s League, People’s Democratic Party, and Hurriyet etc. OutsideIndia, World Kashmir Movement (WKM) inLondonand Kashmir American Council (KAC) inWashingtonDCserve as mouthpiece of Islamists and pro Pakistani elements.  These organizations have hired western lobbyists to project Islamic terrorists as freedom fighters fighting for liberation of J&K fromIndia. These Lobbyists are paid byPakistanand Arab countries.

 

In order to keepIndiaand its security forces on the defensive these organizations employ leftist Indian Journalists, Academics and politicians to espouse and parrot the cause of the secessionist. Kashmir American Council has published pamphlets for distribution to journalists and members of the Congress and Senate in theUSA. These pamphlets have sympathetic reports from Ashok Mitra of Daily Telegraph 5/16/1990, Dr. N. Y. Dole of Rashtra Seva Dal, Syed Shahabudin President Insaf party, reports from All India Revolutionary Students Federation Karnatka, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Secretary General, India’s People Front, Minoo Masani of Dalit Voice and retired Justice V. M Tarkunde. In order to discredit Indian security apparatus inKashmir, Separatists falsely accused Indian Army of rape which was at first accepted at face value and reported as such by the leftist Indian media.

 

In the last 18 years new generations of anti- Indian Mao- Islamists have been recruited to be the mouthpiece of radical Islamists operating under the secular garb. Some of them are Dr. Angana Chaterjee,Arundhati Roy,ASAiyar etc. These pamphlets are used to give legitimacy to the point of view espoused byPakistanfunded secessionists outfits.

 

4. Worldwide Disinformation Campaign through Demonstrations, Symposiums andTours

 

Pakistani ISI and Arab countries have organized and funded the formation of various organizations in Kashmir and around the world to coordinate demonstrations, organize symposiums and lectures to promote disinformation regarding human rights abuses by Indian security forces and project humane face of Islamic insurgency fighting for the liberation ofKashmir. Some of these organizations are: Muslim Welfare Society, Falah-I Am Trust, Dukhtarain-e-Millat in Kashmir and Kashmir American Council in Washington D. C, World Kashmir Movement inLondon, International Institute of Kashmir Studies inLondon,Jammu and KashmirCouncil for Human Rights in London etc.  Amir of Jamat-i-IslamiPakistanQazi Hussein frequently toursSaudi Arabia,Egypt,Sudan,Qatar,Kuwait, UAE in support of Independence of Kashmir and fund raising.

 

One of the earliest examples of disinformation campaign undertaken by Kashmiri Muslims and their secular allies inIndiawas to deny that any atrocity or ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus had happened. All the blame for the exodus of 350,000 Hindus was laid on Governor Jag Mohan who according to them wanted Hindus out so that he could deal with the Islamic terrorists. Indo American Kashmir Forum has worked hard to debunk this canard through symposiums and workshops.

 

Another example of disinformation was the massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chittisingpora nearSrinagaron 3/20/1990 by armed Islamic terrorists dressed in official Indian Army uniforms. Islamists and its allies in Indian media initially blamed Indian Army for the massacre which was proven not to be the case after detailed investigation by Barry Bearak of New York Times.

 

5. Task Forces, Petitions and Letter Writing Campaigns.

 

Faroukh Kathwari a prominent U. S based Kashmiri Muslim businessman has financed Kashmir Study Group composed of University Professors and U. S Diplomats to examine the situation in Kashmirand propose solutions. The Islamist Separatists have taken politicians, journalists and diplomats from various countries to visit Kashmirvalley for propaganda purposes to show-case human rights abuses by Indian security forces. The cadres of Jamat-i-Islami along with Dukhtaran-i- Millat are used to spin horror stories with usual drama. Whenever there is a demonstration in the valley KAC, WKM get into action and activate their friends and sympathizers worldwide to write petitions and letters to the United Nations as well as various Government Agencies. Recent case of a petition to U.N by Dr. Angana Chaterjee againstJammu agitation in support of Amarnath Yatra is a good example.

 

CONCLUSION

 

Reacting to the demonstrations inSrinagar, a well known liberal   Indian Columnists Swaminathan A. Aiyar in Times of India dated 8/17/08 wrote: “We promised Kashmiris a plebiscite six decades ago. Let us hold one now and give them three choices: independence, union withPakistanand union withIndia. Almost certainly the Valley will opt for independence.Jammuwill opt to stay withIndiaand probably Laddhakh too. Let Kashmiris decide the outcome not the politicians and armies ofIndiaandPakistan.”

 

On 8/19/08 Arundhati Roy commented to Times of India “Indianeeds Azadi from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs Azadi fromIndia”

 

It is surprising that these Indian columnists who claim to be liberal, secularist have no problem to propose the dismemberment of Indiato appease and satisfy Islamist demands. It seems after sixty years of partition we Indians have learned nothing from Muslim mechanization of deceit through Taki’ya to createPakistan which resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Hindus from West Punjab, Sindh andEast Bengal. If we do not wake up it is only a matter of time that India will be partitioned into hundreds of small Muslim enclaves governed by Qura’nic Sharia laws, virtually no-go zones for Hindus and Indian security forces from where Indian Mujahdeen will be free to engage in murder and arson to terrorize Indians and demand freedom from the “Oppressive Hindus”.  Recently Gen. (rtd.) S. K. Sinha, former Governor J&K gave an interview with Kallol Bhattacharjee, The Week 31/08/2008, which sums the challenge we face in Indian media. He said:

 

 “There is an environment of religious intolerance inKashmir. There was ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) from the state but no one talks about them.Kashmirhas been Talibanized by the Separatists. The Secular lobby never condemns the communal politics of Syed Ali Shah Geelani”.

 

 

 This article has been written by Mr. Hira Fotedar

Hira Fotedar is Co-Founder and past President of IAKF (Indo-American Kashmir Forum). This paper was presented at the Sixth Annual Human Empowerment Conference in Chicago in October 2008 as a Case Study in manipulation of Indian media.

 

 

US exposes ISI subversion of Kashmir issue; FBI arrests US-based lobbyist July 20, 2011

Check the charges against  here-Lobbying-Complaint(full complaint report attached)

WASHINGTON: Federal authorities on Monday arrested a prominent US-based pro-Pakistan activist associated with the kashmir sepratisst movement accusing him of funneling money from the Pakistani spy agency ISI to lobby US decision-makers.

In the process, the Obama administration’s law enforcement brigade also blew open the Pakistan and its spy agency’s two-decade long subversion of the so-called Kashmir cause.

The FBI swooped down on the Virginia residence of Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, a well-known representative of Kashmiri separatists in the US and detained him on charges of ”participating in a long-term conspiracy to act as agents of the Pakistani government in the United States without disclosing their affiliation with the Pakistani government as required by law.”

Or simply put, he served as a frontman for ISI’s Kashmir agenda.

Another individual, Zaheer Ahmed, like Fai a US citizen, was also similarly charged, but he is at large and believed to be in Pakistan, according to US authorities.

Fai has been a familiar and prominent figure in Washington DC for nearly two decades, lobbying Kashmiri separatist cause as executive director of the Kashmiri-American Council (KAC) and dallying with senators and congressmen. US authorities now say the KAC was just an ISI front, funded by Pakistan’s spy agency.

The FBI affidavit alleges that, although the KAC held itself out to be a Kashmiri organization run by Kashmiris and financed by Americans, ”it is one of three ‘Kashmir Centers’ that are actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including ISI.” The two other Kashmir Centers are in London, England, and Brussels, Belgium.

According to the affidavit, a confidential witness told investigators that he participated in a scheme to obscure the origin of money transferred by Pakistan’s ISI to Fai to use as a lobbyist for the KAC in furtherance of Pakistani government interests. The witness explained that the money was transferred to Fai through Ahmad, an American living in Pakistan.

A second confidential witness told investigators that the ”ISI created the KAC to propagandize on behalf of the government of Pakistan with the goal of uniting Kashmir.” This witness said ”ISI’s sponsorship and control of KAC were secret and that ISI had been directing Fai’s activities for the past 25 years.”

The FBI affidavit alleges that Fai has “acted at the direction of and with the financial support of the Pakistani government for more than 20 years.” Four Pakistani government handlers have directed Fai’s US. activities and Fai has been in touch with his handlers more than 4,000 times since June 2008, according to the FBI.

The affidavit also alleges that Fai repeatedly submitted annual KAC strategy reports and budgetary requirements to his Pakistani government handlers for approval. One document entitled “Plan of Action of KAC / Kashmir Center for Fiscal Year 2009″ laid out Fai’s intended strategy to secure US. Congressional support in order to encourage the Executive Branch to support self-determination in Kashmir; his strategy to build new alliances in the State Department, the National Security Council, the Congress and the Pentagon, and to expand KAC’s media efforts.

According to the affidavit, Fai also set forth KAC’s projected budgetary requirements from the Pakistani government for 2009, including $100,000 for contributions to members of Congress.

Fai and the KAC have received at least $4 million from the Pakistani government since the mid-1990s through Ahmad and his funding network, the FBI said. The money is allegedly routed to Fai through Ahmad and a network of other individuals connected to Ahmad. Ahmad allegedly arranges for his contacts in the United States to provide money to Fai in return for repayment of those amounts in Pakistan.

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-exposes-ISI-subversion-of-Kashmir-issue-FBI-arrests-US-based-lobbyist/articleshow/9289454.cms

Hari Parbat—-a memoir June 24, 2011

JAN 1988,Rainawari,Srinagar……

It is the month of January in Srinagar, Kashmir and I am awakened by my Paternal Grandmother, My wrist watch shows 5.00a.m in the morning, I rub my eyes and see my Brother already up and smiling at me. It is the month of Magh which is considered auspicious by all the Kashmiri Pandits and many devout KP’s throng to Mata Sharika’s Mandir ,which is also known as “Hari Parbat”, to invoke her blessings.

It is freezing cold outside and I have put on my Pheran(Traditional dress of kashmiris used in winter), with a fur cap on my Head and woolen gloves to cover my hands, I feel protected to some extent from the cold of horrendous winter of Kashmir. We move some 50 meters from our Home and stop outside our neighbors house, It is pitch dark and silent , suddenly my Grandmother coughs,” ahhoo,ahhoo”and wait for some seconds and then again she repeats the artificial cough, ”Ahhoo, Ahhoo”, This time I hear the sound of same type of cough , ”Ahhoo, Ahhoo” coming from inside. My Grandmother says to us,” They are coming out within few seconds”, I see 3-4 dark images coming from gate of our neighbor’s home. We are joined by our friend also who is of our age as he greets us with excitement.

The group walks swiftly towards Bagh Jogi Lankar and many a times the atmosphere is filled with the Barks of Street Dogs that are ubiquitous throughout our Journey. Since we are now a group of 8 people, there is nothing to fear about those ferocious Dogs that had the dubious distinction of biting lone strangers who ventured into their territory.

We again Stop in front of Post Office and Again my Grandmother repeats the same procedure of coughing, this time however a couple of elderly Gentlemen emerge from the Dark sub lane. Now we are a bigger group with 5 males including us(I, my brother and friend) , There is hardly any conversation between the members ,the group walks at a good pace until we reach Malkah(Burial Ground).We amble through probably the biggest Graveyard of Muslims of Kashmir as I overlook and pass through thousands of Graves until I am greeted by the wall which encircles Hari Parbat, this wall must be running in several Kilometers. I along with the group pass through the opening of that wall and walk further until all the elders stop at a point. It is Maqdoom Saab, a Sufi Saint of Kashmir who is revered equally by Hindus and Muslims of Kashmir, though we don’t go up the stairs but all of us bow our heads in reverence. Some meters further , I see hundreds of burning lamps(Ratandeep/Diyas) and I soon realize that we have reached Ganpat/Ganesh Mandir. We all lit the diyas(lamps) in front of the idol of Ganpatji.The Ganeshji here is present in the form of a large Boulder smeared with Sindoor(vermilion), Inside the temple there is congregation of hundreds of devotees singing Bhajans that Culminates in the morning Aarti.

 The group comes out of the Ganpat Mandir, It is already Dawn, our group walks in the by lanes of that area until we reach a open space. We walk through a dense mini forest at the bottom of the Hari Parbat Hill as I leave behind Kali Mandir which comes en route and walk further, until I see the first glimpse of the stairs which our group climbs and finally reach the temple compound of Sharika Mata.

 Here again a big Boulder smeared with Sindoor, silver and Gold foils represents the power known to us as Goddess Sharika. At the left side of the compound though an idol has also been made by the devotees of Mata, This compound is reverberated by the Bhajans sung by youths who mostly have come from Habbakadal and Rainawari areas , I recognize many faces among that group and recognize some of musical instruments as Harmonium, Tumbaknar and Nout(earthen pot).

The group I am travelling with genuflects in front of the Mata in the open compound, My grandmother and other elders read sholokas/bhajans (Hymns) from the handbooks which they are carrying with them, while we(I, my brother and friend) go inside the covered compound where the singing of Bhajans is going on with full energy and soon ,we also become a part of the chorus.

 On our return, the old group disintegrates and now our new group consisted of my grandmother, I and my Brother, My friend and his Mother. We soon left the main Bhawan(compound) and descend a few stairs, though our return route is different from the route we came from. We pass through a nursery planted with saplings and some almond trees, those almond trees looked beautiful especially in the spring when white flowers bloomed on these trees and the fragrance could titillate and intoxicate anybody’s olfactory.

 As we walk further , we see a temple which is also known as” Ramchanderun Mandar”(Ram temple), I enter the temple compound and pay my obeisance to Ramchanderji. From this temple I can see beautiful vistas of Nagin lake as well as Hari Parbhat fort. our next stoppage is Pokherbal which is situated at the banks of Nagin Lake.

 I don,t have much memory of pokherbal, so I will move forward. We all crossed Kathi Darwaza -That part of the encircled wall which once used to protect the Hari Parbat fort. Our group walks further some meters and then stop at Chatti Padshai Gurdwara, the religious compound that is connected with the legacy of Guru Hargobind singhji, the sixth Guru of Sikhs. As it is a Sunday, we all go inside and in reverence bow in front of the Guru. On Sundays, the sikh volunteers of the Gurudwara serve hot tea to everybody as a part of Sewa, our group also drinks the tea served in steel glasses and feel refreshed.

We again start our journey back to home as our group bypasses Malkha, soon an acrid smell hits us and I cover my nose with the Muffler, I instantly know that we have reached pouj Mahal (Buther colony),the Drains are filled with blood of the sheep, Occasionally we could hear the cries of the dying sheep screaming “mhea, mhea”. our increased pace help us to leave the “pouj mahal” and its acrid smell behind us.

further down, we stop at the Kandur’s shop(Kashmiri Bakery) near hari sing high school and get some hot lavaasa (a sort of kashmiri unleavened bread) from the oven to eat as we(I, my brother and friend) were feeling hungry by now. The Group amble through the bagh jogi lankar Bridge and soon we reach the comfort of our home as I tuck Kangir under my pheran and wait for the Kahwa to be served to me…..

5 myth’s and facts of kashmir May 20, 2010

Myth:

one lakh people have been killed in Kashmir by Indian armed forces during past 20 years.

Fact:

As per government estimates as on 20-05-2010,Statistics reveal that nearly 37,000 people have been killed so far in the 20 year old insurgency. Out of 37,000, the number of civilians killed by terrorists and para military forces are 11,135,security forces number at 5223 and terrorists backed by Pakistan killed are 19,273.

The propaganda by separatists backed by Pakistan is just a myth to mislead the gullible common man of Kashmir and incite hatred against central government administration.

Myth:

there are Mass graves in Kashmir

Fact:

This is just another figment of imagination of drug addicts and has nothing to do with reality. So far No mass grave has been uncovered and chances are very slim to uncover any such grave.If ever a mass grave is unearthed in Kashmir, the prime suspects will be Pakistan supported terrorists. Reason being,  Indian para military forces mostly constitute Hindus and hindus don’t bury their dead…

Myth:

separatists leaders are sincere

Fact:

Many Separatist leaders  have embezzled  funds and have assets disproportionate  to their disclosed earnings. Some of the separatists leaders are owners of large shopping complexes in Kashmir. Those shopping complexes are worth tens of crores of rupees. If sincerity means changing tunes  to the tastes of audiences,then Old man geelani is sincere,Mr Geelani gets his pension as former MLA of J&k, and holds a Indian Passport, suddenly had a change of heart in 2008 during the height of Amarnath  agitation, when he shifted his stance of Kashmir accession to Pakistan to Independence of Kashmir.

Myth:

Jagmohan responsible for Kashmiri pandit exodus

Fact:

It was at Mufti Mohammed syed’s behest,who was Home Minister of India, that Jagmohan was made governor of J&K  for the second time in 1989-1990.I have not come across a single Kashmiri pandit whom jagmohan or his officials/agents approached or pursued to leave Kashmir so that he can have a free hand and run Tanks and Bulldozers over kashmiri Muslims(most famous rumor against Jagmohan). Yasin Malik”  who got inspired with the movie “Lion of the desert” and has confessed that he showed this movie to Hizbul-Mujahideen Chief “Salauddin” and inspired him also to launch the Kashmiri version of “Jihad”.

In this movie there is this character ” General Rodolfo Graziani” who hanged “Omar Mukhtar” to Death. Later on “Rodolfo Graziani”became the commander-in-chief of Italian Royal army.

“General Rodolfo Graziani” had made concentration camps in Libya to curb the uprising against Italians.

When Mr Jagmoha  became the governor of Jammu and Kashmir for the second time, Terrorist lobby backed by Pakistan, told the section of kashmiri muslims who backed their violent ideologue of Jihad,that “Jagmohan” is going to run Bulldozers over you and kill each one of you because of  being anti-India,(portrayed as Rodolfo Graziani) and at the same time is helping pandits to migrate to Jammu.This story is just a figment of imagination of some who wanted to shield the truth about exodus and Genocide of Kashmiri Pandits by the Terrorists.

Myth:

Freedom struggle of Kashmir

Fact :

Another hogwash, Pakistan is using the muslim dominated Kashmir for its own selfish use, They have waged a low cost war with India and Majority population of Kashmir are merely puppets in this whole game. Killing of Kashmiri pundits in early 1990,which triggered the infamous exodus, was a game plan of Islamic state of Pakistan as Kashmiri pundits were the only force which were opposing them. The total population of Muslims in J&k is around 5 million whereas in rest of India, the population of Muslims is around 140 to 180 million. The collective muslim population of U.P districts like Muzzafarnagar, meerut, Bijnore, Moradabad and Rampur are at least thrice the population of Whole muslim population of J&k, yet they are at peace with India. These muslims choose to stay with India when they were given a chance to choose their country way back in 1947.Pakistan’s tactic of using Islam as a force to infuse hatred for India has met with success in Kashmir and received lukewarm response among muslims  in other parts of India. Pakistan is hell bent to use the religious feeling of muslims against India and its persistent efforts in the last 63 years has started to show some positive results for Pakistan.

Instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State May 28, 2010

Instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State
26 October, 1947

Whereas the Indian Independence Act, 1947, provides that as from the fifteenth day of August, 1947, there shall be set up an independent Dominion known as INDIA, and that the Government of India Act 1935, shall with such omissions, additions, adaptations and modifications as the Governor General may by order specify, be applicable to the Dominion of India.

And whereas the Government of India Act, 1935, as so adapted by the Governor General, provides that an Indian State may accede to the Dominion of India by an Instrument of Accession executed by the Ruler thereof.

Now, therefore, I Shriman Inder Mahinder Rajrajeswar Maharajadhiraj Shri Hari Singhji, Jammu & Kashmir Naresh Tatha Tibbet adi Deshadhipati, Ruler of Jammu & Kashmir State, in the exercise of my Sovereignty in and over my said State do hereby execute this my Instrument of Accession and

1.

I hereby declare that I accede to the Dominion of India with the intent that the Governor General of India, the Dominion Legislature, the Federal Court and any other Dominion authority established for the purposes of the Dominion shall by virtue of this my Instrument of Accession but subject always to the terms thereof, and for the purposes only of the Dominion, exercise in relation to the State of Jammu & Kashmir (hereinafter referred to as “this State”) such functions as may be vested in them by or under the Government of India Act, 1935, as in force in the Dominion of India, on the 15th day of August 1947, (which Act as so in force is hereafter referred to as “the Act’).
2.

I hereby assume the obligation of ensuring that due effect is given to provisions of the Act within this State so far as they are applicable therein by virtue of this my Instrument of Accession.
3.

I accept the matters specified in the schedule hereto as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make law for this State.
4.

I hereby declare that I accede to the Dominion of India on the assurance that if an agreement is made between the Governor General and the Ruler of this State whereby any functions in relation to the administration in this State of any law of the Dominion Legislature shall be exercised by the Ruler of the State, then any such agreement shall be construed and have effect accordingly.
5.

The terms of this my Instrument of Accession shall not be varied by any amendment of the Act or the Indian Independence Act, 1947, unless such amendment is accepted by me by Instrument supplementary to this Instrument.
6.

Nothing in this Instrument shall empower the Dominion Legislature to make any law for this State authorizing the compulsory acquisition of land for any purpose, but I hereby undertake that should the Dominion for the purpose of a Dominion law which applies in this State deem it necessary to acquire any land, I will at their request acquire the land at their expense, or, if the land belongs to me transfer it to them on such terms as may be agreed or, in default of agreement, determined by an arbitrator to be appointed by the Chief Justice of India.
7.

Nothing in this Instrument shall be deemed to commit in any way to acceptance of any future constitution of India or to fetter my discretion to enter into agreement with the Government of India under any such future constitution.
8.

Nothing in this Instrument affects the continuance of my Sovereignty in and over this State, or, save as provided by or under this Instrument, the exercise of any powers, authority and rights now enjoyed by me as Ruler of this State or the validity of any law at present in force in this State.
9.

I hereby declare that I execute this Instrument on behalf of this State and that any reference in this Instrument to me or to the Ruler of the State is to be construed as including a reference to my heirs and successors.

Given under my hand this 26th day of October, nineteen hundred and forty seven.

Hari Singh
Maharajadhiraj of Jammu and Kashmir State.

———————————————————————————————————————————-

Parliament Resolution (Feb 22, 1994)

“This House”

note with deep concern Pakistan’s role in imparting training to the terrorists in camps located in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, the supply of weapons and funds, assistance in infiltration of trained militants, including foreign mercenaries into Jammu and Kashmir with the avowed purpose of creating disorder, disharmony and subversion:

reiterates that the militants trained in Pakistan are indulging in murder, loot and other heinous crimes against the people, taking them hostage and creating an atmosphere of terror;

Condemns strongly the continued support and encouragement Pakistan is extending to subversive and terrorist activities in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir;

Calls upon Pakistan to stop forthwith its support to terrorism, which is in violation of the Simla Agreement and the internationally accepted norms of inter-State conduct and is the root cause of tension between the two countries reiterates that the Indian political and democratic structures and the Constitution provide for firm guarantees for the promotion and protection of human rights of all its citizens;

regard Pakistan’s anti-India campaign of calumny and falsehood as unacceptable and deplorable.

notes with deep concern the highly provocative statements emanating from Pakistan urges Pakistan to refrain from making statements which vitiate the atmosphere and incite public opinion;

expresses regret and concern at the pitiable conditions and violations of human rights and denial of democratic freedoms of the people in those areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which are under the illegal occupation of Pakistan;

On behalf of the People of India,

Firmly declares that-

(a) The State of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall be an integral part of India and any attempts to separate it from the rest of the country will be resisted by all necessary means;

(b) India has the will and capacity to firmly counter all designs against its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity;

and demands that -

(c) Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression; and resolves that -

(d) all attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met resolutely.”

The Resolution was unanimously adopted. Mr. Speaker: The Resolution is unanimously passed.

February 22, 1994

————————————————————————————–

Miscommunication between KP’s and KM’s June 1, 2010

It has been more than 20 years since kashmiri pundits left Kashmir valley because of Terrorism. In these years one generation of Kashmiri Muslims and one generation of Kashmiri hindus Were born and raised in two distinctive religious, political and geographical areas.

It is obvious that the experience of both has been different. Both are part of fairy tales, those bed story tales which this generation has heard from their elders . Short Anecdotes of Kashmiri Hindus like ”Kashmir is not a safe place for us.Jihadis will kill us, because we are Hindus” may sound true for the new generation of hindus who were born outside Kashmir, because They have seen their parents and relatives struggling hard for their basic existence. They have seen their aged grand and great grandparents poignantly recalling their hey days in Kashmir. They have also seen their grandparents die with a unfulfilled last wish of returning back to their home in Kashmir. They have heard that bomb blasts, cross firing and killing is a routine affair in Kashmir.

Kashmiri Muslim Generation has grown up to somewhat similar anecdotes and bed time stories. “It is not safe in Kashmir,It is not safe in Jammu. It is not safe in Ahmedabad.It is not safe in delhi and Mumbai” and the young generation has their reasons to believe what their elders say. They have seen how even innocent and well educated are framed for being a terrorist before being proved innocent by the high court’s of India. But the whole process takes months and years as was in the case of prof. S.A.R. Geelani.

The two Kashmiri communities viz Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Muslims have very little faith on each other, thanks to miscommunication of 20 years. Whenever some organization tries to bridge the gap between the two communities, the efforts gets hijacked and sabotaged by those surreptitious and greedy   elements Who have made a killing out of 20 years of unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. Unfortunately, these people are still at the helm of the affairs.

There are also some elements who would not like to see Kashmiri pundits back to Kashmir. These elements have illegally captured properties of Kashmiri Hindus and they are the first to come to streets and protest against return of pundits to Kashmir. Politicians of Kashmir are aware of this fact and they choose to Close their eyes and remain mum on this whole affair at least for the time being.

There has been a paradigm shift of opinions of Kashmiri Muslim towards Kashmiri Hindus and lack of Communication between the two is the prime reason for all the misunderstandings. separatist parties will never enter into the fray where the two communities try to sort out their differences and enter into a dialogue as this will subsequently dilute their influence and power . mainstream political party will also never try to bring the two communities closer because of the strings attached to vote bank politics of India. In the best interest of both the communities, the community volunteers should make their best effort to reach out to each other. There are many if’s and buts’ which arises from the present scenario. Instead of haranguing each other the two communities should open a channel of formal as well as informal communication. They should at least give it a try..

by M.ZIJOO

my truth & 20 years of exile June 10, 2010

Below are some lines which depict the general sentiments of KP community in exile for 20 years….

My wounded scars have not yet healed,
In exile, everyday,
my heart bleed…

I too have a voice, you need ears to listen
I too have emotions;
you need a heart to feel it…

I too am a human being, I too have a life,
With eyes open,
you can see my strife..

my politicians don’t want the truth to come out,
They don’t want me to stand by truth,
and shout..

they don’t like bitter truth’s taste,
for them,
my truth is just a waste..

20 years of exiled imprisonment & still Under locks,
my truth has been blocked,
my truth has been locked..

truth strangulated, justice denied,
oh! this is so unfair,
my choked truth is Gasping for air,but my India doesn’t care..

@Azaad Pandit

shut up….Mr. Geelani…. June 22, 2010

Some of the separatists leaders of Hurriyat Conference try to bring the name of Amarnath at the drop of the hat.Their fixation about Amarnath yatra has crossed any logical explanations.Now, they want to fix the tenure of yatra to just 15 days. Amarnath or Amreshwar as it was known in the past, has mention in some of the books like nilmata puran and Rajtarangni.Pakistan backed Demagogues are beating their chests, and trying their best to give the false coloring to the History of Amarnath. No surprise, they have met with little success as yet.
clever as fox, they had another trick up in the sleeve, they have come up with other sensitive issue, environmental hazards by the influx of large number of devotees of Shiva. Pressure on environment can not be ruled out. But single out Amarnath is no justification. Blaming Amarnath solely for the degradation of environment smells like a dead rat to me. Separatists new found love towards environment needs some real justification.
Fact is that 10,000 trees were cut and 30,000 wild lives destroyed to construct Mughal Road. Is that not destruction of ecology…should we blame it on Amarnath!!!Why haven’t The so called Islamic zealots turn environmentalists ever raised their voice against the molestation of water bodies of Kashmir viz Dal Lake, Nagin Lake, Wullar Lake, Manasbal Lake and now extinct Anchaar lake.
Has Amarnath encroached The great lakes of Kashmir? Has amaranth created the numerous illegal floating islands of Dal? Lakhs of people, economically poor people, are living illegally on these floating islands and other water bodies. I challenge Hurriyat leaders to raise their voice against them. Show the world that they really are environmentalists to the core..
Is Amarnath responsible for shrinking the sizes of great Kashmir lakes to the half of their size as compared to 50′s or 60′s.Has Amarnath drank all the water of Anchaar lake which has now become a part of history books .Are these Islamic zealots so myopic that they cannot see the Barren Zabarwan or many other mountain ranges, who have been robbed of their precious timber. Has Amarnath Smuggled out all the timber?
What about the environmental hazards which other tourist places like Gulmarg, tangmarg and many other such tourist destinations have to face due to the influx of tourists both Indian and foreign. Has these bigot leaders guts to raise their voices against the influx of tourists to these places? The answer is a big No!!! Fact remains that tourism is the single largest segment which gives livelihood to lakhs of Kashmiris. Every year lakhs of Kashmiris pray to Almighty that more and more tourists should come to Kashmir. Tourists who come to Kashmir spend money like wastrels and don’t mind to loosen their wallets.
Environmental issues are serious to be deliberated upon, whole world is waking up to this long neglected but serious issue. Arctic ice is melting, Antarctica is melting, so are other numerous big and small glaciers, most of them may have witnessed negligible human activities. This is the stark truth of 21st century. Global warming has become a reality and no one can deny the implications of Global warming. Whole world has joined hands to fight the menace of global warming. can we blame Global Warming solely on Amaranth yatra?

now few lines for Mr. Geelani…
Mr Geelani’s, was it your love for the environmental cause, that you and your pakistani masters hounded us out of the valley and killed tens of hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits. the forced exodus of 4 lakh Kashmiri Pandits mave have swelled your chest with pride ,and I am sure your can now shout at the top of your voice, and tell the whole world that it was out of your and Hamid gul’s love and concern for the fragile ecology… Sure some pressure eased by mass exodus of 4lakh pandits..
Mr. Geelani, I urge you not to poke your nose into the religious affairs of Hindus, that is none of your business.Your wicked thoughts have already taken a toll on your health and your body and mind has been diseased and you know that.If you are genuinely concerned about ecology, then you should raise other environmental issues, some of them mentioned above and not single out “AMARNATH YATRA” and confine it to just 15 days…Watch out your vicious thoughts & misanthropic actions, Mr. Geelani. …Wishing you a speedy recovery..

Stone pelters of Srinagar and the walnut tree July 2, 2010

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/stone-pelters-of-srinagar-and

Stone pelters of Srinagar and the walnut tree

Tarun Vijay, 01 July 2010, 08:40 PM IST

Rafiq was a small-time wage earner in Srinagar. He worked in a suburban bag factory as a semi-skilled labourer. His cousin had been found dead in police custody a day before and hence he took leave to join the jenaja — last journey of his dear cousin the week we were in Srinagar to organize a seminar in memory of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who laid his life for the full and irreversible integration of Kashmir with the rest of India. Suddenly stone pelting began by some of those who were part of the jenaja, as anger mounted to see police personnel in the way, resulting in a shootout.

Next moment, Rafiq, who had come to share the grief of the loss of his brother, was dead. A stray bullet had pierced through him.

I felt disturbed hearing the news. What was Rafiq’s crime? How can one explain to the mother and sister of the poor fellow the reason of his jeneja at the age of 28? Couldn’t the police have acted with some restraint and let the anger pass with looking the other side or just keeping away from the jenaja route? Can all the Muslims in Srinagar or the valley be dubbed anti-nationals and terrorists? If we say the valley belongs to us, then those who people the valley must also be owned up and made to feel our warmth of belongingness.

Kashmir is us. Then surely the people too are our own.

And so was Colonel Neeraj Sood, who died fighting the terrorists. He laid down his life courageously serving the motherland. While we empathized with the family of Rafiq and felt strongly about how police can be further restrained, I found no one, in Srinagar publicly mourning the martyrdom of Colonel Sood.

No politician went to salute his body at the airport, no media organization wrote about his death with a sense of sorrow.

On the contrary, there was a provocative glee on the front pages of the Kashmir dailies describing the colonel’s death.

Why?

The security forces are in Kashmir on the orders of the constitutional powers and they are simply obeying the democratically elected governors. The same people are happily accepted as personal security guards by even the separatist leaders of the valley, but are often mocked at, almost lynched and brutalized when found lonely and vulnerable. I can understand the anger among Delhi or Murshidabad people against the rough and rude behaviour of a police force run under a colonized framework, but if a soldier in khaki is beaten up in Srinagar, it’s not because he is wearing khaki. It’s India he represents. His motherland, India, which is beaten up.

Why?

If the Srinagar youth are us and we feel an affinity with them, it’s not because they are pro-Pakistan or demand separatism, but because we feel they are Indians and we must show our camaraderie to them as fellow citizens living under the grace of the tricolour. Hence, we must share their agonies and pains and dreams and ambitions to rise like Shah Faisal, who topped the Indian Civil Services exam and wants to be a role model for the Kashmiri youth — not the stone pelters.

Jawans of the security forces, which include the police too, are as much children of Mother India as are the Indian Kashmiri youth of the valley.

I visited various parts of Kashmir and know for sure the trouble that hogs the limelight in Delhi and elsewhere is simply limited to a few urban centres crowded by a lazy and almost semiliterate on Kashmir, national and international media. The whole exercise of the stone pelters and their “abbas” is to attract attention and show that not everything is fine in Srinagar. The local people, be those shikarawallas (boat owners in Dal Lake) or small shopkeepers want their business to run, see their children grow in a happy atmosphere, have them study in good schools and colleges and rise in life. For them, business means attracting more tourists. They feel aghast that if these stone-age separatists are so devoted to Kashmiri welfare, why do they spoil their business in the peak tourist season? They don’t want to shut their shops and businesses almost every other day, sometimes for weeks at a stretch, but the fear of getting killed by the anti-national elements and having no corner to take shelter, they yield to the bandh calls of the terrorist groups. It’s the separatists who are using the common Kashmiri as cannon fodder to their lunatic agitational approach, funded and guided by Islamabad. They have a vested interest in keeping the common people poor, backward and indulging in stone pelting, because a happy, prosperous and peaceful Kashmir would delegitimize their claims and demands.

So what happens when a Shiva temple is burnt on the outskirts of Srinagar during a bandh call? Or an Amarnath Yatra is sought to be shrunk to just 15 days in the name of environment protection by those who were responsible to kill the Dal lake with pollutants and have nothing to say about that? When the falsehood overpowers the stark naked truth and the media laps up the make-believe stories strengthening a notion that all Kashmiris support separatism? Nothing.
Half a million Hindus were coerced to leave their homes and nothing happened. Temples were destroyed and nothing happened. Not even a feeble series by a chivalrous mediaperson to document the destruction of places of Hindu worship. The president of the Bar Association of Srinagar gave a statement to the press that said: “I am not Indian.” It was front-paged by many newspapers. Nothing happened. An advocate, who declares that he is not an Indian, is practising in the courts and the authorities are keeping a silence on his mouthful of anti-India statements. Being an Indian has become a matter of loss in Kashmir with the Centre’s Nehruvian policies and provincial politicians using separatist emotions for votes.

No stories on Hindus who still remain in Srinagar and Anantnag. They seem to have been categorized as expendable.

Kashmir is full of good, noble-hearted and intelligent people. It’s only the small coterie of separatists fed on New Delhi’s appeasement and American support (like Hurriyat — no base except a Washington-Islamabad helpline). A scholarly politician, a Muslim leader, was in tears while describing the pathetic condition of Hindus in the valley. And he narrated a true story of an abandoned Hindu home that turned my eyes moist.

In a village near Srinagar, abandoned by Kashmiri Hindus, he saw a walnut tree peeping out of a window. It was a strange sight. Walnut trees are grown in an orchard and not in drawing rooms. He went close and found the tree had taken roots inside a room and since the windows were broken, it grew to the side where the light of the sun came from. The plants always grow like that, towards the sun. How was it possible that a walnut tree was planted inside a room? No, perhaps, and he used his imagination, when the Hindus were on a run, in a hurry a member of the household might have left some walnuts inside the room. Years of moisture and a dilapidated condition of the house, which used to reverberate with sounds of laughter and tears of joy or mourning, made the left-over walnuts take root and grow.

Take root and grow?
A house was turned into a jungle.
And nobody would like to speak about it.
A walnut tree grew from inside a house.

Usually, and quite naturally houses grow under a tree shadow. Trees never grow from within a living house.

The walnut tree growing from inside a baithak, a living room of a family must be telling a tale. Where were the samovars, children, the kahwa and the songs when the walnut took a root?

And the slogans of the Hindu Muslim unity, the sufi tradition, the message of brotherhood emanating from Charar -i-Shareef and Hazrat Bal?

No one answered.

I share the grief of Rafiq. But not at the cost of forgetting the martyrdom of Colonel Sood.
I must, with thanks, reproduce a poetic tribute by Shiv Om Rana to Colonel Neeraj Sood here as my tribute to a great martyr:

An ode to Late Col Neeraj Sood

(who laid down his life Kashmir while chasing terrorists)
Rest In peace.
O! My brother-in-arms.
For you wished very young,
To be thus destined.
Expect not your countrymen,
Or political masters
To mourn or give a trime.
For them your life is yet another brine.
TV channels will show a flick or two,
So will print media do.
But all will be forgotten
In another day or two.
Only your family will carry the cross
Of missing son, brother
Husband or father
For rest of their life.
Rest In peace.
O! My brother-in-arms.
For you wished very young,
To be thus destined.

Mr Geelani, were you served biriyani for the day? July 9, 2010

Mr Geelani, were you served biriyani for the day?

More than a decade-and-a-half back I was on a photographic assignment to Fatepur Shekhawati, a town in Sikar district of Rajasthan, known for its exquisite havelis and frescos. It was a beautiful, wintry but sunny Friday afternoon at the bus adda in Jaipur. When the bus didn’t leave at its stipulated Rajasthan Roadways timing, I went to the driver to ask why he was delaying the departure. “I am sorry for the delay, bhaisahab,” he said politely and pointing towards a remote corner on the platform, he added, “Some countrymen are offering their Friday namaz.” As I turned around, I found some 8 to 10 Muslims offering namaz in a seamless queue and in perfect synchrony. It was a sight to behold, and to be honest I loved it. For a Muslim in India, and that too in a state like Rajasthan, where Advani et al had left no stone unturned spewing venom against Muslims some years before that on Babri issue, it was azadi at its best.

Since it was only a few years before this incident that I had become a so-called Kashmiri migrant (some Indian dhoti-clad, paan-spitting politicians still call us refugees, not knowing the difference between the two; but that is another story, not debatable here), my instant reaction to this incident was that the bus driver is a Muslim. I could not hold my inquisitiveness and asked him if he was himself a Muslim. Pat came the reply, “I am a Hindu.” Needless to say, I had asked a ridiculous question.

More than a decade-and-a-half later, and some 3 weeks back, as I was taking pictures around old Amirakadal in Srinagar, I found this little boy of around 8-9 years jumping into almost every other frame till he caught me perfectly into one that I intended to have this gloomy-looking but typically-smiling man (a trait wed to Kashmiris – both Pandits and Muslims – despite pain and parch) in thirties selling fresh currency notes in exchange for the old, torn-out currency.

The boy was impressive and innocent, likable to the core, and rather than dissuading him from doing his lovable mischief, I tried to strike a chord with him. Reluctant and shy in the beginning, he walked a step towards me later. “You look pretty smart in the picture,” I complimented. He smiled and came one more step closer, his cheeks growing pink. “Do you want to see how you look?” I asked. “Aa hawkhe haz,” he asked as if doubtful. As I handed over the camera to him for a live view, his doubts shrank and trust grew more. Looking at himself he smiled and tried to frolic away; but before he would, I asked him if he was studying. He gave a vertical nod first and soon effaced it with a horizontal one; seemed to be in no mood to take another question on the topic and freed himself from my grasp and went out of sight.

Long after the incident, the boy was lingering on my mind and I wondered what his hybrid nod meant. Did he mean he was enrolled in a school but because of frequent hartals and official/ unofficial closures he was infrequent to attend; or did he mean school, as it used to be, was nomore a basic right of children in the Valley? I cannot and must not presume answers for this dilemma; because I leave that to Syed Ali Shah Geelani and men and women of his ilk who are so blinded by their personal aspirations and interests that for young boys as these they feel it is wise to let them march from post to pillar instead of encouraging them to go to school. For innocent boys as these – sadly some of whom fell prey to bullets recently – this certainly is not azadi of any sensible kind.

However, for people like Syed Ali Shah Geelani this must be azadi of the very true and ‘kind’ kind. Diagnosed with renal cancer he knows no other country (not to speak of a bankrupt nation as Pakistan) could have been as sumptuous on him as India by providing him free sarkari biriyani and free medical treatment throughout his detentions and doing everything to defy God’s will and keep him up and running against the nation itself. Azadi, for him, is his best weapon to incite vulnerable parents of the Valley to deprive their children of the previous gift of education, exploit youth to pick stones, take out procession and alas, destroy their own futures by what can never be a fulltime, honorable profession; so much so that youth of the Valley have found a good pastime in sanghbazi until CRPF retaliates.

For Syed Ali Shah Geelani azadi, as a Urdu word, would be more sweeter than Kashmiri phirni, since it is this word that helps him blackmail India and extract money from Pakistan to prevent his own fortunes from plummeting. There are reports that Hurriyat chairman has received a whooping 80 crore rupees ever since the “struggle for self-determination” began. Hurriyat is once believed to have remarked that the money was “collected” for “relief and rehabilitation” of “militancy-affected people of the Valley”. Relief and rehabilitation? One may ask where and what did they rehabilitate so far. And can one expect relief and rehabilitation from a party that incites hapless Kashmir’s to come out in to streets, pick stones with an intention to kill or get killed in the process. All this looks preposterous; it may be a human being on one or another side of the fence; at the end of it all, it is someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s husband and someone’s loved one that departs.

It has become an irony in Kashmir that when a sanghbaz gets killed, people who initiate him into the most medieval act actually convey his dear ones a message that he was worth just Rs 50 to 150 a day. Well-meaning, thoughtful people of the Valley realize this; some even want to speak out since they believe it is time to be in peace rather than turmoil, but they can’t since either they fear elimination or don’t have a platform to do so. History is also testimony to the fact that evil spreads fast; trampling goodness on its way.

Goodness in the Valley has been strangulated; but fortunately still prevails. People at the grassroots, irrespective of being rich or poor, still beat with a warm heart; they welcome you, they hug you and they respect you as a fellow human being, a fellow Kashmiri from whom they had departed 20 years ago. Matchless hospitality, as against azadi, runs through these people’s veins. Such people – during my personal and innumerable interactions with them – have come as a ray of hope who might keep the impeccable Kashmiriyat alive.

The general perception that I gather is that people of this understanding are well-informed about all aspects of the Valley as it stands ruined post-terrorism now and as it was beautifully flourishing before murderers started getting glorified post-1990s. That must bring Kashmiri awam to Yasin Malik, whom money accumulated from terrorism landed him from a congested Maisuma Bazar house to a plush new bungalow in Maisuma, not to speak of commercial buildings, hotels, and investments in real estate not only in Kashmir but in United Kingdom also. Renunciation of violence, as he has done, after accumulating so much of fortune is a natural and safe recourse from the movement that took lakhs of lives in what he had promised as “separation of Jammu & Kashmir from secular India as an Islamic Nation”. Ironically the guy who can barely speak sense, whenever he opens his mouth, says now he is looking for “peaceful methods to come to a settlement on the Kashmir conflict.” Sadly no one questions his integrity that he had shown earlier, no one dares him ask his accountability for the personal fortunes he has built over the dead. Average, hapless Kashmiri has been and still is at the receiving end; his mind practically a hostage to a misled thought emerging from a perverted mind. The trend is fatal, and if it continues parents would wish in future if only they could have reverse the past for their children’s good.

Bytheway, it is Friday again, and across the length and breadth of the country devout Muslims would be offering juma namaz peacefully (and surely in complete azadi) in thousands of mosques. In the Valley, however, menacing concertina wires have been put up to prevent any human movement. A friend calls me up and says he has run out of milk and vegetables for lunch; and in the same breath (almost as a salute to his Kashmiriyat) he asks me if I needed anything? I tell him I can live on just oxygen-rich air nonstop for at least 76 hours; but am seriously worried about Geelani whether or not he was served in time his regular biriyani for the day ….

source:Dr. Sanjay Parva
the author can be contacted at– drparva@gmail.com

the “I” Philosophy(advaith vedanth) July 21, 2010

To understand life’s mystery,
before one becomes history,
Keep in mind, Life, is a moving wheel,
A journey, a pilgrimage, only that remains,
Which is real, rest all die with age,
Be it hermit, king, queen or sage..

What is real and what is unreal,
What is truth and what illusion is,
Remains till, the jurisdiction of mind and thought,
To resolve the mystery, Drop the mind & thought,
The real “I” will unfold, the answers you sought…

When you realize, after a certain stage,
Bookish knowledge has confined you in a cage,
Wisdom, knowledge, intelligence or logic,
Has Chained your mind, and you are missing the magic,
To enter in the kingdom of the real “I”,
You have to drop the judgment of why?,

Thoughts, emotions, Happiness and sorrow,
Are illusions, which mind has borrowed,
And are subjective, The “I” I perceive,
Is shadow of the Real “I”,
The true “I” Is objective, so I see,
The real “I” is “HE”, who is always free..

Pain has never Touched the real “I”,
“I” has, was and is the boat,
And the destination, which helps one float,
Through the life’s rough Waters, helped those,
Who stumbled, felled, then stood, and firmly rose,
to “I” realization and become one with the real one..

scapegoats,stone pelters, and Omar Abdullah July 23, 2010

Another year in exile for Indigenous inhabitants of Kashmir. For the sake of statstics, This is my 21st year in Exile.There is a mixed response when Kashmir is discussed among Kashmiri Pandits.” I would like to live the rest of my life in Kashmir” says a relative of mine who is a septuagenarian. On the other hand, a teenager son of a friend of mine, who was born and raised in Delhi says, ”I will settle abroad, once I finish my studies”. I guess, this is what is known as generation Gap.

Thanks to Pakistan sponsored terrorism, which they have successfully painted with the color of “Holy Jihad”. They have made sure that for Kashmiri Pundits, there is no return route to Kashmir. Times change, so does man , and so has Kashmir. Stone pelting has become the new “in” thing. The emotionally charged, misguided miscreants and paid agents , who are backed ,groomed and guided by Pakistan are using their time and energy to find the best stones of Kashmir. The puppets of ISI viz “The hurriyat conference” have successfully staged the Drama and have held at Ransom Whole of Kashmir.

Time and again, amid these protests one thing has been made clear to one and all that, “this is a Islamic war”, whether one likes it or not. Another thing which has come up time and again from Pakistan backed separatists is that there is no room for “secularism” in Kashmir. Long time back, I used to hear that Kashmir is a land of Rishis and Sufis and the life force of Kashmir is “Kashmiriyat”. Unfortunately, “Kashmiriyat” died long ago ,with the genocide and mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. May be, It is still left with some people in Kashmir who adhere their daily life and routine to Universal spirituality and not only to religion. Personally, I don’t think that religions must have been designed to kill fellow Human beings.

With the arrest of Shabir Ahmed Wani, It has become crystal clear now that the protests and agitations, were staged by the Pakistan Backed separatists and terrorists, in order to create unrest in civil society .These idiosyncratic misanthropists earnestly yearned and prayed to Almighty for the deaths of civilians. For them somehow the pot should keep boiling, Their bread and butter is directly linked to unrest and deaths of civilians .After all this is their profession and they are handsomely paid by their Masters in Islamabad.

Stone pelting is a barbaric act and I was told that even Islam considers this to be unholy, but who cares!!! After all, isn’t Religion also a commodity to be exploited for selfish reasons? And who knows this fact better than “Kashmiri Pandits” who have seen the practical face of Islam. Islamic Scholars may argue endlessly in order to prove that Islam means “Peace”. With due regards to them,they should have taught the actual meaning to those who killed my friends and relatives. Somebody has to remind them “actions speaks louder than words”.

Sufism, which I believe, is an integral part of Islam, has in the recent times lost its sheen and is held hostage by the more stringent Wahabis. Sufism cannot help and motivate anyone to take up gun and kill fellow human beings ,as Sufism has a different way of looking to nature and life.One of the beliefs of the sufi’s is that Allah has made man almost perfect, and other living and non living beings try to emulate Humans, so that they can also become or transform into Humans. I have read a particular sufi arguing that a rock or stone at the river bed of a River or Stream earnestly years to become Human, he also insists to look more closely to a pebble in a stream, and just look at how even a pebble struggles hard to get into the shape and try to resemble that of a Human Face. However, This school of thought will never appeal to stone pelters of Kashmir, who according to sources are paid Rs 50 to Rs 150 per day for engaging the JK Police and CRPF. Isn’t it Irony that stone wants to become Human being, and in Kashmir, some humans have become as cold as a stone….

Separatists who have distorted their religion for the sake of their Selfish cause can twist anything at anytime according to time and Situation. Some of these so called Pseudo-Scholars have targeted the Chief Minister of J&K for a reason which is purely natural.I am talking about ageing. We all know ageing is a natural process, but not with ISI backed separatists. They are arguing that the Chief Minister’s hair has suddenly turned grey because of his unholy acts. Had It been pre-1990’s, When there was euphoria about National conference and when the masses idolized Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah , the similar situation would have been interpreted differently. They would have argued differently and may be compared Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with The great “Moses”, who had also turned grey within a short span of some 40 days when ten commandments were revealed to him at Mount sinai. They would have further sealed this argument as ultimate truth, by comparing the respective ages of Moses and Omar Abdullah. At the age of 40 , Moses was revealed ten commandments, and the present age of Omar Abdullah is also 40 Years…

Approximately 200 million muslims live in my country out of which 5 million muslims live in Kashmir. The only difference between 200 million and 5 million is that the former constitutes minority of India(except J&k)and the latter constitutes majority of J&k. The minorities of India viz Muslims and Christians are mostly at peace with India ,except at some occasions when political parties try to divide the masses of India either on the basis of caste, creed or Religion. But never in the History of India, the situation of any ethnic group has been so deplorable as that of Kashmiri Pandits. In other parts of India, after political turmoil or riots, Occasionally minorities or weaker sections/groups move out of their native places and come back again to their Homes , once Riots subside.However in case of K.P’s, things are different as Kashmir Pandits do not form any vote bank and hence politically unwanted and can only be used as Scapegoats. It is easy for the politicians to blame Kashmiri Hindus for anything and everything. Government is not able to generate enough jobs or livelihood, because either they are inefficient or corrupt, but they are answerable to public,particularly their vote bank.To cover their shortcomings, somebody has to be made a scapegoat,In case of J&k, It his your’s truly” kashmiri pandit”.For the sake of votes, politicians furnish arbitrary evidence and twist the statistics in such a way which somehow makes it evident that Kashmiri pandit is a real culprit.Can’t blame them as there are serious loopholes in Indian vote bank politics and Indian way of Democracy. Kashmiri Hindu is also a culprit because he is well educated, he is non-violent, he is law-abiding, he is hard working, he is still a survivor and above all his heart beats for India. You must have heard of “Kumbah ka Mela” and “ Lord Rama”. Kumbh Mela comes after 12 years, and the Vanvas(exile) of Lord Rama who had to move out of Ayodhya lasted for 14 years. But Hello!!! we are not talking about mythology,we are talking about K.P’s-the hindu minorities of J&K,who don’t have a legal and constitutional voice.Excuse me for reminding you once again that I am a Kashmiri Pandit, uprooted from Kashmir,at the brink of cultural extinction,Victim of politics,still in exile,longing to go back to Kashmir and this is my 21st year in Exile…..

Open Letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan July 30, 2010

Open Letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan

Subject: Persecution of non-Muslim Minorities in Pakistan.
Ref: – Continued Demolition of Hindu Temples and persecution of Hindus in Pakistan threatens peace in the sub continent.

Hon’ble Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani,
Prime Minster of Pakistan,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Hon’ble Prime Minister Gillani,

Freedom loving people all around the world and those believing in equality and freedom of all religions (billions in numbers) particularly Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and others are appalled at the continued persecution of the minority Hindus in Pakistan and the colossal failure of the Govt. to stop this genocidal and highly provocative movement. The latest examples of this ongoing saga of unlawful and inhuman activities in Pakistan is contained in the below given attachments A, B & C. These are just a few instances that we reproduce as evidence though such acts of communal hatred and ethnic cleansing against the minorities, more importantly against Hindus and Sikhs, take place in the Islamic state on a regular basis.

This anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh crusade is not restricted to depriving them of their properties and places of worship but the abduction of Hindu women, forcible conversion to Islam and subsequent marriages with Muslim persons seems to have become a common place. How ironic yet hypocritical it is on the part of Pakistan to demand equal and special status for Muslims in other countries but refuse to provide the same treatment to its own non-Muslim minorities?

Mr. Prime Minister, how sad and regrettable it is that on the one hand your Govt. claims to be a representative Govt. yet it has elected to throw into the dust bin the numerous representations made by the victimized Hindu community of Pakistan against the oft repeated waves of criminal behavior towards them. As a member of the United Nations and its acceptance of the UN Charter, Pakistan is committed to maintaining freedom and equality of all religions. Unfortunately that commitment has fully and completely been trampled upon in the case of its non-Muslim minorities. The naked aggression by one religion with a view to deprive the other religions of their assets and sources of sustenance and the forcible conversions must be considered criminal and therefore, severely punishable under the law. Pakistan has failed in this test as well.

For safeguarding minority Hindu temples and institutions, it is absolutely important that the Govt. constitute a Waqf like autonomous Hindu Board. The role of the community in temple management and setting up Hindu Advisory Councils must be an integral part of the new policy. Such councils could play a meaningful role in oversight and decision making process utilized by the officials dealing with temples and their Trusts. Such Councils, elected or nominated by the Community, state and national religious leaders, could shoulder a significant amount of decision making and management responsibilities. They could also contribute in stopping the ongoing desecration and decimation of the religious infrastructures by recommending the necessary remedial measures for quick enforcement by the authorities.

We believe that the current high level talks between governments of India and Pakistan for “building trust” between the two nations would be futile if there is no proven and verifiable trust between Hindus and Muslims due to the former being continuously persecuted. As you might remember Mr. Prime Minister, the lack of trust between these communities was the very basis of Partition of India in 1947. We sincerely believe that at this point in time Pakistan has an invaluable opportunity in wiping out terrorism against Hindus and other non-Muslim minorities and prove to the world at large that she was not interested in aiding, encouraging and abating terrorists and militants and that the Indo-Pak talks were not just a political deception or gimmickry created by the Western world and Islamabad.

According to the information available to us Muslims in India do not only enjoy “equality” in their citizenship status but they were also showered upon special privileges and voluminous reservations in every walk of life. Consequently since the partition their population has increased four fold from 35 million (1951 census) to 140 million. However, according to reports, in Pakistan during the same period the numbers of Hindu and Sikh population have shrunk from 25-30% to less than 1%. Obviously such massive disappearance of the minority population in a short span of time speaks volumes about Pakistan’s policy towards her minorities.

The continuation of the policy of “hate crimes” against the non-Muslims by Islamabad at some point could likely have an adverse impact upon India’s liberal and special policy towards her Muslim population. Accordingly the question we might ask is it Pakistan’s goal to hurt the Indian Muslims by calling in to question India’s liberal policy towards her Muslim citizens? If not, in that case there has to be a radical transformation in Islamabad’s policy towards the non-Muslim citizens of Pakistan. Least your Govt. could do is to adopt a policy of reciprocity.

We do not need to remind you Sir, that there is already a huge amount of backlash and resentment against Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism and militancy in the West — Europe and America included. Your country has been described as the epicenter of these disturbing developments while the continuing persecution of minorities in Pakistan only enhances such a view. In America a vast majority of people are strongly questioning in fact publicly opposing the plan for building a grand Islamic Mosque in New York close to the site of the former World Trade Towers. And in France, the authorities are seriously considering a proposal to ban wearing of “burqas” in public by Muslim women! Additional half a dozen European states are said to be ready to follow that path.

Considering all these developments, a formal declaration by the Govt. of Pakistan, humanizing, liberalizing and bringing at par with modern states its policy towards non-Muslim minorities based on the above stated suggestions, could mark a turning point and provide a sound reason to the international community for taking a second look at the Islamic Republic and her attempts for updating her state craft. Turning the trend around by modernizing its approach towards her minorities would be in the best interest of Pakistan itself.

We would like to thank you in advance for your time and consideration. We are also hoping for receiving an early response, strongly upholding equality and freedom of all faiths as dictated by United Nations Charter and the universal principles of equality and reciprocity.

Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
July 30, 2010
========================

Attachment A

Jul 21, 2010

Pak to demolish 87-yr-old temple

Amir Mir / DNA
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 0:55

http://www.dnaindia.com/dnaprint910.php?newsid=1412526

Despite strong protest by Pakistan’s Hindu community, an 87-year-old pre-partition Hindu temple in Pakistan’s garrison town of Rawalpindi is facing demolition.

According to Jagmohan Kumar, the head of the Hindu community in Rawalpindi, the temple was being used by Hindus and Sikhs to perform last rituals of their dear ones.

According to the plaque fixed on the building, Lala Tansukh Rai, the Raees-e-Azam Rawalpindi, had constructed the temple in memory of his wife. “The ‘Shamshan Ghat’ is not only used by the locals but by the foreign missions of China and the Buddhist community as well”, Kumar said.

“The land for ‘Shamshan Ghat’ was allocated to the Hindus during the first tenure of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto when Kishan Chand Parwani was the federal minister for minorities in her cabinet. The temple is now being demolished while the open area is being maintained for the community”, he added.

According to Kumar, the original area of the ‘Shamshan Ghat’ land was 277 kanals and there were several temples along the Tipu Road and Nullah Leh. “Some of these temples were demolished before the partition while many were razed to ground after the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 in India. There were several temples in the adjacent localities of Raja Bazaar in Rawalpindi where there are now residential apartments”.

Jagmohan asked how the Muslims would feel if there mosques were demolished for residential purpose.

http://news.hinduworld.com/click_frameset.php?ref_url=%2Findex.php%3F&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvivekajyoti.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fpak-to-demolish-87-yr-old-temple.html

==========================

Attachment B

Hindu-Sikh body condemns temple demolition
Wednesday, July 21, 2010

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=252016

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Hindu Sikh Social Welfare Council in its meeting strongly denounced a so-called media group for trying to forcibly occupy a temple situated at Tippu Road, Javed Colony, here.

President of Pakistan Hindu Sikh Social Welfare Council Jag Mohan Kumar Arora vehemently criticised the Auqaf Department for its negligence. “The Auqaf Department is creating a rift between minorities and the government.”

He urged the government to take notice of the situation and ensure protection of minorities’ rights.Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti has condemned the demolition of an old temple at Tippu Road for commercial purposes.

Talking to APP here on Tuesday, he said that it was not good omen to damage the temple, which was built in 1923 in the memory of Tunkukh Rai.He said, “According to the Constitution of Pakistan, minorities have an equal right to live according to their religion”.

He took a serious notice of the incident and asked the Punjab government to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a report immediately. He also committed to safeguard temples, Gurdwaras, churches and other worship places of the minorities, adding, “It is a very shameful incident and no one is allowed to harm, demolish, disgrace or confiscate them.”

Meanwhile, rejecting the news item regarding the demolition of a temple at Tippu Road, Rawalpindi, the Evacuee Trust Board (ETB) clarified that the building was neither a temple nor had it any link to it.

Chairman Evacuee Trust Board Syed Asif Hashmi has formed a committee comprising leaders of Hindu Community to expose the conspiracy of spreading rumours by declaring the building as temple.

The committee would send its report to the board at the earliest. The Evacuee Trust Board had demolished an old building some days ago and some elements had declared the building as a temple. According to the spokesman of the ETB, the building was located near the Shamshan Ghatt and a temple was located on the distance of 500 yards from that building, which was demolished in 1992 after Babari Masjid Tragedy in a protest demonstration. The spokesman termed the protest triggered after demolishing the building a planned conspiracy

=====================================

Attachment C

Posted by jagoindia on July 18, 2008

Pak digs up 300-yr-old Krishna temple for ‘relics’
Amir Mir, July 07, 2008, dnaindia.com
Authorities excavate temple courtyard without permission
ISLAMABAD: The desecration of Hindu temples goes on unchecked in Pakistan without any reprimand from the government.

On July 2, the courtyard of a 300-year-old ancient Krishna temple situated in the Shorkot town in Punjab was excavated on the orders of a senior government official, who wanted to dig out precious relics. They carried out the excavation without taking permission from the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), which looks after Hindu places of worship in Pakistan.

Case details reveal that Zubair Khurshid Bhatti the district coordination officer (DCO), Jhang district, forcibly entered the temple, broke all the ETPB seals and began digging the temple’s courtyard, which they claimed would unearth relics and statues of ancient gods and some holy books.

While Bhatti claims that locals asked him to excavate the temple’s courtyard, no local confirmed this. On the contrary, when Aman Das, a Hindu from the same vicinity’s main bazaar area was asked about the episode, he expressed feelings of deep hurt and mistrust. “We do not have much say even about issues related to the sanctity of our religion and places of worship,” he said.

“But when the authorities would not think of producing a relic by evacuating any ancient Muslim mosque in Pakistan, then why us?” asked Aman.

According to sources, the assistant administrator of the ETPB requested Bhatti time and again to stop the digging at the temple’s courtyard, but Bhatti snubbed him. Bhatti finally gave up after he could not find any relic. He then instructed his staff to fill up the 10-feet pit in the courtyard.
“This is sheer goonism. The senior government official misused his authority to dig out the temple courtyard. He did not pay heed to the Hindu locals who stood helpless in front of his authority,” expressed Shanti Das, Aman’s wife.

“Being a Hindu in a Muslim dominated society does not expel our right to go to temples or to protect them against demolition,” she added.

Prior to this incident, some statues of the Hindu gods were stolen from the Katas Raj temple, an incident which deeply hurt the sentiments of the Hindu minority in Pakistan.

amir.mir1969@gmail.com

Photographs of protest@jantar mantar(8-8-10) August 9, 2010

Hello!!! Kashmir is my home...

media..will you really report????

I too have a voice...

see my tiranga!!!!

my protest--my way

tiranga---tricolor---my true color

even in pain, I can manage to have a smile...

India is greater than religion

do u hear us?

this is not peace

small girl appealing for some common sense

Sikhs and Muslims also joining in...

Video of Protest by Muslims of India at Jantar Mantar(8-8-10) August 10, 2010

Muslims as well as Sikhs stood with their Kashmiri Hindu Brothers at Jantar Mantar,Delhi on Sundat(8-8-10).These Muslim brothers strongly condemned the killing of innocent lives in Kashmir and held Pakistan and separatist Hurriyat responsible for the Mayhem in Kashmir….

Open letter to prime minister of India September 3, 2010

JOINT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
WA-88, SHAKARPUR, DELHI—110092. Tel. 22517672.
E.mailcl.gadoo@gmail.com Tel.(R) 22547672.

Hon. Prime Minister,
Government Of India,
New Delhi Dated. 20th August 2010.

Sir,

In 1990, terrorists and fundamentalists targeted Kashmiri Hindus, looted, burnt and destroyed their properties and Shrines, about four lacks of Kashmiri Hindus were forced to flee from the valley. Estimates given by State Government, about 30,000 persons in far flung areas, remained in the valley which dwelled to 10,000 in 1996 and about 3000 in 2010. Many Kashmiri Hindus were killed and women raped. National Human Rights Commission in June 1999 observed, “Acts akin to genocide have occurred in respect of Kashmiri Pandits.” Many houses were either burnt or destroyed. Recently, Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Minister gave the figures 170 temples were damaged by Muslim fundamentalists over the last twenty years, actually the figure is much more. Now, another minority of Sikhs are being targeted, their Human Rights being violated.
(Kindly, find enclosed a press-cutting which is self explanatory.)
Kashmiri Hindus are still languishing in camps and rented accommodation allover the country, especially in Jammu and Delhi. More than 90% of State Government employees have retired from services during our exile. No fresh recruitment of Kashmiri Hindus has taken place since then. After about 20 years of sufferings, you were kind enough to announce employment package for 6000 displaced persons in April 2008, State Government has issued notification on 30th December 2009, after the intervention of National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi, for recruitment of Kashmiri Migrants. NHRC has questioned clauses 2 and 4 of State Recruitment Rules,2009, which are objectionable and are as under:
“(2) The appointee shall be eligible for confirmation on the basis of his performance, merit and uninterrupted/ continuous stay in the valley.
(4) The appointee shall have to execute an agreement with the Government on the Form (forming annexure to these rules) that he will serve in the valley against the post on which he is appointed and at a place where he will be posted. In case the appointee migrates from valley again for any reason whatsoever, he shall lose the job without any notice and shall stand terminated.
Since the process of recruitment is pending with the State Government, we pray for your intervention, with a request to amend/delete the above said clauses so that posts may be created in whole of the Jammu and Kashmir State instead of confining to valley alone, as it will be risky for the displaced persons to take up the jobs in troubled and tense atmosphere.
During last 20 years thousands of jobs were created for the majority community and more 50,000, jobs have been announced by chief minister for un-employed youth of the valley. Unfortunately, delaying tactics is employed for minority youth.

(2),

Secondly, our left-over properties and Shrines have also become target of the mob frenzy. We would therefore, request you to kindly provide more security to life, left over properties, temples and Shrines of Kashmiri Minorities, presently, living in the valley.

Finally, we would invite your kind attention to the demand of ‘Greater Autonomy’ by vested interests after 35 years of the ‘Kashmir Accord’ between Smt. Indra Gandhi and Sheikh Mohammad Abduallah on February 24, 1975 has once again brought into sharp focus the machination and double talk of National Conference. During the years that followed, the secessionist movement in the State gathered greater strength. A whole generation of the Muslim youth was socialized to the Muslim quest for freedom from India and the unification of the State with Pakistan, inspite of the fact that Central Government has pumped thousands and thousands of crores of rupees for the welfare of the State.
Recent survey shows that the State has received Rs. 94.409 crore between 1989-90 and 2009-10, which is 10 to 12 % of all grants disbursed by the Central Government to the States. The bulk of this aid is spent in the valley which is less than 1% of India’s population! The National Sample Survey of 1999-2000, shows that Kashmir has lowest poverty ratio of 3.5 % inspite of violence, against national average of 26.1 %, whereas Orissa has highest poverty ratio of 47.2%.As per the Planning Commission report 2004-05, Jammu and Kashmir had the lowest poverty ratio of 5.4 % and the national average 28.3%. Even prosperous state like Maharashtra contains 10 of India’s 100 poorest districts and has highest rate of farmer suicide. During 2006, 1452 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha region alone! During the same year, 16863 farmer suicides, have been reported all over the country. But no farmer suicide has been reported from Kashmir so far.
Hindus and Sikhs of the State and the Buddhists of Ladakh, who are in great pain due to recent natural calamity and need immediate relief and care, expressed sharp disapproval of any compromise with National Conference on the issue of autonomy. Interestingly, the Muslim secessionist forces and militant organizations expressed subdued disapproval of the demand of greater autonomy, reiterating their claim for self-determination expressing doubt about the ultimate advantage, the autonomy of the state would provide to them.
The creation of an autonomous state of Jammu and Kashmir, placed outside the political organization of India, will go half way to substantiate Pakistan’s claim on Kashmir with stone pelters in forefront and terrorists guns booming in the back-ground, India will, sooner or later, be forced to accept a settlement which is acceptable to Pakistan.
You are, once again, requested to consider our grievances sympathetically.
Thanking you. Yours faithfully,

CC. Chairman, C.L.Gadoo
National Human Rights Commission, Co-Chairman
New Delhi.

the changing political situation of then and now… September 3, 2010

It is needless to say that Kashmir is witnessing phases of killing and violence during last 21 years. “Killings “ has become such a common word whenever anyone refers Kashmir .All the communities in Kashmir viz Muslims, Pandits and Sikhs have lost their brethren to sanguinary violence. Probably all the communities of Kashmir are looking for those who can empathize and sympathize with their pain, no doubt the heart of a common Kashmiri is bruised and wounded and has inured to pain, sufferings and Humiliation. The holy land of Rishis and Sufis has become the land of Human sufferings and Humanity is lost somewhere in this chaos.

Being a K.P, I too have witnessed death due to violent activities by terrorists who flaunted their A.K 47’s and killed scores of my Brethren in early 1990.They took Guns and killed many innocents with this belief that they are the soldiers of Holy war. Not once, the thought and act of killing unarmed KP , sounded absurd, unholy and irreligious to them. the crowds cheered them for their acts of crime…That was the beginning of downfall of Humanity in Kashmir. But amidst this madness there were many Kashmiri Muslims who cried on the death of their KP’s Brothers.

The viscous cycle of violence continued unabated, except some intermittent and brief periods of peace. The armed forces of India and terrorists backed by Pakistan played the cat and mouse game of killings with each other and many innocent kashmiris lost their lives in this deadly game. The strategies of warfare between Pakistan and India is constantly changing, but a war is a war whether hot or cold, and wars have killed people everywhere. Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Sikhs too are the victims of politics and war. KP’s became targets of those who advocated the concept of Islamic state. K.M’s became targets of those who didn’t wanted Islamic state and Sikhs became the targets of both the parties.

The separatist political parties of Kashmir are obviously paid handsomely by the Pakistani agencies to keep the pot of hatred against India boiling. This is the main reason that they are not interested in talks with the Indian central government. So what do the separatists do to ensure that peace never returns to the strife stricken valley? The answer is that they are using the religion to incite the hatred for India without considering the implications of their devious act. But this effort is akin to striking the head against a Mountain and the result will be injuries and precisely that is what is happening in Kashmir. There has been unprecedented increase in the injuries of common Kashmir whether police or civilian. Geelani’s Hurriyat have become the whole sole distributors of Pakistan sponsored concept selling of Islamic Jihad.

Somebody has to remind them that India is one of the most populous Muslim countries of World. This concept selling by the the geelani faction is believed to have made S.A.S.Geelani richer by some 20 million U.S $ in last 5-6 years alone. His prime responsibility of showing rosy pictures to gullible public has yielded results for his masters sitting across the Line of control. The world of dreams created by Geelani in the grab of religion has already killed thousands of kashmiris in the last two decades.

During my last visit to jantar Mantar on 8th Aug 2010, I was a witness to the propaganda by the young Muslims from Kashmir. A gentleman reiterated that both Kasmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits are victims of terror and in the same breath declared that 207 pandits and one lakh muslims have been killed in the 2 decade insurgency. It was such a Hypocritical statement because the figure of 207 has been provided by the state government agency and the same government agency has put the tally of overall deaths at 37,000. Out of 37,000, the number of civilians killed by terrorists and para military forces are 11,135,security forces number at 5223 and terrorists backed by Pakistan killed are 19,273.Of course the statistics provided by government are not right. But 1lakh is an exaggeration by several degrees of magnitude; It means 14 death per day, every day for twenty years.

Now imagine 65 people have died in Kashmir by the direct or indirect involvement of Police and Pakistan backed terrorists during last 3 months. The after effects of these causalities are well known to all of us .Stone pelting, strikes and virtual shut down are the reactions of these deaths. Now imagine if 1288 would have been killed, what would have been the magnitude of reactions. These canards though baseless are being invented, marketed and subsequently spearheaded by Geelani faction.

Kashmir has in the past also witnessed several protests. I am witness to the death procession of late Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah a.k.a Sher-i-Kashmir(lion of Kashmir).As a young boy, I was taken by my Grandfather to some place near Chatti Padshah gurudwara, Rainawari to witness that procession. At the point where I was sitting and witnessing the procession, It took almost three hours for that procession to pass. Many people were crying and many were beating their chests in grief and many more fainted. It was as if someone from their own family had expired. That was also a time, and today It is the geelani who is controlling the political sentiments of Kashmiri Muslims. The phase of Late sher-i-Kashmir was temporary and the phase of Geelani is also not permanent. At that time The late Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was termed as “Lion” and the Present Hurriyat leaders as “Lamb”. The deadly mixture of religion and politics has metamorphosised the lamb into the Lion. Only time will tell who will be remembered in the History of Kashmir and who will emerge as the real winner and the real friend of the general masses.

An Open Letter to Syed Ali Shah Geelani September 11, 2010

Website Link is below:

http://www.kashmirherald.com/featuredarticle/openlettertojeelani.html

Mr. Syed Ali Shah Geelani,

Now that Yasin Mallik has openly accused you of exploiting Islam, I feel vindicated. I along with lakhs of my fellow Kashmiri Pandits have always held that view. All the displaced Kashmiri Pandits hold the exploiters of Islam responsible for the loss of their moorings. I believe no religion including Islam will permit the barbaric persecution of a minority. I also believe in the inherent philosophy of love and brotherhood that was propagated by all messengers of God, whom Hindus call Avtars and Muslims call Prophet. I am not a great student of religion and, therefore, I cannot have an in-depth knowledge of the philosophies behind the great faiths, but I am sure no religion teaches hatred for fellow human beings. It is the hypocrites like you who have not only brought misery to their fellow beings but have also tarnished the name of their religion.

I don’t know you personally and except on one occasion, we have never crossed paths with each other. Whatever impression I have about you has been gathered through your writings, speeches and media interviews. And, of course, my very brief silent confrontation with you nearly a quarter century back has been responsible for my firming an opinion and image about you being a fundamentalist involved in exploiting the delicate religious feelings of the people for the furtherance of your political ideology. Though, you will not be able to recall that incident but I still nurture the vivid memories of that afternoon as it gave me the first hand impressions of dichotomy between your preaching and practice. One day, it would have been either 1980 or 1981, when as a fresh man out of the college and on the threshold of starting my career as a Medical Representative, I found myself stranded in the village of Doabgah on the Baramulla- Sopore road. My companion, that day, was another young man from Sopore who was also in the process of establishing his pharmaceutical business. While in the village, we found you addressing a small congregation in a nearby open space. It was a fiery speech full of political rhetoric and religious fire. As a young Pandit boy, I found your speech mortally scaring and intimidating. I desperately wanted to leave the village, though my companion, a great fan of yours, kept constantly reassuring me about your virtues of not differentiating between the people of different faiths. Nevertheless, a lone non-muslim amongst the sentimentally charged populace was proving to be beyond my comfort levels. Unfortunately, due to some blockade enroute, no buses were coming from the Baramulla side, which could have taken me away to Sopore on way to the security of my home in Srinagar. Meanwhile, we kept waiting for the busses that never came. Some time latter you finished your address and we were given to understand that you would be going back to Sopore in your vehicle. My friend, out of concern for my eagerness to reach home, volunteered to request you for giving me a lift up to Sopore. I was hesitant but on his assurance I allowed him to approach you with the request. Soon I saw him returning with his head down, cheeks red and the expression that told the whole story. As usual, the Almighty was both merciful as well as beneficent that day. Some time later a taxi screeched to stop besides me. It was my neighbour driving home after dropping somebody in another village. Many years latter I learnt at the very beginning of the Holy Quran, the first invocation reads, “In the name of GOD, the most Merciful and Beneficent.” And throughout the holy Quran, GOD’s name is thus invoked no less than 113 times. I also believe the Prophet is quoted as saying “O Ali, the best of qualities in this life and there after are the words of courtesy, generosity, and to forgive those who inflict injustice on you.” I know for sure, that taxi driver is an illiterate person and would not able to interpret the subtle niceties of religious scriptures, but that day he proved to be a true follower and practitioner of his faith. I wish I could speak the same about you the one who claims to lead his life according to divine commands and prophetic sayings.

At times, I also feel you are a confused person who isn’t clear about his objectives. On one hand you claim Iqaamat-e-Deen as your objective as Maulvi Abbas Ansari and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, according to you, are now drawing inspiration from “un-islamic ideologies like secularism, socialism, nationalism and even communism.” Yet, on the other hand you want Kashmir to become a part of Pakistan even though you also believe Pakistan rulers have not been able to live up to the moral standards which Islam demands.

You have been highly critical of some leaders whom you believe have not been acting in the true spirit of Islam and claim you invite people towards Islam and present its philosophy as a complete way of life. I have no objections towards any body living by the tenants of his faith. But, one can’t only practice what is politically convenient for him. How can you explain the exodus of an entire populace of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir? You are against secularism and pluralism, which in itself points towards your practice of exploiting the religion to suit your own agenda. I gather, when Prophet Mohammad took over the administration of Yathrib (Madina), its population consisted mostly of two large Arab (Aws) and three Jewish ( Khazraj) tribes. The Madinan Arabs wanted the Prophet to administer the strife torn city as an outsider with no vested interests in the local disputes. They also wanted this potential messiah to be part of their group and not the rival Jewish tribe. Upon arrival in Madina, the Prophet set about getting all parties together to sign a covenant, which would set standards for pluralism, tolerance and cooperation between various religious and ethnic communities. The covenant gave equality to all its citizens and accepted the coexistence of different religions in the community. The messiah’s inspiration was the Holy Quran, which makes it incumbent upon Muslims to accept and respect all the previous messengers without distinction.

“The Apostle believeth in what had been revealed to him from his Lord, as do men of faith. Each one of them believeth in God. His angels, His books and his Apostles. We make no distinction between any of his Apostles.” (Quran 2:285)

The Holy Quran states on more than one occasion that if people, Jews, Christians and Sabeans lived by their tenets they would have their just reward. ” Verily they who believe and they whom are Jews, Christains, Sabeans whoever believes in God and the Last Day, and does that which is right shall have their reward with their Lord. Fear shall not come upon then neither shall they grieve.” (Quran 2: 62)

Your assertion of only Nizam-e-Mustafa being the ultimate goal for your Tehreek-e- Hurriyat goes against not only the traditions laid down by Bul Bul Shah, Shahmir, Badshah, Nund Reshi etc, whom your co-religionists in Kashmir hold in very high esteem, but it is also against the teachings of the Quran. Nizam-e-Mustafa in a hundred percent Muslim society is understandable but in a society as diverse as Kashmir, it would amount to coercion. My small study has been able to find at least three references in the Holy Quran, which say, ” There is no compulsion in matters of faith.” (Quran 2.256, 10.99 and 18.99)

Many Muslim scholars and writers have described the propagation of Nizam-e- Mustafa as an exploitative tool employed by certain people to serve their purpose. These writers even claim, slogans like Nizam-e-Mustafa have been deliberately kept vague by its propagators to create confusion among the masses. These writers further claim since the concepts of “Aqamat-e-Deen”, (Establishment of Deen), “Hakoomat-e-Illahia”,(Government of Allah) or “Islamic Nizam” failed to cut much ice with the society earlier, a new term “Nizam-e-Mustafa” was invented. Further, concept attached to it varies form sect to sect. Different Islamic sects have even disagreement on the personality of Mustafa, let alone “Nizam-e- Mustafa”. It is pertinent to point out here that in 1951 twenty one Muslim religious scholars from different sects passed a unanimous resolution demanding all Government Laws in Pakistan be based on “The Book(Holy Quran) and Sunna”. Twenty years later, Maulana Madoodi, one of the main supporters of the resolution had to declare, ” It is impossible to make a set of public laws as per The Book and the Sunna which all Muslim sects will unanimously accept as Islamic”. In an article published by Idara Tolu-e-Islam, Lahore in 1977, the writer has made a significant observation, which says, ” The flag bearers of Nizam-e-Mustafa belonging to various Islamic sects have their own Fiqah (Jurisprudence). It is evident as all these sects considere their own Fiqah as unchallengeable Islamic law, no set of laws could be made which will be acceptable to all, their differences are so deep that each one of them have declared the other as Kafir , at one time or other.

You have also strange logic for justifying the militant activities of fidayeen by terms their violence as sacrifice. Nothing can amount to more blatant exploitation of religion then that. “….. and GOD calls to the home of peace.” (10:25). Kashmir press is now openly accusing you of playing your politics as a Pakistani stooge and interpreting the religion to suit your convenience.

You may have your reasons for playing the politics the way you do. The justification of that politics is a subject matter of a different debate, however, one needs to understand enough blood has been spilled over the beautiful vale of Kashmir. The madness needs to stop now. Otherwise, the history will not pardon the people who have prostituted Kashmir according to their own peculiar religious and political beliefs.

The author has drawn heavily from the following sources for writing this piece:

Teachings of Islam- Imam Shirazi.
On Islam and Jihad- Dr. Farida Khanum
Questions about Islam, Answers that every muslim should know- Dr. Jamal Badawi.
Islam and Pluralism- Javed Akhtar.
“Sirf Eik Sawal”- English translation by Ubedur Rahman Arain.

The Author of this article is Mr. Kamal Hak

Balidan Divas–Some pictures-14-09-10-jantar mantar September 14, 2010

Balidan Divas was observed across various locations in India.A rich tribute was paid to the departed Martyrs…
some more pictures of Balidan Divas(BK Ganjoo Park) can be viewed here

Lighting Candles, Remembering Martyrs September 16, 2010

Lighting Candles, Remembering Martyrs

Martyrs day – 14th Sept. 2010

(Candle light ceremony addressed by
Dr. K L Chowdhury)

Friends, we are gathered here this evening in this austere ceremony to observe the 20th anniversary of our martyrs. We are here to remember and recount their sacrifices by paying our tributes to them. We light the candles to express our deep indebtedness and gratitude to them who sacrificed their lives so that ours may be saved. We do so to glorify them so that their celestial light illumines our souls. We light the candles to dissolve the darkness of terror and to banish the fear that has been let loose on us by people driven by wickedness, hatred and intolerance. We light the candles to dispel the dark clouds of depression that hover above us because of the callous indifference of the state administration and the central government. We light the candles that we may lead kindly light for the nation to shake it from complaisance and submission to the forces of subversion, secession and terror in Kashmir and the rest of India. We light the candles to show our immense gratitude to the thousands of army personnel, the central security agencies, the state police who sacrificed their lives defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and fighting terrorists and subversives.

Friends, when we remember our martyrs we recall the horror stories how they were bullied, tortured and done to death in cold blood. Recounting terror leads to a catharsis of terror; recounting terror is a part of the exorcism of terror. It works by the same psychological device that we use in treating people who have been wronged, abused and traumatized. Recounting terror is important in stalling our fall into the abyss of amnesia, lest we are lulled into complaisance and a false sense of security in exile. Please do not forget that our adversaries have not yet finished their work by merely uprooting us from our homeland, engineering our exodus and driving us into exile. They are not done yet; they are ever scheming, and conspiring to hound us even in exile, to make life difficult at each step, to drive us further into desperation and to squeeze all possible space in J&K – physical and psychological, social and cultural, economic and political to choke us out of existence.

Friends, it is a day to recall the selective killings of our community members and the mass massacres of Pandits in the hamlets of Sangrampora, Wandhama, Nadimarg, Chattisingpora etc. Even more painful than the gruesome killings have been the intimidation and the innuendoes, the vitriol, the barbs and the sarcasm, and the humiliation and the insults poured on us at every possible juncture during our everyday life in Kashmir. Worse were the orgies, the jubilation, and the dance of death that the tormentors indulged in after committing the heinous crimes.

Two incidents still haunt me and have caused anguish more than the ghastly murders. First, the morning after Shri Tkka Lal Tapilloo was eliminated, when I was changing into the white apron ready to go round my ward in SMHS Hospital, the clerk of the department of Medicine came to my room – a lean and short fellow who could be described as a moderate. He wore a funny smile on his face. “Sir, do you know, Tikka Lal has been shot dead?” he said unemotionally, matter-of-factly.
I kept quiet, looking at him as if I did not know what he was talking about.
“Tikka Lal sir, the Jan Sangh leader.” He continued.
I was still unresponsive.
“Tikka phaetr sir. He was shot dead like a dog right near his house?”
Those were the epithets and the abuse chosen for our leaders by ordinary, even petty people, in ordinary conversation with us. Words more piercing than poison darts
“But why?” I shouted, “what crime had he committed?” He could feel the anger in my voice
“Possibly, because he was big mouthed and spoke too much,” he said putting up an innocent, expression as if it were justified to shoot anyone who spoke ‘too much’.

The second incident was when Judge Nila Kanth Ganjoo was killed and left to die on the road. No one was allowed to touch the body. People desiring to visit his home to offer condolences were warned that the terrorists were watching and would punish anyone found empathizing with the judge’s family. Not only was he a friend and colleague of my father, but his daughter was our colleague as well. If you are not allowed to mourn the dead, to express sympathy with the bereaved, you are living in servitude and terror. I led a group of KP doctors from the hospital in open defiance of the threat and paid a visit to the bereaved family.

Nurse Sarla of SKIMS was attending on militants admitted in the medical institute. She was killed because she was believed to know too much about the nexus between the faculty members of SKIMS and the militants. Lassa Koul, Prana Ganjoo, Prem Nath Bhat, Sarwanand Premi and his son, and hundreds of others- teachers and engineers, lawyers and judges, nurses and doctors, professors and professionals, social activists and shopkeepers, street walkers and farmers and others were killed because they were Kashmiri Pandits and Indians.

Friends, let us not forget the hundreds and thousands of people who lost their lives prematurely in exile fighting displacement, depression and disease. They too are martyrs because they did not submit to the dictates of our oppressors; they preferred to leave everything behind but not their honor, not their commitment to the nation. They kept the light alight and the fire burning by burning themselves in the cauldron of exile.

The blood of all these martyrs is not only on the hands of fanatics and fundamentalists, jihadis and Islamists, but also on the successive state rulers who have let loose an inexorable tyranny through ideological, administrative, constitutional and judicial processes that have been maneuvered and violated in a way blatantly prejudicial to the minorities. This impalpable, insidious, invisible state terror is worse than the terror of the gun.

We have also to recognize a new kind of terror – the sinister terror of the media, both print and electronic especially a large number of national dailies and some prominent TV channels which clearly are the handmaidens of the terrorists and Islamists, who have hired the so called intellectual-liberal elite of our country to denigrate Hindus and Hinduism and advance the cause of separatists, secessionists, stone pelters and militants.

Friends and comrades, how should we pay our best homage to the martyrs? We seek inspiration from those who dared and blazed a trail of fearlessness and sacrifice. They have taught us that we should not let the enemy steamroll us into submission, and force us into conversion We must vehemently counter, by word deed and action, jihad in its all manifestations, and its demonic impact on the rest of the world, esp. our own community.

Friends, we are going through a very crucial phase of the current upheaval in Kashmir, possibly worse even than the time of our cleansing from Kashmir. It is India that is being systematically cleansed from Kashmir this time. There is a likelihood of big concessions for the hardcore separatists by the Govt. of India. Provision of thousands of jobs and incentives, constructing the international airport and laying a network of railway lines in the valley, provision of subsidies for Haj, compensation for loss of business due to strikes and hartals during the last 20 years, writing off loans etc has not appeased the people of the valley. Even if the Govt. withdraws or dilutes the AFSPA, grants autonomy, and tries to pamper, appease and placate them by other kindly and benevolent gestures and through largesse, through concessions and other devices, it is not going to stop the turmoil. The demon has tasted blood these sixty years after India won freedom. It will not stop short at anything, not even Azadi. It is sworn to destroy our land. That is the biggest danger.

If Kashmir gets autonomy, there has to be a quid pro quo. Homeland for Kashmiri Pandits is well conceived and still holds. It is our birthright and the real panacea for all our problems. It also is the key card which the Govt. of India can use if it is inclined to hold on to Kashmir, at least a slice of it, and to counter the Islamists, secessionists and Azadi mongers at national and international forums. If Bosnia can be carved out of the Balkans why not homeland for Kashmiri Pandits? Are we not the indigenous and ancient citizens of the place, the aborigines?
However, homelands are not achieved in thin air, not by mere slogans, nor in drawing rooms, but by a sustained crusade which may take big sacrifices and a long time. Remember, we have no sympathizers, no partners, no allies outside our community; we are up against an array of adversaries including an unfeeling, uninformed nation, an inimical state Govt., an impotent Central Govt. and hostile media. It is our battle, our crusade and we have to fight it together, and sink personal egos and differences and stop internal dissensions and denigrations of each other. We have to retrieve homeland and seize it back inch by inch.
Homeland means space – physical and cultural, economic and political, emotional and spiritual. But the physical space is missing for now. If we can find some political space till we get a physical space why not. But unfortunately the word Political Empowerment has become a hate word with some of our friends. They confine its meaning to the nomination or reservation of an MLA or MP or member of the municipal corporation. How one or two legislators can influence a 75 member assembly, they argue. They do not realize that political empowerment has wider connotations. In any case why do they forget that we are living in an age of coalition politics? Even having a single MP or MLA rather than having none matters. Shamim Ahmad Shamim would roar in the Parliament and hold the MPs in thrall with his oratory and advocacy for Kashmir. Saifudin Soz brought down Vajpayee ministry single-handed; he is still reaping a rich harvest for that treason.

It is sad that some o our other friends feel they have the prerogative of speaking on Kashmir and are the sole voice of KPs. They do not tolerate any viewpoint that goes contrary to their dogma. They rage and rave and attribute imaginary motives to our words and deeds. They are the ones who cried wolf every time we came up with a new idea, a new vision. They could not digest our advocacy for Constituencies in Exile; they decried the Three Tier Return Formula; they ridiculed the City-State module for rehabilitation that we suggested in response to the Prime Minister’s Package. They debunked it all because these concepts were new and practical, because we were trying to respond to the evolving situations and trying to find some practical ways of ameliorating the distress of exile. Let me remind you that none of these concepts are at the expense of, or as a substitute for, homeland. They are steps towards that final goal. If we did not reject other temporary ameliorating measures like the doles, the one room tenements and Jagati Township why should we have reservation about seeking more concessions till we achieve homeland?

Unfortunately we can not agree even on the prime Minister’s Employment package. The youth of our community are directionless. They have been made to sign a contract for the jobs, which are still in abeyance, with stringent conditions akin to servitude. They will be treated worse than bonded labor. They should have refused to accept the conditions. Having committed that blunder, we should not let our youth to join in Kashmir. It will be like jumping into fire for the valley is on fire which does not show any sign of abating. We must launch an agitation for the transfer of all these appointments and jobs to Jammu till the final resolution of our displacement form Kashmir.

Politics is a dynamic process that is governed by the interplay of various forces which, in politics and sociology, work like the market forces do in economy. If you do not know how to respond to these fierce forces you will go into recession and depression not unlike the global economic recession and depression that the world is facing presently. That is the danger to our idea of a Homeland if we lack a robust response to the fast evolving situations. A grandiose vision should not be allowed to become a blind spot, and inertia in responding to the call of action should not become our Achilles heel.

J&K’s accession with India full & final: Karan October 22, 2010

From Gopal Sharma

AKHNOOR, Oct 21: While putting a lid on the controversy pertaining to accession or the ‘merger’ of Jammu and Kashmir State with the Union of India and the so called role of some people in between, former Sadar-e-Riyasat and son of Late Maharaja Hari Singh, Dr Karan Singh ( Cong MP) today said that accession of J&K State with the Union of India was full and final and any body should not have any iota of doubt about it.

“The State of Jammu and Kashmir became the part of India like other major States after my Bapuji (father, Maharaja Hari Singh) signed the instrument of accession with the Union of India. There was no difference at all in any terms and conditions and our State also become part of India like other States. It is different thing that some developments took place later and by virtue of Article 370, the State got the special status which no other State has in the country”, Dr Singh said at the sidelines of a function organized to unveil a bronze plaque at Jia Pota Chenab bank where Raj Tilak ceremony of Maharaja Gulab Singh took place on June 17, 1928.

“I do not want to go into the details or legality of the situation or further status, but let us place a full stop on any further controversy over the issue. There had been some developments in the recent past and more was read and listened in the media over the controversy. The things should be very clear to the people”, Dr Singh added.

When asked for his comments on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s remarks that it was just accession and not merger, Dr Singh avoiding any further controversy said that he would not like to differentiate or fall into legalities but put the things straight by saying that a document of accession was signed by Late Maharaja and by virtue of which this State became part of India. J&K has special status which no other State was enjoying and it also has it own Constitution.

Addressing large gathering Dr Singh said the present situation was not good in the Jammu and Kashmir. Amidst curfews, strikes, agitations, many innocent people have lost their lives. Over one hundred people who got killed during the Kashmir agitation, were the sons, brothers of somebody. It is very painful and unfortunate. They are citizens of this country. He said youth in Kashmir are pelting stones. The Jammu people will never do it. Pelting stones or indulging in violence is also not good and leads to nowhere. He said issues can be solved through dialogue and the Government is doing its best to restore peace and resolve issue.

Former Sadar-e-Riyasat further said that Jammu and Ladakh can not be ignored in any decision or dialogue. Without their involvement no headway can be made on any issue. He said the representatives from Jammu region should project aspirations of the people and their voice strongly heard at any fora. The rich culture of Dogra be projected and preserved. He said ‘Jia Pota’ place at the bank of river Chenab in Akhnoor is the first chapter of the Dogra rule, because at this place Maharaja Gulab Singh was coronated as Maharaja of Jammu on June 17, 1822 under historic Jia Pota tree by Lion of Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh himself. It is matter of proud for the people of Akhnoor and Dogra region. Thereafter, his fore fathers extended the boundaries of the State and J&K became the largest State of India with 84,000 sq miles area up to Ladakh, Gilgit and Baltistan.

Dr Singh said installing bronze plaque of the founder of J&K State at Akhnoor is just like repeating history again. And this plaque at this historic place is being installed on the birth anniversary of Late Maharaja Gulab Singh. He complimented the MP Madan Lal, Minister for Health Sham Lal, members of Maharaja Gulab Singh Trust, Brig J S Rajput and members of the Akhnoor Reception Committee who contributed a lot in raising this historic plaque. He said Akhnoor has already been brought on tourism destination and it will attract a large number of pilgrim tourists coming to Mata Vaishnodevi and Shiv Khori. He also honoured many persons including K P Singh, president of the Reception Committee and Director Tourism N K Verma for their contribution on the project on this occasion.

MP Madan Lal in his address said that with the installation of this historic plaque at this place an effort has been made to leave footprints of our great rulers for the coming generations. This place is the first step and rather beginning of Dogra rule in the Jammu and Kashmir. He said it was responsibility of each leader and person from this region to project and protect his Dogra culture, heritage and work for promotion of this language. He pointed out that a vacuum has been created in the leadership in Jammu region after the demise of leaders like Pt Tarlochan Dutt and it is need of the hour to protect the interests of the people of Jammu and raise their voice. Some conspiracies are being hatched against the people of Jammu and the representing people here should remain vigilant and aware.

Minister for Health said that Akhnoor town has attained more historic and tourism attraction and huge funds are being spent to develop it as good tourist destination. He said Ghats have been developed and one more on the Eastern bank will be developed shortly. One more bridge is being constructed over Chenab and Reasi will be connected to Jammu via Akhnoor tehsil shortly. It will open new routes for pilgrims visiting Vaishnodevi. Ajatshatru Singh extended gratitude to MP Madan Lal, his brother and also people who worked for installation of this plaque of Late Maharaja.

Earlier, Dr Karan Singh accompanied by his son, Kumar Ajatshatru Singh (MLC), MP Madan Lal Sharma and Minister Sham Lal unveiled the plaque of Maharaja Gulab Singh being coronated by Maharaja Ranjit Singh amidst Vedic sermons at the bank of river Chenab. A large number of people of the town and adjoining area witnessed the occasion.
source:dailyexcelsior.com

Shattering some myths on Kashmir October 28, 2010

Arundhati Roy says Kashmir was never a part of India. We look at why she is wrong & why India’s position is not as vulnerable as it is portrayed to be

Myth I

Kashmir has never been an integral part of India: Arundhati Roy
The Story

At the time of Indian independence, none of the princely states — Hyderabad, Gwalior, Mysore, Baroda and Kashmir, to name a few — were part of India. They were called princely states — quasi-sovereign states ruled by the Indian princes under the “suzerainty” of the British. There were as many as 568 states in India when the British decided to leave India.

In 1947, under the Mountbatten Plan, they were given two options — either affiliate with India or with Pakistan. Though most of the princely states thirsted for freedom, that option was closed at the insistence of the Congress party. Though the choice of which entity to join was left to the rulers of the princely states, it was largely understood that the religious denomination of the majority of the citizens and geographical contiguities of the states would be the preponderant determining criteria.

Kashmir fulfilled both these paramount criteria to join Pakistan — geographical contiguity with the newly-formed state and religious domination of the majority of its citizens.

However, there was a problem: The Hindu ruler of Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh wanted something which was not on the table — azaadi, or freedom from both India and Pakistan. He wanted Kashmir to remain independent. In spite of entreaties from various quarters including from the Governor General of India, Loius Mountbatten, the Maharaja continued to dither and remained non-committal. And the situation reached a stalemate.

Jinnah and Pakistan perceived this intransigence of the Maharaja to be a clever ploy by India and Mountbatten to pluck Kashmir surreptiously from Pakistan’s grasp. So, in an operation that today can be seen as a precursor of the Kargil Operation, Pakistan launched a military invasion of Kashmir on October 22, 1947.

Pashtun tribals and irregulars, morally and logistically supported by the Pakistan army, were sent in to force the Maharaja to accede to Pakistan. The invaders reached the outskirts of Srinagar, the capital. And threatened to besiege the city.

A frightened and panick-stricken Maharaja radioed Delhi for military help. The Indian leadership argued that it would not be legally possible to send in the Indian Army unless Kashmir acceded to India formally. After another bout of resistance, the Maharaja finally yielded and Mountbatten’s aide V P Menon was sent to Srinagar to secure his signature on the Instrument of Accession. Once signed (on 26 October 1947), the Indian Army was airlifted to Srinagar and the Pakistani invaders were beaten back, but not before they controlled about one-third of Kashmir.

The Reality:

As soon as the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession, Kashmir’s accession to India was complete in the legal and formal sense — the same Instrument of Accession that was signed by more than 500 other princely states. That is a fact of history, which cannot be disputed without stretching the truth. It’s there is black and white. In fact, it can be argued that it was Pakistan’s folly of invading Kashmir, overplaying its hand, which sowed the seeds of the Kashmir imbroglio.

File photo of Jawaharlal Nehru with Sheikh Abdullah. When the irregulars from Pakistan invaded India on October 22, 1947, Prime Minister Nehru went to the UN in good faith to call on the world body to intervene and ensure that Pakistan pull back its troops. Based on the Indian complaint and the counter-arguments of Pakistan, the UN Security Council called for not only an immediate ceasefire, but also a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the Kashmiris.

Myth II

India refuses to uphold the UN-mandated plebiscite that gives the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people: Pakistan

The Story

When the irregulars from Pakistan invaded India on October 22, 1947, Prime Minister Nehru went to the UN in good faith to call on the world body to intervene and ensure that Pakistan pull back its troops. Based on the Indian complaint and the counter-arguments of Pakistan, the UN Security Council called for not only an immediate ceasefire, but also a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the Kashmiris.

Ignoring the advice of his Home Minister Sardar Patel and Indian Army commanders that India should not agree to a ceasefire before the area captured by the invaders was reclaimed, Nehru went ahead and not only ordered an immediate ceasefire but also agreed in principle to the plebiscite — a promise that has not been kept.

The Reality

This is the instance used to castigate India for not only breaking the spirit of the UN resolution but also ignoring the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

But just look at what UN Resolution 38 of 17 January 1948 actually says about the run-up to the plebiscite —

“The Government of Pakistan should undertake to use its best endeavours: To secure the withdrawal from the State of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the State for the purposes of fighting, and to prevent any intrusion into the State of such elements and any furnishing of material aid to those fighting in the State”.

Please read that again.

The much-bandied resolution, used to whip India with by the critics, clearly states that Pakistan will “withdraw” all “Pakistani nationals” and “tribesmen” who infiltrated on October 22, 1947 from the soil of the whole of Jammu and Kashmir as it existed then, without exception. This was the UN resolution’s ‘first condition’ for the beginning of the process towards the plebiscite.

Has that condition been fulfilled by Pakistan? Has the land ‘occupied’ by the Pakistanis and the tribesmen in 1947 been vacated? Isn’t the reality that Pakistan occupied and continues to occupy more than one-third of the territory of Kashmir?

As a way to fulfill the mandate and hold the plebiscite, will Pakistan be willing to vacate *** now, 63 years after the resolution? The answer is written on the wall.

For all intents and purposes the UN resolution on Kashmir is as good as dead.

No wonder then that the wily but pragmatic General Musharraf gave up the usual Pakistani harping on self-determination in Kashmir for a more practical and doable out-of-the-box solution, which unfortunately is being disowned by the present Pakistani government.

File photo of Pandit Nehru during his Kashmir visit in 1947. Ignoring the advise of his Home Minister, Sardar Patel, and Indian Army commanders that India should not agree to a ceasefire before the area captured by the invaders was reclaimed, Nehru went ahead and not only ordered an immediate ceasefire but also agreed in principle to the plebiscite, a promise that has not been kept.

Myth III

Pakistan has always stood by Kashmir, as against the brutality of the Indian security forces in the Indian side of Kashmir: Pakistan

Pakistan in Kashmir

a) Pakistan has carved out the Northern Areas (now called Gilgit-Baltistan, almost 72,971 Sq km) from Kashmir into a separate administrative and political unit. This area, which was part of the undivided Kashmir at the time of independence, has been ‘annexed’ by Pakistan, as it were, and separated from Kashmir.

b) In 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,800 sq km in the Trans-Karakoram Tract to China. The Tract was part of the original state of Jammu and Kashmir.

c) Pakistan actively encourages “other people” to settle in *** and have even allowed the Chinese a huge presence in Gilgit-Baltistan, ostensibly for developing the infrastructure of the region.

In contrast:

a) Territorially, the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is the same entity that existed in 1947, except for the portions gobbled-up by Pakistan/China.

b) The Freedom House Report, 2010, on the level of ‘freedom’ in *** characterised it as “not free’, while the Indian side of Kashmir was defined as “partly free”.

c) No non-Kashmiri can buy as much as an inch of land in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. There has been no attempt by India to change the demographics or the state’s ethnic character. The only demographic change that has happened in the state has been the “ethnic cleansing” of the Kashmiri pundits from the Valley. A mass exodus which has largely been ignored by the media and the powers-that-be.

Therefore, there is nothing much really that India has to feel defensive about. Whatever Arundhati Roy or others may put out on the air.

Source: India Syndicate
Shattering some myths on Kashmir –

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4504093&page=2

Ms. Roy and Her love For Kashmiri Pandits November 1, 2010

I am not a expert in International affairs nor am I a member of some esoteric groups of intelligentsia. I am not even affiliated to any political or religious groups who can talk for hours on Kashmir based on their vicarious knowledge, But as a Kashmiri I supersede the above mentioned groups as the existing problem is directly centered around me and my place of birth…..Kashmir.
The last six months have brought Kashmir back on the center stage and I am sure the policy makers of India and Pakistan must be burning many mid night lamps in order to device new tactics and strategies to settle this issue and thus score a point over each other.
Indian democracy is the largest democracy in the world and thus there is a lot of freedom for raising different voices irrespective of their nationalist views or anti-national diatribes. The role of Chinese and ISI cannot be ruled out in funding those groups whose only aim is to Balkanize India. We all know 7 lakh Kashmiri Hindus were forced to leave their hearth and homes in wake of the terrorist activities by a section of Kashmiri Muslims who killed tens of hundreds of Kashmiri Hindus. We are also aware of carnages carried out by Naxalites and Maoists who killed with impunity and without compunction. section of Bodos,Nagas,Tamils and some Khalistanis have also beeen known to use more voilent ways  in order to prove their point.
But things are changing. With majority of people disapproving the violent ways , a new breed of Terrorists have mushroomed, who advocate openly to Balkanization of India. Recently I also attended one such function in new Delhi. The name of the function was” Azaadi-the only way”. It was organized by anti-Indians and this was my first experience of modern terrorists. It consisted of Ex-Khalistanis,Kashmir’s Hurriyat,A splinter group of Tamils, Maoists, Naxalites, Nagas and more..It was intellectual terrorism at its best. The high point of the whole function was when someone from the crowd flew his slippers towards syed Ali Shah Geelani. Those slippers became a huge “hit” with the Media and everything else got shadowed by those slippers.
Noted writer Ms. Arurdathi roy had also come though she came 2 hours late. She has won a “Booker prize” for her book ”the god of small things” in 1997.However it is noteworthy that she could not make any ripples in the literary world or media again after this book, which makes it look highly suspicious that even the above mentioned book may be a classical act of plagiarism. Only, God of small things know…..Meanwhile, She also spew hatred against India.
All this happened in the capital of India in the police protection provided by Government of India. Those who opposed their devious act were swiftly rounded by the Police and packed to Jail at Parliament street, New Delhi. This convocation raised many eyebrows, and a justification was sought from the government. As usual, nothing happened…
Though Ms. Roy gave her justification from Kashmir some days later wherein she reiterated her support to Geelani’s Hurriyat who want to merge Kashmir with Pakistan.

What surprised many was her remark on Kashmiri Pandits as she said,” for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland”

 

It hit me like a Boxer’s Punch .It is well known that she has no affinity for Kashmiri Pandits because we are contrary to what she supports in Kashmir..”Azaadi”.She should understand that under UN Resolution Kashmir has only two choices, to be with India or to be with Pakistan. there is no provision for Azaadi and Syed Ali Shah Geelani knows it very well. She advocated Geelani’s plebiscite, which is not possible in present times as Pakistan has changed the entire population ratio in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, just like China did in Tibet. The indigenous population of POK has been marginalized. The other communities in J&K do not want to be Pakistan. She must understand that Dogras, Gujjars, dards, Shias,Sikhs and Ladhakis are more than happy with India. She should also understand that Kashmir valley constitutes only 8-10% of the total area of Jammu and Kashmir.
The remark was also a crass because she shares the common dais with those who are prime responsible for the genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus. Her remark was lacking genuine sincerity and were just words, a mere lip service for beleaguered community who are living like refugees in their own country…..
If her heart feels the pain of Kashmiri Hindus, she should raise her voice for our cause also. Let me remind her that we want “Panun Kashmir”.. our Homeland. Panun Kashmir is a cherished dream of 7 lakh Kashmiri Hindus who want homeland within Kashmir, with a union territory status, no article 370 and full flow of Indian constitution. The homeland is also a necessity because we have seen 7 exoduses during last 5-6 hundred years due to stringent Islamic sharia…Till then, Ms. Roy, Kindly spare us, because we are not “Bookhe” or “Nangey”(Hungry and stark, without clothes), we are not even Maoists or Naxalites,or ex-Khalistanis or Nagas and above everything else “our hearts still beat for India”…..

Kashmir removed from UN list of disputes November 15, 2010

November 15, 2010 09:42 IST

In a significant development, Jammu and Kashmir [ Images ] has been removed from the UN list of unresolved disputes, giving a setback to Pakistan which has been asking the world body to intervene on the issue.

The omission of Jammu and Kashmir from a list of disputes under the observation of the UN Security Council was noticed by Pakistan whose envoy has lodged a protest.

“Jammu and Kashmir dispute was not mentioned in the context of unresolved long-running situations,” said Amjad Hussain B Sial, Pakistan’ acting envoy to the UN.

“We understand this was an inadvertent omission, as Jammu and Kashmir is one of the oldest disputes on agenda of the Security Council,” he added.

Sial was speaking at the UN General Assembly session, which was discussing the functioning and reform of the Security Council. It was organised by the UK that holds the presidency of the Security Council this month.

Pakistan has been asking the UN to intervene to help resolve the issue but India [ Images ] has always maintained that it has to be resolved bilaterally between the two countries.

Speaking earlier at the General Assembly, the UK envoy to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said that “some long-running situations, including in the Middle East, Cyprus and Western Sahara remain unresolved, as do issues where the Council has become engaged in recent years, including Nepal and Guinea Bissau.”"Huge challenges remain in Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he added.

Pakistan repeatedly raises Kashmir as an issue for the UN while India asserts that its is an internal matter. While expressing concern about the unrest, Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said that the UN will not intervene until requested by both parties.

“As far as this role of good offices is concerned, the United Nations normally takes that initiative when requested by both parties concerned,” Ban said in October.

“India and Pakistan, they are neighbouring countries, important nations in that region – peace and security would have important implications,” he added.

At the debate in the General Assembly, the UK also repeated its support to see India on as a permanent member of
the Security Council. “On the Council’s structure, we continue to support permanent membership for Brazil [ Images ], Germany [ Images ], India and Japan [ Images ], as well as permanent representation for Africa,” said Philip Parham, deputy envoy to UK.

“We look forward to working with many of these countries next year when they join the Security Council,” he said, referring to the entry of India and Germany on the Council next year as non-permanent members for a two year term.

While Japan will leave the Council in 2011, Brazil will serve out one more year. The UK representative also suggested “an intermediate model” of reform, which would create new seats with a longer mandate than the present two year term. Then, at the end of this period, a review would be done to see whether these seats should be turned into permanent ones.

Pakistan, which objects to India being on the Council, argued that the new council should include a few large states, a number of medium sized States and a majority of smaller States.

“We support the position of the Organization of Islamic Conference demanding adequate representation of Muslim Ummah in the Security Council,” said Sial.
Betwa Sharma at the United Nations
source:http://www.rediff.com/news/report/kashmir-removed-from-un-list-of-disputes/20101115.htm

SEVEN MIGRATIONS OF KASHMIRI PANDITS November 18, 2010

The rulers of Kashmir encouraged the influx of Muslims into the Valley to counter the supremacy of the Pandits (Kashmiri Brahmans). During the reign of Suhadeva (AD 1301-1320) many Muslim adventurers came to Kashmir. The chief among them was a Muslim missionary- Bulbul Shah. Two others were Shahmir from Swat and Rinchana from Tibet. Shahmir came in AD 1313 along with his numerous relations. Suhadeva granted him a jagir in a village near Baramulla. Ramachandra, the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of Kashmir, employed Rinchana and granted him jagir in a village in the Lar Valley. These two adventurers were instrumental in the establishment of the Muslim rule in Kashmir. Another adventurer who received Suhadeva’s patronage was Lankar Chak.

Dulucha, a Tartar chief from Central Asia, invaded Kashmir with 60,000 strong horsemen. Suhadeva tried to induce him to retreat by paying him off a large sum of money. For this purpose he imposed heavy taxes even upon the Brahmans who had never before been taxed. But Dulucha refused to retreat and struck terror. He ravaged the Valley with fire and sword. Monstrous miseries were inflicted upon the people including the Brahmans. According to Baharistan – i -Shahi, “Dulucha and his soldiers killed everyone they could find . People who had fled to the hills and forests were pursued and captured. Men were killed, women and children were reduced to slavery and sold to the merchants of Khita (Turkistan), whom the invaders had brought with them. All the houses in the cities and the villages were burnt. The invaders ate as much of the corn and rice as they could . Whatever was left, they burnt and destroyed. In this way the whole of the Kashmir Valley was trampled under foot”. Suhadeva fled to Kishtwar, leaving the Kingdom to the cruel aggressors. Dulucha stayed here for eight months and took about 50,000 Brahmans with him as slaves. But all the troops and slaves perished while crossing the Devsar pass. It was a terrible experience for the legendary Kashmiri Pandits.

Dulucha went away from the Valley but left it haunted. The cursed people had lost all faith in their ruler- Suhadeva. Taking the advantage of the chaos and confusion, Rinchana- the refugee from Tibet, occupied the throne with the help of some chiefs . He killed his benefactor, Ramachandra, in the fort of Lar by treacherous means and married his daughter, Kota Rani.

Rinchana, a pseudo- Buddhist, wanted to get initiated into the Brahmanical fold to strengthen his political position. At that time, Shaivism was the most extensively practised religion in the Valley. So he called Sri Devaswami, the religious head of the Shaivas, to indoctrinate himself into the Hindu religion. Devaswami called a secret meeting of the prominent Pandits, who refused to accept Rinchana into Hinduism because of his low birth. Jonaraja says,” The King asked Devaswami to initiate him in the mantras of Shiva, but as he was Bhautta (Tibetian), Devaswami feared that the King was unworthy of such initiation and did not favour him”. This was a monstrous blunder on the part of Pandits, which turned the course of history. In fact, the Brahmans were not ready to share their privileges with an outsider. Thus deflected, Rinchana wanted to establish a uniform faith of warring sects and creeds in Kashmir with himself as its head. But Shahmir and Bulbul Shah manipulated his conversion to Islam. Ramachandra’s son, Ravanachandra, and many others also embraced Islam. A Muslim ruling class came into existence. In this way the Kashmiri Pandits were responsible for the destruction of their own ascendency and the ruin of their very existence. They are tremendously paying for it till today.

People of inferior origin and subordinate castes were attracted to Islam by gradual methods. This newly established Muslim class slowly consolidated its position and employed various methods to propagate the new faith. However, the Brahmans put a brave front and resisted the tide. After the death of Rinchana (AD 1326), Udyanadeva, the brother of Suhadeva, was installed on the throne of Kashmir and Shahmir was appointed as Commander-in-Chief.



Achala, a Turkish chief, invaded Kashmir during the reign of Udyanadeva, laying waste the territories he passed through. The king fled to Tibet. Kota Rani – the queen, faced the invader, procured his death and saved the kingdom. In this operation , Shahmir played the dominant role. Jonaraja says, “Strange that this believer in Allah became the saviour of the people. As a dried up river allows men to cross it and gives them shelter on its banks, even so this believer in Allah, calm and active, protected the terrified subjects.” Shahmir’s influence increased tremendously and he further strengthened his position by entering into matrimonial relations with the powerful nobles in Kashmir. A subversive struggle was born between the tolerant Hinduism and the militant Islam. Since the advent of Muslim rule in Kashmir [ AD 1339], the legendary Kashmiri Pandits have suffered SEVEN TRAGIC MIGRATIONS so far. The seventh and last one was in 1989-90. A brief description of all the seven migrations is given below:

1. First Migration: In AD 1339, after defeating Kota Rain by a foul strategem and procuring her death, Shahmir ascended the throne of Kashmir under the name of Sultan Shamas-ud-Din (The Light of the Religion – Islam). He got khutaba read and the coins struck to his name. Islam became the court religion. Shahmir became the legitimate author and architect of Muslim rule in Kashmir. With the establishment of the new regime Muslim missionaries, preachers, sayyids and saints penetrated into the Valley. Sayyid Jalal-ud-Din, Sayyid Taj-ud-Din, Sayyid Hussain Simnani, Sayyid Masud and Sayyid Yusuf came to Kashmir to avoid the intended massacre by Timur. Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (Shah Hamadan) entered Kashmir with 700 sayyids; and, his son, Mir Muhammad Hamadani, with 300 more. They endured in the Valley under royal protection and disseminated the message of Islam. Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (AD 1314-AD 1385) wrote in “ Zakhirat’ul Maluk ” :

1. Muslim ruler shall not allow fresh constructions of Hindu temples and shrines for image worship.

2. No repair shall be executed to the existing Hindu temples and shrines.

3. They shall not proffer Muslim names.

4. They shall not ride a harnessed horse.

5. They shall not move about with arms.

6. They shall not wear rings with diamonds.

7. They shall not deal in or eat bacon.

8. They shall not exhibit idolatrous images.

9. They shall not built houses in the neighbourhood of Muslims.

10. They shall not dispose of their dead in the neighbourhood of Muslim graveyards, nor weep or wail over their dead.

11. They shall not deal in or buy Muslim slaves.

12. No Muslim traveller shall be refused lodging in the Hindu temples and shrines where he shall be treated as a guest for three days by non-Muslims.

13. No non-Muslim shall act as a spy in the Muslim state.

14. No problem shall be created for those non-Muslims who, of their own will, show their readiness for Islam.

15. Non-Muslims shall honour Muslims and shall leave their assembly whenever the Muslims enter the premises.

16. The dress of non-Muslims shall be different from that of Muslims to distinguish themselves.

This naturally caused animosity among the Brahmans and resulted in frail rebellion during the reign of Shihab-ud-Din (AD 1354-1373). In order to break the upheaval among the Hindus and to make them prostrate, the Sultan turned his attention towards their temples. All the temples in Srinagar, including the one at Bijbehara, were wrecked to terrorize the poor Kashmiri Pandits. It seems that by this time, the sultans of Kashmir were perfectly islamized as a result of their contacts, interactions and intercourses with the sayyids. These sayyids came here as absconders in search of safe harbours, but manoeuvered the events for their own cause and fanatic iconoclastic zeal. The Hindus began to feel deserted and alienated in their own land. To consolidate their rule, sultans institutionalized the “policy of extermination” to eradicate all traces of Hinduism in any form. However, the Kashmiri Pandits stuck to their own religion and traditions, ignoring the atrocities, barbarism and cruelties of the privileged ruling class. But there were many from other castes who, either by conviction or in order to gain royal favour, embraced Islam. These new converts were looked down upon by the Kashmiri Pandits as traitorous and treacherous, with no loyalty for time-honored values. This gave rise to a new class rivalry. Suha Bhatt, who after embracing Islam took the name of Saif-ud-Din, became the leader of the fresh converts during the reign of Sikandar (AD 1389-1413).

Sikandar- the Butshikan, was bigoted with fanatic religious zeal to spread Islam in the entire Valley. This fanaticism was stimulated by Mir Muhammad Hamadani. Suha Bhatt – the convert, was appointed Prime Minister by Sikandar and both hatched a deadly conspiracy to persecute the Hindus and enforce upon the Nizam-i-Mustaffa. Jonaraja says, “ The Sultan forgot his kingly duties and took delight day and night in breaking images … He broke images of Martanda, Vishaya, Ishana, Chakrabrit and Tripureshvara …… There was no city, no town, no village, no wood where Turushka left the temples of the gods unbroken.” According to Hassan (History of Kashmir), “ This country possessed from the times of Hindu rajas many temples which were like the wonders of the world. Their workmanship was so fine and delicate that one found himself bewildered at their sight. Sikandar, goaded by feelings of bigotry, destroyed them and levelled them with the earth and with the material built many mosques and khanqahs. In the first instance he turned his attention towards the great Martand temple built by Ramdev (the temple was rebuilt by King Lalitaditya, AD 724-760) on Mattan Kareva. For one year he tried to demolish it, but failed. At last in sheer dismay, he dug out stones from its base and having stored enough wood in their place, set fire to it. The gold gilt paintings on its walls were totally destroyed and the walls surrounding its premises were demolished. Its ruins even now strike wonder in men’s minds. At Bijbehara, three hundred temples including the famous Vijiveshwara temple, which was partly damaged by Shihab-ud-Din, were destroyed. With the material of Vijiveshwara temple, a mosque was built and on its site a khanqah, which is even now known as Vijiveshwara Khanqah.” The stones and bricks which once configurated a marvelous and splendid temple or monastery, now hold up mosques. Hassan further adds, “ Sikandar meted out greatest oppression to the Hindus. It was notified in the Valley that if a Hindu does not become a Muslim, he must leave the country or be killed. As a result some of the Hindus fled away, some accepted Islam and many Brahmans consented to be killed and gave their lives. It is said that Sikandar collected, by these methods, six maunds of sacred thread form Hindu converts and burnt them. Mir Muhammad Hamadani, who was a witness of all this vicious brutality, barbarism and vandalism, at last advised him to desist from the slaughter of Brahmans and told him to impose jazia (religious tax) instead of death upon them. All the Hindu books of learning were collected and thrown into Dal Lake and were buried beneath stones and earth.” Sikandar issued orders that no man should wear the tilak mark on his forehead and no woman be allowed to perform sati. He also insisted on breaking and melting of all the gold and silver idols of gods and coin the metal into money. An attempt was made to destroy the caste of the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans by force and those who resisted were subject to heavy fines. Farishta says, “ Many of the Brahmans, rather than abandon their religion or their county, poisoned themselves; some emigrated from their native homes, while a few escaped the evil of banishment by becoming Muhammedans”. To strictly enforce the Nizam-i-Mustaffa, Sikandar established the office of Shaikh-ul-Islam.

According to W.R. Lawrence, the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir were given three choices-death, conversion or exile. “Many fled, many were converted and many were killed, and it is said that this thorough monarch (Sikandar) burnt seven maunds of sacred threads of the murdered Brahmans”. As for the statements of Hassan and Lawrence, six maunds of sacred threads of converts and seven maunds of murdered Pandits were burnt. The number of people, to whom these thirteen maunds of sacred threads belonged, might have been tremendously colossal. A mammoth number of the Saraswat Pandits also went into exile, causing the first disastrous mass exodus of the community.

2. Second Migration: Ali Shah – the tyrant (AD 1413-1430), son of Sikandar- the Butshikan, during his short rule of six years, carried on his father’s 24-year tyrant reign with homicides, conversions, tyranny and enforced jazia. Suha Bhatta – the convert, who retained the prime ministership continued his earlier crimes and atrocities against the Kashmiri Pandits. Jonaraja gives a graphic account of the plight of the illustrious Kashmiri Pandits in the draconian reign of Ali Shah. He says,” Suha Bhatta- the convert, passed the limit by levying fine, jazia, on the twice – born. This evil-minded man forbade ceremonies and processions on the new moon. He became envious that the Brahmans who had become fearless would keep up their caste by going over to foreign countries, he therefore ordered posting of squads on the roads, not to allow passage to any one without a passport. Then as the fisherman torments fish, so this low born man tormented the twice-born in this country. The legendary Brahmans burnt themselves in the flaming fire through fear of conversion. Some Brahmans killed themselves by taking poison, some by the rope and others by drowning themselves. Others again by falling from a precipice. The country was contaminated by hatred and the king’s favourites could not prevent one in a thousand from committing suicide …. A multitude of celebrated Brahmans, who prided in their caste, fled from the country through bye-roads as the main roads were closed. Even as men depart from this world, so did the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir flee to foreign countries. The difficult countries through which they passed, the scanty food, painful illness and the torments of hell during life time removed from the minds of the Kashmiri Pandits the fears of hell. Oppressed by various calamities such as encounter with the enemy, fear of snakes, fierce heat and scanty food; many Brahmans perished on the way and thus obtained salvation.” This was the second miserable mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits. Jonaraja calls it “ Chandh-Dandh” – violent, cruel, brutal and horrible punishment, for the abandoned and vulnerable Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir. History repeated itself again in AD 1989-1990.

3. Third Migration: Mir Shams-ud-Din Iraqi, who visited the Saffron Valley twice in AD 1477 and 1496, was the founder of Nurbakhshiya order (Shia sect) in Kashmir. His mission was the vigorous propagation of his faith. So, not contented with peaceful preachings, violent methods were employed. In this adventure , Iraqi was helped by the homicidal creature and most dreaded tyrant- Malik Musa Raina, a convertee, whose original name was Soma Chandra. Not only the poor vulnerable Brahmans, but the Sunni Muslims were also violently converted to Shia sect by murderous techniques. This dogmatic fanaticism even crippled the Sunni ruler of Kashmir, Fateh Shah (AD 1510-1517). A khanqah was built at Zadibal (Srinagar) by Iraqi, which became the nucleus of Shia concentration.

Kashmiri Pandits suffered ferociously under the instructions of Shams-ud-Din Iraqi and Musa Raina. About 24,000 of them were forcibly converted to Shia sect of Islam. Iraqi had even issued orders that everyday about 1500 to 2000 Brahmans be brought to his doorsteps, remove their sacred threads, administer Kalima to them, circumcise them and make them eat beef. These decrees were ferociously and brutally carried out. The Hindu religious scriptures from 7th century AD onwards and about 18 magnificent temples were destroyed, property confiscated and ladies abused. Thousands of Brahmans killed themselves to evade this horrific barbarism and thousands migrated to other places, resulting in their third tragic mass exodus from the Saffron Valley of Kashmir. Those who stayed behind were not only forced to pay jazia, but their noses and ears were chopped off. To escape the tremendous pain and agony, they cried. “I am not a Hindu.”

4. Fourth Migration: The greatness of Akbar lies in his magnificent and fascinating policy of religious tolerance. Jahangir and Shah Jahan were not so tolerant. But their religious enthusiasm cannot be termed as fanatic. During this period, the Brahmans could perform their religious ceremonies after paying some tribute. But the whole scenario changed with the accession of Aurangzeb to the throne. With his bigoted fanatic and dogmatic approach, the Kashmiri Pandits were once again made vulnerable. Iftkar Khan, the Mughal governor of Kashmir during the reign of Aurangzeb, brutally tyrannized over the Brahmans to such an extent that they approached Guru Teg Bhahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, at Anandpur in Punjab and solicited his personal intervention with the Emperor. This ultimately led to the Guru’s martyrdom and made Guru Gobid Singh to create the Khalsa to fight the oppressors . Muzaffer Khan, Nassar Khan and Ibrahim Khan were other governors of Aurangzeb who ferociously terrorized the Kashmiri Pandits. These celebrated scapegoats were once again forced to migrate from the land of their origin. It was the fourth disastrous mass exodus of the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans from Kashmir.

5. Fifth Migration: During the rule of later Mughals, Kashmir witnessed the outbreak of the worst kind of religious intolerance. In AD 1720, Mullah Abdul Nabi, also called Muhat Khan, a non-resident Kashmiri Muslim, was appointed as Shaikhul Islam . In order to assert his religious authority, he asked the Deputy Governor, Mir Ahmed Khan , to start a campaign of persecution of the Kafirs (infidels) – as the Kashmiri Pandits were called. In order to satisfy his satanic ego, the Mulla issued six commandments:

1. No Hindu should ride a horse, nor should a Hindu wear a shoe;

2. That they should not wear Jama (Mughal costume);

3. That they should move bare arms;

4. That they should not visit any garden;

5. That they should not have tilak mark on their foreheads;

6. That their children should not receive any education.

But Ahmed Khan refused to execute the mischievous decree. The Mullah then excited his followers against the Kashmiri Pandits. He established his seat in a mosque, assumed the duties of the administrator under the title of Dindar Khan and let loose the reign of terror. The Hindus were wickedly tormented, their houses burnt and property looted. Hundreds of Brahmans were killed, prostrated, maimed and humiliated. They began to run away in large numbers and hide themselves in mountainous terrain. This was the fifth dreadful mass exodus of the legendary Kashmiri Pandits from their mystic motherland. Those who remained behind lived in the most horrific and terrible conditions generated by the Mullah and his gang.

6. Sixth Migration: The Afghan rule in Kashmir (AD 1753-1819) was a period of cruelty, homicide and anarchy. W.R. Lawrence calls it the “reign of brutal tyranny.” The barbarous Afghans employed every wild, inhuman, primitive, ferocious, cruel and brutal method to suppress the Kashmiri Brahmans. A pitcher filled with ordure was placed on the head of a Pandit and stones were pelt on it, till it broke and the unfortunate Brahman become wet with filth. Their brutality and atrocity crossed the extreme limits when Hindus were tied up in grass sacks, two and two, and drowned in the Dal Lake. The victimized Hindu were forced to flee the country or were killed or converted to Islam. There was horrible mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits, sixth one, to far away places like Delhi, Allahabad, etc. Many covered the long distances on foot.

Hindu parents destroyed the beauty of their daughters by shaving their heads or cutting their noses and ears to save them from degradation. Any Muslim could jump on the back of a Pandit and take a ride. Mir Hazar – an Afghan governor, used leather bags instead of grass sacks for the drowning of Brahmans. Turbans and shoes were forbidden for them. The Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir were also forced to grow beards and tilak was interdicted. The Afghans are now only remembered for their barbarity, brutality, ferocity, tyranny and cruelty. They thought no more of cutting of heads than of plucking a flower.

7. Seventh Migration: With the formation of Jammu and Kashmir State; and, establishment of the Dogra rule in 1846, Kashmiri Pandits were imperceptibly elbowed to the background. Administrators and officials were deputed from Jammu region. Though they enjoyed comprehensive religious freedom and social emancipation, political rights of the Kashmiri Brahmans were confined. On certain occasions, they even became victims of intrigue and suspicions. The vicious communal forces also turned their wrath against them. During the communal disturbances of July 1931, shops and houses belonging to the Kashmiri Brahmans were not only looted but also burnt. Three innocent Hindus lost their lives. This communalism in the state politics aggravated and magnified with the passage of time . It was fed for years with vicious communal propaganda and brainwashing.

After independence and accession of Jammu & Kashmir state to India, Kashmiri Pandits were pushed back to the barbarous Afghan era. They were given the sugarcoated dozes of poisonous toxics. Article 370 of Indian constitution just reduced them to cipher and liquidated their population. Under the pretext of economic reforms, their jagirs were confiscated and distributed among the Muslim peasants. The administration of Shaikh Abdullah adopted malicious and pernicious approach towards the Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir. They were taunted on one excuse or the other. Hindu temples were desecrated, looted and plundered. Minor girls of the community were forced to embrace Islam and marry the Muslim youth.

Shaikh Abdullah tried to create “ Shaikhdom” for his dynastic rule in Kashmir. But his dreams were shattered when he was arrested in 1953 for anti-national activities. In 1958, he was released but detained again after three months under the Kashmir conspiracy case. However, the case was withdrawn in 1964 because of political reasons. But he was arrested again in May 1965 for his subversive activities and released in January 1968. Again, in January 1971, a ban was imposed forbidding him to enter the Jammu Kashmir state. This restriction was lifted in 1972.

During 1953-1974 Shaikh Abdullah characterized India as an imperialist power endeavouring to subjugate the people of Kashmir. He asserted that the accession of Kashmir with India was his greatest blunder for which history will never forgive him. He also demanded the right of self determination for the people of Muslim – dominated Kashmir, but ignored the Hindu- dominated Jammu and Buddhist- dominated Ladakh regions. The sophist Shaikh advocated plebiscite and unconditional withdrawal of Indian army from the Saffron Valley. He also campaigned against the import of food grains from India and asked people to eat potatoes grown in Kashmir. For such arguments, Shaikh Abdullah was nick named as “Aaloo Bab” — Feeder of Potatoes. He made emotional solicitations that after death his body should not be buried in the subjugated Valley, but immersed into the sacred waters of Arabian sea. However, today his magnificent tomb stands on the banks of beautiful Dal Lake in Srinagar and is guarded by the Indian security personnel. By such gratuitous and conflicting statement, his secular credentials evaporated into thin air. The prospect of disloyalty and sedition began to haunt the Saffron Valley. Kashmiriyat switched over to political vandalism and bigoted fundamentalism. Shaikh Abdullah desperately held Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, a Kashmiri Pandit, responsible for the shattering of his malevolent dreams in 1953. The mortified Shaikh ambiguously decided to retaliate against the whole Pandit community in Kashmir. In vindictiveness, he instigated his associated that while making a choice between a Kashmiri Pandit and dreaded cobra, kill the Pandit first. A vicious campaign of terror was launched against the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir. They were refused entry to government jobs and institutions of higher learning. Besides hurling strong statement against the Government of India and Kashmiri Pandits, the Shaikh derided that the whole lot of Indian army cannot save the Hindus in Kashmir against the malevolence of Muslims. Farooq Abdullah also employed the same approach towards the crumbled Pandits when his brother-in-law, Gulshah, seized the chief ministership in 1984.The reactionary leaders- Afzal Beg, Maulvi Farooq, Mohi-ud-Din Kara and Maulana Masoodi; ignored the very existence of Kashmiri Pandits during their political adventurism. The Kashmiri Pandits were made to pay for every move on the political chessboard in Kashmir because they represented the pseudo-secularism, incognito- socialism and flowering- democracy of India. They were scolded and emotionally hurt in the Afghan fashion.

But then the whole political scenario in Kashmir took a dramatic turn in 1974, when Indira-Shaikh accord was signed by virtue of which the Shaikh became the Chief Minister of the State after the lapse of 22 years. Ignoring the great expectations he had created among the people in Kashmir and his vigorous campaign for plebiscite, the sophist Shaikh began to speak the language of Indian nationalism, democracy, socialism and secularism. The slogans of plebiscite, self-determination and independent Kashmir melted away. But the Hate- India virus, infused by him into the blood of the Muslim youth in Kashmir, was exploited by other corrupt self-styled politicians for their own interests from time to time. A vacuum was created because the people were betrayed disillusioned, politically raped and left in wilderness by their own leaders.

The programmes and policies of Bakshi, Sadiq, Qasim, Farooq and Gulshah were also damaging for the Kashmiri Pandits. They were continuously haunted by antagonistic, hostile and rebellious elements. Mufti Syed is even believed to be responsible for the anti-Hindu communal riots of 1986, when cows were slaughtered and temples destroyed in Anantnag district. From 1947-1986 about four lac Kashmiri Pandits silently migrated from Kashmir. Hypocritical atrocities and criminal ignorances of political leaders were responsible for these development. Pakistan, to avenge the defeat of Bangladesh, blatantly sponsored the violence and terrorism in the Valley, resulting in the turmoil of 1989-90. The then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Jagmohan, wrote a detailed letter to the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi , on April 21,1990, endorsing the alarming signals. But cowardly Indian leadership was still unconcerned.

“Aay Zalimu, Aay Kafiroo,

Kashmir Hamara Choudh Dou”

“Bharat Kay Aiwanu Ko

Aag Lagado, Aag Lagado”

The final assault on the Kashmiri Pandits started with these slogans. Barbarous terrorists from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Sudan and even Saudi Arabia penetrated into the Saffron Valley. Brutal, wild and barbarous techniques were employed to hound and kill the Aryan Saraswat Brahmans of Kashmir. Even the helpless ladies were not spared. Sarla Bhat, a nurse in Soura Medical Institute, was abducted on 19th April, 1990, by JKLF militants who repeatedly gang-raped her and eventually killed her on 25th April. Girja Tikoo, a teacher from Bandipur, was kidnapped, raped and eventually shred to pieces by a saw mill on 4th June, 1990. Bimla Braroo from the Nai Sarak, Srinagar, who along with her daughter, Archana, was raped in the presence of her husband, Sohanlal, before all the three were killed on 31st March, 1992. There are dozens of such brutal instances. Even wicked Afghans will be feeling sorry in their graves for the sanatic holocaust of the legendary Kashmiri Pandits.

The barbarous murder of hundreds of innocent Brahmans of Kashmir caused their seventh and final agonizing mass exodus from the Valley. This was the final knock down of ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Kashmiri Pandits. The mass massacres at Sangrampora (1997), Udhampore (1997), Prankot (1998), Wandhama (1998) and Nadimarg (2003) were the follow up cleansing operations. Pandits in Kashmir dwindled from 10% in 1947 to fewer than 5% in 1989 and to less than 1% today. The pretended world bodies, contaminated human rights organizations, pseudo-secularists, self-styled leaders, so-called policy makers, tainted political parties and slack bureaucracy have failed to express serious concern at this great human tragedy.

DANSE MACABRE is still going on.

[For detailed study: HINDUS AND HINDUISM IN KASHMIR – A SAGA OF DEATH, CONVERSION & EXILE; Crisis in History: DEATH OF A CIVILIZATION; ABANDONED: Legendary Kashmiri Pandits; A HISTORY OF KASHMIRI PANDIT GENOCIDE; A History of the Kashmiri Pandit Race; SATANIC HOLOCAUST OF KASHMIRI PANDITS; and, Kashmiri Pandits: A FORBIDDEN COMMUNITY – Dr Satish Ganjoo]

The writer of this article is Dr. Satish Ganjoo

Kashmir Pandits and Jobs in Kashmir December 24, 2010

Last week after having my dinner, I went out for my daily leisurely 30 minute walk, which I have been following religiously since couple of years. As usual, It is vey quiet , being late evening, and I have developed a special affinity for the silence which accompanies me during those thirty minutes. But last week, the sound of silence was suddenly filled with a ringtone from my Mobile. It was sunil, My childhood friend who gave me a pleasant surprise. After exchanging pleasantries, he came to the main point for which he had called me, “ Going back to Kashmir”.
His wife has been selected for the post of “Teacher” in Kashmir. With a bit of excitement and trepidation he asked me,” what do you think! Is it feasible for my wife to join there or not?” Now this is million dollar question and probably the most difficult one since the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir in early 1990’s.The topic is also important, because of the strings attached to the jobs given to Kashmiri Pandits. The main and the most controversial among them is that the candidates selected for jobs in Kashmir have to work only in Kashmir whatever the political situation. They cannot migrate like their predecessors had, during the infamous 1990’s.This point makes them vulnerable and they may become scapegoats to political animosity between India , Pakistan , separatist and mainstream political parties.
Most of the Kashmiri Pandits who have opted for Government job in Kashmir are K.P’s who are living either in Jammu or Kashmir. Very few K.P’s who live outside J&K had applied for the jobs as they have far better job opportunities than those living in J&K. Most of the KP bodies like Panun Kashmir, AIKS,KSD and others have criticized the government policy of linking rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits with this sort of employment.It should be noted that they are not against the jobs given to Kashmiri Pandits but to those terms and conditions which Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir have attached with the jobs.
Coming back to my friend Sunil, I said to him,” this is a very difficult question to answer and only Time will tell, whether the decision of Joining in Kashmir is good or bad.May be the fictitious character of Doctor Emmett Lathrop “Doc” Brown can answer this question,who could go into past or future, by using his time Machine”.uninterested in the famous fictitious “Doctor”,He said in a casual tone,” I will wait for some more days or weeks before I will take any decision.”
We have seen during last six months in particular, there is total anarchy in Jammu and Kashmir. More than 117 innocent youths lost their lives during last six months. The ineptness of the administration is not a secret anymore. All the leaders of Kashmir whether separatists or mainstream cannot dare to venture out in the lanes and by-lanes of Kashmir, without their security men. Where does this leave the common Kashmiris!!! Is the administration organized and professional so as to instill a sense of security among the common Kashmiris and Kashmiri Pandits in Particular! Because we should not forget that, it was the lack of security which forced the community of K.P’s to leave their hearth and Homes in the frozen dead nights of January 1990.
K.P youths who are joining their duties in Kashmir are no doubt adults and thus mature enough to make their own decisions. I am sure the Youths will fell nostalgic as they will walk those lanes and by lanes which they had walked 21 years back. Kashmir, no doubt is a heaven and undoubtly the most beautiful place in the world. There will be a nip in the air, the great Kangri, Pheran, snow and icicles and not to forget their own mother tongue,” kashmiri”. Their step of returning back to their roots may prove to be an epoch for Kashmiri Pandits.Only time will tell. It is purely their own decision, and the consequences bad or good will also be their own. But, Is it righteous and lawful on the part of Government of J&K to attach strings to the jobs given to the K.Ps? What should be the name given to this organised blackmail?

Meanwhile, I have my fingers crossed, as my brethren are ready to cross the tunnel and greet their destiny with open arms. I wish them , “All the Best”..

Contrition of a separatist leader…. January 4, 2011

21 years may not be a long time in History but for a mortal like man it is a hell lot of time. One entire generation is born and raised in 20+ years. Time provides a tough challenge and makes or breaks sprit in men. For some It gives them courage to speak truth which though looks very easy, but in reality ,is one of the most difficult virtues to stand for. Not everyone can be like Mahatma Gandhi who makes Truth look so easy and who practices non-violence in form of thought, word and deed. But at least one can always try to stand for Truth. Recently Separatist leader Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat also showed some courage as he spilled the beans,and spoke that truth, which for long ,pro-pakistani separatists were hiding in their hearts.
His stark revelation was long known to Indian administration, but in this phase of unrest ,nobody would have believed them. It may come as a shock for some to know that their beloved religious leader Moulvi Faroq and Separatist leader Abdul Ghani lone were cold bloodily murdered by their own men!!! Prof. Bhat revealed, that even his brother, Mohammed Sultan Bhat, was also killed by those who were espousing the separatists cause.

From his speech, I have extracted some of his statements..
““We have to first accept and speak the truth about ourselves. We can’t build a movement on lies,”
““This movement started with the assassinations of thinkers and the people who held an opinion,”
“If you want to rid people of Kashmir of sentimentalism bordering on insanity, you have to speak the truth.”
“India didn’t kill him either.”

Prof. Bhat also flayed the idiosyncratic dictum of chronological hartals, forced by “G” faction of Hurriyat, which affect common man the most and termed it as a result of “no thinking” and “no strategy” on the part of Hurriyat Hawk syed ali shah Geelani. Geelani was also imputed for the death of 114 innocent lives as his faction was spearheading the 6 month long agitation.

Some blame, definitely lies with Indian administration also because ,they are also responsible for the imbroglio in Kashmir. If Kashmiri Muslims feel alienated, from rest of Country, It is the responsibility of Indian administration which includes both governments at state and centre to dispel their fears of alienation.
Sometimes,I wonder if the problem of Kashmir has been created by India? Is article 370 mainly responsible for the sense of alienation as far as Kashmiri Muslims are concerned! Because that article somehow, somewhere has created a division of inequality in the minds of Kashmiri Muslims. Mainstream Political parties speak of “Self Rule”And “Greater Autonomy” which further strengths the idea in Kashmiri Muslims that they are unequal to rest of the Indians. I would definitely like to ask the mainstream political parties of Kashmir about the concept of “self rule” or “Greater Autonomy” and how it can dilute the fears of alienation faced by Kashmiri Muslims!
At the time of India-Pakistan Partition, we all know that J&K was under the monarchial rule of Maharaja Hari Singh who acceded to India by his own will. Since Pakistan was not even born before 1947, there was not any uprising based purely on religion, as is in the case of today’s Kashmir. It was not any “epiphany” for common masses , as was stated by noted Novelist Arundati roy, But a heavy dose of lies and conspiracy coated with religion, which has made the” Kashmir”, of today.
Coming back to Prof. Bhat’s catharsis and contrition of heart, His revelations have uncovered the ugly facet of so called Kashmir Freedom struggle , which was draped otherwise in a thick layer of lies. This whole episode also implies the struggles and war of pride, prejudice, envy and personal aspirations of those who claim to be at the helm of the struggle. Another thing which became clear from this episode is that, there is lot of rivalry between different separatists, for supremacy, of becoming “the Alpha” among leaders of Kashmir.

Bending to Separatists: Betraying the Tiranga January 25, 2011

Bending to Separatists: Betraying the Tiranga
Nancy Kaul
25 January 2011

India ’s flag is the pride of the country, symbol of our national sovereignty, our constitution, our freedom. The Tiranga stands for our national self-respect, our valour, dignity, unity, and territorial integrity. The fluttering tricolour is the first and foremost identity of the Indian nation. It is for the Tiranga that our armed and security forces are ever ready to shed their blood to secure India from within and at the borders with their sacrifices and martyrdom.

Every 26 January, the country led by the President salutes the Tiranga, presented by the defence and security forces of the country. Salutation to the Indian nation and the right of unfurling the national flag on Republic Day (26 Jan.) and on Independence Day (15 Aug.) is a right every Indian citizen enjoys under the constitution.

Non-hoisting of the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar is nothing less than a betrayal of the nation. In 2008, separatists tore down the Indian tricolour during the unrest created by the Hurriyat Conference (a conglomerate of 23 anti-national and separatist organizations), along with the PDP and other politicians from the Valley.

“De ragda, de ragda, Hindustan (they chanted, vehemently stamping their feet on national flags spread out beneath their feet), jive jive Pakistan .” There followed a mad frenzy of slogans and the hoisting of the Pakistani flag.

CRPF was forced to be a mute spectator to disrespect of such magnitude and State DGP Kuldeep Khuda allowed the Pakistani flag to flutter unmolested at Lal Chowk for several hours, atop the very clock tower where the Tiranga fluttered for many years, even as terrorists continued to attack Lal Chowk with grenades and fidayeen attacks.

On both occasions of Republic Day and Independence Day in 2010, the betrayal continued unchecked by the State authorities and the national flag was not allowed to be hoisted even by Security Forces over the Lal Chowk clock tower.

Now, in 2011, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has announced that no one will be allowed to go to Lal Chowk to hoist the flag as it would antagonize the people. “What is the need for an individual to hoist the flag,” he asked. This prompted terrorist Yasin Malik (chairman, JKLF) to challenge the decision of the BJP Yuwa Morcha to hoist the flag at Lal Chowk on Jan. 26. “I challenge them to come and hoist the flag,” Malik said while addressing a seminar in Srinagar .

These synchronized statements of the Chief Minister and the separatists point to a deep and evil design to push the tide of Indian nationalism back from the state, particularly at a time when the separatists and militants are facing diminishing popular returns. Once the Chief Minister declared he would not allow anyone to enter the state boundaries, Yasin Malik and his slogan-shouting goons were allowed to move freely in a procession to Lal Chowk.

It may be recalled that on 11 Sept. 2010, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq had asked people to march to Lal Chowk from Idgah after Id prayers, which culminated in rioting, violence, burning of Government and security buildings, and the waving of Pakistani flags as his Azadi cacophony continued in Srinagar, leading to a situation best described as instigating and waging war against the State. Yet the Government and State Police Chief looked the other way.

These separatists and anti-nationals are allowed to raise Pakistani flags, yet the Chief Minister and his administration are happy to toe the line of secessionists by not allowing the Indian flag to be unfurled on Republic Day! In fact, Mr Omar Abdullah is even suggesting that there is no nationalist in Kashmir and that not one citizen there wants the Indian flag to be unfurled in Srinagar city! This is grave injustice to those who believe in India and gave their lives for its unity, such as Maqbool Sherwani and Brig Rajender Singh.

These statements must be seen in the light the oft-repeated cacophony emanating out of Pakistan : On 26 Sept. 2010, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit claimed the state is not an integral part of India and the issue cannot be resolved within the ambit of the Indian Constitution.

Is preventing the unfurling of the Indian flag in tune with a signal from Pakistan ? Certainly not allowing fellow countrymen to enter the State reeks of the agenda of Sheikh Abdullah and has chilling shades of 1953 when Dr Syama Prasad Mookerji was arrested for entering the State of Jammu and Kashmir disrespecting the ‘permit system’ for entry, and then ‘allowed’ to die in jail in circumstances that remain unexplained to this day.

By deploying such heavy force and repeating the same folly, sealing Srinagar as if it were a fortress under siege by hostile forces, the State and Central Governments are furthering the cause of the secessionists. At the time of writing, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Anantha Kumar, who flew to Jammu airport to support the beleaguered cadres of the Yuwa Morcha, were confined within the airport building and asked to return to Delhi . They would do well to stay put till 26 Jan. and unfurl the flag in the airport terminal itself, unless better sense prevails.

It would be in the fitness of things for all other senior BJP leaders, including Chief Ministers, to rush to the State and challenge Mr Omar Abdullah and his administration to arrest them. A full blown crisis could make at least Mr Farooq Abdullah see sense and pave the way for an ultimate resolution of the confrontation. This would also be an appropriate moment for the President of India and the Supreme Court of India to find a way to remove Article 370 from the statute book and fully integrate the state into the Indian nation, which will prove to be the biggest boon to its own poor citizenry.

The right to hoist a flag at Lal Chowk is every Indians’ right. As Congressman lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in the Supreme Court in the flag case: Indeed, the very denial of the right to fly the Flag to the Indian citizen – as was the existing status quo for decades after independence – is itself the manifestation of a psychological mindset, a subservience to imperial and colonial notions of governance and a slavish approach to nationhood. Such a denial perpetuates the hiatus between the governors and the governed which is fundamentally antithetical to the very concept of a Republic signified by the emotive and euphoric opening words of our Constitution, ‘We the people of India …’

When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh bats for Omar Abdullah on the issue of denial of the right to unfurl the flag at Lal Chowk, he should view himself as another pawn in the agenda of the secessionists and separatists to hit at the umbilical cord that binds Jammu & Kashmir to India . To appease them is to compromise with the nationhood and sovereignty of India .

Prime Minister, this is your litmus test. Pakistan ’s ex-foreign minister has said that you had virtually concluded an agreement on Jammu and Kashmir , a sovereign part of our country. Is this true? What was the agreement? And is the obstinate insistence on not flying the flag on 26 Jan. at Lal Chowk a part of this understanding?

Have you – like Dharmaraja Yudhisthira after he gambled away his freedom and that of his brothers in a game of dice – promised to give away that which does not belong to you? Such a pact would be bad in law and morality.

The author is convener, Daughters of Vitasta..

source:http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1602

The longest night-recalling 19 jan 1990 January 27, 2011

THE LONGEST NIGHT

January 19, 1990.Twenty one years have already passed since that dreadful day which turned into a never ending longest night, when dawn that ends the darkness of the previous night so very naturally,seemed to be a distant dream. When you think of those agonizing and tormenting hours of that night even today, your heart misses a beat and if you do not come out of that nightmarish experience immediately, there is every possibility of going into convulsions that could lead to a catastrophe. Such is the impact and the imprint of that day on our lives that you have to carry those scary and torturous memories with you till you are alive. Chila Kalan was at its worst, it had not snowed for quite some time and the sub zero temperature was sending a chill down your spine. On top of it, there was mounting tension in the air. Selective killings of Kashmiri Pandits had already started and we like eternal fools were still awaiting some miracle to take place that could restore some kind of normalcy. I, unlike other days, came home early around 6 pm. As usual, I parked my car on the main road near the then Kani Kadal Fire Station just across the shop of the milk maid famous for her PANEER and then walked through the 9 serpentine KOCHAS leading to my home situated on the eastern banks of KUTA KOHL, once a roaring tributary of Vitasta.All the houses on our side belonged to Kasjhmiri Pandits with the sole exception of a house whose owner was one Munnawar Sheikh,a well respected trader of Kashmir Arts, and surprisingly the same was true of the other side, but in reverse, where every one was a muslim with the sole exception of a house belonging to Moti Lal Bhan who as a teacher had achieved a celebrity status in his profession.

It will be interesting to recall the days preceding the deadly night of the 19th January and my personal experience of those horrible days. Mohan Chiragi ,(it is so difficult to add prefix ‘late’ to his name) against heavy odds had taken it on himself to bring out the Srinagar edition of leading Urdu national daily newspaper QUAMI AWAZ, already being published from New Delhi, Lucknow and Patna. The paper was an instant success, and its office in the KHIDMAT HOUSE on the bund at Abi Guzar Srinagar was a meeting point for all those who still had the courage to talk differently – against the militancy. A 30 plus strong staff of reporters, correspondents, copyists, Katibs , photographers and those on administrative duty had to be taken care of. And remember, all of them were kashmiri muslims. The staff working late at night was more keen to have me with them and it suited both Chiragi and myself. They were all nice boys, doing their duty as dedicated newsmen, yet you could not rule out the possibility of someone leading them astray, if left alone. And why were the staffers keen that, I stay with them till they close down for the day – usually10-30 or 11 pm – a deathly time those days. I was in fact their insurance. Tahir Mohi-ud-Din (now Editor of very popular Urdu weekly CHATAAN published from Srinagar) was the News Editor and he had to be left at his residence in Natipora. He was so scared of crossing the Ram Bagh bridge, where the security forces would subject anyone at that late hour, and rightly so, to a thorough search, which could mean staying out in the cold for quite some time. It just did not matter that you were a PATARA KAAR, the local journalists had already started calling themselves so. My presence would mean an easy and out of turn hassle free passage. Not only that, Morfat Qadiri son of that legendry journalist Qadiri Saheb had to be dropped at Narsingh Garh, but not before some more staffers had to be dropped en route at TankiPora, Dalhasanyar and Bana Mohalla. The real ‘fun’ would begin at Tankipora-Zaindar Mohalla. Incidentally, I discovered that the Jeep we were travelling in, was displaying HAZA MIN FAZAL-I RUBI in bold letters on its front bonnet, the legend was not there a few days back.Besides, even QUAMI AWAZ was very discreetly obliterated from the front wind screen. Coming back to Zaindar Mohalla. It would be pitch dark by the time we reached there. No street lights , no lights even in the residential houses on either side of the road. Atmosphere so eerie, as if the entire city had been taken over by ghosts and suddenly the head lights of the vehicle would show some creepy movement far ahead of us and the jeep passengers in one voice would say BISAM-I-ALLAH and ALLAH-O-AKBAR and the driver would immediately use the dipper thrice to signal to the now visible crowd , maybe 50 yards ahead of us that we were a friendly lot .We would slow down and the hostile crowd of some twenty to thirty young boys at that unearthly hour surrounded us immediately. You could see two or three of them displaying AK 47 rifles and few having pistols in their hands. SOURAI YASEEN was continuously recited by the staffers and none seemed to be worried about me ,strangely they wanted me to take care of them even when we were confronted by militants. After identifying ourselves as journalists representing KASHMIR TIMES(this was their own paper), they singled me out and wanted me to step out of the jeep. I was absolutely unperturbed and rest of my fellow passengers almost collapsed expecting to see last of me. There was further shock in store for them when they saw and heard me shouting at the leader of this blood thirsty crowd,” Haya Ashqa…………..” He came running towards me trying to hide his AK and responded,” Papa, how are you here(in Kashmiri)…………..”. I knew this Ashqa, a young twenty odd years old, 6 footer with an athletic built from 1984 when he was a member of the youth wing of the Awami National Conference led by Kh. G.M.Shah. He immediately ordered his crowd to get lost and allowed us to go but not before he obliged me by giving a demonstration of their routine nocturnal activities. Within a fraction of a second, the crowd re assembled and as per our agreement , we could restart our journey only when we could not hear them any more. With the engine of the jeep resting, it was silence of the grave yard all around and all of a sudden the silence was broken by the bone chilling chorus singing by the militants led by Ashqa who had started moving in 4 abreast column towards Haba Kadal (for obvious reasons), and what were they singing: JAGO JAGO SUBAH HUYEE, ROOS NE BAAZI HARI HAI, HIND PE LARZA TAARI HAI,AB KASHMIR KI BAARI HAI, JAGO JAGO SUBAH HUYEE. Those who were unlettered and illiterate in the crowd, and they formed the majority, would say:JAGO JAGO SUBAHAN VOUTHI HOUYE ( wake up, wake up; it will be utter chaos in the morning ). And imagine the plight of those of us going through this torture night after night. Nowhere did we ever see a policeman or any other security personnel en route.

And on 19 Jan 1990, Bahadur was home too and so was my brother Ashok. Bahadur lighted the coal BUKHARI and we settled down to a hot cup of tea, exchanging blank glances. My mother, who had lost her vision almost completely in both eyes because her surgery was indefinitely deferred due to turmoil in the valley, was the only one asking questions on current affairs. Clock on the wall showed it was already 7 pm, and it was time to switch on the TV for news. The telephone started ringing, it was my sister from Narsing Garh,” Papa, can you hear something…………….?” She was quite nervous and scared. I could hear some sloganeering in the distance through my receiver, but could not make out what it was all about. It was scary though. I tried to reassure my sister and wanted her to give more details. All that she could say was that huge crowds seem to be coming from Chhatabal area towards Karan Nagar and they were raising anti India, pro Pak slogans. The cause of concern was, they were raising anti-Batta slogans too. She wanted to confirm if such slogans were raised elsewhere too. She was sure that her time was up and she bid me a tearful god bye. I was at my horn’s end, I really did not know what to do. I again rang her up and she let me hear the loud and clear slogans raised apparently by huge crowds that were zeroing in, and I asked her to keep calm and not to lose hope. I once again assured her that all would be well within a few hours, but who could guarantee a few hours of safety ? Our side was still Ok, but then a call came from Bana Mohalla, they too repeated the same and worse, they had seen people coming out on roads , huddled up in groups sort of conspiring. And then it was the same all over the city. It seemed the city had been taken over by JKLF, the only terrorist outfit operating then. It was 9pm and we saw hordes of muslims coming out on Guru Bazar bund on the other side of Kutta Kohl and they were not raising any slogans, but their whispering was reaching us loud and clear. There was total black out on our side. All KP households had put their lights out and all the family members virtually huddled up in a single room with no lights on. Just on the other side of this once mighty rivulet,which was now reduced to a drain and one could walk across it on foot in less than five minutes, we saw some people, not more than five or ten moving in that minus 5 degrees C temperature, pointing towards our house. We could distinctly hear them,” Look, they are enjoying the warmth of the BUKHARI………but for how long?” Both my brother and myself and Bahadur too failed to make out who they were. It semed we were still out of the harm’s way. But suddenly the situation took a turn for the worse. One of my telephones no: 3223 got disconnected but the other no: 5273 coming from the muslim side was, thankfully in working order. Hundreds of muslims came out of their homes, braving the freezing cold started raising threatening slogans not only at a hearing distance but also at a hand shaking distance .Time now was 11pm. Now onwards it semed the time too froze. I started receiving desperate calls, now from Bansi Parimo, a little tater from Rageshwari ,both from Sanat Nagar, and then from Wanabal and Rawalpora. End seemed a few minutes away and help was coming from nowhere. I called up who’s who of JK Police, some did not pick up the phone and others sheepishly expressed their inability and helplessness to provide any relief. I called Mohan Chiragi in Delhi and got all the nos: of those who mattered. One of them was the then Home Secretary, one Shiromani Sharma, He was sort of disturbed by my call and was shockingly surprised to hear that the situation was that bad. He confessed that nobody had informed him about this looming tragedy. He promised help. I did not stop there. I traced Mufti Mohd Syed in Mumbai,where he was addressing a public meeting, and got in touch with him. It took me a lifetime to reach him, it was just past midnight and he advised me not to panic, help was on way. I repeatedly called some of my Muslim friends and soon discovered that it was a futile exercise. It was one muslim lady of Rawalpora, who sounded as worried and tense as we were and that was a big consolation . In the meantime, our immediate neighbors with whom we shared a common wall, stealthily walked into our ground floor sitting room to feel little more at ease .My calls to army did not mature and the blood thirsty , hostile crowd seemed to be knocking at our doors. Death was imminent. Something had to be done and done very quickly. My brother and myself chalked out a plan. Plan to die heroically. There was one satisfaction: Anoo and Chandan were safe in Delhi. We had seen them off alongwith photo journalist Mushtaq at Srinagar airport only a few days earlier. Everybody in the neighborhood was convinced that we had lots of weapons in our home, though the truth is that my brother had just one double barrel licensed gun at home. We had a box full of cartridges too. Frontal attack would come from across the Kotta Kohl, they could come in hordes and we decided to shot as many rounds as possible ,killing or injuring all in the line of fire. In the meantime, we prepared the womenfolk to lay down their lives by self immolation. A can full of kerosene oil was kept handy. It goes to the credit of my mother and her age old friend Rupavati to volunteer for this kind of death . Even Bahadur’s wife and her two young kids prepared themselves for the ultimate sacrifice. One last attempt, I called an army no: in Udhampur and was assured by an officer of the rank of a major that a column of soldiers was kept ready and it would move out from Badami Bagh Cantt. soon. How soon, SOON would be, was a million dollar question. The night seemed unending. It was 3am. I called the muslim lady in Rawalpora once again. She sounded a little relaxed and I was re assured. I connected the movement of the army column with her near positive response. The army would obviously reach Rawalpora first through the bye-pass, but my calculations were ill founded. She clarified that since their neighbor, a senior politician and an ex minister too had joined the militant processionists ,and advised her husband to follow suit and her husband had willingly obliged him by joining the anti Indian processionists some of whom were armed to the teeth . They were convinced that AZADI was only a few feet away and they could ill afford not to be part of this victorious team .Incidentally both these gentlemen are living today, while one of them retired as a chief justice of a State high court, the other rose to be a cabinet minister once again.

The last to call around this time was Inderji from Ishbar, the hostile crowds had come out on roads even at this late hour, to ensure that they are not denied the share of Azadi, now round the corner. One thing was evident, Bhattas (kashmiri Pandits) all across the city of Srinagar were waiting with baited breath for the eventuality – death at the hands of their one time neighbors who were prowling the streets raising venomous anti Bhatta slogans . There was no news from rest of the Valley.The time shown by the grand- father clock on the wall was just past 4am, but that hardly made any difference, the menacing crowd just a few meters away from our doors was more restive than an hour earlier, even when the temperature had dipped to around minus 7degrees Celsius. You just heard the battle cry of ALI ALI and the women folk started chanting SHIV SHAIV SHAMBU and we loaded the gun. End seemed a second away. Nothing happened . Ashok looked at me and we concluded that the marauding crowds were probably waiting for a signal to attack the Pandits simultaneously all over the city, or else why should they have not attacked us after raising that battle cry.. After all it would not take more than a million strong agitating blood thirsty mobs parading the city streets for almost nine hours to decimate the already almost frozen to death Kashmiri Pandit community in a jiffy. Another call to that major in Udhampur, this time he gave me a telephone no: of some other officer in Badami Bagh cantt. I called him and to my surprise, he responded immediately assuring me that the column was ready and they were awaiting the orders from the civil authority. “Where is the civil authority” I retorted, but alas! He had disconnected the line. Waiting for the inevitable, the deathly silence was broken by the howling of stray dogs and my mother was the first to hear BAANG from a distant mosque and she jumped,” tala, gash ha aao……” (look, it is dawn). We removed a part of the curtain hesitatingly and could see the silhouette of huge crowds, now unbelievably silent, disappearing into narrow lanes and within a few minutes with better visibility, we could hardly see anybody on the bund. Was it a jumbo repreive ?

Our house was the target, we learnt later, but was not attacked for fear of heavy reprisals. After all, they were convinced that our house was actually an ammunition dump and we could take then hell out of the ill armed hordes even if they were large in numbers. But why did they not annihilate the rest of us? Who and what saved us that day? And look at our naivete, most of us continued to live there after surviving that nightmare.

The author of this article is MR.shiben kishen tikoo…

Return path of Kashmiri pandits… February 17, 2011

Nowadays “Scams” has become such a common word in India, 2G spectrum Scam, Adarsh Housing Scam, N-E Power scam, the list is long. These scams have for the time being pushed “Kashmir” in the backstage and it is witnessing a quite time now as compared to july-August 2010 when it had become a virtual Inferno.

Time washes away everything even the memories and sets a base for the epoch. The Hindus of Kashmir are also at the ingress of such History, courtesy to Indian politics and its polity. The indigenous kashmiri Hindus are slowly but surely losing their land of ancestors to the politics of India as Government of India and Subsequent state governments have done nothing to reverse the exodus.

When I left Kashmir, along with some 4 lakh odd Kashmiri Pandits, The political heads of India, who were at the helm, at that time were in a deep slumber probably because they were satiated and sedated with newly acquired power or they were probably the most incompetent politicians which India has ever seen. Whatever the reasons, but their ineptness has costed us dearly.

The movement of un-rest which started in late 89 and is still unabated, is purely based on Religion. India may be 3rd largest muslim populated country of World, But the fact that India is a secular country and Muslims are a minority, in a Hindu majority country, goes against India. Because the Demagogues only show one side of the coin, that side which says that Muslims are a powerless minority of India. But does a Muslim majority country really ensure what it promises at its inception or it is merely an eyewash..

We all know what happened in Bangladesh when it was known as East-Pakistan. West Pakistan is responsible for the death of 2 million East-Pakistanis,most of them were muslims, and both West as well as East Pakistan were a part of a Muslim Nation. We also know about the unrest in Sudan. Till now, It is estimated that half a million people have lost their lives in Darfur,all of them are Muslims, and 2.5 million rendered homeless. North sudan Has mostly Arab ethnicity and south Sudanese are Blacks. This battle of Colors has out weighted their common Religion which happens to be Islam.

And what about Islamic republic of Pakistan itself, It is on the brink of Balkanization. In Baluchistan, Baluchi’s despise the presence of Pakistani armed forces because they really don’t feel that they are a part and parcel of Pakistan. Even in P.O.K, dissent voices against the Pakistan regime are gaining a lot of popularity, with many ethnic people openly criticizing Pakistan’s policy on P.O.K. It is needless to say that Balochi’s and P.O.Kashmiri’s practice Islam.

There are many more such vitriolic incidents, but I will cut short here and come back again to Kashmir. During last 63 years, India has not been able to draft a viable map for the solution of Kashmir imbroglio. Merely dragging and stretching time has not given much success, neither relaxing various taxes in Kashmir has proved of much help.on the name of Kashmir, the other two regions viz Jammu and Ladakh have been constantly ignored and these two regions are totally dependant on the politicians of Kashmir for the redress of their grievances. The people of these two regions are core Indians to their Hearts just like kashmiri Hindus, and playing them as second fiddles is just not right.

From KP’s perspective,their return depends only on one factor, the same factor which compelled them to leave their hearth and homes in the dead of the night i.e “Kashmiri Muslims”. The muslims of Kashmir in 1990 had unanimously raised their voice in favor of our exodus and “vox populi” was against us because we practiced a different faith and we believed in India. The vox populi at that time was based on the notion that once Kashmiri Pandits will be ousted from Kashmir, Pakistan will come to the aid, Militarily attack India, and annex the land of Kashmir. ( believe it or not—this notion was further strengthened by the fact that India was losing continuously to Pakistan in the game of Cricket, and made many fanatics impoliticly believe that Pakistan can actually win a war.. ).

Let the loud speakers of those Mosques, who had harangued the pandits of Kashmir, appeal them to return back to their homeland,if they are really interested in the return of Kashmiri pandits to valley. I am sure that moment History will witness the reverse exodus of Kashmiri Hindus.But is this going to happen ever?Since last 22 years there has not been a single procession in Kashmir by Kashmiri Muslims, who have vociferously raised their strident voices in favor of the return of Pandits to valley.Even the mainstream political parties have maintained a stoic silence on this grave issue and not once,the two main political parties of Kashmir, who boast of millions of supporters, i.e National conference and PDP have organised any mass Rally, ever, in favor of the return of Pandits to valley. This clearly indicates that all the political parties whether mainstream or separatists don’t want KP’s to be back there…..

This fact had left Kashmiri Hindus to deliberate on a different path, the path known to most of Pandits as “PANUN KASHMIR”, that path which can lead them to the land of their ancestors, which can guarantee them and their progeny safety and a free atmosphere to practice their age old customs and beliefs…
Panun Kashmir….why not?

19 jan 2030,kashmir and kashmiri pandits February 24, 2011

19 jan 2030————-Place-Srinagar,Jammu,Delhi,
Venue of first scene-Jantar Mantar, New Delhi,19 jan 2030
Background
It has been 40 years, since the largest minority of Kashmir migrated to different parts of the Globe due to the terrorism which had killed tens of hundreds of their Brethren , rendered them homeless and had left a deep scar on their psyche, bruised their heart and soul. The largest concentration of KP’s which used to be Jammu in the 1990’s has lost its numero uno position, the exact population of KP’s is not known as they are scattered all over India, Besides their vernacular has also changed making it extremely difficult to detect them. However, there is still a minuscule group of erstwhile pundits, who protest on this day and remind us all about their glorious, which now can be termed as insignificant past.
National newspapers tend to ignore this news, This is not a spicy news at all from Media point of view ,but a start up newspaper Journalist cover the report of protest held by Kashmiri Pandits and publishes it in the Newspaper, not out of concern , but because of its incapability to find more news, As a matter of fact, the editor of this start up Newspaper happens to be its only journalist . The news will appear something like this:
19 jan 2030,A group of five Kashmiri Pandits organised a peaceful protest rally today at jantar mantar, as a mark of respect for those who were killed and ousted from Kashmir some four decades back,on eve of their 40th year in Exile, a pakistani flag was also burnt down as a symbol of protest.Those who attended the protest were Mr. X-President Kashmir-xxx, Mr. Y-president-Kashmiri hindu-kkk, Mr.Z-President-Kashmiri Brahmin-zzz, Mr. K-Kashmiri pandit-yyy and Mr. DDD-President-Koshur Batta. A candle light procession was also taken from Jantar Mantar to Hanuman Mandir before they dispersed in the motley crowd.
Venue of second scene, partap park,Srinagar,19 jan 2030
Background
Since last forty years, Kashmiri Muslims who are below forty years have not seen Kashmiri Pandits around , This has made them susceptible to believe that Kashmiri Pandits never existed in Kashmir, and they sincerely feel that it is a rumor of RSS agents and Government of India, who keep popping up this dead issue. A protest rally has been organized by the students of M.A History, University of Kashmir to create a mass awareness about this Government sponsored Fallacy.
All the major newspapers of world , including top Indian national newspapers are present to cover this so called momentous occasion. There is a total chaos in Partap park as it is jam packed, people who didn’t find a place in park have smartly climbed the nearest trees and buildings, The chief minister of the state is watching this program live on his T.V , In fact, he has given his tacit approval to this epiphany of the history Students. Next day ,most of the newspapers report this news on their front page and the news appears something like this:
19 jan 2030,Srinagar, The students of M.A history, Kashmir University organized a protest rally at partap park and virulently attacked the agents of Government of India for spreading rumors about the history of Kashmir. Noted Anthropologist and professor of History, Mr. QQQ told the media persons that RSS backed agents and Government of India had previously also tried to distort history by changing the name of Takht-e-sulaiman hill to Shankaracharya Mandir , Islamabad to Anantnag and Lalla Arifa to Lal ded. Professor alleged that In the same line of misinformation and distortion of history, GOI is planting this theory of Kashmiri Pandits, who never existed on this holy land of sufis. The noted Professor also told media persons that they should ask themselves and their conscience that, if ever, Kashmiri pundit existed on Kashmir, then , there should be some sort of proof which will make it evident that they actually lived in Kashmir valley in the recent past .He also reiterated that Kashmiri Hindus once lived in Kashmir and some 100 years back all the hindus of Kashmir, including the Pandits voluntarily embraced Islam.
Venue of third scene, Durga nagar,Jammu,19 jan 2030
Background
Durga Nagar had seen a dense and probably largest concentration of Kashmiri Pandits in Early Nineteen nineties, However , today that scenario has also changed and only 11 KP’ families are now left in Durga Nagar.As a matter of fact, jammu region as a whole, has seen a sharp decline of Kashmiri Pandits who once had swelled to almost 3 lakhs in the early nineties of 20th century. Due to the discrimination of the subsequent state governments, lack of jobs for the youth of this community and step motherly treatment of central government, this beleaguered community has moved to more greener pastures. Reports suggest that at present not more than 10,000 K.P’s are now left in Jammu.
Some Kashmiri Pandit Sexagenarian and Septuagenarians have organized a havan to appease their ancestors , gods and to purify the valley of Kashmir. A press meet has also been organized on the sad occasion of their 40th year of mass exodus. Some other veterans of the community had also joined them from different places of the Jammu city and they are all waiting for the media to come. The press meet is held at the home of a community leader, who was very active in his hey days and was even jailed for allegedly being right-wing opinionated, invitations had been sent to all the major News papers of Jammu but only couple of journalists come for this press meet.
Next day only one newspaper reports about this press meet, the journalist reporting happened to be a Kashmiri pandit in his sixties, he writes the news with a bit of emotional touch, something like this:
19 jan 2030,jammu:The pundits of Kashmir observed their 40 years in exile, in a country which has pushed them into a limbo and erased them from the memory of the nation of 1.5 billion people, while paying homage to those killed during last forty years, It somehow became evident from the body language ,that the pandit community has come in terms with their fate and realized that Kashmir is forever lost for them .A KP gentleman at the function said Philosophically:
“The fire of the Havan
reminds me of conflagration ,
burning deep in my heart ,
The smoke of Havan,
reminds me of melancholy ,
which has engulfed me
the ash reminds me
of my soul less body,
my soul has left long ago,
to meet the beloved
and is waiting,
inside the temple of shiva,
for shiva to open his third eye
and become one with him”

This is the Future reality of Kashmiri Pandits dated 19, jan,2030…unless… we make a sincere effort to change, or get wiped out as a community, which once was the pride of Kashmir….

Kanea Jung(stone pelting)-The emerging sport of Kashmir… March 23, 2011

Somebody said to me that Geelani had told his followers, ”Khoon ka badla june mein lenge” which means the revenge of the blood will be taken in June. The hibernation period starts from November and lasts till the announcement of Amarnath Yatra , usually June, by then many of the front line players of the most emerging game namely “Kanea Jung” A.K.A “Stone pelting” come out from a vegetating state and play an active role in the new pastime of some youths.
Emergence and Rules
There was a long religious discussion, among the religious scholars of Islam in whole of India particularly Kashmir, about “Kanea Jung”, whether it is “Halal” (religiously legal) or “Haram” ( religiously illegal), with most of the scholars terming it as “Haram”, but that did not deter Geelani and company (sponsored by Govt. of Pakistan) and they termed it as “Halal” and thus gave a green signal to the sport of “Kanea Jung”.
“Kanea jung” for me has emerged as a new age sport of Kashmir valley,considering the involvement of a large segment of masses which includes all sects of people irrespective of their professions and educational qualifications.Stone pelting, and stone pelters had/have Conspicuously grabbed much of the attention of the Indian as well as International media, with the youths armed up to the teeth, and stones weighing from some grams to even a kilogram, ready to aim at policemen, and cry foul when retaliated back by the police personal, who attacks back in order to save their lives.
Unlike other sports where there is a binding for dress protocol, “kanea jung” has no such bindings as one can dress as per one’s will, but those dresses will be given preference which has lot of pockets and which is not very tight to the skin such as Cargos( loose with multiple pockets).sports shoes is given preference by more professional and serious players of this game, head and face cover, such as scarf, is almost a must as it helps the player to conceal one’s identity and attack ferociously on the opponents which in case of Kashmir happens to be JK Police.
This is a game which demands that the player should have strength as well as stamina, strength to throw the stones , which sometimes can weigh half to one kilogram, without missing the aim(policeman’s body particularly head ) Stamina, to run short as well as long distances (because policemen will be chasing).The positive point about this game is that there is no age limit and even female members are also welcome provided they are above 50 years of age.
This is a game of high endurance, considering the length of time which can stretch up to 10 hours a day, and a player may have to travel fairly long distances. The selection of stones is of utmost importance, and different stones are used for different purposes, small stones are used when the target is far, may be 100 meters away, medium sized stones are used when the target is at moderate distance and very large stones (as big as a boulder) are used , when a group of players of this game happen to catch a single policeman, and unanimously decide to club and bludgeon the man in khaki uniform and later on crush the bones with the boulder.
As in all the games, there are two parties to contest, so is the case with this game. A stone pelter is the protagonist of this game and the policeman is the antagonist. As far as this game is considered ,the antagonist plays rather a submissive or defensive role, with most of the time spent in saving himself from the hailstorm of stones. Occasionally ,the police team fires tear gas at stone pelters, which disperses only that team which is rather new and which probably have jumped into the fray for the very first time. The more seasoned players of this game, when confronted with the same situation ,rather very swiftly pick up the tear gas shell and throw back at their enemies, and leave them with flood of tears. However the antagonist sometimes resort to firing also, when things go more violent and that is why this sport is not meant for feeble hearted sportsmen.On the other hand, the protagonists firing disguised as antagonist at its own team is also a fact.
The rule of the game is simple, protagonists have to hit antagonists and vice-versa with stones, but to a large extent, it is the protagonist, who is attacking on most of the occasions. One more noticeable difference between the two teams in the arena is that the antagonists are equipped with shields and helmets to protect themselves from the raining stones, while the protagonist have no such armory but they make up with the numbers , as at any place of action between the two parties the ratio of protagonist to antagonist is 50:1.
Pros
1.This is a game which promotes both strength and Stamina.
2.It keeps general masses away from the real problems.
3.It promotes team spirit among the teams of both protagonists as well as antagonists.
4.It has been noted that active participants of this game have better cholesterol levels ,lower blood pressures and high bone density.
5.The high adreline rush associated with this game keeps the participants physically as well as emotionally charged, beneficial most for those who are in depression.
6.for some, It gives a purpose of life.
7.It is a good therapy to vent out oppressed emotions.
Cons
1.The cons of this game is that it is a game of labyrinth, with some of the team players of both the sides camouflaging and deceiving its own men and thus risking and playing with their future.
2.This is still an unorganized game and only few protagonists get their salaries while others shed their blood for free.
3.only few protagonist make a breakthrough and get promoted to the political arena of Kashmir.
4.the common man of Kashmir is left jobless as it is almost mandatory that such games are played with unofficial announcement of hartal/strikes, which affects most the simple man of Kashmir.
5.this game in its present form promotes unemployment and kills the working ability of the general masses.
6. The captain of the protagonist does not participate directly in this game.
7.there are no big time sponsors of this game.
8.there is a very high risk of physical disability/dismemberment or even death associated with this sport.
Role of other political parties in this sport
Other mainstream political parties, who are not in power, particularly the main opposition party,are alleged by their opponents that for their short term benefits, they are surreptitiously helping the stone pelters by giving them financial aid to keep the action alive for the whole world to watch and later attack the ruling political party for inaction and inaptness of administration. These political parties sending their stooges in the garb of protagonists cannot be ruled out.
IPL and sepratists
IPL is due next month, and like most, I too will be glued to TV for the thriller matches, after all IPL will be spending tens of millions of dollars for the event, Players like Gautum Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan got exorbitant sums like 11 crores and 10 crores respectively. Lucky guys, On the contrary this season’s “kanea jung” will be almost a repeat of last season.For the information, last years’s man of the tournament for “Kanea Jung” was “Masrat Alam” who was later found to have received large sums from across the border in order to add fuel to the fire which claimed 117 lives last year and left thousands injured.Fortunately/unfortunately he is cooling his heels in a jail and won’t be available for this season, But I am sure the captain of protagonists , Mr. Syed Ali Shah Geelani ,must have had a discussion with the selectors who happen to sit across the border, and have/has a Substitute who may be as good as Masrat Alam and who can lead his team in this seasons “Kanea Jung”.
I am not sure about the antagonist’s strategy of this season, but it can be be assumed that even they will be better prepared unlike last season, when they were suddenly awaken from the deep slumber by the thunderous noise and showers of stones.
P.S-For stone throwers
I have a businessman friend in Jammu who owns a stone crusher, he can deliver good quality stones of all shapes and sizes at your door step in the valley, Free boulder with a truckload of stones..Hurry rush your orders..limited stock.
Yours aficionado
————————

At jantar mantar-In support of Anna Hazare-some pictures April 9, 2011

Corruption is undoubtedly the greatest menace which is eating up our Nation from inside, For a change, I have included some photographs which says a lot about the sentiments of the general public of India.Some photographs shared by Mr. M. Zijoo as on 8-04-2011……

Osama, Geelanis and Kashmiri Pandits…. May 10, 2011

Around thirteen years back, My friend who was my classmate met me after a gap of year or so in Bangalore, a  self confessed moderate Muslim from Kashmir Valley . He was feeling ebullient because he could feel the absence of Fear and uncertainty which has become synonym with Kashmir since last 21 years. There was a visible change in his physical appearance and he was looking weak , his face had lost that healthy pinkish tinge which was found ubiquitously  on the face of Kashmiris-whether Hindus or Muslims. I  asked him the reason for his cadaverous looks and he said,” I was picked by the Police in Kashmir for being  hand in glove with the terrorists and I was beaten mercilessly and  even some of my bones were cracked”, I asked sympathetically ,” Is that True?” He said,” No, I was framed by a former terrorist who has now become an informer”.

We had a good time together until the word “TALIBAN” popped up in the discussion. Taliban was new at that time and I had no interest in another Extremist Muslim Group operating in Afghanistan. But my friend bubbled with joy at the name of Taliban and said,” Taliban is doing good work in Afghanistan, they are adhering to the tenets of Islam and I pray to Allah that their ideology spread to every part especially Kashmir.” I thought he calls himself moderate,yet he is visibly exited about “Talibanis” and got lost for a while thinking of those who  don’t call themselves moderates!!!

Yesterday Prime Minister of Pakistan Yusuf Raza Geelani came out with clarification for the first time after the death of Osama Bin Laden who was hunted down by the American navy seals in the Backyard of Military establishment of Abbotabad in Pakistan . Pakistan just got “exposed” and It was sheer shame and a slap on the face of Pakistan, Many wrote that Pakistan’s golden Goose is Dead. No longer can they extract  Billions of Dollars from U.S.A ,the way they used to, on the name of Osama Bin Laden.

Prime Minister Geelani flayed Al-Qiada with some strong words but Tactically omitted out the other Devil namely the Taliban. It is widely believed that Taliban is the creation of Pakistan’s  I.S.I  and whole world knows the relation of Al-Qiada with Taliban.The terminologies or names such as Jamat-ul-dawa, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen or Taliban may sound different but they are just the different facets of the same epidemic which has killed tens of thousands of innocent people and ISI has been supporting these groups for a long time now. The whole episode of “Laden” made it evident the role of I.S.I in giving shelter and other strategic tools to Osama Bin laden and thereby Al-Qiada.The other Islamic extremist groups are safe in Pakistan as long as they don’t challenge directly U.S.A the way Al-Qiada did.The role of Pakistan as the center of Islamic terrorism as well as outsourcing of terrorism on the name of Islam has become crystal clear…

Meanwhile Another Talib of Kashmir, Syed Ali Shah Geelani  lead the funeral prayers for the most wanted Terrorist of World and declared him a “Martyr” an Hero of Islamic world and said at the same time,” Kashmir is not a battle of religions”. If it is not the battle of religions then why on Earth did he led the funeral procession of a man from Middle east!! …By the way he has scored a point by restricting the duration of Amarnath  Yatra to 15 days which was previously extended to one month.

Ethnic cleansing of Minorities is widely prevalent in every Country where Islam is A Major religion. Taslima Nasreen’s Book  “Lajja” which was written in the Backdrop of Babri Masjid demolition has captured the mind and Mood of Islamic zealots Photographically. I had read that Book long time back and I still remember the names of the protagonists family  like suranjan, Sudhamoy, Kironmoyee and Maya, while Maya does,nt come back to his family and It is presumed that she has changed her faith to Islam in order to live, the other three at the end flee to India in order to survive. Isn’t it the same thing which happened to Kashmiri Pandits, we left our homes and properties too in order to live. We left our everything in order to escape  the Bloody ideology of Islamic fundamentalists, which had long time back left us with two choices-convert and embrace Islam  or Die. At the time of our exodus there was nothing like Babri Demolition, or any other Hindu-Muslim riot in India but still,  Kashmiri Pandits were ousted because they happened  to follow a different faith.

Kashmiri Pandits-the victims of Jihad ,know very well the devious designs of fundamentalists and separatists. The Crocodile tears of Former terrorists and separatists has little effect on us. They may act to be friendly  and laugh with KP’s but their laughter is like the laughter of Hyennas-Deceptive ,cunning and dangerous for the lives of K.p’s.

Is their a civil society of Kashmiri Muslims who have ever raised their voices in support of K.p’s? the answer is “NO”. There are some moderates, but what is the use of those moderates who like the three monkeys of Gandiji-see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil whenever it is a question of Kashmiri Pandits. But when it comes to the Human right issues of Kashmiri Muslims, suddenly from             Gandhiji’s Monkeys they transform into torn out loudspeakers and cry and scream for the violations.

The mainstream political parties are to some extent better than the separatists but till now there has been no sincerity, synergy and cohesiveness in their words and actions. Their lip service underline their unctuousness and their political interests  and more so over they have to water the garden of their vote bank .

Since last 21 years time has stood still from the KP perspective, Kashmir –The land of our ancestors  is still far, our deserted homes tell the story of our forced exodus, our depilated temples tell the story of the battle of our faith, The lakes and mountains of Kashmir silently recognize us as their own but cannot utter a word and those who have the power of speech have never spoken for us. we may go to visit Kashmir as many of us do But none, not even those who are working there under PM employment package can call it “SWEET HOME”…..not under the present circumstances……..

Political empowerment of Kashmiri Pandits!!!! May 25, 2011

Some years back, I along with a group of Kashmiri Pandits  got a chance to meet one of the top most politician (name withheld) of J&k and spent good two hours discussing Kashmir and its people. The politician looked keen to involve Kashmiri Pandits in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. At that time the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir was Mr. Mufti Mohammed sayeed and his government had initiated and build condominiums for the migrant Kashmiri Pandits at Budgam. The senior politician candidly told us that there is a section of Kashmiri Muslims who is opposing the return of Pandits vitriolically as they have illegally captured the properties of Kashmiri Pandits .This politician also told us about the incapability of arresting the culprits by the administration as that can turn into a political Blunder. At that time,T.V and print media were also aggressively promoting the new found bonhomie between the two communities of Kashmir and many pundits even showed interest to go back to Kashmir and live in those flats.

PDP was signaling and conveying through different modes to Pandits to come back to Kashmir as they claimed that normalcy has returned to Kashmir, The other political heavyweight Mr. Faroq Abdullah in the meantime visited Kashmiri Pandits at Misriwala Camp, jammu and warned them not to return to Kashmir as Things were not congenial for the return of Pandits to valley. But sure That time around 2007 things looked more normal ….

During that time ,A KP friend of mine even bought a piece of land in Kashmir and was interested in building a new house, but it proved to be a Bubble waiting to be busted as after a year or two the Amarnath Land row agitation unveiled the curtains of hatred and showed the ugly facet of religious intolerance and rift- which was already present somewhere between Hindus and Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir. The spoilsport was played by Syed ali shah Geelani, a known xenophobiac , who played the role of a Demagogue and claimed that India is Building a colony in Baltal and told his followers that very soon by these tactics the Majority population will be Marginalized by Indian population, PDP also did not left any stone unturned and tacitly and sometimes openly supported Geelani and company.

Then came the Jammu and Kashmir elections and people of Jammu and Kashmir come out in Large numbers for voting which culminated in Mr.Omar Abdullah becoming the youngest Chief Minister of J&k. Many KP’s also tried their luck and jumped into the fray of electoral battle but all had to bite the dust. Not a Single KP won and not only that ,most the KP’s who had contested elections lost their security deposits, Even the traditional Habba Kadal seat was also lost which was otherwise considered to be a KP stronghold.

Now after a long Gap, the politics of Kashmir saw two new K.P entrants, a 52 year old housewife Ashajee, a Kashmiri Pandit , who was elected a Panch from Wussan village in Baramullah, and last week another Kashmiri Pandit ,Shri Makhan lal Zutshi was also elected Panch and that too unopposed from village Tahab,Pulwama. Their victory made Headlines in many newspapers and many congratulated them including me. But their victory also unfolded the untold story of political alienation which the KP’s have been facing since long.one of the reasons for exodus of Kashmiri Pandits was Political marginalization since KP’s do not have any political power in Jand K. lack of political will by the leading political parties of J&K was another reason for not taking any appropriate steps to bring back KP’s in the political fold at least since last two decades .

There are 4130 Sarpanchs(Kashmir-2164, Jammu-1966) 29719 Panchs(Kashmir-15959,Jammu-13760) number of Block Panchayats-143(Kashmir-77, Jammu-66) and 22 District Panchayats. Out of the given figure above two Kashmiri Pandits made it and became Panchs!!! What is this news conveying ? Is it the dawn of the political rebirth of Pandits or the Remnants of political decadence?

2 out of 29719 comes to 0.006%, Is this an achievement or shame!!! I will definitely term it as a big shame,a joke on the part of democracy…It is believed that the population of Kashmiri Pandits is no less than 7 Lakhs !!! though ,no survey has been done regarding the exact population of KP’s since many decades ,However there is a statistics(old) with JK government, but that is questionable and hence not authentic.

it has been reported by a section of Kashmiri Muslims who were architects of the exodus of K.P’s that there has been no Genocide of K.P’s, no one ousted K.P’s from Kashmir, Only Indian Army looted the houses of Kashmiri Pandits who left for safer places, No one destroyed the temples of Hindus of Kashmir but nobody can explain how and why the temples were broken!!!, Kashmiri pundits were lured by Jagmohan to leave Kashmir and leave their palatial Bunglows and Multi-crore properties only to live in tattered camps and get mindboggling Rs 800/family as assistance!!!

Coming back to panchayti elections, a Political section wants to project the news of KP’s winning panchayti elections as news which reflects political empowerment of K.P’s, But that is not. Elsewhere in India, becoming a panch or even a sarpanch does not make any ripples, but we are talking about Kashmir, that Kashmir which had a population of one million K.P’s in early twenth century and today not even 4000 are left , That is why two KP’s becoming Panchs have made Headlines…..But on the other side their victory has also stated without a word the general condition of Pandits and their story of last 21 years……