Kashmir | News & Discussions.

[indianpatriot]

too lengthy of a worthless bias article !!

 

[Bhairava]

Palestine - UN recognised right to indpendence,Kashmir - Un doesnt recognise independence

Palestine - Did any ruler formally accede to Israel - NO ; Kashmir - the Maharaja formally signed the instrument of accession to make it a part of India.

Palestine - are the Palestinians chased out from Palestine- yes ; Kashmir - are the Kashmiris chased outfrom Kashmir - no (if the Hindus/Sikhs/Jains qualify as "Kashmiris" then maybe Yes)

Palestine - is their territory being occupied by settlers - yes : Kashmir - is territory being occupied by Hindu settlers from rest of India - NO

Palestine - do Tanks ,bulldozers regularly demolish homes,buildings - YES ; Kashmir - Have Tanks even come once inside SriNagar - NO

Palestine - Do attack Helicopters regularly fire missiles at anything moving - YES ; Kashmir - Does that thing happen here - NO

Palestine - IS any HAMAS leader safe from MOSSAD - NO ; Kashmir - IS any hair on the head of a separatist leader harmed - NO .Infact they are given treatment at the taxpayers expense in Delhi and Mumbai


Palestine - Do the Israeli police calmly bear all the stones thrown on them - NO ; Kashmir - Poor CRPF not even allowed to fire and given only a lathi in hand.

Palestine - IS there a shortage of basic materials - YES ; Kashmir - one of the least poor states in India with annual assitance going into thousands of crores.

Palestine - IS there any blockade of essential supplies in place - YES ; Kashmir - NO


Oh yeah,,Kashmir is very similar to Palestine...


P.s.: Paarull is a good journalist..but I dont know what went into her head while writing that piece.

 

[Hulk]

The Article is right to the dot. These people want Independence only because of religion. Otherwise they have their own CM no one can buy land their what else do you mean by independence?

 

[Ganga]

After pelting stones at security forces for over a few months now the big question is what did the "youths" achieve.Did India give up Kashmir or did she remove all her troops from the region?Did any of the western power show even a little bit of interest?Now that the situation is slowly stabilizing the people of Kashmir should look back and realize the damage they have done to themselves.Kashmirs main income is tourism and it has taken a huge hit due to the "uprising".Children were not able to attend schools and colleges all this time .People were not able to walk freely on the streets .Was all this necessary at the first pace?The entire thing started when a 16 year old kid was allegedly shot by security forces.(This is what they say ,there is no individual confirmation to this).Even if it is true there was no need for violent protests.People could have protested peacefully.Why should the entire region suffer because 1 boy got killed?

 

[Hulk]

That too the boy got killed in an accident. He was accidentally killed by a shell of tear gas and only dumb a$$ thinks that was deliberate.

 

[Prometheus]

Your Long list of reasons is nothing more than the changed political realities on ground and hence corroborates the point that subsequent UN resolutions were confronted with practical aspects of holding the plebiscite and hence needed to be rooted in political realities on ground. The subsequent UN resolutions have altered and modified RES 47 only in aspects related to practical implementation of plebiscite and not in its basic and substantive aspect i.e. RSD of people in J&K. Your inability to distinguish between two different aspects UN resolutions viz moral, which grants RSD to people of J&K, and practical which was needed to devise a mechanism to implement that right , renders your analysis as logically flawed and no amount of fake indignation and contempt can hide that.

out of curiosity................why are only muslims from only Valley protesting?????

why not muslims of leh ladakh out on streets???
why isnt Hindus and Sikhs and Bhudhists on streets???
why were Pundits driven away from valley?arent they kashmiris???

Keep a hand on heart and plz come back to topic.
topic is about threats to minorities of valley

 

[Prometheus]

India has lost Kashmir

we should check lost and found box

 

[Masterchief]

After failing to stop civilian protests in Occupied Kashmir, India and its terrorist minds in IHK have came up with this idea of floating fake letters in the name of Muslims so that India could pitch Sikhs against Muslims in Kashmir and make it a perfect point to kill more Kashmiris.

Shame on India

hello jana you are talking as if you researched on this, keep this in mind it wasnt government of india which disclosed the letter, this was sent to the head gurudwara of kashmir, and your favorite man so called freedom fighter mr gilani supported this

 

[Neither Right Nor Wrong]

3 civilians shot dead by militants in J&K
Press Trust Of India
Srinagar, August 23, 2010First Published: 14:44 IST(23/8/2010)
Last Updated: 15:06 IST(23/8/2010)

Three persons, including a mother and her daughter, were killed by militants in two separate incidents in Kulgam and Pulwama districts of south Kashmir, police said on Monday. Four militants barged into a house of Mohammad Hussain Gorsi on Sunday night and killed his wife Shakeela (40) and
related stories
One more succumbs to injuries in Kashmir, unrest toll 63
We are shocked by such a heavy death toll in J-K: Karat
daughter Zareena (19) at Nanmarg area of Damhal Hanjipora, 80 kms from Srinagar, in Kulgam district of south kashmir, they said.
The police has reached the spot and initiated investigations. In another incident, militants killed Ghulam Nabi Wani, an employee in social welfare department, at Chakoora, 45 kms from Srinagar in Pulwama district, last night, the police said. People have condemned the killings, they said.

3 civilians shot dead by militants in J&K - Hindustan Times

 

[EjazR]

The author should go and talk to Geelani on what he wants and why. Otherwise he will not know what he writing about. Here is the TOI article in full below, and please note that this is precisely focussing on Geelani's vision on Kashmir that is for a so called "Islamic state" not a secular country.

Separation Anxiety: ‘Geelani should re-read Islam’

Muslim scholars berate Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s attempts to add fuel to the Kashmir fire on Independence Day

By Mohammed Wajihuddin


Last week, Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani called to stone-pelting comrades in Kashmir to celebrate August 14 (Pakistan’s Independence Day) and observe August 15 as Black Day. But the septuagenarian separatist leader’s provocative utterances have few takers among Muslim scholars who have studied Islam’s journey from its birth in the deserts of Arabia to its contemporary status as a religion of 1 billion-plus adherents. The likes of Geelani, these scholars say, are not just the enemies of Kashmir, but bad followers of the faith too.

To the stone-pelting boys in the streets of Srinagar and Sopore, the hawks have sold a rosy dream: Pakacceded Kashmir will be a haven of peace where they can freely practise Islam and preserve their culture. But the scholars rebut this, calling it nothing but a chimera which will lead to the already bleeding Valley’s destruction.

Noted Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan who has written prolifically on the Kashmir issue for over four decades records an interesting and instructive incident in his seminal work Amane-Alam (Peace for The World), first published in 2004. Khan writes that in the early 1990s two educated Kashmiri youth who were not militants, but condoned acts of militancy against India, met him at his New Delhi home. Khan tried to convince them that their struggle was neither Islamic nor would it bring any freedom. The boys, recalls Khan, insisted they were on the verge of achieving a spectacular success soon. A shocked Khan offered the boys his diary to write it. The boys wrote: “The Kashmir which will be created after separation from India will be an Islamic Kashmir, Insha Allah.’’ Khan told them it was an illusion and while they were still there, he penned in the same diary his own thoughts: “If a separate Kashmir is ever created, it will neither be an independent Kashmir nor a Pakistani Kashmir. It will be a barbad (destroyed) Kashmir. The Kashmiris have only two choices, an Indian Kashmir or a destroyed Kashmir.’’

Sultan Shahin, editor of NewAgeIslam.com, a popular portal which strives to reclaim Islam from the clutches of jihadists, provides a perspective on why an independent or Pakistani Kashmir can never be established and why it won’t survive if it does. Shahin, a virtual warrior against petrodollar Islam, says he recently had a heated argument with a Pakistani friend at an international conference. “When a muezzin calls for prayers, my mother tells me to go to a mosque. But I am sure your mother pleads with you not to visit the mosque because she is not sure if you will return alive from there,’’ Shahin told his Pakistani friend. “This is the reality,’’ he elaborates. “Kashmir too will be sucked into the cycle of sectarian and linguistic violence that is bleeding Pakistan almost every day. India can and should give greater autonomy to Kashmir, but for well-known reasons, it cannot afford to lose the state.’’

The demand for a separate or Pakistani Kashmir is based on a skewed, selective reading of Islam. It was Geelani’s ideologue, Jamaate-Islami’s founder Maulana Abul Ala Maududi and Egyptian scholars Syed Qutub and Hasan Al Banna before him who propagated the theory that Islam wanted Muslims to strive and establish an Islamic state. Fed on a heavy dose of such exclusivism, Geelani and his ilk find life in a non-Islamic state oppressive.In an interview, the separatist leader had once declared: “For a Muslim to live in a non-Muslim-dominated society is as difficult as it is for a fish out of water.’’

Scholar Asghar Ali Engineer calls such Islamic supremacist ideology a complete antithesis of Islam. “The Quran never asked Muslims to live only in an Islamic state. It simply asks followers to establish a peaceful, compassionate society,’’ says Engineer. He maintains that Kashmiris’ disenchantment with India should be justly addressed but adds that most Kashmiris don’t love Pakistan either.

The argument that the Muslim-majority Kashmir must either go to Islamic Pakistan or become a separate, sovereign Islamic state defies the Valley’s own history. While many Muslims in North India might have backed Jinnah’s two-nation theory, the Kashmiris by and large had rejected it. “Sheikh Abdullah’s Muslim Conference was rechristened National Conference to eschew exclusivism and broaden its acceptability. The Kashmiriat (Kashmir’s distinctive culture) that the separatists want to preserve can be preserved only in a secular, democratic, multicultural India,’’ explains Akhtrul Wasey, who teaches Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia. “Geelani should re-read Islam.’’

And when he does it, perhaps the hawk will realise that patriotism is part of the Muslim faith, not something to be tossed out of the window in the hope of a chimeric Islamic state.

Source: The Times of India

 

[EjazR]

Well first of all title is wrong, its the local police and CRPF that is involved in Crowd Control not the Army. Army is not even in civilian areas.

Secondly, Israelis use NLW for crowd control??!! They use fighter jets, helicopter gunships and phosphorous bombs. Their death toll for the recent Gaza raid which lasted two months was 1100+ Palestinians to 13 Israeli soldiers. Houses were bombed and demolished.
Seriously its an insult to the Palestinians to equate their suffering to whatishappening here altough it does not diminish the fact that Kashmir people are suffering too.


Ofcourse even though the IA is not involved in crowd control, it has to face a hostile press which is btw freely operating in Kashmir valley. Here is an example of clarification that the paper published yesterday when it alleged that the Army was involved in crowd control and beating up villagers.

Army clarifies
Rising Kashmir News
Srinagar, August22: Army on Sunday clarified that the personnel of 50 RR did not beat shopkeepers at Pampore as was reported in Saturday issue of Rising Kashmir on Saturday. Army spokesperson said the news is not based on facts.

“Some 50-60 youths and not children were involved in the pelting of stones on army vehicles at Kadlabal and Pampore on Srinagar- Jammu Highway and also on shops which were defying the bandh given by the separatists on the afternoon of Friday. When the mobile patrol of 50 Rashtriya Rifles battalion reached the spot these stone pelters fled the spot and in the ensuing commotion Reyaz Ahmad was pushed by the fleeing mob and not the army. The army did not ever raid any locality subsequently and no civilian including Ahmad, owner of Reyaz News Agency, was ever beaten by the army as reported in your news paper. The facts can be verified from the residents of Kadlabal locality in Pampore, civil administration authorities, prominent persons of the area and the doctors at Sub District Hospital, Pampore,” spokesperson said.

“Ahmad is in perfect health and was seen selling newspapers from his shop the next morning. No condemnation whatsoever has been issued by the Auqaf Committee, Pampore and same has been verified,” spokesperson said.

The army spokesperson said, “The army has cordial relations with the civil population of Pampore and they by and large appreciate the role of army in maintaining peace and tranquility and keeping the Jammu Srinagar highway open even in the last few weeks of unrest.”

 

[EjazR]

Attack on MLA Sopore?s house foiled: Police
Rising Kashmir News
Srinagar, August 23
Police on Monday claimed to have foiled yet another militant attack on the house of MLA Sopore Muhammad Ashraf Ganai.

According to statement issued here, a police spokesman said during the intervening night of August 21 and22, militants fired at the resident of MLA Sopore and his guards retaliated.
“No loss of life has been reported in the incident. Police has registered a case in this regard,” he said.This is for the six times in the past one month that militants targeted Ganai’s house. On the intervening night of 18 and19 August, militants attacked his house injuring three of his PSOs one of which later succumbed.

 

[Hulk]

Freedom fighters trying to kill Kashmiri MLA because he has different views. How innocent these freedom fighter are?

 

[sasuke]

Just reading the article shows how chaotic and uncertain the youth in Kashmir are.


Source: Kashmir's 'Azadi' with the tricolour : India : Tarun Vijay : TOI Blogs

Sushma Swaraj stunned the students from the valley on August 18 with the question "tell me what idea of the so-called 'azadi' you have and I shall speak after that". The students decided to have one among them to define what they thought about the concept of freedom they were seeking for Kashmir. Sarmad said: "We want to include Gilgit, Baltistan, Jammu and Ladakh in 'Azad Kashmir' and will have friendly relations with Pakistan and India." Some others tried to interject with more ideas. There was no clear voice that could describe what they mean by "azadi" when they chant it.

Now the leader of the opposition explained in a motherly way that they were all like her children. She said: "So, son, first decide what you want. Some want to remain independent, some want Gilgit and Baltistan, some want to go with Pakistan. No one is clear. You already have Jammu and Ladakh; enjoy an autonomy which is not available to any other Indian state. Gilgit and Baltistan you can't have without getting into a scuffle and that may lead to a war. The best 'azadi' that all of you enjoy is with the tricolour. The Indian Constitution provides everything that a citizen can aspire for. It has space for all the shades and opinions within its framework. Look at the educational and technological advances other Indian states are making and see the number of Kashmiri youths coming out of the valley to take advantage of it — in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. That's the freedom of development and reaching the sky for lifetime achivements." She brillinatly punctured the 'azadi' fumblings and made Manjoor Yusuf, a braveheart student from Srinagar, to come to the dais and declare: "It's wrong to say that all Kashmiri Muslims want 'azadi'. We want our future with India. It's a great country and in the last election 61% of the citizens of Kashmir cast their votes. India, not Pakistan, is our destiny." The atmosphere changed in a second. A small section of "azadi" seekers couldn't say anything except jeering at the Indian voice from Kashmir. He later complained that some of the students threatened him, "but I am not scared, sir". He was firm.

Smriti Irani, actor (Tulsi) and national president of the BJP's women's wing, charmingly disarmed the separatism advocates. "Azadi — What for and how? By making innocent kids and young people leave their homes and pelt stones on soldiers who are guarding the nation under their constitutional duty? Why should you not be concentrating on making the education system better and responsive? All the separatist leaders including Gilani and Andrabi send their children to various Indian cities and abroad to get the best education and settle down as progressive persons, but make the valley youth cannon fodder for their nefarious games, played and funded by Pakistan. Why don't you see the game?"


The Kashmiri Hindu students, like Radhika Kaul (just about to leave for Yale University) asked why none from Jammu or Ladakh supported what they said and wanted to be distanced from all their claims. "Why none of you ever, even in passing, refer to the pains and aspirations of these two areas which you think form an essential part of your so called 'Azad Kashmir'?"

"Your 'Azad Kashmir' remains a small, marginalized cry of a section of stone pelters in the valley alone," said Aditya Kaul. Utpal Kaul — born, brought up and educated in Srinagar — reminisced about his student days, about his Muslim teachers and the tradition of "Dal Cross" and "Wooler Cross" by girl students too who had pretty good hockey and tennis teams. "Where has all that vanished? Why do you want to be just confined to a small area of the valley? Give leadership to the Indian Muslims. Where is the space of Indian Muslims on your radar?" Prof Fouzia too became emotional and said: "We always had the tradition of mosques and temples existing side by side." To this, Aditya wanted to know, where have all the temples gone now? Thousands of them have been demolished and graffiti in foul language written against Hindus on their half-burnt walls. Why none of them ever protested against such happenings?

Editors' interaction with the students hinged on how political aspirations are taking a turn in the valley. Chandan Mitra of the Pioneer, Rajesh Kalra of the Times Group and Shoma Chaudhry from Tehelka tried to understand and put forth their viewpoints about Kashmir's problems and their solutions. Shoma spoke about the new wave of political demands in the valley and termed stone pelting too as an expression of anger. Chandan predictably took the nationalist line and tried to explain how the Indian democracy is the best framework. "Be part of a larger Indian milieu and everything can be sorted out," he emphasized. Large sections of Muslim students, apart from those who came from Islamic University nodded in affirmation. Rajesh Kalra asked students about their academic pursuits and their dreams. He said that unless they joined the mainstream of a struggle within the Indian framework how could they think they could excel in their lives.

The thrilling part was the arrival of the seven young turk membes of Parliament belonging to various political parties.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal was at her eloquent best. She narrated emotionally the trauma Punjab had gone through during the Khalistan movement. How every Sikh was a suspect, how young Sikhs were killed as suspects by the security forces and the massacre of 1984. "But gradually we all felt separatism was not an answer, it gave nothing but blankness, a black hole. Today Punjab youths are in the grip of drugs and all sorts of negative traits, a direct fallout of the insurgency. Punjab lost its vibrant, dynamic youth in a movement that was self-defeating." "And listen," she turned a tigress, "I am not from the Congress or the BJP, but I am an Indian and as an Indian I must clearly tell you that till the last Indian is alive, no one will ever allow Kashmir to secede from us. It's an integral part of us, of India." The conference room rose to hail her with roaring claps. The voices of "azadi'' had no answer. Neeraj Shekhar asked: "How many of you have voted in the last elections?" Islamic University students said in unison: "No one." "Why?" asked Neeraj. They said: "Because the elections are always rigged, so we have no faith in them." This was contested again by Manzoor Yusuf, who said 61% of Kashmiris voted in the elections. "That means you do not represent the majority." Aditya pointed out: "A known separatist leader, Bilal Lone, contested the election and lost his deposit. It means the majority of Kashmiris do not like separatists."

Priya Dutt said in her inimitable style: "Why on earth you declare first that you are not an Indian and then ask for more? How can one come on a dialogue table with a baggage of preconceived notions and then begin with riders? We are with you, we understand your pains and sorrows, we share your grief and demands for justice, but that can be met only under an Indian constitutional framework. And no one, no party or ideology or shade of belief, can ever give you 'azadi'. Take it today as firmly as possible."

Anurag Thakur, the young turk from Himachal who is also the president of Himachal Cricket Association and national president of the BJP's youth wing, spoke from the heart: "We are with you on every issue that creates pain or anguish, but as Indians. Nothing can ever be discussed beyond the parameters of our Indianness. We are talking to you not because you are different but because you have always been a part of us, an inalienable story of a larger Indian epic." Madhu Yashki narrated his own story from Andhra Pradesh, where he too was witness to the demand of a Telangana state. "It never pays to be an extremist, trust me. Our destinies and dreams are best protected under the umbrella of our Indianness."

Jayant Chaudhary was candid. "You want peace, right?" And everyone nodded. So friends, peace as I read somewhere, is like lovemaking. You have to keep your eyes shut and let the process take its course. Coming on a dialogue table with preconditions spoils the game. Then he said: "Tell me why some of you want ‘azadi’." The students, voicing separatist threads, fumbled, "Pandit Nehru had promised a plebiscite." "But that was to be held without any demographic changes. The valley has gone tremendous change in its population contours, with Hindus ousted and people from across the border rehabilitated post-1947," retorted Radhika Kaul.

None could explain why they want "azadi"; none could reply why Ladakh and Jammu remained absent from their worldview. Students who wanted "separation" were not keen to listen to the voices of Indianness from their own Muslim brothers and sisters from Srinagar. They said that even the 2002 and 2008 elections — universally hailed as free and fair, including by UN observers — were rigged.

"We have a lost generation in the valley, fed from their early childhood that they are different, hence they have, a separate flag, a separate constitutional provision and they do not belong to India as Bihar and Assam do. Some of the students claimed Kashmiris were a different race and a different "kaum" unlike Indians. I said: "Read at least Sheikh Abdullah’s biography, 'Atishe Chinar', in which he traces his roots, two generations back, to Kaul Hindus. There are Rainas, Kauls and Bhatts this side, exiled from their homes, and Rainas, Kauls and Bhatts on the other side. Why the divide just because one has a different way of worship?"

Ram Madhav, national executive member of the RSS, shared his views and took difficult questions with aplomb, asserting the age-old unity of Jammu & Kashmir with India. "We can never think to have Kashmir separated from India at any cost," he asserted. "We would like every person in J&K to prosper and have a government of his choice within the framework of the Indian Constitution."

This dialogue could happen because Prof Siddiq Wahid and Prof Fouzia Kazi were among the believers in resolving issues through talks. I wish I were a student of Dr Fouzia, who was so articulate and spoke with great maturity and élan. The same goes for Prof Wahid. The students were brilliant, and put forth their views assertively and decently. The dialogue has convinced us that there are people in the valley who believe in sharing the views rather than stone pelting and killing. No bullet can ever find a solution to a complex problem and building bridges in spite of all hurdles and challenges remains the course of a civil society. That has to be supported from both sides, though. The vice chancellor, Prof Wahid, invited us to continue the dialogue in Srinagar, in his Islamic University of Science and Technology. We have accepted the invitation. Friends are made. Sinead Kachroo of Aman Satya Kachroo Trust shared the feelings of Kashmiri students by offering to wear a black band to mourn the deaths of innocent people in the valley; it deeply touched the hearts of everybody.

Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee gave his life in Srinagar for the complete integration of Kashmir with the rest of India. That a thinktank named after him would carry forward the dialogue in Srinagar and in Delhi with those who have a different opinion is a landmark event. That was what Bal Apte, the President of the organization, said, asserting the ancient threads of unity that bind Jammu & Kashmir inseparably with Bharat Vasrha. "We never imagined an India without Kashmir and will never do so." Kashmir se Kanya Kumari tak Bharat ek hai.

Reaching out and continuing talks can only be a better way out.

 

[Hulk]

EjazR you are great man.