Kashmir Leader by Manzoor Ahmad

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AN INITIATIVE OF GLOBAL KASHMIR PUBLICATIONS

RNI NO: JKENG /2014/61025

LeadeR Kashmir

www.kashmirleader.net VOL: 03 ISSUE NO: 07

STORY ON P/10-11

A YEAR

AFTER BURHAN BURHAAN

hirty year old Sabzar Ahmad Bhat who had joined militancy in April 2015 was killed in an encounter with the forces on May 27 in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district with police terming the killing as a ‘big success’ (An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

Editorial

PRINTER,PUBLISHER, EDITOR & OWNER: Zahoor Gulzar MANAGING EDITOR: MUSHTAQ KHANDAY RESIDENT EDITOR : Rao Farman Ali COPY EDITOR: RIYAZ KHAN

Protect JK’s special status

LEGAL ADVISOR: Mirza Suhail Beigh BUREAU CHIEF CENTRAL KASHMIR: Neyaz Ellahi BUREAU CHIEF SOUTH KASHMIR: S.Tariq , DELHI BUREAU CHIEF Varun Arora CORRESPONDENT: Wani Javid ( Baramulla) PHOTO EDITOR Mukhtar Ahmad Sweed PUBLISEHED FORM : Munawar Shah building 3rd floor Poloview Residency road srinagar IT SUPPORT:SHUBLI- TECHNOLOGIES KASHMEDIA PRODUCTION MANAGER:Fayaz Mir (TRALI) PRINTED AT : Khidmat offset Press the Bund Srinagar Kashmir RNI NO: JKENG /2014/61025 e-mail:- editorkleader@gmail.com, Visit us at : www.kashmirleader.net PHONE NO: 0194-2481188 MOBILE: 9419455941,9796181818, 9622727248 DISTRIBUTOR

Abdullah News Agency Amira kadal Sringar Graphics: Wani Javid , Aadil Ishtiyaq (9797786299, 9906448531) E-mail:- wanijavid222@gmail.com ishu117@gmail.com

or past more than one month there is a debate going on in the state over the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax law. While separatists, opposition and valley based traders have been consistently opposing implementation of the new tax regime to the state, arguing it would erode state’s fiscal autonomy and Article 370, the government has reiterated that it has ensure safeguards to protect state’s special position. J&K draws its powers to impose tax from section 5 of J&K constitution in comparison to other states which draw this power from article 246 of constitution of India. The apprehensions coming to fore from different quarters are that the extension of the 101st amendment act of Indian constitution would for extension of the GST to the state would result in surrender of the state’s power to tax to the government of India. So far the government has held several rounds of meetings with the political parties in a bid to try and build consensus but has failed to convince the opposition. The reason that the government has also come under attack from opposition political parties has been its failure to explain the road on how it would protect the state’s fiscal autonomy. Trade

bodies have already warned of launching civil disobedience movement in case the government goes ahead with the implementation of the GST even as some smaller parties have also cautioned the government that the move could lead to the agitation in the Valley similar to one that the region witnessed in 2008 in which over 60 people were killed in an agitation over transfer of forest land to Amarnath Shrine Board. The deadline for passing the GST for the state’s is July 30 but the state is tightlipped about the roadmap it mulls to adopt to implement the law. This has led to more confusion and now the opposition parties are accusing that the government was at loss to decide protection of the state’s special position. In J&K any issue can lead to deterioration in the situation and the region can in no time slip to another cycle of unrest. The responsibility lies on the government to come clean on the implementation of the tax regime and address the apprehensions raised by the opposition as well as traders. The government can take the Assembly route to have a debate over the GST and explain its position to the opposition as well as people in general before taking any decision.

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

Editor in Chief

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

Contents...... A year after Burhan

Cover story

2629

No way but talks to resolve Kashmir: Mehbooba

Politics

1617

Thought

2223

Frightening Imprints

Encounter with a Sheikh loyalist

Innocent at last!

Concern

Gowrakshaks & politics of Lynching

Hyper-nationalist media & K-Conundrum

On Amarnath Yatra, Faith & State Go Hand-in-Hand

Genesis of New Kashmiri

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

Politics

2425

3233

Concern

3435

View point

3637

Religion

4041

Comment

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

4445

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

Imbibing Values from our Past Channeling Growth & Development Redefining Business Ahead Imbibing ValuesStandards from our Past Channeling Growth & Development Redefining Business Standards Ahead

www.filindustries.com www.filindustries.com

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

‘‘

From Around the World

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ several meetings with PM’s of India & Pakistan is a sign of his involvement & commitment over Kashmir issue -

UN Chief’s Spokesperson Eri Kaneko

Syed Salahuddin, who hails from Kashmir and is based in Pakistan for the last 28 years, is declared as “specially designated global terrorist” for “committing or posing a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism” US Department

Shocking that US government order on Syed Salahuddin refers to ‘Indian Administered J&K’. No protest from Modi government. Complicit sell-out? AICC chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala

Lynching of DySP Muhammad Ayub Pandith a shameful incident…if police personnel lose their patience, the situation of the valley may return to the conditions of insurgency period of the 1990s – CM Mehbooba Mufti

May the people who lynched DSP Muhammad Ayub Pandith burn in hell... Such heinous elements are enemies of Kashmiriyat, humanity and should get the sternest sentence — Omar Abdullah, ex-CM

We have cautioned India from making any strategic miscalculation. It appears that India is seeking conflict with Pakistan Pak FM Spokesman Nafees Zakaria

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

VIEWPOINT

Isolating Kashmir!

National media has been so indifferent to plight of Kashmiris that they have been ignoring the excesses and the inhuman treatment people are facing at the hands of law enforcing agencies

SYED MAAJID RASHID ANDRABI

ith the advent of time and technological advances, the power of media to proliferate has increased many levels and thus it is rightly considered to be one of the most appropriate tools for communication. Moreover it is an es-

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

tablished fact that media plays a pivotal role in shaping the opinions and perceptions of the people at large. With such an essence, it is quite important that the media should be unbiased and impartial in its approach. While on one side it has the power to bring fame and name but on the other side it can have disastrous ramifications if the same is pursued to reframe things contrary to their originalities to generate a pseudo felling, which is what is being observed unfortunately now a days. Its double standard nature has raised a big question on its authenticity. What is more worrisome is the fact that the

media ethics and standards have severely degraded over the time which is why it has failed to maintain and uphold its dignity. The main role of the media is to force government so as to take necessary corrective actions and measures to ensure peace and development, but what is being witnessed today goes hardly with what is expected of it. Adnan Rehmat, former executive director of intermedia rightly put it â&#x20AC;&#x153;the lack of experience and increased competition ensures that the emphasis is not on investigation but on sensation and more on opinion than factsâ&#x20AC;?.

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

VIEWPOINT

The Valley of Kashmir which is already riddled with violence and always remains on the brink though needs and demands unprejudiced and fair attitude of the media while reporting the mishaps, but till time no justice has been done with it. Leaving aside the local media for its limited reach to highlight the sufferings of the people, the national media has been so unkind and indifferent to the plight of the Kashmiris that they have made it a generalization that the Kashmiris are wrong and are to be blamed for all what is happening in the Valley, ignoring the excesses and the inhuman treatment, the people are facing, at the hands of the law enforcing agencies. While taking into account the approach of the national media with reference to Kashmir, one gets the feeling of step motherly attitude. Seemingly there is a considerable difference between the national media and the local media as far as their attitude towards their duty is concerned as the former is more inclined to impress the official policy and ignoring anything closer to reality, thus creating a divide between locals and rest people in rest of the country. It won’t be an exaggeration if the national media is blamed for infuriating the people of the Valley with its false reporting. Unfortunately every Kashmiri is being looked at with suspicion due to the untruthful and fabricated representation of Kashmiris on the national platform. Due to the fact that the stories on Kashmir sell like hot cakes, every possible attempt is made to garner the maximum attention by spinning the facts and exaggerating the events, which creates hatred among people against Kashmiris. Not only this but the debates and discussions on the Kashmir issue are done in such a way that only rubs salt on the wounds of the already distressed people. Expert panels of different media houses straight away label Kashmiris as anti-nationals without even having a sense of what all the people of the Valley have to go through and why they are longing to get their demands fulfilled. Kashmir is one such place where the role of national

media has been subject matter of debate for a long time. National media looks at Kashmir as a problem which creates and fosters the alienation. It never tries to bring about a possible solution to any problem but always highlights it to the extent that generates hatred and detestation among the people of the Valley, who too react by rejecting their claims and distancing themselves from such distorted facts. A prominent journalist described national media as one of the reasons responsible for prolonging of the conflict. The national media is not trying to moderate the conflicts and violence but is acting as a contributor in intensifying the situation through the practice of “partial journalism”.

Adnan Rehmat, former executive director of intermedia rightly put it “the lack of experience and increased competition ensures that the emphasis is not on investigation but on sensation and more on opinion than facts” For the past few months now even the mainstream parties in Kashmir including the ruling PDP has been raising concerns over the negative portrayal of situation in Kashmir by the national media. On May 10 this year chief minister Mehbooba Mufti blamed TV channels for spreading “false propaganda” about the state, projecting the Valley as a dangerous area which she said was preventing people from travelling to the state. Inaugurating a two-day national medical conference at SKICC here, Mehbooba said: “I would like to put on record my appreciation of distinguished doctors who have come from outside the state, despite the propaganda we see on electronic media every night 24x7. I am many a times told by the tourists that ‘We are amazed and amused when we are sitting in shikharas or hotels and watch the evening news’. They have to pinch themselves to know that they are in the same

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

place that is called Kashmir which television is talking about. They make it seems so dangerous.” The views were shared by several leaders of her party as well. PDP youth leader Waheed Para today said that national media was wrongly portraying Kashmir and are not covering positive stories coming out of the state. Para said lot of positive sports stories are happening in the Valley day in and day out but such positive things are never reported by the national media. He said that the national media was giving flip-side coverage to the issues taking place in Kashmir for their TRPs. “By such coverage the people in the country believe that Kashmir is a risky place to visit. But once those people visit here things are quite contrary to what the media shows them,” he said. It’s high time to start questioning the role of the national media. The national media particularly electronic needs to be sensitive in its coverage of Kashmir related news. The media as a whole generally comes across as insensitive, caring only about the story and not about the people in the story. Over the period of time, a consistently fraught relationship appears to have developed between the national media’s coverage of Kashmir and the situation on the ground. Keeping the sensitivity of the Kashmir issue in view, the national media needs to remain extra cautious while reporting on certain issues as the emotions of the people of the Valley are associated with them and any mistake might flare up the trouble and would result in worsening the overall situation. Also, the national media needs to work hand in glove with the local media to get a good insight of the happenings and the miseries of the population. It should carry out its duties ethically, responsibly and appropriately. The media can potentially become a source of harmony in conflict zones based on what kind of information is being provided. Thus, it should rely on facts rather than on assumptions.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

MILITANCY

SABZAR, AN MSC, MPhil NOW A MILITANT 31-year old youth from Naina in south Kashmir is one of many highly educated youth who joined militancy post killing of Burhan Wani

ZAHOOR GULZAR

n 8th of july after militant commander Burhan Wani was killed, 31-year old Sabzar Ahmad Bhat left his home for Delhi to join classes at Jamia Milia University where he was pursuing PhD in his “favorite subject” Botany. The situation was tense across Kashmir as the government forces had laid siege to quell the raging protests. A shy looking Sabzaar from Naina, Sangam in Anantnag, had completed his MSC from Burkhatulla University in 2013-14 and MPhil from Jivagee university Gwalior before joining Jamia Milia Islamia newdelhi in 2016. Sabzar also qualified NET,JRF and start coaching for IAS. But the family bid him goodbye hoping he would fly to New Delhi. For next three months the family, Bashmir Ahmad Sofi father of Sabzar Ahamad Sofi said, could not establish any contact with Sabzar owing to communication blockade in the Valley. However in October 2016 the family got a shock when they came

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

to know that Sabzar, instead of flying to Delhi, had joined the militancy. “We came to know about this fact in October last year. We tried to search for our son but didn’t have any success,” said Father Bashir Ahmad. “We miss him badly. We were under the impression that he is pursuing the Phd.studies at the university,” said Sabzar’s mother. According to her Sabzar, a “God-fearing and honest son” was a helpful human being who would help the students of the locality and encourage them to pursue higher studies. He start coaching centre (Acent) in his native place for some time where poor Students got free tuition. “He (Sabzar) did his MSC in Botany from Barkatullah University Bhopal before completing his MPhil from Gwalior. Instead of completing PhD he had joined militancy,” said his mother. “We searched him for many weeks

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

MILITANCY but couldn’t trace him and finally we lodged missing report with Bijbehara police station.” “One day a police official came to our house and informed that your son has joined militancy. We didn’t believe it but we lost the hope when, some days later, a group of army personnel knocked at our doors and showed us a video in which Sabzar could be seen along with a group of militants with a gun in his hand,” Father said. Besides Sabzar, BashmirAhmad has two sons and a daughter who too are highly qualified. “He was so innocent that he wouldn’t even talk to anybody. We fail to understand this transformation in him,” said one of Sabzar’s relatives. He said Sabzar would never talk about the militancy or the situation in Kashmir. All his focus was on the studies and he wanted to achieve “something big” in his life to help his family and the society at large, he said. “We are at loss to understand what prompted him to join the militancy and how this transformation did take place in him.” Sabzar who comes from lesser know village of Naina Sangam Anantnag is one of the scores of educated youth who have joined militancy post the killing of Burhan on July 8 last year. It is these lesser known villages including Heff, Turkiwangam, Aglar, Chitragam and Imam Sahib in Zanipora-Shopian belt and scores of villages in Kulgam and Pulwama districts, where young and educated youths are joining new generation militancy. The public outpouring of support for militants is growing. This is like a replay of the early 90s when militancy was at its peak in Kashmir and enjoyed mass support. Today, people rush to the encounter sites to help militants escape and crowds of Kashmiris including young boys and women participate in militants’ funerals, indicating militants are again emerging as heroes though these new age militants are less active on the ground. A senior police official described Kulgam-QaimohKhudwani-Arwani; Pulwama-Awa-

ntipora, Zainapora-Shopian, Tral and Dachnipora-Bijbehara belts as the “corridors” that have become the “fertile ground” for militancy in South Kashmir. Most of the areas in the south had been declared as militancy free by 2008 and the mainstream parties, especially the ruling PDP, had made significant inroads in these areas. But today not only is south Kash-

Sabzar who comes from lesser know village of Naina is one of the scores of educated youth who have joined militancy post the killing of Burhan on July 8 last year

mir almost out of bounds for the parties, the militants have been targeting houses of JK police officials too, warning the families to persuade their kin to quit job. The situation is grim to the extent that Election Commission of India had to indefinitely postpone the byelection to Anantnag LS seat last April. “There is anger…the situation in some (south Kashmir) areas is still edgy with growing militancy, and law and order problem continues to be a major challenge,” the official acknowledged. In Kulgam district, as per police records, at least 20 militants belonging to Qaimoh, Yaripora and Kulgam tehsils are at present part of the militant network operating in southern districts of Kashmir. Areas like Redwani, Rampur and Khudwani are the hotbeds of the present day militancy. In the main market of Khudwani, a former PHE employee who identified himself with his first name Bashir only, said the pro-freedom sentiment never waned in these areas. It is not only the “inherent pro-freedom sentiment” that is contributing to the renewal of the militancy in Kulgam and other districts. Families of militants and locals whom Greater Kashmir spoke with said the harass-

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

ment of the youth, who participated in the protests in 2010 and 2016, by the government forces was leaving young boys with no choice but to pick up arms. “This harassment is only rejuvenating the spirit for Azadi,” said another local of Khudwani, Hafeezullah. “This fire is burning, the more they harass the youth, the higher the flames will go.” His answer to India media’s oft-repeated theory that youths throw stones because they are paid comes in the form of a question. “Why did a policeman recently flee with five guns if it was all about Rs 500…he must have witnessed the oppression our nation is going through, nowEvery youth here is a mujahid and if provided with weapons they will not hesitate to join their brothers. According to data compiled by security agencies, 67 local recruits have joined the militancy in the Valley since Wani’s killing in an encounter last July. Of them, 50 are from south Kashmir, Wani’s native region; 63 are below the age of 30, including two 16-year-olds and one 15-yearold; and, only three are “recycled militants”, or those who went back to militancy after being jailed. The data reveals that in South Kashmir, nine are from Pulwama district, nine from Awantipora (including Tral), 13 from Kulgam, 11 from Shopian, eight from Anantnag. Eight fresh recruits have joined militancy in north Kashmir: two from Kupwara, one from Handwara, three from Bandipore and two from Sopore. In Central Kashmir, there are five such new recruits – three in Budgam and two in Srinagar. What’s striking is the educational profile of these recruits. Apart from a PhD, an M Phil and two post-graduates, there are six graduates and five who were pursuing engineering and technical courses: two B Tech, one BE (Computer Science), one Polytechnic student and one diploma student in computer science. Then there are eight who were pursuing a Bachelor’s degree. Ten others have cleared Class 12; 12 have completed Class 10; three are madrassa students, including a Hafiz/Imam; and, the rest have studied until high school.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

MILITANCY

Teenaged militant Tufail’s return to home was a breather for the state government but once declared ‘militant-free’ Srinagar has seen at least four to five youth leaving their homes to pick up guns during past one year, giving rise to concerns within the security establishment

KASHMIR LEADER

mid the growing support for militancy in Kashmir, a Srinagar boy who had gone missing and joined militancy has returned home. Tufail Qadir Mir, 19, had gone missing from his home on May 24 and later appeared in a video on Facebook with a gun. His appearance in the video had sent security forces in a tizzy. “He (Tufail) is back and is with his family now,” said Ghulam Hassan Bhat, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Central Kashmir range, in a press conference in Srinagar on June 1. Bhat was flanked by SSP Srinagar Imtiyaz Hussain. Tufail is the 34th youth who has renounced militancy since September last year. Tufail, a BA 1st year student at degree college Bemina, was reportedly detained by police in a case registered during protests that followed the killing of popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July last year. Police sources said: “He (Tufail) was provided quality counselling after his return and is

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Capital on militants’ radar happily living with his family now.” “He spoke about the reasons that prompted him to flee from his home and we have taken care of his concerns. He is an intelligent student and wants to pursue his career further,” they said. Tufail, according to police, is the 34th youth who has renounced militancy since September last year when Kashmir was in the middle of uprising following the killing of top militant commander Burhan Wani by security forces in south Kashmir on July 8 last year. While J&K police may flaunt return of Tufail as major success, their worries are far from over, particularly in Srinagar which has seen at least four youth joining militancy in the recent past and bring the summer capital back on the militancy graph. This small band of militants from the summer capital has again brought Srinagar — which was declared as a zeromilitancy district several years ago — on the insurgency’s landscape and ended a long hiatus in recruitment to the militant cause from the city neighborhoods. Even though police officials associated with the anti-militancy operations believe Srinagar always had a presence of at least one or two militants who would operate discreetly or simply lie low, it is for the first time in the past decade that the small number of youth from Srinagar is openly brandishing

its militant affiliations. Tufail was fifth person from the Srinagar to join the militancy. The other youth from Srinagar who became militants in the past year have been identified as Mugais from Parimpora, Danish from HMT area, Mehraj Bangroo from Fateh Kadal and Fayaz Hamaal from Khanqahe-Sokhta. Some of the Srinagar militants, according to the police, are far more radical than other Kashmiri militants. They have frequently featured in videos and pictures alongside the militants of south Kashmir districts. Hamaal had recently featured in pictures when he, along with at least four other militants, had appeared at the funeral of a militant in Kulgam district of south Kashmir and fired in the air to offer ‘gun salute’. Mugais is believed to be the first militant from Srinagar to have migrated to south Kashmir in recent years, followed by Danish. All five militants are now based in south Kashmir, where they operate with local cadres of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba. “Srinagar is back on the radar of the militants,” as senior police official said. His remarks are substantiated by an intelligence report which says that at least five “resident militants” who previously operated out of south Kashmir have returned to the state’s summer capital,

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

MILITANCY

mir and operate from Srinagar instead. In the past decade, there was a steady decline in militant attacks in Srinagar. “Even though south and north Kashmir are the two regions that have been affected by militancy the most, militants were active in the outskirts of Srinagar. The current movement of militants in the heart of Srinagar is definitely a cause of concern,” said another police official.

signalling a shift in the militants’ strategy. The irregular sighting of militants moving in the city has been reported in the past week, prompting cordon-and-search operations in Lal Bazaar, Batamaloo and Lal Chowk areas. “This is clearly an attempt to put Srinagar at par with other areas of Kashmir, which have seen a spike in militant activities,” said a senior official. On June 24, militants attacked a road-opening party of the CRPF, killing one jawan. Till Sunday

afternoon, efforts were on to flush out the militants who were holed up in a school building on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. It is, however, not clear yet if the latest incident is linked to the intelligence inputs received on June 17 about suspected militant movement in downtown area of Srinagar. HT obtained a copy of the intelligence report, which suggested that “resident militants” had been ordered by their outfits’ brass to return from south Kash-

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

Officials in the security establishment said forces in the Valley were expecting militant attacks ahead of the first death anniversary of Burhan Wani, Hizbul Mujahideen’s former commander, who was killed in an encounter on July 8. However the possibility of setting permanent bases in Srinagar was a major concern as it could mean that militancy in the Valley might be entering a whole new phase. “There are constant inputs about presence of militants in Srinagar. The five men are resident militants in Srinagar,” a security official said, adding that his police force was equipped to deal with the current situation in the Valley. Srinagar has witnessed about 10 attacks in areas including Nowgam, Srinagar-Bemina Bypass, Khanyar and Safa Kadal this year. The latest attack was the killing of a policeman, identified as Shahzad Dilawar, in Srinagar city on June 11. Earlier in May, a PDP block president, Abdul Qayoom, was critically injured as militants fired at him in Barzulla area of Srinagar. Police has already asked the security forces deployed in Srinagar to be on an alert and take “immediate preventive measures” after intelligence inputs suggested that militants are planning to carry out attacks in the city. The alert suggested that police had a detailed intelligence input that an attack was imminent. The inputs had revealed that movement of militants was observed in downtown Srinagar — the densely populated old city. The alert came when there has been a spurt in incidents of violence in the Kashmir valley during the recent weeks. Just a few days ago, 14 persons, including eight policemen, three militants and three civilians, were killed in separate attacks.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

Industry

WILL TAKE KASHMIR INDUSTRY TO NEW HEIGHT: DIRECTOR BHAT KASHMIR LEADER

enior Kashmir administrative service officer, Bilal Ahmad Bhat, who recently took charge as Director Industries and Commerce Kashmir, has vowed to restore the lost glory of Kashmir industry for creating job avenues for the educated unemployed youth of the region. In an exclusive chat with Kashmir Leader Bhat who was previously holding the charge of Managing Director JAKFED, said he has set two priorities for himself â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to revive different sectors of Kashmir industry and to ensure hassle free support to educated jobless youth to help them explore avenues in the industrial sector. For quite long, Kashmir industry has remained in shambles due to number of reasons like the ongoing situation in the Valley, the lack of support on part of the government to help the budding and promising entrepreneurs and lack of facilities in the region including the timely financial support from the authorities concerned besides the delay in clearance of the cases has often seen youth getting discouraged. Re-affirming that all the available resources will be pooled to help Kashmir youth for securing their future in the industrial sector, Bhat said he has fixed goals for himself and would be working to achieve the set targets. One of the main complaints of the people of Kashmir is that Jammu and Kashmir government has miserably failed to ensure equitable growth and development in the industrial sector and Kashmir region continues to be grossly ignored and discriminating against Jammu region in industrial development. Valley-based Industrialists have time and again criticized policies of state and central governments for framing faulty policies that in turn al-

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lowed inequitable industrial growth in the state in contrast to their own commitments on promoting equitability. The Directorate of Industries Kashmir also came under criticism for failing in its duty to take up these issues with the government along with other genuine problems of Kashmir based units. It has been a long pending demand of Valley based industrialists that the directorate of industries in Kashmir with all its wings and subordinate offices should rededicate for

The only way left is to move forward to put in coordinated and concerted efforts for mitigating the genuine problems of existing and prospective units evolving policies and programs aimed at bringing back the industrial sector in Kashmir to rails. The Directorate should delegate more and more powers to the DICs with accountability and confine itself to work on advising the state government on working towards fresh policy formulations, creating new industrial estates and common facility centres, facilitating on modernisation and technology up-

gradation, developing human resources and other such jobs. The need of the hour is to work for the revival of sick industrial units with required interventions and policies on providing adequate soft loan to these units besides other facilities. Majority of industrial units had been rendered sick owing to turbulent condition leaving apart a meagre number of survivors who need all support and applaud. The director Kashmir said his department will work with the industrialists in Kashmir and would leave no stone unturned to achieve the aspired goal provided all the stakeholders extend their support and cooperation to them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My priority will be the growth of the industrial sector in the Valley which will automatically help to address the problem of the unemployment and create opportunities for the young and educated persons,â&#x20AC;? said Bhat. The State of J&K is not a highly industrialized State. Main industrial activity is concentrated in the Jammu and Kathua districts of Jammu division. This is mainly because Jammu is the only railhead, where loading and unloading of raw material becomes easy and less cumbersome as compared to Kashmir region where transportation cost is higher. However, the State is on the path of industrialization despite its topographical limitations. The Industry sector has been declared as the main vehicle for accelerating economic activity besides providing employment opportunities to the unemployed educated youth in the State. The industrial policy is designated to promote rapid industrialization and has evoked a great deal of interest in the private investment. The policy has slew of incentives in the form of subsidies for all sorts of industries, especially for small-scale industries to make them capable of competing in the present market.

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

Politics

NO WAY BUT TALKS TO RESOLVE KASHMIR: MEHBOOBA S TARIQ

n June 17, when the state government convened the special session of the state assembly to discuss the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax , chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who was under the attack from the opposition for "shelving the promise of dialogue with the separatists", Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti reiterated her demand that there was "no other way but talks" for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. "Dialogue has always been part of our agenda and manifesto, whether it was in 2002 or today. Several wars have been fought but the issue has not been resolved. You cannot resolve issues with guns or armies. "We have to unite to get this (resolving the issue) done. Our people are dying, life along the border is disturbed and poor people on both sides are dying," she said while taking part in a discussion on obituary references for notable leaders who passed away between the two sessions of the state Assembly. The Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly met here today for a special session on the implementation of GST in the state, but decided to adjourn the House indefinitely till an all-party panel, formed to look into the new tax regime, submitted its report. Mehbooba said while India was surging ahead of its neighbouring countries due to democracy, the "strangulation of this very idea in Kashmir" had led to the deteriorating situation in the Valley over the years.

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

Dialogue has always been part of our agenda and manifesto, whether it was in 2002 or today. Several wars have been fought but the issue has not been resolved. You cannot resolve issues with guns or armies (An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

Politics

Highlighting the importance of dialogue in in resolving issues, the chief minister, however, hinted at Pakistan not reciprocating the gestures of the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi “It is democracy which has kept the nation alive and helped it move ahead of its neighbours. In our state, the main reason behind the bloodshed we are witnessing is that democracy was not allowed to take roots here. It was rejected and strangulated,” she said. “(Independent MLA) Engineer Rashid is talking big here and he can do it. We will not see this anywhere else. There is no tolerance for such things (in other countries),” she added. Stressing on the need for dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue, she said whatever happened in the past should not come in the way of efforts to resolve the issue “through talks”. “Those who used to talk about drowning the separatists in the Jhelum and killing all the militants when the then prime minister A B Vajpayee mooted a Ramzan ceasefire, are calling for a dialogue today. This means, things are changing slowly,” said the chief minister. Responding to the allegation of “state terrorism” levelled by the opposition, the National Conference (NC) and the Congress, she said if it was true, 12-year-old kids would not be pelting stones near the encounter sites.”. “Somebody was talking about state terrorism. There was a time when people used to run away from the encounter sites due to the fear of being used as human shields. Some people had even lost their lives in this manner (due to being used as human shields). That is state terrorism. "If there was state terrorism today, then 12 and 14- year-olds would not pelt stones (at the security forces) at the encounter sites," Mehbooba said. Highlighting the importance of dialogue in in resolving issues, the chief minister, however, hinted at Pakistan not reciprocating the gestures of the

central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "(Former prime minister) Manmohan Singh wanted to visit his hometown in Pakistan but could not do so. Modi went to Pakistan, but then the Pathankot (terror attack) incident happened," she said. “The wars were fought in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999 but they did not yield anything. Our people are suffering and dying due to lingering of the dispute,” she said. Mehbooba, who came under criticism from entire opposition for failing to initiate dialogue between separatists and New Delhi, hit back at the opposition National Conference, saying the party opposed dialogue in the past. “When I became MLA in 1996 and sought dialogue with separatists, then CM said that they (separatists) should be thrown into Jehlum. Today NC is talking about ceasefire but when Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced ceasefire in 2001, then our CM said that he doesn’t accept any ceasefire,” she said. “When I K Gujral, then Prime Minister announced at Qazigund that

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

Delhi will hold unconditional dialogue with all stakeholders, then Chief Minister said he would revolt if talks are held.” Earlier, NC leader Mohammad Shafi Uri urged the government to stop the "state terrorism" and killing of innocents to pave a way for dialogue. "I appeal to the central and state governments to open the doors for dialogue to put an end to the atmosphere of state terror as it cannot solve the issues. It only complicates them further," he said while initiating the proceedings on the obituary references in the Assembly. Uri accused the Jammu and Kashmir government of "imposi of "imposing state terrorism" and said words were not enough to condemn it. He said the statements coming from the leaders of the central government indicated that they were trying to resolve the Kashmir issue through administrative measures, "which will have dangerous implications". "I am surprised that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said a durable solution to the Kashmir problem would be found soon. How can he do that when the doors for dialogue have been closed. Look at the world history. Internal resistance movements have always been resolved by dialogue. "Talks have been going on with the Nagas. They come from Burma (Myanmar), hold talks and go back. Democracy demands that the doors for dialogue should never be closed," he said.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

MILITANCY

‘Global Terrorist’

or ‘freedom fighter’ The designation of UJC chief Syed Salahuddin as “global terrorist” by United States was welcomed by New Delhi, but for lakhs of people across divided Kashmir Salahuddin remains a hero for espousing Kashmir’s ‘freedom movement’

KASHMIR LEADER

ours before US designated UJC chief Syed Salahuddin a “global terrorist” on June 26, he released a video calling for strikes

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in Kashmir in remembrance of top militant commander Burhan Wani who was killed by forces on July 8 last year, triggering six months of deadly protests across the valley. In a notification, the State Depart-

ment said Salahuddin, who hails from Kashmir and is based in Pakistan for the last 28 years, “has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism.” While as India welcomed the move Salahuddin remains a hero to scores of people in

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MILITANCY

Kashmir across the LoC for espousing Kashmir’s ‘freedom movement’. Born in a middle-class family in Soibugh area of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district in 1946, as Mohammad Yosuf Shah, he adopted his current name Salahuddin in early ‘90’s after becoming chief of Hizbul. Father of five sons and two daughters, Salahuddin graduated from prestigious SP College in Srinagar and later did a master’s degree in political science from the Kashmir University in 1971. He later joined Jamat-e-Islami, a religion-political organisation. However, the turning point in Salahuddin’s life came in 1987 when Muslim United Front (MUF), a ‘polyglot coalition’ of Islamic Kashmiri political parties decided to contest Assembly elections. Salahuddin was MUF’s candidate for Srinagar’s Amirakadal constituency. However, what followed was ‘black chapter’ as the elections were allegedly rigged by then National Conference government supported by Congress party. The alleged rigging proved a catalyst for ‘secessionism’ in Kashmir. Salahuddin along with his supporters and hundreds of MUF polling agents and campaigners were jailed and tortured for months together. After his release, Salahuddin crossed over to the Pakistani side in 1991, and within a few months returned to the Indian side to lead Hizbul Mujahideen. Five years later he went back to Pakistancontrolled Kashmir, where he led the United Jihad Council, an umbrella group of 13 Kashmiri rebel organizations. In an interview to media last year, he claimed the main reason that compelled him to take up weapons was the ‘bogus, rigged and planted’ elections in J&K. On June 26, he called for a weeklong agitation in Kashmir to mark the first death anniversary of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani. Burhan was killed in an encounter by security forces on July 8last year. His death triggered one of the worst periods of unrest in Kashmir, in which more than 90 civilians were killed in five months of street protests. Salahuddin’s family lives in the Valley. Political experts in Kashmir were

surprised at the U.S. decision to list Salahuddin as a global terrorist. The Kashmir conflict has mostly been left out of global discussions and treated as a regional dispute, far from threatening Europe, the U.S. or other far-off nations. “I don’t think this is a principled position,” and instead seems guided by U.S. economic and political interests, Prof. Noor Ahmed Baba, who teaches political science at the Central University of Kashmir told AP. “This man, per se, is not directed against America or its citizens. His activities have remained confined to Kashmir.” He warned of the “dangerous” likelihood of antagonizing Pakistan, which “can further push the country closer to the emerging ChinaRussia alignment.” It could also complicate U.S. efforts to reinforce troop deployments in Afghanistan. Others questioned why the US would designate someone an alleged terrorist who posed no threat to the West. “It is significant because the US designates only those as terrorists who harm American interests which Salahuddin doesn’t do. Harms only India,” Kashmiri journalist Ahmed Ali Fayyaz, who has known Salahuddin for decades, said on Twitter. And in Salahuddin’s home village of Soibugh, residents were stunned that he had grabbed U.S. attention. “Earlier, India and Pakistan would use Kashmir to further their agendas. But now it has shifted to the global arena, where America is using Kashmir to appease New Delhi in tapping Indian markets,” villager Mohammed Akbar said. “Our misery continues.” The Pakistani foreign ministry called the designation “completely unjustified.” The United Jihadi Council, the rebel umbrella group chaired by Salahuddin, also decried the U.S. decision.”Syed Salahuddin is the symbol of the Kashmir Freedom movement,” spokesman Syed Sadaqat Hussain said in a statement.”The freedom struggle of Kashmir people is a rightful movement,” he said. “We believe that the freedom-loving nations of the world will also reject this step by the Trump administration.”

view that the move would not have any impact on the “resurgent” militancy and might even further radicalise it. “Salahuddin has been the face of Kashmir militancy since 1990s. Once you label the face as a global terrorist, it will certainly reflect on the rights movement and militancy,” said a Srinagar-based political analyst and commentator, adding that the US State Department’s decision would certainly have a psychological and political impact. He said the US decision had the potential of realignment of new forces in South and Central Asia. “So far, Pakistan had been relying on the US or expecting some initiatives and help from it in resolving the Kashmir dispute. But the US move will unshackle Pakistan’s dependence on America,” Hussain said, who was also of the view that the decision would not have any impact on militancy in Kashmir. He said militancy was now “more localised and getting least help” from the across. He also pointed out that India must also be aware of the “mere symbolic value” of the US decision. “In the case of Hafiz Saeed, it has not impacted his activities despite the US censuring him,” he said. His views on impact on militancy were reflected by former GOC-in-C of the Northern Command Lt Gen (retired) HS Panag, who believes that nothing would change on ground in Kashmir. “Before Salahuddin, Hafiz Saeed was declared a terrorist. Nothing changed after that. I think designation of Salahuddin as a global terrorist will also not bring any change,” he said. A senior separatist leader said the US decision would not have an impact on the Kashmir “movement” and the activities of Hurriyat. “The Kashmir movement is a political movement driven by its people and militancy is one of its aspects,” the pro-freedom leader said, adding that despite the US decision, the “Kashmir dispute still remains and the region continues to remain on the brink of a nuclear disaster.” The Hurriyat would continue to strive for rights of its people politically and peacefully, he said

However, some analysts were of the

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

COMMENT

‘DON’T READ MUCH IN TERRORIST DESIGNATION OF SALAHUDDIN’ While New Delhi seems to be overjoyed about the move by Trump administration to bracket UJC chief in list of global terrorists, it needs to be reminded that the big brother is concerned about his own priorities than trying to appease Modi administration

ER RASHID

ew Delhi seems to have been intensified its campaign to defend its view point on Kashmir and in the latest move it has been able to persuade US to declare Syed

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Salahuddin a “global terrorist”. New Delhi-based TV Channels enjoy every night abusing Pakistan and seeking every Kashmiri to be deported to Pakistan. However, when US declared UJC chief as terrorist they believed they had a strong reason to celebrate. The political class and ultra nationalist analysts were praising Modi’s wisdom for getting this unique gift from Americans. Undoubtedly this time the harsh ultra-nationalists had logic to claim declaring Salahuddin a global terrorist, as India’s success. But unfortunately Indians forget many bitter basic facts related to the whole issue. Americans

have their own priorities and they do amend, change or frame their policies keeping in view their strategic national interest. Americans have been following the universal law that might is right and they change their priorities with the changing times. Indians forget the universally deep rooted perception that “Boss is always right”. It hardly mattered to Americans when Indians sided with USSR during Afghan war. Who doesn’t know that United States had become epicenter of all those activities, which are today being interpreted as “Islamic terrorism”, when Afghans were fighting Russian

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

COMMENT

aggression. Before celebrating Modi being first leader to be hosted a dinner in White House by Donald Trump, Indians should not forget that it were Americans who were not giving Modi visa for years, despite he being the Chief Minister of Gujarat. When Trump became President Indian media celebrated claiming that Muslims would be finding now difficult to live in America, but the bitter fact is that many Indians have lost their lives at the hands of racists after Trump took over. Who knows what would have been in minds of Americans while calling Salahuddin a terrorist. Despite being Israeli’s most loyal and trustworthy ally Americans have not been forgetting to bring both Palestinians and Israelis on table constantly. Even on more than one occasions Americans had very tense times with Israelis for the reason they wanted things to move much faster for a durable settlement. What I want to say is that Indians are celebrating just one part of the story which surfaced in public domain but what Donald Trump must have advised Modi will remain an untold story. It is not possible that Americans could annoy Pakistan for India’s appeasement. The strategic location of Pakistan gives it much more significance as compared to India during all times. India despite being a much larger country as compared to Pakistan has big disadvantage that it has no direct contact with rest of the world. Any connectivity between India and rest of the world is totally dependent on China and Pakistan, but unfortunately there is no chance of co-operation with both of them. In contrast Pakistan has an access not only to central Asia but to Europe. With CPEC becoming a reality, a bus service between Azad Kashmir and UK is on the cards and the day it happens it would have a big psychological impact on both sides of the LoC. New Delhi has not much to show in Kashmir except strikes, protests, pallets and bullets and despite all its propaganda the people on the other side of LoC enjoy comparatively better amenities. What one needs to learn from all this is the fact that in future the gap between New Delhi and Srinagar may increase further and as such put-

ting restrictions on militant outfits may not be of any significance. The way Chinese and Russians are coming closer to Islamabad, Americans can’t digest it for more than one reason. The strong worded response of China over the issue and appreciating Pakistan’s role in fighting global terrorism is something that has given strong message to Washington and New Delhi that Pakistan can’t be isolated. Except Salahuddin issue Modi has nothing to cheer over his US visit and it would not be exaggeration if Trump administration has enlisted Salahuddin as a global terrorist just to give face saving to Modi. The CIA and ISI are known twin sisters and what Indians are revealing and claiming day in a day out doesn’t add anything fresh to the information

Americans have their own priorities and they do amend, change or frame their policies keeping in view their strategic national interest. Americans have been following the universal law that might is right and they change their priorities with the changing times

of Americans about covert or overt misadventures executed by Pakistan from time to time. One cannot rule out if Americans might have taken Pakistanis into confidence over Salahuddin issue so as to give them a reason to intervene for resolution of Kashmir dispute sooner or later. Is it possible that if Salahuddin is really a threat to US interests, Americans couldn’t find it since last twenty seven years. After 9/11 when Americans bombarded Afghanistan, there were credible and reasonable rumors that Pakistan’s willingness to support Americans was subject to the condition that US would help in resolving Kashmir dis-

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pute to the maximum satisfaction of people of J&K. Indians also need not to forget that Americans most wanted man Osama Bin Laden was found in Pakistan but still his getting killed there didn’t had any adverse impact on US PAK relations. Every incident and evidence leads to the conclusion that Americans have deep rooted interests in Pakistan. New Delhi knows better that it doesn’t make a difference at ground by declaring Salahuddin a terrorist. Salahuddin and his colleagues are outlaws as on date and the underground organizations operate only to break the law of the land for good or bad reasons. They don’t take permission from any individual, state or organization to operate and as such, declaring Salahuddin a terrorist may be nothing beyond a symbolic gesture. New Delhi should not waste time in understanding the fact that till recent past Pakistanis were always reluctant and cautious in supporting resistance movement in Kashmir but this time they responded without any confusion or ambiguity by openly owning the resistance movement and calling Salahuddin a freedom fighter. New Delhi needs to understand things in right perspective and broader sense. Given the fact that power comes with responsibility, America as largest superpower has to fulfill its duty towards world community that would make the world a better place to live and resolving Kashmir dispute has to be the epicenter of such duty. Americans do also know that the Asian sub-continent would never have become a nuclear zone had there not been the dispute between India and Pakistan over Jammu & Kashmir. Pakistanis also have been successfully using nuclear card by creating a perception of a nuclear war in the sub-continent, if Kashmir dispute is not resolved and this version has many takers including Americans. There is every reason to conclude that Kashmir dispute being mother of all disputes in the entire sub-continent, declaring Salahuddin a terrorist may add more to the problems of India than Pakistan as the pressure would certainly mount for the political resolution of dispute which New Delhi has been avoiding since 70 long years.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

THOUGHT

FRIGHTENING IMPRINTS In Kashmir a new age of resistance has arrived with more fierce approach where killings, protests, stone-pelting & encounters have become order of the day SABEEHA SHAHEEN

n Kashmir political instability has not only claimed life of people but wreaked havoc on their emotional and psychological lives. I was born to witness the world which was patrolled and controlled by security forces who were cause of fear for people. Living in a village which had been politically sensitive and “capital of encounter”, I sometimes would feel that I shouldn’t be living in the world which seemed highly fearful and challenging. For a child like me who could have been happy with playing hopscotch and moving freely, it was always a painful life to witness and suffer at the same time. The early years of my childhood were gripped by insurgency and the incidents of the insurgency and counter-insurgency were in full flow. During my childhood I was well versed with the vocabulary including the grim military words like, crackdown, torture, arrest, encounter, nocturnal raids, which would define the situation around. The place where I lived would often witness gunshots, crackdowns and encounters often leading my innocent mind to believe that it perhaps was an intrinsic part of our unfortunate life. The constant patrolling of security forces and armed in-

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surgents who I properly remember were tagged as HM, LF and Lashkar was an everyday experience I faced. I shudder when I remember how a sudden fire shots fired just a few yards away from my house broke the silence of the night and left me in a state of extreme fear and despair. The following day crackdown and search operation that would follow in the entire neighborhood is equally hard to forget as it has left deep and permanent imprint on my mind. I lived my entire childhood in fear. I am trying hard to come out from those memories but they still hold me back. Even today the fear psychosis I had been through my childhood and teenage has taken a heavy toll on my psyche.

Living in a village which had been politically sensitive and `capital of encounter', I sometimes would feel that I shouldn't be living in the world which seemed highly fearful and challenging

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

THOUGHT

The following day crackdown and search operation that would follow in the entire neighborhood is equally hard to forget as it has left deep and permanent imprint on my mind The insurgency which has deep roots in Kashmir and the counter-insurgency which a common Kashmiri witnesses leaves everyone astonished and confused.

PHOTO: SHAH JEHANGIR

As I grew up, I began to understand and recognize the background against which all that fight had been set and I began mumbling to myself in the hamlet way “something is rotten in the state of Denmark (Kashmir)”.I grew up as a person whose psychological, emotional and spiritual life got automatically attached to the political question which has been devouring precious lives of human beings across border. Having lived in a state which has been politically disturbed and at times violent it is always expected that people - elders and children alike are eager to see Kashmir transformed into a place where everything could be peacefully favorable and supportive to life. In the same way I have al-

ways been occupied with the thoughts regarding future of Kashmir and its people and trying hard to encourage my hopes for the promising and joyful times ahead. Now, grown up girl and pursuing higher studies, I have no doubt that somehow I understood the politics of Kashmir but I have no hesitancy to declare that I failed to locate my political orientation till now given the complexity and confusing political situation Kashmir seems to be in. I sometimes feel siding with one camp but at the next moment I find myself having tendency to support opposite camp. This confusion is what I see lingering deep down in the general political psyche of all Kashmiri people and organizations working for the resolution of Kashmir.

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Kashmir once again is caught in the midst of nowhere. A new age of resistance has arrived with more fierce approach where killings, protests, stone-pelting and encounters are order of the day. This era of resistance is more gruesome and horrifying. Every night I sleep not sure whether I will wake up tomorrow. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow because in a place like Kashmir you can’t predict anything. It is very ironic that Kashmir, known as paradise on earth, is a conflict ridden zone. I often ask myself, when will this war end? When will peace prevail in our valley? When I will be able to live peacefully? These questions haunt me day in and day out and I hopelessly hope against the hope. (Author is a journalism student at Media Education Research Centre at University of Kashmir. She can be reached at sabeehashaheen123@gmail.com).

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

POLITICS

Encounter with a Sheikh loyalist ‘Those days rebels were tortured, now they are killed... stooges lived freely then, now they are protected ones’

NEYAZ ELAHI

BUREAU CHIEF CENTRAL KASHMIR:

“

What are you looking at? We lost the Dal Lake the day we lost Kashmir to India,” an elderly man quipped and started looking at us. I became curious to prolong the conversation, moments after I, along with my friend stepped on the famous foreshore road to witnesses the condition of the dying lake. “Please don’t mention my name in your story, the elderly man insisted, revealing he was from Shah Mohalla, Nawab Bazar in downtown Srinagar. Soon the conversation changed to politics. My brother, the man said, was a loyal supporter of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. “Throughout his life not a single supporter of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and his party National Conference doubted his fealty. Militants fighting against Indian rule attacked the house of my brother with grenades but he never budged and continued to support the party,” he said. “Even when militancy was

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at its peak and almost all NC workers were announcing their resignations through newspapers, my brother chose a different path and refused to do so. The result was that he faced some of the grenade attacks. He survived and later on died a natural death.” I felt for a moment that he wants to say something and thus I requested him to say whatever he knows about Kashmir. Please tell me what you know about Valley politics, I insisted. As they say everybody has a story to tell, so had he. And when he started, we both were dumbfounded and eagerly listened to him. The man started the colloquy with a Kashmiri slogan that people used to chant during 60’s and 70’s. “Thades Na Aqal Aas, Chhateus Kya Gow, Warneuhind Neichu Payes Pewo” (If taller had no wisdom, what happened to dwarf, kid living in backwoods understood the game). Like a curious child who keenly

wants to watch the climax of the movie, I asked him to elaborate and he continued. “The tall Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah had lost the wit because he was arrogant, his aide and confidante Afzal Beigh was meek, sheepish and narrow minded while Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad, who had spent his life in wilderness shook hands with wily Nehru and enjoyed his life.” An ardent and lifelong supporter of Sheikh Abdullah, the septuagenarian went on and revealed that this slogan was popularized in Kashmir by ‘Bakras’ (supporters of Mirwaiz family). “Today we hurl stones on forces, but in those times bottles and stones were thrown by Bakras (supporters of late Molvi Farooq) and Sheras (supporters of Sheikh Abdullah) at each other. One day Molvi Farooq used to lead a procession the other day Sheikh Abdulah would show his prowess. Despite being the ardent supporter and lover of Sheikh Abdullah

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POLITICS I held him responsible for the present mess. Being an elder, Sheikh Abdullah was duty bound to join hands with young Molvi Farooq, but his arrogance let everyone down,” the man continued. “India watched from a distance and its stooges enjoyed these skirmishes. Had Sheikh and Farooq joined hands, India would have come to terms and Kashmir issue would have got resolved. Both the leaders wasted their energies on petty things and did nothing to save people from the thralldom of India.” For septuagenarian, Sheikh Abdullah was “power hungry and insolent”. “I am telling you he (Sheikh Abdullah) was insolent because I have met him several times at Mujhadi Munzil. My brother used to take me there and one day he asked me to keep my mouth shut when I asked him for a favour. I asked the same favour from Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad later on and he happily obliged. Sheikh cared least about his supporters for he knew Kashmir supported and followed him blindly. The height of blind faith in him can be gauged from this fact that lakhs of people joined his funeral despite knowing he was wrong and had sold Kashmir to India. I too wailed and beat my chest when he died despite knowing the fact that new generation will not hold him in high esteem.” “It was his (Sheikh Abdullah’s) over confidence and arrogance that drowned him. Before his arrest in 1953, the then Prime Minister of India Nehru invited him for talks in New Delhi. Against the wishes of his well-wishers and supporters he sent Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad there who joined hands with Nehru and got Sheikh arrested. So arrogant was Sheikh that he even didn’t listen to Afzal Beigh who requested him to meet Nehru himself. What happened between Bakshi and Nehru is not important. What is important is that Sheikh Abdullah even after spending 11 years in jail not only accepted India’s suzerainty but also targeted those who were India’s bête-noire,” the man asserted. The old man from historic city said that Sheikh Abdullah once again ditched people when bewildered and befuddled India was keen to restore

PHOTO: SHAH JEHANGIR

peace and order in Kashmir at a time when millions of people had taken to streets after the theft of holy relic. “Again Sheikh Abdullah’s arrogance dashed the hopes of those enlightened Kashmiris who wanted all the leadership get together and question India’s rule in Kashmir. Awami Action Committee wanted Sheikh Abdullah’s release from prison and had put up a demand that besides Meerak Shah and Sheikh Abullah, the exiled Molvi Yousuf Shah should be allowed to check the authenticity of recovered stolen holy relic. Abdullah was not keen to see his opponent Mirwaiz Yousuf Shah back to Valley and thus shelved the proposal. Instead, job to authenticate the veracity of the holy relic was assigned to Meerak Shah in presence of two Hindu Indian officers B.N Mullick and Laxman Das Thakur. The demand that had been put up by Awami Action Committee was aimed to re-unite the incarcerated Abdullah and exiled Shah. That didn’t materialize at all because of the arrogance of Abdullah who didn’t want to see Shah back to Kashmir as he considered him the biggest threat to his power and influence.” “If Sheikh Abdullah was after power, Bakshi was source of that power who knew the art of satisfying the needs of the people. If Sheikh used Quranic verses to attract the atten-

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tion of ignorant and illiterate population, Baskshi used money power for the same. During the rule of Bakshi, people forgot Sheikh. Bakshi did everything for people and satisfied their materialistic needs. Timid people of Kashmir had aspirations for freedom but money power, jobs, relief and exgratia kept them silent. Bakshi became a popular figure. He was the one who used to issue orders on cigarette packets directing authorities to appoint the bearer as a teacher in Education Department, a clerk in Revenue Department and so on. When people protested against hike in rice, Bakshi asked Nehru to revoke the order. He made Nehru believe that people of Kashmir want food and nothing else and they are content with India as long as India pumps food and money there.” According to old man nothing has changed in Kashmir except the mood of the people. “Those days rebels were tortured and now they are killed. Rebels died in obscurity then and now they are being idolized. Stooges lived freely then and now they are protected ones. Then every public speaker was called a politician and now they are categorized into mainstream and separatists.” (Neyaz Elahi works for news agency CNS and can be reached at neyazelahi@gmail.com).

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

COVER STORY

ZAHOOR GULZAR

n June 26, Syed Salahuddin, the United Jehad Council (UJC) chief called for a week-long program to mark the first death anniversary of Hizb-

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ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani who was killed by forces on July 8 last year. In a video message, UJC Chief announced that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hafta-e-Shuhudaâ&#x20AC;? would be observed on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) which divides Kashmir into two parts - each administered by India and Pakistan.

To pay tributes to Burhan Wani and the 1931 martyrs, Salahuddin called for state-wide shutdown on July 8 and 13. The death of Wani, who was a popular militants among local population, had triggered massive six month long uprising in Kashmir in which around 100 civilians were killed and over 15000 persons

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COVER STORY

A YEAR AFTER BURHAN

After the killing of top militant commander, Buhan Muzaffar Wani, by forces on July 8 last year, situation in Kashmir continues to remain on the edge with pro-freedom protests becoming a regular feature amid the continued trend of young & educated youth joining militancy PHOTO: SHAH JEHANGIR

were injured – at least 1200 of them losing eyesight completely or partially after they were hit by the deadly pellets in their eyes, fired by the forces. Since Burhan’s death there has been no thaw in the street protests across Kashmir and even as the intensity of these protests went down after December last year it has become regular phenomena in Kashmir. The state government has started bracing for the death anniversary, increasing security deployment in South Kashmir and along the re-

gion’s key highways. Protest ‘calendars’, a schedule of shutdowns and demonstrations in the region, are typically declared by the separatist outfit Hurriyat and its factions, making Monday’s announcement by UJC chief Syed Salahuddin unusual. Wani is credited to have revived the militancy in Kashmir, in part due to his social media tactics. His death was seen as blow to the Hizb, which lost its second-most prominent militant leader Sabzar Bhat last month. “Resistance leadership and clerics should start the programme on July 7 and explain the significance of

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

martrydom to people during Friday sermons, the video shows Salahuddin as saying. “On July 10 and 11, people will visit the families of martyrs to express solidarity with them and help them financially,” he said. He has asked people to offer special namaz for the “freedom movement and destruction of the enemy’’ on July 12. Kashmir has seen one of its bloodiest years since Wani’s death, and more than 45 people — civilians, security forces and militants — were killed since May 28 when

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

COVER STORY

The United Jehad Council (UJC) chief has called for a week-long program to mark the first death anniversary of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani who was killed by forces on July 8 last year.

Ramzan began. In addition to Wani, Salahuddin said, the agitation will also be to remember the Kashmiri civilians who died on July 13, 1931 during a protest in Srinagar. “Resistance leadership and clerics should start the programme on July 7 and explain the significance of martrydom to people during Friday sermons, the video shows Salahuddin as saying. In villages after villages the The spirit of the uprising endures in people’s discussions, tragic tales of youths giving up comfort to pick up arms and state repression. How can we forget all that? The protests might have ebbed but those bitter memories (of 2016) will always remain with us,” said a youth in his early 20s, identifying himself as Zubair. He and his friends sat at a shop front in Heff, discussing a midnight raid by the government forces on the home of Hizbul-Mujahideen district commander Saddam Paddar last month. They said Paddar’s family members, including his aged father Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Padder, had been beaten up. “This is how they (forces) keep this fire burning. Go and

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find out yourself that the entire village is brewing with anger over the incident even today,” interrupted another youth, calling himself Masroof. The public outpouring of support for militants is growing. This is like a replay of the early 90s when militancy was at its peak in Kashmir and enjoyed mass support. Today, people rush to the encounter sites to help militants escape and crowds of Kashmiris including young boys and women participate in militants’ funerals, indicating militants are again emerging as heroes though these new age militants are less active on the ground. It is not only the “inherent profreedom sentiment” that is contributing to the renewal of the militancy in Kulgam and other districts. Families of militants and locals whom Kashmir Leader spoke with said the harassment of the youth, who participated in the protests in 2010 and 2016, by the

government forces was leaving young boys with no choice but to pick up arms. “This harassment is only rejuvenating the spirit for Azadi,” said another local of Khudwani, Hafeezullah. “This fire is burning, the more they harass the youth, the higher the flames will go.”

Since Burhan’s death there has been no thaw in the street protests across Kashmir and even as the intensity of these protests went down after December last year it has become regular phenomena in Kashmir

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COVER STORY

I disagree because we can’t wait and do nothing.” What will a few hundred youngsters with guns achieve? “This is exactly what my father says. I have an answer to that. We haven’t become numb like our elders. Our generation is angry because the only thing we have seen is tragedy after tragedy, funeral after funeral. “When you become a militant, you at least get your own freedom.” J&K Police records reveal that among the 282 militants active in the Valley, 112 are from south Kashmir. And 99 of these 112 militants here are “local”. Local estimates say there are at least 20 more in the “local” count, with some yet to declare their affiliation and new recruitment reported almost every week. Burhan, the Rebel Burhan, who had a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on him, picked up arms when he was merely 15-years-old. His father and his friends single out one incident as having had an outsize influence on him in his decision to take up arms against India.

In Redwani, a village in Kulgam, a 24-year-old sits on the pavement. Redwani and nearby villages were on the boil during the uprising triggered by Burhan Wani’s killing in July 2016. Though protests have subsided, the situation is far from calm. The 24-year-old says 23 FIRs are registered against him, his face lighting up as he repeats- “23 cases”. “I used to pelt stones whenever I got a chance. But my family got me married. Once you have children, things change,’’ he says. “My heart hasn’t changed. I still feel the same way. But my circumstances have changed. Each time I go out to protest, I think of my family, my wife and daughter – if I am killed, what will happen to them. Marriage has made me weak,” he says. He says that after Wani was killed, he wanted to join militancy. “I couldn’t. My family became this unbreakable chain on my feet,” he says. He insists, however, that his views remain the same. “My parents aren’t ready to take any risk.

Born to an affluent village headmaster, Burhan was a class X student when he went out with his brother Khalid to take a spin in the latter’s new bike in Tral, in Pulwama district where they lived. They were accompanied by a friend. The friend later told The Greater Kashmir, that they were intercepted on their way by a group of Indian Army personnel who ordered the teenagers to buy them cigarettes. Back in 2000, the friend said, this was routine. Officers allegedly stopped young Kashmiri boys and frisked them, or asked them to buy cigarettes in return of letting them use the road. Khalid Wani went to buy cigarettes and returned. However, the friend said, the officers still attacked them and beat them up. Khalid fell unconscious; his new bike was damaged, while Burhan and his friend managed to run away. While fleeing, Burhan, threatened the Army officers that he is going to ‘avenge’ what they did to his brother. According to the same report, six months later, Wani fled his home and joined the Hizbul

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It is not only the `inherent pro-freedom sentiment' that is contributing to the renewal of the militancy in Kulgam and other districts. Families of militants and locals whom Kashmir Leader spoke with said the harassment of the youth, who participated in the protests in 2010 and 2016, by the government forces was leaving young boys with no choice but to pick up arms Mujahideen. Burhan swiftly rose in the ranks of Hizbul Mujahideen and soon came to be called the ‘posterboy’ of militancy in Kashmir. He is said to have recruited at least 100 people from Kashmir to Hizbul Mujahideen and was known to use social media to reach out to and urge Kashmir’s youth to join the militancy group. An article on Catch News explains why Burhan turned out to be a nightmare for security agencies in Kashmir at the same time he became some sort of an ‘inspiration’ for Kashmir’s youth living under relentless surveillance. Burhan was one of the first militants from Kashmir to reveal his face and identity on social media, belittling security forces of the country. One picture that went viral on Facebook showed Burhan, accompanied by ten new recruits, sitting in forested area possibly in south Kashmir, looking smugly into the camera, Kalashnikovs strapped across their body.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

CONCERN

Of cop lynching & Kashmir situation Many see beating of policeman to death as an instance of fast deteriorating situation in Kashmir where the decades-old conflict has taken a huge human toll, describing it as outcome of extreme violence that Kashmiris are subjected to in daily life

KASHMIR LEADER was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

“

Why did they do this to us?”asked Danish Ayoub, the son of police officer Mohammed Ayub Pandith who was lynched by a mob in downtown Srinagar on June 23, as his family and relatives struggle to make sense of the killing that has led to an outrage in the Valley. Pandith, a deputy superintendent of police who was working in the security wing of Jammu and Kashmir police, was beaten to death by a mob outside Jamia Masjid, the main mosque in Srinagar, on Thursday (June 22), which was Shab-e-Qadr – an auspicious night for Muslims when, according to belief, the Quran

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The slain officer had left home at around 8:30 pm for “duty at the mosque,” according to Ayoub, saying he would return in the morning. The family had planned to celebrate this Eid together and their only daughter, who is studying MBBS in Bangladesh, had returned home some ten days ago. While both Ayoub and his sister are in shock, their mother is inconsolable. “We are all waiting for you to celebrate Eid together…come for us,” she cried aloud. Narratives about the lynching vary. According to an eyewitness, the po-

Many see the lynching as an instance of the fast deteriorating situation in Kashmir where the decadesold conflict has taken a huge human toll lice officer, who was in civilian clothing, was caught by a group of youth for clicking pictures or videos of people around, accusing him of being a mukhbir (police spy).

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CONCERN VIEWPOINT

He was then asked to prove his identity by the youth who had by then grown in number and had started hitting him. “A few people tried to intervene but they were pushed to the side. Sensing a threat to his life, the policeman took out his pistol and fired at the youth, injuring three persons,” said the eyewitness. This, he said, enraged the mob who stripped him naked and started “hitting him with whatever they could lay their hands on,” which led to the police officer’s death. According to local media reports, at least two men who were accompanying him had managed to flee. Policemen posted in the security wing do not wear uniform as a matter of service regulation.

Pandith, a deputy superintendent of police who was working in the security wing of Jammu and Kashmir The director general of police, S.P. Vaid, said Pandith was on “access police, was beaten control duty” outside the mosque to ensure protection of the people offerto death by a mob ing prayers there. outside Jamia Masjid, “They [the mob] had broken his jaws, his bones… this is not what Islam teaches us. It is barbarianism. It was a the main mosque brutal murder,” said Umer, Pandith’s nephew. in Srinagar, on slain officer, described as honest Thursday (June 22), The and down-to-earth by relatives and had “no craze of being a which was Shab-e- neighbours, police official”. “He was so simple that of the people in the locality don’t Qadr ' an auspicious most know that he was a police official,” Umer added. night for Muslims to another relative of Panwhen, according to According dith, his body was lying on the road more than 45 minutes before it belief, the Quran was for was taken away by the police. revealed to Prophet The killing has led to outrage in Kashmir with people taking to social meMuhammad dia to condemn the attack. “Deeply disturbed & condemn the brutal act at Nowhatta. Mob violence & public lynching is outside the parameters of our values & religion,” tweeted separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who had gone to the mosque past midnight to deliver his sermon.

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“Act of stoning DySp Ayub Pandith in Nowhatta is barbaric & ghastly,” tweeted political commentator Gowhar Geelani. Another user Mir Burhan tweeted: “Mob lynching reaches Kashmir, I am ashamed.” The police, which has increasingly come under attack from both antiIndia protesters and militants, has so far arrested five in connection with the killing. This year alone, the Jammu and Kashmir police has lost 16 personnel of the total 29 security personnel killed so far. “Police is exercising maximum restraint in dealing with its own people. If they run out of patience, it will be a very difficult situation,” chief minister Mehbooba Mufti told reporters after the wreath laying ceremony of the slain officer. She termed the killing as shameful while National Conference working president Omar Abdullah described the officer’s death as a “tragedy and the manner of his death a travesty.” “Had he died of a bullet we would have no regrets. What was his crime that he was killed in such a barbaric and inhumane way?” asked the slain officer’s cousin Muhammad Abdullah Pandith. Many see the lynching as an instance of the fast deteriorating situation in Kashmir where the decades-old conflict has taken a huge human toll. “This [lynching] is the outcome of extreme violence that Kashmiris are subjected to in daily life. It is now threatening to brutalise the society,” an elderly man told a group of mourners who were perplexed at the manner in which the police officer was killed.

Police is exercising maximum restraint in dealing with its own people. If they run out of patience, it will be a very difficult situation, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti told reporters after the wreath laying ceremony of the slain officer

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

CONCERN

Innocent at last!

Can these men be compensated after spending 10 to 18 years in various Jails for the crimes which they never committed? in jail be compensated now? Will any action be taken against those police officials/security personals who falsely implicated them under various criminal cases?

Engineer jailed for 18 years DR. RAJA MUZAFFAR BHAT

ashmir continues to suffer on several fronts as decades old conflict lingers on. It has not only affected us politically, but Kashmir has suffered tremendous loss on social and economic front as well. Thousands of people have been killed from 1947 onwards and this cycle continues. During last 28 years hundreds of youth were tortured by security agencies and subsequently detailed illegally outside J&K. Career of many youth became dark as they were labeled either as terrorists or were falsely blamed for committing terror acts. But after spending years in various jails, they were finally proven innocent and subsequently released. The question arises how will these men who spent 10 to 18 years

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Farooq Ahmad Khan, a resident of Janglat Mandi Anantnag (Islamabad), a mechanical engineer, was arrested in May 1996 by Special Task Force (STF) of J&K Police. Farooq, who was working in Public Health Engineering (PHE) department of J&K Government, was arrested on the direction of Delhi Police for triggering a bomb blasts in Jaipur and New Delhi around same time. After spending 18 years in various jails across India, Farooq was acquitted by the Additional District Court, Bandhikui, Jaipur. The Delhi court also acquitted him from the terror charges after a long trial of 14-years. It took him another 4 years to prove his innocence vis a vis Jaipur bomb blast. Farooq was appointed as Junior Engineer in PHE department in 1991. For five years he worked in the department until he was arrested in

1996. Farooq was lodged in different jails within and outside the state. He was suffering from multiple ailments at the Jaipur Central Jail, where he was detained from 2010 to 2014 until he got released. Prior to it he was lodged in Tihar jail for 14 years.

Student jailed for 12 years: It was October 29, 2005 and Diwali, the festival of lights was just two days away. The markets in Delhi were abuzz and people were busy in shopping. Until 5.30 pm everything was going well, but soon a series of blasts took place at several locations causing death and destruction. It was5:38pm when the first bomb went off around Nehru Market in Pahargang outside a Jewellery shop. Around 5:52 pm, Budh Prakash bus conductor of a DTC noticed a suspicious bag lying under a seat near Okhla â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Govindpuri road. There were nearly 50 passengers with him in the bus. He immediately alerted driver to stop the bus. The bomb went off when conductor threw away the bag. He suffered severe burns and lost his eyesight, but a major tragedy was averted.

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CONCERN

At around5:56 pm a third blast occurred at Sarojini Nagar area where 37 people were reportedly killed. According to police reports 67 people were killed and more than 200 others injured in 2005 Delhi blasts. After more than a month of the blast, special cell of Delhi police arrested Rafiq Ahmad Shah a resident of Alesteng Srinagar during a midnight raid at his house. Rafiq, who was 22, then was pursuing his Masters degree in Islamic studies at Kashmir University. Showing example of an irresponsible journalism Hindustan Times filed a report on December 10, 2005 titled “This is the 29/10 bomber” wherein Rafiq was shown as the main accused in 2005 Diwali blasts. As a follow-up to the case, all the concocted reports were filed by Hindustan Times from time to time. On March 24th 2008 Greater Kashmir filed a news report after Rafiq wrote a letter during his detention at Delhi’s Tihar Jail. In his letter Rafiq said that he was brutally tortured, forced to drink his urine and was kept with a pig in the jail cell. The then Delhi Police chief, KK Paul, had in fact given Rafiq a clean chit. But the Special Cell of Delhi police claimed he was an accused. In his 2008 letter from Tihar Jail Rafiq said he was innocent and falsely implicated in the case by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in collaboration with SOG of J&K Police .“I was a regular student of the department of Islamic Studies in Kashmir University where I was pursuing master’s degree. I was picked up by the joint team of Delhi and Kashmir police from my home at midnight,” Rafiq said in his letter According to March 24th 2008 report of Greater Kashmir Rafiq was brutally tortured, forced to drink urine. He was kept naked and forced to suck private parts of co-accused. Rats were let into his trousers and when I cried, the police officials laughed and took his pictures with their mobile phones. To torture him and his religious sentiments, his body was touched with pig. Later he was kept locked with the pig in a single cell. “The police officials used to say ‘every Kashmiri is a terrorist.’ A gun was pointed at my forehead and I was made to sign a bundle of blank papers,” Rafiq wrote in his 2008

letter from Tihar Jail .The then vicechancellor of Kashmir University, Prof Abdul Wahid Qureshi had testified that Rafiq was in the Islamic Studies department on the day of 2005 Delhi blasts. The reality is that Rafiq had only visited Delhi while he was a kid with his father. The then Commissioner of Delhi Police KK Paul had said in his report that Rafiq does not seem to be the Govindpuri bomber; it seems at this stage that all the bombers have fled the country. Even in annual press conference, he refrained from stat-

ing Rafiq was the actual bomber even when Special Cell had requested for test identification of the accused. The Special Cell however insisted that Rafiq was the bomber.

Final court verdict: On February 16, 2017 Rafiq was acquitted by a Delhi court after Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh acquitted him of all charges. Rafiq, while talking to reporters soon after his release, said that he was made an accused to assuage the public perception that Delhi Police was incompetent to act against terrorism” and that “he was a vulnerable target... made a scapegoat” . Delhi Police had relied on dubious and fake witnesses who ended up contradicting their own statements. Initially Delhi Police produced a witness namely Danbir Sharma, one of the passengers in the DTC bus. On the basis of Sharma’s description, police made a portrait, but Sharma later couldn’t identify Rafiq.

Scholar jailed for 16 years: On August 14, 2000 around one dozen people were injured, some of them seriously, when a bomb exploded on the Sabarmati Express at Bara-

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banki 25 kms from Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. After a year, on July 31, 2001 one Gulzar Ahmad Wani a resident of Tappar village in Pattan district Baramulla who was pursuing PHD in Arabic from Aligrah Muslim University (AMU) was arrested from New Delhi in connection with the blast. He was named as one of the accused in this case. Gulzar who was 28 at the time of his arrest was portrayed as Hizbul Mujahedeen militant having links with banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). After spending 16 years in jail Gulzar was released recently by a local court in Barabanki UP. During his detention Gulzar was framed in several fake and frivolous cases. He was also accused of being one of the so called “conspirators” in ten other terror cases. Around 14 FIRs were slapped against him in different police stations of Delhi, Maharashtra and UP. He was acquitted in all these cases. Pertinently on April 25 this year, the Supreme Court termed Gulzar’s custody spanning over 16 years without bail as “shame”.

Conclusion After spending 12 to 18 years in jail Farooq Ahmad Khan, Rafiq Ahmad Shah and Gulzar Ahmad Wani have now been released. Can Delhi Police or UP Police or the Government of India or any other agency that was involved in arresting these innocent men compensate them for making them to go through such an ordeal? In fact Additional Sessions Judge Barabanki court has directed the UP Government to compensate Gulzar Ahmad Wani, but will Yogi Adityanath, the CM of UP adhere to this court verdict? This is not the case of these three men only but we have dozens of such examples wherein young men were booked on the charges of terrorism who actually were innocent people. Their only crime was that they were Muslims. Dozens of Muslim youth were tortured and arrested for their alleged role in Mecca Masjid and Malegaon bomb blasts. But after a thorough probe it was proved to have been carried out by Rightwing Hindu organizations.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

CONCERN

Gowrakshaks & politics of Lynching The events of lynching, aggression & unlawful persecution were sidelined as the craft of fringe elements & as aberrations, but over the period of time such incidents are a clear cut indication towards rightist ideology trying to take over

ZUHAIB YOUSF MIR

he politics of lynching is the new normal in India. Gowrakshaks (cow protectionists) are the new arbitrators of morality and social order. The members of Hindu-Vahini are the men patronized by BJP who determine the criterion as to how one should fall in love and with whom. The state brazenly supports news channels that favor the government policies and admonish the ones who are critical of it. Many

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media houses are tacitly in support of the BJP and are at the verge of declaring themselves as a part of it. If any one wishes to get a glimpse of how the India of emergency of 70â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s would have looked like, this is precisely how it looked like. This is the state of undeclared emergency. Welcome to BJPs Bharat, not India. Earlier, these events of lynching, aggression and unlawful persecution were sidelined as the craft of fringe elements and as aberrations but over the period of time the succession of such incidents are a clear cut indication towards rightist ideology trying to take over. The Dadri lynching, the Alwar lynching, Pune lynching, the Ballabgarh lynching and many more are the mainstream events and the new normal under the BJPs regime. The perpetrators of these events should not be considered as fringe el-

ements. This is a new wing of rogues patronized by the BJP to terrorize people and thwart every dissenting voice and everything that does not stick to the agenda of RSS. The division between Hindus and Muslims has reinforced and now a new division and discourse has come to the forefront that is tagging people as nationals and anti-national. Any person/organization which is a government sycophant is national and anyone who is critical of the government policies is brazenly declared as antinational and also most likely according to Sangh Parivar and ilk be sent to Pakistan. The constitution of India even lays down the directive principle (Article 48), which reads: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds,

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CONCERN

and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.” The state must come down with a heavy hand on these selfproclaimed defenders acting outside the law in the name of nation, culture or religious sensitivities. If the state is soft or protectionist towards the vigilantes resorting to violence, then it is liable to be understood as indirectly sponsoring the vigilantism and as abdicating its primal duty to protect life and personal liberty. Directive principles are moral guidelines for a state and not enforceable rights or duties of its citizens. If one traces the Constituent Assembly debates to understand the tone and tenor of this principle, both religious and rational arguments would be found. The religious arguments hinge on the Hindu tradition of protecting and preserving cows and worshipping it like a mother. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, speaking at a press conference, recently said that the government is not trying to control the food habits of people; yet, one must not forget that cow is revered by many in this country. This simply implies that the government which thinks itself as the sole representative of the majority community seeks to safeguard and pander to their religious sentiments. The economic argument which is also the part of the directive principle falls apart. Quoting from the article in Daily O, it says “You can praise the cow and be a “nationalist”. You can debate cow slaughter and be called “anti-national”. You can “protect” cows without any legal sanction and beat up people and be called “gaurakshak”. You can even be a “cow” if you wish to be the most-desired “bahu”! We must not forget that the “SanskaariBahu” is idolised as the “gau” — one who is as gentle and innocent as the cow”. The rakshaks are willing to be rakshaks because they know their masters would reward them. Such forces are truly anti-national but often tend to cloak themselves as nationalist forces or protectors of culture or religion. Therefore, Article 21 ought to be understood as providing a foundation for full individual growth and as conferring the choice to an individual to determine the way he wants to grow and live, including his group existence. It’s truly a founda-

tional platform for free secular growth. Of course, with equality of opportunity. Dissent and diversity are at a low premium and under pressure. The contradiction between the right to life and personal liberty on one hand and the state and vigilantes on the other is becoming heightened. It is, therefore, time to reemphasise the significance of the fun-

The members of Hindu-Vahini are the men patronized by BJP who determine the criterion as to how one should fall in love and with whom. The state brazenly supports news channels that favor the government policies and admonish the ones who are critical of it damental rights, in particular, Article 21 of the Constitution. Article 21 enshrines the most precious of all the fundamental rights recognised by the Constitution – the right to life and personal liberty. The full worth and significance of this article were not clearly understood for a long time after independence. So much so that the Supreme Court overturned nine high courts’ unanimous verdict and upheld the Emergency imposed during the Congress regime, one the most serious onslaughts on personal liberty in India. Various shades of vigilante groups have emerged in India to dictate what girls should wear and when they should go out of their houses; what should be shown in the films; what should not be written by authors; what should not be

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

done in public; what should not be eaten; what views should be expressed or rather shouldn’t be expressed by intellectuals; and so on. And this is all being done in the name of nationalism, religion, culture, and even hurting of sensitivities. These vigilantes are all extra legem – not authorised by law. They are like the group of terrorists and Islamic State cells who use extra-legal terror not only against the state but even against people to make them conform to their belief and opinion about Islamic tenets. The two reinforce each other. Both rely on instilling conformance through fear. They both are regressive and carry a perverted sense of their religion. But they are believed to have vote banks or support base. That explains the softness of political parties, ruling or otherwise, towards the extra-legal forces. It is democracy in regressive play. In all this madness and havoc that the saffron brigade is trying to create by its venomous agenda, there is an interesting spectacle that one can witness, the Prime Minister is as silent as the grave and does not want to do anything about it. We must as a nation, remember one and only one thing that India is a secular country and the country does not possess a state religion. The secularists must come together and protect this ethos of the nation and not let the right-wingers consume the idea of India on which it has not just sustained but thrived all this while. Let us not be swayed away by the religious narrow-mindedness and think about farmers who now have an additional burden of an unproductive animal raising his debts that entice him to commit suicide.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

VIEWPOINT

Hyper-nationalist media & K-Conundrum

SHEIKH NISSAR

heatrics of ‘national media’ in the battle for TRPs (Television Rating Points) and their anti-Kashmiri stance have touched the limits of insanity. The inherent racism and hatred for Kashmiris is ruling hearts and minds of the larger section of this media and Indian society that keep off them from accepting the truth. From news reader to panelists, all are supporting “state terrorism”. One new face that hit social media with a lot of criticism is Major Gaurav Arya on Arnab Goswami’s debate making the remarks that there was external handiwork behind the ‘red rosy cheeks’ of Kashmiris. Arya went on adding, “There is neither farmer suicide case nor any case of malnutrition. For this one needs to have lot of money,

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where does this money is coming from?” Narrating the argument as “rational statement”, TV anchor and chief-in-editor of Republic TV Arnab Gowsami went on defending Arya, which was much astonishing for the political as well as social scientists all over the country. At least 33,000 widows, 90,000 orphans, 1000s half widows, 10,000 disappeared, 1,20,000 killed and countless pellet injuries snatching eye sight, still Indians are amazed of red cheeks of Kashmiris. This irrational mindset of these hyper-nationalists desist Kashmir to accept such news anchors and panelists, who have time and often played with sentiments of the oppressed Kashmiris. Under the canopy the media had outraged Kashmiris. In the company of these racial anchors and panelists like Arnab Gowsami, Sudhir Choudry, Deepak Chourasia, Anupam Kher, Gen G D Bakshi and

Sushil Pandit, Arya, is a new face. All these jingoistic voices look at Kashmir through the prism of hatred. If one has gone through these discussions, one would have observed how they insult Kashmiri participants. The trolling by reporters and irrational questioning is also prevalent in these debates; the campaign run by these news readers to suppress voice of Kashmir has its own share in disturbing the peace of the Valley. The word “Kashmir” itself defines the beauty of which Indians are envious. Land of meadows, lush green forests, lakes, snow peaked mountains, chirping streams and beautifully carved people by nature is haunting their illogical minds. Favorable climate and feasible geographical conditions are the scientifically proven reason behind the fair complexion with a rosy tingle of Kashmiri people; still they pretend, there is some external agency that provides money to maintain the fairness.

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

VIEWPOINT

This irrational mindset of these hyper-nationalists desist Kashmir to accept such news anchors and panelists, who have time and often played with sentiments of the oppressed Kashmiris

physically tortured. Almighty had bestowed Kashmiris with beauty, there is no doubt. Kashmiris have a fair share of love towards their own people that is why they have red cheeks and there is no farmer suicide in valley. People of the valley are always ready to help needy people. In

The comedienne argument is an acknowledgement about the beauty that Kashmiris have. The argument made by Arya is a scientifically proven irrational statement. Money has nothing to do with “red rosy cheeks.” If fair complexion was due with money, perhaps PM of India would have been fairer than Kashmiris. These venomous speeches, disheartening debates on corrupt national media channels, hateful hash tags and filthy remarks on social media networking sites has awakened Kashmiris from slumber to free themselves from the well knit web of this negative publicity. Repeat a lie thousand times in news shows and it becomes a truth. Media’s biased portrayal of Kashmir issue is causing much harm to the lingeringly approaching peace to the Valley. The negative publicity of Kashmir depicted by Indian national media is posing a major threat to the integrity of the Union of India. On the other hand, the scant coverage of the national media of the goodness of Kashmiris while saving the lives of the drowning tourists in Jhelum or rescuing lives of CRPF men from a turtle turned army truck have never been hailed by national media.

Almighty had bestowed Kashmiris with beauty, there is no doubt. Kashmiris have a fair share of love towards their own people that is why they have red cheeks and there is no farmer suicide in valley. People of the valley are always ready to help needy people

Since the onset of militancy in 1989, Kashmiris have been mentally as well

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

other words, we can say Kashmiris are egalitarian. On one hand India claims Kashmir to be their integral part while on other hand they are jealous of the developmental works of the valley and the highest per capita income. The killing spree of 2016 has turned soil of Kashmir too red. Arya must be well aware about the bloody war that the forces are playing from early 90s. How keenly come they have observed the red cheeks while their eyes are unable to see the blood laden bodies of tender buds of Kashmir. Due to these illogical and racial comments, highly qualified youth of the state have left their studies and joined militant ranks. Tral, the fortress of Kashmir’s renowned militancy, has emerged due to the atrocities of the forces. Recently, on June 16, 2017 another 14 year old teenager boy Ahsan Ahmad Dar of Arwani was killed during an encounter. Another tender heart fell to the bullets. Our garden has been ravaged. After killing hundreds of youth the forces are still claiming India to be world’s largest democracy. Much of the blood has been spilled in this paradise. The silence of the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti over civilian killings and the racial remarks made by these panelists and anchors are much disheartening for people of the valley. There is no room for trust; Arya’s illogical remarks raised eye-brows, but there wasn’t any strict reaction from the state government. While the chief minister is busy in making carrier of her brother finance Minister Haseeb Drabu is busy in convincing traders for implementation GST. This garden has been ravaged by its own curators, who once projected themselves as the saviors of this garden. (The author can be reached at sheikhnissar@Outlook.com).

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

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(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

RELIGION

ON AMARNATH YATRA, FAITH & STATE GO HAND-IN-HAND

A new report documents the ecological and social stresses caused by the rising number of pilgrims, but weakens its case by letting politics impinge on rigour MUDASIR QADRI

n his first week as chief minister, Yogi Adityanath announced a plan that seemed more to do with Tibet than Uttar Pradesh – he would build a ‘Kailash Bhawan’ from which pilgrims could set out on the yatra to Mount Kailash and the Mansarovar lake in the Tibetan Himalayas. The significance of his plan was not hard to figure. It drew a line from the holy heights of Kailash to the less hallowed plains of western UP; the first step on the path to Shiva’s abode would no longer be taken in Lhasa or Kathmandu, but in Noida.

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Anyone following Adityanath’s parliamentary career was aware of his interest in the Himalayan pilgrimages. He joined debates on China barring Kailash yatris at the border in 2015, as well as on the Amarnath pilgrimage in south Kashmir – another area that might seem outside the remit of an MP from Gorakhpur. Except for the politics. For at least 25 years the Amarnath pilgrimage has been anything but a local issue and a report released this week sets out reasons why. Amarnath Yatra: A Militarized Pilgrimage is published by EQUATIONS, a sustainable tourism advocacy group in Bengaluru, and the Jammu-Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) in Sri-

nagar. It offers empirical insights and a sometimes tendentious perspective on the rapidly expanding pilgrimage, its nationalist overtones, and its effects on social relations and the ecology of the Lidder and Sind valleys in the state. The destination of the Amarnath yatra is a cave and ice stalagmite that pilgrims hold as a sacred lingam. The route to the cave, more than 13,000 feet above sea-level, passes first through forests and pastures, then ice-fields and rock. Fatalities occur, and sometimes disasters – in 1996, heavy rain and avalanches led to stampedes that killed 243 people. The most serious challenge,

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

RELIGION

though, is the Kashmir militancy, which necessitates a heavy military presence along the route. Or is it the other way around? Using official data, the report shows how the 1990s, the peak decade of the militancy, was actually when the Amarnath yatra began to expand to reach its present scale. As radical sentiment spread, the authors suggest that the Amarnath yatra was promoted as an assertion of Hindu heritage, a conduit for Indian civilians into the region, and a nationalist claim to ownership of Kashmir. Their history of the yatra links this recent assertion to earlier periods, such as the Dogra consolidation in the mid-19th century, when the yatra first began receiving state patronage. Since then, the devotion of the faithful has been periodically “instrumentalised” and turned to political ends. “It has affected the spirituality of the yatris,” Deependra Giri, mahant of the Dashnami Akhara in Srinagar, tells the authors, “since nationalist sentiment is often at the core of their reason to come on the yatra. All this has affected the atmosphere of the yatra itself.” For many decades, the Amarnath yatra was a difficult route undertaken by a few thousand pilgrims, mostly sadhus, devout pilgrims from adjoining regions, or Kashmiri Pandits. The numbers rose in the mid-1980s, as Kashmir began to radicalise, then dipped at the onset of the armed militancy. It then hiked up steadily upward till 2010, when over six lakh yatris made the trek. The duration of the yatra, traditionally two or three weeks, widened out to a six to eight (this year, it will be conducted from June 29 to August 7). More pilgrims visit Amarnath each day of the season than used to in a year. This expansion would have been impossible without an infrastructure of rest-camps, langars, toilets, clinics, fodder-stores for horses, cellphone towers and water lines, CRPF and BSF posts. All this was coordinated by the elected state government until 2000, when the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board was formed – moving the management yatra to a powerful, autonomous body comprising the state governor

(if Hindu) and eminent men and women who have served “the cause of Hindu religion and culture”. The SASB proved less adept at balancing the interests of pilgrims and service-providers from other states with those of local Kashmiris, who have traditionally been employed to help the yatris. Predictably, it was also more susceptible to the lobbying of Hindutva groups, which saw an expanding yatra as a wedge to reopen the Valley to Hindu presence. These groups have now mobilised to build up “emerging yatras”, like the Buddha Amarnath, Kauser Nag and Sindhu Darshan Yatras, and drive political conduits further into the state. Over time, the remote and challenging pilgrimage has become heavily trafficked, over-serviced and fully subsidised (including by the UP state government). It requires the deployment of 30,000 security personnel each year, not counting the army. Of course, it is polluted with human and municipal waste, which lies in ditches or is washed into the mountain streams. Religious organisations play bhajans on loudspeakers, and cut away the ice to make room for langars. Environmental stress offers the strongest basis for building consensus on the regulation of the yatra. For pilgrims too, “the sanctity is often compromised by increased numbers of visitors, and the resultant degradation of the physical environment.” At the end of their journey, the sacred stalagmite is shrinking – last year it was ten feet tall, half its height in 2005. The SASB has considered mechanically refrigerating the cave to preserve it. The authors claim that they had originally meant to write a purely ecological assessment. After making the pilgrimage themselves, they decided that “the mere study and interventions associated with its environmental impacts would only serve as an eye wash and

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

not address the fundamental issues plaguing the yatra” – those being “the implications of this massive nationalist project.” This back-story doesn’t really ring true. The lead authors of Amarnath Yatra: A Militarised Pilgrimage are human rights activists – both, in fact, have even been targeted by the government for their work – but they are not environmental or social scientists. Kartik Murukutla, a lawyer, was detained in 2015 at the Wagah border on dubious grounds, after presenting a report in Islamabad on violations in Kashmir. Khurram Parvez, the founder of the JKCCS, was arrested last year on his way to a conference in Geneva. He spent 76 days in custody before the government acknowledged it had no case against him. Their perspective on the growth of the yatra is welcome, but it sits uneasily with the empirical work and analysis that the report means to offer. The rigorous research is sometimes undermined by an impulse to name injustice. A jawan beating a horse for holding up a procession is an expression of military dominance. Provisions made for the safety or comfort of yatris are assumed to be resources diverted away from locals. But pollution, exclusion and bullying occur wherever there is large-scale tourism in India. Some reference to a control might help show how the Amarnath route is specially inflicted. Mostly, the report makes unforced errors of presentation. Its chapter of conclusions opens with a long quote from Marx – religion as the opium of the masses – and then begins: “The State uses this opium to further its political agenda…” Other chapters are book-ended with derisive cartoons, which will invite a backlash rather than a conversation. Whether this vitiates its analysis will depend on the reader’s own sympathies. There are serious environmental and social issues here, muddied by the framing of the yatra as a project of an occupation. A smaller, cleaner, more manageable Amarnath yatra would be in everyone’s interest – the pilgrims’ above all. But as ever, when it comes to Kashmir, a failure of forbearance bars the way to higher ground. (From the Wire).

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

TAXATION

Will JK Govt Pass GST Test? With opposition and traders seeking safeguards for state’s fiscal autonomy & Article 370, ahead of implementation of the new tax regime, it remains to be seen whether PDP-BJP alliance will walk the talk to protect the state’s special status

KASHMIR LEADER

ours before the PDP-BJP coalition failed, yet again, to evolve any consensus on implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime, at all-party meeting on June 29, Valley-based trade bodies and civil society forum had issued a threat to launch civil disobedience movement in case the government goes ahead with the plans. For the Mehbooba Mufti government that is struggling to contain the street protests in Kashmir, the adoption of the GST, has become a nerve-racking challenge with concerns being raised that the new tax system aimed at economic integration of the states with union fiscal system would lead to erosion of state’s fiscal autonomy and yet

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

another blow to J&K’s special status. The government, which hasn’t done enough so far to address the apprehension and reassure on safeguarding Article 370, seems clueless on how to move forward as Kashmir, in the words of legislator and Chairman Peoples Democratic Front Hakeem Muhammad Yasin, could be staring at another agitation over the controversial taxing law. The controversy has been simmering in Kashmir since New Delhi’s announcement that it was going to roll out the new tax regime on July 1. This opposition is more against extension of 101st amendment act of constitution of India to J&K that would bring the state under the ambit of Article 246A which empowers center to impose the GST.The amendment is meant to implement GST uniformly

in all the states, but in J&K the opposition has been cautioning that its implementation would hand over powers to collect taxes to government of India. Senior National Conference leader and former finance Minister Abdur Rahim Rather who attended yesterday’s all party meeting, warned that J&K would suffer “irreparable political and financial losses” if the 101st amendment act was implemented to the state in the present form. “Our consistent stand has been that GST at the cost of fiscal autonomy and special status is not acceptable. Let the government come up with the roadmap to safeguards our constitutional position, we are ready for discussion,” said Rather, who was also chairman of the empowered committee on GST.According to Rather the state was constitutionally empowered to have its own law on

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

TAXATION

the GST for collection of taxes and their sharing with the center. However former deputy chief minister Muzzaffar Baig, who is chairman of the all-party group, said bringing a separate law in J&K would become a huge political issue across the country. “If we talk of bringing a separate law, the centre will have to amend two chapters in the constitution to delegate powers of taxation to Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, it will also entail amending section 5 of J&K constitution, which can’t be done…any attempt on fiddling with section 5 will open a pandora box which will have huge political ramifications for J&K in future,” Baigh cautioned while revealing that that he has suggested measures to the government for ensuring protection of state’s powers under section 5 of J&K constitution. This has however done little to assuage the apprehension raised by the political parties and trading bodies. “The government is promising everything verbally but there is no written word. The 101st amendment is not acceptable to us in the present form. And instead the government should find answers in the laws enacted by the state legislature,” said leftist leader MY Targami. But it is not only the political parties who have opposed the GST, the civil society as well as trade bodies have now put their foot down on the matter arguing that application of GST would be the “biggest-ever assault” on the state’s autonomy in past four decades. “Once the GST is implemented the state would lose its law-making powers on taxation matters and the Parliament would then make laws on indirect taxes for J&K and the GST Council would decide on tax rates for us,” former High Court judge Hasnain Masoodi said at a round table conference that was called by the civil society formation, Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS) on Thursday. Among those who participated in the meeting included Concerned Citizens Group, RTI Movement, Coalition of Civil Societies, National Conference, CPIM, PDF, AIP, KCCI, FCIK, KEA, KEF, KTMF, CCIK, Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum, academicians, trade experts

and lawyers. A resolution passed at the end of the conference while terming the GST in its present form as “completely unacceptable” said that all the participants agreed that in case the government was “insistent on implementing the central Act, a civil disobedience movement will be launched, the responsibility of the consequences would squarely fall on the government”.

on the GST implementation. Prior to it the government had to adjourn sine die the special session of the Assembly that was called to debate the tax law but witnessed only political slugfest over the matter. “This is a very fragile society where anything can spark off. We are trying to build the consensus and let’s see how far we can go,” finance minister Haseeb Drabu told the wire though he added that all the taxation powers that J&K has would become enabling provisions (under GST). “We will neither compromise on Section 5 of (J&K Constitution) nor the Article 370,” he said.

The government, which hasn’t done enough so far to address the apprehension and reassure on safeguarding Article 370, seems clueless on how to move forward as Kashmir, in the words of legislator and Chairman Peoples Democratic Front Hakeem Muhammad Yasin, could be staring at another agitation over the controversial taxing law

But one of Drabu’s and his government’s criticism is that while they have been reiterating to ensure “enough safeguards both legislative as well as constitutional in accordance with the state’s special position”, they have not so far explained how they would go about it. “We have been asking them to share with us the roadmap for safeguarding our constitutional position but in the documents that they shared with us a few days ago there are no assurances which could have satisfied us,” said state Congress chief GA Mir. On June 27, union finance minister Arun Jaitley wrote to chief minister Mehbooba Mufti urging for introduction of the GST in the state from July 1, like other states. While all other states have passed the State GST Act, J&K is cautiously treading on the matter and hasn’t so far taken any decision though the June 30 midnight deadline, when center will launch the GST, is only hours away. “If J&K doesn’t apply GST, the state wouldn’t be able to continue the trade with outside states…no trader can import commodities and goods because they will be having no GST registration,” Drabu explained. “It will have fallouts…we can’t live in an isolated economy besides our traders will become liable to double taxation.” “If the government doesn’t feel the pulse on the ground and, instead, rushes to bring J&K under the new tax regime without proper deliberations, the issue will have serious ramifications. It can spark yet another civilian unrest in the Valley,” warned legislator, Ghulam Hassan Mir, who is a member of the Consultative Group on GST.

The June 29 all-party meeting that went on for four hours at Srinagar, but ultimately ended inconclusively, was 3rd such attempt by the government to try and build political consensus

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

COMMENT

Genesis of New Kashmiri KHALID FAYAZ

onflict induces different mechanism in the cognitive development of all species including humans. The life in the conflict zone, where mind is always searching for the alarms in order to reduce the implications of coming threat, becomes like witnessing the series of incidents where one’s role is nothing but to survive. Since safety is preferred over adventure, every savor goes out of life. Among other changes in the process of thinking; distrust, chaos, anger, pretence and judging the suspicion becomes order of the day. In this kind of world, the thoughts are built on other person’s disequilibrium rather than the ostensible equilibriums. The mystic culture tainted with the

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

body politic, where no role of the people dwelling in the conflict is felt, creates infernal traits of despair and desolation. Religious conservatism and the sense of security go hand in hand. The most pernicious implications of conflict are manifested in a person in the form of delirium. Always feeling like being sentimental, the one living in conflict area can’t think fast. The mind is full of harsh experiences that add to the inability to think outside the conflict zone. Since the present epoch is the age of consciousness and rational enquiry, Afzal Guru’s hanging has luminously clarified to the Kashmiri collective conscious that they remain the prototype of ‘other’ in the Indian collective conscious. The questions of existence and identity are revised time and

again. The natural attitude of Kashmiris towards India has become one of contempt mingled with fear; where they feel themselves more civilized but politically impotent than the latter. Subjectivity and oversimplification leaves a person filled with chaos. And chaos raises practical urgent problems which should be dealt with institutions and modes of thought, but due to lack of space for cultivation of both, Kashmir is forged into not unlike the 17th century Hospital General of Paris, or the great confinement. After the Haider hit the silver screen, Kashmiri, fortunately, was not lost in the distractions movie managed to carry along with some sentimental events. She knows that she is, time and again, misrepresented and the movie shows little than it conceals.

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

COMMENT

lies in the gun in nineties and in the stone during the 2010 intifada. She accumulates her dexterity from both natural and social sciences and from the day to day experiences. The other story, Lies at Work, creates a dichotomy; of a civil servant aspirant and of the one who is skillful but refuses that choice simply because of the collaboration element in the job. As her volition is always Azadi, even her minute vocation, as she believes, takes her a step further towards Azadi than she would otherwise be. She has surpassed the world of Fanon’s wretched of the Earth and has taken herself to somewhat higher level; that of Guevara’s tactics or Mao’s Fundamentals. The one created by Mirza Waheed is a melancholy-optimist. Mirza revisits memories and unites her on the principle of common suffering. At the same time new Kashmiri leaves

The life in the conflict zone, where mind is always searching for the alarms in order to reduce the implications of coming threat, becomes like witnessing the series of incidents where one’s role is nothing but to survive

Shahnaz Bashir’s account of a Kashmiri woman is closely restricted to their loss of status which makes them half in every aspect of relationships. Every Kashmiri women lives as half since the relations fall apart; she is a half mother, a half girlfriend, a half widow, a half sister but ironically a full victim. She is struggling to live in full instead of the half. Undoubtedly, in the present epoch, she stands with her male counterpart not only psychologically or as a witness of suffering but in the mainstream struggle; in ragda and in stone pelting if not otherwise. While Rahul Pandita’s novel-cummemoir’s Kashmiri Muslim was roaming around the premises of aristocratic Hindu families, that of Arif Ayaz Parrey’s short story, Two Faces of Janus, is transformed into a much complex educated being whose strenuousness

traditional approach of religious stereotyping that gives her some air in the suffocating world of terrorism. She takes cent percent advantage of breathing that rival-air where she has to compromise partly for choice-less survival. Nothing makes her exclusive in fighting for injustice. She stands with and for everybody under oppression: be it always resisting Palestinian; be it beleaguered Syrians; be it always suffering Pakistani Shia community; be it accusative Indian Muslims, who suffer intermittently via different paradigms of communalism in different areas. The only way to show her support is through protest; which is via, apart from coming on streets, graffiti, social networking, writing; all the forms has as much cost, and sometimes more, as the one she is protesting for. The process of metamorphoses from an illiterate, powerless Kashmiri to the one who is educated to the level that she

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

gives equal competition to the indigenous Bengali or Keralite, who has centuries old systematic education legacy; and from a mute in unwritten, which is otherwise untrue, history to the one who speaks many languages; of tongue, of gun and of the stone apart from the radically strong pen. The poetry, whether contemporary or that of Azad’s and Mehjoor’s exhorts her to stay put in resisting the day in and day out oppression. Among the other cards of postmodernism, fragmentation was used to suppress the rebellions or any other voice against injustice. The new Kashmiri has outlived that stage; she tries to build new relations with her Pandit brethren, Ladakhi and Jammuite and meanwhile searches, mostly googles, any Kashmiri from across the LoC. The innumerable events of artifices and deceptions, where Kashmiris were the primary losers, have made them to resort to the new tactics of struggle for freedom. A new Kashmiri portrays herself within the global pictures of politics, media and economics. She has surpassed the phase of human rights discourses and the movies or dramas aired by nonKashmiri about Kashmir issue which seems to her unworthy of mentioning beyond the casual discussions. She is the only person in the world who follows the sound of bullet, only one who rescues the armed rebels amid armed-to-teeth tens of thousands of forces. She is the only one who travels tens of kilometers on foot and climbs withering heights to have a glimpse of the martyrs. Lack of research and data about the present moves of a new Kashmiri creates a void in the minds of analyzers. To where he is leading is uncertain, but different threads lead us somewhere near certainty. Although, we can never be justified in feeling certainty, some things are more likely to be true than other things. Most probable of the possible hypothesis show that the chunk comprising new Kashmiris is progressing at an increasing rate. They implicitly carry the brutal past, disorderly present and contrived but hopeful future. If development means progress toward concept of freedom and innovation, then, that is to say, New Kashmiri has taken that path.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

THOUGHT

OF KASHMIR & ‘ISLAMOPHOBIA’ SHEIKH UMAR AHMAD

slamophobia contextually is a global phenomenon, exacerbating an intense dislike or fear of Islam especially as a political force and hostility or prejudice towards Muslims. The term Islamophobia started being used in the early 20th century and emerged as a neologism in the 1970s and reached public policy prominence with the report by the Runnymede Trust’s Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia (CBMI). The introduction of the term was justified by the report’s assessment that antiMuslim prejudice has grown so considerably and so rapidly in recent years that a new item in the vocabulary is needed with some countries intermingling on common grounds of perception to thoroughly analyze the realm. The rise of this fanatical misappropriation, Islamophobia, is still debated with some commentators positing an increase in Islamophobia resulting from the September 11 attacks, while others have associated it with the increased presence of Muslims in the United States and in the European Union. Some people also question the validity of the term, even some claim societies where virtually no Muslims live but many institutionalized forms of Islamophobia still exist in them. Different versions of Islamophobia exist in different parts of world with India also unarguably joining the seats with large pool of people sense Islam as pseudo-religious integrity and link-

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

ing it with the spread of “terrorism” in world. These unethical concerns within Indian establishment shape how the Kashmiri movement for azadi is viewed, interpreted and depicted within the liberal establishment in India. To be clear, not all progressive voices in India fall into this categorization. In recent past, there have been a few brave voices who have spoken out against the broader trends in leftleaning Indian circles to circumvent or equivocate on the question of Kashmir and they have certainly paid for it as we are seeing from late eighties. Nonetheless, in today’s Indian political landscape as it pertains to Kashmir, there is a broad-based consensus to erases the Kashmiri freedom movement and consider it much a religiously propelled agenda to Islamize the whole consensus. Much of this Indian liberal discourse not only mirrors colonial logic, but also is replete with Islamophobia. While these liberal intellectuals debate the need for reform and define rights within the metropolis, they justify subjugation through elaborate sophistry in their respective colonies in administered Kashmir. The point here is not to equate the British rule of India to Indian rule of Kashmir, but to analyze how both types of external rule were and are legitimized, especially amongst the intelligentsia. The former was more based on imperialistic obsessions but for later, it is articulated on grounds of “forceful occupation”. Kashmir has seen extreme forms of human centric irrational hatred and discriminatory discourse right from the end of nineteenth century. This alarming trend has imbibed in it a sense of losing one’s individual and social structural fabric with everyone turning here as a resilient rebellion to prove the Indian tactics counterproductive. Though this association of Islamophobia with the rise of Kashmir militancy does not suit much of the political and socio-

logical intelligentsia, but certainly it has to do with discourse over violent uprisings in Kashmir, more or less in recent past. Whenever Kashmir supports Pakistan, whether it is based on political or religious grounds, it’s Indian counterpart take it as an agenda of mutual war tactic to destabilize India, with India sensing that this all is based on common religious decendency and that is where India’s Islamophobic character comes to fore. Much of this character is anticipated in its vicious tasks where youth of valley are subjugated for none of their faults. They have been subdued at important stages of their life that strained their immediate response towards the democratic setup of Indian rule in Kashmir. It is imperative for India to stop considering Kashmir as a seat of spreading violence and linking it with religion. Otherwise this Islamophobic wave will stop India from developing into developed country as the concerns about its human rights violation will continue to raise voices against it that will ultimately exacerbate and underrate its global position as the largest democracy in world. (The author can be reached at Biotechumar@gmail.com).

The term Islamophobia started being used in the early 20th century and emerged as a neologism in the 1970s and reached public policy prominence with the report by the Runnymede Trust's Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia (CBMI)

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

MIL

LASHKARI NOMORE

ashkar-e-Tobia wanted A++ Militant commander Bashmir Ahmad Wani (Alias Lashkri )carrying Rupees 10 lac reward on his head, were killed in an encounter with police and security forces in Brinty Dialgam area of Anantnag District on 1st July 2017. Police Said on a specific information about the presence of Militants at Brinty, Dialgam in District Anantnag, Anantnag police, Army and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation in wee hours . While the cordon was being laid Militants outside a house opened fire on the joint search party which was retaliated. In the cross firing a women was injured who later on succumbed to her injuries. She was identified as Tahira wife of Abdul Rashid Chopan. . Reports Said that Army assisted by Paramilitary troopers and Special Operation Group personnel of Jammu and Kashmir Police cordoned off Brinti Dialgam village of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on 1st July morning. Reports said locals clashed with Forces to ensure the escape of the militants, however, Forces dealt sternly with the protesters and fired pellets and bullets to keep them at bay. During the fierce gun fight and clashes at

least four persons including two militants were killed. Police official identified one of the slain militant as Bashir Lashkari. The two slain civilians have been identified as Tahira Bano and Tariq Ahmed. The killing of Lashkari according to police sources is a big blow to militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba In south Kashmir.

Who Was Bashir Lashkari Hailing from Soaf Shali Kokernag area of Anathnag district in south Kashmir 34 Bashir Ahmad wani @ Lashkari crossed to POK. He returned from POK 2nd time under state government ammenisty scheme announced by Omar Abdullah government in 2012. Lashkari was jailed till 2014 and got reactivate as Militant in 2015. In a year Bashir has managed to mobilize group of Militants and even some Pakistani Lashkar Militants were part of his group. Lashkari was the most wanted Lashker Commander with bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head. IGP Kashmir Muneer Ahmad Khan Said That Lashkari is also responsible for killing of SHO Feroz with other 5 policeman last month,in this regard a Special police teams were formed to hunt him down af-

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

ter the killing. Meanwhile Mla Langate Er. Rasheed said “The version of security agencies after every encounter even may carry some weight but the perception among masses is completely against security forces and New Delhi. The state whom forces claim to be defending in true terms seizes to exist on the ground if its people are against it, as it is the people who constitute the main ingredients of the state. If the state apparatus itself claims to be at war with militants and proudly celebrates their deaths, then it has no moral right to question all those including militants and common masses who do not question the killings by militants. Before condemning Bashir Lashkari the Govt. must answer why he was forced to re-join the militant outfits due to sever torture and humiliation by various agencies. The govt. when asked, never answer in the assembly that why was Bashir Lashkari forced to become militant. Both militants and the forces are claiming to be fighting for their respective ideologies but the public perception favours militants , thus every effort to label the militants as criminals and killers falls flat on moral grounds”..

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

TOURSIM

HOW KASHMIR TOURISM IS GETTING VICTIMIZED WANIJAVID

n a bright Sunday afternoon in June Muzaffar Ahmad sit in his shikara, waiting for tourists. He hasn’t had a single customer from morning. “Last year this time, the lake was packed with tourists and we wouldn’t get time to have a cup of tea. Those were the real good days but it is all together a different tale now, a sad one,” sighs Ahmad Like this young man, scores of boatmen, complained of “miniscule business” this season. All of them blamed the media for scaring tourists away from Kashmir. “Look what these news channels are talking about Kashmir. The news is all about deteriorating situation and violence in the Valley. It is a propaganda and in such a situation who would like to come to the Valley,” said Ahmad as others instantly agreed to his views. Until July 2016, when militant commander Burhan Wani’s killing sparked a prolonged unrest in the Valley, these boatmen used to earn Rs Rs 1500 to Rs 2000 a day. Now they count themselves lucky if they make Rs 400 a day. Tourism is important for Jammu and Kashmir’s economy, contributing around 10 percent to the state’s gross domestic product. In 2016, the state had seen arrival of over 12 lakh million tourists. The tourism sector employs more than 100,000 people, directly and indirectly, according to approximate industry estimates. But tourism is also highly sensitive to issues of law and order. In recent months, the national media has been swamped with stories of violence in the Valley and between April and early June this year, only a few thousand tourists arrived, said tourism officials who did not wish to be named. The Valley has seen a surge in insur-

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

gency-related violence in recent years and there has also been a rise in street violence, mostly stone-pelting. Tour operators and tourism officials argue that this violence is too sporadic and localised to affect travellers. For tourists, however, any trouble, big or small, is avoidable. Bengaluru resident Badri Raghavan scrapped a long-awaited Kashmir vacation with his wife and three children in June though the cancellation cost was steep. The family’s plans had included a houseboat stint on the Nageen lake in Srinagar

and homestay in Sonamarg. “The tour operator insisted that it is safe but if I have all of seven days in hand for a vacation why would I spend it looking over my shoulders all the time?” said Raghavan. Tourism figures for the Valley have had a direct link with its law-and-order situation. Kashmir was a strong favourite among national and international tourists until 1988, with over 700,000 arrivals. But in 1989, armed violence began in the Valley and

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TOURSIM

the numbers dropped by 200,000. That year, there were 1,500 violent incidents which included bomb blasts and firing. In 1990 and 1991, there were 4,211 and 3,780 violent incidents reported, respectively, thereby bringing tourist arrivals to a meager 6,287 tourists, a 98% decrease from tourist arrivals since 1989. In 1995, violence All of them blamed the media for scaring tourists away from Kashmir. “Look what these news channels are talking about Kashmir. The news is all about deteriorating situation and violence in the Valley. It is a propaganda and in such a situation who would like to come to the Valley

eased in the Valley and in early 1996, Assembly elections were conducted after eight years of governor’s rule. With a civilian government in place, tourist confidence too returned. In 1998, over 100,000 visitors arrived in Kashmir. Four years later, India and Pakistan were at the brink of war following the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament. Assembly elections held in the same year in Jammu and Kashmir in September were also marred by violence. Consequently, tourist inflow

declined sharply in 2002, falling to 27,356. With the start of the IndiaPakistan peace process in 2003, and up until 2012, tourist figures climbed steadily to over 13 lakh. In 2015, the numbers fell below 10 lakh, but this time because floods had devastated Kashmir in September the previous year, affecting its tourism infrastructure badly. Two top sales officials at two leading Srinagar hotels, who requested anonymity, said April-June occupancy is down by 70%-80% this year compared to 2016. “From April to June last year, we had no vacancies at all given the huge influx of tourists,” said one of the hotel officials, requesting anonymity. “But this year, we have just managed 25% occupancy. It is because of the fear psychosis being created about Kashmir, especially by TV channels.” Currently, only 15 of 80 rooms in his hotel have guests staying in them. In recent years, media portrayal of events as well as non-events in Kashmir have become a serious concern for Kashmiris, especially for those who rely on tourism and related activities. “In a place like Kashmir, tourism inflow is often dependent on peace,” Mahmood Ahmad Shah, director-tourism, Kashmir, told IndiaSpend. “But the media reportage about Kashmir is disrupting tourism by creating a false narrative about the situation in Kashmir. In winter itself, TV channels were predicting the start of a bloody summer in March.” Most early bookings were cancelled last year and there were hardly any new bookings this year, according to one of the two hotel officials IndiaSpend spoke to. Tour operators also accused the media of prompting a Kashmir “boycott”. “Messages like ‘avoid travelling to a place where Indian flags are burnt’ were being circulated on WhatsApp group (sic). Who would dare to come now?” asks a Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, was quoted as saying in The Hindu on June 6. The newspaper went on to quote a Gujarati student activist Rimmi Vaghela: “There is a concerted effort to shoo away Gujaratis from travelling to Kashmir this year online. Besides the social media, the vernacular press in Gujarat plays

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

up the incidents of violence like never before.” At a recent leadership training session for academics at the Kashmir University, the trainer asked an academic from Rajasthan for the first word she associates with Kashmir. “Militancy” was the answer. For the Kashmiri academics in the classroom, this seemed like a reflection on how Kashmir is portrayed in the media, an assistant professor later said. “We are the victims of media propaganda,” said Abdul Hamid the manager of a hotel in north Srinagar. “A stone-pelting incident takes place somewhere, someday in Kashmir and it is shown repeatedly on TV for days together as participants on talk shows keep debating stone-pelting and militancy in Kashmir. This is creating a negative message about Kashmir.” Only three of the hotel’s 14 rooms had guests. The tourism crisis has affected workers more than owners, said Hamid. “Hotel owners at least get tax rebates when the tourism industry suffers, but most workers are either laid off or have their salaries slashed up to more than 50%,” he said. In his late 20s, Shabir Ahmad from Tangmarg, was employed as a service boy by a Srinagar hotel in March 2015. He was asked to either accept a 60% wage cut or leave. “I preferred to stay as I have no other skill,” said Ahmad. “Now, I and other employees are just hoping that the tourist inflow to valley improves.” Many countries including US, UK, Germany and France issued travel advisories against Kashmir. “We used to love dealing with foreign tourists because they stay for days and weeks together,” said Tariq Ahmad Patloo, a houseboat owner at Dal Lake pointing to the pages of his old log books at his houseboat New Sea Palace. “Now, our houseboat gets just three-four foreign tourists a year.” Between 1990 and 2005, the number of foreigners travelling to Kashmir remained way under 20,000. It witnessed a steady increase after an improvement in the security situation across Kashmir. In 2011 and 2012, the number of foreign tourists was 32,110 and 37,166 respectively. But, from 2013, this number declined again.

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)

December 2017 2014 Kashmir Kashmir Leader LeaderJuly

September 2015 Kashmir LeaderLeader July 2017 Kashmir

(An Initiative of Global Kashmir Publications)