Search for the Missing in Action

I read Pankaj Mishra.

U dont have any pointed assertions to make but some sweeping generalisations?!

Be original Aslam!

Re: # 49

Pankaj mishra is a respected journalist who has travelled all over Kashmir.

The charity I run in UK provides education and medical facilities in Kashmir.
We are building a girls college in bagh and a small hospital in ban gala.

There aren’t many Indian-kashmiris in uk but the half dozen I know have told me some horror stories about rapes and killings.

Apparently what they tell me is that groups of Indian soldiers under the pretext of searching for militants separate men and then rape young women.
They seem to have some fantasy about sex with a kashmiri woman.

It`s good that u do some good work (charity) in Kashmir. The accusation of armed forces entering the houses and raping women is an old story.

I havent come across such stories of late.

I agree that Indira Gandhi (a Kashmiri herself) effed Kashmir by apointing right-winger like Jagmohan and followed it by Gen KV Krishna Rao and IB chiefs. Mrs. Gandhi & her son effed India royally. They did it in Kashmir, Assam, Punjab & Sri Lanka.

Misfortune is that Pakistan is invlved in this intricate Kashmir issue. If Kashmir was not part of British India, Pakistan has no locus standi on Kashmir (read this sentence again). Again we always ignore that China too occupied Kashmir (donated by Pakistan). U guyz ha dno problem with China and Pakistan!!

U guys dont have problems with totalitarian China & dictatorial Pakistan effing their pies of Kashmir by altering the demographic profile but u had problem with India which did not change any demographic profile of Kashmir to date. U guyz accuse India like a petrel. Remembera that India under Indira (a Kashmiri) is not the same India today.

U guys using India as an abusive word is bizarre, as bizarre as it cud get.

Unless u expect the cataclysmic changes occuring the Kashmirs under China, Pakistan and India cud not become one again. Learn from Kurds, learn from Arabians (who are living under various nation-identities). What unites Kashmirs as one? Language? Culture or Islam? Except Indian Kashmiris nobody (from Pakistan and Chiana) speaks it.

I need not say what Pakistan is today. Wanna become part of such a country?

folio
if any one would like to contribute we have enough resources for the college due to the efforts of the LORD MAYOR of SHEFFIELD our next aim is a small hospital in ban gala.

Our appeal is to raise 300k to rebuild a sheffield girls college in the Bagh area.
Bagh was one the most hit area that took the lives of 300 young children and 60% of the area is still under rubble.

To date 2 delegations from SHEFFIELD have visited the affected areas of Kashmir.Bagh was one of the most hit area with 60% still under rubble and 300 children lost their lives from this harrowing and tragic episode.
Students are currently being educated in some very bad conditions and tents are not made to take the rain and cold weather.
Our appeal is to raise 300k.
To date nearly 40 rooms have been pleadged for and we need YOUR support to meet the target.
Councillor Jackie Drayton,Lord Mayor ,SHEFFIELD has been a keen and great
supporter naming the girls college as one of her three charities.
The Lord Mayor will be accompanying the delegation in April and will be visiting Bagh and the surrounding areas.
She will visit the five camp schools set up by sheffielders!
Please help us!
Cheques can be made payable to
Kashmir EarthquakeRelief Fund(sheffield) and send to
Kashmir Educational Trust
Abbeyfield Park Road,Abbeyfield Road SHEFFIELD s 4 7AT
THANKS

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2007/03/364579.html

Let’s know the rotten truth behind Sadhbavana which surprisingly means Goodwill, comments Hassan Zainagiree



Operation Sadhbavana (Goodwill). An innocuous phrase which in semantic analysis reflects sympathy, love and brotherhood. A feeling of jelling together in sentiments and in hours of agony and miseries. To relieve the sufferer of the sufferings. To pull the victim out of the whirling vortex of political uncertainty. To empower the powerless. To support his genuine cause. To help him have his chin up. To make him assert his authority. To enable him to become the master of his own destiny.
A nation like ours which has always been at the receiving end of the history’s wrongs and has seen worst of the tragedies inflicted on her does need it as much, if not more, as other subjugated people. Battered and persecuted, tyrannized and victimized, we know the punch of the hammer hovering over our head. It will, indeed, serve a holy grail for us. We will look to those who “win (our) hearts as minds” as our messiahs. Indebted we would become to their humanistic approach. In wreaths of flowers we would greet them. In wails of joy we would lap them up. Tears of thanks we would offer….. Saviours, Saviours, have, finally, arrived! the bleeding Kashmir will chant.
But from whose hands the all-hyped Sadhbavana? From the respectable Amnety International? From the Doctors without Borders? From the Civil Liberty Unions? From Justice Sachars or Arun Dati Roys? No. it is the strategists in Delhi and their executors in Kashmir that provide mind and muscles to the operation.
Whereas Kashmiriyat, that is being used as a ploy to lull Kashmiris into sedative lullabies, make them reconcile with the status quo, submit meekly to the language of force and tailor ambitions according to the demands of the powerful, Sadbhavana is used as a strategic instrument in presenting the “soft, pro-people and more compassionate face” of the army. The “spirit”, as we are told, behind is that Indian security forces in Kashmir are ‘not enemies’ of Kashmiris, but ‘friends’. This instantly provokes one to ask, who they are? Of the two actors in armed confrontation, then only militants have to be degraded with the ‘enemy’ accusation. Do Kashmiris subscribe to this metaphor? Why there are demonstrations at the funeral of a militant killed/martyred in an encounter (killed you say; martyred Kashmiris say) and why huge gatherings by both factions of the Hurriyat are held at Mazar-e-Shohda (martyrs ground) Eidgah Srinagar, where martyrs are held in great reverence and great tribute is paid to them for their “sacrifices” (to which you call ‘terrorist activities’).
Safety to life and honor holds priority to everything else. Even two belligerent nations at war have to ensure the safety of the non-combatant citizens. Kashmir India claims as its ‘integral part’, though mass movement stands as a big caveat against the phantom hope. And it is here they are vulnerable and get exposed.
It is not the strategy and policy of Indian state towards militancy in Kashmir that determines its character-imperialistic or democratic-, it is, infact, its attitude and relationship towards innocent people of the disputed land that gives the portrait. 17 years of mass-uprising against Delhi in demand of its right to self determination, pledged by Indians and accepted by United Nations, stands testimony to the gruesome atrocities wrought on unarmed civilians to show how Delhi in imperialistic mould allowed the law enforcing agencies to blur the demarcation line. Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris were butchered to death, maimed for life. Many were subjected to enforced disappearance and extra-judicial killing. Honor outraged, gang rapes committed. The Indian state instead of bringing the killers and criminals to justice protected them under Section 7 of the ASFPA, that makes them immune from the legal action. Let us not cite reports of Kashmir based Civil Society on ordeals Kashmiris have to go through. Last month a group of prominent human rights activist from different states of India visited Kashmir. B.K Blagopal of Human Rights Forum while addressing news personnel on May 11 in Srinagar said: ‘Outside J&K, the Indian state say normalcy has returned. But the ground situation here is different. The citizens here have no freedom. They enjoy that freedom which Indian army wants them to enjoy…. The J&K is under the army rule and no law in India permits martial law……’ (GK: 12 May 2007)
Guilt of conscience, one would have thought, Indian army was heavily smitten with that has provided it the motivational force to indulge into Sadhbavana and make the amends. But it is amazing to see since the “Goodwill” operation was launched (more than 5 years ago have gone); the ‘martial law’ scenario has not changed and abuse of human rights continued unabated. That is bound to generate the feeling among the people that the operation, much flaunted as “Goodwill” is, in essence, a psychological warfare aimed in humanizing repression and to hoodwink the world. The intent camouflaged makes Sadhbavana get morphed into Sada bahana (playing tricks always or making (tears and blood) flow always). After all what point is their in sending the school children on Baharat Darshan when Kashmiris in Indian states, doing business or studying, are haunted, vilified, tortured and labeled as militants to either make them rot in jails or, in some cases, get them eliminated. Letter from the Chief Minister of J&K, to 14 chief ministers reflects the vulnerability of Kashmiris to prowling police officials waiting to grab the opportunity that would place them on the ladder of elevation. Opening up some computer labs and schools, adopting an odd quake-hit village or giving some assistance to orphanage homes, ostensibly, are good social works. But when a woman from North Gurez is allegedly sexually exploited by a Colonel after employing her under the “operation Sabdbavana” project run by the army (GK 19 May 2007), or, when RR troops in collaboration with Special Operations Groups (SOG) of Kashmir Police are found involved in fake encounters of innocent civilians, driven by lust to get some “gallantry” money or promotion (so “high-valued” is the life of a Kashmiri) nothing discredits more the advocates of the Sadhbavana and makes them a symbol of ridicule.
Of late, Army, at the behest of Governor (to believe Mirwaiz Umar Farooq), decided to extend its sphere of influence, in the form of renovating and reconstructing mosques and shrine across the valley. The move evoked strong resentment, from the people, and political groups. Ulema Council, in a resolution, asked President and Prime Minister of India to instruct the army “not to interfere in the religious affairs of Kashmiri Muslims”. Grand Mufti of Kashmir Mufti Bashir-ud-din issued the fatwa (edict) that forbid Muslims to take donations from non-Muslim for religious affairs as haram (unlawful). Shia cleric Aga Sayeed Badgami said that carrying out the renovation of the religious places “the army wants to give an impression that they are friends of Kashmiris and by doing so they are trying to cover up their autocracies.” Mualana Tari said, “It is amazing that on one hand the army is tormenting Kashmiris and on the other they are talking about operation Sadbhavana.” Moulana Showkat asked, “To do Sadhbavana stop genocide of Kashmiris. That will be biggest “Goodwill gesture”. Syed Ali Geelani strongly condemned the “cultural aggression” from Delhi. He also asked parents not to send their children at “Baharat Darshan”. Any answer from Delhi?
It is intriguing that while all the prominent religious political parties rallied on this religious issue, mainstream political groups maintained “meaningful” silence, that emphatically demonstrated where lies their constituency and who they represent?



(Author can be mailed at zainagiree@yahoo.co.in)

Re: # 50

Aslam64 Mian:

Are you from Sheffield? I was a student in 1970-71 at Sheffield Univ. Lived nearby.

How about we stick to the topic at hand?Folio, you do not need to defend the armed forces and the country to one Pakistani,regardless of what he says.
Aslam, do you have any ideas what happened to these men, who were POWs and protected by the Geneva Convention, which you quite correctly would want Guantanamo bay detainees protected by as well? If not, please send another article to chowk about the evil Indian forces in Kashmir.

NB,

Ur point is well taken.

Aslam,

I dont mind contributing whatever I can but I cant do it to the Org u are saying but to the Govt in Kashmir. I want to benefit Indian Kashmiris first.

I wont brag abt this but I was impressed by the house rebuilding done by Islamic Relief committee at Naroda Patiya (I made a 4-figure donation myself). Despite getting killed by the so called Hindu leaders & mobs, this Commitee rebult some houses for the Hindus in Naroda Patiya, whose houses were also destroyed on that fateful day.

Goodness promotes goodnes.

Btw I was so enraged by the latest story where an aspiring Jet Airays pilot (Kashmiri) was jailed & tortured in Delhi jail on the pretext of being a terrorist. The email msg to the PM ended with this punchline.

`Sir, be prepard him to be another militant.`

My guestimate is that the police and army produce 30-40% of militants by their pigheaded nature.

U`d have seen how o TV some women and old man were brutally beaten in MP or Chattisgarh. U know, Indian police are BASTARDS. They behave alike - either Kashmir, Chatisgarh or Delhi.

U`d have seen on TV how some women and old man were brutally beaten in MP or Chattisgarh. U know, Indian police are BASTARDS. They behave alike - either in Kashmir, Chatisgarh or Delhi.

#56 by Folio on June 6, 2007 6:08pm PT
NB,

Ur point is well taken.

Aslam,

I dont mind contributing whatever I can but I cant do it to the Org u are saying but to the Govt in Kashmir. I want to benefit Indian Kashmiris first.

I wont brag abt this but I was impressed by the house rebuilding done by Islamic Relief committee at Naroda Patiya (I made a 4-figure donation myself). Despite getting killed by the so called Hindu leaders & mobs, this Commitee rebuilt some houses for the Hindus in Naroda Patiya, whose houses were also destroyed on that fateful day.

Goodness promotes goodnes.

Btw I was so enraged by the latest story where an aspiring Jet Airays pilot (Kashmiri) was jailed & tortured in Delhi jail on the pretext of being a terrorist. The email msg to the PM ended with this punchline (www.pmindia.nic.in).

`Sir, be prepared for him to be another militant.`

My guestimate is that the police and army produce 30-40% of militants by their pigheaded nature.

U`d have seen on TV recently how some women and old man were brutally beaten in MP or Chattisgarh. U know, Indian police are BASTARDS. They behave alike - either in Kashmir, Chatisgarh or Delhi.

Kashmir group is cut above the rest

ROUND about now a group of Kashmiri women will be receiving 100 pairs of Made in Sheffield scissors, thanks to a tip from Joanna Lumley.
Last week she was invited in for tea in Lord Mayor Jackie Drayton`s Parlour when Jackie mentioned she was off to Kashmir.
She will be laying the foundation stone for the Sheffield Girls College in Bagh, Azad Kashmir, being financed by the Sheffield-based Kashmir Earthquake Relief Fund.
``That`s interesting. I was born in Kashmir,`` said
Joanna.
And when Jackie added that the local women were also helping to fund the college by making clothing the actress told her: ``You`ll be wanting to take some scissors, then.``
Good idea, thought Jackie, and got 100 courtesy of Richardson`s, although Joanna had promised to pay for them herself if they weren`t donated.
The original college collapsed in the 2005, quake, killing 200 students.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=4766&articleid=2628719

Folio
I think people in srinagar are slowly taking Arjuns advice and moving to Mirpur


Doc couple from Srinagar joins at Mirpur hospital
TARIQ NAQASH
Muzaffarabad, June 7: Pakistan administered Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan on Thursday predicted major developments on Kashmir in the days ahead and called for demonstration of greater responsibility by the Kashmiri leaders on both sides of the divide.
“It gives me immense satisfaction that the interest in settlement of Kashmir issue is multiplying in the outside world and this has necessitated unity and harmony among the ranks of Kashmiri leaders on both sides of the divide,” he said.
“Our responsibilities have increased manifolds and we will have to devise a unanimous course of action to combat the challenges and achieve the targets,” he added.
The PaK premier was speaking to reporters at district headquarters hospital Mirpur where earlier a doctor couple from Srinagar, Dr Irfan and Dr Saima, joined in as ad-hoc medical officers. PaK health minister Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan, adviser to prime minister on Elementary Education Nahid Tariq and senior government officials were also present on the occasion.
Sardar Attique noted with pleasure that while he had taken the lead in reserving seats for students from other Kashmir in a cadet college here, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had also decided to grant admissions to students from PaK in the universities of Jammu and Kashmir.
Recalling his offer for jobs in PaK to the skilled Kashmiri youth from across the Line of Control, he said his administered area wanted to benefit from their expertise and services. Sardar Attique also reiterated his announcement regarding provision of gas and electricity to other Kashmir, asserting that it would go a long way in bringing the two regions further close to each other.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=8_6_2007&ItemID=51&

Aslam,

Ppl make their own choices abt their futures. I dont know why Arjun writes like that on Chowk.

Btw, Arjun is a Christian.

OK Aslam. Let`s work in this direction. Whoever identify himself with Pakistan can migrate to Pakistan. In return India shud take back the contrite Muhajirs and resettle them in Kashmir. Btw, we see a lot of mohajirs who sound contrite abt the decision of their forefathers who laboured to go to Pakistan 60 years ago.

We`d resettle them in Kashmir and present lot of Pakiphiles can go in their places.

This is a win-win situation for both Pakistan & India. Hope Kashmir Groups works in this direction.

That’s non starter because they are different apart from religion they have nothing in common. The position in AK is it’s mixed population kashmiris, gujjars, potoharis etc over the centuries people from the valley have settled here, from rawalpindi to Lahore there are hundreds of ethnic kashmiri villages who have settled there over the centuries, because of poverty or oppression in the valley.

Aslam,

U said some interesting things here.

1. There`s nothing common btw Kashmiris and Mohajirs

2. Ppl leave to PAK side to avoid poverty and oppression in the Valley.


U are right abt the former. Muhajirs had nothing in common btw them and Punjabis, Sindhis, Balochis and Pathans except the religion.

Abt the latter: I want to recall the first face2face btw two Kashmiris when the border was opened for such meetings btw them. It`s not the Indian Kashmiris who tried to break the barrier and rush to the PAK side but Kashmirs of PAK side who tried to break the cordon and go to India. It was a farce that Pak army tried to push them away.

The whole world knows which side is greener.

U guyz live in the US and UK as minorities but dont live as majority in ur own Kashmir in Indian Union? In any case laws of the Indian Union as NOT applicable in Kashmir unless they are ratified by the Kashmir Assembly.

U have own laws and life, what is bothering you to live as Kashmiris? If u dont like the rest of India, dont go there, live in ur own State.

I tell u Aslam, the devil is in ur minds. U guys are playing the game of the Pak army and ISI. Learn from Kurds.

laws of the Indian Union are NOT applicable in Kashmir unless they are ratified by the Kashmir Assembly.