Hands Across The Border

Instead of saplings and trees, another way to get peace would be to throw up a wall of poison gas on the LoC and across the entire border. Once the jehadis sneaking into Indian territory get a sniff, peace will prevail.

From the New York Times. Remainder of the article is at http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/19/world/19PAKI.html.

{{Pakistani Journalists May Face Death for Publishing Letter

By BARRY BEARAK







PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb. 18 — That calamitous night, the editor left in charge of the newspaper`s letters page was a heroin addict, just a few days out of detox.

As he recalls it now, his prescribed sedatives were proving no match for his cravings. When a long letter to the editor arrived via e-mail, he barely read past the title, which seemed to him harmless enough: ``Why Muslims Hate Jews.``

Pakistan is a Muslim country. ``I thought if the letter was negative to anyone, it`d be negative to Jews,`` the editor, Munawwar Mohsin, said by way of alibi, looking thoroughly woebegone and sitting in Peshawar`s central jail. He had put the letter at the top of the section.

This careless editing may now prove his fatal undoing, for Mr. Mohsin and six of his colleagues at The Frontier Post have been charged under the nation`s blasphemy law, which can carry the death sentence. The wordy letter, published on Jan. 29, turned out to be a sacrilegious attack on the holy Prophet Muhammad. A furious mob was soon on its way to the newspaper`s offices, with outraged policemen not far behind.

The authorities immediately shut down the paper, whose nervous management then bought ad space in the pages of its rivals to make abject apology. The amends claimed that the English-language Frontier Post was itself the victim of some unspecified conspiracy. ``We appeal to the nation to stand by us in this hour of adversity and sympathize with us,`` the ad said.

But piety, and not pity, was the prevailing sentiment here in Peshawar, a city of one million people that sits to the east of the Khyber Pass near the border with Afghanistan. Leaders of fundamentalist political parties urged dramatic displays of dismay. On Jan. 30, as outnumbered policemen looked on, protesters torched the Frontier Post`s printing press, with piles of unsold newspapers serving as fodder for the fire.

At this juncture, the nation`s military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, made public his own consternation, though it did not include any condemnation of the mob. His disapproval focused on the abuse of ``press freedom`` that had allowed the blasphemous letter into print.

To many of his critics, his response seemed indicative of the general`s inability or unwillingness to take on the Islamic fundamentalists — and yet another portent of the nation`s drift toward religious intolerance.

Pakistan, with 150 million people, is a near-bankrupt country with a nuclear arsenal and explosive problems. In October 1999, the army seized power in a coup, and General Musharraf declared himself the steward of a modern and tolerant state. He promised social reforms, but whenever he has met opposition from the fundamentalists, he has backed down.

Indeed, in April the general tried to modify the blasphemy law, which, according to civil rights groups, is often used in personal vendettas and the persecution of minorities. The proposal was modest, urging more investigation before charges are filed; nonetheless, when fundamentalists objected, it was discarded.

By any standard, the letter in The Frontier Post of Jan. 29 was blasphemous. Mr. Mohsin, the heroin addict, finally got around to reading it in the morning. He was at home, he said. A colleague phoned to alert him about angry calls to the newspaper. }}

Urstruly #29

India has sent 700000 troops to the Vale with the instruction to use any means - torture, rape, murder, anything - to break the will of the Kashmiri nation and to therefore secure the Indian occupation. And these Indians have the gall to come to a Pakistani website and to start talking about `peaceful solutions`! They had forty-two years from 1947 to 1989 to implement a peaceful solution to this dispute. Isn`t 42 years enough??

The simple truth is that they are not interested in any solution that frees the Vale from their illegal and immoral occupation. Did you read post #6 by harish? He has the temerity to question our soveriegn right over our own motherland. This is the root of the Indo-Pakistan dispute: the Indian belief that the whole of South Asia is a jageer bestowed on them by Bapu Gandhi.

rsridhar, shammir and harish

``We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is

ultimately to be decided by the people of Kashmir. That pledge we have given is not only to the people of Kashmir but to the whole world.``

Pandit Jawahirlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India,

(All India Radio address, November 2, 1947)

``We have given our pledge to the people of Jammu &

Kashmir and subsequently to the United Nations; we

stood by it and we stand by it today. Let the

people of Kashmir decide.``

Pandit Jawahirlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India,

(address to the Indian Parliament on 12 February, 1951)

``The Government of India and the Government of Pakistan reaffirm their wish that the future status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir shall be determined in accordance with the will of the people.``

(UN Resolution 13 August, 1948)

In response to jay (Reply # 25)
Dear Jay:

Interesting fable!

The saplings that I had planted were real. The difficulty lies in the fact that there are at present more people who continue to uproot the saplings.

We need better educators to make the uprooters realize the follies of their actions. However, the Indians needs to fulfill their moral responsibility, while the Pakistani need to struggle peacefully for a moral victory of all sane voices all over the world, including Jammu and Kashmir, India, and Pakistan.

Jammu and Kashmir is a contested territory, it needs a dignified peaceful political resolution.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Urstruly,

What will happen now? Are you willing to start a training camp in your backyard?

``UK enforces new anti-terrorism laws

LONDON: New anti-terrorism laws have come into force in Britain from Monday, with the Terrorism Act giving ministers the power to add groups to a list of banned organisations.

Police have also been given increased powers to seize assets and make arrests. Cyber-terrorists who hack into computers to undermine governments or threaten lives are also covered by the legislation.

Once an organization is on the list --which currently includes Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force --it is illegal to be a member of the group, support it financially, display its emblems or share a platform with a member at a meeting of three or more people.

The law replaces the 1973 Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gave the police special powers to stop, search, arrest and detain terrorist suspects and had to be renewed each year.

This new legislation has been introduced partly in response to complaints from foreign governments, including India, that Britain offers a safe haven to groups that carry out violent campaigns in their countries.

Some Britain-based Muslim organisations have expressed their opposition to the legislation. Among them is Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, leader of the radical Muslim group Al-Muhajiroun, who has called on his members to fight the occupiers of Muslim land.

Bakri says many young British Muslims train in military camps abroad and then go off to fight in areas of conflict, such as Kashmir or the Middle East to perform what they describe as their Islamic duty. Such ``volunteers`` will now go underground to continue their activities.(AP)``

Dionysus

Yes, I do question Pakistan’s right to exist in the same way many muslims question Israel’s right to exist. In the same way israel forced palestinians to leave, pakistan forced millions of non-muslims (mainly hindus and sikhs) to flee. This is why I question pakistan’s right to exist.

And as I’m sure you agree, the kashmir problem is nothing but an extension of partition. So if india can not morally reconcile the existence of pakistan, in the same way palestinians cannot reconcile the existence of israel, how can india honor pakistan’s claims on kashmir?



At best pakistanis only speak for muslims, but kashmir includes more then just its muslim majority, including the indian kashmiri you quoted in post # 36.

I know none of this persuades you, but hopefully, it gives you some insight as to why the world doesn’t buy pakistan’s arguments about kashmir. As others have already pointed out, pakistan’s assertions about indian oppression in kashmir is truly a case of the kettle calling the pot black.

p.s. you wrote, “And these Indians have the gall to come to a Pakistani website and to start talking about `peaceful solutions`!” is this a pakistani only website? :)

This is for the IDIOT who`s in the frenzied state of cutting/pasting anti-Pakistan newspaper articles:

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/15/kashmir.shootings/

``SRINAGAR, Kashmir -- Escorts of an

Indian army convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir have fired on a group of demonstrators killing four civilians including two women and critically

wounding 18 others. The demonstrators were blocking the main Srinagar-Barramullah highway in protest against the alleged custodial killing of local shopkeeper, Jaleel Ahmed

Shah, arrested a day before by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the local police....``

So much for the righteous Indian army. Those cowards are killing women and civilians instead of their so called enemies the jihadists.

The Indian government ought to be ashamed of itself, slaughtering innocents behind the flag of peace.

Here`s another example of the ``righteous`` Indian army`s quest for Kashmiri peace. These BUZDIL ``soldiers`` are firing bullets to counter stones.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/16/india.kashmir/

``Authorities in the Indian-administered Kashmir imposed curfew in the civil line areas in the city after troops opened fire to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators shouting pro-freedom slogans. A senior police officer said a 16-year-old boy identified as Javed Ahmad Nath

died in the firing by the troops in the Maisuma locality in uptown Srinagar.

The other five injured persons are undergoing treatment in the hospital here.

Hundreds of people including women and children came out on the streets in Maisuma defying curfew restrictions as the body of Nath was brought back to his home.``

My question to Indians is, why can`t your government let the Kashmiris decide their own fate? You helped Bengalis determine theirs?

The blood of innocent people is on India`s hands.

Not a very noble idea for the world`s largest ``democracy.``

What a farce!

Harish3

Muslims who question Israel`s right to exist are nothing but bigots. By the same token the Indians who preoccupy themselves with the notion of reunification are just adding fuel to the fire that burns the flag of peace.

I am a Muslim, and I dont question the right of Israel to exist! Bigotry is the devil that plagues most of our respective fellow countrymen. Live and let live.

There will be no peace in Middle East or in South Asia, unless people come to terms with the existence of Pakistan, Israel and Palestine and that is a promise. No peace without honor!

BTW Harish check out the following site...

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/7295/

Yasser Hamdani

tsk, tsk, beeeeycharey fundamentalists, kwamakha badnaam kiye jaa rahe hai`n..

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/feb/19pak1.htm

``Pakistan not against jihad in Kashmir: Haider

K J M Varma in Islamabad

The military government ruling Pakistan has said it is not against the Islamic groups carrying out a jihad (Islamic holy war) in Kashmir, but is against the creation of a ``phobia`` in the name of Islamic fundamentalism, media reports on Monday said.

``Our government is not against jihad in Kashmir, but there should be a difference between jihad and terrorism as was earlier stated by Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf,`` Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told the Urdu daily Nawa-i-Waqt (New Era) in Lahore on Sunday.

``We understand that our jihad in Kashmir would have to continue till the Kashmiris find a just solution.

``But creating a phobia in the name of jihad is not a right thing as it unnecessarily draws world attention,`` said Haider, currently under attack from militant outfits for his threats to ban their public fund-collection activities. ...``


Meanwhile here is an improvement on the past:

http://www.the-hindu.com/2001/02/19/stories/01190002.htm

btw, what happened about the police firing in Quetta in which 6 people got shot last week, may I ask? Looks like we are true neighbours after all.

Sadhana

........with a little bit of patience, perseverance, less noise and more action, pakistan can kill two very bad birds with one stone - drive out the despicable indians out of kashmir and dispatch the wild-eyed jihadis into the arms of the buxom houris at the same time ..... the jihadis should be used as the ottomans used the ``bashi-bazouks`` - as gun fodder with a one way ticket across the LOC to be shot deader than a maudoodi if they dare to turn around ...... so we loose a dozen madrassa graduates a day - nothing wrong with that - keeps them off the streets and gives their fathers and brothers the opportunity to get on ptv-4 and declare their readiness to repeat abraham`s folly ...

Harish3 #144

The difference between Pakistan, Kashmir and Israel is simple.

People living in Pakistan were living in this area for centuries. Kashmiris living in Kashmir are living there for centuries. They have a right to decide for themselves.

People forming the current Israel majority were living in Europe for centuries and suddenly decide to dislocate people in Palestine with the help of their killers whom they could not resist.

UMAIRR #19

Dear Umairr:

I am probably no less kashmiri than you are, and you are just as proud about it as I am. I am no less proud of my Kashmiri brahmin heritage than Iqbal either.

You do fail to see the contradiction you are introducing in your powerful argument. This is because you stop at Mukti Bahini. While your argument that people should decide is truly commendable. Why do you stop at Mukti Bahini to make your point. Why don`t you go to the origin of the problem, the partition itself.

Do you believe the Muslim League leader who got Pakistan were saying let the people decide, or they were saying let Muslims decide? I guarantee you the vote would have been very different, your argument was used. Don`t you think, non-Pakistani Muslims would find hypocracy in this argument?

BTW I buy your agument, however, the change that you give non-Pakostani Suth Asians in return I have the problem.

If your argument was the case at the time of partition, then Two Nation Theory blows itself on its face. It was the biggest blunder that Muslim leaders of the time made.

I am ready to accept that Jinnah was forced into taking this position, as Ayesha Jalal has also pointed in her book, Jinnah, the Sole Spokesman.

I am most surprise, that Jinnah a liberal democrat, in my view, accepted his corner. I also believe, he alongwith Nehru understood the value of democratic system and its institutions. But Jinnah certainly became myopic, and failed to see that Hindus had never been as united - Islam would not have entered or entire India would have become Muslim, if Hindus were as united, as Mulsim League made Muslims fear.

Jinnah failed to calculate the elctoral mathematics that the power belongs to the larger group of smaller numbers. Such a grop will get power in democracy. This law of democracy can only be changed by abolishing democracy.

Please do electoral mathematics in today`s South Asia, and soon you will soon discover that Muslims due to sheer number (about 35% of South Asian population) would have gained influence and power in the single bi-cameral constitutional democracy Nehru was proposing for the entire South Asia. Muslims unnecessary got scared of singing Vande Matram (I have no problem singing it, I find it beautiful, I have A. R. Rahman`s CD - he did not find it abhoring; just as I like Sufi Music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan too). I believe, this is because I grew in pluralisitc society. I grew up in Kanpur, my great-grand father - cotemporary Kashmiri Brahmin to Nehru`s father - was the first Indian civil surgeon in the U.P. My grandfather, died early, but was Nehru`s contemporary and colleague. He was a medical doctor, who studied in Lahore in late 1890`s.

As a result of Muslim League`s actions at the time of partition, unfortunately, Muslims and their votes (non-votes in case of Pakistan, in the absence of democracy) have been forced into at least three divisions - Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. For almost thirty years due to massive migration of Muslim middle class and intelluctuals from India at partition, Indian Muslims were left leaderless. Plus the memories of partition in Hindu mind were too gruesome in the generation previous to mine.

The fault, according to me, and my like-minded Muslim friends, lied in the mis-aligned vision of the Muslim League leadersip, inluding Jinnah, at the time of partition. Although, I do concede that Jinnah was cornered.

(YLH, please do not attack me on Jinnah, I am well read on him, and do subscribe to your thoughts on Jinnah`s leadership qualities. Although in the corner he chose, the leaders were not willing to recognize him any more than their ``Vakil in Delhi``).

These leaders abdicated the responsibility and leadership of the South Asian muslims.

I believe, the Kashmir problem will be solved only when South Asia will emerge as a recognizable economic entity, and military alliance, like NATO. For this to happen: secularism has to take roots, not only in paper laws, but in the hearts of South Asian; and value of democracy, no matter how bad it is, is recognized.

When you meet South Asian friends here, everyone has friendship not hatred at heart for each other. We also vote (some of us atleast) and participate in the democracy. Fortunately, we get to meet in greater proportion of our population, you will also see the difference if these phenomena start happening in in South Asia too.

Regards

ANIL KAPURIA

The Hindu newspaper`s todays editorial on the terrorism of indian forces in occupied kashmir

Loss of political momentum

THE INSENSITIVITY SHOWN by the security forces in handling the protest

demonstrations in the wake of a suspected `custodial death` in Haigam - palpable in the

way the army men opened fire killing in all seven civilians in Haigam and Maisuma - has

seriously vitiated the atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir in the context of the `peace

initiative`, from the Government of India`s standpoint. This and the widespread public

unrest the incidents have understandably provoked, warranting imposition of curfew,

have apparently prompted the Centre to put off by a few days its decision on the

continuation (or termination) of the twice- extended ceasefire, due to end on February

26. That the military establishment, known for its penchant to stoutly deny any

suggestion of `excesses`, should have admitted that fire, in both cases, was indeed

opened by its men, as distinguished from the police personnel, however represents a

positive attitudinal change vis-a-vis enforcement agencies` accountability. Yet it is

apparent that the groundswell of public protest was what forced the Dr. Farooq

Abdullah regime to institute a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge into the

Haigam episode; the proposed enquiry should cover not just the `firing` part but the

incident that triggered the protest demonstrations and also establish whether the

victim-shopowner was indeed a militant and whether he was killed while in custody or in

an `operation`, as claimed by the Army.

If the rationale of the ceasefire is rooted in suing for peace in the traumatised State, it

only stands to reason that the security forces should display restraint, discipline and

transparency of a much higher order than in normal situations. Surely, the Haigam and

Maisuma episodes, which arguably involve gross violation of human rights, do little

credit to them in this regard. Though not exactly comparable, these have a qualitative

commonality with the post-Chattisinghpora massacre (by `jehadi` militant groups)

response of the security forces, characterised as it was by a brazen defiance of the rule

of law; some innocent civilians were branded `terrorists`, held responsible for the killings,

gunned down in an `encounter` and buried in a hurry. It is common knowledge that the

repression unleashed by the security personnel in the name of counter-insurgency

operations was an important cause for the perceived alienation of the people from the

administration. It follows therefore that the security forces as also the police, especially

its special operations wing, should mend their ways and adhere strictly to the rule of law,

if the people`s sense of alienation is to be reversed. This is particularly imperative at the

present juncture, when the stated aim of the Government of India is to enlarge the

constituency for peace in the Valley and to expose the foreign-backed pan-Islamic

`jehadi` groups as inveterate saboteurs with no stakes in peace and, above all, to isolate

them from the local people.

The corrective lies, evidently, in the realm of sensitising the security and police personnel

to the basic human rights and the requirements of rule of law. At another level, there is

an unassailable case for the creation of a credible, independent monitoring agency at

least for the duration of the ceasefire, to begin with, and it should not be difficult to

identify and secure the services of persons of high integrity and eminence for such a

mission. The benefits flowing from such an arrangement are manifold. First, the very

existence of the watchdog mechanism will make for greater restraint and discipline in the

functioning of the security forces. Second, and no less important, is that the diabolical

acts perpetrated by the terrorist elements, especially massacres of innocent people,

would, in stark contrast, stand condemned for their outrageous assault on human rights.

While the task of restoring peace is by itself challenging, there has been no movement at

all in the search for a political settlement. The Centre will have to move purposefully on

the political front, engaging all groups including the Hurriyat.

TAKING CARE OF MINORITIES:- PAKISTANI Style

LB elections

In the first phase of the recent Local Body elections held in 18 districts of Pakistan, the minorities of Pakistan were confused over the setup of the system. Thus in Sargodha District 130 Christian candidates boycotted the elections and in Sindh both the Christian and the Hindu communities boycotted it.

What forced the political leaders of the minorities to boycott the recent elections? First, the Muslim voters are allowed to cast five votes. For that purpose, they are given five different coloured ballot papers. White ballot paper is for the eight Muslim general seats, pink for the four Muslim women seats, green for a labour and hari seat, pale for a labour and hari woman seat, and blue for the seats of Nazim and Naib Nazim.

The minority voters on the other hand can cast only one vote for the seat reserved for non-Muslims. They are not allowed to contest on the seats of Nazim and Naib Nazim. As a result the representation of the minorities in tehsil and district council will be nil. This is the worst shape of separate electorate.

Now it is easy to understand why the minorities in Pakistan are demanding joint electorate at all levels in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan which guarantees fundamental rights to all the people of Pakistan without differentiation of religion and race.

The government should reconsider its decision of separate electorate or allow the minorities to cast double vote, one for a minorities contester and the other for general candidates.—JAWED NAR, Karachi, February 10.