By Sikander Hayat
India has no excuse this time. It used to be “Pakistan based” terrorists who were fighting the 700,000 Indian army/paramilitary troops in Indian held Kashmir. Now it’s the “Pakistan based” stone throwers who are being butchered by “brave” Indian army on the streets of Srinagar & other parts of Kashmir. Worst part of the tragedy is that this killing is indiscriminate. They are killing women, children & anyone who dare to say the word azadi (freedom).
India is the so called biggest democracy of the world but a people who ask in their overwhelming majority for azadi are being crushed through the barrel of gun.
I am sure this episode will be crushed soon and less than a week later that, Indian establishment will be congratulating each other for the heroism that their armed forces shown in the valley of Kashmir. But deep down in their hearts even they know that every time they crush a rebellion, they crush it only temporarily, because the basic issue has been and still is unresolved for last 63 years.
That basic issue is that Kashmir is an unfinished business from the time of Independence of India & Pakistan. As a Muslim majority state, Jammu & Kashmir was supposed to be part of Pakistan but its Hindu Raja, Hari Singh, signed away Kashmir to India without taking into account the aspirations of Kashmiri people.
From there onwards, Kashmir is the story of oppression, barbarism, colonialism ( amarnath yatra is the case in point) & absolute brutality at the hands of Indian military and Indian political elite.
Kashmir has been ruled by the central government through governor rule for many years with intermittent bogus elections. One such bogus election in 1989 triggered the armed resistance against the Indian rule.
India must stop considering Kashmir a law & order issue as it is no such thing. Kashmir is a disputed territory whose overwhelming majority wants azadi from India and until that wish is fulfilled, india can only crush the will of the people for short periods before eventually it will have to agree to a political settlement with Pakistan & the Kashmiri people. India must understand that if killing of over 100,000 Kashmiris has not frightened the people of Kashmir, nothing will.
Related Posts:
1. Why Kashmir Needs A Political Solution - India Killing Innocent Street Protesters To Prove Her Claim As The Land Of Liberty & Human Rights
2. Indian Occupation Of Kashmir - An Unfinished Business
3. Azad Kashmir - Is China Taking Extra Interest In Kashmir?
India has no excuse this time. It used to be “Pakistan based” terrorists who were fighting the 700,000 Indian army/paramilitary troops in Indian held Kashmir. Now it’s the “Pakistan based” stone throwers who are being butchered by “brave” Indian army on the streets of Srinagar & other parts of Kashmir. Worst part of the tragedy is that this killing is indiscriminate. They are killing women, children & anyone who dare to say the word azadi (freedom).
India is the so called biggest democracy of the world but a people who ask in their overwhelming majority for azadi are being crushed through the barrel of gun.
I am sure this episode will be crushed soon and less than a week later that, Indian establishment will be congratulating each other for the heroism that their armed forces shown in the valley of Kashmir. But deep down in their hearts even they know that every time they crush a rebellion, they crush it only temporarily, because the basic issue has been and still is unresolved for last 63 years.
That basic issue is that Kashmir is an unfinished business from the time of Independence of India & Pakistan. As a Muslim majority state, Jammu & Kashmir was supposed to be part of Pakistan but its Hindu Raja, Hari Singh, signed away Kashmir to India without taking into account the aspirations of Kashmiri people.
From there onwards, Kashmir is the story of oppression, barbarism, colonialism ( amarnath yatra is the case in point) & absolute brutality at the hands of Indian military and Indian political elite.
Kashmir has been ruled by the central government through governor rule for many years with intermittent bogus elections. One such bogus election in 1989 triggered the armed resistance against the Indian rule.
India must stop considering Kashmir a law & order issue as it is no such thing. Kashmir is a disputed territory whose overwhelming majority wants azadi from India and until that wish is fulfilled, india can only crush the will of the people for short periods before eventually it will have to agree to a political settlement with Pakistan & the Kashmiri people. India must understand that if killing of over 100,000 Kashmiris has not frightened the people of Kashmir, nothing will.
Related Posts:
1. Why Kashmir Needs A Political Solution - India Killing Innocent Street Protesters To Prove Her Claim As The Land Of Liberty & Human Rights
2. Indian Occupation Of Kashmir - An Unfinished Business
3. Azad Kashmir - Is China Taking Extra Interest In Kashmir?
?????
ReplyDeleteDude - Get real.
(A) Kashmir minus Jammu minus Ladakh is not an economically viable entity.
(B) Assuming India agreed to let go of the muslim sections of Kashmir, Pakistan isn't ever going to cede it's portion of Kashmir to make an independent Kashmiri nation.
These guys only option really is to fight for greater autonomy within India, coz "azaadi" probably ain't happening.
Pachhwade pe char (4) laat lagega durust ho jaoge...sudhar jao........kisi ki aukaat nahin hai Kashmir India se alag kar de.
ReplyDeleteRefering to your comment"Pachhwade pe char (4) laat lagega durust ho jaoge...sudhar jao........kisi ki aukaat nahin hai Kashmir India se alag kar de."
ReplyDeleteIs that the best India can do for the Kashmiris in order to make them fall in love with India.
AWAITING YOUR COMMENTS ON 400000 KASHMIRI HINDUS KILLED BY THE MUSLIMS IN KASHMIR AND MANY LEFT THE KASHMIR AND LIVING IN DELHI/NCR AS REFUGEE AFTER 1947. I KNOW ONLY THAT DUE TO THE KATTARPANTHI MUSLIMS LIKE YOU & AMBITIONS OF WESTERN COUNTRIES ALL WORLD IS SUFFERING......
Deletehi sikander, you know why the mqm leader was killed and why the retaliation took place?
ReplyDeletearent all of the people in this episode muslim?
are there more muslims in India than in pakistan?
what is the point finally?
people will keep seceding till each person will seced to his own house.
are the people oppressed?is there an attempt to stifle their religion and culture?then there is a point.without that,it is pointless.
if the pakistanis begin resolving the faultlines within their own country,then they will be upholding the human aspiration for honesty and hard work.
but actually, there seems to be no leader in pakistan who can attempt to unite the country. the frictions and divides are probably too rigid to be broken.
this inability leaves the pakistanis with the only option of raising themselves above their human failings,that is to to talk about some one else some where.what is obvious is that no one will do your work for you,if you strive,the solution will present itself.without striving to betteryourselves and your country,you are violating the basic purpose of man to work hard and create order and substance and satisfaction.
the more that pakistan neglects the core necessity to begin the work of national reconciliation, within the framework of the country that is at hand,the more instability that it will descend into.
in life,one has to strive.we have had the luck or the gift of god to have reformers who lifted us out of the shackles of caste,bt we are still fighting the war against class superiority and the attempt of that superiority to seek sanction in religion.
Hi Samurai,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on most counts that you have raised in your comment. But surely, Pakistan's failings do not absolve India of her responsibility towards the Kashmiri people. Two wrongs cannot make a right. You cannot kill someone in Kashmir because there are ethnic killings in Karachi. Karachi is like Mumbai where Marathi people do not like the settlers from other parts of India. Big cities have a life of their own and ethnic strife is sometimes unavoidable.
Hi Sikander
ReplyDeleteWhats the fight about?? Pak has its share known as POK and India has its share as IOK; what else would be a solution to it???
Plz do not think that LOCs can be broken so easily friend!!!
Hi Ravish,
ReplyDeleteI do not for a moment think that status of LOC can be changed easily. If it was easy, it would not have existed for last many decades. Kashmir may have started off as a territorial dispute between Indian & Pakistan but that is not the case anymore. Kashmiris are the biggest stakeholders now.
But just on a hypothetical scenario, to solve the problem through India Pakistan prism one would be see the state of Jammu & Kashmir as five distinct regions.
Kashmir Valley, Jammu, Laddakh, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. Looking at the demographics of these five regions you will find that 65% of Jammu's population practices Hinduism, 30% practices Islam and most of the remainder areSikhs. In Ladakh, according to the 2001 population census of India, 47.4% of the population is Buddhist, 45.9% Muslim, 6.2% Hindu and 0.5% others. The region's population is split roughly in half between the districts of Leh and Kargil. Leh is 77% Buddhist and Kargil is 80% Muslim. Azad Kashmir is 99% Muslim & Gilgit Baltistan is 99% Muslim as well.
I am a realist enough to understand that Jammu ( a hindu majority region in Kashmir) is happy with Indian rule and would like to stay as part of India. Ladakh has the Muslim majority but combining the Hindu & Buddhist population will make Muslims a minority so Ladakh will probably stay with India. Azad Kashmir & Gilgit Baltistan are both 99% Muslim so it will be very hard for India to take them away from Pakistan, given the situation it is already facing in Srinagar. That leaves the valley of Kashmir. This is the main bone of contention and is overwhelmingly muslim majority. Many people have argued that Kashmir Valley should become independent and has been considered by some as the best solution because it would address the grievances of those who have been fighting against the Indian Government since the insurgency began in 1989. But critics say that, without external assistance, the region would not be economically viable. But it has its merits.
Looking from the Kashmiri point of view, any division of Kashmir is out of question. That is why they are dying every day to make LOC disappear. Only the time will tell if they succeed in their quest.
AGAR ALAG KAR DIYA TO BHHUKHE MAR JAOGE
DeleteWhat right have u got to blame India, where the minorities have an equal opportunity like everyone else in education or job opportunities,ofcourse gujarat happened here,sikh riot happened here..but see it from the prism of nation growing up..wen such large multicultural society lives together friction is bound to happen..
ReplyDeleteLook at what kashmiris do..pandits are out..hell for amarnath yatra they cnt give some land for setting up of temporary structres..mind you just temporary structres..but have no problem in going fro Haj from the tax payers money..is that ur version of secularism...look at paksitan in 50 years hindu community is all but decimated there,sikhs too same thing..i will rather live in my India which has its issues rather than living in Pakistan or anywhere..pining for freedom my foot..u guys just cant tolerate the concept of living together with Hindus or others..u want ur land to be pure..and thats just xenophobic and racist...
Dear Ananth,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for taking time to put forward your point of view. I agree with you when you talk about Gujrat & sikh riots, although they are not ideal situations, but they are India’s internal matter and as you mentioned a nation growing up has to go through the teething problems before maturing. Where we would have to agree to disagree is Kashmir. Kashmir is a special case. There is no other state in the Indian Union which was referred to United Nations by India herself. Even your current home minister P.Chidambaram has said that Kashmir is a unique problem which needs a unique solution. There is no other state in the Indian Union for which Indian parliament had to pass a resolution to say that it is an unalienable part of India. There is no other state in indian Union where over 500,000 army, CRPF and police personel are stationed in army camps in the heart of major cities like Srinagar. The list goes on but the fact of the matter is that Kashmir is not your average Indian state and this fact displays itself every day on the streets of this forsaken land. I hope that I have not offended you but right to free speech is a fundamental part of Indian constitution.
well done sikandar
DeleteHi Sikander,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, in the present scenerio in the Kashmir valley it is not the mighty Indian Army that is dealing the L/O problem but the J&K police and the CRPF and CRPF is not living in the Army camps but the accomodation provided by the JK govt. Secondly if you are a true muslim and a follower of Islam tell me honestly the economic condition of kashmiri brothers living in Pak administered Kashmir viz a viz Indian administered Kashmir. Then what are you talking of? Thirdly, Kashmir is not fighting the Insurgency but is a state under Terrorism where the hired Terrorists of LeT,JeM, Al-Badar, HuM etc all hired terrorists who are non kashmiris from the Kashmir Valley.Enough proof is available of this.You are well aware that wrong spreading do not stand for long and every thing comes in the open in due time.
I come from Kerala..my language,my culture ,my food everything is different from North Indians..but I am an Indian and i believe that in India there is space for all communities..there is no official policy of discrimination(i agree discrimination happens but as i said give the Idea of India its time) a people get educated as more and more of us Indians get gainfull employment u will see the riots that heppen (where people dance to political parties tunes) go down..so what makes kashmiris special..only thing i can see is that they are a muslim majority area..so is it finally about religion..is it it the idea that muslims cannot prosper under a secular country like India..there is large scale human rights violations by the Indian army..kashmiris are suffering..all are valid points...but claiming freedom is not the way...in a war human rights violations happen..i am not condoning it..where India failed is getting the officers into book..but thats the story of India..everything goes slow here...and if we dnt station our men there..pretty soon u will have afghanistan on ur hands in kashmir..that shld never be allowed for Indias sake atleast..and I liked the way u mentioned ur home minister..ur contry..but fianlly u want my countrys freedom of speech gauranteed by my contrys constituion..
ReplyDeleteDear Ananth,
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your comment. I am not making a case for Indian Muslims at large as they are Indians and therefore only India’s concern.
Kashmir’s problem is not economic as Mr Manmohan Singh & Mr Vajpai before him have seen by announcing billions of Rupees of funding for the Kashmir. The issue at hand is to do with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
As far as Kashmir becoming Afghanistan is concerned, Kashmir already is the heavily militarised region on earth as per the ratio of army personnel per person.
The Army is there for a reason...because of the militancy..and i will not agree that the armed conflict there is freedom struggle..thats just pure terrorism and nothing else...and what aspiriations of Kashmiris is not being fulfilled..give me a concrete reasons...
ReplyDeleteAnanth,
ReplyDeleteChildren throwing stones is not militancy. By your logic Palestine must not demand freedom because Israel can give them better economic opportunities. Sometimes there is so much disconnect between the logic of the people being ruled and those who rule them that it becomes impossible to stay within the fold. Every freedom fighter is somebody's terrorist. Mandela was called a terrorist, Yasir Arafat was called a terrorist & Subhas Chandra Bose was called a terrorists by the British but that did not change the facts. India wants to keep Kashmir, than keep it but call spade a spade. Kashmir is a Indian occupied territory & Indian army is the army of occupation.
Hi Sikander,
ReplyDeleteWe can keep arguing about the kashmir issue till the cows come home and nothing will come out of it. You would have studied history. Tell me how many territorial disputes have been solved amicably over last two hundred years? Millions have died for tiny patches of land, and this is a strategic piece of territory you ar talking about which not only sits right in the middle of everything but also is the source of much of south asia's water. India let hundreds of its soldiers killed to free few mountain peaks in kargil and would have sacrificed thousands more if the war dragged on. This shows the resolve of Indian state in holding on to this strategic land. It knows clearly that it has already lost so much and losing any more would give China overnight access to Arabian sea. In such great games, how so much politicians shed crocodile tears, a few hundred or thousands or tens of thousands lives (either of its own military or locals) are just a footnotes in the pages of history. No one needs to teach you the importance of territorial soveriegnty. Place your hand on your heart and ask yourself if India, which saw through the worst years of violence without a murmur and has grown economically and militarily since, would let go of Kashmir because of a popular movement? There was a time when Punjab problem was worse than what Kashmir ever became. People were fed up with daily violence in all parts of country but the Govt of India just grit its teeth and carried on.
sikander i see you have stopped posting my comments..is this the way u carry on a debate..
ReplyDeleteDear Sikandar,
ReplyDeleteWhat are the options for Kashmiri Muslims and their struggle for so called AZADI?
1. Join Pakistan with its present mess?
2. Become independent and remain land locked from all sides by India, Pakistan,China, Russia?
3. Continue this struggle till eternity?
Large countries like India or China will never concede such independence.You will have to defeat "India" in a war.Can you do that? If you can not, then how long can you sustain this stone pelting struggle?
You will say Switzerland is land locked and yet independent in true sense of the term.Do you or can you become Switzerland? If you can't, then can you preserve your independence? If yes, for how long? Kashmir is the result of short sighted local leadership of Congress, NC, PDP and Hurriyat.J & K gets largest fund allocation from the center, its per capita income is highest in the country.Where is this money.Bulk is being pocketed by the politicians& administrators.Part of it is used to finance this so called insurgency.
You have ignored the case of Indian muslims as an Indian problem.Why and how? There can be a Hindu back lash against Indian muslims if GOI concedes any thing to Kashmiri muslims.Hindus then will argue for deportation of muslim minorities from their areas.Where can 15 crore Indian muslims go? Answer? No where.That is the issue.You can't solve a problem, which does not provide answer or answers for 15 crore people.People of Kashmir, especially Kashmiri muslims need tp appreciate these facts.
Dear Ananth,
ReplyDeleteThere is no harm in carrying on the debate but I believe that we are going in circles and not addressing the core issue.
Hi Ak,
ReplyDeleteYou have done an honest analysis and I appreciate it. I agree that no country in the world would let go of its main source of water. As I have said in my earlier comment in response to Ananth, if India wants to keep Kashmir, they have the power to do it forever but please don't say that it is not an occupation. If this is not occupation than what is the definition of occupation.
hi sikander u convinently did not post my comment abt a kashmiri being a civil service topper and all...kashmiri citizens has all rights available to an India citizen..so Kindly refrain from comparing them to palestenians...
ReplyDeleteHello Sikander
ReplyDeleteI am Ashish. First of all, I am sorry to say, but I really didn't like the tone of your post. As educated people, we should understand that there are two sides to any problem. Now it is true that Indian police personnel have not handled the current uprisings and expression of dissatisfaction by the Kashmiri people in the right way. But it is not something that is unique to Kashmir or that GOI and Police Forces are deliberately going an extra mile in
"brutality", just because these people are Kashmiris. In every other part of India, police forces are poorly equipped to handle such unique forms of protests. And it is a result of this poor training, that many Kashmiris were injured and unfortunately some even died.And I totally blame GOI for this.(So I request you and all the commenters, not to give, atleast the present Human Rights violation issue, a religious or a regional angle).
But I blame GOI only for this. Otherwise they have been too concerned about the Kashmir and its people as is shown by many grants and many exceptions in constitution for Kashmir and its people. And one thing that really hurts me, if its true, is that some our Kashmiri brothers and sisters actually demand for Freedom. It just shows that they have not yet accepted India as their country, which should not be tolerated.For more than 60 yrs. they have been a part of India, and its time that they accept India as their country and push for their economic and social rights, if they are violated. A large population of Naxals are hugely dissatisfied with GOI and its officials. So they rebel and rebel violently.But they never talk of Freedom and things like that.
And one last thing. A few days back, I read on the Internet that some of the Army people raped and did some fake encounters in Kashmir. If its true it is the saddest news I have read in quite sometime. GOI and Army authorities should set a precedent by taking very strong actions against such sadistic persons.
Hi Ashish,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. It is understandable that you are upset, as any Indian patriot worth his salt would not like to hear anything which goes against their own thinking of their country.
You have mentioned enough atrocities in your own comment that I do not need to add anything further about the reasons of why Kashmiris are not very happy with India.
"A few days back, I read on the Internet that some of the Army people raped and did some fake encounters in Kashmir. If its true it is the saddest news I have read in quite sometime. GOI and Army authorities should set a precedent by taking very strong actions against such sadistic persons."
As an Indian who loves his country more than anything else, I do feel very uncomfortable and saddened the way we are handling the situation in Kashmir. If we for a minute believe what we say all the time that Kashmir is an integral part of this country and Kashmiris are Indians, we wouldn’t be treating these people like the way we do. I cannot believe that the entire Indian state could think of only one response when this crisis erupted – to send 30,000 additional troops as if these troops can achieve what the half a million men in uniform haven’t managed to achieve. One would have expected a political response. But the Indian ruling elite lacks imagination, among the many other things it lacks. When the PM made his ‘healing touch’ speech a full two months after life in the Valley came to a standstill, he uttered the dreaded A word – autonomy and the opposition BJP caught on it asking the PM to explain what he meant by autonomy. The principal opposition party couldn’t be bothered about applying the healing touch, instead it was out to score a few brownie points and endear itself to the majority community. It’s a sad situation indeed. My heart goes out to the suffering people of the valley – all those mothers and children. And it would be worthwhile to remember that it all started with the story of staged encounters and the armed forces profiteering by killing innocent Kashmiri youth. That cannot and should not be forgotten or forgiven.
ReplyDeleteAnd finally, spare the thought for the men in uniform. They are doing this at the bidding of their political masters. Given a choice, they wouldn’t want to be firing at people who their school textbooks have told them are their own countrymen.
Hi Gopi Shankar,
ReplyDeleteThanks for some honest political insight into the issue of Jammu & Kashmir. As long as we keep saying that there is no problem in Kashmir, nothing good will happen in terms of solution to this issue. Accepting the issue will be the first step towards the resolution of this issue.
Hi,
ReplyDeletePlease dont mix religion and Kashmir ever. Pakistan is the biggest Muslim killer lets get it right. Pay money and Pakistan army will do anything. Example Taliban being killed. Same Taliban that was supported by Pakistan. Taliban are Muslims. For one instance even if Kashmir gets its independence Indian Army will have to save them from Pakistani army just like in the case of Bangladesh. Remember.
I am not sure what the Afghan people think of Pakistan but from what the media says it is nothing great. Afghans are also Muslims.
And Pakistan did get independence/break away from India 60 years ago. And today it is a basket case. Arguably.
Lets get realistic. Pakistan should concentrate in getting its house in order before trying to help others. Its obsession about Kashmir is not helping its citizens. Huge amounts of money is being spent on the Army instead of its poor people.
It is nice for you and me on the internet to talk about what the future of Kashmir should be. But I am sure if you ask a father of a hungry child he will tell us to get screwed and the Kashmiris to get screwed. And let their Govt concentrate on feeding its people.
Dear Thirdmind,
ReplyDeleteLambasting Pakistan will not resolve issues in Kashmir. India cannot absolve itself of its responsibility towards Kashmir by just blaming Pakistan. Free Kashmir because it is the demand of Kashmiris. People dying on the streets of Srinagar by Indian Army are not Pakistanis, they are Kahmiris. Stop being Pakistan centric and try to be Kashmir centric.
Thanks for you comment.
65 years lingering conflict and continued military violence had disturbed the daily social and political life of people in Kashmir. It should be resolved peacefully in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of its people for which they had rendered sacrifices.
ReplyDeletewww.kashmirvoice.org
Kashmir is the unfinished agenda of British departure from subcontinent. Under all the criteria, Kashmir should have been part of Pakistan. Under current situation, the only medium term solution is the internal autonomy for Indian Kashmir to alleviate some of their suffering.
ReplyDelete