Kashmiri Pandits by Dr. S M Yunus Gilani (JR210 YG01)

Kashmiri Pandits by Dr. S M Yunus Gilani )JR210 YG01)

Introduction

In January 2020, the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley has completed thirty years. The cultural and social roots of the Pandits were in the Kashmir Valley. Before escaping from there, he had to face extreme injustice, violence and humiliation. The main cause of this migration was the communalization of extremism in the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s. Since then, no government has made a serious effort to solve the problem of Pandits. But the communal elements have been continuously using the issue of Kashmiri Pandits to silence liberals and human rights activists. Whenever they talk about the plight of Muslim minorities in India, the underprivileged section immediately asks them "what about Kashmiri Pandits". Now the situation has become such that these minorities of Kashmir Valley are on the verge of losing their civil rights.

Pandits used as a ploy

Whenever there is communal violence in the country, human rights organizations demand justice and rehabilitation for the suffering minorities. Instead of supporting this demand, Hindu nationalists start shouting that where were you when Hindus were being driven away from Kashmir. It is obvious that the injustice done to one minority group in this process is being justified on the grounds that another minority group also had to undergo tragic circumstances. This is an attempt to normalize communal violence. It seems as if those who draw attention to the situation of Muslim minorities or talk about the rights of minorities are the only ones responsible for the present situation of Kashmiri Pandits.

Center rule

In these three decades, BJP, Congress and United Front have ruled the country from the center. At the time when Kashmiri Pandits escaped from the valley, there was President's rule in Jammu and Kashmir and there was Vishwanath Pratap Singh's government in Delhi. The BJP was supporting this government from outside. After this, the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee ruled for almost sixteen years from 1998. Since 2014, the BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ruling the country. This government enjoys a majority in Parliament. BJP's allies are also getting the benefit of power but they have no role in determining the policies of the government. Modi is the surveyor of this government and after him is the number of Home Minister Amit Shah. Those who are making a stir on the issue of Kashmiri Pandits, their sole purpose is to hide their communal intentions. What happened in Kashmir is certainly worrying and condemnable, but it is not right to blame Indian Muslims for that. Communal forces are indirectly and directly trying to blame the Muslims of India for the situation in Kashmir. The Government of India has taken several steps in the matter of Kashmir. These include removal of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution and reducing the status of Kashmir from the state to Union Territory. All these steps have further undermined the possibility of Kashmiri Pandits returning to the valley as the valley is suffocated and the leaders of democracy are under house arrest under the PSA. Under this act, these people can be kept under house arrest for a long time without judicial review. Internet services are closed in the valley and democratic rights have been limited. Clearly, this has made any problem in the valley more difficult to solve.

Kashmir Issue

The problem of Kashmir is very complex. Extremism flourished there by suppressing the autonomy of the state government. The extremists also got the support of Pakistan. Meanwhile elements like al-Qaeda entered the valley. He was in free time after dealing with the Russian army in Afghanistan. He communalized the movement of Kashmiris. Initially, Kashmiriyat was the basis of Kashmiri extremism, which has nothing to do with Islam. Kashmiriyat is a synthesis of the teachings of Buddha and Sufi saints and the values of Vedanta. The period of torture of Kashmiri Pandits started only after elements like Al Qaeda entered the valley.

Prior to the exodus of the Pandits, they were requested by the Goodwill Mission to remain in the valley. Local Muslims also promised that they will stop the propaganda against the Pandits. At that time Jagmohan, who later became a minister in the NDA government, was the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Instead of conducting intensive campaign against extremists and providing security to the Pandits, they provided facilities for their mass exodus from the valley. Why was this done?

Instead of using the issue of Kashmiri Pandits to bring charges and counter-allegations and to put Indian Muslims and human rights activists in the dock, there is a need to solve this problem. The previous NDA government had proposed a separate residential area for the Pandits in the valley. Is this the solution to this problem? Pundits need justice. The government should set up a judicial commission that identifies the elements responsible for the exodus of the Pandits and should take legal steps that make the Pandits feel safe in the valley. Would the Pandits like to return to a Kashmir where democracy is being strangled and armed with automatic weapons are deployed at every corner? For the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiriyat will have to be revived and an appropriate cultural and religious atmosphere will have to be created for them.

Beginning of August 2019 all yatris, tourists & even Bihari labourers were evicted by the government ( governor raj) to pave way for scraping article 370 & crush the locals. The details of that week / month are easily available on all your news sites and still fresh in your memory...The same way in 1990 Kashmir pandits(hindus) were one night transported out under Governor’s rule while curfew had been clamped to “treat” local Muslims.The nonMuslims who refused to leave stay comfortable all through...“.... the then communal Governor of Kashmir Jagmohan, under a plan coerced the Pandits to migrate ... According to the plan, the pandit migration would help him in being successful to carry genocide of the Muslim youth of Kashmir and crush the “insurgency”. The migration was deemed necessary in order to have minimal collateral damage of the Kashmiri Pandits. The Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims were undistinguished as they shared the same attire, language, skin color and culture. Maybe the other Non Muslim minority of Kashmir i.e. the Sikhs were distinguished by their turbans and beards, hence they were not ordered to leave under clandestine plans. It is being stated that Jagmohan assured the Pandit leaders that once the genocide of youth and suppression of armed insurgency is over, they would be let to return to their homeland. A promise that was never honored and respected, resulting in the homelessness of Kashmiri Pandits.....”The age old wits were outwitted , befooled & rendered refugees & homeless in the country they “loved”...Also see how this famous KP viewd this Issue .(We may not be comfortable with all his views but it is good to know thier view from  their mouth/ pen)* ...https://www.maryscullyreports.com/sanjay-kak-on-the-exodus-of-kashmiri-pandits-from-kashmir/

Unanswered Questions  

“In January 2020, the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley has completed thirty years. The cultural and social roots of the Pandits were in the Kashmir Valley. Before escaping from there, he had to face extreme injustice, violence and humiliation. The main cause of this migration was the communalization of extremism in the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s. Since then, no government has made a serious effort to solve the problem of Pandits. But the communal elements have been continuously using the issue of Kashmiri Pandits to silence liberals and human rights activists. Whenever they talk about the plight of Muslim minorities in India, the underprivileged section immediately asks them "what about Kashmiri Pandits". Now the situation has become such that these minorities of Kashmir Valley are on the verge of losing their civil rights.”

            This begs several questions to be a answered:     

1.       What did the congress governments since 1948 to 2015 and the present day BJP government do for preventing their exodus? Whose responsibility it was to create peaceful understanding among these 2 Kashmiri residents? Main Indian govts or underdogged Kashmiri govts?

2.      How many Pundits were evacuated and how many Kashmiris killed in this period of 71 years?

3.      These Pundits migrated to their own country India, so why this loud hue and cry?

4.      What is your answer to the present curfew in Kashmir for these more than six months?

5.      Did you condemn Modi for his transferring this occupied area into open jail on Earth to promote atrocities and killings there for the last six months under 900,000 military men?

6.      IS THIS ENORMOUS MILITARY FORCE A PEACE KEEPING FORCE? THEN WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE THERE?? ARE THEY HUMANS OR BUTCHERS? WHY DID THESE PUNDITS CAUSED SENDING 900,000 WELL ARMED FORCES THERE.

7.      WHYDIDN'T THE INDIAN GOVTS ARRANGED THE PLEBISCITE VOTING THERE AS PROMISED TO UNO??

8.      YOU PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY SWALLOWED JUNAGADH, MANAWADER AND HYDERABAD STATES BEFORE AND NOW KASHMIR, WHY?? ARE YOU HINDUS PEACEFUL WHERE YOU RULE??

9.      WHY MUSLIMS, LIVING FOR CENTURIES IN INDIA ARE DENIED CITIZENSHIP, WHERE AS YOU INDIANS GET CITIZENSHIP IN 5 YEARS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES, WHY THIS PARITY?? ARE YOU NORMAL PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET??

10.  WHY DO YOU PEOPLE URGE TO DECIDE MUTUAL DISPUTES ON BATTLE FIELDS? CAN'T YOU DECIDE THESE DISPUTES PEACEFULLY THROUGH MUTUAL NEGOTIATIONS?? DO YOU HINDUS HAVE A SINCERE WILL TO DECIDE DISPUTES THROUGH MUTUAL NEGOTIATIONS??

11.  WILL YOU INDIANS ALLOW UNO TO RESOLVE THESE DISPUTES FOR THESE 2 COUNTRIES? IF NOT, WHY NOT??

WHY DON'T YOU INDIANS LIVE AND LET OTHERS LIVE IN PEACE?IS YOUR MIGHT IS RIGHT IN ALL SITUATIONS??

Gawkadal massacre (JR207)

Gawkadal massacre (JR207)

Background: The Gawkadal massacre was named after the Gawkadal bridge in Srinagar, Kashmir, where, on 21 January 1990, the Indian paramilitary troops of the Central Reserve Police Force opened fire on a group of Kashmiri protesters in what has been described by some authors as "the worst massacre in Kashmiri history" along with the Bijbehara Massacre in 1993  At least 160 people were killed (according to survivors, the actual death toll may have been as high as 280) The massacre happened just a day after the Government of India appointed Jagmohan as the Governor for a second time in a bid to control the mass protests by Kashmiris.

Incident: Violence erupted in the Kashmir region of India Jammu and Kashmir in November 1989, though unrest had been building in the state since the 1987 elections, which some believed were rigged by the Indian government and the National Conference to ensure the defeat of a coalition of pro-independence and pro-autonomy parties.  Following the December, 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Indian Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and in wake of militancy forcing Kashmiri Hindu families to migrate,  government decided to take a harder stance against the separatist rebellion. To that end, despite fierce opposition from the state government, New Delhi appointed Jagmohan, a known forceful administrator, governor of the state. As a result, the state government, then led by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah resigned in protest, and the state went under President's rule.  On 19 January 1990, the night Jagmohan was appointed governor, Indian security forces conducted extensive house-to-house searches in Siringar in an effort to find illegal weapons and root out any hidden militants.  Hundreds of people were arrested. Both Jagmohan and Abdullah deny any involvement in the decision to carry out the raid

Aftermath: As word of the raids spread the next morning (20 January 1990), thousands of Kashmiris took to the streets in protest, demanding independence. Jagmohan responded by putting the city under curfew. That evening, a large group of protesters shouting pro-independence slogans, reached Srinagar's wooden Gawkadal Bridge. According to the J & K police, on approaching the wooden bridge a large crowd of demonstrators started pelting stones, after which the security forces fired on the crowd, leading to the death of several protestors  Indian authorities put the official death toll for the massacre at 28  International human rights organisations and scholars estimate that at least 50, and likely over 100 protesters were killed—some by gunshot wounds, other by drowning after they jumped into the river in fear.  

In the aftermath of the massacre, more demonstrations followed, and in January 1990, Indian paramilitary forces are believed to have killed around 300 protesters.  As a Human Rights Watch stated in a report from May, 1991, "In the weeks that followed [the Gawakadal massacre] as security forces fired on crowds of marchers and as militants intensified their attacks against the police and those suspected of aiding them, Kashmir’s civil war began in earnest. 

Justice: No known action was ever taken against the CRPF forces officials responsible for the massacre, or against the officers present at Gawkadal that night. No government investigation was ever ordered into the incident. Fifteen years later, the police case was closed and those involved in the massacre were declared untraceable. No challan has been produced against any person in court.  Police registered the FIR (No.3/90) at the Kralkhud police station. It was registered against an atrocious ‘mob’. Nothing was written against the action of the CRPF and the police. The case stands closed and the culprits are untraceable.

Eye witness account: For Muhammad Farooq Wani, 61—the lone survivor of the Gaw Kadal massacre of January 21, 1990—the anniversary of the gory incident reopens his wounds.
“It was like hell,” Wani says, as he recalls the massacre in which 51 persons were killed when New Delhi had sent in Jagmohan as Governor of J&K to quell pro-freedom protests.
On January 20, 1990, the troopers of paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had barged into several houses in an old city locality called Chota Bazar and conducted wanton arrests besides molesting some women. Apprehending protests against the incident, the administration led by Jagmohan imposed restrictions in Srinagar on January 21, 1990 Wani was then working as Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) in the Public Health Engineering department. On the ill-fated day, there was water crisis in Old City and Wani’s immediate officer had instructed him to collect a curfew pass from Deputy Commissioner’s office here to visit the affected areas.

Wani was stopped by CRPF troopers near Jehangir Chowk and directed to take another route to the DC office. “As curfew was strictly imposed, I decided to go to my uncle’s home at Mandar Bagh and subsequently reach the DC office from there,” he told Greater Kashmir.
He says as he passed through the deserted lanes of Lal Chowk, he saw hundreds of people including women peacefully protesting at Gaw Kadal against the Chotta Bazar incident.
“The procession started to march towards Gaw Kadal (bridge) and I just tried to make my way through it. Suddenly, the CRPF troopers opened fire on the procession,” Wani recalls. “There were injured people all around. Sensing intentions of the CRPF troopers, I tried to jump into Chuntkul water channel from Gaw Kadal. Suddenly a man pushed me from behind. I remained in the bridge only while he jumped into Chuntkul,” he recalls.
Laying flat on Gaw Kadal, Wani witnessed the first massacre of Kashmiris, which is being remembered every year as the Gaw Kadal massacre.
“The injured were wreathing in pain and asking for water. It was horrible to see troopers laughing and kicking the injured. Suddenly, they started to pump bullets on heads of the injured persons, killing them instantly,” Wani said, as his face seethes in anger and eyes become moist. “I could see blood all around and hear last moans of death everywhere.”
Trapped among the bodies, Wani was yet to see the worst. In the melee, he says, a Kangri (traditional Kashmiri firepot) of a protestor, who was among the dead later, had broken. “My face started to burn as it touched hot ash and charcoal of the Kangri. I tried to roll my head to other side but unfortunately a trooper spotted me,” he says. “The trooper shouted ‘Sir Yeh Zinda Hai’ (Sir he is still alive) while pointing towards me among the bodies.” 
As a stein gun totting CRPF officer rushed toward Wani, he says he become nervous.
“He aimed his gun towards me and I pleaded ‘Sir, please don’t shoot, I am an officer on duty.’ But he came close and hit me on my face,” Wani says. “The officer told me ‘Yahan Pakistan Mangta Hai’ (Do you want Pakistan in Kashmir?). I thought he does not understand English. I told him ‘Bhagwaan ki Kasam Hai, Mujhe Goli Mat Maro, Mein Duty Pe Hoon (Please don’t shoot at me, I am on duty).”
Narrating this sequence, Wani pauses and abruptly starts again. “The officer indiscriminately opened fire on me. There was burning sensation on my back. I recited Kalima and remembered my family including two little daughters,” Wani says.
“I had received most of the bullets on my back and right arm and was gradually losing sensation,” he says.
Wani’s diminishing hope for survival got revived when three constables of Jammu and Kashmir police reached the spot.
“On seeing the bodies, the cops became emotional and anger against the massacre was palpable on their faces. However, the CRPF troopers fired in the air and slapped the cops, chasing them away from the spot,” he says.
With each passing second and blood oozing from his wounds, Wani was fast losing hope for survival. In the meantime, another CRPF officer reached the spot. “He spotted me alive and placed his gun on my head. He placed his finger on trigger and was about to fire but he was interrupted by the CRPF officer who had fired at me. ‘Goli Zaya Mat Karo, Isko Aisay Hi Marnay Do (Don’t waste your bullets. Let him die like this,” recounts Wani. “Before leaving he kicked my face very hard.”
For around half-an hour, Wani said all he could hear was thumping sound of troopers’ boots and chirping of birds. “Suddenly, CRPF brought a truck and started loading bodies in it. I pleaded with a trooper to place me in the truck with the bodies. He held my muffler and dragged me like an animal into the truck,” Wani says.
After travelling for some five minutes, the truck reached the Police Control Room here. Still in the vehicle, Wani says he “got a sort of energy” after hearing conservations around in Kashmiri. “Somebody lifted the tarpaulin from back side of the truck and started to unload the bodies. Finding me alive, a Kashmir policeman instantly called a doctor posted at PCR who declared that I had the chances of survival if I could be operated upon immediately,” he says.
Within few minutes, Wani was rushed to SMHS hospital where he was operated upon for around three hours under supervision of a team of doctors. “I had received 16 bullets mostly on my back. After operation, many people whom I even didn’t know, kissed and hugged me,” he says.
He vividly remembers a teenager who held his blood soaked shoes with his chest. “He stood beside me in the hospital. I told him to call my residence landline and tell my family that I will be home next day. However, he could not control his emotions and told my sister about the incident. She had fainted and then he narrated the incident to my wife. She rushed to the hospital,” he says.
Wani was later shifted to Bone and Joints Hospital and admitted in a separate post operative room. He says a team of international journalists led by Mark Tully came to Srinagar to interact with survivors of the massacre. “Dr Farooq Ahmad Ashai introduced these journalists to me as I could speak in English. The team wept after hearing my ordeal and reported it in various international newspapers and magazines,” he says.
Though official figures put the number of fatalities at 21, human rights groups say 51 persons were killed in the massacre.
Police in FIR no 3/90 registered at Kralkhud Police Station under RPC 307, 148, 149, 188 and 153 stated that the CRPF troopers had opened fire to stop “unruly mob raising anti-India and anti-forces slogans” heading towards Lal Chowk at Gaw Kadal.
24 years down the line since the incident, Wani has served on various posts including Managing Director JK Cements and Chief Engineer (PWD) 
“It is painful that the accused CRPF troopers are yet to be punished. It is ironical that police has till date not even recorded my statement despite being the lone survivor of the massacre. I am ready to testify against the accused even now,” he says.
Wani says he was offered reward for bravery by Hamid-ul-lah Khan, advisor to then Governor Jagmohan. “I told him I don’t need any reward but I only want punishment to the accused troopers who fired upon and killed unarmed protestors,” he says. “This will be the biggest tribute to the victims,” he says, taking a deep breath.

India Accelerated Atrocities and Oppressive Tactics in Kashmir by Sajjad Shaukat (JR 144 SS 31)

India Accelerated Atrocities and Oppressive Tactics in Kashmir by Sajjad Shaukat (JR 144 SS 31)

There is a co-relationship of Indian oppressive tactics in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and war-like posture against Pakistan, as the extremist government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led the Indian fundamentalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has directed the Indian security forces to accelerate atrocities in the IOK, want to obtain various sinister designs, especially to suppress the Kashmiris’ war of liberation and to win the general elections 2019 at the cost of Pakistan.  

Following the false flag Pulwama terror attack in the IOK, which killed 44 Indian soldiers on February 14, this year, Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted pre-emptive air strike near the town of Balakot, close to the border with Pakistan’s sector of Kashmir on February 27, 2018, while claiming that IAF fighters targeted the camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and killed 350 militants—the outfit whom New Delhi blamed for the Pulwama attack. Next day, in response, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched aerial strikes at six targets in the IOK and shot down two Indian fighter jets and captured Indian pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was released as a gesture of peace and handed over to the Indian authorities.

Without any investigation and evidence Indian high officials and media started accusing Islamabad, saying that the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the assault. 

Pakistan’s Prime minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Muhammad Faisal and Director General of Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen. Asif Ghafoor strongly rejected false allegations of Indian media and government, which linked the Pulwama terror assault to Islamabad.

Taking cognizance of Indian blame game and war-like posture, offering cooperation and another chance at a dialogue over the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on February 19, this year that Pakistan will take action, if New Delhi shares any actionable evidence, concerning the suicide bombing in the Pulwama area. But, Indian extremist rulers rejected any cooperation with Islamabad and have continued threatening diplomacy against Pakistan.

In this regard, in a televised address on February 27, 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that his country is ready to cooperate with New Delhi into the investigation of the February 14 suicide bombing, claimed by Pakistan-based armed group, JeM which was banned by the government. He called for talks with India and hoped better sense would prevail so that both sides could de-escalate.

Meanwhile, journalists who visited the targeted site of Balakot and a video released by Islamabad exposed India’s false statements that IAF fighters targeted the camp of JeM and killed 350 militants. Despite the demand of Indian opposition parties and some responsible media entities, Indian top civil and military officials have failed to provide any evidence or video regarding government’s claim in this connection.

Besides, by creating jingoism in India and war hysteria against Pakistan, Indian extremist Prime Minister Modi’s government has continued propaganda campaign against Pakistan. Indian security forces have also intensified shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) and compelled Pakistan Army to give a matching response.

It is notable that during the period of nature, law of jungle was order of the day, as the powerful could kill the weak mercilessly. In the modern era, India has been following the similar law of jungle in its refined form by employing barbaric tactics in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) in order to suppress the war of liberation which continues unabated by the Kahsmiris who are demanding their genuine right of self-determination as recognised by the UN resolutions.

In the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, many Kashmiri people, including students have been arrested and attacked and their shops looted by the Hindu extremists. Young people have been charged with sedition for criticizing the Indian Army, and Indians are lashing out at Pakistani civilians, including Bollywood actors.

Since last 71 years, the Kashmiri people have been endeavouring for an end to India’s illegal and bloody occupation. Atrocities being inflicted by the Indian forces on the Kashmiris have increased manifold particularly under the rule of Hindu fundamentalist party BJP. The amount of torture, killings and rapes perpetrated on Kashmiri people by Indian army personnel has already crossed all the thresholds of brutalities. Everyday, incidents of gashing of eyes, chopping off vital body-parts, use of ever-new methods of persecution during unending curfews speak volumes for India's state-sponsored violence on Kashmiris.

Even India-based human rights watchdogs and some veteran politicians in India are now fully convinced that grave acts of brutality are being committed by occupation forces in Kashmir. Recently, talking in a gathering organised under aegis of Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) South Asia, ex-external affairs minister/BJP leader Yashwant Sinha candidly termed India’s wrong policies in handling Kashmir as “bundle of confusion”. He also admitted that “India has lost people of the valley emotionally” owing to Modi’s doctrine of brutality to suppress Kashmiri people.

Despite complete closure of the IOK for the foreign/local human right watchdogs and international media, the sporadic clippings and footages display the Indian army’s devilish acts of torture and carnage. As a rare show of moral support, United Nations Human Rights Council, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and human rights set-up of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation also issued reports in 2018, pointing out grave violations of human rights by the occupation forces in the IHK.

On the other hand, Indian media in league with Indian deep state, has been vociferously blaming Pakistan and its primary intelligence agency ISI for all the unrest in the IOK , while, the ongoing ‘Intifada’ is an entirely local uprising as retaliation from the suppressed Kashmiris against Indian occupation spanned over 70 long years. Meanwhile, Removal of Hafiz Saeed’s name by US from its 2018-NDA list and his release orders by the Pakistani court have further frustrated the Indian media to spit fire against Pakistan and commit more atrocities on the Kashmiri Muslims.

It is mentionable that to pay homage to the martyrs in Kashmir and determination to the struggle of Kashmiri people, 5the February (2019) was observed with full support from the Kashmiris, living abroad and Pakistani media. The hallmark was presence of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quereshi in London to lead the efforts of international community at international level. Protests and seminars were organized by Kashmiris and Pakistanis in Europe, North America and important capitals of the world.

However, under new BJP-Modi strategy being executed in the IOK, a complete genocide of the Kashmiri people is being carried out to change the demographic structure of the IOK in utter defiance of international human rights laws. More bloodshed is feared in the days ahead due to use of brutal force and extra-judicial killings of innocent Kashmiris by Indian military and paramilitary troops.

Spill-over of purely indigenous freedom movement of Kashmiris to the other insurgency-infested states especially Khalistan, Mizoram and Assam is very much on the cards for India.

Nevertheless, various forms of state terrorism have been part of a deliberate campaign by the Indian army and paramilitary forces against Muslim Kashmiris, especially since 1989. It has been manifested in brutal tactics like crackdowns, curfews, illegal detentions, massacre, targeted killings, sieges, burning the houses, torture, disappearances, rape, breaking the legs, molestation of Muslim women and killing of persons through fake encounters.

Notably, in the recent past, social media proliferated the viral video of 22 year old young woman namely Ishrat Muneer Bhat (resident of Dangerpora, Pulwama district). Her bullet-riddled body was found in Sugan, Draggad village, Shopian district on January 31, 2019. She was doing Masters at the Indira Gandhi National Open University and was killed by the Indian Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAS). Besides similar tragic events, her killing is latest barbarity of the Indian LEAs which are now also not sparing the women folk in their bloody game of crushing the Kashmir movement.

Indian forces have employed various draconian laws like the Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, and the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act in killing the Kashmiri people, and for the arbitrarily arrest of any individual for an indefinite period.

Besides Human Rights Watch, in its various reports, Amnesty International has also pointed out grave human rights violations in the Indian controlled Kashmir, indicating, “The Muslim majority population in the Kashmir Valley suffers from the repressive tactics of the security forces”.

In its report on July 2, 2015, the Amnesty International has highlighted extrajudicial killings of the innocent persons at the hands of Indian security forces in the Indian Held Kashmir. The report said, “Tens of thousands of security forces are deployed in Indian-administered Kashmir…the Armed Forces Special Powers Act allows troops to shoot to kill suspected militants or arrest them without a warrant…not a single member of the armed forces has been tried in a civilian court for violating human rights in Kashmir…this lack of accountability has in turn facilitated other serious abuses…India has martyred one 100,000 people. More than 8,000 disappeared (while) in the custody of army and state police.”

In this context, European Union has passed a resolution about human rights abuses committed by Indian forces in the Indian Held Kashmir.

It is of particular attention that in 2008, a rights group reported unmarked graves in 55 villages across the northern regions of the Indian-held Kashmir. Then researchers and other groups reported finding thousands of mass graves without markers. In this respect, in August, 2011, Indian Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission officially acknowledged in its report that innocent civilians killed in the two-decade conflict have been buried in unmarked graves.

Foreign sources and human rights organisations have revealed that unnamed graves include those innocent persons, killed by the Indian military and paramilitary troops in the fake encounters including those who were tortured to death by the Indian secret agency RAW. In the recent past, more unmarked graves have been discovered.

Some online authentic sources suggest that recent wave of Kashmiri ‘Intifada’ has witnessed repression of Indian armed forces; large numbers of the dead and injured have been youngsters. The pellet guns used by security forces have damaged the faces of 1600 people and more than 1100 people have partially or wholly lost their eyesight making 2016 as the year of dead eyes.

In 2017, reports also disclosed that in the IOK, Indian security forces have also used chemical weapons against the Kashmiri civilians in violation of international law and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In a development on July 4, 2017, the Indian Army had destroyed houses in Pulwama and killed 3 Kashmiri civilians. Upon recovery of the bodies, it was discovered that they were burnt beyond recognition. 

Sources report that Indian Army is emulating Israeli tactics by using white phosphorus bombs to destroy houses of Kashmiris suspected of harboring Mujahideen. The same tactics was used by Israel during its attacks on Gaza and it seems that these weapons have been provided by Israel to India for use in the IOK.

In fact, Indian authorities are not willing to talk with Kashmiri people on political grounds. New Delhi reached to a conclusion that only bullet is the right way of dealing with Kashmiris, demanding their right of self-determination. Surprisingly, Indian successive governments and particularly the Modi regime are trying to ignore the dynamics of the freedom movement of Kashmiris for the sake of their alien rule.

Failed in suppressing the Kashmir movement, Indian central government imposed President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir which started from December 20, 2018. The main purpose was to accelerate atrocities on the Kashmiris who are demanding their genuine right of self-determination.

Taking note of the recent war-like situation between Pakistan and India, especially, Russia and some Arab countries, including Turkey and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over tensions between the two neighbouring countries, and have offered their mediatory roles between both the nuclear countries for de-escalation.

Unfortunately, New Delhi which has refused the mediatory role of any country, is still showing its intransigence to resolve the Kashmir issue with Islamabad by neglecting the fact that Kashmir remains a nuclear flashpoint between both the neighbouring countries.

It is worth-mentioning that the organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on February 26, 2019, condemned India’s incursion against Pakistan, urging the two countries to exercise restraint and avoid any steps that could endanger peace and security in the region. On the same day, in an emergency meeting, the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir expressed grave concern at the rising tensions in South Asia and strongly condemned the recent wave of repression, killing of innocent civilians, and frequent incidents of rape perpetrated by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.

In this connection, concluding the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the OIC, held in Abu Dhabi on March 1-2, 2019, a resolution was passed, which condemned the Indian state terrorism in occupied Kashmir and reaffirmed its unwavering support for the Kashmiri people. It reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir remained the core dispute between Pakistan and India. The resolution also reminded the international community of its obligation to ensure implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The OIC member states adopted another resolution which expressed grave concern over the Indian violation of Pakistani airspace; affirmed Pakistan’s right to self-defence; and urged India to refrain from the threat or use of force. The resolution on regional peace and security in South Asia also welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s renewed offer of dialogue to India and the goodwill gesture of handing over the Indian pilot. However, it also proved Pakistan’s diplomatic victory over India.

It is noteworthy that Indian Prime Minister Modi’s extremist party-BJP had got a land sliding triumph in the Indian elections 2014 on the basis of anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan slogans. Therefore, double game has become the BJP strategy to win the Indian general elections 2019.

Undoubtedly, we can conclude that by exploiting the false flag terror attack at Pulwama, Indian Prime Minister Modi has intensified war-hysteria against Pakistan. New Delhi’s main aim is to deflect the attention of the international community from the new phase of Kashmiri ‘Intifada’, while in this regard; pressure has been mounting on the Modi government both domestically and internationally to resolve the dispute of Kashmir with Pakistan. As the struggle of Kashmiri people has entered into crucial phase with increasing frustration of New Delhi, India accelerated atrocities and oppressive tactics in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com