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Showing posts with label Kashmir Dispute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kashmir Dispute. Show all posts

Friday, August 18, 2023

Article 370 in Indian Supreme Court

Flags of Kashmir
CJI asks if petitioners want Supreme Court to assess government’s ‘wisdom’ in repealing Article 370

Dushyant Dave says abrogation exercise was “bereft of any reasons”, prompting the CJI to ask if petitioners wanted the SC to review the basis of the Centre’s decision to repeal the provision

The Supreme Court, hearing a series of petitions against the abrogation of Article 370, said that its ambit lay in investigating whether the repeal of the provision in August 2019 amounted to a “constitutional violation”. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared unenthusiastic to accept an “invitation” to judicially review the “wisdom” behind the Union government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which had given a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Instead, the Constitution Bench said that its ambit lay in investigating whether the repeal of the provision in August 2019 amounted to a “constitutional violation”.

Supreme Court hearing on Article 370 abrogationDay 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 Day 6Day 7

“Are you inviting the court to review the wisdom of the decision of the Government of India on the abrogation of Article 370? Are you saying that judicial review should reassess the basis of the government decision that it was not in national interest to continue with Article 370?” Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked. More info : https://www.thehindu.com/

"The exercise of abrogation is a complete fraud on the Constitution. In the BJP manifesto, they had promised abrogation, and this Court had ruled that these manifestos cannot be against the constitutional scheme and spirit. Now because you have majority in Parliament, you have done this and it is all because you told people to vote for you and you will abrogate it. This shows power exercised for colourable considerations. President is not a rubber stamp; majority does not speak, it is not a constituent power."

After Dave concluded, Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade began his submissions for the petitioners.

He said that the Presidential proclamation leading to the abrogation was "clearly without jurisdiction," since the Governor had already dissolved the assembly and assumed all powers of the State.

"This assuming of power will not mean breakdown of law and order machinery. This is a jurisdictional issue and Article 356 has been invoked for a collateral purpose and the collateral purpose is apparent on the face of the record. The J&K Reorganization Act is born in unconstitutionality."

At this point, CJI Chandrachud asked what happens when one unites two States.

J&K did not completely integrate with India

Shah reiterated submissions he had made towards the end of yesterday that although J&K “unconditionally acceded” to India through the Instrument of Accession, it did not “integrate” with India since no “merger agreement” was executed.

He further added that the powers subsumed in Article 370 can either be termed as “sovereign or residuary” powers. Zafar Shah (Advocate)

Why did J&K need Article 370?

Shah submitted that since no merger agreement was signed, J&K maintained its “constitutional autonomy”. He added that it was through the residuary powers to make laws that the State exercised its autonomy.


Monday, July 17, 2023

People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration-PAGD

The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration is a political alliance between the several political parties in Jammu and Kashmir campaigning for autonomy for the region by restoring special status along with Article 35A of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah is the president of the alliance.

Kahwa—also known as Saffron tea , and referred to as the "drink of the soul"—is a Kashmiri saffron tea lightly flavored with Ginkgo biloba, German Chamomil and saffron.
Kashmiri Kehwa
If common citizens of JK are against abrogation of article 370, then how there is a reduction in militant  attacks , azadi marches and stone pelting incidents in the Valley post abrogation? Have Jammu and Kashmir residents started boycotting  seperatists?



 

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

China defends contentious CPEC, says it is economic initiative and has not affected its stand on Kashmir issue

India has protested to China over the CPEC, the flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it traverses through Pakistan-administrated Jammu and Kashmir .

Beijing, May 24 (PTI) China on Monday again defended its controversial USD 60 billion CPEC project with Pakistan, disregarding India''s protests as it is being laid through Pakistan administrated Kashmir, saying it is an economic initiative and has not affected its principled stand on the Kashmir issue.

Leaders of China and Pakistan have praised the progress of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in recent days as the two close allies celebrated the establishment of 70 years of their diplomatic relations. 

India has protested to China over the CPEC, the flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it traverses through Pakistan administrated Jammu and  Kashmir. 

The massive infrastructure project connects China’s Xinjiang province with Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. 

China has been defending the CPEC, saying it is an economic project not aimed at any third country. 

Answering questions on the CPEC at a media briefing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that the CPEC as one of the pioneering projects under the BRI has made important and major progress in infrastructure, energy, ports and industrial parks. 

He said the Belt and Road Initiative is an open international economic cooperation initiative with objectives of enhancing regional connectivity and achieving common development. 

"We are also extending the CPEC to regional countries, including Afghanistan. This will not only boost faster economic development in Pakistan, but also regional connectivity," he said. 

Asked how China sees regional prosperity being furthered by the CPEC in view of India’s position that it passes through Indian territory illegally occupied by Pakistan, Zhao said the project has not affected China’s principled position on Kashmir. 

"China has stated its principled position on Kashmir many times. The CPEC is an economic initiative that targets no third country. It is not about territorial disputes and does not affect our principled position on the issue of Kashmir,” he said. 

On the CPEC''s extension to Afghanistan, he said, "on third party participation in the CPEC, China is having discussions with third parties, including Afghanistan". 

"The two sides are having consultations through diplomatic channels. We notice that Afghanistan imports and exports goods through Gwadar and Karachi ports. High-speed highways are also being extended to Afghanistan,” he added. 

In a message to his Pakistani counterpart Arif Alvi on Friday on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Pakistan diplomatic relations, President Xi Jinping said the CPEC has achieved remarkable results. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said at a high-level meeting in Islamabad that the CPEC will bring economic progress not only to Pakistan but the entire region.




Sunday, July 5, 2020

Abrogation of Article 370

Abrogation of Article 370 damaged India-China relationship

When China protested strongly over the August decision on J&K -- not once but twice -- we ignored it.

And to compound matters, we simply turned our back and walked over to the 'Quad' alliance with the US, upgrading it to ministerial level, and thereafter began following the American footfalls on Taiwan and COVID-19 to taunt and humiliate Beijing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

Indian analysts have been comparing the military build-up on the India-China border in eastern Ladakh to the Doklam standoff in 2017.
This was only to be expected since the leitmotif was once again road construction in disputed border regions.
In Doklam, India feared that the Chinese road would give it military access to heights from where it could threaten the Siliguri Corridor, India's tenuous link with its north-eastern regions.
In Ladakh, Indian analysts estimate Chinese military has positioned itself to challenge road construction by India that could threaten Aksai Chin and NH 219, the tenuous Xinjiang-Tibet highway.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Kashmir Conflict,Afghanistan, India Army in Kashmir,Latest situation in Kishtwar

Kashmir conflict ebbs as new wave of militant emerges

Younger, better-educated militants are being drawn to the separatist cause but violence and support is waning after a decades-long insurgency in the disputed territory
Kashmir militant Burhan Muzaffar Wani
Kashmir militant Burhan Muzaffar Wani. Violence is dwindly in Kashmir but a new wave of better-educated, young fighter is being drawn to the separatist cause. Photograph: Jason Burke for the Guardian

The picture – showing a fresh-faced young man leaning nonchalantly against a tree – has been circulating on social media and mobile phones for months. But the smiling 17-year-old, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a keen cricketer and successful student, is carrying an assault rifle, not a bat, and the bag at his feet does not contain notebooks.

One of a new wave of young, educated separatist militants active in the Indian-administered parts of Kashmir, Wani has much support in his village of Tral, a cluster of traditional homes and mosques amid green fields and woods in a fold of the dry hills in the south of "the valley", as the most famous, richest and strategically important part of the disputed Himalayan former princedom is known.
"Everyone in the village supports Burhan," said a friend, requesting anonymity for fear of detention by security forces as a militant sympathiser.

Kashmir, which was split between Pakistan and India after the countries gained their independence from the UK in 1947, still makes headline news. Seven towns in the Indian portion are under an indefinite curfew following sporadic clashes between local Hindus and Muslims that have killed three people, officials said.

Last week, India accused Pakistan of sending commandos to kill five of its soldiers stationed on the line of control, the de facto border dividing the two parts of Kashmir.

But overall levels of violence are lower now in Kashmir than at any time since an insurgency that pitted groups of young Muslim Kashmiris enrolled in Islamist groups, and later extremists from Pakistan too, against Indian security forces first flared more than two decades ago. In total, more than 50,000 militants, soldiers, police and civilians are thought to have died in the fighting in India's only Muslim-majority state. Human rights abuses have been perpetrated by all sides.

At its height in 2001, 4,500 deaths were recorded, according to the Institute for Conflict Management, a Delhi-based thinktank. Last year, only 117 people were killed. And though there have been spectacular attacks against military targets and scores were injured in rioting in July after four protesters were shot dead by security forces, officials in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, say there are now no more than 200 militants operating in the valley, whereas at the peak of the insurgency there were up to 20 times as many.

The unrest that has often paralysed cities and the economy in recent years has almost died away. Tourists now throng the houseboats on Dal lake or make pilgrimages to Hindu holy sites.
"I have never been worried while here. The image of Kashmir elsewhere in India is totally wrong," said Meha Sao, from the southern state of Maharashtra, on holiday in Srinagar.

Nor, despite the sentiments expressed by the friend of Wani the militant, is support for violence as widespread as it once was. "You do find some local support in pockets but these pockets have shrunk dramatically, which is why it is so difficult for the militants," said Omar Abdullah, the chief minister.
A militant hardcore still exists, particularly in southern areas such as Tral. And even if less numerous, the new militants appear highly motivated. Wani is believed to have been involved in at least one of the recent attacks on security forces.

Tral village is tense. After three militants and a policeman were killed in a recent clash nearby, leaders of Mujahideen group, the group Wani is believed to have joined, warned locals to stay away from security personnel, whom they planned to target.

Observers say the new recruits to militancy are different from volunteers over the past 20 years. They are younger and better educated. Wani is one of the youngest. His father, Muzaffar Ahmed Wani, 50, said his son had left home overnight two years ago to join the militants, aged just 15. "He said nothing to anyone. He just said he was going out and didn't come back," he said.

Though pious and brought up in a family that is supportive of the extremists, Wani had shown no sign of wanting to take up arms until he was detained and beaten by security forces, his father, the head of a local college, said.
  "He was thinking of revenge only for 15 days after being released. So he got in contact with the militants. Or maybe they heard about him and got in touch. Then he went. It was only 10 days before his exams. But I am proud of him," his father said.

It is almost certain that Wani will be killed. Few active militants surrender. Most prefer to die when cornered by security forces. "We are ready for him to die," his father said. "We are facing oppression every day. I look around and I see only ashes. There is only less violence because there is a lack of faith. Anyone with true faith joins the militants."

'We are not scared of death, we are just scared of detention'

Three hours' drive to the north, in the tough town of Sopore, the family of Muzamil Amin Dar have already faced what Wani has accepted is inevitable.

Dar, 26, was killed last October. Accounts of how and why he had joined the extremists differ. His family says Dar, a college graduate who had landed a highly paid job as a hospital medical technician with a monthly salary of £200 seven months before going underground, was not interested in radicalism.

This changed, they say, after his detention by security forces when guns were found in a well in the Dars' garden. Police say he was a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, one of the most violent organisations operating in the valley, for five years, was the mastermind of a Delhi bomb plot and was wanted for several local militant attacks including the killing of a policeman.
Over recent years Dar had become increasingly devout. He had stopped his father, an electrical repair man, from watching television and convinced another brother to leave a bank job which, Dar said, involved usury.

"Once I was watching a cricket match and he unplugged the television and shouted at me not to waste my time on trivial things," Dar's father, Mohammed Amin, said.

After his son disappeared, there was no news. Then last October, the family heard firing only a mile from their home. A huge military operation was under way. Two militants armed with assault rifles and grenades were holed up in a house, they heard. Then they learned one was Dar.

Security forces asked Dar Sr to negotiate with his son but he refused, fearing they would kill him as he came out to surrender. After nearly 12 hours of shooting, his son, badly wounded, called him and told his father to "live life according to Islam".

He died the next morning when explosions brought down the house he and the other militant had hidden in. "We miss him a lot," his father said. A policeman and a paramilitary were wounded in the firefight.

Such encounters were once regular occurrences. Now they are rare. A senior Indian official in northern Kashmir said the extremist groups had been forced to change tactics in recent years because they lacked weapons.

"They have moved from insurgency to terrorism. But if they had thousands of guns they would have thousands of fighters," he said.

This, most analysts believe, is underestimating the degree to which decades of conflict have undermined support for militancy locally.

Some suggest that security officials in the disputed province exaggerate the threat from extremism to justify wide-ranging powers of arrest and detention – and a broad measure of immunity from prosecution for human rights abuses – granted early on in the conflict.

One factor is declining official support for the extremists in Indian Kashmir from Pakistan over the past decade. Another is the growing disparity between the economies of the two neighbours, which have fought three wars over the state. Indian growth has undermined the argument for accession to Pakistan in Kashmir – though much rhetorical support for independence remains – and sapped enthusiasm for any return to a hugely disruptive violent struggle.

However, Mr Omer Abdullah, the chief minister, said economic development was only a partial solution. "You will always be plagued by the reality that there is a political issue that formed the basis for this trouble and it will have to be resolved, today, tomorrow, the day after, at some point," he said.
During a short bout of rioting in Sopore, a hotbed of insurgent violence in northern Kashmir, last month, young men spoke of their anger.

"We are not scared of death, we are just scared of detention, for our families," said Shakeel Ahmed, a 24-year-old pharmaceutical representative, before returning to throw stones at the police. "The level of militancy is low now, it is true, but it will rise, God willing."

Monday, February 27, 2012

Kashmiris are the lost tribe of Hebrews

Osho on Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah
Osho - Pahalgam is one of the most beautiful places in the world. That is where Jesus died, and he died at the age of one hundred and twelve. But he got so fed up with his own people that he simply spread the story that he had died on the cross.

Of course he was crucified -- but you have to understand that the Jewish way of crucifixion was not the American way. It was not sitting in a chair, and with just a push of a button you were no more; not even time to say, "God forgive these people who are pushing the button, they don't know what they are doing." They know what they are doing! They are pushing the button! And you don't know what they are doing!

Jesus would not have had any time if he had been crucified in the scientific way. No, it is a very crude way that the Jews followed. Naturally, it sometimes even took twenty-four hours or more to die. There have been cases of people having survived for three days on the cross, the Jewish cross I mean, because they simply nailed the man by his hands and his feet.

The blood has the capacity to clot; it flows for a while, then it clots. The man is, of course, in immense pain, in fact he prays to God, "Please let it be finished." Perhaps that is what Jesus was saying when he said, "They don't know what they are doing. Why have you forsaken me?" But the pain must have been too much, for he finally said, "Let thy will be done."

I don't think that he died on the cross. No, I should not say that "I don't think..." I know that he didn't die on the cross. He had said, "Let thy will be done"; that's his freedom. He could say anything he wanted to say. In fact, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, had fallen in love with the man. Who would not? It is irresistible if you have eyes.

But Jesus' own people were busy counting money; they had no time to look into the eyes of this man who had no money at all. Pontius Pilate for one moment had even thought to release Jesus. It was in his power to order his release, but he was afraid of the crowd. Pilate said, "It is better that I should keep out of their business. He is a Jew, they are Jews -- let them decide for themselves. But if they cannot decide in his favor then I will find a way."

And he found a way, politicians always do. Their ways are always roundabout; they never go directly. If they want to go to A, they first go to B; that's how politics works. And it really works. Only once in a while it does not work. I mean, only when there is a non-political man, then it does not work. In Jesus' case also, Pontius Pilate managed perfectly well without getting involved.

Jesus was crucified on the afternoon of Friday, hence "Good Friday." Strange world! Such a good man is crucified, and you call it "Good Friday." But there was a reason, because Jews have... I think Devageet, you can help me again -- not with a sneeze, of course! Is Saturday their religious day?
"Yes, Osho."

Right... because on Saturday nothing is done. Saturday is a holiday for the Jews; all action has to be stopped. That's why the Friday was chosen... and late afternoon, so by the time the sun sets the body has to be brought down, because to keep it hanging on Saturday would be "action." That's how politics functions, not religion. During that night, a rich follower of Jesus removed the body from the cave. Of course, then comes Sunday, a holiday for everybody. By the time Monday comes, Jesus is very far away.

Israel is a small country; you can cross it on foot in twenty-four hours very easily. Jesus escaped, and there was no better place than the Himalayas. Pahalgam is just a small village, just a few cottages. He must have chosen it for its beauty. Jesus chose a place which I would have loved myself.

I tried continuously for twenty years to get into Kashmir. But Kashmir has a strange law: only Kashmiris can live there, not even other Indians. That is strange. But I know ninety percent of Kashmiris are Mohammedan and they are afraid that once Indians are allowed to live there, then Hindus would soon become the majority, because it is part of India. So now it is a game of votes just to prevent the Hindus.

I am not a Hindu, but bureaucrats everywhere are delinquents. They really need to be in mental hospitals. They would not allow me to live there. I even met the chief minister of Kashmir, who was known before as the prime minister of Kashmir.

It was such a great struggle to bring him down from prime ministership to chief ministership. And naturally, in one country how could there be two prime ministers? But he was a very reluctant man, this Sheikh Abdullah. He had to be imprisoned for years. Meanwhile the whole constitution of Kashmir was changed, but that strange clause remained in it. Perhaps all the committee members were Mohammedans and none of them wanted anybody else to enter Kashmir.
I tried hard, but there was no way. You cannot enter into the thick skulls of politicians.
 
I said to the sheikh, "Are you mad? I am not a Hindu; you need not be afraid of me. And my people come from all over the world -- they will not influence your politics in any way, for or against."
 
He said, "One has to be cautious."
I said, "Okay, be cautious and lose me and my people."
Poor Kashmir could have gained so much, but politicians are born deaf. He listened, or at least pretended to, but he did not hear.

I said to him, "You know that I have known you for many years, and I love Kashmir."
He said, "I know you, that's why I am even more afraid. You are not a politician, you belong to a totally different category. We always distrust such people as you." He used this word, distrust -- and I was talking to you about trust.

At this moment I cannot forget Masto. It was he who introduced me to Sheikh Abdullah, a very long time before. Later on, when I wanted to enter Kashmir, particularly Pahalgam, I reminded the sheikh of this introduction.

The sheikh said, "I remember that this man was also dangerous, and you are even more so. In fact it is because you were introduced to me by Masta Baba that I cannot allow you to become a permanent resident in this valley."

Masto introduced me to many people. He thought perhaps I might need them; and I certainly did need them -- not for myself but for my work. But except for very few people, the majority turned out to be very cowardly. They all said, "We know you are enlightened...."

I said, "Stop, then and there. That word, from your mouth, immediately becomes unenlightened. Either you do what I say, or simply say no, but don't talk any nonsense to me."

They were very polite. They remembered Masta Baba, and a few of them even remembered Pagal Baba, but they were not ready to do anything at all for me. I am talking about the majority. Yes, a few were helpful, perhaps one percent of the hundreds of people that Masto introduced me to. Poor Masto -- his desire was that I should never be in any difficulty or need, and that I could always depend on the people he had introduced me to.

I said to him, "Masto, you are trying your best, and I am even doing better than that by keeping quiet when you introduce me to these fools. If you were not there I would have caused real trouble. That man for instance, would never have forgotten me. I control myself just because of you, although I don't believe in control, but I do it just for your sake."
Masto laughed and said, "I know. When I look at you as I am introducing you to a bigwig, I laugh inside myself thinking, `My God, how much effort you must be making not to hit that idiot.'"

Sheikh Abdullah took so much effort, and yet he said to me, "I would have even allowed you to live in Kashmir if you had not been introduced to me by Masta Baba."

I asked the sheikh, "Why?... when you appeared to be such an admirer."
He said, "We are no one's admirer, we admire only ourselves, but because he had a following -- particularly among rich people in Kashmir -- I had to admire him. I used to receive him at the airport, and give him a send-off, put all my work aside and just run after him. But that man was dangerous. And if he introduced you to me, then you cannot live in Kashmir, at least while I am in power. Yes, you can come and go, but only as a visitor."

It is good that Jesus entered Kashmir before Sheikh Abdullah. He did well by coming two thousand years before. He must have been really afraid of Sheikh Abdullah. Jesus' grave is still there, preserved by the descendants of those who had followed him from Israel. Of course men like me cannot go alone, you can understand. A few people must have followed him there. Even though he went far away from Israel, they must have gone with him.

In fact the Kashmiris are the lost tribe of Hebrews of which the Jews and Christians both talk so much. The Kashmiris are not Hindu, nor of Indian origin. They are Jewish. You can see by looking at Indira Gandhi's nose; she is a Kashmiri.

She is imposing emergency rule in India -- not in name but in fact. Hundreds of political leaders are behind bars. I had been telling her from the very beginning that those people should not be in parliament or assemblies or in the legislature.
There are many kinds of idiots, but politicians are the worst, because they also have power. Journalists are number two. In fact they are even worse than politicians, but because they have no power, they can only write, and who cares what they write? Without power in your hands then you may have as much idiocy as possible, it cannot do anything.
Source - Osho Book "Glimpses of a Golden Childhood"

Saturday, November 5, 2011

India will Fail in Kashmir as U.S. in Afghanistan: Imran Khan

Buy Goji berry
Lahore: It was a real show of power from the cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan who with his 100,000 flag-waving supporters rallying near the Minar-e-Pakistan monument, saw himself establishing as a real force in Pakistani politics, reports SiliconIndia (31/2011)

Talking up the issue of the rights of Kashmiris at the heavily electrified political rally, he said the Indian Army will fail in Kashmir as the U.S. army did in Afghanistan. "Did the Americans succeed in Afghanistan? Is the Indian Army more powerful than the U.S. Army? When the Americans couldn't succeed, how can you succeed with 700,000 troops that are involved in excesses?," he asks as the crowd cheered.

"No army has been able to solve any country's problems at any time," he said demanding that the Indian troops should be withdrawn from Jammu and Kashmir. The chief of Tehreek-e-Insaf also asked Hindustan to give the people of Kashmir their right to self-determination. He said his party would "stand with the Kashmiri brothers and speak for their rights at all forums".

Khan who founded his political party 15 years ago is trying hard to translate his fame into votes. Focusing on the core issues in the country such as corruption, lack of education, rising prices, inflation and unemployment, the cricketing legend is expanding his political base ahead of the 2013 general election. A poll conducted by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center back in June sees Khan as the most popular political figure in Pakistan.

Monday, October 3, 2011

LAWMAKERS GRIEVED GRAVES

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 was just a routine day of business in the history of state assembly. The issue of unmarked graves dominated Day 2 of the brief autumn session. Just how did the lawmakers grieve over the anonymous graves that dot the troubled state’s landscape?

House resumes at 10:00 hours and Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone finds Ms Mehbooba Mufti and other PDP lawmakers on their toes. She started impressing upon the chair that their adjournment motion be accepted because the unmarked graves report of SHRC is highly sensitive. For the last one and a half months, she said, nobody in our country opened his mouth on this issue. These graves are not in Africa. Unlike British parliament, our parliament did not discuss it. There are 3000 graves, she said.

Lone says he is equally concerned as son of the soil but is bound by the House rules. “Heavens would not fall if you suspend the routine business and permit the discussion,” Ms Mufti said. “Let this house send a message out that it is concerned.”

The argument for rules and their suspension went on. Molvi Iftikhar Ansari, Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Javed Mustafa Mir, Rafi Ahmad Mir, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat and many others intervened. The Speaker stuck to his guns. In between there were heated exchanges. Some lawmakers from Jammu even suggested a separate PDP-NC house. At one point of time, the Speaker suggested to Ms Mufti that “we all are equally blamed for whatever has happened and you (read PDP) can not escape unscathed.” In the end, the question hour was almost over and the Speaker finally ruled: “I reject it.” The PDP brigade walks out, never to return for the day.

The House takes up the short duration discussion at around 12:15 hours. Mir Saifullah, one of NCs best debating lawmakers, starts his speech. The official gallery is empty. State Police Chief, Chief  Secretary, Additional DG, Home Commissioner – all are out. Almost all the ministers are out, probably clearing files or busy in meetings in their allotted rooms in the House building. The opposition is now restricted to BJP and Panthers Party.

“Had Kashmir issue been solved, we might have not been counting the graves now,” Mir started. He talks of UN resolutions, agreements between India and Pakistan and finally picks up the threads of turmoil from 1989. From Hawal massacre he moves to Handwara and then offers certain specific instances of those gone missing. “There is no place where there is no graveyard,” he said and mentions Master Ali Mohamad, Wali Mir, Roug Shah and a young bridegroom who was blown to death and whose family got just a few kilograms of his body.

He talks about some specific killings that took place during the earlier PDP government. Mir sees a hope in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and talks between India and Pakistan. In between there is a verbal duel between BJP’s Ashok Khjuria and NC Kafil-Ur-Rehman. As Mir starts concluding his almost 40 minutes long speech, Chief Minister, Law and Finance Ministers are back on their benches, so is an officer in the official gallery.

Congress’s Ashok Kumar takes over. “There is requirement of reconciliation and rehabilitation,” the lawmaker says. He says the issue of unmarked graves is humanitarian and not political. He wants a commission to look into it. NC’s Aijaz Ahmad Jan talks about Master Mumtz of his area who was detained and is missing with an enquiry still on. Insisting that there were such graveyards in his area as well and demands chief minister to announce a commission so that people get justice.

Congress’s Mohammad Sharief Niyaz said TRC should happen. He wants a holistic view of the issue that should take care of the people who have gone across and settled on the other side of the LoC. There are skeletons being recovered from forests. “There is requirement for a complete investigation from all angles,” he said.

It was Kafil-Ur-Rehman, NC’s Karnah MLA who stunned the house. “In our area there are so many gorges where there are many hundred skeletons,” he said. It was his reference to the two brothers who went out and never came back when he mentioned again: “There is a gorge that is 1000 ft deep and people have seen crows hovering around there.”

He says the “un-natural division” has led to a series of massacres in his area – 5000 people in one snowstorm and 4000 people in the wars of 1965 and 1971 and 6000 others who led in shelling for all these years. “But some people have taken the contract of exploiting the issues,” he said and ended by reciting the famous couplet about a victims plight of where he will trace his killer because the assassin has used the hand-glouse!!

Nazir Gurezi who represents another border belt talks about Mufti Sayeed’s appointment by Jogmohan who, he alleged, spearheaded massacres in Kashmir. Then he bashes Ms Mufti for praising Modi. He mentions the killing of six persons by Mufti’s guards and finally ends with the suggestion of a commission that will take care of things from 1990.

Panthers Party’s Harsh Dev Singh while expressing concern over the issue of unmarked mass graves said that the matter should be probed properly and truth must come out. “It seems we are playing politics over dead bodies,” he said. “It is a grave issue and we should see the other side of the picture as well.”

BJP’s Ashok Khajuria expressed concern and raised the issue of Kashmiri pundits who , he alleged, were brutally killed by the militants. He specially mentions Sarla Bhat, who, according to him was killed on a band saw. His speech was interrupted by many lawmakers from the treasury benches. “If you can listen from barrister Mehmood Choudhary, why cannot you listen to me,” Khajuria said. “You people are fed by India and you conspire against her.”

It was the turn of the chief minister Omar Abdullah to wind up the debate. He started with the attack on opposition, which he believes is raking up issues for scoring political points. “These graves belong to 1990-2006 era and we could have easily said that we are not contributors to it so we are not responsible but we cannot say that,” he said.

Omar talked about a “disinformation and misinformation” campaign that gives an impression as if Kashmir is Cambodia or Nazi Germany. Almost reprimanding his party men for ‘mixing up many issues’ and ‘creating problems’ by generating a wrong impression, Omar said there were no mass graves. He made a particular reference to Kafil-Ur-Rehman, a lawmaker from border area of Karnah. “You better go and inform the SHRC,” an angry Omar told Rehman when the latter started explaining his utterances.

“Let me make it clear there are no mass graves,” Omar said. “There are graves carrying one body each though in a few there are more than one body which have been buried as per the Islamic rites.” He said these are unmarked graves and that is not very different from whatever happens in the periphery where people usually avoid having tombstones.

Hundreds of people, Omar said, having gone across the LoC for training have settled there and the state government with MHA is making efforts to get the willing ones back. He maintained that a large number of disappeared persons are living normal lives across the border but they still exist as disappeared persons here. He said there might have been a number of persons who might have been killed in the training camp mishaps, which is normal even in regular military training academies.

Omar said every killing cannot be attributed to the security forces. Recently, some surrendered Hizb militants led the security forces to a forest where they had killed and buried two civilians and they were there for the last seven years. “We are holding security forces responsible for everything and we are condemning them well before they are proven guilty,” he asserted.

It was at the peak of his speech that chief minister reiterated that the recommendations made by the SHRC investigation on the unmarked graves issue would be implemented. The government cannot suppress the truth. “Families having their persons missing should go and lodge an FIR with our human right cell and deposit their DNA samples,” Omar said. “The families would have to help us indicating in which graveyard they suspect their member could be buried so that we will do the needful.” He, however, insisted that this cannot happen overnight.

Already, he said, work had started correlating the FIRs registered with the police with the graves. He termed the task difficult because there are many conflicting numbers about graves in circulation. He referred to Poonch where 2500 such graves are reported to exist. Police records suggest the security forces have killed 2136 militants in that area of whom 2090 are foreigners. “They are buried there but they are foreign militants,” Omar said.

He referred to the recent instance in Gurez where seven of the 14 militants, whose names are not known, where buried. “Right now, we know who are buried in Gurez but after 20 years these could become other unmarked graves,” he asserted. Militants from 12 countries, Omar said, including Russia, Chechnya, Sudan, Pakistan, Britain and Afghanistan have been killed in encounters in J&K and their graves do exist here.

Putting the death toll of civilians in the state since 1990 at 17000, Omar said the people have a right to seek answers about their loved ones. “There would be some uncomfortable questions but we have to respond to them,” Omar said.

On the utopian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Omar said it is possible only if India and Pakistan cooperate. “We need to know how many youth who had gone for training were killed while handling arms,” Omar said asking if Islamabad can ever offer details. “They pushed their regulars into Kargil and when they were killed they never identified them. How can they help in giving us these details now?”
For more details: 
http://www.kashmirlife.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=15&Itemid=163

Sunday, June 12, 2011

New Delhi rulers - frustrating administration of justice

By Hassan Zainagiree
Srinagar, June 11: It's always guilty that must be punished, no matter who he is, what institution he belongs to. What matters is the nature of crime and the spirit of justice which must be the only standard to judge the merit of the case, comments -Aggressors like Halakoo and Changaiz did what history recorded them for. Genocides, macabre death dances, imperialistic arrogance and killing sprees. They hungered for blood and blood they had in full.

They played hosts for the owls to celebrate doomsday. They loved and enjoyed the “music” of innocent hapless yelling in pain, frying in agony. Unlike present day “civilized democrats”, champions of human rights and “secularists”, these “savage tormentors” however, did not wear gloves to hide their murdering hands, nor put on masks to conceal their identity. They raised the minarets of skulls in broad day light. They created tsunami of death and destruction quite openly. To let no one harbor any misunderstanding or misconception about their intentions. In the guise of saviors they didn't masquerade as brutal killers. Summary executions they would take at the wink of an eye. But would be ashamed of carrying out enforced disappearances, take encounters and custodial killings. Merciless tyrants they undoubtedly were. But duplicitous and cunning they certainly were not.

What the “civilized” world is doing today under various garbs and after taking “solemn pledges” of “respecting human dignity” and showing commitment to International Laws and numerous Geneva Conventions, makes it absolutely clear that medieval period ruthless warriors and despotic    monarchs had at least one moral edge over present day “democratic” rulers. In their not being guilty conscience they had not to hide their criminal profile under various “legal” nuances, nor fudge the records and resort to unmarked graves.

If by some miracle the Halakus and Changaizes were to arise from their graves, they would file in defamation suits against their “siblings” in death and destruction for unjustifiably maligning and accusing them for what they “excelled” in perfection themselves.

In a modern state if institutions of justice are deprived of serving the basic purpose of providing justice to the victim and their “constitutional powers” of prosecuting proceedings against perpetrators of heinous crimes, the state is, of its own, blurring the distinction between detestable regime it denounces and the democratic state it takes pride of giving it to its people. In this backdrop, invoking Armed Forces Special Power Act to halt administration of justice has all but exposed Indian state in its tall claims that every one is accountable before the law of land. On April 24 was stayed the trial of involving murdering civilians in fake gunfights by police and army. The ruling came after the counsel for union of India pleaded that army personnel named in case could not be prosecuted as the sanction has not been given by the government of India which is an essential requirement under the section 7 of the AFSPA. Earlier Supreme Court of India stayed proceedings in an identical case (Pathribal case) in which five civilians were murdered and then passed off as foreign militants responsible for massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chittisingpora. Forensic tests revealed they were civilians. It is to be noted that the chief judicial magistrate in Srinagar has asked the army to either stand trial in a criminal court or in an army court. But the army refused to exercise the option and stated it enjoys impunity under AFSPA. 

The fake encounter came to force last year. Eleven persons, including five army personnel, are accused of murdering of innocent people for promotion and “gallantry” award. The guilty police officers have already been arrested and are facing the trial. Justice demanded both troops and police personnel involved in the same crime and who are accomplice of each other should be punished and no discrimination shown. How can a killer in olive green be exonerated while the one in khaki be prosecuted? This is close to apartheid and smacks of neo-colonial approach. A sweeping generalization Delhi insists observers must avoid from making. “Individual aberrations”, it argues in defense.

Prosecuting erring soldiers doesn't mean prosecuting or maligning army as an institution. Only a “miniscule” from 'individual aberration', it means, have to account for their grave crimes they perpetrated against unarmed civilians. It is only when state shields such “action addicts”, under one pretext or other, that, infact, tars black the entire face of Indian army and drills holes in its claim that it is a “disciplinary” force. This attitude of authorities emboldens men in uniform to indulge in more excesses and atrocities. Even those immune to such “heroic” adventures loose the veneer of tolerance and get going. A message flows down the rank and file: We are above the law. State is behind us for every thing we will do. Thus it is state that gives them a license to kill and main, rape and destroy. On one hand Delhi repeatedly talks of “zero-tolerance” on human rights, on the other, it invokes the draconian law to ensure infringement.

The AFSPA requires pre-sanction of Delhi for prosecuting guilty soldiers, which usually is not given as Delhi's rigidness shows. More than 300 cases of gross human rights abuses against Indian forces like army and para-military troops could not be tried because Indian Home Ministry has not granted sanction. This is how authorities in Delhi are bent on frustrating administration of justice.

AFSPA and democracy are irreconcilable and can't be stuffed in one scabbard. Amnesty International too states that the black law encourages and abets abuse of human rights by men in uniform. Why authorities in Delhi allow a handful of soldiers to tarnish the image of the organization and the country they belong to, one fails to understand.For its own sake it is time Delhi repeal the law that has dented its credibility as a democratic state. 
(The edited version of the article written by Kashmiri writer Hassan Zainagiree)

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

India has dispatched roughly 60,000 troops to its border with China

By Johan Simth
Click here Sage seed
Srinagar, 11 June: In the last few days, India has dispatched roughly 60,000 troops to its border with China, the scene of enduring territorial disputes between the two countries.

J.J. Singh, the Indian governor of the controversial area, said the move was intended to “meet future security challenges” from China. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh claimed, despite cooperative India-China relations, his government would make no concessions to China on territorial disputes.

The tough posture Singh’s new government has taken may win some applause among India’s domestic nationalists. But it is dangerous if it is based on a false anticipation that China will cave in.

India has long held contradictory views on China. Another big Asian country, India is frustrated that China’s rise has captured much of the world’s attention. Proud of its “advanced political system,” India feels superior to China. However, it faces a disappointing domestic situation which is unstable compared with China’s.

India likes to brag about its sustainable development, but worries that it is being left behind by China. China is seen in India as both a potential threat and a competitor to surpass.

But India can’t actually compete with China in a number of areas, like international influence, overall national power and economic scale. India apparently has not yet realized this.

Indian politicians these days seem to think their country would be doing China a huge favor simply by not joining the “ring around China” established by the US and Japan.

India’s growing power would have a significant impact on the balance of this equation, which has led India to think that fear and gratitude for its restraint will cause China to defer to it on territorial disputes.

But this is wishful thinking, as China won’t make any compromises in its border disputes with India. And while China wishes to coexist peacefully with India, this desire isn’t born out of fear.

India’s current course can only lead to a rivalry between the two countries. India needs to consider whether or not it can afford the consequences of a potential confrontation with China. It should also be asking itself why it hasn’t forged the stable and friendly relationship with China that China enjoys with many of India’s neighbors, like Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Any aggressive moves will certainly not aid the development of good relations with China. India should examine its attitude and preconceptions; it will need to adjust if it hopes to cooperate with China and achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. (Writer-South Asia)

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Water crisis can trigger nuclear war in South Asia

By: Musharaf Zahoor
http://jkmpic.blogspot.com
Islamabad, 4 June: Water is an ambient source, which unlike human beings does not respect boundaries. Water has been a permanent source of conflict between the tribes since biblical times and now between the states. The conflicts are much more likely among those states, which are mainly dependent on shared water sources, reports Musharaf Zahoor in KMS.

The likelihood of turning these conflicts into wars is increased when these countries or states are mainly arid or receive low precipitations. In this situation, the upper riparian states (situated on upper parts of a river basin) often try to maximize water utility by neglecting the needs of the lower riparian states (situated on low lying areas of a river basin).

However, international law on distribution of trans-boundary river water and mutually agreed treaties by the states have helped to some extent in overcoming these conflicts. In the recent times, the climate change has also affected the water availability. The absence of water management and conservation mechanisms in some regions particularly in the third world countries have exacerbated the water crisis. These states have become prone to wars in future.

South Asia is among one of those regions where water needs are growing disproportionately to its availability. The high increase in population besides large-scale cultivation has turned South Asia into a water scarce region. The two nuclear neighbors Pakistan and India share the waters of Indus Basin. All the major rivers stem from the Himalyan region and pass through Kashmir down to the planes of Punjab and Sindh empty into Arabic ocean. It is pertinent that the strategic importance of Kashmir, a source of all major rivers, for Pakistan and symbolic importance of Kashmir for India are maximum list positions. Both the countries have fought two major wars in 1948, 1965 and a limited war in Kargil specifically on the Kashmir dispute.

Among other issues, the newly born states fell into water sharing dispute right after their partition. Initially under an agreed formula, Pakistan paid for the river waters to India, which is an upper riparian state. After a decade long negotiations, both the states signed Indus Water Treaty in 1960. Under the treaty, India was given an exclusive right of three eastern rivers Sutlej, Bias and Ravi while Pakistan was given the right of three Western Rivers, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. The tributaries of these rivers are also considered their part under the treaty.

It was assumed that the treaty had permanently resolved the water issue, which proved a nightmare in the latter course. India by exploiting the provisions of IWT started wanton construction of dams on Pakistani rivers thus scaling down the water availability to Pakistan (a lower riparian state). The treaty only allows run of the river hydropower projects and does not permit to construct such water reservoirs on Pakistani rivers, which may affect the water flow to the low lying areas. According to the statistics of Hydel power Development Corporation of Indian Occupied Kashmir, India has a plan to construct 310 small, medium and large dams in the territory.

India has already started work on 62 dams in the first phase. The cumulative dead and live storage of these dams will be so great that India can easily manipulate the water of Pakistani rivers. India has set up a department called the Chenab Valley Power Projects to construct power plants on the Chenab River in occupied Kashmir. India is also constructing three major hydro-power projects on Indus River which include Nimoo Bazgo power project, Dumkhar project and Chutak project. On the other hand, it has started Kishan Ganga hydropower project by diverting the waters of Neelum River, a tributary of the Jhelum, in sheer violation of the IWT.

The gratuitous construction of dams by India has created serious water shortages in Pakistan. The construction of Kishan Ganga dam will turn the Neelum valley, which is located in Azad Kashmir into a barren land. The water shortage will not only affect the cultivation but it has serious social, political and economic ramifications for Pakistan. The farmer associations have already started protests in Southern Punjab and Sindh against the non-availability of water. These protests are so far limited and under control. The reports of international organizations suggest that the water availability in Pakistan will reduce further in the coming years. If the situation remains unchanged, the violent mobs of villagers across the country will be a major law and order challenge for the government.

The water shortage has also created mistrust among the federative units, which is evident from the fact that the President and the Prime Minister had to intervene for convincing Sindh and Punjab provinces on water sharing formula. The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) is responsible for distribution of water among the provinces but in the current situation it has also lost its credibility. The provinces often accuse each other of water theft.

In the given circumstances, Pakistan desperately wants to talk on water issue with India. The meetings between Indus Water Commissioners of Pakistan and India have so far yielded no tangible results. The recent meeting in Lahore has also ended without concrete results. India is continuously using delaying tactics to under pressure Pakistan. The Indus Water Commissioners are supposed to resolve the issues bilaterally through talks. The success of their meetings can be measured from the fact that Pakistan has to knock at international court of arbitration for the settlement of Kishan Ganga hydropower project. The recently held foreign minister level talks between both the countries ended inconclusively in Islamabad, which only resulted in heightening the mistrust and suspicions.

The water stress in Pakistan is increasing day by day. The construction of dams will not only cause damage to the agriculture sector but India can manipulate the river water to create inundations in Pakistan. The rivers in Pakistan are also vital for defense during wartime. The control over the water will provide an edge to India during war with Pakistan.

The failure of diplomacy, manipulation of IWT provisions by India and growing water scarcity in Pakistan and its social, political and economic repercussions for the country can lead both the countries toward a war. The existent A-symmetry between the conventional forces of both the countries will compel the weaker side to use nuclear weapons to prevent the opponent from taking any advantage of  the situation.

Pakistan's nuclear programme is aimed at to create minimum credible deterrence. India has a declared nuclear doctrine which intends to retaliate massively in case of first strike by its' enemy. In 2003, India expanded the operational parameters for its nuclear doctrine. Under the new parameters, it will not only use nuclear weapons against a nuclear strike but will also use nuclear weapons against a nuclear strike on Indian forces anywhere.

Pakistan has a draft nuclear doctrine, which consists on the statements of high ups. Describing the nuclear thresh-hold in January 2002, General Khalid Kidwai, the head of Pakistan's Strategic Plans Division, in an interview to Landau Network, said that Pakistan will use nuclear weapons in case India occupies large parts of its territory, economic strangling by India, political disruption and if India destroys Pakistan's forces.

The analysis of the ambitious nuclear doctrines of both the countries clearly points out that any military confrontation in the region can result in a nuclear catastrophe. The rivers flowing from Kashmir are Pakistan's lifeline, which are essential for the livelihood of 170 million people of the country and the cohesion of federative units. The failure of dialogue will leave no option but to achieve the ends through military means.

The only way to discard the lurking fear of a nuclear cataclysm is to settle all the outstanding disputes amicably through dialogue. The international community has a special role in this regard. It should impress upon India to initiate meaningful talks to resolve the lingering Kashmir dispute with Pakistan and implement the water treaty in its letter and spirit. The Indian leadership should drive out its policy towards Pakistan from terrorism mantra to a solution-oriented dialogue process. Both the countries should adopt a joint mechanism to maximize the utility of river waters by implementing the 1960 treaty, Besides negotiations with India, Pakistan should start massive water conservation and management projects.

The modern techniques in agriculture like i.e. drip irrigation, should be adopted. On the other hand, there is a dire need to gradually upgrade the obsolete irrigation system in Pakistan. The politicization of mega hydropower projects/dams is also a problem being faced by Pakistan, which can only be resolved through political will.


The writer is a researcher at Department of Nuclear Politics, National Defence University, Islamabad and can be reached at ndu.nuclear@gmail.com

Saturday, May 21, 2011

16 killed in NATO fuel truck blast in Pakistan

LANDIKOTAL, Pakistan - May 21:  At least 16 people were killed in northwest Pakistan on Saturday after a bomb attack claimed by a militant group hit a truck carrying fuel supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, the latest attack in an upsurge in violence since Osama bin Laden was killed, reports Agencies/AIP.
People walk around a burnt tanker, part of a NATO convoy that was attacked in Landikotal near the Afghanistan border, in this still image from a May 21, 2011.

It took place near the Torkham border crossing in the Khyber region, the main route for moving supplies to NATO and American forces in Afghanistan.

"The tanker was on fire because of a blast late in the night. There was another blast early in the morning in the same tanker and 16 people who gathered near it to collect oil were killed," a senior local administration official in Khyber told Reuters.

In another attack in the same region, a bomb struck 16 NATO fuel trucks late on Friday, setting them on fire. No one was hurt. 

Militants have stepped up attacks in Pakistan, an unstable US ally, since US special forces killed al Qaeda leader bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad this month.

Abdullah Azzam Brigade, a militant group affiliated with Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for both attacks on the NATO trucks.

"It is our jihad against Americans. We want to stop supplies for NATO from our territory," Abu Musa'ab, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The attacks on the NATO trucks in Khyber came hours after the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a US consulate convoy in the city of Peshawar. 

One Pakistani was killed and 12 people were injured, including two lightly wounded US nationals.   

Routes through Pakistan bring in 40 percent of supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to the United States Transportation Command. Of the remainder, 40 percent come through Afghanistan's neighbours in the north and 20 percent by air.

The Pakistani Taliban are pressing ahead with their campaign of suicide bombings designed to de-stabilise the unpopular government, despite several army offensives against their strongholds along the lawless border region with Afghanistan.

Eight suspected militants were killed on Saturday when army gunship helicopters attacked their hideouts in Orakzai region, adjoining Khyber, local officials said.