Pages

Showing posts with label HM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HM. Show all posts

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Osama Bin Laden in Kashmir

Kashmiri Hindu militant Manoj Kumar who now are in jail, Kashmir, India

Srinagar, May 5: Asharq Al-Awsat - A Hindu militant commander from Hizbul Mujahideen and another militant were killed in the early hours of  Thursday morning during clashes with Indian security forces in the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Kuldeep Sharma, otherwise known as KK or Kamran was killed in the Kulhand area when security forces raided his hideout in Khilandi village after a receiving a tip-off.

Mr. Sharma, an active militant since 1988, has been involved in the killings of several Indian security personnel.

Last August, 26-year-old Uttam Singh, a Hizbul Mujahideen commander was killed in Tharolan, a remote village in Doda. Singh alias Sayfullah became a militant six years prior to his death and was originally a member of the anti-insurgency village defense committee but was eventually pulled into Hizbul Mujahideen.

According to former Jammu and Kashmir police chief, Gopal Sharma, the police have identified several Hindu militants as part of Hizbul Mujahideen.

In 2000, Indian security forces for the first time had killed a Hindu militant called Kuldeep Singh as well as other seven others. His elder brother Randeep Singh is still a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen.

In 2001, Bharat Kumar was arrested in Jammu City in possession of arms and ammunition. He had received military training for four years in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In November 2004, a Hindu militant from AL-Jehad, Manoj Kumar Manhas was amongst the 47 militants who as reported  arrested by the Indian army. Manoj Kumar, 20, had revealed that he had been introduced to Kashmir freedom movement by his cousin, Baldev Singh, also a Hindu, who is still on the run.

Sr. Police officer stated that Hindus are involved in militancy for money and power, just like Muslim militants. "There is no more jihad and now local youth irrespective of their religious affiliations are turning to guns as it is an easy way to get money and women. Unemployment and poverty especially in remote areas are catalysts for involvement of the Hindu youth in militancy," he said.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Indian Army plans Kashmir Premier League : Hasnain

Srinagar, April 4: Army is going to organize Kashmir Premier League this summer on the pattern of IPL, the popular Twenty20 cricket competition. This was stated by General Officer Commanding of Army's Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt Gen S A Hasnain while interacting with local people here on Sunday, reports Rissing Kashmir.

Stating that one or two teams would be selected from each district, the GOC said, “The main aim of the tournament would be to exploit the talent and the best cricketers will be provided training at top coaching academies of the country and the expenses would be provided by army.”

During the ‘Awami Mulaqat’ organized by army, Hasnain received volley of questions from the local residents.
Handwara traders’ association president, Ijaz Ahmad demanded opening of Rajwar road in Kupwara, saying that army’s love and affection needs to proven on ground.

“Sir, we have suffered a lot. Our houses were burnt and thousands were killed. Even if a single person committed a mistake the whole population of the area was punished,” Ahmad said.

“The ghastly tag of last twenty years attached with the army needs to be removed as fear prevails among people wherever they visit,” he added.

The residents raised many other issues related to their security and day-to-day problems with the GOC. Besides assuring people of taking action in all genuine concerns, Hasnain ordered opening of Rajouri road on spot to ease the sufferings of common people. On the occasion, the GOC also announced that 15 corps will adopt the orphanage home of the township.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Why after years of criminal silence you are now breaking the ice : By Firdous Syed

Srinagar, Jan 8: Pro-freedom and pro-India divide apart, present Kashmiri political scenario is immersed in filth. The political class in Kashmir on the whole has stooped to an unimaginable low. The so called pro-freedom leadership has crossed all the limits of decency, Mr. Firdous Syed, in an article in Greater Kashmir (8/1/2011)

After maintaining a criminal silence for decades, Professor Abdul Ghani Butt has urged intellectuals to speak truth. “We should speak out who killed Abdul Ahad Wani, Mirwaiz Umar's and Bilal Gani Lone's father”. It is too late in the day to comment on the pangs of conscience of ‘wise’ professor as better late than never? Too little and too little, it will have hardly any affect on the appalling political conditions. There is always a motive behind a politician’s move. He never acts aimlessly.Prof. Ghani is an astute politician, why he raked up a controversy at this juncture? And after remaining silent all these years, why he suddenly has decided to go public?  The self professed moderate leaders were in near hibernation all these months of mayhem and unrest. It seems now they have closed their ranks and joined a cause to pin down and destroy for ever their worst political enemy? Has anyone smelt the blood: Syed Ali Geealni in spite of unprecedented public support has once again miserably failed to prove his mettle and carry forward the movement in a meaningful manner?

Even if the motives are sincere: truth should come out. People in all probability will suspect the intentions of the leaders asking the questions, particularly when the political skills moreover integrity of the moderates is suspected by the masses. Moreover what has been asked is almost known to the public. People may not speak openly but they know who killed Abdul Ahad Wani, Mirwaiz Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone? It is also known, why these leaders or almost all politicians and other intellectuals got killed. Furthermore, the ever enthusiastic attitude of police administration to put Pakistan in a dock has very nearly destroyed the possibility of an objective debate. Particularly when Yasin Malik true to his whimsical style has already declared: “90 percent intellectuals work on the ‘government aid”. In such a dreadful environment of suspicion hardly anybody will stick his neck out and speak the truth?    

Truth is sacrosanct, it has to prevail. Had we not been cowards or hypocrites, whosoever killed Mirwaiz Farooq in 1990 should have the courage to own the killing. If late Mirwiaz as some sections still believe was anti movement, Mazar-e-Shudha should not have been his final resting place. Traitors and martyrs cannot share the same space. Not only this, it also gave rise to a culture of indiscriminate killings. Since militant organizations were not under obligation to publicly own their acts, they started bumping off their opponents at will. It took no time for the Mujahid’s to become merciless killers. Some innocents were even killed on the flimsy grounds just to settle the personnel scores. And then usual champions of religion enacted Sharia courts, deciding the fate of innocents these kangaroo courts began hanging people from the trees. Mirwaiz Farooq for that matter all other innocent civilian didn’t deserve to be killed ruthlessly. Mirwaiz  in real sense was a politician, like traditional politicians he too had his weaknesses as well as strengths. From my own experience I can safely vouch that he feared for his life. Few days before his death, Gulam Qadir Hagroo a senior peoples League activist wanted me to meet Mirwaiz, for some reasons meeting could not take place. The purpose of the meeting was to put Mirwaiz at ease--militants had nothing personal against him. I am not sure whether our meeting would have put Mirwiaiz’s anxieties at rest. Dozens of militant organizations and many more splinter groups were freely operating.

Mirwaiz Farooq’s death was a big jolt. It raises many questions. For that matter all the high profile killings of persons like Abdul Ahad Wani, Abdul Ahad Guru, Gulam Qadir Wani and Abdul Ghani Lone have given birth, to many new controversies? If Mirwaiz Farooq, Abdul Ahad Wani, Abdul Ahad Guru, and Abdul Ghani Lone were killed on the orders of ISI, why Mirwaiz, Yasin and Bilal Lone still considers Pakistan to be a friend? And if Hizab-ul-Mujahideen is the real culprit, how come killers and killed could co-exist all these years. How was it possible for Mirwaiz Umar, Yasin and Bilal to work together with Geelani?  It is a very bizarre situation wherein both killers and the victims are double-faced? Killers in order to cover-up their crime are  compelled to hide behind a veil of secrecy. Why the self appointed political heirs of the killed knowing well the faces behind the veil  failed so far to unmask the assassins of Abdul Ahad Wani, Abdul Ahad Guru, Gulam Qadir Wani and Abdul Ghani Lone and numerous other innocents?     

It is not easy to answer all these questions. The truth is buried deep under the mystery. Rather than revealing the truth after uncovering the upper layer, the whole affair gets messier. Let us for a while accept that Mirwaiz Farooq was killed on the orders of a militant commander, shall we assume that the high command of that outfit after due deliberations ordered the killing? Stretching further the imagination, shall this also be concluded that assassination was carried out on the direct instructions of ISI?  Perhaps Mirwaiz’s murder was a rogue act of a splinter group believing in holier-than-thou attitude, not an organizational operation. In such an unpredictability and uncertainty, no concrete conclusions can be drawn.

Most of the civilian killings, (other than the killed by Indian forces) some indeed were ordered from the top and even from across the border, are individual acts or carried due to the local considerations by the junior commanders.  Innocent bloodshed is the main reason for the failure of the militant movement. It destroyed the moral basis and removed the distinction of a suppressed and a suppressor, ultimately leading to the erosion of overwhelming public support. Had APHC leaders been the free agents, they could have taken a courageous stand against the innocent killing when it mattered, it could have put brakes on the wanton killings and not allowed the movement to go astray. Crying wolf after two decades will only muddy the waters and fuel the raging fires of distrust and acrimony in the society.

Is it not an irony, if Mirwaiz could have escaped the death until the formation of APHC, he would have become the founder Chairman of the Hurriyat Conference? Ideological neatness is not the high point of this movement. Here a killer can be portrayed as messiah and a patriot as a traitor. It simply depends on the configuration of the time and political expediency.  More than the mercenary culture of the APHC leader’s, ideological bankruptcy of the present movement is the real reason for the doom.  Nationalists here are not true nationalists and people claiming to be the champions of the religion are the most horrible and ideologically barren. Respective ideological positions are subject to convenience rather based upon any conviction, the main reason for the prevailing ideological confusion. But if we are convinced that leaders are mercenaries, why do we expect them to be the torch bearers of any ideology.
Writer can be reached at: firdoussyed@yahoo.com


Sunday, January 2, 2011

Police arrested 5 ex-HM militants in Pampore

Pampore, January 3: Family members of Muhamad Maqbool Dar who were kidnapped by Hizbul militants in 1995 claimed that a human skeleton that police recovered from a house here on Sunday was of the missing youth. Police arrested 5 ex-militants of Hizbul in connection with killing of Mohd. Maqbool Dar.
After recovering it from a migrant Kashmiri Pandit’s house here, skeleton has been sent for forensic examination while police has initiated investigation into the family claims.

Police recovered it from a house in Ladoo village of Batpora area after a local, who had purchased the house, spotted it.

“The house was gutted in a fire incident in 1992 and it was purchased by a local who was now reconstructing it. During earth excavation, a human-skeleton was recovered from the debris of the house,” said a police official. The locals said that the skeleton was recovered from the storeroom of the house.

After the news spread, the family members of Muhamad Maqbool Dar alias Bulla, who was allegedly picked up by Hizbul Mujahideen militants in 1995, claimed that the skeleton was his.

Speaking to Writer-South Asia, Maqbool’s family members said, “Maqbool’s elder brother, Muhammad Yaseen Dar who was the one of the top commander of Al-Umar-Mujahideen was killed by the forces in a gun-battle in 1994. Later, in 1995, Maqbool was picked up by the  Hizbul Mujaheeden militants and went missing.”

They said Maqbool was putting on the same clothes and shoes which were recovered from the spot today.

“Even the amulet and the black head band he often used to wear, that were found from the spot belonged to Maqbool,” they said.

The family members demanded a thorough probe into the case. When contacted, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), South Kashmir Range, Shafqat Ahmad Watali, while confirming that police recovered the skeleton said, “Yes we have recovered a human-skeleton which was later identified by the family. We have sent it to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for scientific examination and are waiting for the report.”

He assured a probe into the issue. “A special investigating team headed by SDPO, Awantipora will be constituted and a transparent investigation would be carried out.  We will go by the version of the family and will also take the locals along,” Watali said.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Inidan troops martyr 93,537 people in Kashmir

Islamabad, December 30 :Indian troops, in their unabated acts of state terrorism, from January 1, 1989 till today December 10, 2010, killed 93,537 innocent Kashmiris, including 6,981 in custody.

This has been revealed in a report released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service on the occasion of the World Human Rights Day, on December 10.

The report said that Indian troops molested 9,984 women and damaged 105,900 structures. The killings during this period rendered 22,747 women widowed and 107,397 children orphaned.

In the current uprising, Indian paramilitary troopers killed 122 peaceful protesters since June 2010 and at least 1,500 civilians including Hurriyet leaders and activists are languishing in jails under draconian, Public Safety Act. 

Meanwhile, over ten thousand people have disappeared in the custody of Indian troops

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

STF/Indian Army/Ikhwan/Counterinsurgency/RAW/RR/Papa Kishtwari/Javid Shah/Muma Kana/HM/Ali Shah Gilani


















































































A small village that gave Kashmir’s counterinsurgency an alternative name wants to change its name now - hoping they would not be identified as Nawabadis. Ibrahim Wani and Farooq Ahmad report on the Nawabadi Mohalla and its haunting baggage.

Nawabadi Mohalla may pass off as just another small village in the Sonwari belt of north Kashmir, but for its street lights that make it stand apart. Those familiar with the village, don’t dare to take it for any other village, anyways.

Nawabadi has entered Kashmir’s lexicon as a word that strikes terror. There were many villages in Kashmir that became hotbeds of counterinsurgency in mid 1990’s but Nawabadi was one name that stuck.

A village of some three hundred people, two and a half kilometres from Safapora, Nawabadi residents now want to change its name to Mirabad. They no longer want to identify with its past.

A few kilomteres from father of counterinsurgency Kuka Parrey’s Hajin village, Nawabadi Mohalla gave Ikhwan some of its most dreaded men. Many remember the village as the birthplace of ruthless renegades, like Fayaz Mir alias Fayaz Nawabadi, notorious for extortion, rape, politically motivated killings. For the state security apparatus, that patronised them, these men were important to break the back of militancy in the Sonawari-Ganderbal belt and by extension whole of Kashmir. So they did. Hardly anyone was spared.

Perhaps because many of the first renegades came from Nawabadi village, the name in local parlance became a synonym for all the counterinsurgents or police informers. An alternative name for Ikhwan, the largest renegade group.

Nawbid was actually used in the area to refer to the residents of the Nawabadi Mohalla. So anyone from the area was a Nawbud. After the switching of Ikhwan to counter insurgency, apart from the ruthless renegades who emerged from Nawabadi Mohalla, the village provided a haven for all counter-insurgents. Even though only a few from the village carried out the dirty work, almost all residents were Ikhwan sympathisers.

Nawabdis trace their shift of allegiance to the killing of a JKLF militant from the village by Hizbul Mujahideen in inter faction rivalry in 1993.

Manzoor Ahmad was the first postgraduate from the village. He did his MA in Urdu from Kashmir University. Later he joined Jammu Kashmir Students Liberation Front and crossed the LoC for arms training. After this he joined Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front as Deputy District Commander. This was around the time when animosities between Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and JKLF were building up.

While on his way back from Sopore Manzoor was picked up by Hizbul Mujahideen. “They accused him of being an Indian agent,” say the residents, “but at that time it was widely known that Manzoor was a man of character. It was actually that Ahsan Dar wanted him to join HM.”

When news of Manzoor’s abduction spread in the area, desperate attempts started to secure his release. “The negotiations were carried out at the highest level; almost all the known militants and separatist leaders were involved.

The residents were promised his release. “But he was not released. We kept on searching for him. We formed search parties and would search for him throughout the area,” says Kawaam Din. But the search yielded no result. At this time Fayaz, Manzoor’s cousin was in jail.

“Even Syed Ali Shah Geelani searched for him in his car. He told us that he had spent 13000 rupees searching for him,” he says, “Moulvi Abbas Ansari and Saleem Geelani also mediated but to no avail.”

Demands for Manzoor’s release were building up. People were protesting. The Hajin bazaar remained shut down for 25 days at a stretch.

Then, residents say, a HM rebel Shams-u-Din informed the villagers that Manzoor had been killed on the second day of his abduction, and lay buried in Hari-Taar, on the banks of Jehlum near Sopore.

“We rushed to the spot. Some militants from HM were guarding the spot, and they fired on the crowd. People from the surrounding areas like Shah-Gund joined in and we retrieved the body,” adds Kawaam. The eruption of emotions and sentiments was spontaneous.

“It was an angry crowd, which sees nothing in rage. On the way from Hari-Taar to Nawabadi Mohalla, around 14 houses belonging to Jamat-e-Islami (JeI) members or sympathisers were burned,” adds Kamaal. “It was a day which this region can not forget. It was a day of pain.”

After this the rift between JKLF and HM-JeI deepened. A civil war sort of situation ensued where people from both sides were being assassinated. The Nawabadis became fiercely anti-HM and anti-Jamaat. “In all this all the militant organisations united against HM, and opened a united front against them,” he says.

Peer Ziya-ud-Din of Asham, a JKLF sympathiser and father of Nazir Ahmad Geelani of JKLF was also gunned down by HM. This added oil to the fire. Around 500-600 people would die in this infighting, many among them were civilians.

It was around this time that 28 militants surrendered, and under the leadership of Kuka Parray formed the renegade Ikhwan. Fayaz, now released, joined the Ikwan, and with the wounds of Manzoor’s loss still fresh, many Nawabadis followed him into the fold. “When we had seen the body of Manzoor, we could see nothing else. He had come out for the cause. We had followed in his footsteps, but Jamaat and Hizbul mujahideen ruined it. They targeted everyone who was not their supporter. We could tolerate it no further,” says an ex-counter insurgent.

Fayaz was merciless. He soon gained notoriety and was gifted the post of commander-in-chief of the Ikhwan. Kuka Parray reigned as the supremo. Thus started the reign of terror. After that it was “catch and kill,” accepts Kawaam.

Though the actual gun wielding Nawabdis did not number more than 10, all the counter insurgents in Valley - estimated to be between 1,000-1,200- came to be known by the name.

The shifting allegiances of Nawabadis created animosities with adjoining villages. Residents recall that after Manzoor’s death the adjoining villages in Safapora and Bandipora enforced a boycott of the village.

“The shopkeepers won’t provide us amenities. We were not given medicines even for around six months,” says a Nawabadi resident.

Mohammad Sidiq, father of Fayaz Nawabadi says the boycott forced them to loot any trucks that passed the village. “But we would pay them,” he said in the same breath.

In coming years, the response from the Nawabadis was often brutal. Fayaz Nawabadi walked the streets like a king.

“Even policemen had to look down while walking past him,” says a resident of Ganderbal.

He was the most notorious export of Nawabadi Mohallah to the rest of Kashmir. The Commander-in-Chief of Kuka Parray’s Ikhwan, he is said to have killed hundreds of people. “If his eyes fell on something he liked, it had to be his,” the resident adds. One day his eyes fell on a new scooter parked in the Safapora market. The scooter belonged to Waseem, a 21 year old.

“Waseem would not just let go of his new scooter when the Nawabadis asked him to give it to them,” says the resident. Fayaz then walked up to him, and held him by his throat. He then pumped bullets into him. Waseem fell to ground. When a shopkeeper raised his voice, he too met the same fate. One more onlooker also fell to the ground. “Three innocent people died that day,” adds the resident. With three dead bodies on the streets Fayaz issued his threat, “People of Safapora, whosever goes against us will meet a similar fate,” he says.

Fayaz would be accompanied by his trusted lieutenants, Abdul Hamid Mir alias Nikka Bhai, Mohammad Afzal Mir alias Commander Adil, Ghulam Nabi Mir alias Kaka among others, all Nawabadis. They reign of terror engulfed Sonawari, Safapora, Ganderbal areas. Hardly anyone was spared, but the families of militants and Jamat-e-Islami supporters were especially targeted. It started a wave of migration from the area to the urban areas. Many people even left the state. “No one was safe,” says the resident. The killings continued.

Saif-u-Din Bhat, a 60-years-old teacher from Safapora was killed because his brother was associated with HM. Another teacher Abdul Karim Bhat was killed because of links with Jamat-e-Islami. A bank employee, Mohammad Afzal of Yongoora Chak also fell to bullets, for unknown reasons. The number is estimated to be above 300. Some locals say the number of the people killed was much higher than 300. “Many deaths were never reported. Many of these will never be known,” the resident adds.

Nawabadis once went to the house of a Jamaat-e-Islami sympathiser in Banyari village. The man was not there. “The routine would have been to harass the family and leave,” says Yasir, a resident of the area.  But on this day death was in the air. “One of the Nawabadi commanders caught hold of a six month old son of the man,” he says. Then hell broke loose. “He flung the child into the air, and the Nawabadi party started firing.” The infant came down in smithereens. “I can not forget that day,” says Yasir, “there are no words to express this cruelty.”

Tales of the atrocities abound. “One more case still resonates in the minds and hearts of people. It always gives me pain,” says Yasir as he recalls. “There was a girl in Asham, a beautiful girl, Nazima, the daughter of one Ghulam Mohammad Lone. And then their eyes fell on her,” he says.

Nazima was kidnapped and raped. “For days together no one knew of her,” he recalls. Then details related to her emerged. It was Fayaz actually who had sought her. When she had resisted she was raped, by many Nawabadis, says Yasir. They raped her for days. She became pregnant. After a few months she was let go.

In the meantime, Ashraf Nawabidi, Fayaz’s brother started pursuing Nazima’s sister. She too was kidnapped.

“The family would not have protested if they would have known what was to come next,” says Yasir. The Nawabadis converged on the Asham market. Nazima was dragged out on the street. Fayaz oversaw everything. “What transpired next is engraved in the psyche of the people there forever,” says Yasir.

The eight month pregnant woman was held forcibly. Then her clothes were torn. After this she was paraded naked. “Fayaz pulled the trigger, and shot her in the abdomen first. He kept on shooting and shouting - see the result,” recalls Yasir. Nazima died on the spot. Her sister is still with Ashraf.

Even after an incident of this sort, no one raised a voice. That was the peak of Nawabadi terror. “But nothing is permanent. Whatever goes up, has to come down,” says Yasir. Most of the Nawabadis met cruel deaths. Kaka was shot dead in 1994, Nikka Bhai was killed in 1995, Afzal in 1996. The kingpin, Fayaz after surviving 18 attempts on life finally met his fate on Feb 17, 2000. He was blown up in an IED blast in Sumbal, just a few kilometres away from where he had shot Nazima. According to locals the intensity of the blast was such that his body parts could be seen hanging from the power supply wires. Many people believe that he was killed by his own people - the Ikhwanis.

Fayaz Nawabadi is considered a martyr and a hero in his village. So are the other Nawabadis killed in these years. Their graveyard reads Mazar-e-Shohada. Fayaz’s grave is decorated and fenced. It lies on way to the shrine of a saint in the mohalla, called Sayeed Sahib. A stone throw’s distance from the graveyard is a model school. His house has a 12 foot high wall topped by barbed wire. He is survived by two wives and four children.

“Similar is the case for many others too,” says Afzal, a government employee who was assigned a task in the area. For him too the visit was painful. His best friend had been killed by Fayaz. “I tried to skip the area, but I had to do my job,” he says.

While walking through the village he saw a man walking behind him. Initially he became suspicious. Then when he finally gathered the courage to ask the person as to why he was following him, he came to know that he had no job or work to do. The reply startled him. The man had identified himself as an ex-counter insurgent, some of the few who had survived. He did not venture out of the village, out the fear.

“Even though almost all the notorious Nawabadis were killed, the people of the surrounding areas can not forget the mayhem inflicted by them,” says Afzal, who happened to meet a relative of Waseem on return from the mohalla. Their response was, “There is no question of forgiveness. Even if they repent it, nothing is going to change. There can be no forgiveness.”

Ejaz from Safapora echoes similar sentiments. “We cannot forget what Nawabadis have done to us. They are traitors. There is no question of having any sort of relation with them. They are still like that only,” he says.

However, the residents of the Nawabdi Mohallah insist they want to stay aloof of politics.

“We want to be away from politics,” says Mohammad Kamaal Mir, a resident of Nawabadi Mohalla, “We have already suffered a lot. Now we want to be away from all this. We also have same aspirations like all other Kashmiris, and our children like others too also cheer for the Pakistani cricket team. But we are silent spectators. We will not repeat our mistakes again now.”

The residents of the area are self confessed supporters of National Conference. “It is we who made Akbar Lone successful in Sumbal,” says Kawaam Din. He further adds, “Akbar Lone is the most honest politician in all of Kashmir, and he is an ideal for all the politicians.” They credit him for most of the development work in the village, including the street lights and the tube wells.

“We were even approached by the opposition parties with an offer of 40,000 rupees to vote for them, which we out rightly rejected,” say Kawaam. According to him recently when they had gone to meet Akbar Lone, he gave their issues precedence over all the other works on hand. “He even sent prayers on Fayaz and recalled how he had saved him when once Kuka Parray had grabbed his collar to beat him.”

“It is us who voted against Kuka Parray. We made him fall. He did no development work here,” says Sidiq Mir, father of Fayaz. He describes Kuka Parray as a fool who was made the king. “If he would have been in Srinagar he would have been taken to a mental hospital,” he remarks.

Narrating an incident when he had rebuked Kuka Parray for letting his brother go on a looting spree all over the area, Sidiq says, “I told him that his brother was like a wild bull that was going wild throughout the area and causing damage and action should be taken against him.” Later Kuka Parray according to him called him privately and told him that he should not have said this in front of everyone.

When Fayaz’s father, an employee of the cattle farm operated by SKAUST in the vicinity was about to retire, he was put under suspension. So his pension was automatically stopped. He attributes the development to Kuka Parray. At this time, Fayaz was among his main men. The issue was finally resolved when some politicians close to both the sides intervened.

Mehraj, a resident of Ganderbal was a child when the Nawabadis were at the peak of their power. He remembers a day when Nawabadis converged on his village, and cut down all the willow and poplar trees on the government land. “They sold it to their own friends at the cheapest possible rates,” he says adding that the fear was such that no government official either resisted or complained of the incident. Such was the case with all of the area. “They even cut trees in the Jarokha Bagh,” says Yasin another resident of the area, “Loot was a common thing with Nawabadis those days.”

Yasir says, “Any vehicle which plied from the area was looted. People would think twice before passing through the area dominated by renegades.” Sidiq accepts. “The people from the surrounding areas on the directives of militants had imposed a blockade on us. So we had no option left but to loot for survival.” But according to Gulzar from Sumbal, “Nawabadis have always had a bad image in the area. They were involved in thefts and robberies before they became associated with counter-insurgency. After that they would carry out their activities openly. Extortion became their main business.”

With Fayaz’s death, Nawabadi mohalla’s power waned. The village elders approached other surrounding areas, with a message of reconciliation. But they have met little success. The scars ran deep.

When the Northern Command chief visited the area, post counter-insurgency, Nawabadis too were invited. “I stood up and asked them that what had the Government of India done for us,” says Kawaam. “I asked them what had they paid the families of the soldiers who had been martyred in Kargil, and in relation to them we were paid nothing. I told them that India has not paid us a penny.”

Despite fighting a bloody war for the state, Nawbadis say they were neglected. Many of them, say, all they got from their haunting past were dead bodies.
“If I had been in some position then, and could think the way I do today, I would not have let these things to happen,” says Kamaal.

However, Kamaal maintains they do not face any social ostracism today, and are well heard in corridors of power.

“We have good relations with people of other village, even among from people of Jamaat. We are invited in their functions,” says Kamaal. 

But still the villagers want to get rid of the baggage their village name carries.

They expect Mirabad to conceal their identity, and bring them back into the fold of the society. Travelling around with a identity card bearing the name of the village may not be wise option always, they admit.  

“Nawabadi has now become associated with us. It is a sort of stigma. Wherever we go, people see us in a particular image. With the name change we hope things may get better,” say the Nawabadis.

The story of Nawabadi Mohalla is the story of a village which switched sides en-masse. It tasted power, and wealth, until the downfall started. Now it is trying hard to merge back with the society it stood against. But neither the society, nor the village seems to have made its mind fully.
More details (http://www.kashmirlife.net)



Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Pay Rs 1.73 crore income tax, Ali Shah Geelani told


Srinagar, Nov 3: Kashmir’s hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been asked to file Rs 1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns after rejecting his appeal. Geelani’s spokesman said that they do not know the details of the notice and came to know about it through media, reports PNS (3/11)

PTI reported that IT sleuths, which had swooped on residences of Geelani and his family members in 2002 and seized valuable items, including a diamond-studded watch gifted by Pakistan Government, had raised a tax demand of over Rs 1.5 crore.

Geelani challenged the demand and approached the Commissioner of Income Tax (appeals) for review of the case and also sought a waiver, saying he did not earn anything other than the pension from Government of Jammu and Kashmir and from agriculture land.

The case dragged on for nearly three years and recently the appeal was dismissed after which he was asked to deposit Rs 1.73 crore as tax liabilities by end of 2010.

A spokesman of Geelani told The Pioneer that even our lawyer has not received any notice after filing appeal in the relevant court. “We will comment on the issue on Thursday”, he said. Geelani, who has been legislator for 15 years, has stopped receiving pension after mounting public pressure and his opponents.

Geelani, who heads the breakaway faction of the Hurriyat Conference, still has the option to go to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). The Tax Department had raised the demand of Rs 1.73 crore against the firebrand

Jamaat-e-Islami leader after giving him ample opportunities to furnish answers to a questionnaire about his sources of income.

The questionnaire followed an assessment of Geelani’s wealth by the department following a series of raids conducted at his house and other places in June 2002 during Farooq Abdullah’s regime. His journalist son Iftikhar Gilani was also arrested from Delhi but later exonerated from all charges. Other persons arrested during the raids were also subsequently released.

The department had raided Geelani’s house and other places of his kin on June 9, 2002 and seized Rs 10.2 lakh and US $10,000 in cash, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amount of jewellery, a diamond-encrusted watch inscribed with “From Pakistan Government” besides documents pertaining to purchase of property and vehicles.

Geelani had shown an annual income of Rs 17,100 - Rs 7,100 as pension from the State Assembly as a former MLA and Rs 10,000 as agriculture income.

However, according to the assessment made by the Income Tax Department, the monthly expenditure of Geelani allegedly ranged from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh as he had 15 servants at his house and his wife had confirmed that she used to get Rs 25,000 per month for kitchen expenses.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

On going freedom struggle now or never for Kashmiris: Hizb

Muzaffarabad, August 3: The Supreme Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahudin Monday has said that the current phase of resistance movement has ushered the Kashmir conflict into a now or never phase.

Syed Salahudin while addressing in a extraordinary meeting of Command Council, the Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman Ehsan Ellahi in a statement said despite Indian suppression from past 63 years, the current mass struggle has now entered into now or never mode where people irrespective of age and sex are up in arms against India.

While condemning the criminal silence of world over the killing of innocent people in the Valley by paramilitary forces and police men Hizbul Mujahideen, indigenous outfit of Kashmir said that the ongoing freedom struggle has entered into now or never stage.

Everyday dozens of people are being martyred while hundreds are injured,” Hizb chief, Syed Salahudin said,

Terming as unfortunate the recent statement by Britain Prime Minister David Cameron, the Hizb Supremo said that the Kashmir issue was basically created by the United Kingdom. “He should have taken strong note of the human rights violations and the unresolved Kashmir and impressed upon the New Delhi to resolve the issue. Thereby, he would have honoured the tenets of democracy.”

United Nations and the world human rights bodies silence on Kashmir is unfortunate,” he said, adding, incase, United Nations and the other world organizations want to take account of the real situation obtaining in the Kashmir, they should rise above the Indian propaganda and depute a team to decide for themselves as to how the innocents are being killed for raising peaceful protests due to unresolved Kashmir.(Writer-South Asia)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Hizbula Mujahideen-HM-Jammu and Kashmir

Hizbul Mujahideen-HM , Hizbul al-Mujāhidīn, meaning "party of holy warriors"), founded by Mohammad Ahsan Dar of Patan in 1991, is a group of Kashmiri Freedom Fighters active in Indian Kashmir since 1989. Their headquarters are located some where in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir. It is believed the group al-Badr, derived from Hizbul Mujahideen in early 1998 when encouraged by the Jammat-i-Islama.The current leader of the group is a Kashmiri known under the alias of Sayeed Salahudeen. Hizbul Mujahideen is group operating in disputed state of Kashmir, and are widely considered by sources on both sides of the Kashmiri conflict to be the most indigenous and widely-supported Freedom Fighter group active in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian government has time and again requested the Pakistani government for the extradition of Sayeed Salahudeen. However in recent times a well known news agency conducted an interview with the leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, where the leader claimed that the government of Pakistan would never hand him over to the Indian authorities.(Writer Database Centre)