Tufail Matoo: Kashmir’s Youngest Victim of Violence?

Tufail’s Schoolbag: The Weight of a Nation’s Sorrow

Srinagar: June 11, 2010, is now etched into the memory of the Kashmir conflict; a day that marked a generational shift in how Kashmiris opposed Indian rule. The Baton of ‘resistance against Indian rule’ was handed over to a new generation. The day marked a beginning of a famous 2010 summer intifada in which streets of Kashmir-mostly in Srinagar’s downtown- became battlegrounds between pro-freedom youth and government forces. The street stamina was overpowered by state stamina by coming down hard on the protesters, resulting in the death of 120 Kashmiris, mostly youth.

The first casualty of 2010 summer was a teenager: Tufail Mattoo. The lone son of his family, Mattoo’s name is a synonym to the bloody summer. The son of a handicraft businessman- Mohammad Ashraf Mattoo, Tufail was killed by government forces’ tear gas shell that hit his head. Mattoo senior handed over a Rs 10 note to his son as bus fare when he was going to a tuition centre. Tufail was preparing for a medical entrance test. Mattoo didn’t know that the Rs 5 coin that was with Tufail would remain as “souvenir” for him and his son wouldn’t return. He was at home when some neighbours rushed to him with the news that shattered his life, forever: his son had been killed.

Tufail was hit by a teargas shell fired at him from a close range by the J&K police on June 11, 2010, near Gani Memorial Stadium –about 8 km from his home in Saidakadal.

His skull was bust open with the tear gas shell and he died on the spot with the five-rupee coin in his right hand. Tufail’s death led to widespread protests triggering months’ long anti-India summer uprising during which men in uniform killed nearly 120 people, mostly youth. Witnesses in the locality said the police started chasing Tufail when they saw him. As he began to run, the police fired a teargas shell at him hitting him in the head. He died, instantly.

The autopsy of Tufail also confirmed that he was killed by a teargas shell which damaged his brain and skull, busted the police claims that it was a case of “mysterious death”.

The then Chief Minister of J&K state, Omar Abdullah, appointed a retired judge Justice ML Koul to probe the civilian killings of 2010. The Koul Commission report was handed over to the present Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in December 2016 in which it was recommended that a CBI enquiry should be ordered in Tufail’s case. The report has not been made public, however.

In December 2012, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the J&K Police, which had first investigated the case, had also closed the investigation by declaring culprits “untraced”.

On the eighth death anniversary of Tufail, who is buried in Martyrs’ graveyard Eidgah, people from all walks of life came and paid tributes to him.

In February 2015, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court ordered a fresh probe into Tufail Mattoo killing. It was after Amnesty International called on Jammu and Kashmir Government in June 2013 to reopen the investigation into 2010 killing of Tufail Mattoo.

On the long-drawn battle of Mattoo, political commentator Gowhar Geelani maintained that the trigger that led to the 2010 summer uprising was the extra-judicial killings in Machil in which three civilians were lured for a job and killed in fake encounter by Indian army along the Line of Control (LoC).

“Later, a young teenage student Tufail Mattoo became a reference point. His killing by government forces in a way was a paradigm shift in seeing a new generation of Kashmir at war with the state and the idea of India in Kashmir. And the government at war with a new generation. A new generation which has a new vocabulary, that way it was pretty significant in Kashmir narrative,” he said.

Geelani said that denying justice in Tufail Mattoo’s case is a telling commentary on “how India operates in Kashmir and how brazenly it shields perpetrators and gives a free license to armed forces to commit rights violations, and also encourages the guilty personnel to believe they can get away with anything”.

An FIR was filed 11 days after Tufail was killed after the family had run from pillar to post and pleaded with the magistrate to order police to do it.

“I don’t see any progress in the case, the reason is police haven’t done a fair and proper investigation and when police are themselves involved in the crime how can one expect a fair investigation,” said noted human rights activist and lawyer Parvez Imroz. “Tufail’s father is a brave man who is fighting for the justice for last eight years but you have to understand that government forces are enjoying impunity in the state of Jammu and Kashmir where they get easily,” he added.

Human rights activist Khurram Parvez said that Tufail Mattoo was brutally killed at a time when the anger was already brewing up among the people against the killing of three innocent Kashmiris in a fake encounter by Indian Army. “In Srinagar city, such kind of killing also took place after a long time where a child who was coming back from tuition centres was killed by government forces so this killing became the news and people in large number came on roads to protest against the forces repression in Kashmir.”

“Everybody thought that there is no one safe in Kashmir and at that point of time it led to a huge public mobilisation,” he added.

Ashraf has attended more than 50 court hearings in past 8 years and he has lost all hopes on Judiciary. “I tried my best to give the opportunities to the state government for delivering justice by arresting the culprits but unfortunately they, in turn, shield them and they not only murdered the justice but their so-called democracy as well, they have been doing it in Kashmir since three decades.”

Khurram observed that since 2010 the street protest continues in Kashmir. “Whenever there is the killing of a civilian or even we can see when a militant is being killed in an encounter people start protesting in a large number. The uprising is ongoing.”

“The protest trend is not according to calendar given by Hurriyat (Conference) now; the trend is according to the killings be it a civilian or a militant,” he added.

“There is no will shown by the side of the government to investigate any crime whether it’s killing of Tufail Mattoo, rapes, torture and disappearances. They are reluctant to provide justice to the people, therefore, they are not allowing any investigation which means there is complete unwillingness of Government of India and from the state government to allow process of justice, they don’t allow these processes to function as a normal process where accountability can be created so they have given absolute impunity to armed forces and there is no deterrence and therefore these crimes are getting repeated again and again,” he maintained.

“So, his killing was actually the trigger that became the reason for the summer uprising,” he added.

Noted journalist and editor Najeeb Mubarki said that Kashmir is a cotton balefire, where enforced ‘normality’ never douses the smouldering embers and which only needs a spark to rage once again.

“Tufail’s killing in 2010 was one such spark, there have been others since and, given the fact of neither the political conflict being resolved or even the killers being ever given punishment, unfortunately, there will be other such sparks in the form of killings or other abuses. But Tufail also became a symbol, that of Kashmiri youngsters being killed by a brutal military regime calling itself a democracy and of a younger generation becoming the spearhead of resistance against the state of utter brutality,” said Mubarki.

Ashraf said, “When 120 youth were killed after my son’s killing, the parents of those youth decide not to fight the case because they were aware that they will not get the justice from the government. I decided to fight the case as I was believing and I was a staunch supporter of democracy…Today when they meet me, I told them that your decision of not fighting the case was right as justice seems to be elusive to me as well,” he said.

Referring to notes from his son’s case file, Ashraf said that it takes a lot of time for the common people to even register an FIR.

“Our application was rejected by the Police and they accepted it only after court’s direction and when it comes to probing, they do it in a way that culprits are saved and the court hearings are stretched so long that the victim gets exhausted and he ultimately gives-up the case” he explained.

“Investigation in Kashmir is a cruel joke; they do it to hush-up the case that is why I rejected the recommendations of the Justice Koul Commission of Inquiry, which had recommended a CBI investigation into the killing,” he said.

“I am the father of the victim and the points I had raised in my letter before the (Koul) commission were not even touched and thus the real perpetrators had been let off,” he alleged.

He is buried at two places, his body is buried at martyrs graveyard in the old city and the fragments of his brain that lay scattered on the ground were gathered by locals and buried nearby. “This haunts me all the time,” says Ashraf.

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Who was the loser in the latest Phalgam attack ?

The Kashmiris. After the abrogation of Article-370, the Kashmiris went through a system of oppression. Curfew and austerity had destroyed their economy. Now, when some possibilities of tourism were created somewhere, the incident of attack took place in Pahalgam.

This question demands attention, is this an attack on India's interests or is it an attack on the economy of the Kashmiris?

Pahalgam is a Muslim-majority area. The economy of the Muslims, Sikhs and out sider Indian hindus here is linked to tourism. Why would any Kashmiri  militant groups destroy the economy of its own people?

Now, in practice, it has happened that the economy of the Kashmiris  was destroyed, the blame fell on Pakistan. This has had all-round effects. On one side, there is the international community in front of which Pakistan is being indicted. On the other side, there are the Kashmiris who are being convinced that look, Pakistan is the one who is attacking your economy.

Not only this, but with this, the path of further austerity in Kashmir will also be paved in the name of security. The process of grabbing Kashmiri lands in the name of security will also accelerate and there will be justification for it.

The issue of land is very important. This aspect is also a fundamental motivation for changing the Muslim Waqf law in India because the Muslim Waqf has 5,045 square kilometers of land. This area is more than many countries in the world. Six times more than Singapore and Bahrain. India has a special 'benevolent eye' on it.

This process of colonization and land grabbing is also going on in Kashmir under different titles, and it is likely to intensify further in the name of security.

The economy of Kashmiri Muslims is being destroyed, a storm will rise against Pakistan and Kashmiris at the diplomatic level. Indian journalists are also talking about surgical strikes. All this is happening at a time when Pakistan seems to be recovering from the economic crisis to some extent. This question becomes very important that who is the beneficiary of this whole situation?

No matter how the interest is calculated, India appears to be the beneficiary. Therefore, it is natural for the question to arise whether this incident was terrorism or some internal or external  game.

What a shame IHK Kashmiris equating Pakistan with India

Srinagar, Oct 4: Reports emanating from Srinagar say that the ongoing reignited movement of the Kashmiris has taken an altogether new turn. The new generation, fiercely engaged in giving a tough time to the Indian forces, is of a different breed and one may compare it with the fearless children of Gaza in Palestine. They have not only stood up against the tyranny of the Indian occupation forces but some of them, or a few of them, are now equally getting disenchanted with Pakistan as well. They are using modern communication technology for highlighting their just struggle against the worst State terrorism in the history. Short video clips of protests by Kashmiri youths and their clashes with Indian security forces are often shot on cell phones and passed from device to device or posted on the Web and Facebook to document their own struggle and to inspire more resistance, reports PO(2/11)

The protests have led India to one of its most serious internal crises in recent memory. Not just because of their ferocity and persistence, but because they signal the failure of decades of Indian efforts to win the assent of Kashmiris using just about any tool available money, elections and overwhelming use of brute force. A report in the New York Times on 12th August 2010 said, “India today faces a threat which is potentially more dangerous to the world's largest democracy an Intifada-like popular revolt against Indian rule that includes not just angry young men but their sisters, mothers, uncles and grandparents.”

The new developments are also being taken notice of by analysts and strategic writers in India who are of the opinion that the new surge has no backing from across the LoC. I pay my compliments to Sialkot-born veteran and respected Indian journalist and analyst Kuldip Nayar who, in a column published in Pakistan on 20th August 2010, openly stated that there was no Pakistani hand in the present movement in Kashmir and that it had nothing to do with the militants. He termed it as a spontaneous movement which started with the killing of teenager Tufail Ahmad on June 11, 2010.

Amitabh Mattoo, a Professor of Strategic Affairs at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and a Kashmiri Hindu said in an interview, “We need a complete revisit of what our policies in Kashmir have been,” He also said “It is not about money you have spent huge amounts of money. It is not about fair elections. It is about reaching out to a generation of Kashmiris who think India is a huge monster represented by bunkers and security forces.” These comments reflect the ground realities and are believed by the Indian Government as well. If India had a slight suspicion of foreign backing, it would have accused Pakistan and the much-maligned Hafiz Saeed and raised uproar the world over as it did after the Mumbai attacks.

Indeed, Kashmiris' demand for self-determination is louder today than perhaps it had been at any other time in the region's troubled history. It comes in part because diplomatic efforts remain frozen to resolve the dispute created more than 60 years ago with the partition of the Subcontinent. With no apparent avenue to progress, Kashmiris are getting despaired that their struggle is taking place in a vacuum, and they are taking matters into their own hands.

It is, therefore, proved that the new Intifada is home-grown and women and youths in the IHK stare into the eyes of the occupation troops and are confronting the security forces without any fear. It is a known reality that when youth and women come on the streets then history is rewritten. It was also evident from the incident of 15th August when Abdul Ahad Jan, a Kashmiri police official, hurled a shoe at puppet Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at a ceremony in Srinagar to celebrate India's Independence Day, which is routinely observed by Kashmiris as Black Day. This was an indication that even the civil servants too were with the people in their struggle for the realization of their birthright.

Another dimension of the movement is that it is now more independence centric and the old Kashmiri leaders who are on both sides of the LoC and were for independence, today feel encouraged. However, it does not mean that all Kashmiris are disenchanted with Pakistan as even now the senior, respected and popular leaders like Mir Waiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Gilani having influence over a vast majority of people are still raising the slogan of “Kashmir Banay Ga Pakistan” and it is amply reflected in their statements and policies. A proof of their following can be judged from the fact that when they gave a call for shutdown on 15th August, there was a curfew-like situation in the IHK and everything came to a standstill. In no way, these Kashmiri leaders are marginalized but there is a visible trend among the youth for independence for Kashmir and disenchantment with Pakistan.

The cold-shouldering of some youngsters towards Pakistan needs to be analyzed and understood. Let us recall that there was a time when all the Political Parties and other stakeholders in Pakistan used, rather openly, to extend, moral, diplomatic and political support to the struggle of Kashmiris at all international fora. The IHK Kashmiris had a psychological feeling that Pakistan was with them. Now this position seems to have watered down in the recent years. The founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam described Kashmir as the jugular vein of Pakistan and now the water issue has proved that Kashmir is vital for its own survival. Kashmir is rightly considered as the unfinished agenda of independence and its annexation by the then Hindu Maharaja in October 1947 was in sheer violation of the will of the majority Muslim population of the State and principles of partition of the Sub-continent. But now, hardly anyone in Pakistan talks of the occupied Kashmir, particularly the present Government has an altogether different, rather enigmatic, approach to the Kashmir issue. I happened to be at the Presidency on September 9, 2008 when President Asif Ali Zardari took oath and later during his maiden press conference in the company of Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared, “The nation would hear good news about Kashmir this month”. The said categorical statement created a lot of stir, and apprehension as well. I fail to understand even now what prompted the President to make this unusual categorical statement. How come a sudden and dramatic development could take place that he became so sure of a solution within the remaining 21 days of the month. Earlier too, Kashmiris were angered when in March 2008, in an interview to the Wall Street Journal, Zardari denounced the liberation struggle in Kashmir as terrorism, even though nearly one lakh Kashmiris embraced martyrdom for this most legitimate struggle. Angered by Zardari's betrayal, the Muslims of occupied Kashmir burned the effigy of a Pakistani leader for the first time in history because the remarks were seen as an insult to their sacrifices and tantamount to rubbing salt into their wounds.

Such overtures by the successor and worthy son-in-law of PPP founder Z.A. Bhutto, who was very vocal for the Kashmiris' right to self-determination, raised many eyebrows in Kashmir and Pakistan. I am sure that had BB been alive, she would not have uttered such casual and childish remarks on such a crucial national issue. I, without going into details, think on the whole the incumbent Government has quite deviated from the slogan of Z.A. Bhutto, “We will fight for a thousand years for Kashmir”, and this must have injured the sensitivities of the new generation in the IHK

I may say that a top Pakistani strategist in a meeting with me last week inquired, “Mr Malik, how come the Pakistani media is not reflecting the new Intifada in Kashmir despite the developments having such a big news value?” He referred to 100-hour candle light vigil in front of White House on 22nd August and demonstrations in Britain and European countries against Indian atrocities. He said even MPs in Kuwait on 25th August condemned rights abuses in the IHK but strangely all these were media ignored by Pakistani media. I shared his concern because our media is indeed too much focused on day-to-day issues in Pakistan and the country's vital crucial and strategic interests and regional situations having serious repercussions are sadly being ignored.

Leaving aside media, after the said encounter with the strategist I rang up the young and vibrant newly elected Prime Minister of AJK Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan, drew his attention and shared my views with him on the new anti-India wave in Srinagar and other major towns in the Valley. I consider Azad Kashmir as base camp for the legitimate struggle of Kashmiri people and want its leadership to play its due role effectively. Not only that I, for the first time, visited on August 19 the residence of Barrister Sultan Mahmood, another heavyweight Kashmiri leader having considerable influence in Kashmir, Pakistan and among overseas Kashmiris and exchanged views with him on the new phenomenon in Srinagar. He appeared to be inspired by the new developments.

Readers are well aware that Independent Kashmir is not altogether a new idea. I remember late Dr Mahboobul Haq, in an interview to popular and influential Urdu weekly Hurmat (of which I was Editor-in-Chief) in 1994, mooted the idea for handing over Kashmir to the UN Trusteeship Council. Later, he repeated his idea during an interview to an English daily. At that time, veteran Kashmiri leader Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, who was Prime Minister of AJK, got somewhat inquisitive and telephonically inquired from me about the importance of the timing and motives of such a statement. This telephonic call later resulted in a meeting between Mujahid-e-Awwal and Dr Mehboobul Haq at my residence, and I still remember how vehemently during the meeting Dr Mehboobul Haq, himself a Kashmiri, advocated for an independent Kashmir. I also remember the late financial wizard saying that if Kashmir gets independence, the US will invest about $ 10 billion there and it will become Switzerland in this part of the world. He also posed a question to Sardar Qayyum Khan “What Pakistan has given to the Kashmiris and what the Indians have given to them?” When I posed a question on the occasion whether in such an eventuality the Karakoram Highway, the only road link of Pakistan with all-weather friend China, will be cut off, to which he emphatically stated “YES”.

The JKLF is the main advocate of independent Kashmir. Its committed Chairman, Amanullah Khan, in one of his articles said, "The future independent Kashmir is to be neutral, like Switzerland, having friendly and trade relations with all its neighbours.' According to Amanullah Khan's proposal, 'Independent Kashmir is to consist of five federating units: Kashmir Valley, Jammu Province, Ladakh, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

In any case, if the concept of independent Kashmir with inevitable US presence materializes it will be a rude shock to the Peoples Republic of China as such an eventuality will be against its vital strategic interests. Similarly, such a development will also be detrimental to the interests of Pakistan and if I may say to India as well. Kashmiris should bear in mind that if peace and security and even sovereignty of bigger States like Pakistan, Bangladesh and now even Afghanistan are imperiled because of hegemonic policies of the USA, then what would be the fate of a comparatively smaller State of independent Kashmir?

Anyhow, I am sorry to point out that despite monumental changes taking place in Occupied Kashmir, Pakistani leaders seem to have put the Kashmir issue on the back burner, which may cause irreparable damage to our stand and position on this vital issue that is the question of life and death for Pakistan's economy and geo-strategic interests. Therefore, it is high time that leadership in Pakistan and all other stakeholders should ponder over the fast emerging new ground realities in the Valley and please see to it that the new breed of Kashmiris should not get disenchanted with Pakistan. Our monumental sacrifices and sufferings for the last 62 years for the sake of the Kashmiris should not be now drowned in the Kishanganga or in other Indian dams. History will never forgive those who have scanty respect for the blood of poor innocent Kashmiris spilled over in the whole of Jammu and Kashmir during all these long years. (Writer-South Asia)

Norwegian parliament to start debate on Kashmir from Nov 15

Oslo, October 21:  The Norwegian Parliament, while taking notice of human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, has issued schedule to debate the Kashmir dispute from November 15.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister after replying the points to be raised by members of the Parliament would release a policy statement on Kashmir.

The Chairman of Parliamentary Kashmir Committee of Norway had submitted a motion in the Parliament about the massive violations of human rights in the disputed territory by Indian troops. He demanded of the Foreign Minister to issue a policy statement on the dispute after thorough debate on the Indian state terrorism in the territory.

The Kashmir Committee Chief mentioned in his motion that Kashmir solution was necessary for bringing peace in Afghanistan.

The speaker of the Norwegian Parliament while accepting the motion for debate in the parliament, released the schedule from November 15.(Writer-South Asia)