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)

Benazir Killed At the Behest of CIA: PPP Chief

Srinagar, Dec.27 : A high level meeting of Bhutto Memorial Trust (BMT) and People’s Political Party (PPP) was held to commemorate Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s 3rd death anniversary at party headquarters, Rajbagh, Srinagar, Kashmir (IOK).

PPP Chairman, Hilal Ahmad War said that Benazir Bhutto was killed at the behest of CIA. He further said that she and her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto vehemently opposed American Policy of making Pakistan a satellite State for its future plans. First America engineered the killing of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and late its agency, CIA got Benazir eliminated. Mr. War said that assassination of Benazir Bhutto was part of the ploy to create instability in Pakistan. This type of condition is created in Pakistan to justify the take over of Nuclear Weapons of Pakistan by United States, said War.

War said Z.A. Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto created thousands of Bhuttos after their assassination. They were such a strong inspiration that many Bhuttos were born as a result of their martyrdom, said War. War said Bhutto’s not only threw challenge to the anti-democratic forces in Pakistan but were a thorn in the flesh of the anti-Muslim forces worldwide. The anti-Muslim forces in the world never wanted to see Muslims united and as a result they saw Z.A. Bhutto as the biggest threat, and that is why they conspired   with various forces within the country to liquidate him, said Engineer Hilal War. PPP and BMT have demanded Z. A. Bhutto’s murder case be reopened and the culprits be punished. We demand the reopening of the Shaheed Z.A.  Bhutto murder case, so that the perpetrators are brought to book.

Mr.War said in his speech , “ it appears that due to vested interest and non concern for the integrity and stability of Pakistan, some prominent members of the present PPP Government are adamant to sell off Bhutto’s of their ‘dignity and honour’ that they earned globally for their struggle to make Pakistan a stronger and “ Greater Pakistan”. He further said, “Buzz is that fake Bhutto’s are thriving and acquiring benefits on the glorious sacrifices of Shaheed Z.A. Bhutto and his family”.

The speakers emphasised that the concept of Greater Pakistan floated by Shaheed Z.A. Bhutto and his Kashmir Policy for realisation of right of self-determination for struggling people of Jammu and Kashmir were and are the source of inspiration for the political and armed activists of Kashmir Liberation Movement. The participants of the meeting urged the Government of Pakistan to formulate a Kashmir Policy in accordance with the letter and spirit of Bhutto's Kashmir Policy.

The participants of the meeting also disfavoured and disapproved the proposed idea of showing any flexibility by government of Pakistan with regard to settlement of Kashmir Dispute as such a flexibility is bound to cause a irreparable damage to Kashmir Cause and shall affect Kashmir Liberation Movement which has so far taken heaviest toll of life, honour and property in entire J & K State.

The participants of the Trust unanimously appealed to the people of Pakistan that they should rise above regional, racial and ethnic prejudices and considerations and unite together in the direction of national and emotional integration because such a course could only save Pakistan from external conspiracies aimed at disintegrating the country once again like December 1971.

After conclusion of speeches delivered by various participants’ special prayers (Fatah Khawani) were offered for the eternal peace and comfort of the souls of Shaheed Z.A.Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.(Writer-South Asia)

US complicit in India’s systematic use of torture in Kashmir

By Deepal Jayasekera
New Delhi, Dec 24 : US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks show that Washington has long had evidence of Indian authorities’ systematic use of torture against opponents of Indian rule over Jammu and Kashmir, but has chosen not to speak out against New Delhi’s gross human rights violations.

In a classified cable sent in April 2005, the then-US ambassador to New Delhi, David C. Mulford, reported to the US State Department on a “confidential briefing” embassy officials had received from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “on widespread severe torture in Indian prisons in Kashmir between 2002 and 2004.”

“The continued ill-treatment of detainees,” reported Mulford, “despite longstanding ICRC-GOI (Government of India] dialogue, have led the ICRC to conclude” that New Delhi “condones torture.”

In their briefing, the ICRC officials emphasized that those subjected to torture by Indian authorities were generally not anti-Indian insurgents—since Indian security forces have a standard practice of summarily executing suspected insurgents. Rather they were noncombatants, those accused of providing the insurgents support or suspected of having useful information: the “detainees were rarely militants (they are routinely killed), but persons connected to or believed to have information about the insurgency.”

The ICRC officials said they had made more than 177 visits to detention centers and had interviewed 1,491 detainees. Of these, according to the US embassy’s summation of the ICRC findings, 852, or well over half, had suffered abuse. 171 were beaten and 681 were “subjected to one or more of six forms of torture.” 498 persons were subjected to electric shocks; 381 to suspension from a ceiling; 294 to crushing of leg muscles through use of a “roller”; 181 to 180-degree leg-splitting; 234 to various forms of water torture; and 302 to sexual abuse.

The “numbers add up to more than 681,” says the cable “as many detainees were subjected to more than one form of IT (ill-treatment.) ICRC stressed that all the branches of the security forces used these forms of IT and torture.”

Indian and international human rights organizations have presented numerous reports documenting Indian authorities’ horrific human right abuses in the two-decades-old counterinsurgency war in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state.

Nevertheless, the evidence presented by the ICRC to the US diplomats was both damning—given the access the ICRC had had to Indian detention centers—and highly significant. As a rule, the ICRC does not make its findings known to anyone but the government having jurisdiction over the facilities it inspects. It argues that if it assumes a public advocacy role, its status as a neutral organization will be jeopardized and governments will deny access to prisoners, making it impossible for the ICRC to fulfill its humanitarian mission.

But in this case, ICRC officials had apparently become so frustrated and angered by the stance of the Indian government they chose to reveal their findings to US officials. The cable reports, “There is a regular and widespread use of IT and torture by the security forces during interrogation; -- This always takes place in the presence of officers; -- ICRC has raised these issues with the GOI for more than 10 years; -- Because practice continues, ICRC is forced to conclude that GOI condones torture.”

Horrific as were the ICRC’s findings, its officials reported that conditions had improved from the mid-1990s, when security forces invaded villages in the middle of the night and arbitrarily and indefinitely detained many of their residents.

Still, the ICRC had never been allowed right to speak with prisoners at the most “notorious” detention center, the “Cargo Building” in Srinagar. And increasingly the Indian government was seeking to curb the ICRC’s activities, even though, in keeping with its traditional mode of operation, it had not made any of its findings public. According to the April 2005 cable, the ICRC had told the US diplomats, “the MEA [Indian ministry of external affairs] also protested the ICRC’s presence in Srinagar [the capital of Jammu and Kashmir], asking it to ‘wind up’ its operations, advising that its ‘public activities must stop’ (believed to be a reference to a seminar ICRC staff held at Kashmir University on IHL in 2004), and warning against ‘unauthorized contacts with separatist elements’.”

In another cable from 2007, the US’s Indian embassy noted that a member of the Jammu and Kashmir legislature, Usman Abdul Majid, was the leader a pro-Indian government militia “notorious for its use of torture, extra-judicial killing, rape and extortion of Kashmiri civilians suspected of harbouring or facilitating terrorists.”

But while US officials in India have been keeping the State Department informed of the conduct of the Indian security forces and allied militia in Kashmir and of the support this enjoys from the highest levels of the Indian government, neither they nor their superiors in Washington have publicly condemned the Indian authorities. On the contrary, under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, India has been touted as the world’s most populous democracy and a “natural ally” of the US in promoting “democratic values” around the world. When Obama visited India last month, in deference to his hosts, he studiously avoided any mention of Kashmir.

The US’s silence on the Indian state’s repression in Kashmir is yet another example of the cynicism and hypocrisy of US foreign policy under Republican and Democratic administrations alike. Washington routinely issues ringing condemnations of the human rights violations of foreign governments whose interests and policies are cutting across those of the US corporate elite—condemnations that are then amplified by a pliant media. But India is being assiduously courted by Washington and Wall Street, because it is viewed as a counterweight to a rising China. Hence the US silence on the repression in Kashmir.

Declaring that the US wants to assist India in becoming a “world power,” the US, under George W. Bush, secured India special status in the world nuclear regulatory regime, giving it the right to purchase civilian nuclear technology and fuel, although New Delhi developed nuclear weapons in defiance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And Obama, also touting the US’s support for India’s global aspirations, announced during his recent trip to India that Washington supports India becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The Indian elite’s reaction to the WikiLeaks cables about Kashmir has been telling. A spokesman for the India’s Congress Party-led coalition government brushed the ICRC findings aside, declaring “India is an open and democratic nation which adheres to the rule of law. If and when an aberration occurs, it is promptly and firmly dealt with under existing legal mechanisms in an effective and transparent manner.”

The reality is India’s security forces have and continue to enjoy impunity.

Not surprisingly, the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which led India’s government from 1998 to 2004 and presided over much of the repression in Kashmir, had nothing to say about the ICRC findings.

As for the Indian press, it gave the matter short shrift. In some of the major dailies, such as the Hindu and the Indian Express, there were perfunctory reports, but there were no editorials demanding that the government and security forces be held to account. The attitude of the press and the ruling class toward the Kashmir question is exemplified by the recent widespread calls for the writer Arundhati Roy to be charged with treason for suggesting that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should have the right to choose to leave the Indian Union.

In response to the WikiLeaks revelations, the head of the National Conference (NC)— which leads the current state government in Jammu and Kashmir in a coalition with the Congress Party and is also a partner of the Congress in India’s national government—tried to shift the blame on his political rivals.

“We don’t condone torture and will not turn a blind eye to reports of human rights violations,” declared Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. “Not only the state government, but the Center too has a policy of zero tolerance to human rights abuses.”

Refusing to comment directly on the WikiLeaks’ exposure, Abdullah said, “I am not getting into it… It pertains to 2005 and you know who was in power that time.” Abdullah was referring to the fact that the state was then ruled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), also in a coalition with the Congress Party.

Abdullah’s claims to uphold democratic rights are belied by the actions of his government. Under its direction, security forces killed more than a hundred unarmed demonstrators this summer in a bid to quell a popular mobilization in the Kashmir Valley provoked by the police killing of a youth. (See Kashmir seethes: Indian elite resorts to repression and political maneuvers)

In answer to Abdullah, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said, “Omar Abdullah should be the last person talking about human rights abuse. The PDP’s tenure is for everybody to see and we don’t need any certificate from anybody but the people.” Turning the tables on the NC, she added: “We inherited from the National Conference (in 2002) a Kashmir in which human rights violations were at their peak.”

Both Kashmir regional parties have served as junior partners of the Indian state and the principal parties of the Indian bourgeoisie, the Congress Party and the BJP, in the systematic violation of democratic and human rights in Kashmir, including the torture of political prisoners as documented in the diplomatic cables exposed by WikiLeaks.

Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: Medicinal plants cultivation and planting material

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U.S. cannot undermine Iran-Saudi ties: general

TEHRAN, 23 December: The United States cannot undermine the amicable relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Iranian Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri said on Monday, reports TT (23/12)

Jazayeri made the remarks in response to a U.S. strategic research center’s recent statement claiming that Saudi Arabia, which has purchased weapons from the U.S. worth over $60 billion, can now attack Iran.

Iran has friendly relations with all regional countries and such statements are meant to damage relations between the two important Islamic nations, Jazayeri, who is a senior Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commander, told the Mehr News Agency.

These statements are part of a psychological warfare campaign being waged against Iran, but no country in the region is a threat to any of the others, he stated.

The United States is attempting to generate animosity among regional countries in order serve its own interests, he said.

Officials from Iran and regional Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, address each other as “brother”, but Washington, under various administrations, has always sought to demonize Iran in the eyes of Arabs, especially Saudi officials.

“Terrorism” will stop when Jews stop their war on Muslims

Bangalore, December 17:  President Obama and other Western leaders are repeatedly asking the Muslims to stop “terrorism” so that they can call off their “war on terrorism”, reports DV.

There is lot of hypocrisy on this newly popularised term “terrorism”. The Western war on terrorism is nothing but a war on Muslims — plain and simple.

This war is nothing but a zionist conspiracy carried out by the Western Christian leadership at the behest of Jews.

This is because all the Western Christian countries are controlled by the Jews with the help of their money power, media and Christian stooges.

Muslims refused to be fooled: It is the American Jews, who control that country and managed Obama election. It is they who managed to make him utter sweet words to Muslims at Cairo and elsewhere.

But the Muslims refused to be fooled. The Jewish engineered war on Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq resulted in disastrous defeat of US.

Obama later tried to fool the Muslims on Palestine. But here also he failed because the zionist Jews are not prepared to budge even an inch on Palestine.

Any amount of his pouring milk to the serpent is no use. Serpent will continue to bite Obama.

China on top of world: Western Christian leaders, led by the US which is controlled by its 2% Jews, are defeated in their war on terror. The Jews with their monopoly over the media, have launched a hurricane of Islamophobia. But nothing is working.

Rise of Iran: The disgusted Jews got Obama defeated in the recent Congressional elections. Nor are they giving any opportunity for him to succeed in Palestine.

China has already come on the top of the world and USA is getting weakened. With the defeat in Afghanistan, USA is preparing to pack up.

Iran is fast becoming a nuclear power and its political power has expanded with Iraq coming under its sway. Turkey turning against West is another big defeat for the West.

If the Western Christian rulers, who are still in the grip of Jews, are tired of their war on terror, the only way-out is to call halt to Islamophobia.

The zionists, repeatedly getting disappointed with the Western Christian rulers, are naturally furious. This is one of the causes for the economic decline of USA and also UK. And perhaps EU.

Our fear is zionists are determined to take revenge on the whole of West if it does not come out in full support of Israel — which means all-out war on Iran.

But the “Jews of India” are not reading the writings on the wall. It is still holding on to the tail of USA (and Jews) without realising that it is a sinking ship.

China has expanded his influence all over the world. Within an year it is going to be the world’s no.1 economic power.

Anti-zionist front takes shape: China, Iran, Russia together with all the Muslim and African countries — even Latin America — are fast coming together to become the world’s strongest bloc. The Blacks of Africa — the victims of White racism, will never go with the West. Already China has established full influence on all the African countries.

Germany, the worst victim of the zionists, is fast coming up. Already it is the richest in Europe.

What Bahujans can do: The Jews and the “Jews of India” are gradually getting totally isolated.

Bahujan leaders of India belonging to the SC/ST/BCs and Muslims must wake up and prepare themselves to confront the fast-moving global changes.

That is why we have been repeatedly telling that internally we have no hope but the fast-moving international developments are very much in our favour.

WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir

New Delhi, December 17: US officials had evidence of widespread torture by Indian police and security forces and were secretly briefed by Red Cross staff about the systematic abuse of detainees in Kashmir, according to leaked diplomatic cables.

The dispatches, obtained by website WikiLeaks, reveal that US diplomats in Delhi were briefed in 2005 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) about the use of electrocution, beatings and sexual humiliation against hundreds of detainees.

Other cables show that as recently as 2007 American diplomats were concerned about widespread human rights abuses by Indian security forces, who they said relied on torture for confessions.

The revelations will be intensely embarrassing for Delhi, which takes pride in its status as the world's biggest democracy, and come at a time of heightened sensitivity in Kashmir after renewed protests and violence this year.

Other cables reveal that:

• The Dalai Lama has told US officials that combating climate change is more urgent than finding a political solution in Tibet, which "can wait five to 10 years".

• Rahul Gandhi, the crown prince of Indian politics, believes Hindu extremists pose a greater threat to his country than Muslim militants, according to the American ambassador to India.

• Five doctors were coerced by the Sri Lankan government to recant on casualty figures they gave to journalists in the last months of island's brutal civil war.

The most highly charged dispatch is likely to be an April 2005 cable from the US embassy in Delhi which reports that the ICRC had become frustrated with the Indian government which, they said, had not acted to halt the "continued ill-treatment of detainees".

The embassy reported the ICRC concluded that India "condones torture" and that the torture victims were civilians as militants were routinely killed.

The ICRC has a long-standing policy of engaging directly with governments and avoiding the media, so the briefing remained secret.

An insurgency pitting separatist and Islamist militants – many supported by Pakistan – against security services raged in Kashmir throughout the 1990s and into the early years of this decade.

It claimed tens of thousands of lives, including large numbers of civilians who were targeted by both militants and security forces.

The ICRC staff told the US diplomats they had made 177 visits to detention centres in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India between 2002 and 2004, and had met 1,491 detainees. They had been able to interview 1,296 privately.

In 852 cases, the detainees reported ill-treatment, the ICRC said. A total of 171 described being beaten and 681 said they had been subjected to one or more of six forms of torture.

These included 498 on which electricity had been used, 381 who had been suspended from the ceiling, 294 who had muscles crushed in their legs by prison personnel sitting on a bar placed across their thighs, 181 whose legs had been stretched by being "split 180 degrees", 234 tortured with water and 302 "sexual" cases, the ICRC were reported to have told the Americans.

"Numbers add up to more than 681, as many detainees were subjected to more than one form of IT [ill-treatment]," the cable said.

The ICRC said all branches of the Indian security forces used these forms of ill-treatment and torture, adding: "The abuse always takes place in the presence of officers and ... detainees were rarely militants (they are routinely killed), but persons connected to or believed to have information about the insurgency".

The cable said the situation in Kashmir was "much better" as security forces no longer roused entire villages in the middle of the night and detained inhabitants indiscriminately, and there was "more openness from medical doctors and the police."

Ten years ago, the ICRC said there were some 300 detention centres, but there are now "a lot fewer". The organisation had never however gained access to the "Cargo Building", the most notorious detention centre, in Srinagar.

The abuse continued, they said, because "security forces need promotions," while for militants, "the insurgency has become a business".

In the same cable, American diplomats approvingly quoted media reports that India's army chief, Lieutenant-General Joginder Jaswant Singh, had "put human rights issues at the centre of an [recent] conference of army commanders".

The ICRC said a "bright spot" was that it had been able to conduct 300 sessions sensitising junior officers from the security forces to human rights.

The cables reveal a careful US policy of pressure in Kashmir, while maintaining a strictly neutral stance.

Two years after the cable on torture was sent, US diplomats in India argued strongly against granting a visa request from the government of India on behalf of a member of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly who was invited to a conference organised by a think-tank in America.

Usman Abdul Majid, a cable marked secret said, "is a leader of the pro-GOI [government of India] Ikhwan-ul-Musilmeen paramilitary group, which ... is notorious for its use of torture, extra-judicial killing, rape, and extortion of Kashmiri civilians suspected of harbouring or facilitating terrorists."

The diplomats admitted that denying Majid's application might have some repercussions with Indian officials, "especially those from India's Intelligence Bureau who have been close to his case" but said it was essential to preserve a balanced approach to the Kashmir issue following the prior refusal of a visa to the leading separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The cable notes that officials are "unable to verify with evidence the claims against Majid".

US diplomats repeatedly refer to human rights abuses by security and law enforcement agencies within India. In a cable from February 2006, officials reported that "terrorism investigations and court cases tend to rely upon confessions, many of which are obtained under duress if not beatings, threats, or, in some cases, torture".

A year later a brief for the visiting acting coordinator for counter-terrorism, Frank Urbancic, described India's police and security forces as "overworked and hampered by bad ... practices, including the widespread use of torture in interrogations.".

‘UN indirectly supported terrorist attacks in Tehran’

TEHRAN, Dec 16:  - An Iranian official has said that the United Nations has become corrupt and the organization indirectly supported the recent terrorist attacks in Tehran, reports Tehran Times (16/12).

The UN structure has become corrupt, and the UN in some way approved of the recent terrorist attacks in Tehran, and of course, this ignominy will never be forgotten, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, told reporters in Tehran on Monday.

On November 29, two prominent physicists were targeted by terrorists in two separate bombings. Professor Majid Shahriari was killed and Professor Fereydoun Abbasi Davani was injured in the attacks. The two academics were both on their way to work at Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran when they were attacked. The police say that in both incidents, terrorists riding motorcycles attached magnetic bombs to the physicists’ cars.

Larijani said defending terrorists is the most ignoble corruption, but this corrupt practice has pervaded the international organizations that claim to be advocates of human rights.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he stated that some people have received international awards in the area of human rights, even though they have not contributed to the promotion of human rights at all.

For example, Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights, while she had not made any efforts toward these ends, he noted.

Commenting on the post-election incidents in 2009, Larijani said some reformists tried to stage a coup d’etat in Iran, and the West, under the pretext of defending human rights, supported them.

In 2009, some protests were held in Iran and some of them turned into violent scenes in which 21 police officers and 13 civilians were killed, he stated.

At that time, many countries accused Iran of committing human rights violations, he said. However, over the past few weeks, the British police have harshly cracked down on students protesting against the government’s plans to increase university tuition fees, he pointed out.

Yet no country has criticized the British government for the clampdown, he stated.And the claims that the West has never violated human rights but Iran is a violator of human rights are totally untrue, he added

Indian troops subject processions to force in Srinagar India trampling Kashmiris’ political, religious rights

Srinagar, December 15: In disputed state of  Jammu and Kashmir, scores of mourners were injured, some of them critically, when Indian troops used brute force on Muharram processions in Srinagar, today.

The local authorities under the instructions of India , had imposed curfew and restrictions in the city to that the Muharram processions. Defying curfew, people took out processions in Jehangir Chowk, Regal Chowk and Habba Kadal areas. However, Indian troops and police personnel swung into action and resorted to heavy baton charge and excessive teargas shelling injuring dozens of people.

The All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Gilani, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, Rais Ahamad, Sheikh Gulzaar, Nasir Khan, Mushtaq ahmad Lone, Hilal Ahmad War, Yaseen Malik, Javid ahmad Mir, and Nayeem Ahmed Khan in their separate statements strongly denounced the use of force against the mourners. They said that the international community should take cognisance of the fact that the Kashmiri people were not being allowed to perform their religious obligations.

Senior leader of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) and President of Anjuman-e-Sharie Shian, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi has strongly condemned the imposition of curfew and other restrictions in Srinagar by the occupation authorities to prevent Muharram processions.

Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi, while addressing the Muharram processions in Budgam and Magam, said that India, on one side, was claiming to be the largest democracy of the world, while, on the other, was massively violating human rights in the  territory.

He said that the occupation authorities besides committing the worst kind of state terrorism were trampling the religious rights of the people in the occupied territory and imposition of restrictions on Muharram processions was its ample proof.

The APHC leader said that through such tactics India could not suppress the voice of Kashmiri people struggling for securing their right to self-determination. He reiterated the Kashmiris’ resolve to continue the Kashmiris’ just struggle till its compete success.

He said that on Muharram 10, the Ashur procession would be brought out from Abiguzar in Srinagar at all costs.

Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre-JKMPIC

India has 15 Agroclimatic zones and 17000-18000 species of flowering plants of which 6000-7000 are estimated to have medicinal usage in folk and documented systems of medicine, like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy.  About 960 species of medicinal plants are estimated to be in trade of which 178 species have annual consumption levels in excess of 100 metric tones.

Medicinal plants are not only a major resource base for the traditional medicine & herbal industry but also provide livelihood and health security to a large segment of Indian population.  The domestic trade of the AYUSH industry is of the order of Rs. 80 to 90 billion (1US$ = Rs.50).  The Indian   medicinal plants and their products also account of exports in the range of Rs. 10 billion.

There is global resurgence in traditional and alternative health care systems resulting in world herbal trade which stands at US$ 120 billion and is expected to reach US$ 7 trillion by 2050. India  share in the world trade, at present, however, is quite low.

The Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre (JKMPIC) set-up in January 1996 in Srinagar has the primary mandate of coordinating all matters relating to medicinal plants and support policies and programmes for growth of trade, export, conservation and cultivation and introduction of new plants.

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Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: Sheikh GULZAAR

Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: Sheikh GULZAAR

Sheikh GULZAAR

NGO to plant one crore seeds along Maharashtra highway

Mumbai: One crore seeds of various trees will be planted during a three-day drive along a 350 km stretch of National Highway No.3 (Agra-Mumbai) between Maharashtra's Thane and Dhule districts, an NGO said Sunday, reports Times of India

Thane-based Hariyali's "Maha Beejaropan Abhiyan" is intended at increasing the green cover in the rural parts of the state, the NGO's chief Punam Sangavi said Sunday.

Starting June 25 from Thane, the drive will go through Shahapur, Kasara, Igatpuri, Nashik, Chandwad, and Malegaon to end in Dhule, he said, adding it would witness the participation of around 10,000 people including local students.

Singavi also mentioned how the NGO has involved the Varkaris (devotees who walk to the holy town of Pandharpur to worship Vithoba, a form of Lord Krishna) in the seed planting drive since a few years.

"We spoke to the head of the Varkari community and told them it would really help even if one devotee plants 10 seeds every day. They agreed and we have been providing them with the seeds since then," he said.

Medicinal Ornamental/Fruit Plants can be obtained from:-

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home: http://jkmpic.blogspot.com

e-mail: cikashmir@gmail.com

Ph: 09858986794

Contact person: Sheikh GULZAAR

Syed Ali Shah Gilani's nexus between Hurriyat and Lashkar's Abu Furqaan

S. Asif/Mohammad Shafi

Srinagar, Nov 27: The Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, SM Sahai, today said that 60 odd Government employees were arrested among the total 135 identified who took part in the recent protests.

“Some seven employees were detained under PSA,” Sahai said. He said that police had sent recommendations about them to their respective departments. “We hope that disciplinary action will be taken against them," Sahai said while addressing a press conference at Police Control Room here.

He said timber smugglers and criminals had also taken advantage of the recent unrest as police was focused on maintaining the law and order. He said the six months of unrest were not spontaneous but were masterminded by Lashker-e-Toiba militant outfit.

“The investigations reveal that agitation was increasingly a thoughtful plan carried out by Lashkar,” Sahai said. “We have exposed a module in Batamaloo area involved in the incidents of lobbying grenades. Its members were also notorious stone throwers.”

The IG said 18 grenades were recovered from the possession of four youth. During the course of investigation, he said the detained youth revealed that the module was formed by one Sajad Ahmad alias Shamas, a Lashker militant located in Thanamandi area of Rajouri district.

Similarly, he said there is nexus between Hurriyat and Lashkar. “Recently we arrested Tehsil saddar of  Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Rohama, Ghulam Muhammad Tantray of  Syed Ali Shah Gilanai  who is a resident of Behrampora Rafiabad,” IG said. “His telephonic conversation with Lashkar commander Abu Furqaan reveals that he was linked to the outfit. Both of them stayed together for a day and mooted plans to increase and organize the agitation. So it shows how there are links between militants and separatists.” Furqaan was also involved in killing of top Sr. leader  Sheikh Aziz.

Sahai said as the stone pelting has receded, the militant activity has increased. “They want to keep the cycle going,” he said.

Sahai said Pakistani establishment has still kept intact militant training infrastructure on their soil. Sahai said that revelations made by detained Lashkar militant Saleem Rehmani indicate the role of Pakistani agencies in aiding militancy in the Valley.

Rehmani alias Abu Saad, police said, was arrested recently by police from Panzan area in Budgam district.

KPSS condemns attack on Mirwaiz

SRINAGAR, Nov 25:  Kashmiri Pandit Sangarash Samiti (KPSS) has condemned the act committed by some right wing Hindu groups in Chandhigarh under the KP banner to widen the gap between Kashmiri communities, reports GKNN.

In a statement Sanjay K Tickoo, president of KPSS, said the role of UT government and the organizers should also be put under scanner who allowed the people to instigate the situation that can lead to more damage in Kashmir Valley.
 

“In 2008, during Shri Amarnath land row, when so called Indian mechanism failed to protect the rights and lives of minorities in the Valley from the un-scrupulous elements, it was Syed Ali Shah Geelani, , Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Shabir ahmad Shah and other Hurriyat leaders who provided sigh of relief to the minorities living in Kashmir by showing concern and sending their cadre to protect the minorities whenever needed,” he said.

Whatever the political or religious ideologies Syed Ali Shah Geelani or Mirwaiz and other pro freedom leaders belong to, they always extended the helping hand to the minorities in the hour of need,” he added.

Iran will start production of fuel for Tehran reactor in summer 2011

TEHRAN, Nov 25:  The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has announced that it will start the production of the nuclear fuel needed for the Tehran research reactor by the end of summer 2011, reports Tehran Times.

“The artificial sample of the fuel was produced earlier, and the production of the real fuel, enriched up to 20 percent, will start in (the Iranian calendar month of) Shahrivar (August 23-September 22, 2011),” IAEO Director Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters on Tuesday.

“Production of the 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel in Iran is a firm response to the West,” Salehi added.

He went on to say that the Islamic Republic currently possesses a large site for the production of nuclear fuel enriched to 20 percent (Writer-South Asia)

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said Iran plans to produce an anti-cancer medicine.

He also said that the IAEO will announce the country’s latest nuclear achievements in two or three weeks, after Iran’s planned meeting with the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany).

The IAEO director rejected rumors started by certain Western media outlets claiming that technical problems have made Iran halt its uranium enrichment program.

“On its progressive path in the nuclear issue, Iran will never pay attention to the lies of the Western media,” he added.

The Westerners disclosed the Stuxnet computer virus attack in July after they failed to achieve their hostile goals, Salehi said.

In July, media reports claimed that Stuxnet had affected industrial computers around the globe, with Iran being the main target of the attack, particularly the country’s first nuclear power plant, which is located in Bushehr.

Prime Minister of India's Office, address, Ph, Fax,e-mail

(Information)

Indian Prime Minister : The Prime Minister of India is the Head of the Union (Federal) Government, as distinct from the President of India, who is the Head of State. Since India has adopted the Westminster model of constitutional democracy, it is the Prime Minister who oversees the day-to-day functioning of the Union (Federal) Government of India.

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The Prime Minister is assisted in this task by his Council of Ministers, comprising Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State with Independent Charge, Ministers of State who work with Cabinet Ministers, and Deputy Ministers.
   
Prime Minister's Office : The President of India appoints the leader of the party or alliance that enjoys majority support in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) as Prime Minister. In case no single party or alliance has a majority, the leader of the largest single party or alliance is appointed Prime Minister, but he/she has to subsequently secure a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha. The Union Council of Ministers is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister can be a member of either the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) or the Lok Sabha. As Prime Minister, he is the Leader of the House to which he belongs. The Prime Minister is also the Chairman of the Planning Commission of India.

As head of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister oversees the work of all the Ministries. He presides over Cabinet meetings, which are normally held in the Cabinet Room of the Prime Minister's Office. The Union Cabinet functions on the principle of "collective responsibility".

The Prime Minister's Office, popularly known as the 'PMO', is located at
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi,
India-110 101.
Telephone: 91-11-23012312.
Fax: 91-11-23019545 / 91-11-23016857.
e-mail:  http://pmindia.nic.in/write.htm

The South Block is one of the two secretariat blocks (the other is known as North Block) that flank Rashtrapati Bhavan - the residence of the President of India.

The PMO provides secretarial assistance to the Prime Minister. It is headed by the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister.  The PMO includes the anti-corruption unit and the public wing dealing with grievances.

The subject-matter of files required to be submitted to the Prime Minister depends on whether he is holding direct charge of the Ministry or whether there is a Cabinet Minister or Minister of State (Independent Charge) in charge of the Ministry.

In the case of the latter, most matters are dealt with by the Cabinet Minister / Minister of State-in-charge. Only important policy issues, which the Minister concerned feels should be submitted to the Prime Minister for orders or information, are received in the PMO.

In cases where the Prime Minister is the Minister-in-charge, all matters requiring Ministerial approval not delegated to the Minister of State / Deputy Minister, if any, are submitted for orders. The Prime Minister has traditionally been the Minister-in-charge of the Departments of Space, Atomic Energy, and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Since the Prime Minister is Chairman of the Planning Commission, relevant files are forwarded to the PMO for his comments and clearance.

Some of the important matters that require the Prime Minister's personal attention include the following:

(a) Important defence-related issues;
(b) Decorations, both civilian and defence, where Presidential approval is required;
(c) All important policy issues;
(d) Proposals for appointment of Indian Heads of Missions abroad and requests for grant of agreement for foreign Heads of Missions posted to India;
(e) All important decisions relating to the Cabinet Secretariat;
(f) Appointments to State Administrative Tribunals and the Central Administrative Tribunal, UPSC, Election Commission, Appointment of members of statutory/constitutional Committees, Commissions attached to various Ministries;
(g) All policy matters relating to the administration of the Civil Services and administrative reforms;
(h) Special Packages announced by the Prime Minister for States are monitored in the PMO and periodical reports submitted to Prime Minister; and
(i) All judicial appointments for which Presidential approval is required.

Parliament Questions
Parliament Questions relating to the Ministries and Departments of which Prime Minister is the Minister-in-charge are answered by a MOS nominated for the purpose or by Prime Minister himself.

PM's Funds
The Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund (NDF) are operated directly from the PMO.

Kashmiri leaders plan visit to China, IRAN

Srinagar, Nov 21: Encouraged by China and Iran’s recent stand on Kashmir, both factions of Hurriyat Conference are planning to visit the two countries to mobilize their ‘permanent’ diplomatic support towards resolution of the Kashmir issue.

As part of the process, the chairmen of the two factions will meet the envoys of the two countries during their scheduled visits to New Delhi in coming days.

“A visit to Iran and China will not only strengthen our movement on diplomatic front but will help us to garner more international support for resolution of Kashmir issue. Like Pakistan, we have to garner support from these countries to pressurise India to resolve the Kashmir issue amicably and according to UN resolutions,” Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani told Rising Kashmir.

He said during his planned visit to New Delhi he would be meeting the envoys of China and Iran. “I would meet the ambassadors of the two countries to formulate a proper mechanism for a formal visit,” Geelani said adding, “A permanent support for the implementation of UN resolutions will strengthen our long-pending demand for Right to Self Determination to allow Kashmiris to determine their fate”.

He, however, said any visit to these countries will be subject to the issuance of travel documents by the Indian authorities.

The Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also said that his conglomerate is working on diplomatic front for such a visit. “International support for Kashmir is must and we will surely visit these countries whenever such an opportunity comes. We are working on such things and as a first step we would be meeting the envoys of China and Iran during my scheduled visit to Indian capital in the coming weeks,” Mirwaiz said.

He said China’s stand on Kashmir has always been encouraging and the recent statement by Iranian spiritual leader on Kashmir is a beginning of support building process on international level for resolution of Kashmir issue. “To garner the support permanently, visits to these countries is necessary and must,” he said.

The Hurriyat (M) chairman said the senior conglomerate leader Aga Syed Hassan has been frequently visiting Iran, apprising its leaders about the Kashmir situation and its implications on the peace and stability of the region.

He said he has a standing invitation from a Chinese NGO and plans to visit Iran as well in the near future.

Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Srinagar (Worldwide)

Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Srinagar (Worldwide)

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Srinagar (Worldwide)

Srinagar, Nov 20 : There are two distinct outfits, each of which identifies itself by the name Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). Amanullah Khan heads the first while Yasin Malik, who parted ways with Amanullah Khan and formed another JKLF, heads the other. In May 1994, Yasin Malik who was released from jail (after his arrest in August 1990) declared that his faction would renounce violence as a tool to achieve the goal of 'independence'. In March 1996, the last surviving members of the Amanullah faction who were based in J&K under the leadership of Shabbir Siddiqui were killed in two encounters in Hazrztbal area.

Both the Fronts trace their origin to the Jammu and Kashmir National Liberation Front (JKNLF). The JKNLF was an offshoot of the Plebiscite Front, a forum allegedly launched at the behest of the late Sheikh Abdullah, who was Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and President of the National Conference, at a time when he was at loggerheads with India's Union Government. After the Sheikh-Indira Accord was signed, militant, pro-independence elements within the Plebiscite Front walked out to continue with the movement to secede from India.

The JKLF was set up in the United Kingdom, in May 1977, by one of the co-founders of the JKNLF, Amanullah Khan, after most of his JKNLF colleagues were either killed or captured by Indian security forces. The outfit is reportedly supported by expatriates of the Mirpur community that belongs to Azad Jammu and Kashmir  (AJK). Another JKLF, a splinter group headed by Yasin Malik, was founded in September 1995, after Malik split from Khan over differences on the strategy to be pursued to achieve perceived goals.

While both the JKLFs share a common goal, self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the Yasin Malik faction has renounced the use of violence to attain this goal. It lays emphasis on adopting non-violent means and mobilising public opinion in India and Pakistan in favour of its objectives. It is a constituent of the All Party Huriyat Conference.

Amanullah Khan's JKLF promotes itself as an outfit conducting the struggle on three fronts –– political, which implies mobilisation of public opinion; diplomatic, which implies lobbying with third countries; and armed struggle against Indian security forces in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

In the Seventies and early Eighties, the JKLF operated mostly from London and AJK, with Amanullah Khan and Hashim Qureshi directing from London unit and Farooq Haider and Mohammed Muzzafar holding fort in AJK. Their activities were, in large measure, confined to propagating the cause of a plebiscite in J&K and mobilising international support for this objective.

Even before the inception of JKLF, its leaders under various other banners had indulged in terrorist activities. One such instance was the hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft in 1971; Altaf and Hashim Qureshi, two prominent leaders, hijacked the plane. LATE Maqbul Butt, one of the co-founders of the outfit and who had escaped from an Indian jail in December 1968, was reportedly involved in planning the hijacking.

Later, in 1976, Butt returned to India, only to be arrested the same year. In 1980, he was sentenced to death for killing a police officer in 1968. The sentence was, however, kept in abeyance. On February 3, 1984, as the JKLF puts it, "some JKLF enthusiastic activists who without approval, and even knowledge of their leadership, kidnapped Indian Deputy High Commission in Birmingham", Ravindra Mahtre, and demanded Butt's release. The demand was turned down and Mahtre was killed on February 6. The death sentence against Butt was revived and implemented on February 11. The abductors of Mahtre, who were JKLF members had floated the Kashmir Liberation Army to carry out the act.

A British court acquitted Amanullah Khan in the Mahtre killing case, but the government served a deportation notice on him. Khan reached Pakistan and assumed leadership of the JKLF. Reportedly, he had established contacts with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for building a network of training camps in Pakistan, encouraging youth from J&K to cross the Line of Control (LoC) and receive training.

After elections were held to the State Legislature in 1987, which were allegedly rigged by National Conference and supported by some Indian agencies , several youth crossed the LoC and received arms training. Simultaneously, the JKLF established its network in Srinagar and, in 1988, initiated the present phase of armed insurgency in the State with two bomb blasts in the capital city of Srinagar.

All through its history the JKLF has demanded conducting a plebiscite in J&K, but has made no effort to conceal its preference for an independent, sovereign State. This latter position is in direct conflict with Pakistan's contention, that Kashmir in its entirety belongs to it, made apparent by a consistent refusal for a third option in the plebiscite that has been demanded (the other options are: accession to either India or Pakistan). Another cause of friction between the JKLF and its mentors is the status of Gilghit-Baltistan. While JKLF maintains that this region is a part of J&K, Pakistan's hold that this region is separate from the State and its accession to Pakistan is final and irrevocable.

These differences never faded but came to the fore at various points of time. As a result, Pakistan was, on occasion, hostile towards the JKLF. For instance, when Maqbool Butt escaped from an Indian jail in 1968 and crossed over to Pakistan, he was jailed for a few months.

Analysts hold that, despite these, the ISI had to depend upon the JKLF in the initial stages of the insurgency as it lacked its own network in J&K. Once the JKLF began bringing in people for training, the ISI gradually weaned away a considerable section of them from the JKLF. Using money and weapon supplies as baits, the ISI bought the loyalty of several militants. By 1991, with ISI's help the pro-Pakistan Hizb-ul-Mujahideen gained greater terror potential as compared to the JKLF. Moreover, the formation of  TJI,Jehad Force, AL-Jehad, Janbaz Force, AL-Fatha, Jamiat, Harkat-ul-Ansar, Lashkar-e-Toiba and numerous other smaller outfits contributed to the marginalisation of JKLF. Besides this, JKLF has been directly targeted by the ISI and the outfits that were controlled by it with armed attacks. For instance, the ISI attempted to forcibly shut down a JKLF training camp in Kotli district, AJK, on February 11 and 12, 1998. In another incident, Hizb militants killed two JKLF cadres on July 13, 1997, in Muzaffarabad, the capital of AJK..

Internal factors, too, contributed to the decline of the JKLF as a militant outfit. As mentioned earlier, Yasin Malik, who was then heading the outfit in J&K, walked out in 1995. His successor, Shabbir Siddiqui and 37 remaining members of the Amanullah Khan faction were killed in two incidents in Hazratbal, in March 1996; 11 had been killed on March 24 and the other 26, including Shabbir Siddiqui, on March 29. After this, the JKLF failed to resurrect itself as a militant  outfit. Its presence is restricted to the participation of Yasin Malik's faction in the APHC.

The AJK unit of the JKLF under Amanullah Khan's leadership has conducted three marches with a view to crossing across the LoC into India. Fearing international repercussions, Pakistan used force to halt these marches and, in the process, killed several JKLF members and supporters. The first two attempts to cross the LoC were made in 1992, the first on February 12, and the second on October 24. Seven persons were killed in the first instance and one in the second attempt to cross the LoC, when Pakistani security forces opened fire on the marchers. The third attempt was made on October 5, 199. This time round, there were no casualties when the group was stopped.(Writer-South Asia)

JKLF (Yaseen Malik)

Chairman, Maqbool Manzil, Maisuma, Lal Chowk, Srinagar SGR JK 190001

Ph: 01942474882,01942472204,9419009423 

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/page...

JKLF Supreme Head, Amanullah Khan
HEAD OFFICE: Eidgah Road, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan Administrated Kashmir
Tel: 058810-45035, 49523

SUB HEAD OFFICE: 101 Rajbagh, Srinagar, Indian Held Kashmir
Tel: +91-194-2456325, Mobile: 0091 941999 7706
Email: smafzal@jklfworld.org

CENTRAL INFORMATION OFFICE (CIO): 

B-144, Satellite Town, Murree Road, Chandni Chowk, Rawaplindi (Pakistan)
Tel: +92-51-4425689 Telefax +92-51-4450414
E-mail: jklf@isb.comsats.net.pk       

web page: http://www.jklfworld.org

GILGIT OFFICE:
Airport Road Gilgit. Telephone: +92-5811-52048

DIPLOMATIC CHAPTER : 

Kashmir House, 44 Westbourne Rd. Luton Beds, England,
Telephone: (01582) 405667 Fax: (01582) 486016
E-Mail: jklfukzone@jklfworld.org

EUROPE ZONE:
1, Rue la defence, du bourget, 93150 Blanc, Mensil, Paris, France,
Tel: 00+31-1-48675338

U.S. BRANCH:       
M.A. Khan Tel: 001-516-7757340, 201-7709470, 732-4952513

Website:       
www.jklfworld.org / www.jklf.co.uk

Blog:

www.jklfworld.blogspot.com

Database/Research: International Information Resource Centre

Tributes paid to Aali kadal Martyrs. Shaheed I Hurriyat Sheikh Abdul Hameed and others remembered.: JKLF

Srinagar, Nov 19: On the martyrdom anniversary of Shuhada I Aalikadal, today rich tributes were paid to  Shaheed I Hurriyat Sheikh Abdul Hameed,Shaheed Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, Shaheed Adv.Jamil Chowdary,Shaheed Fayaz Ahmad Sheikh ,Shaheed Mushtaq Ahmad Kuttay,Shaheed Manzoor Ahmad Khan and Shaheed Ghulam Ahmad ..JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and other leaders and activists visited Mazar I Shuhada(martyrs graveyard) Eid Gah today and a memorial ceremony was held there.

Remembering shaheed I Huriyat Sheikh Abdul Hameed JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik while addressing a gathering at martyr’s graveyard Eid Gah said that he was one of the bravest sons of soil who never shunned the path of truth. Yasin said that shaheed I hurriyat sheikh abdul hameed was very humble and always ready to respect and follow his seniors .yasin said that sheikh Abdul Hameed will be remembered for his devotion and forging a unity among various thoughts and  Shades of opinions in the azadi camp. yasin said that along with shaheed I Kashmir Ishfaq Majeed wani, Shaheed Hameed laid down the foundation of present struggle and this valued son of  our nation continued his struggle till he attained martyrdom. Yasin Malik also paid tributes to Shaheed Mushtaq Ahmad Lone and said that his steadfastness and passion for an independent Kashmir was inspiring. Yasin while paying tributes to shaheed adv. Jamil Chowdry said that Jamil was from azad Kashmir. He shunned his luxurious carrier and life and fought along with other JKLF people in this part of Kashmir and in this way attained martyrdom, yasin also paid rich tributes to Shaheed Fayaz,Shaheed Mushtaq ,Shaheed Manzoor and Shaheed Ghulam Mohammad .Yasin Malik said that these martyrs sacrificed their today for the betterment of our tomorrow and now it is our duty to follow their foot prints and keep on our struggle till mission is accomplished. Yasin Malik reiterated that JKLF being the torch bearer of this movement for complete independence will leave no stone unturned for the sacred cause. Besides Yasin Malik other senior leaders, activists, family members of martyrs and well wishers also participated in the Programme. After the programme Yasin Malik and others went to the houses of martyrs to show solidarity with their families.

Tributes were also paid to Shaheed Ghulam Nabi Butt (Younger brother of Shaheed Baba I Qoum Mohammad Maqbool Butt) who also departed from us on the same day of 1993. While remembering Shaheed Ghulam Nabi Butt JKLF leaders paid rich tributes to him.

Israel is the root cause of global terrorism: Baroness Tonge

Tehran, Nov 16: Liberal Democrat Peer Jenny Tonge says Israel is the cause of global terrorism and problems like Kashmir and Palestine are alienating Muslims all over the world, reports Tehran Times.
Speaking at the Strategic Defense and Security Review on Sunday at the House of Lords in London, she said, “The ill-treatment of Palestinians by Israel is held up as an example of how the West treats Muslims and is at the root cause of terrorism worldwide.”

“Even (the Quartet's Middle East envoy) Tony Blair has now admitted this publicly,” she noted.

Baroness Tonge told the House of Lords that Israel's behavior toward Palestinians goes unchecked, possibly because of “Holocaust guilt” or “the power of the pro-Israel lobby” in the UK and the United States.

Commenting on two unresolved conflicts in the Islamic world, Tonge said, “It is a disgrace to us all that problems such as Kashmir and Palestine are still alienating Muslims all over the world.”

She also attacked Britain’s coalition government for its anti-Iran policies and its close ties with Israel.

She went on say that “cynics might think Britain is at the ready to help Israel attack Iran.”

“Why do we let it continue? Is it Holocaust guilt? We should be guilty -- of course we should. Is it the power of the pro-Israel lobby here and in the USA?”

“Or is it the need, maybe, to have an aircraft carrier called Israel in the Middle East, from which to launch attacks on countries such as Iran? The cynic might think that that is why HMS Ark Royal and the Harriers (fighter jets) can be dispensed with (as part of UK defense cuts) -- (since) we already have a static ‘Ark Royal’ in a strategic position, armed to the teeth and ready to fight, provided that we do not offend Israel,” she said.