Plight of ‘kind Muslim man’ wrongly held for Mecca Masjid led Swami to confess: Police

Mumabi, Jan 27: Investigators claimed that a curious change of heart led Swami Aseemanand, 58, arrested for his involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast, to reveal details of the conspiracy behind five major blasts, including the February 2007 attack on the Samjhauta Express.

Key to this, senior officials said, was Aseemanand’s interaction with a 21-year-old he met in Chanchalaguda Jail, Hyderabad, during his judicial custody in November-December last year.

The man, Sheikh Abdul Khaleem, was among 15 arrested earlier by the Hyderabad Police investigating the Mecca Masjid blast. On November 13, 2008, The Indian Express reported that an Andhra Pradesh government panel had confirmed that these Muslim men, picked up for the Mecca Masjid blast of May 18, 2007 and the Lumbini Park and Gokul Chaat House blasts of August 26 that year, were tortured for as long as six months.

Khaleem, 19 then and working as a lab technician, was arrested soon after. According to the panel’s report, he was blindfolded and taken to an unknown destination, beaten on the soles of his feet, stripped and then administered shots through a “small machine”.

Aseemanand was arrested on November 19 last year from Haridwar in Uttarakhand, after he had changed location over 30 times, travelling across several states over two years to evade arrest. According to investigators, he was “not cooperating” in the initial days after his arrest.

Though he was in the CBI’s custody for a few days in between, he spent most of the period from November 20 to December 24 in judicial custody, in solitary confinement in Chanchalaguda Jail where nearly 70 per cent of the inmates are Muslim. It was here that Aseemanand came in touch with Khaleem.

Blast-accused Muslim praises Aseemanand, calls him 'great'
Woh bahut great hain. It takes a lot of courage to accept your mistakes, admit guilt. Not everyone can do it. Even when we were in jail together, I felt he was a good man,” Abdul Kaleem, 23, a Mecca Masjid blast accused, said on Monday following his release on bail.

He was referring to Swami Aseemanand who is reported to have confessed to his involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast of May 18, 2007. Kaleem was arrested as a suspect in the case and spent one-and-a-half-years in jail before all charges were quashed by a court and set free.

On October 12, 2010, Kaleem was arrested again at Cherlapally Jail on charges of trying to pass a mobile phone to his jailed brother Abdul Khaja alias Amjad, an alleged terror operative who was arrested from Chennai in January 2010.

“The first time I saw Aseemanand was about a month-and- a-half ago and I was not aware why he was in jail. He was in the cell next to mine, we started talking on and off when we came across each other in the courtyard. A few days later, I came to know that he was arrested in the Mecca Masjid blast case,” Kaleem says.

63 Black Day in 63 years in disputed Jammu and Kashmir

Kashmiris resist Indian flag hoisting in Srinagar

Why Kashmiris hate India?

Srinagar/Jammu, Jan 26: For sixty years we have all heard the rhetoric that Kashmir is an integral part of India–yet six decades later, hoisting the Indian flag on government buildings in Kashmir is tantamount to igniting the Chanars on fire. Even the  Chief Minister who is a stooge of Congress and has no following in Kashmir is telling the BJP not to hoist the Indian flags on government buildings in Kashmir. Every year on 26th January and 15th August, separatists burn Indian flags and unfurl the Pakistan flag. Today in Pampore,Tral, Pulwama, Sopore, Baramulla thhe green flags of Pakistan were hoisted in various areas of Kashmir on the Independence Day of India

The BJP is bent upon putting the flags up–probably tired of watching the entire valley put of Pakistani flags on August 14th (Pakistan‘s independence day) and black flags on August 15th (Bharat’s independence Day).

Responding to reports that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had expressed his reservations about the BJP’s announcement of hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk, Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra reiterated that the flag would definitely be hoisted.

“He [Mr. Abdullah] must clarify whether or not he, as Chief Minister, will hoist the national flag on Republic Day. Separatist leaders will also have to declare which flag will be hoisted if it is not the national flag. Every last worker of the BJP will strive to hoist the national flag there,” Mr. Mitra said. The Hindu

The Nation is reporting that the Mr. Abdullah is “Blaming BJP for creating controversies and disturbing tranquility in the Indian Held Kashmir“. News reprots are indicating that Mr. Omar Abdullah “asked the party not to go ahead with its plan to hoist the Indian flag in Srinagar on January 26.”

Indian media is reporting that “BJP has defended flag hoisting at Lal Chowk by saying that Kashmir is India’s integral part.” Mr. Abdullah is running scared. “When Kashmir is now quiet, they (BJP) want to set it on fire again”.

The BJP has made it a trait to ignite fire for political mileage. “The Indian flag will be hoisted at all the district headquarters, government buildings, police and army establishments besides at Bakshi Stadium in the heart of Srinagar city by a Minister. Does BJP consider all this irrelevant and hoisting of flag by any individual of their party at Lal Chowk, a relevant one?” he questioned.

The Chief Minister of  Kashmir told reporters this would put the valley on fire. “If their aim is to set Kashmir afire, please tell them to stop. If there are repercussions, I will hold them personally responsible. They should not hold me responsible if there is a fallout of that in Kashmir. They will have to come and sort it out. They shall not hold me responsible”, Omar said.

The extremist BJP defended the party’s decision to hold Indian flag in Srinagar. The Hindu Mahasabah is adamant on the flag issue and may succeed in creating turmoil and reigniting the valley.

“BJP maintains that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Our youth wing has planned our own programme as a part of our national sovereignty, national solidarity campaign from West Bengal to Kashmir. I think it is a welcome program. We are marching with the national flag not in only one state but several states of the country, why should anybody object to this campaign of national solidarity and national sovereignty,” BJP leader Arun Jaitley-Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior  said.

In a state where the Pakistani flag is waived by the people very often, it is strange to hear that waving the Indian flag is an anomoly and would set the valley on fire. The Pakistani flag is banned in Kashmir. It is a crime to hosit the Pakistani flag–however during protests the Pakistani flag is ubiquitous. The Kashmiri flag is the Pakistani Crescent and Star without the white stripe. The Kashmiris get around the ban on the Pakistani flag by waving the Crescent and Star on a green background–claiming that it is a Kashmiri flag–thus getting around the ban on the Pakistani flag.

Sheikh Yaqoob, Chairman Jammu and Kashmir People's  League (JKPL), denounced Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) fanatics for their decision to hoist Indian flag at Lal Chowk Srinagar on January 26, terming it India's frustration and political defeat in Kashmir.
In a statement, he said that a two-third area of Jammu and Kashmir was under India's illegal military occupation since 1947, and now communalists of the Hindu organization wanted to gain political leverage in Delhi by such a senseless step in Srinagar, which could not be carried out without imposing curfew in Srinagar on the Black Day.

"The popular movement of freedom for Jammu and Kashmir will not kneel down by this threat or political gimmick," he said.

Commenting upon the statements and counter-statements of India's Secretary Home G. K. Pillai and General V. K Singh the Indian army chief on the reduction of Indian regular armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir, Rehmani said that ultimately army chief's word would carry weight as the Indian Army had unbridled powers in Jammu and Kashmir under the Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act; and have had gained all the personal and strategic dividends by using these repressive laws against the people of Kashmir during the last 20 years, although an overwhelming majority of the Kashmiris were against Indian rule, and their inhuman and draconian laws in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Government of Jammu and Kashmir  on Sunday jammed the landline,mobile phone networks and internet broadband connections. Subscribers were unable to make or receive any calls while internet remained down till late in the afternoon.

Freedom of Kashmir: Let them go…

By: Madhav Desai

Kashmir, an issue of pride for India and Pakistan has been burning since the both countries got their independence from the British Raj.

Its a sensitive issue to talk about on a blog, especially by an Indian, as the sentiments that prevail in India, can easily result in to burning my effigies just for expressing my views here.

Do not get me wrong, as I am pro-Indian and I love the Indian Nation more than anything in this world.

Okay coming back to Kashmir, there has been a problem there for long but since last couple of weeks its been a chaos. Many of you will remember that about a year back, Kashmiris were up in arms when the Govt. decided to give away some land to Amarnath Temple Board. People in Kashmir proclaimed that the Yatra has been taking place since many years without any interruption so why give away Kashmiri land to Hindu Temple. Well they easily forgot that right in heart of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and other towns / villages / cities of India  acres of Land have been encroched by Waqf Board, Mosques, Mouselleium and other Muslim institutions, and its a pity and really low of Kashmiri people to ask this back.

Now, there is another observation, the native language of Kashmir is Kashmiri, Dogri, etc but the guys who claim to be Kashmiris and are pro-Pakistani speak and write URDU which has nothing to do with Kashmir.

Secondly, the whole lifeline of Kashmir works through Hindu / Sikh Jammu and other parts of India. They dont understand that they will starve if there is no India to support them. At the time of Amarnath Land issue Kashmiris started walking towards the border in hope to join Pakistan. Well, if they really had guts to do that then they should join Pakistan, but let me give you guys some facts so that general Kashmiris can make up their mind.

Pakistan is a failed state and their Foreign Minister had to recently go to NATO to ask for monies to fund their armies and government institution. Anything that Pakistan has is either made in PR China or USA. Moreover they hate USA who are really “anna-datta” (Feeding God) of Pakistan. They never had a good stable government in their history and the militants there thinks they can take on the world (well they think like this but they actually forget that they fight from caves).

States fail, States succeed; there was even time in India when Indira Gandhi went towards declaring an emergency. the Indian state failed (its another thing that it rebounded and made in to one of the most successful states of 21st century). The point here is that Kashmiris dont think things through. They take emotional decisions based on some uneducated, class-less leaders who happen to be a separatists.

While being in NCC for couple of years, I attended one of their National Camps and met a few Hindu Kashmiris as well as Muslim Kashmiris back in 1996 they all seemed friendly. My Hindu Kashmiri friend who used to live in Doda district told me that on the day of independence the Pak-supporters come and put Pak flags on their houses and they cant remove them. This is not done.

98% of Kashmiri Pandits are out of Kashmir, still 13% of Indian Muslims live in safety and prosper everyday in Majority-Hindu India, how is this fair. I strongly believe that any majority whether Hindus or Muslims should protect the minority that live side-by-side with them. India would be colour-less without all the Muslim that it has, as you can clearly see that Kashmir is colour-less without any Hindu Kashmiri Pandits.

Another good example is Pakistan, they got rid of majority of non-muslim population at the time of Partition, even though I believe Jinnah was a democrat and was secular. Pakistan has not seen a day of peace since independence and if Kashmiris reject India, they wont see a day of peace either as they would be crushed by China, oppressed by Pakistan and would never be again accepted or protected by India.

I feel sorry for Kashmiris who dont see that the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir should really be independent, if Pakistan was really pro-Kashmir, instead they gave 1/3rd of POK to China as a gift (didnt even fight for it – as it was integral part of Kashmir before independence and during the British / Mughal Raj).  Even today there is no government and 100s of issues in Azad Kashmir, there are militant training camps being run and bred there. If this is what youth of Kashmir wants then be it, let them enjoy that sort of life instead of democratic living.

For Kashmiris there are only two options, stay with India and join the wave of economic and social reform that country is going through (instead of pushing it down) or join Pakistan and share their misery (from food shortage to international begging), but remember there is no third way as Pakistan can never let you guys be independent.

For India there leaves only one option whether they solve it today or 100 years down the line, if Kashmiris hate calling themselves Indians and dont want to be recognised as Indian (and also dont support our secularism), then its better to let them go, instead of spending billions on them – we can easily find a decent cause in any of our states from Jammu (+ Leh and Ladakh) to Kerala.

Whatever all concerned parties decide they should look at their Wives and Kids and see for their better, prosperous future.

Beauty and The Wounds of Kashmir : Paul Barrow

One of Virginia Woolf's well-known quotes, which she wrote in 1929, is that "the beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder." Perhaps nothing could be more descriptive of Kashmir. During a visit to Kashmir many years ago, Prime Minister Nehru described what he saw: Like some supremely beautiful woman, whose beauty is almost impersonal and above human desire, such was Kashmir in all its feminine beauty of river and valley and lake and graceful trees. And then another aspect of this magic beauty would come into view, a masculine one, of hard mountains and precipices, and snow-capped peaks and glaciers, and cruel and fierce torrents rushing to the valleys below. It had a hundred faces and innumerable aspects, ever-changing, sometimes smiling, sometimes sad and full of sorrow … I watched this spectacle and sometimes the sheer loveliness of it was overpowering and I felt faint … It seemed to me dreamlike and unreal, like the hopes and desires that fill us and so seldom find fulfilment. It was like the face of the beloved that one sees in a dream and that fades away on wakening. Georges Bataille, the French novelist, has also said, "beauty is desired in order that it may be befouled, not for its own sake, but for the joy brought by the certainty of profaning it." As of its beauty, of its anguish and it's befouling, in Kashmir, there isn't any shortage of evidence. There's been a little brouhaha in India recently over the release of videotape on YouTube of what appear to be Kashmiri men being paraded nude in front of women and chldren by Indian soldiers. Obviously, authorities have protested, called the tape a fraud, and said that it was released merely to embarrass the army. Copies have been removed from Facebook and YouTube. The tape, however, is still available online, The above photo is used as a profile on Facebook by several Kashmiri freedom fighters. Source unknown. and doesn't lie. Fraud, not likely. Embarrassment, yes. Amnesty International has called for an investigation into the incident. It is inconclusive as to how recent it is or exactly where the video was shot, but it has in all likelihood been videotaped by a cellphone, which dates it as fairly recent, and there is language that is used in the tape that is uniquely Kashmiri. It is also clear that it is an operation conducted by an armed force of some kind, and probably CRPF troops. This is a huge crime, not just an embarrassment. This was in fact a sharp-pointed attack upon religious beliefs and sensitivities that has been compared widely among Kashmiris to Abu Ghraib. Another video that is in wide distribution is of a man who has been beaten, is nude from the waist down, and is being carried on the back of another man while he is taunted and threatened with sodomy as another attempts to poke a stick up his anus. The tyranny of one religious culture over another is obviously different from intellectual disagreements within a culture between liberals and conservatives such as in the abortion issue where there are nitpicky debates about which trimester life begins. The question of a victim hasn't left the debate, even if liberals, for the moment, have the upper hand. People have just agreed to shut up about it. Imagine what a bunch of Qur'an-burning American fundamentalists would do. In this case, nobody's agreed to shut up about anything. The extreme quality that sets their differences apart from the usual mainstream kind of politics is as difficult for Americans to comprehend as it is for Kashmiris to understand why no one else seems to give a damn. However, it is a particularly odious basis for dispute, because it creates opportunities for abuse where differences are not merely cultural but religously based, where not only shrines to one's deepest faith get trashed, but all of the little symbols and habits as well that mark those differences. Religiously based terrorism is only one aspect of this problem. Consider this: on August 2, Greater Kashmir reported that in one hospital in Srinigar, out of 31 patients with gunshot wounds, 14 of them were shot in the head. Just a couple of weeks ago, a friend in Kashmir told me that his cousin, 18, was shot that morning along with four other friends while playing carom in the street. One was 25, the rest were younger than my friend's cousin. All of them shot, two in critical condition. They were not engaged in protest of any kind. They were simply playing in the street. A police jeep drove up, two men got out and simply started shooting. Another man ran up and tried to grab the gun of one of the policemen. He was simply pushed away and arrested. There was no curfew at the time, although that is unusual, because curfews have been almost constant since June 11 in which the people cannot leave their homes during daylight hours. Thousands of mass grave sites of unknown victims are everywhere. "BURIED EVIDENCE: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-administered Kashmir a preliminary report" by Dr. Angana Chatterji, Professor, Social and Cultural Anthropology, California Institute of Integral Studies, with others, documents this and says that "The Indian state’s governance of Indian-administered Kashmir requires the use of discipline and death as techniques of social control. The structure of governance affiliated with militarization in Kashmir necessitates dispersed and intense forms of psychosocial regulation. As an established nation-state, India’s objective has been to discipline and assimilate Kashmir into its territory. To do so has required the domestication of Kashmiri peoples through the selective use of discipline and death as regulatory mechanisms. Discipline is affected through military presence, surveillance, punishment, and fear. Death is disbursed through “extrajudicial” means and those authorized by law. Psychosocial control is exercised through the use of death and deception to discipline the living. Discipline rewards forgetting, isolation, and depoliticization." Stories of torture abound. It's been widely reported that soldiers arrest all the men in a neighborhood, and then go back and rape their wives. A very thorough Catalogue of Indian Atrocities in Kashmir documenting some of the abuses in the early 90s was done, and such acts continue without letup. In his introduction, Dr Ayyub Thakur, President of the World Kashmir Freedom Movement, states that "It is common practice for the paramilitary forces to walk into a quiet village/town and start shooting indiscriminately, killing innocent and unarmed civilians - all under the pretence of crack-down operations against the Freedom-Fighters. In most cases, innocent civilians are killed, women gang-raped and properties set on fire." In one case, called the Khanyar Incident, "a peaceful procession carrying the dead bodies of persons killed in Dachhigam incident and those killed at Saidkadal locality were being brought for burial, reciting verses of Holy Quran, [and] the armed forces deployed in the area started indiscriminate firing on the mourners and killed about twenty unarmed civilians and injured more than fifty two persons." Personal accounts reported to me indicate that attacks upon funeral processions and emergency vehicles are also quite common even today. The attack upon a peaceful protest just this past Wednesday leaving more than 80 people injured and many dead is reported to have been unprovoked. This is a war upon a people by a people. This is oppression by its very name. This is a war of dominion. This is a war against popular will. This is a war against religious sentiment. This is a war not only against democracy and against self-rule; this is a war against common decency and consideration, against the right to even be human. This is a war against every possible difference that could be imagined between people. And it is being committed by India against Kashmir. Even more incomprehensible is that its not even really about them. They are but grist in a global mill that churns pure evil. In "A Visit from the Footbinder," a story by Emily Prager, Lao Bing says, "Beauty is the still birth of suffering." I can certainly see the conception; but I'm not sure that I see the child. Paul Barrow is Director of Policy and Communications for United Progressives.