|
|
|
NEWS Updates - 14
Jan 2009 |
* Frisking back
in Kashmir
*
Hamdani
condemns Israeli aggression
* Hurriyat
opposes terror law
* Is land ghost alive?
Pro Freedom Leaders, Samiti Remain Defiant.
* What went wrong?
Kashmir
Politics
* Think before you act. Hanging Guru may disturb
peace |
Frisking back in
Kashmir :
Srinagar, Jan 13: CRPF troopers have again started
frisking of pedestrians and searching of vehicles in the
summer capital before January 26.
“We have orders from the higher authorities to search
all vehicles coming from outskirts to the city,” a CRPF
trooper said.
Vehicles on way to uptown and outskirts on airport road
were also searched near Bakshi Stadium. Passengers were
being frisked and vehicles searched before allowing to
move towards their respective destinations.
Three wheelers and scooterists were also being searched
by the security forces.
CTEU hails Rather’s appointment
Srinagar: The Commercial Taxes Employees Union has
hailed the allotment of Finance ministry portfolio to
senior National Conference leader, Abdur Rahim Rather.
In a statement, the Union president, Pervez Ahmad, hoped
that Rather would fulfill the long-pending demands of
the employees. “We expect the new finance minister will
come up to our expectations. The Union employees assure
him full cooperation and support,” Ahmad said while
congratulating Abdur Rahim Rather on assuming the
charge.
EUF welcomes K A Ganai’s posting
Srinagar: Senior trade union leader and Employees’
United Front (EUF) president Bashir Ahmad Ganai has
hailed the appointment of Khursheed Ahmad Ganai, senior
IAS officer, as principal secretary to the chief
minister.
Addressing the Front executive members here today, he
described K A Ganai an experienced, efficient and
dedicated IAS officer, fully familiar with
administrative affairs of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the
majority of employees had welcomed Ganie’s appointment
hoping he would spare no efforts in getting their
genuine demands fulfilled.
K A Ganai has held various key positions in the
administration including deputy commissioner Pulwama and
Doda, principal secretary, general administration
department and divisional commissioner Kashmir. He has
received the prestigious Jammu and Kashmir chief
minister’s gold medal for honesty, integrity and
meritorious service.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Ghulam
Muhammad Dhobi, Bashir Ahmad Waza, Muhammad Shafi Shalla,
Nazir Ahmad Bhat, Jalal-ud-Din Mir, Farooq Ahmad Khan,
Bashir Ahmad Khan, Afroza Irshad, Tasleema Bashir, Peer
Manzoor Ahmad, Molvi Abdul Manan and Zaffar Baba.
Man held for preparing Hooch
Kishtwar: Police has arrested a man allegedly involved
in preparation and sale of Hooch here.
Acting on specific information, police raided the rented
house of Amar Nath son of Dewan Chand at Shakti Nagar
and seized 60 liters of Hooch.
Meanwhile, the S P Kishtwar Dr. Haseeb Mughal told
Greater Kashmir that police would soon launch a drive
against black marketing.
Hamdani condemns Israeli aggression
Srinagar: The Jamiat-e-Hamdaniya patron Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir
Moulvi Riyaz Ahmad Hamdani has condemned the continued
Israeli air strikes on Palestine, killing hundreds of
innocent civilians including women and children and
injuring thousands others.
In a statement, Hamdani criticized the world community,
the United Nations and the Muslim countries for their
“criminal silence” over the genocide. He appealed the
Muslim countries to rise to the occasion and get united
to launch an effective counter-offensive against
Israelis.
Officials appeal CM, Forest Minister
Srinagar, Jan 13: The officials of the State Pollution
Control Board have appealed the chief minister, Omar
Abdullah and minister for Environment and Forests to
reconstitute the board of directors and defer the
Board’s 24th meeting which is scheduled for January 15.
A delegation of SPCB officials told Greater Kashmir the
meeting has been set by the Board’s chairman, Dr CM
Seth, ‘without taking any regional director, member
secretary or members into confidence.’
“We fear that the chairman may push many decisions
through the board of directors, which have been picked
up clandestinely by him, without getting any feedback
from any Boards officers. Ironically the Chairman SPCB
is also chairman of board of directors as well,” they
said.
“In the interest of SPCB and its employees and above all
environmental protection, we appeal the CM to
reconstitute the board of directors under the
chairmanship of minister of Environment and Forests,”
they added.
KPA affiliated to PAI
Srinagar, Jan 13: The Press Association of India has
acknowledged the Kashmir Press Association of Valley,
said its president, Ghulam Hassan Kaloo while chairing a
meeting on Monday.
He said the Association would be now affiliated with the
Press Association of India. The meeting decided that a
committee would soon meet the chief minister Omar
Abdullah and would raise the problems faced by the
journalist fraternity.
Hurriyat
opposes terror law
Srinagar, Jan 13: The Hurriyat Conference (G) on Tuesday
accused the National Conference of preparing to invoke
in Kashmir the terror law passed by parliament recently.
In a statement, a Hurriyat spokesman said “with the help
of chief minister, Omar Abdullah, New Delhi will invoke
the terror law in Kashmir to suppress the right of
self-determination of Kashmiris,” He said Omar Abdullah
would follow the footsteps of his father, Dr Farooq
Abdullah, who had signed the black warrant of JKLF
founder, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, in case of Muhammad
Afzal Guru. “We will fight any such moves and New Delhi
will be responsible for the consequences,” he said.
|
|
Top |
Is land
ghost alive?
Pro Freedom Leaders, Samiti Remain
Defiant.
Srinagar,
Jan 13: Does the BJP’s emergence as the
second largest party in the assembly
elections mean that communal forces have
won, at least in Jammu, and sharply
polarised the two regions as pro-freedom
and saffron bastions to the extent that
not a single Hurriyat leader has visited
Jammu regions since Amarnath land row,
which started the whole thing, ended in
September last year? The trade between
the traders of two regions remain
suspended, and the leadership remains
defiant.
“The separatists tried to divide the
state on basis of religion but
subsequently lost ground and credibility
in Kashmir by overwhelming turnout in
the elections. They only want to
practice politics of hate for their
vested interests; they stand exposed and
isolated. We will not allow them to
visit Jammu.” said Narendra Singh,
spokesperson of Amarnath Sangharash
Samiti a group supported by communal
Hindu parties and which led agitation
against the government order cancelling
allotment of land to Amarnath Shrine
Board.
He said the Samiti’s agitation was not
against Kashmiris but the “separatists
who tried to exploit sentiments of
people.” Singh said, “The separatists
never enjoyed much support in Jammu and
even those who advocated their ideology
here openly joined our agitation.”
But Singh’s statement that Jammu
agitation was not against Kashmiris has
lot of holes. First, Kashmiri Muslim
drivers were attacked with acid and
beaten. One driver died when acid was
sprinkled on him. Second, the Samiti
enforced an economic blockade leading to
huge losses to fruit growers. Third, the
communal brigands didn’t spare Muslim
Gujjars and burnt their houses and
properties, looted their cattle.
On the other hand when communal parties
like Shiv Sena and BJP contested
elections in Kashmir their candidates
were not attacked. And in the din of the
agitation, no Amarnath pilgrim was
touched in Kashmir.
Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed
Ali Shah Geelani said the Hindu
fundamentalist parties “have been using
force and government machinery to
suppress the freedom sentiment in
Jammu.”
The ailing leader said, “History is
testimony to the fact how the communal
forces massacred half a million Muslims
in 1947. During the Amarnath agitation
communal parties like BJP, Shiv Sena,
and RSS attacked the houses of burnt
hutments of Gujjars, attacked the house
of pro-freedom leaders and supporters in
Jammu. The Communal parties should feel
ashamed of openly professing their
anti-Kashmir policies,” Geelani said.
Geelani said Kashmiris have been
facilitating the Amarnath yatra from
over a century. “There was no need to
transfer the land to Shrine Board. It
was a mere political gimmick rather a
conspiracy to divide people of Jammu and
Kashmir. Communal parties in Jammu made
it a Hindu versus Muslim issue just to
secure their vote bank,” Geelani said.
“Jammu is part and parcel of the state
and I will soon go there come what may.
When eights lakh troops could not
suppress our sentiments, how can a few
self-styled leaders in Jammu stop us
from taking our movement to its logical
conclusion,” the veteran leader said.
Chairman of Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq said the land row agitation
deepened the divide between Jammu and
Valley. “Some communal forces
communalized the situation in Jammu for
political purposes. We are not against
the people of Jammu. In fact when we
talk about the Kashmir dispute, we
include Jammu and Ladakh. We talk about
aspirations of people of all religions
of Jammu and Kashmir. Sentiment for
freedom is not against any community or
religion.” Mirwaiz maintained.
Mirwaiz said the recent trend in
elections in which BJP emerged as
largest party in Jammu is a matter of
concern. “It is high time for people of
Jammu to introspect whether they are not
supporting those who demolish mosques
and engineer communal riots for vote
bank,” Mirwaiz said. He said after all
the pro-freedom leaders are released he
would visit Jammu.
Political analysts of Kashmir and Jammu
have different take on the matter. Dr
Rekha Chowdhary, who teaches Political
Science at Jammu University said the
agitation in Jammu and protests in
Valley were momentary reactions to the
land transfer.
“Valley and Jammu are gradually limping
back to normalcy. We cannot generalize
mood of a particular area as mood of the
whole society. Jammu has a rich culture
of welcoming people. During the
agitation, even the National Conference
and PDP leaders feared public wrath in
Jammu. After the row was resolved, these
parties campaigned for elections in
Jammu without any trouble. I believe
separatists can visit any area of the
state, including Jammu,” she said
Dr Hamida Nayeem and Dr Sheikh Showkat
Hussain, who teach at Kashmir
University, said a few Hindu dominated
areas of Jammu may be indifferent to
pro-freedom leaders but the people in
Muslim majority areas support the
pro-freedom leaders and the freedom
struggle.
“Jammu city does not symbolize sentiment
of the whole region. People of Rajouri,
Poonch, Kishtwar and other far-flung
areas have been participating in the
movement for right of
self-determination. They still see
pro-freedom leaders as representatives
of their sentiments,” Dr Hamida said.
The pro-freedom leaders have been facing
wrath of BJP and Shiv Sena activists
during past many years in Jammu. In
2002, senior Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani
Lone was roughed up and heckled by Shiv
Sena leader Kalka Ji Maharaj and his
accomplices.
Maharaj had raised slogans like “Jammu
Ke Gadaron Ko Nikal Do. Desh Ki Gadaron
Ko Nikal do (throw out traitors of
Jammu. Throw out traitors of India) at
Jammu airport. In 2006, Shiv Sena
activists physically assaulted Syed Ali
Geelani in Press Club Jammu. The
attackers raised anti-Pakistan and
pro-India slogans.
In 2006, activists of BJP and Shiv Sena
attacked the cavalcade of Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq at Samba. The BJP even staged
protests in Jammu region against
Mirwaiz’s efforts to garner support for
self-determination and demilitarization.
Pro-freedom leaders believe that a
attackers always were backed by police
and state’s security agencies. |
|
Top |
What went
wrong?
How does
our pro-freedom leadership feel after
elections, comments Dr. Vickey. The
seven phased electoral process in J&K is
over, and the separatist leadership of
Kashmir seems aghast. Most of them are
mute, while some speak out of
desperation. It is a recognized fact
that the establishment can never be able
to wipe out the pro-Azadi sentiment of
the people, however, it has in previous
times, and will in future, strive hard
to contain and manage the outburst of
this emotion. The problem lies with the
leadership. No doubt you cannot blame
the pro-Azadi leadership that they were
not able to deliver in concrete out of
the agitation but the question is that
they are not able to act as mature
leaders in the times of despair and
desolation.
Successful freedom movements all over
the world had faced the same crisis
which Kashmiris face today.
Resistance from the peoples' end is
actually the confrontation with the
establishment which is highly supplied
with able human resources and well-knit
power structure. They have fresh and
innovative minds in their camps, while
resistance is weaker than the state. No
doubt people feel fatigue but they have
to be steady in their resistance. It is
a think tank behind any resistance
movement which provides the
philosophical and ideological
foundations to it. But in case of
Kashmir, the situation of freedom
struggle is total reverse. After more
than sixty years of continuous struggle,
the Kashmir issue still lacks
theorization. The reason is clear
enough: Most of the pro-Azadi leaders
are illiterate and burdened with
blinkers. Those who possess degrees
don’t study and are completely ignorant
about the current trends and movements
going on in the world. And those who
read are caught into identity crisis and
vacillate between Islam and the West.
They can speak about Irish plan, Indian
freedom struggle and Vietnam War for
hours but fail to analyze the mind-set
of a local Kashmiri in context of the
Kashmir history and culture.
Islam has always remained a vibrant
force in the medieval and modern history
of Kashmir. To meet their ambitions, it
has been used, misused and even abused
by the political leaders here. Knowing
this fact, most of the Kashmiri
pro-resistance leaders pretend to be the
religio-political heads of the masses.
They deliver sermons, lead prayers and
run Islamic schools. They keep up the
masquerade of being Islamists at pulpit
and nationalists in media. When they
move outside the valley, they skin off
their Islamic identity and pose to be so
called moderates. Their jargon varies,
their dress changes, their tune defects,
and so change their tastes also. These
changes lend a deep peep into their
contradicting nature and position, which
later on loan this confusion to the
ongoing freedom struggle.
Recently, after the "massive turnout" in
the assembly elections, some pro-Azadi
leaders of Kashmir displayed their
immaturity and short-sightedness by
making each other scapegoats for
"something", which was out of their own
hands. Asiya Andrabi, the Chairperson of
Dukhtaran-i-Millat, banged the whole
pro-Azadi leadership and made them
responsible for the "failure" of the
agitation, which started in the valley
few months back in connection with the
most controversial Amarnath land
transfer issue. No doubt Asiya is a
dedicated separatist voice in Kashmir
but she, like her other counterparts,
lacks political maturity and vision.
She, like other ordinary Kashmiri women,
is swayed by her emotions. It is
astounding to notice that she tried her
best to take the credit of bringing two
factions of Hurriyat close to each other
few months before, but when the
Coordination Committee "failed to bring
Azadi home". She bashed the CC along
with her political ideologue Sayyid Ali
Gilani. Despite spending decades in the
freedom struggle, she still fails to
comprehend that the real leader is one
who provides hope to his people in the
times of despair and distress. The
leadership must be sensitive enough to
gauge the gravity of the issues and
should be competent to distinguish
between the issues which are supposed to
be dealt in public and the issues taken
into consideration behind the closed
doors.
Freedom movements are always dotted with
a number of agitations. These agitations
are like milestones in the long path
towards the identified goal. To hope the
accomplishment of the mission from a
single agitation is to construct castles
in the air. A leader of great competence
and capability can translate an
agitation into the storehouse of
immediate requirements for the
sustenance and smooth functioning of the
resistance movement as a whole. He can
haggle with the establishment on
different issues, which in the long run
can logically, morally and
materialistically reinforce his
movement. Similarly in the recent
agitation the leadership could have
bargained with the State on different
issues like Afzal Guru Clemency issue,
release of detainees from different
prisons of India etc. Their faulty
psychoanalysis did not allow them to
expect such a huge outburst. Therefore,
except Chaloo programs of 1990s, they
had nothing to offer.
(Dr. Vickey is a Social Scientist.
Feedback at drvickey@ymail.com)
|
|
Top |
Think before you act : Hanging Guru may
disturb peace, comments Mehraj
Hajni. India has never succeeded in
evolving any sound and effective Kashmir
Policy and this is the reason why
Kashmir pot remained boiling and also
during times it assumed the most
alarming proportions. At the time of
partition, when the Princely States were
acceding to either of the two dominions
according to the provisions of Indian
Independence Act of 1947, the Congress
Leadership of India ignored repeated
advices of Lord Mountbatten not to visit
Kashmir as it will give a wrong message
that India is influencing Maharaja (the
then ruler) on the question of accession
of the state. Besides Maharaja of Patila,
Kaporthala and Faridkot, the President
of INC Acharya Kriplani and even Gandhi
Ji paid visits to Maharaja. As a result
of these visits Pakistan set aside the
Stand Still Agreement which it had
signed with the state. This was followed
by Economic Blockade, Poonch Revolt and
finally a Tribal Invasion.
Similarly to refer Kashmir issue to UNO
in 1948 and file a formal petition in
the Security Council under Section 35 of
the Chapter VI which relates to the
“Pacific Settlement of Disputes” and not
under Chapter VII which deals with the
“Acts of Aggression”, also proved highly
counter productive. It is this UN
petition which is a testimonial to the
fact that Kashmir issue constitutes a
dispute. The third mistake on part of
India was that what ever the gains it
achieved in 1971 War, were lost when she
failed miserably to make Pakistan to
accept the Cease Fire Line of Kashmir as
an agreed International Border.
Pakistani President Mr. Bhutto succeeded
not only to get Pakistani territory
vacated and their prisoners released,
but even kept the future of Kashmir wide
open after signing the Shimla Agreement
of 1972.
The betrayal of most popular nationalist
leader of Kashmir Sheikh Muhammad
Abdullah who was highly influenced by
the secular ideals and democratic values
of Congress Leadership of India, the
systematic and gradual erosion of
autonomy of J&K granted under Article
370 of the Indian Constitution, the
installation of unpopular governments
through undemocratic methods, the
suppression of people demanding their
basic amenities and then labeling them
as extremists and terrorists, resulted
in the complete alienation of Kashmiris
from the Indian Nation. This continuous
and growing dissatisfaction ultimately
burst into flames in 1990 and resulted
in the complete mass upsurge against
India. The situation reached a point
that it became the question of
re-establishing India’s writ over
Kashmir. Although the role of some other
external internal factors can not be
ignored in the emergence of Kashmir
crises, yet it is mostly the result of
that wrong policy of the government of
India, were they always considered the
instrument of “Accession of Kashmir” as
an “Instrument of Their Conquest”,
After the eruption of violence in
Kashmir which caused a great damage to
the lives and property of the people,
Kashmiris lost all faith in the Indian
democratic institutions as in their
opinion these institutions were never
allowed to function properly. However,
despite living in the state of gloom and
distress, people largely believed in the
institution of Judiciary and at times
approached it for their relief, rescue
and rehabilitation purposes. People are
convinced that justice will be done
fairly, smoothly and ungrudgingly.
People have a great trust on the
judicial system of the country
particularly the Supreme Court.
Afzal’s mercy petition is now before the
President of India and almost all the
Muslim population of the state is
waiting very impatiently to see how the
President is going to make the use of
his power to commute the death sentence
of a hapless Kashmiri. All though, in
theory it is the President who has the
power to pardon and reprieve but in
practice he has to act on the advice of
the Cabinet headed by the Prime
Minister. So before the Cabinet advices
the President about its final decision
on the mercy petition, it must take in
to consideration that once Mr. Guru is
executed, it will give a new dimension
to the Kashmir problem which can assume
the most dangerous consequences. This is
why Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the former
Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir has
adumbrated and this is possibly the
reason why along with the separatist
leaders, the mainstream politicians
including the then Chief Minister Gulam
Nabi Azad had requested the Central
Government that Afzal’s mercy petition
should be taken seriously and he should
be granted clemency.
The execution of Mr. Guru will have both
the long term as well as short term
effects. Immediately, it will create
such a chaotic situation inside Jammu
and Kashmir which can even endanger the
existence of the recently formed NC-led
coalition Government of the state. Since
the execution would be followed by large
– scale protests rather next to the
Amarnath land crises, therefore, each
political group will definitely try to
join the fray for their own political
interests and this will boost the
ongoing separatist movement. The main
opposition party of the state PDP which
in the previous times has been very much
vocal on the issues of human rights
violations, innocent killings and fake
encounters and thus projecting itself to
be concerned about the safety, security
and better future of Kashmiris, will
take every necessary step to win more
and more support of Kashmiri people. The
leadership of PDP can go to any extent
in this regard. The main rival of
Peoples Democratic Party National
Conference will have no other option
except to follow the suit and this will
lead the State of J&K towards another
political subversion.
Moreover, the death of Mr. Guru will
prove very much helpful for the militant
groups in Kashmir to re-gain the support
and sympathy of the Kashmiri people
which otherwise, in the recent years was
diminishing. This will also increase
their fighting capabilities as more
youths will join the militancy to carry
forward the “Mission of Mr. Guru” as has
happened immediately after the execution
of Muhammad Maqbool Bhat. Bhat’s death
evoked strong reactions in Kashmir as
thousands of Muslim Kashmiris resorted
to militant activities in order to
achieve that goal for which Bhat was
hanged. Had the then Government of India
taken a wise decision and forgiven Mr.
Bhat, perhaps like many other prominent
Plebiscite Front leaders, he would have
shunned the path of violence and this
could have prevented the satiation from
getting escalated.
Thus in view of this entire situation,
it can be said that the Government of
India should think several times before
taking any hasty decision on the mercy
petition of Mohammad Afzal Guru. The
government should not succumb to any
pressure of Hindutva Forces who are
hell-bent upon to see Mr. Guru Dead
after the Mumbai Terrorist attacks. This
in fact is a dis-service they are doing
to the nation. If Phoolan Devi is set
free even after it has been proved that
she was involved in the killing of so
many innocent citizens, what is the
problem in converting the death sentence
of Mr. Guru in to life imprisonment?
This will be the first and foremost
Kashmir centric confidence building
measure ever taken by any government.
This will be the best initiative not
only to gain the support and confidence
of Muslim population of Jammu and
Kashmir but will also prove helpful for
those groups which are interested to
negotiations with the government of
India.
It is after the political turmoil of
nearly two decades that Kashmiris have
largely participated in the 2008
Assembly Elections with this hope that
the new government will not only resolve
their day to day problems but will also
work and extend it support for the final
solution of Kashmir problem. People of
Jammu and Kashmir particularly the youth
of the state have reposed their faith in
the newly formed government headed by
Omar Abdullah. Instead of responding
this new opportunity positively, it
seems that the government of India is
again misconstruing the large voter
turnout as a verdict against the ongoing
“Freedom Struggle” and that is perhaps
why Home Minister P. Chidambarm has said
that “the Govt. of India is going to
take a decision about Afzal’s death
penalty very soon” without thinking that
such a move at this stage will have
dangerous fallout. Kashmiris have
largely appealed to the Pakistani
Government for the clemency of Sarabjeet
Singh. They have also condemned the
terrorist attacks in Mumbai and
expressed solidarity with the bereaved
families. Let us hope that a good sense
will prevail upon the Indian political
elite and they will take a very wise
decision on Afzal Guru’s mercy petition
and thus save the nation from paying
another highest price.
(The author can be mailed at
hajnimehraj1@rediffmail.com) |
|
Top |
|
NEWS /
Articles are reproductions of Local News
Papers (Greater Kashmir / Kashmir Times
etc)
So the legal rights are with there
respective Writers / Publishers |
|
|
