Sunday, September 28, 2008

This Mu’azzin craves for saying Azan from Masjid


Undeterred By Bullet InjuryRABIA NOOR
Courtesy: Daily Greater Kashmir dt. Sep. 29th, 2008
Srinagar, Sept 28: Writhing in pain at his hospital bed, this young Mu’azzin in mid- twenties craves for the day when he returns to Bismillah Masjid at Bemina and say Azan for which the people yearn. As of now his wish remains a distant dream as doctors have advised another surgery, fourth since he was admitted after being shot at allegedly by the paramilitary CRPF.On August 13, Tariq Ahmad Dar, 25, was shot at by the CRPF troopers at Bemina. It’s more than 40 days at the hospital bed and he doesn’t know for how many more days he will have to wait till he revisits the Masjid for prayers.“I don’t know how many more months I have to spend in the hospital,” says Tariq, from his bed in the orthopaedic ward of the SKIMS Medical College Hospital Bemina. “What disturbs me most is that I have been in the hospital for the entire Ramzan now and can’t attend Tarawih prayers,” feels Tariq as pensively looks at his injured leg.He believes that his pain subsides when he goes for zikr from the hospital bed.Recalling the incident, Tariq says: “I had gone to Bismillah Masjid for offering Azaan for Zuhr prayers. Meanwhile, I heard some sound outside the Masjid that recalled me of the two incidents, which had taken place in previous days. Just a day back the Masjid was fired upon by the CRPF troopers and earlier its window panes were also broken. I thought they would repeat the same, so
I went outside to tell them not to do so.” “As I went outside, the CRPF troopers and JK policemen called me. I was absolutely unarmed. I asked them not to harm the Masjid. To my surprise, they hugged me and told me very politely that they won’t. But while I was moving back, they attacked me from the back with wooden rods and fired me on my left leg,” he alleged. Locals rushed Tariq to the Bemina hospital where he was hospitalised, but the bullet was not removed from his body. “When he was brought to this hospital, we thought it’s a vascular injury, but it wasn’t. So he was referred to the SKIMS Soura for orthopedics,” said Dr Mudassir. “On our way to SKIMS, the CRPF fired on our vehicle. They broke glass of a window which injured my hand. However, the driver did not stop, for which they had even filed a complaint against him in the police station,” said Tariq.Tariq underwent a surgery in SKIMS and was kept there for four days, from where he was referred to the Bemina hospital. There he developed acute infection, after which he was again operated upon. “Earlier we closed his main wound. But then it developed some infection, so we had to open it again and wash it off in the Operation Theater. His infection was controlled after a month. After that, he underwent skin grafting on September 15. He has undergone three surgeries so far,” said Dr Mudassir, adding that he is to undergo two more surgeries. Tariq will be referred to the Bones and Joints Hospital Barzullah for bone surgery, followed by bone grafting. “The doctors here told us they lack some machinery for the surgery, hence I may need to be shifted to Barzullah hospital,” said Tariq. “He will be alright after the bone surgery,” assures Dr Mudassir. However his uncle, Abdul Salam Dar, seemed to be doubtful about Tariq’s recovery. “I am not sure whether after the bone surgery he would be able to walk properly,” he said.The amount spent on medication comes to Rs 500 for the dressing and medicines. “So far we have spent Rs 20,000 on his treatment, which is a huge amount for a poor man like him, who doesn’t even earn,” said Abdul Salam. Tariq is working as labourer but without any payment in the State Motor Garages where his father late Muhammad Subhan Dar was working as a driver. His father passed away previous year. “I worked there so sincerely, but then also I wasn’t granted the job, although I was promised for the same. My case is pending in the High Court,” said Tariq. “He is Moazin in the Masjid where he likes to be always,” says Abdul Salam.An orphan, Tariq comes from a poor family. He resides with his elder brother Farooq Ahmad at Bemina Gulshanabad, who is a driver. Tariq is the youngest among four brothers and three sisters. His other two brothers are labourers.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

THE COMEDY OF DECLARING MASTERMINDS OF SERIAL BLASTS

No sooner do the various state police units nab some muslim youth on the pretext of perpetrating violence, each state police hurriedly rushes to take the claim for cracking the terror modules and nabbing the mastermind of all the serial blasts that rocked various cities across India.First it was the infamous Gujrat police that labelled Abu Bashar as the mastermind of all the blasts, followed by Jaipur police that declared Tauqir, the computer wizard and some other guy as the masterminds and only day before yesterday, Delhi police brandished slain Atiq (person purportedly killed in Delhi encounter) as the mastermind of all the blasts.

The fact remains that there is no place in Islam for such terrorist activities and mass killings of civilians and no sane person can ever condone or endorse such violent acts. Even hardliners like Syed Ali Geelani condemned these serial blasts. Islam stands for peace and Holy Quran describes in unambiguous terms that the killing of one innocent person is like murdering the entire humanity. Only today morning I read in a local Daily that one of the persons killed in Gaffar Market blast in New Delhi was a poor Kashmiri muslim rickshaw puller who had gone to Delhi in search of his livelihood. So such acts of violence serve no cause to any person or community and need to be abhored in strongest terms possible. Yet the way various state police units of Indian states have rushed to conclusions while claiming success in busting the rackets smacks of something disastrously fishy and dangerous. It seems innocent muslim youth are being grabbed, tortured in the most inhuman fashion and labelled of committing crimes that they might never have committed,otherwise why would each state police unit come up with their own version of the mastermind and racket behind the blasts. Unfortunately with such malicious acts of state police units of mislabelling the innocent people only benefit the real culprits who continue to remain obscure while others are punished for their ill deeds.

Moreover Gujrat police vehemently declared that SIMI is Indian Mujahideen, just another name. Delhi police refuted this claim outrightly and stated that the two are different and operate independently. Now whose words should one believe. If we go by the version of Delhi police, then all the men arrested by Gujrat police and brandished as men behind the blasts are clearly innocent and scapegoats. Such acts clearly hint at anti-muslim pranks played by Indian Police forces and their agenda to "GIVE THE DOG A BAD NAME AND KILL HIM".They want to crack down upon all muslims, their madrassas and their social and religious organizations.They don't want ordinary muslims to group and organize themselves against the atrocities perpetrated upon their hapless community. All this makes us conclude that when over fifteen crore muslims in India are not safe at the hands of Indian security forces, how can they lure Kashmiris with their so-called secular and economic might. We see what they are doing to christian community in Orissa, M.P, and Karnataka.While Bajrang Dal activits openly threaten to attack churches and christians and even do that with full impunity, state police forces shower their lathis on christian women, youth, nuns and priests inside churches at Mangalore. India has of late turned out to be an intolerant society, a safe haven for hindu extremists, where the right wing hindu fundamentalist forces fully supported by state police want all minorities to dance in to their tunes. Their slogan is, "gar bharat mein rehna hoga, vande matram kehna hoga" and those who don't want to do this should move to Pakistan for ever.

There seems to be acute dearth of sane people who could understand the simple fact that even if muslims of pakistan are told to recite vande matram in respect of their own country, they can't do that because it goes against their religion where a muslim can bow before only God almighty and none else. So why blame muslims of India for denying to recite vande matram on religious grounds when no muslim on earth whichever country he belongs to can ever do that. In short they are looking out for lame excuses to crush and kill muslims across India and wipe them out. But almighty Allah is there to take care of us and insha-Allah their sinister designs will never succeed.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Brutal Use of Force and Genocide of Kashmiris continues unabated

Yet another day of ruthlesshness of Indian security forces has passed in which two innocent civilians have been doomed to death and sixty other injured grieviously and thus continues their brutality and mass murder of Kashmiri muslims. On top of it, they make futile and unsuccessful bids to hack the truth. They accuse unarmed protestors of shooting at forces in Shopian and allege peaceful demonstrators of perpetrating violence against security forces. Inspite of all this, some liberal Indians want to lure us Kashmiris with their so-called sound economics, secularism and power. Our reply to them is "TO HELL WITH YOUR ECONOMICS, YOUR SECULARISM, YOUR POWER, YOUR SUPPLIES, YOUR SUPPORT". No conscious Kashmiri would ever opt to stay with India after being witness to their brutality and barbarism in the valley. You express your concerns about our survival after freedom. Our reply is you need not worry about that, please leave us alone. We will prefer to die in harness rather than siding with you beasts who perpetrate most heinous crimes against humanity in Kashmir and the images on the left side of this post are a blatant proof of your avengeful reign of terror that you have unleashed against entire Kashmiri population regardless of their age and gender. This is the real face of your democracy, your secularism and your liberalism. With all this done, we all say in one voice, "WE WANT FREEDOM", be it at the cost of our lives, our economy, our tourism, our survival. Very soon we will come out alongwith our children, our women and full families on roads and we won't move an inch even if you shower all your bullets on us and we will make sure that every single uniformed terrorist is made to vacate this pious land. We don't want your dirty feet on our soil anymore. Please leave and leave us alone.

Friday, September 5, 2008

CAN WE SURVIVE AFTER INDEPENDENCE FROM INDIA?

Of course WE CAN. India has been pursuing its policy of what the economists term as a "DEPENDENCE SYNDROME" in Kashmir. No doubt they finance our budget and provide us funds every year, yet how much they take from us mostly goes unnoticed. Out of NHPC's total capacity of generating 2400 MWs of electricity, 1600 MWs are generated (read stolen) from Kashmir. Government of India signed "Indus Water Treaty" way back in mid seventees with Pakistan thus inflicting losses to the tune of trillions of dollars to our state without ever compensating for the same. Owing to our rich water resources, our state has a total potential of producing 22000 MWs of power annually which shall be sufficient enough to electrify entire India, I guess. Five rivers on which Pakistan has been given rights under the afore-mentioned treaty to generate power could have changed the entire demography of development of our valley over years.

Besides we have a huge potential for producing raw material worth trillions of dollars for the herbal drug industry. This region is endemic to a large number of medicinal and aromatic plants. This sector is absolutely virgin and unexplored and can fetch us huge money in the international market if exploited properly. Nature has bestowed our fertile land with this invaluable gift. Our land grows world's best saffron and all of us know the cost of every ounce of it. Our valley is one of the richest source of several minerals like bauxite. This untapped industry can sustain for decades to come. We know world's best neelam is extracted from Padder area in Kishtwar.

Our tourism industry is our biggest asset besides our handicrafts. Once we are free and peace prevails in the region, tourists in lakhs from across the world will throng our serene destinations and our priceless carpets besides other handicrafts can fetch us currency of all nations in the world. Our fruit industry that has been made to suffer during the economic blockade imposed by right wing hindu fundamentalist forces is a big industry with a potential to earn good surplus. Only thing needed is opening up of natural trade routes of Kashmir through Muzaffarabad, Rawalakote, Skardu etc.

India has been funding us in a very tactful manner over the years. They invest in areas like hydroelectricity which will ultimately benefit none else than India itself. Their game plan is to keep Kashmiris always dependent upon central funds. They don't let us stand upon our own feet, they don't let us generate our own income and income for our brotheren. They provide us crores in the form of wages but nothing much for our industrialization and economic self-reliance. That is the reason why m0st of our youth are unemployed and craving for government employment because there are hardly any opportunities in private sector. There are many other areas that make our claim for freedom more economically viable that I shall discuss in my next post.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Qazigund village ‘terrorized’ by Indian Army

FAHEEM ASLAM/KHALID GUL
Courtesy: Daily Greater Kashmir dt. Sep. 5th, 2008
(Women Beaten, Kids Thrashed, Youth Paraded Naked; SHO Refuses To File FIR Against CRPF)
Wangud, Qazigund (Kulgam), Sep 4: The CRPF troopers beat up and wounded several women and more than 12 teenagers in this small hamlet in south Kashmir, during the strict curfew last week after the villagers refused to sing “Jai Mata Di (Long live Mata (Indian goddess)” “Vanday Mataram (I bow before thee o motherland),” and the Indian national anthem. Not to be quoted by their names was the first request of the villagers, as they feared further reprisals. The villagers said they are “being terrorized” for participating in pro-independence marches. The villagers said on August 26 the troopers of 154 Bn CRPF caught hold of a group of youth outside a Darasgah and asked them to sing Indian national anthem. “One of the youth, Muhammad Ishaq Wani, refused to sing it saying he didn’t know anything about it and even if the Indian prime minister forced him to sing it he would not. This was not liked by the troopers and they tore off his clothes, leaving him naked,” the villagers said. Ishaq is a 12th pass student and working as a salesman. After parading Ishaq naked, the troopers barged into dozens of houses and beat up the inmates to pulp, the villagers said. “They threw stones on window panes of the houses and damaged several vehicles,” the villagers said. The troopers had brought stones in a gunnysack, the villagers said. Women who tried to intervene were also beaten severely.
According to villagers, 40-year-old Hafeeza wife of Abdul Majeed Wani was brutally beaten by the troopers with bamboo sticks and gun buts inside a cow shed where she bled for nearly half an hour before her neighbours took her to hospital. She has six stitches in her head, and the bandage was blood stained. Hafeeza’s daughter Mehbooba too was not spared when she attempted to rescue her mother. “The troopers threatened Hafeeza of dire consequences if she told the villagers or the media how she was injured,” the villagers said. Mahtaba Bano, 70, wife of Abdul Majeed Wani has multiple bruises and haematoma. “She was asking them to stop atrocities, but she was thrashed severely,” the villagers added. A pregnant woman Nayeema Akhtar wife of Fayaz Ahmad Wani was hit with bamboo sticks on her back. The residents said a woman named Chashmeeda was walking on the road carrying her three-month-old baby when the troopers snatched the baby from her and beat her up severely. Chashmeeda has multiple injuries on arm.
“The troopers entered the house of a mentally challenged person and beat up his son Zakir Hussain Kuttay so savagely that he has 14 stitches in his head and arm,” the villagers said adding the troopers smashed the Dish TV antenna of one Muhammad Yousuf Rather while the vehicle of his fellow villager Abdul Hameed Wani was partially damaged. “More than 200 glass panes were smashed with stones,” the villagers said. They said the troopers tried to set ablaze the house of a villager Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh by spraying it with kerosene but his neighbor Muhammad Yousuf Rather snatched the kerosene can from the troopers. “Following this, the troopers broke Rather’s legs by ruthlessly beating him with gun butts,” the villagers said. Rather has fracture in his right leg. A 10-year-old boy, Abrar Ahmad, was severely beaten. “The troopers asked him about his favourite cricket player. He named Shoaib Akhtar. Hearing this, the troopers started beating him,” the villagers said. They said Ahmad was rescued by his father who told the troopers that Abarar’s favourite player was Sachin Tendulkar and not Shoaib Akhtar. The villagers said after the “collective punishment” the troopers left the area at 4 pm, but returned again to sing “Jana Gana Mana” and “Vanday Mataram” in the village. “More than 200 troopers in a frenzy celebrated in the village Allah knows what. They raised anti-Islam and anti-Azadi slogans,” the villagers said. They said the Station House Officer of Dooru Police Station refused to file an FIR against the troopers. “Please don’t name any of the victims in your story. The CRPF troopers will simply kill us. There is nobody here to listen to us, not even the police and district administration,” the villagers said. The CRPF officials, however, deny having any information about the incident. “I don’t know anything about it. But I will certainly talk to the concerned commandant and ask him to inquire the matter,” said the CRPF’s Srinagar-based spokesman, Prabhakar Tripathi. “If the allegations are proved right, we will be taking action against the erring troopers. We won’t tolerate indiscipline at any cost.”

WELCOME TO INDIAN KASHMIR


Courtesy: Daily Rising Kashmir
Wednesday, 03 September 2008
Alistair Scrutton
London, Sep 03: The world's largest democracy locks up protest leaders without charge, shoots dozens of demonstrators dead, beats and intimidates ordinary citizens and raids homes without warrants. Welcome to Kashmir, where the biggest separatist protests in two decades have clashed with the might of the state. "They are ruthless, trigger happy," said Ghulam Rasool Bhat, a laborer who says he was beaten by federal police after he tried to buy milk for his two nephews under a curfew in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. He lay in a bed, both legs bandaged where a soldier, shouting "Get your milk from Pakistan" had smashed a rifle into his shins. His legs felt, he said, as if in a continuous cramp. Police have shot dead at least 35 Muslim protesters in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley after a row over land for a Hindu shrine spiraled into marches and strikes against Indian rule. More than 1,000 people have been wounded in clashes over three weeks, hospital officials and police say, with the Kashmir Valley often under curfew. Hundreds of people have suffered police baton beatings and bullet wounds, doctors say.
The Indian government says its security forces have been fired upon by protesters on several occasions, and said authorities had "acted within the law and with restraint." Witnesses said some protesters had thrown stones at police, but said that most were marching peacefully.
India's hardline response to the protests has highlighted what critics say is its lack of strategy to find a solution to a problem that has already sparked two wars between India and Pakistan , who both claim the region in full but rule it in parts. The crackdown may also be counter-productive. Residents say the deaths and violent crackdown have fuelled anger against India and boosted the separatist cause after years of relative peace. "The government of India does not have a strategy," said Siddharth Varadarajan, diplomatic editor of The Hindu newspaper.
"It is relying heavily on coercion, arresting top and middle-level leaders in the hope it will break the back of unprecedented protests." In rare criticism last week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on India to avoid using excessive force. It drew a rebuke from India for interfering in its affairs.
SIMMERING RESENTMENT
For decades there has been simmering resentment at the hundreds of thousands of Indian troops stationed in Kashmir, making it one of the most militarized regions on earth.
Roadblocks, verbal abuse from soldiers and raids on homes have long been a part of daily life.
But as protests spiraled in August, the government sent in battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), a federal police force of mainly Hindus who do not speak Kashmiri. Strangers to Kashmir , most residents appear to despise them. In interviews in Srinagar and nearby villages, tales were similar: CRPF beatings, night raids on homes, verbal abuse and
smashed windows. Life has been worse than in previous years. "They are not human," said Raja, a villager from Newtheed less than an hour's drive from the city. She said soldiers smashed up her home, shouting "We'll show you what freedom is." In Srinagar, the CRPF has taken over from the local Kashmiri police to enforce curfews and riot control. Residents complain of abuse at the slightest provocation -- selling bread, buying milk. One surgeon, who asked to remain anonymous because of fear of retribution from Indian authorities, said he has received around 400 wounded people in three weeks, 150 of them hit by bullets. "These are target killings. It's simple to see," said the doctor, explaining that many of the chest wounds were from weapons such as AK-47s. "Most of these were intended to kill. They were not to disperse a crowd."
Shabir Ahmed Dar, 22, lay in one hospital bed after three operations. He was shot in the bdomen during a protest march to the Pakistani Kashmir border.
"There was no warning from the police. They just fired." The police firings drew criticism from Human Rights Watch. "To end this cycle of tragedy, the government should order security forces to act with restraint," it said in a statement. It is not just a hardline response to street protests. Authorities have detained several separatist leaders without charge. Other leaders, many committed to democratic change and who publicly reject militant violence, were in hiding.
Asiya Andrabi, chief of Kashmir’s women's separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Milat Daughters of the Muslim Faith) who had led some of the protests, has been detained under the Public Safety Act that allows for a year in jail without trial. The violence still pales in comparison with previous years when officials say more than 43,000 people have been killed in clashes involving Indian troops and Muslim militants since 1989. Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000 dead or missing. Some analysts say authorities were in a difficult situation.
"This is a place where security officials are getting attacked every second day," said Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, referring to the years of militant insurgency.

Monday, September 1, 2008

KASHMIR - A Story of double standards, dirty politics, discrimination and blatant human rights violation

Yes, this is what Kashmir is all about in addition to leadership crisis, disintegrity, misinformation campaign, false propaganda and ruthless use of force. A glimpse of dirty politics is provided by our Abdullah clan. Only few days ago, Omar Abdullah went on record on national channels favouring "Azadi" and yesterday his father blissfully puts in his signatures on the pact between governor's nominees and Sangarsh Samiti without caring about the horrendous crimes inflicted upon the Kashmiris during all these years and during curefew period in particular. Surely , anybody can make a wild guess that another puppet government run by National Conference under patronage of the Congress is in the offing for hapless Kashmiris. Otherwise after losing entire vote bank of Jammu by supporting the idea of Azadi, NC could never have afforded to lost the vote bank of the Valley too by signing this pact. Surely another pact of rewarding NC with governance in J&K seems to have been signed between Farooq Abdullah and the Centre. Anyways, it hardly matters for the crippled and gagged Kashmiris as to which puppet government in ruling the roost. Kashmiris this time are not going to settle for anything short of Azadi.

Meanwhile CRPF continues to shower bullets on peaceful protestors in addition to hurling choicest invectives and abuses on passers-by, barging into peoples' homes, mosques and shops, desecrating household goods, beating inmates, sacrilaging Holy Books, humiliating respected senior citizens and molesting womenfolk. There is no accountability, no control over the berserk and brutal forces. Curfew passes are being rejected and torn, youth are beaten to pulp and shopkeepers are threatened without any provocation. Sad part of the story is that some Kashmiri Pandits who claim to represent their entire community are busy spewing venom against Kashmiri Muslims and are taking their misinformation campaign through blogs, internet, documentaries, newspapers to all new heights without caring about its consequences on the age old brotherhood and harmony between the two communities. I remember how muslim youth of our locality risked their lives to save pudit houses when the entire locality had been engulfed in a devastating fire incident. Even today majority of muslims are ready to welcome their pundit brothers with open arms back into the valley, but these so-called champions of pundit cause are hell bent to spread communal hatred and divide the two communities with dangerous fall-outs.

Pakistan continues to be tight-lipped over the plight of imprisoned and gagged Kashmiris and so does OIC. Surprisingly some of the Indian intelligentia has started realizing the fallacy and the myth that Indians have been nurturing since ages and have started coming out in open in favour of granting Kashmiris their well-deserved INDEPENDENCE