It was June 2010. Exactly 22 months after Amarnath Land Row, 2008 that I started  writing the third part of this book “Kashmir Trampled.” That was  with regard to the land row and  on the  blockade imposed by the Sangh Parivar against Kashmir.  While intending to write on economic blockade I could not imagine starting it again in June, 2010. But the same story was repeated this year too and the whole valley was besieged -  once again. 
                   On June 21,2010, the morning newspaper carried news of killings. The second day, then third ,  fourth and onwards…………. on all those days  newspapers  carried news of killings,  protests, curfew--------- killings in Srinagar, Sopore and Islamabad-----three big and main districts of Kashmir. Then fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth day with continued curfew and -------the dastardly killings could not be better captioned than the leads given below. ----And these read:
  “Bloody Sunday, Another youth shot dead”
“2010: year of teenage killings”
“Out of 13, 9 fell to CTPF Bullets”
“Two more Killed.    9—year old among victims”
                          Those  were some newspaper headings in a few days  only— Trampling of Kashmir,--------  tragic story  of brutal use of force and indiscriminate firing by Paramilitary forces,  almost two years onward  to the land row when more than 60 killed and more than 2000 were injured. I compare the  loss of lives between Jammu and Kashmir. It is not on the basis of the region, which Kashmir has never made the bone of contention. It is on the basis of happenings here and there. Economic blockade was a war crime committed on Kashmiris. Together with it came the loss of property, which is much more in Jammu, where thousands of electronic electric meters were destroyed collectively. This was followed by communal riots in Muslim belt of  Jammu in which two people were burnt alive and  the torching of hutments belonging to gujjars. Over and above this, there was  unabated violent agitation spread over 62  days with an unfortunate death of 10 persons. Comparing this figure with the peaceful protests in Kashmir you have more thane 60 killings including one Hurriyat leader Abdul Aziz and more than 2000 injured many of them very seriously. This is   only a glimpse of discrimination in maintaining law and order there and here. This discrimination has many other aspects.  

         Kashmir being under jackboot, its details can be read on every step in Kashmir during past 20 long years. This too is a fact that many innocent people were killed by militants, or freedom fighters what ever name you will give them. That was always rare, and selective and no doubt condemnable. But  killings by the Para military forces and Indian army (in the name of safety and protection) runs in thousands. This does not happen once or twice but continuously everywhere and anywhere.

          It is difficult to give the detail of the incidents when innocent people were massacred. It is not only Gaw-Kadal, Hawal, Zakoora. Islamia College. Vandhhama,  Chatisingh pora. Bijbehara, Sopore Nadimarg, Pulwam, Kupwara, it is scores of places were peaceful people were killed indiscriminately and collectively. 

                 It was with beginning of 1990 that massacre of the people begun with new Governor Jagmaohan. It was on January 22, 1990, that 55 innocent civilians were killed in the locality of Gaw-Kadal, and it was on May 21, 90, when 70 persons put to death by CRPF troops near Islamia College.srinagar, while carrying the dead body of the Late Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq. In between these two incidents, 21 and 26 demonstrators were killed at Tengporabypass and Zakoora crossing. Those were  only three instances of peoples massacre out of  minimum one dozen incidents. In 1991 on May8,  in Pir Dasstagir, Khanyar locality of down town Srinagar,  troops  fired on one thousand people who were assembled to bury some martyred Kashmiris. 18 civilians were  killed. In this incident one infant aged two years, and his father were also killed. As has been said  that it is difficult to give the details of peoples massacres in Kashmir but  the figures of two or three places  quoted, here can help in estimating the number of those killed  by paramilitary forces during last 20 years. From 1990 till 2004 there have been more than 75 such incidents of people’s massacre.

Disclosure of fake encounter at Machhil, a border village  of Kashmir recently, where 3 local people  allegedly militants were killed by the BSF (Border Security Forces) for getting the reward, has established a new  dimension of  killings  of innocent  people which people were complaining for the last many years, particularly  after tragic incident  in Chhatisinghpora 
                             
                  It explains that Kashmir is practically under jackboot for the last 20 years in particular. History is witness that the people of Kashmir had been trampled during centuries of autocratic rule in different ways.

         Kashmir remained hanging between two dominions, India and Pakistan on the issue of Accession. Both the dominions are presenting different versions, different interpretations, different approaches, with ruling all the three parts of Kashmir amidst a 62 years dispute, without taking care of historical considerations, and peoples’ sentiments.  For India  Kashmir is the integral part, for Pakistan it is the jugular vein. Both the approaches are surely debatable  but Kashmir dispute is not our subject here.  It is, but, imperative to mention here, it is not only one part of Kashmir suffering in different ways, it is whole Jammu & Kashmir which it was in   1947. It is Gilgit-Baltistan, where people  really fought and got freedom  from Maharaja in 1947. But  their freedom could not live for more  than 15-20 days, when Pakistan send her  political agent to rule their. It is present “Azad Kashmir’ which is run by four agencies  of Pakistan, and it is Present Jammu & Kashmir state,  presently  and practically part of  the biggest democracy of the world, but at the mercy of  central Government Army and Para Military Forces  together. Presently this Kashmir is under  our discussion, where the people are  facing subjugation in the name of democracy.

Wisdom lies in discussing the issue the way it merits to be discussed. The problem can't be solved by force. Solution has to be political.

(Tahir Muzter is a Senior Journalist. Feedback at tahirmuzter @ hotmail.com. This is the chapter of his forthcoming book on Kashmir Kashmir Trampled)

Lastupdate on : Sat, 17 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
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