[Reader-list] International Call to end Humanitarian Crisis in Jammu and Kashmir

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

And, They can do just anything for PR...

On 8/13/08, Prabhakar Singh <prabhakardelhi at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> These terrorists have a very wide support base.
> Prabhakar
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Vedavati Jogi <vedavati_jogi at yahoo.com>
> To: kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk
> Cc: achatterji at ciis.edu; reader-list at sarai.net; Shubh.Mathur at stockton.edu
> Sent: Wednesday, 13 August, 2008 5:11:40 AM
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] International Call to end Humanitarian Crisis in
> Jammu and Kashmir
>
> Dear Champions of Human Rights,
>
> I request all of you to please go to Shrinagar, spend some time with our
> dear muslim terrorist brothers and then only you publish such type of calls.
>
> Vedavati
>
> --- On Wed, 8/13/08, Kashmir Affairs <kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> From: Kashmir Affairs <kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk>
> Subject: [Reader-list] International Call to end Humanitarian Crisis in
> Jammu and Kashmir
> To: reader-list at sarai.net
> Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 12:24 AM
>
> Justice Navanethem Pillay, High Commissioner
> Dr. Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner
> Ms. Gay McDougall, Independent Expert on minority issues
> Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
> United Nations
> Palais des Nations
> CH-1211 Geneva 10
> Switzerland
>
> Subject: Humanitarian Crisis in Jammu and Kashmir
>
> August 12, 2008
>
>
> Dear Justice Pillay, Dr. Kang, Ms. McDougall:
>
> We
> write to bring to your attention the profound humanitarian crisis
> continuing in the Kashmir Valley due to the ongoing blockade of the
> Srinagar-Jammu highway by religious nationalist groups from India. This
> has resulted in severe shortages in the Kashmir Valley of food and
> other vital provisions. We are reliably informed that petrol and
> essential medical rations, including blood, are in critically short
> supply, as well as newsprint, and that communication services and
> infrastructure are severely disrupted.
>
> The situation in Jammu,
> where the Muslim minority is facing violence on a scale that can be
> described as ethnic cleansing, is alarming. The Government of India and
> the military and paramilitary forces have shown themselves unable
> and/or unwilling to take any effective action, either to end the
> blockade or to stop the violence against Muslims in Jammu. Meanwhile,
> military and paramilitary forces have opened fire on
> counter-demonstrators in Kashmir, using live bullets and mortar. A
> communiqué from the Kashmir Valley states that:
>
> "The
> situation here on ground is that essential commodities have started
> getting dried up, diesel is already out of stock and petrol at its
> verge of end. The people here are very much concerned as if the same
> continues for next few days there will be nothing left to eat with the
> people of Kashmir. And on the other side the Army is supporting the
> mobs who have allegedly beaten up the drivers stranded on the national
> highway. The drivers who were beaten up reported that they asked Army
> to help them but all went in despair and the Army people in return
> handed them over to the mobs. The target is only the Kashmiri Muslims
> and some sources from Jammu say that it is the outsiders who have come
> to Jammu and are doing such attacks on the Muslims and it is quite
> evident that the Hindu fundamentalist groups viz. BJP, RSS VHP, etc.,
> are all sponsoring the planned attacks onto the Kashmiris like it was
> done in Gujarat. Here in Kashmir we feel the history seems to be being
> repeated by the Hindu fundamentalists who had earlier in 1947 killed
> about 250,000 Muslims in Jammu."
>
> On
> August 11, 2008, approximately 100,000 Kashmiris, including fruit
> growers and others gravely affected by the blockade, marched toward the
> Line of Control toward Pakistan markets in protest. They were met with
> gunfire and tear gas from the military and paramilitary forces, and
> Sheik Abdul Aziz, an All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader, was shot
> dead, intensifying the situation. Police reports stated that three
> others were killed and over 200 injured, enervating health systems
> already low on supplies. Other sources we contacted stated that as many
> as 18 others may have been killed in Kashmir on August 11. By early
> evening of August 12, as we write you, reports stated that as many as
> twelve persons were killed in Kashmir on that day as armed forces fired
> on demonstrators. Other reports stated that civil society groups,
> students, and labor unions participating in non-violent civil
> disobedience and peaceful protests are being targeted by the forces, as
> curfew conditions prevail.
>
> The
> Srinagar-Jammu highway is the only land route linking the Kashmir
> Valley to India and the sole conduit for essential supplies as well as
> for exporting horticultural goods, which are among the Valley's chief
> products. News updates on the state of the blockade and situation can
> be found from leading Kashmiri newspapers, which are online at
> www.greaterkashmir.com; www.kashmirtimes.com; www.risingkashmir.com;
> www.etalaat.com/english/.
>
> About
> 95-97 percent of the population of the Valley is Muslim, while Muslims
> are a minority in India. This has made Kashmir the target of
> increasingly aggressive campaigns by Hindu nationalist groups since
> 1947, despite guarantees of autonomy written into the Indian
> Constitution. The Government of India has failed to take measures to
> prevent these campaigns, consisting of marches and demonstrations, and
> culminating in the current blockade. Since 1989 there has been an armed
> pro-independence struggle in Kashmir, together with other and
> non-violent movements for self-determination. Indian counterinsurgency
> operations have resulted in grave abuses of human rights with social,
> economic, psychological, political, and environmental consequences,
> which meet the definition under international law of crimes against
> humanity. To a population suffering the effects of nineteen years of
> armed conflict, the economic crisis caused by the blockade comes as the
> last straw.
>
> We
> urge that you respond expeditiously to this situation in accordance
> with the mandate to uphold human rights as enshrined in the charter of
> the United Nations.
>
> Recommendations:
> 1. The Government of
> India should immediately end the economic blockade and ensure that
> goods and services, including emergency medicaland food supplies, can
> move in both directions along the Srinagar-Jammu border.
> 2. The
> Government of India should open the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, a
> promise repeatedly reiterated by successive governments of India and
> Pakistan, though never implemented. This would ensure that the current
> crisis situation is not repeated as well as mark a concrete step
> forward in addressing injustices and the peace process.
> 3. Take immediate action to stop the violence against
> the Muslim minority in Jammu and bring those responsible to justice.
> 4.
> Put an end to ongoing human rights abuses by Indian forces and
> pro-India militias as repeatedly promised by the Indian Prime Minister
> and expected of democratic governments.
> 5. Take steps for a
> long-term resolution of the conflict by beginning talks with all
> sections of the Kashmiri leadership and civil society.
> 6. Take steps
> to hold the Indian state accountable under the provisions established
> by the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, Constitution of India, the
> Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and International Laws and
> Conventions.
>
> We, the undersigned, are academics, social
> activists, writers, filmmakers, artists, lawyers, and concerned
> citizens. Our work and conscience connects us to Kashmir and its
> people. We hold no political affiliations. Please do not hesitate to
> contact us if we may be of further use.
>
> Contact persons:
> Dr. Angana Chatterji,
> Associate Professor, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology,
> California Institute of Integral Studies, Office: 001-415.575.6119,
> Mobile: 001-415.640.4013, E-mail: achatterji at ciis.edu.
> Dr. Haley Duschinski, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and
> Anthropology, Ohio University, Office: 001-740.593.0823, E-mail:
> duschins at ohio.edu.
> Dr. Shubh Mathur, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of History,
> Richard
> Stockton College of New Jersey, Office: 001-347.404.2238, E-mail:
> Shubh.Mathur at stockton.edu.
>
>
> Yours Sincerely,
> Signed [Institutional information noted for affiliation purposes only]:
>
> Dr.
> Angana Chatterji, Associate Professor, Department of Social and
> Cultural Anthropology, California Institute of Integral Studies, San
> Francisco
>
> Dr. Haley Duschinski, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and
> Anthropology, Ohio University
>
> Dr. Shubh Mathur, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of History,
> Richard
> Stockton College of New Jersey
>
> Dr.
> Paola Bacchetta, Associate Professor, Department of Gender and Women's
> Studies, and Director, Beatrice Bain Research Group, University of
> California, Berkeley
>
> Dr. Srimati Basu, Associate Professor, Department of Gender and Women's
> Studies (and Anthropology), University of Kentucky
>
> Medea Benjamin, Cofounder, Global Exchange, San Francisco, and
> CODEPINK
>
> Dr. Purnima Bose, Associate Professor, Department of English, Indiana
> University
>
> Dr. Jeff Brody, Professor, College of Communications, California State
> University Fullerton
>
> Adem Carroll, Chair, Muslim Consultative Network, New York Disaster
> Interfaith
> Services
>
> Dr.
> Lubna Nazir Chaudhry, Assistant Professor, School of Education and
> Human Development, State University of New York, Binghamton
>
> Huma Dar, Doctoral student, Department of South and South East Asian
> Studies,
> University of California, Berkeley
>
> Dr. Geraldine Forbes, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Department of
> History,
> State University of New York Oswego
>
> Dr. Sidney L. Greenblatt, President, Central New York Fulbright Association
>
> Dr. Sondra Hale, Professor, Department of Anthropology and Women's Studies,
> University of California, Los Angeles
>
> Dr. Lamia Karim, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology,
> University of
> Oregon-Eugene
>
> Professor Ali Kazimi, Department of Film, Faculty of Fine Arts, York
> University
>
> Dr. Omar Khalidi, Aga Khan Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>
> Rafique A. Khan, Community Development Planner, CRA, City of Los Angeles
>
> Tasneem F. Khan, Kashmir Relief, Los Angeles
>
> Dr. Amitava Kumar, Writer and Professor, Department of English, Vassar
> College
>
> Rabbi Michael Lerner, Chair, The Network of Spiritual Progressives,
> Berkeley
>
> Barbara Lubin, Executive Director, Middle East Children's Alliance,
> Berkeley
>
> Dr. Sunaina Maira, Associate Professor, Department of Asian American
> Studies,
> University of California, Davis
>
> Dr. Lise McKean, Senior Research Specialist, Learning Sciences Research
> Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago
>
> Dr. Abdul R. JanMohamed, Professor, Department of English, University
> California, Berkeley
>
> Dr. Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Associate Professor,
> Graduate School of Education, Portland State University
>
> Dr. Richa Nagar, Professor, Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality
> Studies,
> University of Minnesota
>
> Dr. Vijaya Nagarajan, Associate Professor, Department of Theology and
> Religious
> Studies, University of San Francisco
>
> Annie
> Paradise, Doctoral student, Department of Social and Cultural
> Anthropology, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
>
> Dr. David Naguib Pellow, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of
> Minnesota
>
> Faisal Qadri, Human Rights Law Network
>
> Dr.
> Mridu Rai, Associate Professor, Department of History and Whitney and
> Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale
> University
>
> Dr. Cabeiri Robinson, Assistant Professor,
> International Studies & South Asian Studies, Jackson School of
> International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle
>
> Dr. Sabina Sawhney, Associate Professor, Department of
> English, Hofstra University
>
> Dr. Simona Sawhney, Associate Professor, Department of Asian Languages and
> Literatures, University of Minnesota
>
> Dr. Kalpana Rahita Seshadri, Associate Professor, Department of English,
> Boston
> College
>
> Professor
> Richard Shapiro, Chair, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology,
> California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
>
> Murtaza Shibli, Editor, Kashmir Affairs, London
>
> Dr. Magid Shihade, Visiting Scholar, Middle East/South Asia Studies,
> University
> of California, Davis
>
> Snehal Shingavi, Doctoral student, Department of English, University of
> California, Berkeley
>
> Dr. Ajay Skaria, Associate Professor, Department of History and Institute
> of
> Global Studies, University of Minnesota
>
> Dr. Nancy Snow, Associate Professor, S. I. Newhouse School of Public
> Communications, Syracuse University
>
> Dr. Rachel Sturman, Assistant Professor, Department of History & Asian
> Studies, Bowdoin College
>
> Dr. Fouzieyha Towghi, Visiting Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies,
> University of California, Berkeley
>
> Sandeep Vaidya, India Solidarity Group (Ireland)
>
> Saiba Varma, Doctoral student, Department of Anthropology, Cornell
> University
>
> Feroz Ahmed Wani, Social activist
>
> David Wolfe, Human security and conflict resolution specialist
>
> Pei
> Wu, Doctoral student, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology,
> California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
>
>
>
> Cc:
>
> Ms. Helene Flautre,
> Member, European Parliament
> Chair of the European Parliament's Sub-committee on Human Rights
>
> Mr. Geoffrey Harris
> Head of Human Rights Unit, European Parliament
>
> Ambassador Richard A. Boucher, Assistant Secretary
> Timothy Fitzgibbons, India Desk
> Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs United States Department of State
>
> Mr. David J.
> Kramer
> Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
> United States Department of State
>
> Ms. Felice D. Gaer
> Chair, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
>
> Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
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