[Reader-list] Oranges won't work anymore

Mon Aug 25 01:37:04 IST 2008

The ex director of the CBI, also happens to get the name and persona  
of the kidnapped daughter of Mufti Muhammad Syed. It wasn't Mehbooba  
Mufti, it was her sister, Rubaiya Syed, then a medical student.  
Rubaiya Syed never became the chief minister of Kashmir, Mehbooba  
Mufti did.

In the case of an ordinary person, such a slip is perhaps  
understandable. But the person making the slip happens to have  
occupied the topmost echelons of a part of the so called 'security'  
apparatus in India, and is a decorated and loquacious former police  
officer. This gives us an accurate picture of how well the  
bureaucrats and spin doctors who are attempting to manage Kashmir  
actually know anything about what is going on in the ground. The  
nakedness of their humbuggery is pretty evident.  It also gives us a  
fairly reasonable idea of how seriously to take their conjectures and  
figures.

regards,

Shuddha

> you post an article by the ex-director of the CBI which quotes  
> reports of
> the J & K government as its "source" and you expect people to take you
> seriously??...come on!
>
> On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 11:46 PM, Aditya Raj Kaul
> <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>>  *Oranges won't work anymore*
>>
>> By Joginder Singh, Ex-Director CBI
>>
>>
>>  The CRPF Inspector-General was transferred from Srinagar on  
>> August 13
>> after
>> an uproar in the Kashmir Valley, led by terrorists and their  
>> supporters,
>> who
>> alleged excesses by the Central paramilitary force. He was also  
>> denied the
>> President's police medal for fear of controversy and wider  
>> protests. There
>> is nothing new in this kind of approach as the decision-makers are  
>> far
>> removed from reality. Meanwhile, it is the police and the security  
>> forces
>> that continue to face life-and-death situations, standing between  
>> chaos and
>> order.
>>
>>  In 1990s, the then Governor of Jammu & Kashmir lost his job for  
>> taking a
>> tough stand against anti-nationalist elements. That did not help the
>> situation, nor will the recent transfer of the CRPF Inspector-General
>> restore peace. On the contrary, it will embolden separatists and  
>> terrorists
>> who will now think that they can get away with anything.
>>
>>  Wherever the Government of the day has pursued the policy of  
>> appeasement
>> and has compromised on basic values, it has invited trouble.  
>> Terrorism in
>> the Valley flourishes in direct proportion to the political will  
>> to deal
>> with the same. It commenced with the kidnapping of Ms Mehbooba  
>> Mufti, the
>> daughter of Mufti Mohammed Sayed, former Home Minister, who is now  
>> a former
>> Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir. To secure her release, the then
>> Government had freed five dreaded terrorists. This emboldened the
>> separatists and the terrorists, and was enough to start a series  
>> of chain
>> reactions in the Valley from 1988 onwards. I am an eyewitness to  
>> these
>> events as I was the InspectorGeneral of the CRPF in Srinagar at  
>> the time.
>>
>>  The Government's tendency to sweep such incidents under the  
>> carpet has
>> today resulted in terrorists openly dictating terms to the people;
>> enforcing
>> the *purdah* system for women, closing down beauty parlours and  
>> cinema
>> houses, etc. The Prime Minister, like many before him, gave a  
>> laudable
>> speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence day this  
>> year as
>> he
>> appealed to the masses to shun communalism.
>>
>>  But unfortunately, the whole agitation in the Kashmir Valley is  
>> based on a
>> communal ideology. The truth is, communalism in one community  
>> generates
>> communalism in others. Otherwise, how could hordes of people led by
>> terrorists start a rally with the declared aim of crossing the LoC  
>> into
>> Muzaffarabad? The Government should have responded that those who  
>> cross the
>> LoC illegally will not be allowed back into the country.
>>
>>  A series of misconceived policies, or the so-called people-to-people
>> contact, have brought about this situation. Otherwise, how could a
>> mainstream political party demand that Pakistani currency be  
>> declared legal
>> tender in Jammu & Kashmir? It would be wrong to say that  
>> 'transferring' 97
>> acres of forest land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board has led to the
>> present
>> crisis. The separatists and terrorists have been going all-out to  
>> create
>> disturbances and problems as per the following report of the Jammu &
>> Kashmir
>> Government:
>>
>>  "A total of 42,147 people, including 20,647 militants and 5,024  
>> security
>> personnel were killed in the State between January 1990 and the  
>> middle of
>> February 2007... Violence left 33,885 people, including 12,124  
>> security
>> personnel and 21,659 civilians injured during the same period in the
>> State... 11,221 civilians were killed by militants and another  
>> 1,678 lost
>> their lives in grenade and Improvised Explosive Device explosions,  
>> while
>> 173
>> civilians were killed when they were caught in clashes between  
>> militants. A
>> total of 3,404 civilians were killed in cross-firing incidents  
>> between
>> security forces and militants... The highest number of 1,438  
>> civilians were
>> killed in 1996, the year elections were held after a gap of seven  
>> year,
>> while the highest number of 3,602 Army and other paramilitary  
>> personnel
>> lost
>> their lives fighting militants in the same year. Jammu and Kashmir  
>> Police
>> lost 537 personnel since January 1990. As many as 438 Special Police
>> Officers engaged by the police in counter-insurgency operations were
>> killed.
>> 127 Village Defence Committee members were killed fighting  
>> militants in the
>> State. 613 security personnel were killed in a single year in  
>> 2001, which
>> was again the highest."
>>
>>  Now, the question arises as to what can be done. Also whether  
>> what is
>> being
>> done is sufficient. In 1990, the midnight protests were sparked by  
>> the call
>> given by 1,100 mosques, which had installed loudspeakers to call the
>> faithful to prayer. Loudspeakers in Kashmir's mosques, then as  
>> now, are
>> used
>> to give calls for anti-national activities, asking the people to  
>> gather in
>> the streets or at a particular spot to stage demonstrations. The then
>> Governor had ordered the disconnection of these loudspeakers,  
>> which itself
>> led to protests.
>>
>>  It is a fact that many terrorists take shelter in places of worship.
>> During
>> my recent visit to the US I was told that the police had, with the
>> co-operation of the Muslim community and their religious leaders,  
>> installed
>> CCTV cameras in mosques to monitor any criminal activity. In a  
>> situation
>> like that which prevails in the Kashmir Valley, which has been highly
>> communalised, it is impossible to get any kind of evidence to prove
>> anti-national activities as no witness will be willing to come  
>> forth to
>> depose. Mrs Margaret Thatcher used to say publicity is the oxygen of
>> terrorism. Any publicity which eulogises terrorism should be  
>> discouraged,
>> if
>> not completely banned.
>>
>>  Terrorist leaders, their supporters and sympathisers should be  
>> immobilised
>> by using the present laws and detained outside Jammu & Kashmir. The
>> Government has announced financial assistance for the families of
>> terrorists
>> on the grounds that it is not their fault if the only earning  
>> member of
>> their family becomes a militant. This approach is fraught with  
>> danger and
>> the sooner it is given up the better. It should not become a  
>> scheme to help
>> traitors.
>>
>>  Many so-called intellectuals talk about a referendum in the  
>> Valley. With
>> Pakistan having hijacked the anti-India movement, any referendum or
>> election
>> will be irrelevant at this point of time. The first priority is to  
>> drive
>> the
>> Pakistani terrorists out of the Valley and send them to the  
>> country of
>> their
>> origin. The Government should stop all dialogue with these  
>> militants who
>> are
>> nothing more than agents of Pakistan. Only a tough approach will  
>> send the
>> right signal that the Government means business.
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net