[Reader-list] Oranges won't work anymore

[Kashmir Affairs]

Wonderful. Indian 'democracy' has only one policy prescription in Kashmir - whole scale murder. A friend who has been at very top post in IB recently wrote back to me that 'those who don't want to live in India should migrate'. It seems had they not attacked the LoC March whole Kashmir would have gone to the otherside. Not a bad proposition in my view - life is more precious than land.
In 1947 - quarter a million were massacred in Jammu and two million forced to migrate.
In 1990 - 100,000 Pandits had to leave and similar number of Kashmiri Muslims from villages along the LoC migrated to Muzzaffarabad.
In 2008 - thousands of Muslim families have been forced to leave Jammu and adjoining Hindu majority areas.
- 'Democracy' is just getting better. And what a wonderful way of scapegoating - anti-nationls, terrorists. 
Welcome to Rene Gerrard's world - Mimesis and Violence.

Murtaza Shibli
www.kashmiraffairs.org


--- On Sun, 24/8/08, Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
From: Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
Subject: [Reader-list] Oranges won't work anymore
To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Date: Sunday, 24 August, 2008, 7:16 PM

  *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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