[Reader-list] Oranges won't work anymore
S. Jabbar
sonia.jabbar at gmail.com
Mon Aug 25 11:07:11 IST 2008
Actually, neither did Mehbooba Mufti! Her father, Mufti Mohd. Sayeed was
the chief minister. She's always been party president.
On 8/25/08 1:37 AM, "Shuddhabrata Sengupta" <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
> 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
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