[Reader-list] The updated list of killings by the firing of armedforces

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Radhika,

Thank you for your observations on Khurram's posting.

Well, in this case some  "protesters who claim to be peaceful,  
holding sticks, guns and resort to arson and riot" were "garlanded."  
I am referring to the ones in Jammu. You will recall, that not a  
single policeman or soldier or paramilitary personnel were killed in  
Kashmir. But two policemen did die in Jammu, and some truck drivers  
assaulted by the 'peaceful' protestors in Jammu also succmbed, I  
suppose in your opinion, "peacefully"  from their injuries. Gujjar  
huts were burnt in acts of "peaceful" arson. The crowds in Kashmir  
who were fired upon, 50 of whom were killed at the last count, did  
not bear weapons. We all saw the television pictures. They threw  
stones, like angry crowds do everywhere in the world. But they did  
not kill policemen.

The government did not garland these protestors, it clamped  
indefinite curfews and shot at them to kill. One the other hand it  
did garland the protestors on the other side of the Banihal pass. it  
held some leaders under the Public Safety Act, and then released  
them. It counducted 'negotiations' with the leaders of the peaceful  
protests in Jammu and garlanded them with a sham 'accord'. All these  
prove that if you happen to belong to the right place, sport the  
right kind of name, then even if your 'peaceful' protest turns  
occasionally violent, you can still be 'garlanded' as you (in this  
case) rightly point out.

After all, we live in the country whose government called its nuclear  
weapons tests in 1974, 'peaceful implosions'.

In the novel, '1984' George Orwell, whom I have referred to in an  
earlier posting, wrote about how in the language perfected by   
fictional regime that he was decribing, (newspeak) 'PEACE' was 'WAR'.

are you not indulging in a little modest 'newspeak' Radhika, surely,  
you can do better than that?

warm regards

Shuddha

On 18-Sep-08, at 1:46 PM, radhikarajen at vsnl.net wrote:
Khurram,

  your post makes me wonder, whether the protesters who claim to be  
peaceful, holding sticks, guns and resort to arson and riot should be  
garlanded. ?