[Reader-list] Back home, I feel reborn

Mon Sep 29 08:26:11 IST 2008

Dear Aditya,

 It is good that there are spaces in Indian system that allow you to
speak freely.

In kashmir there is very little. you know it.

we need to encourage such expression, how else you will make a Nation
work, if not the voices of the other are inclusive ?

love
is

On Sun, Sep 28, 2008 at 7:57 PM, Aditya Raj Kaul
<kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Aarti ji,
>
>     I thought of not replying to this e-mail by you; but then you wouldn't
> have known the truth. Yes, of course even I felt sad to react to such a
> fictitious story. I simply wouldn't have commented; if he had genuine
> concerns and it wasn't exaggerated out of bounds.
>
> Yes, I along with my friends have been arrested quite a few times and for
> the right reasons. Please note that Malik Sajad wasn't arrested, he was
> detained (though even this would be a strong term to use). With Sajad's
> post, I feel assured at least the Delhi Police has woken up from its deep
> slumber and is tough.
>
> I've been reading newspapers, Yes, and I know how to extract truth out of
> those fake media reports especially from Kashmir based newspapers such as
> Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir and Etlaat. Maybe, you are unaware of the
> terrorism and the ground reality in Kashmir. And, how often the locals in
> the valley shield the terrorists quite willingly. Also, you don't know how
> Kashmiri Muslim youth crossed the border to PoK to get trained in arms and
> then spread their tirade in the valley and now across India.
>
> You are unaware, of how disinformation campaign is launched by people like
> Malik Sajad to hypnotise the Indian masses; especially the youth to gather
> support for their pan-Islamic movement.
>
> I'm sad at what Malik Sajad had to face (if true) and am equally sad at his
> attempt to make it sound so tragic, emotional and dramatic. He was happy all
> through the Film Festival, I noticed that as a silent observer. He could
> have been seen clicking pics with PSBT friends and even talking to
> participants and even journalists freely. I could sense his childish
> attitude but well chiseled brain-washing; when I heard of his drama during
> the discussion on Kashmir at IHC.
>
> Aarti, I was 9 months old when Islamic terrorists forced my family to get
> out of our homeland in Kashmir on gun point. My entire house was later burnt
> down to ashes; just because my great grand-father was the first
> ornithologist of Asia, also a scholar on Kashmir Shaivism and had as well
> maintained a good library and a mini-museum. The entire thing was burnt
> within a few hours. When I mentioned this late last year on my blog and
> compared it with the so-called demand for aazadi in Kashmir by some
> brain-less terrorists; my blog was hacked along with my e-mail id. This is
> how you suffer. I've stayed in a camp along with lakhs of other Pandits in
> summer heat of Jammu. There was no Aarti Sethi to speak for me; neither was
> there a Malik Sajad to lend a helping hand. Instead his community was a mute
> spectator; it felt they were part of this agenda, this game plan, to oust
> the minority Pandits.
>
> In the past, on many occasions I've stood against injustice at the cost of
> my life; and through the justice delivery mechanism in India, and the
> support of the masses and even the media, Justice was finally restored after
> a long and tiring battle. The list members here know of it well.
> Unfortunately, in regard to Kashmir; in reality its different and the
> picture portrayed is far from true. Only in present Kashmir can a bloody
> terrorist become a youth icon.
>
> A couple of years back, I was even threatned by a reputed journalist for
> protesting against this demon Youth Icon, Yasin Malik. And, they say he is
> Gandhi..
>
> Why don't Malik Sajad's cartoon's also raise voice against the demons in his
> own community, responsible for the terrorism in the valley ?
>
> I don't acknowledge fake portrayal of injustice. I won't ever.
>
> And, there is a life beyond online world. I've seen it on ground. I don't
> have sympathy for terrorists or their supporters. I don't want to support
> them just for the world to know that I'm secular to the core. I'll rather
> happily spit at them and not stop speaking against their lies at each and
> every possible platform.
>
> Regards
> Aditya Raj Kaul
>
>
> On 9/28/08, Aarti Sethi <aarti.sethi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I think its really sad to react to a story like this in the manner that the
>> two of you are. Have either of your ever been arrested by the police for
>> anything? I presume not. I honestly cannot think of anything more
>> frightening than to be under the power of the state when they might invoke
>> anything against you including the NSA. I don't think there is any cause to
>> celebrate police harassment or be skeptical of it. Have you not been
>> reading
>> the papers over the last 5 years Aditya? You consider yourself such a
>> well-informed and intelligent person. Here are just  four reports of
>> Kashmiri muslim boys shot in "encounters". Spend a little more time online
>> and many more will surface.
>>
>> How come at such a young age all humanity has been leached from you Aditya?
>> I find it quite astonishing and deeply saddening that you measure all human
>> beings and experience and human worth in the prism of whether it extends
>> your agenda or not. This apparently makes it completely impossible for you
>> acknowledge that there might be some truth and value to the expereince of
>> other human beings qua human beings.
>>
>> regards
>> Aarti
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 28, 2008 at 6:22 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com
>> >wrote:
>>
>>
>> > Malik Sajad certainly is a good cartoonist. Very good art-work. Content
>> > sometimes veryhackneyed.
>> >
>> > I am not discounting that some sort of an unfortunate incident took place
>> > that involved Malik Sajad being harassed by a policewoman or being
>> > treated with suspicion at the cyber cafe. I would not expect him to be a
>> > blatant liar. It is sad, whatever be the degree, that any such incident
>> has
>> > to take place.
>> >
>> > A few interesting/intriguing things though in his dramatic narrative.
>> >
>> > - Habitat Centre could not provide him Internet access. Possible.
>> >
>> > - A cyber-cafe would, in advance of Internet access ask for
>> identification
>> > from a complete stranger and not wait till the "owner of the cafe"  had
>> > "peered over his shoulders" and checked what he was doing. I could be
>> wrong
>> > about this.
>> >
>> > - The surprisingly efficiently prompt Delhi Police arrived "within five
>> > minutes" of being summoned to the cyber-cafe from a PCO. Interesting.
>> >
>> > - Malik had his mobile phone with him. Looks like, inspite of the "within
>> > five minutes" arrival of Delhi Police, he had enough time to make a few
>> > calls including one to the "Director of the Film Festival". Why didnt he?
>> > That would have avoided his having to shout "Somebody please go to the
>> > habitat centre and tell them the artist whose installation is there has
>> been
>> > arrested!" while he was being "dragged" to the Police Station.
>> >
>> > - The Manager of Habitat Centre asked Malik not to call from his
>> (Malik's)
>> > phone (or Email) for a few days. Why no Email? Why couldn't Malik use
>> some
>> > other phone to call home or the GK office?
>> >
>> > Kshmendra
>> >
>> >
>> > --- On Sun, 9/28/08, Sanjay Kak <kaksanjay at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > From: Sanjay Kak <kaksanjay at gmail.com>
>> > Subject: [Reader-list] Back home, I feel reborn
>> > To: "Sarai Reader List" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> > Date: Sunday, September 28, 2008, 4:55 PM
>> >
>> > Just a slice of life story for a young Kashmiri...
>> >
>> > Malik Sajad is the young–very young–editorial cartoonist of the Srinagar
>> > paper, the Greater Kashmir. His excellent work can be seen on their
>> website
>> > too.
>> > **
>> >
>> > Sanjay Kak
>> > **
>> > **
>> >
>> > *The GK Cartoonist Malik Sajad Narrates The Experience Of Being A
>> Kashmiri
>> > At A Wrong Time In New Delhi.*
>> >
>> >
>> http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=28_9_2008&ItemID=61&cat=1
>> >
>> > I arrived home from Delhi yesterday.  I took a deep breath when I laid
>> eyes
>> > on the landscapes of the valley.  My mother was waiting for me at home.
>> Her
>> > face was pale and her eyes were full of tears. My father held me for a
>> long
>> > time as if I were away for years. My brothers gathered around me as if my
>> > return was unexpected. My mother asked me in a weak voice, "Were you okay
>> > in
>> > Delhi?" "Yes," I nodded, "My exhibition had a huge
>> > response. Everyone
>> > praised my cartoons and I enjoyed the trip."
>> > They looked worried and I sought the reason for their worry." They
>> > replied,
>> > "Sajad, some policemen in civilian clothes came here to verify some
>> > information about you while you were in Delhi. You didn't call us for
>> four
>> > days. We thought something bad has happened to you. We were all crying."
>> I
>> > was surprised. My family already knew what I had tried to keep secret for
>> > the sake of my mother's health. At home I felt safe again, and I narrate
>> to
>> > them the ordeal I went through in New Delhi for being a Kashmiri.
>> > I was invited by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust to create an
>> > installation art in the OPEN FRAMES, EXPLORING CONFLICT, an international
>> > film festival about peace and conflict held at the India Habitat Centre.
>> > The
>> > festival began on the 12 September and lasted eight days. My installation
>> > titled "Terrorism of Peace" featured my cartoons hanging from rolls
>> > of razor
>> > wire with some alcohol bottles hanging on the wire, exactly the same way
>> as
>> > found around bunkers of troopers on the streets of Srinagar. I put some
>> mud
>> > and stones on the shiny green marble floor of the Stein Auditorium to
>> give
>> > the installation the real feel of Kashmir.
>> > On Saturday afternoon, the second day of the festival, I drew a cartoon
>> in
>> > my hotel room for my Sunday Slice column. I took a picture of it with my
>> > digital camera and headed to a cybercafé about 150 meters from the
>> habitat
>> > centre to mail it to Greater Kashmir. After I mailed the cartoon I
>> visited
>> > the Greater Kashmir website and my cartoon website. Meanwhile, I heard
>> > another browser seated on a nearby computer chatting over the phone about
>> > the serial blasts at Connaught Place and Greater Kailash I. Soon everyone
>> > in
>> > the café joined in on a discussion about terrorism and the blasts. While
>> I
>> > was watching news videos on Greater Kashmir's website, the owner of the
>> > café
>> > peered over my shoulders to glimpse what I was looking at. Soon the owner
>> > and others started to talk about me in hushed voices. "He is Kashmiri! We
>> > should check his identity!" they whispered. The owner approached me and
>> > asked me for my passport in a soft voice.  I gave him my identity card
>> and
>> > told him that I don't have my passport with me. He took it and xeroxed
>> it.
>> > He studied my identity card for a long time. He asked me where I was
>> > staying
>> > in Delhi and I gave him the address of the Habitat Centre. He asked me
>> > which
>> > websites I had visited. I listed them for him. I could hear the customers
>> > saying "He is looking at websites from Kashmir!" Then someone said
>> > loudly
>> > "Why should we take responsibility for this boy. He could be anything!
>> > Just
>> > call the police and let them verify who he is!" I started to panic.
>> > "I am
>> > Kashmiri," I thought "No one will listen to me."
>> > There was a PCO in the café. They called the police and told them that
>> > there
>> > is a Kashmiri in the café and that they should verify my identity. I
>> asked
>> > the café owner to call the habitat centre to check my identity as well.
>> > They
>> > refused. I pleaded with them to just call the centre, but they wouldn't.
>> > Two
>> > fat police constables and a woman inspector wearing two stars arrived
>> > within
>> > five minutes, wearing a we-have-got-the-culprit look. Her face frightened
>> > me. Her hair was jet black and short like a boy's hair cut. Her eyes were
>> > stiff like black moles on her face. She held a very fine stick in her
>> hand.
>> > She entered the café shouting "Who is the guy? Who is the guy?"
>> > Before
>> > anyone pointed at me I raised my hand with my I card, shouting back,
>> > "Madam
>> > it is me, it is me! Here is my I card!"
>> > She didn't look at the card, but slid it into her pocket, and ordered a
>> > constable to search into my bag. They studied my camera as if it were a
>> > bomb. They told me to pack everything in the backpack.  I quickly managed
>> > to
>> > eject the memory card out of my camera and slip it in my pocket, since my
>> > photographs were the only proof of my installation at the habitat centre.
>> > Before they confiscate my mobile I memorized the number of the director
>> of
>> > the film festival. The inspector shouted at me "Salay bahar chalo!" I
>> > shook
>> > with fear. I didn't know what to do. No one would listen to me. The
>> > constables literally dragged me out of the cafe. Someone shouted "We
>> > should
>> > place him in the bus." I was shocked and cried, "Please listen to me!
>> > Please
>> > listen to me!" Almost two hundred people gathered on the road to see the
>> > "terrorist"--Me! The crowd was so big that it created a traffic jam.
>> > I
>> > shouted in the air "Somebody please go to the habitat centre and tell
>> them
>> > the artist whose installation is there has been arrested!"
>> > As they were dragging me to the police station, the inspector shouted at
>> me
>> > "You Kashmiri bastard! Why do you people have problem with being part of
>> > India? Sala…!" At the police station, they seated me on a bench with
>> > another
>> > person they had arrested. He had dried brown blood all over his face. His
>> > eyes were sharp and red. It was obvious he was drunk. I pleaded, "Please
>> > listen to me. I am a cartoonist in Kashmir! I am not a terrorist! I am
>> > innocent!" They ignored me and listened to their wireless radios. They
>> > continued to hurl abuses at me. Another woman inspector wearing civilian
>> > clothes with a wireless radio in her hand shouted at me "You bastard, you
>> > speak such nice Hindi! Why do you have a problem with being part of
>> > India!"
>> > I replied, trying to be as transparent as possible, "Madam, I am speaking
>> > Urdu actually, which sounds like Hindi."
>> > The inspector woman who dragged me to police station began to record the
>> > evidence:
>> > 1: He was looking at the website with diagrams of guns on it.  (This was
>> > her
>> > definition for my cartoon website kashmirblackandwhite.com!)
>> > 2: He was searching for information about the Kashmir conflict. (I was
>> > reading some articles to prepare for my talk about the "Dialoguing peace
>> > in
>> > Kashmir" at the Stein Auditorium on 17 September.)
>> > 3: He had a camera with a memory card in it. (Obviously my camera is a
>> > Canon
>> > digital SLR and it can't be without a memory card.)
>> > I was crying. I couldn't feel my fingers and feet. I felt like I had been
>> > electrocuted. The incandescent lights in the police station were shining
>> > brightly, but it seemed to me very dark.
>> > I had no hope now. I thought of running away from the police station.
>> "The
>> > habitat centre is only 50 meters away," I thought. "Even if they
>> > shoot me I
>> > would be injured, but I can prove my innocence."
>> > But I didn't want to give them any chance.  I thought my life was over.
>> > "If
>> > there is no hope of life, I need to accept the reality," I said to
>> myself.
>> > But somehow this thought actually gave me strength. "I am not going to be
>> > scared of them any more," I thought "They are not going to listen to
>> > me any
>> > way." I stood up and said to them sternly, "Come kill me! Shoot me!
>> > Do
>> > whatever you want, but keep in mind that I am a guest here and my work is
>> > being displayed in the Stein Auditorium! Hang me or label me a terrorist!
>> I
>> > am going to sit here silently now!"  Then they finally called the
>> > Coordinator for PSBT. The number was busy. I asked her "Madam, can't
>> > you
>> > come with me to the Habitat Centre to check whether I am speaking truth
>> or
>> > not? It is only 50 meters away." Finally, after fifteen minutes, she
>> > relented and agreed to take me to the Habitat Centre. They held me by the
>> > collar as we walked to the centre. Once we entered the gate no 3 of
>> habitat
>> > center, she continued to curse Kashmiris. At this point however, I was in
>> > the habitat centre, so I shot back, "Mind your language!" My voice
>> > was firm
>> > and she became quiet. When she saw my work in the auditorium, she started
>> > shouting "You Kashmiris have a problem!" I wasn't in their grasp
>> > anymore, so
>> > I picked up a stone lying in the mud of my installation and started to
>> > smash
>> > my installation. The sound of the glass frames breaking echoed throughout
>> > the auditorium. Those watching a film inside the auditorium came outside
>> to
>> > see what had happened.  The policewoman ran away.
>> > I called GK to inform them what had happened, but the Habitat Centre
>> manger
>> > instructed me to not leave the premises and not to call from my phone, or
>> > email, for a few days. After three days I called home and the GK office.
>> > The
>> > PBST issued a letter to the security agencies that I am their guest and
>> > they
>> > are responsible for my accommodation and tickets. I thank God that I was
>> a
>> > guest of the habitat centre and not alone as a cartoonist for GK.
>> > Otherwise,
>> > the story of another missing Kashmiri would have been all over the news
>> > here. I watched the news channel that night to see if they would flash my
>> > name….
>> > _________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>> > _________________________________________
>> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>> > Critiques & Collaborations
>> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
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