[Reader-list] Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear

Tue Feb 17 20:08:45 IST 2009

Dear Yasir

1. We differ in our judgement/evaluation of which 'source-spring' is guilty for the Islamic Terrorism 

2. When I wrote about 'the rape of Kashmir and Kashmiris by Pakistan and Pakistanis' I did not mean Kashmiri Pandits alone but all Kashmiris. 

After suffering the initial brunt of displacement prompted by Islamic Terrorism (disguised here and there as a 'freedom movement'), the Indian Government is to be blamed for not making any efforts to stem the subsequent steady but sure erasure of the Kashmiri Pandit as a unique socio-cultural-religious ethnic set identity.

But, it is all Kashmiris I wail for.

Aleem wrote (my context being what is happening to Pakistan and Pakistanis):

MaiN rotaa hooN aur aasmaaN say taaray toot'tay dekhta hooN
Unn logoN pay, jinn logoN nay, meray logoN ko aa'zaar diya

(I weep and wail and I watch, the stars fall from the skies
 On the people, the very people, who brought so much hurt, to my people)

Kshmendra

PS. Excuse the poor translation 

--- On Sat, 2/14/09, yasir ~يا سر <yasir.media at gmail.com> wrote:

From: yasir ~يا سر <yasir.media at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear
To: "Kshmendra Kaul" <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Date: Saturday, February 14, 2009, 7:12 PM

see below.best.

On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 1:29 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
wrote:
> Dear Yasir
>
> 1. If the Terror Acts are in the name of Islam and Surah and Ayah are
quoted
> from the Quran to justify the acts then it is "Islamic
Terrorism".
>
> I have referred only to the Quran and not any Hadeeth or Rivayaat. For
such
> purposes I am a Parvaizi. It is best to judge the quality of the water at
> the source-spring rather than in the streamlets that the water thereafter
> flows into and might have picked up muck in it's journey.
>

i think you are mis-identifying the source spring. The region has a
turbuklent history from before islam - geography and culture being
significant in their continuity over time. My pov flow from a
cultural understanding from inside pakistan. you are welcome to have
your own.

> 2. You continue to be in 'denial' about the rape of Kashmir and
Kashmiris by
> Pakistan and Pakistanis as having been initiated from 1947 onwards.

far from it. While i am sympathetic to whats happened to kashmiri
pandits or armenians in western turkey, why should i be in denial to
the 500,000 soldiers who have had to deal with lack of plebescite in
kashmir. the wound has been allowed to fester. how can only pakistan
be to blame for that. As for rapes, you know better how the national
Indian army has behaved in kashmir as well as manipur etc, not to
mention the pk army in east pakistan and now fata.

i think it is you, my friend who has a single angled view, even though
a it is better complexified than others.

best wishes

yasir

> Kshmendra
>
> ________________________________
> From: yasir ~يا سر <yasir.media at gmail.com>
> To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 4:53:40 AM
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear
>
> I seriously doubt it is ''islamic''. it is simply
political and a political
> fringe, related to other events iin the region, primarily the 80's are
> unthinkable in afghanistan pakistan and kashmir without the US and Soviet
> games in afghanistan. it is not possible to separate them. does that make
> any solution unfeasible and defeated from the beginning once again.
>
> best
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Kshmendra Kaul
> <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>
>>
>> As far as 'sandwiched' or 'bun kabaabed' Afghanistan,
Pakistan and India
>> are concerned, the only thing stringing them together is Islamic
>> Terrorism.
>>
>> Kshmendra
>>
>>
>>  ------------------------------
>> *From:* yasir ~يا سر <yasir.media at gmail.com>
>> *To:* sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 11, 2009 5:42:26 PM
>> *Subject:* Re: [Reader-list] Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear
>>
>> thats a half callous statement if there is no mention of the nature of
>> the indian army's presence in kashmir, like the pk army's
actions such
>> as aerial bombings in fata. and of course afghanistan pakistan and
>> india are strung together in a sandwich, a south asian a bun kebab.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 2:57 PM, Kshmendra Kaul
<kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>> > What Pakistan and Pakistanis and their supporters in Kashmir did
to
>> Kashmir, is now being done in Swat, Pakistan by it's own
Pakistanis.
>> >
>> > Kshmendra
>> >
>> >
>> > "Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear"
>> > By Sher Baz Khan
>> > Tuesday, 03 Feb, 2009
>> >
>> > (MINGORA: The road to Swat used to be a byword for breathtaking
beauty.
>> Although it remains the most picturesque in the country, it now
conjures
>> up
>> fear and lurking danger.)
>> > The journey upwards from Mardan these days is forbidding. The
entire
>> route is a picture of utter desolation. Fear of the unknown has
overtaken
>> a
>> place fabled for its fertile fields and majestic mountains.
>> > Even a flying visit is enough to fill one with a sense of
foreboding
>> > that
>> religious extremists would overrun the valley before long.
>> > Most people, especially those living in urban areas, seem to have
lost
>> the will to live.
>> > Things started taking an ugly turn in July 2007 after the then
NWFP
>> > chief
>> minister Shamsul Mulk called in paramilitary forces to take on
militants
>> fired by Maulana Fazlullah's inflammatory rhetoric.
>> > But the decision seems to have rebounded on the government, for
now at
>> least. The Maulana's followers hold sway over no less than 80 per
cent of
>> the Swat valley.
>> > The Army is into the third phase of an operation that has seen
the
>> state's writ shrinking by the day. Of late the Taliban have made
inroads
>> into even settled areas, such as, Mardan, Takhtbai, Shergarh, and
almost
>> the
>> entire Malakand Agency.
>> > Taliban are spreading their message in the same way as they did,
and
>> still do, in Swat. The medium of the message is fear. In fact, fear is
the
>> message.
>> > The moment I entered the region, I was struck by unmistakable
signs of a
>> place steadily turning its back on the outside world. Institution
after
>> institution is falling to the Taliban.
>> > Non-combatants have a stark choice: seek refuge in other places
or
>> > accept
>> the diktat of Maulana Fazlullah.
>> > I managed to strike conversations with some Swatis, albeit after
much
>> persuasion.
>> > Abdullah Khan, a draper, narrated the ordeal of his brother, Rauf
Khan,
>> especially his treatment by a Rawalpindi-based psychiatrist.
>> > 'Rauf saw the beheading of a man in a butcher shop by
militants. Since
>> that day he either laughs loudly or sheds tears in silence,'
Abdullah
>> said.
>> > A stroll through Mingora's main marketplace brought us face
to face with
>> misery. A number of people poured their hearts out to us.
>> > 'The thunder of bombs, rockets, grenades and whatnot linger
in our
>> > ears.'
>> > 'Go to the psychiatrists of Peshawar and Rawalpindi and ask
them how
>> > many
>> children, men and women from Swat they are treating these days. I bet
the
>> number will baffle you,' said Ajmal Khan, a college student.
>> > The locals alleged that the military operation had killed more
>> non-combatants than militants.
>> > The economic fallout of the conflict is ominous. Most of the
1,000
>> > hotels
>> have gone out of business. The rent-a-car business is also dying out.
>> > Shops dealing in CDs and operators of cable television have
folded up
>> after Maulana Fazlullah's warnings.
>> > Barber shops have put up notices that they would not shave off
beards as
>> the Taliban have told them not to do so.
>> > A glitzy plaza caught my eye with its elegant shops, but sadly
there
>> > were
>> no shoppers.
>> > 'Women are not allowed to enter the premises unless they are
accompanied
>> by men,' read a banner fluttering over the entrance to the mall.
>> > A number of tailors said they had been told not to let women
enter their
>> shops.
>> > 'The upper and middle classes are leaving the valley and
settling down
>> elsewhere,' said Aleem Jan, a tailor making women's suits. He
is among
>> many
>> who are planning to move to either Mardan or Peshawar.
>> > Advertisement hoardings carrying pictures of women are
disallowed.
>> > Faces of women in ads are blackened or deformed.
>> > A building housing the court is empty of lawyers and litigants as
>> > Taliban
>> have decreed that the existing judicial order is un-Islamic. They have
set
>> up 73 sharia courts to administer 'speedy justice'.
>> > These courts summon people on phone, threatening violators with
death.
>> > And speedy justice it is indeed. They settle cases within a
couple of
>> days. Hence they are getting popular.
>> > 'A summon from the court of Fazlullah is like a death
warrant. No one
>> dare disobey it,' said Jamil Ahmed, a lawyer.
>> > Although he favoured the existing judicial system, he was all
praise for
>> the sharia courts as they decide cases in no time.
>> > Jamil cited the example of a woman whose plea for dissolution was
>> > decided
>> the other day by a local court. The matter was lingering for the past
22
>> years.
>> > She had applied for dissolution of marriage at the age of 21 and
now she
>> is 43.
>> > The president of the Swat Bar Association, Aftab Alam, is against
a
>> parallel judiciary. But he too said judges should try to dispose of
cases
>> in
>> 'reasonable time' to undercut the Taliban courts.
>> > Only two of the 14 policewomen who worked in the district court
take the
>> trouble to report for duty these days. But they wear veils and keep a
low
>> profile, mostly hiding themselves behind bushes.
>> > Almost all the legislators belonging to the ruling Awami National
Party
>> have fled from Swat. The exception is Afzal Khan Lala. All of them are
on
>> the Taliban's hit list.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
http://www.dawn.net/wps/wcm/connect/Dawn%20Content%20Library/dawn/news/pakistan/nwfp/tourist-heaven-turns-into-valley-of-fear-ha
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _________________________________________
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