[Reader-list] Life is cheap in Kashmir

[anupam chakravartty]

 I believe this question was meant to be taken more seriously than your
ideas about national highways Pawan. its ok i will seek your opinion when
there is something exclusively been discussed about national highways :)
On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 1:54 PM, Pawan Durani <pawan.durani at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Anupam ,
>
>
> You can not have a speed breaker on a Highway , no matter how many
> people die because of accidents.
>
> Regards
>
> A Highway Authority lobbyist
>
> On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 1:50 PM, anupam chakravartty<c.anupam at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > "To relate every such Justice, campaign with stone throwing and abusing
> the
> > brave Jawans, is equally insane. This will get them no JUSTICE. Violence
> > will only give them more violence in return."
> > Dear all,
> > I think the above statement by Aditya shows how many of us (i am trying
> to
> > address the larger whole instead of categorically pointing out the Panun
> > Kashmir lobby which has been actively putting these issues on the
> forefront)
> > look at kashmir or for that matter any conflict zone in the nation, be it
> > Lalgarh, Warangal, Churachandpur, Diphu, Deesa and recently Shopian.
> Jawans
> > of Indian forces operating in Kashmir are brave, on the right side of the
> > conflict, their actions: unquestionable. This argument has been also
> applied
> > to north east, which obviously has a different set of issues in terms of
> > conflicts, in terms of political aspirations. Although in case of Indian
> or
> > Indian forces and people who decide on their deployment, use force as the
> > last means quell conflicts. However, all these efforts to quell such
> > resistance (Kargil War is not included here merely because a direct role
> of
> > Pakistani forces has been reportedly established) have been disastrous.
> Mobs
> > in Gujarat or mobs in Shopian or even the organised Maoist resistance
> > Lalgarh are going to be the same -- ruthless, cunning and even merciless.
> To
> > digress a little, we are yet to know what happened in Karbi Anglong in
> 2005
> > or 2006 when karbis and dimasas fought each and within days there was
> more
> > blood on the fields than waters -- unfortunately very was heard within
> > Indian media or in the corridors of power centres. All we know about
> Karbi
> > Anglong is that indian security forces have captured the banned Black
> Widow
> > leader, Jewel Garlossa from Bangalore and the first train reached Haflong
> > after two months of rail blockade. ( I am sure Garlossa knew that by
> calling
> > his outfit Black Widow if not for anything else such as Dimasa Liberation
> > Front will give him that kind publicity which he always wanted) The
> imagined
> > bottomline that once the wheel has been turned, no matter how peaceful
> the
> > foundations of a resistance is, it bound to become violent persists.
> > However, whenever demands were made from different corners of this larger
> > Indian whole, there were people within these quarters divided about the
> use
> > of violent means.
> > Cut back to Indian Paramilitary Jawan posted a checkpoint near Rangiya
> > Cantonment of Assam Rifles, barely 30 kilometers from Guwahati. Besides
> > being brave and other such things, he also has a family, probably a
> little
> > bit of his kheti-baadi in some village near Uttar Pradesh or Punjab or
> > Haryana. His folks sent him to paramilitary because it is a matter of
> honour
> > to serve your country, protect the nation. In their imagination, this
> brave
> > jawan of a son, the son of the soil, of the tiller of the earth is
> fighting
> > for his land, protecting his people. Certainly, it is a matter of pride.
> And
> > now he stands guard to keep a look out for enemies -- who are terrorists,
> > extremists, militants, for some revolutionaries, guerillas, organised
> > criminals, freedom fighters, you name them. They have already
> infiltrated,
> > very much within the system, in fact these enemies are part of the system
> of
> > governance. they are angry, discontent lot, loosers if you want to call
> > them, unemployed (looking for work but not just a job), an outcaste -- no
> > matter how much you want to convince them, they will have their way. they
> > will keep killing. even the ones who have surrendered, save for a few,
> rest
> > all of them just dont want to exist but want to become the centres of
> power.
> > This jawan is not politically aspirational, he is brave enough to face a
> > bullet and die or kill some of them. His bravery lasts for a few seconds,
> > remembered for many years. By bravery, I only meant the Jawan's bravery.
> Not
> > those four youths, who are armed with two carbines stolen from a local
> > police station as the local cops quickly agreed to their demands. Now,
> they
> > are advancing towards their same outpost where our brave Jawan guards. in
> a
> > succession of few seconds, the pillion riders from hurl two or three
> > objects, towards them as both the riders clench the fists to apply
> brakes.
> > the moment these objects touch the ground close to the checkpost is the
> same
> > moment when other Jawan, the brave one could not even shout, so that at
> > least one of them could be not saved. such are these deaths that even
> brave
> > men would fear for they may not have a split second to be what they are
> > supposed to be. this was Assam in 1990s. They were not meant to die like
> > this. These four youths, instead were considered brave within their
> > community or their ranks. Please note that i am not dwelling on the
> premise
> > a terrorist could a freedom fighter as well.
> > So how does one sort these disparate yet significant crises of our times.
> It
> > lies in answering the questiong as to Why do we have to link all forms of
> > resistance (armed or unarmed) to a larger and more sinister, terrorism?
> Is
> > it because while quelling these forms of resistance we need to first
> > categorise them in certain ways so for the administrative hubris it
> becomes
> > easier ? The negotiations that have between the resistance leaders and
> the
> > government  -- are they published? Is it only about freeing other men
> from
> > captivity? Do we like living under the shadow of the gun?
> > What makes you say, Aditya, that "Violence will only give them more
> violence
> > in return". Are you saying it from the point of view of a jawan who, even
> if
> > we decorate him with medals and honours dies like an innocent lamb after
> > these unruly mobs, the cunning of a guerilla unit attack him out of the
> > blue? Is this brave Jawan happy with his recent posting in poverty
> stricken
> > belt with the locals up in arms against not this Jawan but who he
> > represents? And the remedial measure is what -- violence. for the mere
> > reason that the grounds for negotiation, the atmosphere for bilateral
> talks
> > or for working out a strategy to rehabilitate these people is not
> conducive
> > enough and therefore violence?
> > Lastly, how many deaths on particular junction of a road does it take for
> > the administration to set up a speed breaker, traffic signal or flyover?
> > precisely how many?
> > i hope my questions would be answered some day.
> > -thanks anupam
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