[Reader-list] More on little kashmiri boys

[Junaid]

Dear Pawan,

Thanks for your translation effort. It is just that "Baccha Khor" is
not a Kashmiri word but an Urdu one--and means "child eater" or
"child-killer" as in "Aadam Khor"--the man-eater. There is a Kashmiri
(countryside) phrase too which sounds similar, but simple logic would
suggest the use of that meaning will make no sense in the context.

Also, I took the word "Baccha Khor" from the article that Sonia had
posted. I don't particularly have any liking for verbal overkill.

Keep well,
Junaid


On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Pawan Durani <pawan.durani at gmail.com> wrote:
> For those who do not understand Kashmiri , Junaid has written that the
> 10 day old Irfan was killed by "Baccha Khor".
>
> The rough translation of that is "Naughty Boy".
>
> So , the killers have become naughty boys...
>
> God bless the society .....
>
> Pawan
>
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 8:25 AM, Junaid <justjunaid at gmail.com> wrote:
>> A brief addition to our little conversation:
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbS_Qu0Re8g
>>
>> Junaid
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM, Junaid <justjunaid at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Sonia,
>>>
>>> Thanks for sending in Ahmed Ali Fayaz's interesting report on "Bacha
>>> Khour" gang. It surely does complicate our understanding of how
>>> "stone-pelters" have  developed multiple connections. At 12 and 13
>>> years' of age these hardened criminals seem to be quite savvy and
>>> entrepreneurial, enough to play around with the politicians, the
>>> police, the separatists, and even the CM! These ruffians with very
>>> terrifying names: Meena Kumari, Itchguard, the lowest of the urchins,
>>> seem to have suddenly become a pain for all the above grandees, but
>>> above all to the "silent majority," the "99 percent of the
>>> population--which according to the article is constituted by an
>>> "influential businessmen", " a "trader" and the "Beopar Mandal
>>> president"--who is also a "Jammati-Islami rakun."
>>>
>>> It is surprising that the silent majority of old town Baramulla was on
>>> the streets not too long ago. In the protests against Amarnath land
>>> grab, old town Baramulla's silent majority was the first one to come
>>> out to protest. The first major rally started from there. More than
>>> 60000 people from Old Town and adjoining villages came out for the
>>> "Muzzafarabad Chalo" march. It was people from this place who were
>>> killed, around 5 of them, when Indian troops fired at the rally in
>>> Sangrama, which also killed Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz. Overall,
>>> since 2008 around 20 people have been killed in the town by the CRPF,
>>> and one by the "bacha khour" stone-pelters. The unfortunate death of
>>> Irfan is uncondonable and those responsible should be brought to
>>> book--yet in all likelihood it looks like it was accidental, if you
>>> heard what the mother had to say.
>>>
>>> Accident or whatever, it was cruel. There are only very few deaths and
>>> injuries in Kashmir that evoke "aahs" and "uffs" of our Dilliwala
>>> bleeding-hearts or stir media houses into a frenzy to sip to the last
>>> dregs "tragic human stories" (which, for them, are actually feel-good
>>> stories--"well, see, we are not the only ones doing the
>>> killings"--even if we do most of them!). So, I am not surprised about
>>> the media "reaction" to Irfan's death. It is the same media which just
>>> celebrated CBI's criminal report on Shopian rape case. There is a fine
>>> line between objectivity and nationalism, and Indian media is not only
>>> unaware of it, but has placed itself at the unethical end of
>>> right-wing nationalism.
>>>
>>> Old town Baramulla has always defied government control and it is not
>>> a new  feature. These old towns and the downtowns are the working
>>> class hubs in the Kashmir valley, but they are also centers for
>>> small-scale artisans, who don't care about government jobs.
>>> Businessmen, really, do not form the silent majority there.
>>>
>>> Geelani sahab and his Islamist followers are worried that these
>>> stone-pelters are on their own, that they don't listen to them. Which
>>> is kind of the opposite of what he wanted at the Eid Gah rally in
>>> 2008, where in front of a million people he claimed to be the sole
>>> leader of Kashmiris, amid boos and eewws.
>>>
>>> I understand that your earnestness in posting these news-reports is in
>>> good faith, and it is not a feel-good thing for you. I, like you, hope
>>> that those who were involved are punished.
>>>
>>> Junaid
>>>
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