[Reader-list] Second Exodus from Kashmir-now, it is Muslims(IANS)

Thu Sep 23 14:37:00 IST 2010

How many thousand crores are needed now.

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 2:33 PM, Parvaiz Bukhari
<parvaizbukhari at gmail.com>wrote:

> so, should we expect the government to build hutmernts for Muslim migrants
> too? Gujarat perhaps would be a good place for them to go to.  would there
> be another layer of reservations in professional colleges for Muslim
> migrants too? which side of the political spectrum in India will lap the
> new
> migrants up?
>
> Any comments? Anybody including Alok himself?
>
> On 23 September 2010 14:17, rashneek kher <rashneek at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Unlike Shuddha I have comments or claims to make
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> http://sify.com/news/second-exodus-from-kashmir-now-it-s-the-muslims-news-national-kjxj4cgfdah.html
> >
> >
> >
> >
> http://sify.com/news/second-exodus-from-kashmir-now-it-s-the-muslims-news-national-kjxj4cgfdah.html
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > Jammu: Reminiscent of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in
> the
> > early 1990s, Muslims caught this time between stone-throwers and security
> > forces are moving from Srinagar to Jammu in the dark of the night.
> >
> > 'I didn't inform anyone in the neighbourhood where I was headed,' Abid
> > Ahmad, who left Srinagar and came here with his family a week ago, told
> > IANS
> > on the condition that his locality be not disclosed as it could spell
> > trouble whenever he returned.
> >
> >
> > Many like Ahmad are fleeing the strife-torn Kashmir Valley - where
> violent
> > protests and clashes have left over 100 dead in the past three months -
> to
> > escape the stones hurled by mobs and the retaliatory guns of security
> > forces. And they usually undertake their journey to Jammu, 294 km south,
> > between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.
> >
> >
> > 'It's the time when stone-throwers are resting and the policemen are busy
> > warming themselves around bonfires on roadsides,' said Ahmad, who started
> > his journey from Sringar along with his family at 3 a.m.
> >
> >
> > While Kashmir is a Muslim-majority area, Jammu is dominated by Hindus.
> >
> >
> > Over 100 families, according to unofficial estimates, might have reached
> > Jammu post-Eid (Sep 11), when mobs went on the rampage in Srinagar,
> burning
> > government offices after prayers. And the trend is continuing.
> >
> >
> > Because of this, Jammu, the state's winter capital, is witnessing quite a
> > buzz in its hotels, resthouses and rented accommodations much ahead of
> the
> > bi-annual shift in the seat of the government.
> >
> >
> > Said Ramprakash Sharma, a property dealer: 'In the past week, I've
> arranged
> > rented accommodation for 15 Kashmiri families. This number is unusually
> > high...Earlier Kashmiris used to come for winter months only.'
> >
> >
> > The valley has been seeing an unending cycle of violence since June 11,
> > where hurling of stones shows the anger of youth, and the police react
> with
> > bullets.
> >
> >
> > Apart from claiming the lives of over 100 civilians, the violence has
> left
> > a
> > large number wounded. Life there has come to a standstill, with shops,
> > schools, banks and other institutions closed due to separatist-sponsored
> > shutdowns and the curfew imposed by authorities in an attempt to maintain
> > calm.
> >
> >
> > *Sharing their miseries, the migrants tell their Kashmiri Hindu friends,
> > who
> > had migrated to Jammu 20 years ago: 'Now we know why the Pandits fled and
> > that too in the darkness of night.' *
> >
> >
> > Over 300,000 Kashmiri Pandits living in the valley migrated when violence
> > erupted there in 1990. Most of them came to Jammu and were housed by the
> > government in various camps on the edges of the city. They had to
> initially
> > live in tents until the authorities built one-room tenements for them.
> >
> >
> > The recent migrants from the valley curse everyone responsible for
> turning
> > their lives into a nightmare -- the stone-throwers, separatists,
> policemen
> > and the 'non-existing' government.
> >
> >
> > 'I had to face stone-throwers almost every day...they would physically
> > assault me. And the policemen would threaten me for driving during
> curfew,'
> > said Mohammad Sultan, a driver with a government department who has
> shifted
> > his family here.
> >
> >
> > But he will return to the valley for his job.
> >
> >
> > 'They all are looking after their (own) interests...not knowing the pain
> of
> > the common people,' Sultan rued.
> >
> >
> > But it's not that easy in Jammu either. Here they face many questions --
> > hotels ask for identity cards, and policemen visit them to verify all
> sorts
> > of details. And they are scared of disclosing too much to the police,
> > fearing some might give out their details to the stone throwers back
> home.
> >
> >
> > Asked if the government was doing anything, a young girl said: 'Which
> > government are you talking about? (Hardline separatist leader) Syed Ali
> > Geelani runs the government of stone-throwers, who stone people...and the
> > Omar Adullah government is non-existent.'
> >
> >
> > The girl, now showing signs of depression, narrated how her car was
> stoned
> > and the policemen fled the scene in a locality in downtown Srinagar.
> >
> >
> > A 39-member all-party delegation led by union Home Minister P.
> Chidambaram
> > visited Jammu and Kashmir for two days to get a sense of the ground
> > situation before deciding on steps to defuse tensions.
> >
> >
> > But its visit also caused problems for people here Tuesday. 'We were
> > checked
> > at every place and asked not to venture out because the delegation was
> > here,' said a harassed Kashmir University professor who arrived here
> > Monday.
> >
> >
> >
> > Most of those from the valley say they are just waiting to undertake the
> > journey back home in daylight -- when stone-throwers retreat and curfew
> is
> > lifted.
> >
> > Best Regards
> >
> > --
> > Rashneek Kher
> > http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
> > http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com
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