Saturday, September 1, 2007

Screening at Center for Media Studies-Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University







We were over cautious this time around,we did not post the screening venue and date on our blog prior to the screening.We are aware that a lot of "Champions of Free Speech" are out with their arsenal ready to pounce upon and scuttle any of our screenings.We are scared of them,I must admit.Who wouldnt be!With the communists forming the core of our government even the PM has to eat the humble pie time and again.The seventh most powerful woman on the globe has to bow to the nuissance called Communists.We are small fries after all.So we were tight lipped until it would happen.
It was the turn of MMM Students(Master in Mass Media ) at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University to see what this nation has turned a blind eye to.Most of the students were well informed about Kashmir and the plight of Kashmiri Pandits but the magnitude of the plight had still to dawned on them.What equally surprised them was the apathy of the Government.Bitta Karate roaming free was something that a lot of the viewers were very uncomfortable with.
The movie screening prompted a discussion session wherein students aired their views and asked questions.While most questions centered around Kashmiri Pandit exodus and their plight there were questions about the role of armed forces,human rights violations and rights of Kashmiri Muslims.
We could only share our knowledge and pesrpective on the various questions,issues,frenzy and expression of freedom.
As one left the auditorium one was left with more questions than answers.But then that is how vexed the Kashmir issue is.It is and will be RIK's endeavour to take the issue to the audiences and then let them decide for themselves as to how they view the Kashmiri Pandit exodus and their present plight.
RIK would like to thank Arunabh Sen and Pawan Atri for their help in making the screening successful.Screening pics ....we apologise for the poor quality of the pictures.We did not take any cameras with us because we werent very sure till the last minute that these"Champions of Free Speech" would not have used their CONTACTS for blocking our screening.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Kashmir: Through a Pak militant's lens-Javaid Hussain Shah

Kashmir, the abode of saints and sufis, is bleeding. This symbol of unity in diversity is torn apart by intolerance and hatred. Once considered a paradise on earth, Kashmir is today a vast burial ground of thousands of Kashmiris punished for uncommitted sins.
Kashmir's journey from paradise to hell, like mine, began in 1989. It has since been bleeding, caught in a vortex of violence - violence which gets a two para mention, sometimes not even that, in our national newspapers. Kashmir is now a burial ground where even the dead get no peace. And as book after book is churned out and experts debate the Kashmir "dispute" in distant Geneva and the United Nations, the true story remains untold.
While Kashmir remains just another hotbed of fundamentalist violence for the West, the Indian press too has failed in its duty to put things in the right perspective. As for the protagonists of the Kashmir violence, they have so far avoided coming out in the open with the true story.
'Azadi' was at one time my junoon and it took me across the border to ISI camps in Pakistan, where I was trained to kill, plunder, loot - all in the name of Islam, I returned with power flowing from the barrel of the gun. I was trained by my "masters" in Pakistan to record the violence in such a manner that the blame shifted from the militants to the security forces.
I am one of the living characters of this untold story. I too had joined the forces of "liberation" way back in 1989. Being an ISI - trained Pakistani militant, I am a reliable witness to the mechanisations of the forces of destruction, disruption and fascist intrigues of Pakistan. I am fully aware of the true character of the living players of the untold story.
Having been shocked to see Kashmiris exposed of violence and brutality, hatred, aggression against peace-loving people, ethnic cleansing, distortion of socio-political history of Kashmir, and misery and poverty made me ponder over my role. My conscience revolted and I decided to come out with the untold story. I realised that I was fighting a futile battle. I was not fighting for Kashmir, but I was fighting Pakistan's battle against the Muslim of Kashmir.
ISI training had deprived me of rational thinking. My Pakistani trainers had trained me to hate the brighter side of a peaceful life of Kashmir. They made me robot performing mechanical motions and tasks. Like me, thousands of other robots are performing tasks on the whims of remote control masters.
I was trained to record the death dance through the eye of the camera with the sole aim of shifting the blame from Pak-trained terrorists to the security forces. Being a robot, I had no idea what I was recording could expose the criminality of the Islamic "Mujahideen" who are professing to liberate Kashmir.
Justice, equality, freedom of speech, tolerance, right to live and right to one's own belief are the basic tenets of humanity. But ISI -trained robots like me were taught that freedom, respect for each other and religious tolerance, are the anti-thesis of Islam. We were trained to demolish secular credentials of Kashmir, destroy symbols of temples of tolerance and age-old traditions of coexistence of different faiths. Though initially, I mechanically believed such un-Islamic interpretation of my faith, a time came when I revolted and decided to expose the true story.
Pakistan claims that it is lending moral and diplomatic assistance to the so-called freedom fighters and at the same time, professes to defend Islam by Islamic Jehad.
There was never any danger to Islam in Kashmir, Pakistan, in fact, has started Jehad not against enemies of Islam but against Muslims of Kashmir. I recorded killing of innocent children women and men; I recorded the devastation and destruction of all symbols of unity in diversity, ethnic cleansing; I am witness to the growth of Jamat-e-Islami - a savage enemy of the Sufi culture of Kashmir.
Yet, people ask who is responsible for all this. So-called human rights activists, self-proclaimed conscience keepers of the moth-eaten civil society, blame security forces for this madness. The press, in general, consciously or unconsciously, has failed in its national duty to put things before the people in the right perspective. Western countries are busy in their own power games in South Asia.
The blood-curdling pictures of butchered children, women and men (as shown in my book) have no name, no postal address and no identity of their own. The only fact about these pictures is that they expose the ugly face of Pakistan in Kashmir. There are no captions, and no details as the pictures themselves convey the real story.
On third cover and back cover of this pictorial booklet are pictures of the Dargah of Nund Rishi at Charar-e-Sharif. The dargah was destroyed by Pakistani robot Mast Gul, who crossed back to Pakistan where he was welcomed as hero of Islam. He does not need any introduction as during the siege of Charar-e-Sharif, print and electronic media were witness to the savage act of Mast Gul.
Words have lost their meaning, conditional or unconditional talks are meaningless, fiery speeches no more move the people. Promises of peace have no relevance. Pakistan continues to strike at the very roots of existence of Kashmir. Only blood-letting pictures have relevance.
Back cover has two pictures - one of Mast Gul among his armed band of hoodlums and other shows him in the company of Shabir Shah, the so-called Nelson Mandela of Kashmir, and Hurriyat leader A. G. Lone. Does it need any caption? Without any footnotes, it unfolds the truth about the untold story. I hope now body will ask the question: who is responsible for the ruination of the Paradise on earth. - CNF Service

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Breathless at Battal Balian-by Aditi Bhaduri(in Hindu)

Kashmiri Pandit migrants at Battal Balian suffer not only the pains of displacement but also numerous respiratory disorders because the area was declared an industrial zone. ADITI BHADURI
read the full article here
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/08/26/stories/2007082650080400.htm

Sunday, August 26, 2007