Banished Kashmiris express grief at Benazir’s death - Aastha Manocha

Link: The Indian Express

New Delhi, December 28: Kashmiri Hindus who were forced by militancy to leave the valley more than 17 years ago have expressed their sorrow at the ‘dastardly killing’ of the ex-PM of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. A group of Kashmiri Hindus called Roots In Kashmir has expressed condolences with the people of Pakistan and reiterated that using violence or terrorism as an instrument of state policy can be counter productive.

‘It was waiting to happen’, said Aditya Raj Kaul, a member.

They have said that they regret that she didn’t stem the cancer of terrorism when she had the chance as the PM of her country rather in some of her speeches extolled the virtues of armed struggles and supported the Mujahids who were to cleanse the valley of so-called ‘infidels’.

‘It is sad that she was consumed by the same monsters who she had once nourished and supported. In her death lies a lesson not only for Pakistan but also for separatists who brazenly support the armed guerrillas in the valley’, they said while praying that her soul rests in peace.

A Lesson in the End.....

The gruesome killing of "The Daughter of the East" sent shivers down our spine.Tragic but only the naive would not have expected this.It was waiting to happen.

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Pakistan for long has used terrorism as an instrument of State Policy and Benazir's regime was no exception. Not only did she not check the spread of this malignancy she actually abetted and endorsed it. She conveniently used terrorism to make "India bleeed through thousand cuts". All that happened in Punjab and what is still happening in Kashmir had her blessings.

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Amit Baruah's column "Pakistan's Darkest Hour" in "The Hindustan Times" today makes for an interesting reading. He writes "The terror the Pak state spawned has claimed one of its last hopes for the future. The cancer is now in its malignant phase"

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Benazir though an English speaking moderate was not alien to process which churned out monsters day out and day in. She was a fellow traveller alongside the armed forces which created these monsters to fight "infidels". When she could have treated the cancer, she looked the other side. Rather she aided in spreading its malignancy. Little did she know then that one day it will come back only to consume her.

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Her lectures particularly the one which almost facilitated the ouster of an entire community of infidels from the holy land of Jehad returned to haunt as I was stuck between grief and despair. She shouted "bacha bacha bolega aazadi,har gali se awwaz aayege aazadi,kashmir ki awam rassol-e-pak ke jehad ki awwaz ko buland karaenge,jab tak har ek kafir kashmir chod kar naheen jayega tab tak chain se nahee rahenge kashmir ki awaam...". (watch the below video) Little did she realise that her adrenalin pumping hateful speech would mean death to many infidels and ethinic cleansing of half a million infidels'.

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As always I was reminded of the Kashmiri saying that I keep using here on this blog "Aenem soy vavem soy lajem soy paanesey" (I sowed the seeds of the poision ivy and got consumed by them.)

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In what happened to Benazir, is a lesson for everyone who wishes to use terrorism as tool for bringing someone to the negotiation table I again refer to Amit Baruah's column "Long used to directing the Bhindrawales to Afgahnistan and Kashmir,Pakistan's formidable military establishment seems helpless in dealing with the jihadis operating with impunity against their own people across the country"
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While I mourn her death,I do hope our neighbours learn a lesson from this and desist from creating more monsters, not for our sake but for their own peace.
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May her soul rest in Peace, Amen!

'Terror outfits in Kashmir suffer major setback in 2007'

Press Trust of India (PTI)

JAMMU: Pro-Pakistan terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) has suffered the most among the militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir as it lost 34 top commanders and 307 cadres in gunbattles with security forces in 2007.

"Hizb received a major jolt in 2007 having lost 34 top commanders and 307 cadres in the encounters in 2007," top police officers said today.

As a result, "Kashmir militancy's backbone has been broken and Hizb cadres have gone into hibernation after getting demoralised," they said.

Hizb tops the list of 13 terror outfits whose top commanders were among those killed, they said.

These outfits included Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Al-Badr, Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI), Tahreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM), Al-Umar, Jamail-ul-Mujahideen (JuM), JK Freedom Force (JKFF), Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Hizb-e-Islami (HeI) and Al-Barq.

A total of 77 top militant commanders have been killed by security forces till November this year and Hizb tops the list followed by LeT, JeM, HuJI, Al-Badr, HuM, JuM, TuM, HeI and Al-Barq, according to police data.

The list of militants killed includes 17 commanders of LeT, 13 of JeM, 10 of HuJI and three of Al-Badr.

During past two years of Congress rule in Jammu and Kashmir, 182 commanders were killed and of these 75 commanders were of Hizb followed by 49 of LeT, 18 of JeM, 11 of Al-Badr and 20 of HuJI.

In 2006, out of 105 commanders killed, Hizb lost 41, LeT 32, HuJI 10, JeM five and Al-Badr four.

In 2005, Hizb lost 31 top commanders, followed by 12 of LeT, nine of Al-Badr, seven of JeM, two commanders each of HuM and HuJI, besides one each of TuM, JuM, HeI and Al-Barq.

This year Hizb lost one operation chief commander, four divisional commanders, seven district commanders, nine tehsil commanders, 12 area commanders and company commander, the officers said.

Top among those killed in 2007 include Bilal Afghani, chief commander of Al-Badr on December 3 in Budgham followed by Qari Umar (deputy chief of HuJI for J-K), Abu Hamza (chief operation commander of JuM), Qasim Bhatti (chief operation commander of LeT), Iajaz Ahmed Chopan (chief operation commander of HM), Aby Tallah (operation commander of LeT's Jammu region), Mohammad Younis (commander-in-chief, HMPPR) and Mohd Khalid-ur-Rehman (LeT's India operations head).

In 2004, Hizb had lost three chief operation commanders, Gazi Shahab-uddin, Gazi Naseer-uddin, Saif-ul-Islam, besides deputy chiefs, Abbas Malik, Shakeel Ansari, intelligence chief Tari Aziz.

"Due to crumbling of the top structure of militant outfits like Hizb, LeT, JeM, lower militant cadres are on run in J-K," the officers said.

Source Link: The Times of India