THE ‘K’ FACTOR - Irrationality of rational realist films..

Films From Kashmir,
Films For Kashmiris,
Without Kashmiri Pandits!

In the world of documentaries, every artist has the freedom to choose and deliver at his own will. All the more better if supported by the government and masses. As every filmmaker tricks the audience into believing his theme as abject truth, the masses too tend to drown themselves into it.

This weekend proved to be a crammed package of films on J&K. As one channel flashed a documentary based on a famous poem, the other channel followed with a special report on the children of conflict. Like always this viewer remained glued hoping against hope to catch a minority face…but I am glad my hopes were not raised. The first film reiterated their ‘freedom struggle’ as ‘satyagraha’; the other believed that the children of the valley are the worst victims.

Once more we had to watch the pain of the majority (Muslim) community, their kith and kin and their troubles caused at the hands of the ruthless Indian government. Once again the filmmakers decided to ignore that ‘there once lived a minority that now has the whole galaxy as their home except their own valley’. It is always troublesome to watch young lives suffer, their faces becoming a paradox to peace. But to believe that the conflict war zone weighed heavy only on population presently in the valley, one is mistaken.

As I saw snowy white faces of little kids in Kashmir, as cameras zoomed on the cherry red glow on these cheeks; I suddenly saw myself in Jammu. The same white cheeks of some Kashmiris have turned coal black; the only margin remained the ‘athoor’ dangling from female ears. When I heard a completely tanned teacher recite a Sanskrit prayer at the overcrowded Purkhoo camp and saw him scold some students in Kashmiri, the irony of calling them Kashmiris struck like a sword.

The above statement is anything but racist. The tanned skin mirrored years of hopelessness and eternal toil seep out with sweat on their faces. There was no red glow I could zoom into. I saw frustration and frustration little more. The news channel cut into a break which brought me back to my room and I lay frozen with the remote, knowing not what to do. At times I wonder if Hindus of Kashmir really exaggerate their pain or is it because we form the majority of this nation that we fail to make good news stories as victims.

Some refer to the Jammu refugee camps as a political gimmick, but it is the cowardice of educated filmmakers that they use their prerogative to ignore us. Ajay Raina, Ashok Pandit and Rajesh Jhala are some who dared to shed light on the issue. But then looking at the statistics, for one documentary on the Hindu minority there are ten for the majority. A film on the desecration of temples is termed communal while stories on Ayodhya/AFSPA are screened worldwide. Surprisingly the filmmakers and reporters who glorify the terrorists as ‘saviours of Kashmiris’ saw the same Kashmiris boycott separatists to vote for a record 65% in the recently held elections.

Howzzaat.!!

There is no doubt that films cannot transform the world, they do not possess that much power. However, as a filmmaker one still tries to use this freedom of expression to put forth the hidden truth. Every draconian law and every suppressed community has a filmmaker to boast of… except for the Hindus in forced exile. Some day in near future we too shall have a document of minority in the valley that the world can peak through- a document that delves deep into broken temples, broken families, broken hearts… above all a broken state.

Finally to conclude with how ignored we remain here’s the following truth- When Pakistan sponsored terrorism hit the valley, Kashmiri Pandits screamed their hearts out. When their homes burnt to ashes in front of their wet eyes, they stood up in protest. The Indian government was asked to take stringent steps. No one heard Kashmiri Pandits back then… No one heard them now as Mumbai burnt.

And yet we all know the truth. Don’t we?

(The author Pooja Shali is a Mass Communication masters student at New Delhi's A.J.K. MCRC. She can be reached at poojashali@gmail.com)

Governance and rebellion

Nepal's maoist-rebel-turned-PM says that heading a rebellion was easier than governing the country.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/being-a-rebel-is-easier-than-governing-says-.../400506/

The man who led a decade long civil unrest hiding in the forests and terrorising opponents has accepted this humble fact. With guns on your side and no accountability and of course the halo of a hero surrounding you it is so much easier to quell all and any kind of opposition. But governing, even a country the size of Nepal is a mean task. The day to day squabbles of what is now succinctly described as bijli-sadak-paani may seem as boring and unexciting and actually bourgoise to some, but nothing but love for your country can make one do this task efficiently.

Perhaps, our separatist friends can take a clue from his troubles. For more than 60 years now, India has ploughed on to give some semblance of administration and governance to the troubled region, getting a train to its icy heights is just the latest feather in the cap. If you factor in the blatant hate and disregard for any form of Indian authority in Kashmir, then however weak a governance India has provided to an unthanking public, the fact remains that it still has.

One may argue that some semblance of governance even the British gave to India, and that is true! In fact, many of our present day administrative systems come from the Britishers, but they looted our resources in return while India has done no such thing to Kashmir, if anything India has painstakingly assured that Kashmir's riches remain within the region itself, even incurring the anger of the rest of the country.

Homage to our Mentor - Padmashri J.N. Kaul 'Papaji'

Padmashri J.N. Kaul

13-10-1924 to 16-12-2008

With profound grief and sorrow we inform you that our dearest Padamshri Jagan Nath Kaul, fondly called Papaji has left for his heavenly abode on December 16, 2008 morning (5.45am) in Faridabad, India.

Padmashri J.N. Kaul, was father to lakhs of underprivileged children. A visionary, he remained lifelong associated with philanthropic and humanitarian work. Replica of Kashmir’s 'Hari Parbat', in Faridabad was his idea. In his able guidance, Kashmiri Sewak Samaj Faridabad and Roots In Kashmir organised Navreh celebrations each year atop Aravali Hills at Hari Parbat, Anangpur with more zeal and vigour.

Shri Kaul was among those few Kashmiri leaders who were institution builders. He has been responsible for single handedly launching and initiating a number of institutions in the field of social welfare, education, culture and religious heritage. After the forced displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, he had to plunge into one more ardous field of helping his fellow communitymen in exile.

Papaji has been the recipient of many awards and honour's including "Padmashri" presented by the President of India, Raja Rammohan Roy Teacher's Award, G.D. Birla Award, Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award, Twentieth Century Achievement Award (Given by the American Biographical Institute USA), Dadabhai Naroji New Millennium Award, Satpal Mittal National Award and Vayoshrestha Award (Ministry of Social Justice).

We pledge to follow his footsteps and spread the message of love & service to the underprivileged, as he said: "When we give a child home, we are expressing our belief in life and the fundamental good in people."

Activity with SOS Children's Villages' in India

In 1963 Hermann Gmeiner met Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, then Prime Minister of India, who was extremely impressed by the SOS Children's Village concept. Under the auspices of his daughter Indira Gandhi a committee and subsequently an association were founded, which immediately hastened the realization of the first SOS Children's Village Greenfields near Delhi. Of the founding members of the Indian SOS Children's Villages Association, J.N. Kaul became the first village director who in subsequent decades would greatly influence the SOS Children's Village work in this poor and densely populated country.

In 1967 Mrs. Indira Gandhi handed the chairmanship of the committee to Mrs. Tara Ali Baig, who presided over the SOS Children's Villages Association in India until her death in 1989. Since then Padashmi Shri J.N. Kaul has been heading the entire SOS Children's Village work in India.

Peace to his soul.

News in grief:

1. PTI - http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200812161612.htm
2. Indian Express - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/social-activist-j-n-kaul-passes-away/399419/
3. Kashmir Live - http://www.kashmirlive.com/story/Noted-Kashmiri-activist-JN-Kaul-passes-away/399220.html
4. Daily Excelsior - http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/08dec17/state.htm#15

A tribute by the youth of..

Roots in Kashmir (RIK)

…A Worldwide Kashmiri Pandit Youth Initiative

www.rootsinkashmir.org/

www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com/

e-mail: contact@rootsinkashmir.org/

Boycott the boycotters....

As figures for the first two phases of polling poured in, gloom must have descended on the faces of the separatists. Kashmiris have in a way shown them what they want. In an year where "the Kashmir Experts", the liberal left columnists, half baked journalists and jesters like Jug Suraiya had told us, it is all over for India, the people of Kashmir have just announced their belief in Indian democracy. Huge queues at the polling booths may just show the direction of the wind.

With rabble rousers like Yasin Malik, Bitta Karate and their ilk firmly in where they belong to, the polls so far have been almost bereft of any violence.

The most amazing feature of these polls is the defiance of an ordinary Kashmiri.The courage and resilience that the Kashmiris have shown against the army of self styled commanders of Jihad.It is about time that Sajjad Lone(the cry baby),Mirwaiz(what happened to his Al Umar Mujahideen) and Syed Ali Shah Geelani(May he get well soon) hide their faces for who knows what ordinary Kashmiris have on their mind next.

"I am voting for peace. Democracy should grow in Kashmir valley. My vote is to defeat the separatists and Hurriyat voices in Kashmir and strengthen nationalist leadership," said Omarkar Nath of tulmulla village of Ganderbal segment.

A cartoon on 'J&K Elections' which appeared in 'The Hindu' newspaper on Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008.

An elderly Kashmiri woman voter displays her ink-marked finger after she cast her vote during the second phase of local elections in Lar, 35 km (21 miles) east of Srinagar November 23, 2008. (Reuters Photo)

Mehtab Wani, an elderly Kashmiri woman, displays her voter identity card as she stands in a queue to cast vote outside a polling station in Lar, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008. (AP Photo)

Jalal-Ud-Din, a physically challenged man, is carried by an unidentified relative after casting his vote in Benhama, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008. (AP Photo)

Bashir Ahmed, a physically challenged man leaves polling station after casting his vote in Barsoo, some 28 kilometers (17 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008. (AP Photo)

Lawyers or separatists? - Hindustan Times

Aurangzeb Naqshbandi, Hindustan Times

There is an unusual addition to the list of separatist organisations in J&K — the Kashmir Bar Association (KBA).

According to the Union Home Ministry, the Bar is one of 49 separatist organisations currently operating in the state. This disclosure was made in response to a Right to Information application filed by Aditya Raj Kaul, a Kashmiri Pandit youth activist.

The Bar has questioned the government’s decision. It says its objectives are apolitical and, hence, it cannot be categorised as a separatist organisation. “The KBA is a body of lawyers practising in the J&K High Court. The advocate general, government advocates, public prosecutors and standing counsels for various government departments, public sector undertakings and banks are its members,” said its president Mian Abdul Qayoom.

The high court gives licenses to lawyers after verifying their antecedents and after the police have certified they aren't involved in illegal activities. “The license can be cancelled if a member is found guilty of professional misconduct,” he added.

What may have prompted the government to make this categorisation is the fact that the KBA constitution calls for finding ways to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes of the people. But Qayoom finds nothing wrong in this. “When India and Pakistan are engaged in negotiations on Kashmir, why can’t the KBA or its members strive for resolution of the contentious issue?”

Legal experts said the government should clarify. “Any group whose objective is to enable J&K to secede from India can be called a separatist organisation. We don’t know the objectives of the KBA,” said former law minister Shanti Bhushan.

Qayoom said it was the professional duty of Bar members to provide legal aid to those (read militants) who approach them. “By doing so, they can’t be said to have indulged in any illegal act.”

He also rubbished charges that the KBA prevented lawyers from pleading the cases of accused in the Srinagar sex scandal involving ministers, legislators and police officers. “We didn’t pass any resolution, neither did we stop any member from representing the accused. The decision was left to the lawyers.”

Link - http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=9fd22615-efc7-4395-9e82-d8b23d786a15&&Headline=Lawyers+or+separatists%3f

Response to - letters@hindustantimes.com

Kashmiri Pandits discouraged from contesting polls-King C Bharti

CALL IT official terrorism or intimidation of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) but the fact is that government of J&K has been trying every method to discourage Kashmiri Pandits from contesting the coming Assembly elections through various means available with the government.
While the filing of fresh M-Forms and the cumbersome procedure of filing Form 12C to seek voting rights for general and other category of Migrant Kashmiri Pandits is nothing but a harassment tactic of the government the inaction over the request for security cover to its candidates by Jammu and Kashmir National United Front (JKNUF), the first ever political party of Kashmiri Pandits is a clear indication that government does not want KPs to participate in the democratic process.
It is worth mentioning here that the first batch of prospective candidates of JKNUF today left for Valley without security to file their nominations. Even though it is the history in the making the government does not seem to care a hoot.
The fact that all Kashmiri Pandits have been casting their votes in Jammu and elsewhere according to their electoral rolls earlier this time the state government has devised a cumbersome means to ensure as low a voter turnout as possible because Kashmiri Pandits have not only floated the first ever political party but also that many more KPs are contesting elections as independent candidates.
Even though JKNUF has been trying its level best to help Kashmiri Pandits to complete the formalities the over all procedure is too big to be handled for the newly floated party.
The leaders of JKNUF AK Dewani and Rakesh Handoo Bunty when contacted said that the whole process was to ensure minimum voter turnout of Pandits adding the pro-separatist government fears some unexpected results if KPs participate fully in the elections.
Dewani and Handoo however said that they were all set to frustrate the evil designs of the pro-separatist government which has now added yet another dirty feather in its cap by turning a Nelsons Eye towards their pleas of security and other things so that maximum number of KP voters can cast their ballot.
The government, which has been beating about the bush of having great concern for the KPs, has however ignored the KP candidates in proving suitable security cover equating them with other smaller parties who also seek security during the elections.
However the fact remains that while the government tries every stupid trick to woo terrorists and separatists in Kashmir the real victims of the terror, Kashmiri Pandits, do not seem to figure in their scheme of things for the resolution of the Kashmir problem.
The rebuff seems to be the answer of the Vohra regime to their wholehearted support to Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti for which the entire community seems to be paying the price, says a young Pandit Samir Koul of Muthi migrant camp.
While Jammuites are already facing state terror through longest ever power cuts as a punishment for their two month long agitation it is time KP leaders face the brunt of brutality.
The government must wake up from its deep slumber and face the reality by recognizing Kashmiri Pandits as equal partners in the of state affairs lest they too produce the likes of Sadhvi Pragya to seek their rights in Kashmir, says another young KP migrant at Shankar building sifting through huge records to find his name in the electoral rolls.
Rakesh Handoo the prospective candidate from Hazratbal constituency said that Kashmiri Pandits too must understand that the government has been trying to divide them over the participation in polls as nobody wants them to be counted anywhere in the real democratic process and hence must shun the politics of boycott by participating in the elections fully so that they too get some attention of the political leaders who are seeking a mandate in Kashmir.
They must understand that some political parties have already started voicing their concern over the actual number of KP voters because a well designed plot is being hatched to keep KP voters at bay by adopting the policy of divide and rule.
Even if KPs get only a few hundred votes it will certainly make an impact over the prospective candidates of the Valley to start respecting their power even if small in volume, Handoo said.
Meanwhile the first delegation of prospective candidates of JKNUF today left for Valley by road to file nominations for various constituencies in Valley without any security.
The delegation, which left by road, was not, provided any help by the government notwithstanding the fact that participation of the first ever KP political party in the elections could have been used as a tool to rebuff the separatists that majority of the Kashmiri people are in favour of elections.
However according to Handoo repeated requests to Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda and IGP Security have not been fruitful despite a recommendation from the Returning Officer of KPs in Jammu.
The police has been citing the tremendous demand of security form various parties but they seem to have forgotten that government has a duty towards KPs who are not only the real aborigines of Kashmir but also living in forced exile for the last 18 years due to the inept governments at sate and central level from time to time.
The delegation however left for the Valley indicating the resolve of KPs to contest elections under any circumstances to make their presence felt even if government denies them much needed security cover.
Those who left for the Valley to file their nominations on behalf of JKNUF mandate include Shadi Lal Kant (Langate), Pawan Kumar Raina ( Handwara) and Samir Raina (Kupwara).

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=148058

'Roots In Kashmir' supports protest against terrorist S.A.R. Geelani

Kashmiri group backs DUSU

Staff Reporter
The Hindu

NEW DELHI: “Roots in Kashmir”, an initiative of Kashmiri Hindu youth, came out in support of the Delhi University Students’ Union on Saturday in its protest against S.A.R. Geelani, the Zakir Husain College lecturer who was acquitted by the Supreme Court in the infamous Parliament attack case.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activists had ransacked the Arts Faculty building on the North Campus of Delhi University on Thursday when a seminar to be chaired by Mr. Geelani was in progress. While the protest was on, DUSU president Nupur Sharma had “requested” Mr. Geelani to leave the venue.

“The public meeting organised by the University Community to debate ‘Communalism: Rhetoric and Reality’ was in reality on so-called ‘Hindu Fascism and Terrorism’. This was clearly mentioned in pamphlets distributed at the gathering,” said Aditya Raj Kaul, a youth activist and coordinator of “Roots in Kashmir”, on Saturday.

“We call upon the conscience of Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental to investigate the reality behind this propaganda meeting organised by some vested interests to provoke members of the student community of a certain religion. It may be noted that one of the main accused in the Parliament attack case, Mr. Geelani, has not been declared completely innocent by the Supreme Court. He had been released on ‘technical grounds’,” read a statement from the organisation.

Link - http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/09/stories/2008110957000300.htm

DUSU President Nupur Sharma persuading S.A.R. Geelani to leave the venue.

Police clashing with ABVP activists.

SFI & AISA Goons get violent in the seminar at Law Faculty. (In picture Taslima Chisti of JNU)

DU allows 'seminar' blasting Govt; Geelani is star speaker

Staff Reporter | New Delhi

The Daily Pioneer

Link - http://www.dailypioneer.com/132900/DU-allows-%E2%80%98seminar%E2%80%99-blasting-Govt;-Geelani-is-star-speaker.html

Parliament attack accused incites youth to end 'fascism' in India, take on ABVP 'goons'

Under heavy police bandobast, the Delhi University (DU) on Thursday facilitated an "interactive session" where venom was spewed on the Government's counter-terrorism initiatives and a known anti-national — SAR Geelani, accused in the Parliament attack case — was hero-worshipped.

Addressing a gathering of about 50 students and teachers at the Arts Faculty seminar hall, Geelani said the Batla House encounter was stage-managed by Delhi Police. He said that different parameters were being applied in the handling of Islamic terrorism and the so-called Hindu terrorism. Geelani was speaking on 'Communalism, Fascism and Democracy — Rhetoric and Reality', organised by a barely-known campus group called University Community.

"There is no democracy in India. The Government, in the name of national security and war against terrorism, is targeting select people and letting others go scotfree. There is a huge difference in the way the Government deals with the so-called Islamic terrorism and those spread by Hindu extremists. Aur zyaada janne ke liye aap baad mein miliye (Meet me later for further explanations)," said Geelani, who was an accused in the 2003 Parliament attack case and was later comforted by the Supreme Court. He said that fascism and prejudice had crept into the four pillars of democracy in India. "Even the Chief Justice of India has been accused of corruption," he said.

About 50 persons, including some teachers from different departments of DU, participated in the talk. Amid slogans like "Civil Liberties Long Live" and "Hindu goons wapas jao", the speakers -- including two working journalists and a professor from the Department of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia, Nehsat Quaiser -- professed the cases of banned Muslim group, the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and the likes of Afzal Guru.

Talking about the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists opposing the branding of Hindu groups as terrorists, Geelani said, "Inquilab comes from the youth. You should not fear these goons and end this fascism."

Another speaker said the Malegaon blasts accused, Pragya Singh Thakur, was not a sadhvi but the face of Sangh terror. University sources said a teacher from the Department of English had booked the hall for organising 'a talk'. University officials said they were not informed of the topic and that Geelani was supposed to deliver a lecture. University Proctor Gurmeet Singh even called the organisers repeatedly, asking them to cancel their talk in view of the protests incited by Geelani's and others' views. The meeting, however, went on.

The ABVP members, on the other hand, demonstrated outside the seminar room and shouted slogans, 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'. An activist even managed to reach the dais and spit on Geelani's face, saying 'shame, shame'. The ABVP activists then damaged some windows, doors, chairs and the microphone to disrupt the meeting. However, the meeting continued despite the disturbance. Later, police arrested some ABVP activists.

Exclusive Pics Courtesy - Aditya Raj Kaul

Kashmiri Pandit migrants are internally displaced: UN

PTI
New Delhi, Nov 03: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said it treats Kashmiri Pandit migrants as 'Internally Displaced Persons', a status the community has been demanding for long, but made it clear that the world body has no role to play in their case.

"The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has no role with Internally Displaced Persons in India," the world body said in response to a memorandum submitted by a Kashmiri Pandit group 'Roots in Kashmir' (RIK).

In the memorandum, submitted during the visit of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon last Friday, the Kashmiri group appealed that the world body take cognisance of the plight of Pandits who had to leave their homes in the valley.

The RIK said that even 19 years after the mass exodus, over 50,000 of "Kashmiri Pandit refugees are living in pathetic conditions in uninhabitable refugee camps" and that the successive Central and state governments had failed in protecting their rights.

In response, the UNHCR said its mandate is to work for refugees and "in some countries, on invitation by sovereign governments, with internally displaced populations".

Making a distinction between internally displaced persons and refugees, it said it depends on whether the people have crossed an international border.

"They (Kashmiri Pandits) may have left Kashmir for reasons very similar to those who become refugees, but since they have not crossed an international border, they continue to be protected by the same national government (in this case India) in a different part of the country (Jammu, Delhi, Mumbai, etc)," it said.

"They have not lost the protection of the national government," the UNHCR said, adding the world body steps in when people lose the protection of their national governments, by crossing an international border.

Bureau Report (PTI)
-
Links:

Zee News - http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=480822&sid=NAT
Daily Excelsior - http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/08nov04/news1.htm#4

Kashmiri Pandits submit memorandum to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in New Delhi

A joint delegation of up to ten Kashmiri Pandit groups submitted a memorandum to UN General Secretary Ban-Ki-Moon, who is visiting India, regarding their demands, which include, to be declared as IDPs Internally Displaced Persons.

Kashmiri Pandits hold protest
Staff Reporter, The Hindu

NEW DELHI: Kashmiri Pandits belonging to various organisations staged a protest in the Capital on Friday to seek the intervention of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by declaring them as internally displaced persons.

They have appealed to the UN Secretary General to take cognisance of their plight as more than “400,000 of them have had to leave their homes in the Valley to escape persecution”.

Organisations that participated in the protest included Roots in Kashmir, Panun Kashmir, Kashmiri Samiti Delhi, Internally Displaced Kashmiri Pandit Youth Front, All-India Kashmiri Samaj, Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch, All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference, Panun Kashmir Youth Front, Kashmiri Pandit United Forum and Jammu and Kashmir National United Front.

According to Roots in Kashmir coordinator, Aditya Raj Kaul, over 50,000 of Pandit refugees are living in pathetic conditions in refugee camps even after 19 years of mass exodus.

“The Pandit community believes that successive Union and State governments have failed to protect their human rights. Moreover, human rights organisations have failed to highlight violation of their rights. Some of the demands of Kashmiri Pandits to the UN include ensuring adequate protection to the residual Kashmiri Hindu population currently living in the Valley,” added Mr. Kaul.

Important demand

Stating that restoration of Kashmiri Hindus’ political and economic rights in their State was an important demand, Mr. Kaul said this would give them equal status rather than a second class citizenship in their native land as share of jobs for them in bureaucracy, State supported professional educational institutes and the representation in the State Assembly has steadily diminished in the past two decades.

“Grant funds to Kashmiri Hindus for the preservation and documentation of relics of Kashmiri Hindu heritage and culture. Direct the Government to hand over the management of religious shrines, icons and cultural centres to Kashmiri Hindu leadership,” added Mr. Kaul.

Link - http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/01/stories/2008110153670400.htm

March for justice: Members of ‘Roots in Kashmir’ protesting outside the office of United Nations Human Rights Commissioner seeking internally displaced people status for the Kashmiri Pandits in New Delhi on Friday.

The Statesmen

Rashtriya Sahara

Hindustan

Punjab Kesri

Dainik Bhaskar

Pandits demand recognition as Internally Displaced Persons
PTI

New Delhi, Oct 31: Demanding that they be declared as Internally Displaced Persons, a group of Kashmiri Pandits on Friday held a protest here seeking intervention of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in the matter.

The Pandits belonging to various organisations submitted a memorandum to Moon, who is on a two-day visit to India. They appealed to Moon to take cognisance of the plight of Pandits who had to leave their homes in the valley.

Even 19 years after the mass exodus, more than 50,000 of these Kashmiri Pandit refugees are living in "pathetic conditions in uninhabitable refugee camps", they said.

They alleged that successive Central and state governments had failed in protecting their rights. They also demanded the government set up a 'Commission of Enquiry' to establish the causes that led to the killings of Kashmiri Pandits.

Link - http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=480065&sid=NAT

UNHCR Associate External Relations officer Nayana Bose accepting the memorandum.

Women Activists holding a banner which asks UN Sec. Gen. Ban Ki Moon's intervention for the IDP status of Kashmiri Pandits.

Picture taken from inside a hole of a Police barracde shows a Kashmiri pandit girl behind the banner hodling a placard.

Kashmiri Pandits demand 'internally displaced persons' status

IANS
Kashmiri Pandits held a silent sit in protest outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office here Friday, demanding that the community, which fled the Kashmir Valley during the peak of militancy 20 years ago, be declared as internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The community represented by Kashmiri youth organisations in the capital like Roots in Kashmir, Internally Displaced Youth Front, Panun Kashmir, All India Kashmir Samaj, and others, along with elderly members of the community in Delhi, presented a five-page memorandum of their demands to Nayona Bose of the UNHCR to be forwarded to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is on a two-day visit to India.

We welcome the UN secretary on his visit to India. As a community we, therefore, appeal to him to help us - declare the Kashmiri Hindu community as IDPs, Lalit Ambardar, 35, a qualified engineer who was one of the 100-odd protestors, told IANS.

The Human Rights Working Group on Minorities in Geneva had recognised Kashmiri Hindus formally as a 'reverse minority'. So the use of the insulting term of 'migrants' for us - a forcibly exiled community - should be removed from all records and communications relating to us henceforth, Ambardar chorused the protestor's demand.

Many others protestors were angry about the state to which Kashmiri Hindus have been reduced since insurgency in the Kashmir Valley in 1989-90, when more that 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits fled their homes to escape persecution.

Historically, Kashmiri Pandits were known to be intellectuals, but now we are rotting away - we are a national waste - we have no political representation, have no geographic ethnicity that we can claim as our own! fumed Raj Raina, 37.

Raina was unable to get a government job owing to his 'migrant' status. He is now self-employed and runs a small printing press.

When I was forced to leave my home in the Valley, militants threatened us time and again - merge with us (with political and religious views), perish or vanish, Raina recapitulated memories of the insurgency.

Amongst those present from the community were varsity students, who also held that the current situation was sordid.

Calling us migrants implies that we had a choice in the matter, when we were actually forced to flee, said Aditya Raj Kaul, a 22-year-old student activist from Delhi University.

We have demanded in the memorandum that the UN direct the Indian government to ensure adequate protection to the residual Kashmiri Hindu population living in the Valley. Also that Kashmiri Hindus be restored political and economic rights, giving them equal status rather than second-class citizenship in their native land, Kaul informed.

Link - http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/World/20081031/1092947.html

Kashmiri Pandits submit memorandum to UN
Aastha Manocha, Indian Express

New Delhi, October 31: A joint delegation of up to ten Kashmiri Pandit groups submitted a memorandum to UN General Secretary Ban-Ki-Moon, who is visiting India, regarding their demands, which include, to be declared as IDPs Internally Displaced Persons.

The joint memorandum was handed over to the UNHCR Associate External Relations officer Nayana Bose by Dr. SS Toshkhani, a noted Kashmiri Pandit scholar, and other community elders while others held banners depicting their plight and highlighting their demands.

We fulfill nearly all the criterion there is for Internally Displaced Person yet we have not been accorded this status due to the Indian government’s own inhibitions, said Mr. Rakesh Gurkha, a Kashmiri Pandit. We do not want any money but we want our demands to be met, he added.

Elaborating on the memorandum, Mr. Sushil Pandit, another community member present there, said, “we told the officer that we are a community of over 50, 000 plus people who have been displaced from their homes more for almost two decades now and want to be declared an IDP as we fit all the criteria set by the UN and other organizations for human rights. In fact, in some of its reports, we (Kashmiri Pandits) have been mentioned.”

Internally Displaced Persons are people who have been forced to flee because their lives were in danger but unlike refugees didn’t cross any international border.

According to The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), established in 1998 by the Norwegian Refugee Council ‘Internally Displaced Persons are people who have been forced to flee because their lives were in danger but unlike refugees didn’t cross any international border.’

It also goes on to add that while refugees get more international attention the international community is not under any obligation to look after the IDPs hence the onus often lies with the government itself to look after the IDPs. However, they are often found lacking in this respect.

An example of this is India itself, as after accepting the Pandits’ memorandum Ms Bose made it clear that the UNHCR has no role with Internally Displaced Persons in India.

‘By mandate, UNHCR works for refugees and in some countries, on invitation by sovereign governments, with internally displaced populations.’

Link - http://www.kashmirlive.com/story/Kashmiri-Pandits-submit-memorandum-to-UN/379855.html

Made in Pakistan by Kamal Hak

Trading has begun across LOC in Kashmir . The Kashmiri muslims must be feeling happy, excited and great. They will now have the access to the pious produce of their religious fraternity. The quality or price will no longer be a concern. Those considerations are reserved for the things produced by kafirs in Hindustan .

One day in early eighties I was sitting with the owner of United Medical Hall, Kupawara in the course of my duties as a medical representative. It was a good day for business as sowing season had just finished and the villagers were now flocking to either courts for settling scores with their neighbours or to doctors for obtaining prescriptions for glucose bottles.

Gul Saeb of United Medical Hall was a nice and simple man. People also called him khuda dost as he was truly a gentle person who was never provoked into raising his voice. At this particular moment when my attention was focused on exploring the possibilities of reducing the gap between my sales target and achievement; and while I was motivating a salesman to give me the actual stock position of my products I found Gul Saeb engaged in an animated discussion with a Khoja.

“Hak saeb, please explain to Haji Saab.” Gul Saeb turned towards me with visible signs of frustration on his face.

“I want Indral and he is not giving me that.” Khoja informed me.

I found myself a reluctant mediator and in retrospect am glad for that as it has given me a beautiful reminiscence of an extent a Kashmiri muslim can go in the pursuit of his fanatic idiosyncrasy.

Khoja wanted made in Pakistan Indral, which he had earlier purchased at Kralapur, and found better than Indral produced in either England or Hindustan . It is made with Pakh(Pure) water by Pakh people.

Many months later, we are enjoying hot pakora’s while whiling our time in Tej Watul’s cloth shop situated bang in the middle of Jogilanker market in Rainawari. Suddenly there is a commotion across the road in front of Chuni Wattul’s (he was not Watul as Wattals were called but Wattul most probably derived from Wattul Kyom) medical shop. A lady in a traditional mulsim attire of feran and shalwar is mercilessly thrashing a young man. The young man along with the spectators is helpless before her fury. Even Amma Babur’s intervention is of no assistance. The lady is unfurling choicest of curses on the young man, who has now resigned himself to his destiny. Many rolls of cloth wound over wooden rods are lying scattered near the scene and a cycle in a battered condition is also lying flat nearby. Soon a couple of constables appear and save the poor man. They ask the lady the cause of her anger.

“I want my sixty rupees back. I purchased two meters of printed cloth from him for sixty rupees two months back. They cloth didn’t survive a single wash. Now he either returns my money or I send him to cancer ward in Soura.”

“But, Mouji, how could you pay sixty rupees for ordinary cloth which could not have been worth even ten.”

“Do you think I am so clumsy? This illegitimate son of his mother fooled me by claiming the cloth was made in Pakistan .”

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani...

"Hum Pakistan hain, Pakistan hamara hai"

..So goes Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the grand old man of the Kashmiri seperatists struggle. But perhaps now, after his fifth operation, he will have to add 'par mera pacemaker hindustani hai'.

Mr Geelani recently had an operation in Delhi's Escorts hospital to have his pacemaker replaced. There can be little doubt as to who funded this operation in this top hospital of the Indian capital where not many of the cities residents itself would think of getting admitted due to the costs involved.

An artificial pacemaker regulates the heartbeat when the heart is unable to do it itself because of some reason.

Funny, because that seems the role of the Indian govt in the Kashmir struggle. India's various unwise decisions and refusal to learn from the mistakes of the past have often regulated the Kashmir struggle and helped it to grow.

So yes, perhaps Mr. Geelani is right in getting his pacemaker from India, after all the unwise decisions of the same govt have been regulated the heartbeat of the Kashmir struggle without which this so called struggle would have died out long ago.

Our only solace - atleast now Mr Geelani can also rightfully state - Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani!
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Related Post -

Geelani's shit and Hindu "hit"

There you go again, Mr.President!!

by Pooja Shali

Asif Ali Zardari seems to be creating one storm after another. As if his extremely vocal appreciation of Sarah Palin’s beauty was not enough, there appeared one more explosion from the late Benazir Bhutto’s husband. The recent one, however, is more dramatic and exclusive. In an interview to Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal, Zardari confessed to the active presence of militant Islamic groups in J&K (according to him within the Indian occupied border). He elaborated by referring to them as ‘terrorists’ and continued to say that they are not ‘freedom fighters’ as Musharraf must have liked.

As the broadcast and print media began to flash these exclusive words, our countrymen were stunned. Coming from a Pakistani President, predecessors of whom have supported the absurd so-called freedom struggle, this was an uncanny moment.

The defence minister of Pakistan (on Times Now) expressed shock at this statement, and tried to cover up the matter stating that the president was misconstrued. So was it really a preposterous blunder by Zardari? Or the leadership of Pakistan has decided to finally withdraw its support to the ongoing terrorism in Kashmir? Or was it just another well planned political move?

The author would like to believe that it’s all three of the above. Pakistan has thought and rethought its stand on Kashmir. The upheaval that their government has supported for decades in Kashmir, which ruined a million lives, has begun to haunt them now in the global arena. While its favourite neighbour is all set to sign a nuclear deal, Pakistan is busy trying to hide its inner turmoil that has also paralysed its borders. Constant references to terrorism in India supported by the ISI, became too much of a burden for its leadership. The inability to counter such claims has also unwrapped Pakistan’s insecure present and uncertain future. Perhaps, it was obvious that Zardari came out to be an authority against terrorism in the valley as opposed to supporting it. Whether or not he meant his words, is a different game altogether.

The Pakistani government weighed too much of its integrity on Kashmir, but failed miserably to convince the world that it was a fair deal. They seemed to have realised the rickety platform on which Pakistan currently stands. Expanding space for Kashmir will only push them into murky waters. For a while it shall be a wise standpoint for Pakistan to depart from their pretentious adoration of the valley and concentrate on its inner advancement.

PPP might try to clarify his stance by distinguishing terrorism and Kashmir Liberation Movement as two separate entities, but the debacle has been witnessed. The smouldering divide between Muslim separatists and Pakistani leadership is unbolted for the world to see.

Going by the current scenario in valley where ‘Yahan chalo’ and ‘Wahan chalo’ movements are in vogue, the isolation of separatists is visible. A Frankenstein they created against non-Muslims in Kashmir has today re-emerged to attack their own side, and certainly with a more monstrous outline.

As for Zardari, if he tries to clarify his words anymore, I too shall have a small advice for him- “Mr.President, the sooner you try and understand the ideology of Pakistani leadership the better it shall be for your throne”.

Kashmiri Pandits protest outside UN office at New York

Friday September 26, 2008 was a great day for the Global KP community. KPs from NY State, Connecticut and New Jersey , under the banner of IAKF(Indo American Kashmir Forum), participated in a rally outside the United Nations. We exceeded our quota of 20 to 25 people that the police had restricted us to and ended up having 30 people. The group was a diverse one and represented spouses whose husbands were working, CEOs, Representatives from Wall Street, Faculty members, Doctors, Managers, 2 Movie producers, attorneys and other members of the elite KP intelligentsia. The Protestors braved the rain and shouted slogans denouncing Islamic Terrorism.They submitted a memorandum to the UN Gen.Secretary Ban ki Moon.

This is a wake up call to those murders who thought they had driven us out and hence finished the opposition against the Talibanization of Kashmir.They must remember that each displaced child is letting the world know how Islamists ruined Kashmir,killed and raped,desecrated and destroyed.

It is a shame that the Government of India is still not standing up to the Islamic terrorists.They are letting them loose in Kashmir.Otherwise what explains Syed Ali Shah Geelani,Yasin Malik,Mirwaiz or even Mehbooba roaming free and spreading more venom.

For more pictures please click here

Truth Truimphs at Last......

Demonstrators dance during victory celebrations in Jammu August 31, 2008. Hindus in Indian Kashmir called off their two-month protest after the government allowed them temporary use of land at the centre of a religious row for an annual pilgrimage, officials said on Sunday.REUTERS/Amit Gupta

Demonstrators hold India's national flags during the victory celebrations procession in Jammu August 31, 2008. Hindus in Indian Kashmir called off their two-month protest after the government allowed them temporary use of land at the centre of a religious row for an annual pilgrimage, officials said on Sunday.REUTERS/Amit Gupta

Demonstrators shout during victory celebrations in Jammu August 31, 2008. Hindus in Indian Kashmir called off their two-month protest after the government allowed them temporary use of land at the centre of a religious row for an annual pilgrimage, officials said on Sunday.REUTERS/Amit Gupta

A child joins Hindu protestors who celebrate in Jammu, India, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008. Hindus on Sunday suspended their two-month-old protest over allotment of land to a Hindu trust to build facilities for pilgrims in the Indian portion of Kashmir, which triggered some of the worst violence in the region in more than a decade, officials said.(AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Omar Abdullah-Lair and Turncoat

It wasnt many days before that Omar Abdullah,shouted his lungs out in the Indian Parliament and said,"I am an Indian and a Muslim too".It was a speech that our liberal media wanted to give him their Oscars for.This is what the same Omar Abdullah has to say now.(in an interview to Raheel Khursheed of CNN IBN)

"If opinion makers across the country are talking about it, let's bring it on the table. Let's go the whole hog then and talk about the azadi of the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir. Let's talk about the UN resolutions. Your channel debated this and I was surprised to know that 60 per cent of the people on the show voted in favour of this. And if that is the way forward, let us not shy away from it. I know which way I am gonna turn," he stated."

complete text here

So while journalists like Shekhar Gupta and Barkha Dutt should hang their heads in shame for showering un-necessary praise and adoration on this turncoat,it is time for us to know that at the end of the day he is but a son of his father,who can best be described as king of rhetoric.

These are the people who milked the Indian Nation and have served as ministers at the Centre,rigged Elections in the State,given us this mess that we have on our hands and NOW they too want Azadi.

Wake up,Indians and know the evil designs of this "secular Kashmiri Muslims" who have fooled us all so long.Next we should see him sharing dias with Maulana Masood Azhar and Syed Ali Shah Geelani.After all he is a part of the great game of converting Darul-Harb to Darul Islam.

And an insider did it......

The Times of India on its front page reports that the Hurriyat leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz wasnt killed by security forces but it was a rival terrorist fraction who have eliminated the separatist rabble rouser.There will ofcourse be counter claims that it was security forces who actually killed him.Notwithstanding who killed him,it reaffirms the fact that those who lived by the sword deserve to die by the sword.Those who spread hate and venom against the Indian Nation,against the minorities and Jammu and Kashmir ,those who have forced more than half a million people out of their land have met their end in a gruseome but deserving manner.He isnt the first one neither will he be the last one to be killed by the very terrorists he supported.The list is endless.The "cry baby" Sajjad Lone's father,Mirwaiz's father and Dr.Guru are some of the prominent people whose Frankesteins consumed them.

With the separatists already exchanging blows on Wedendsday,it may be what we always re-affirm here.The poison ivy you sow today will consume you one day.

Meanwhile in Jammu

The Biggest Jail Bharo Movement in Independent India...Over 3 lac courted arrest

Return the Land.....

Agitation in Jammu and Kashmir: A study in contrast by Mohua Chatterjee(TOI)

COURT-ARREST

JAMMU: The peaceful demonstrations in this otherwise bustling city, in stark contrast to the high decibel protests in Srinagar, said it all. If the idea was to play on the contrast with Srinagar in communicating that they have been differentiated against, Jammu's agitationists succeeded in sending across the message quite clearly. In prominence are community langars in every locality where daily wagers and the poor are being fed by households that can cook their meals even as the more than month-long bandh continues. The picture is one of bonhomie among citizens, irrespective of denomination. And clearly, any attempt to suggest that a single political party has taken over the movement that the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti has sustained for 53 days is clearly a non-starter. There is a rare unity to be seen in Jammu for a cause that seems to have built up over years of what the people here see as institutionalised neglect. Also, there is a careful attempt to ensure that it does not take a communal turn. This was clear when a local BJP leader confided that a proposal by Baba Ramdev to join the movement by marching up to the Amarnath shrine with a contingent of sadhus had to be stalled, so that it did not create communal trouble and spoil the "legitimate demand" to allow the shrine board to use the adjacent land for pilgrims' facilities. Even BJP, which has taken up the Amarnath issue to build up a national level campaign against the ruling Congress for "offending the sentiments of Hindu pilgrims", has had to redraw plans to participate in a rally organised by the Sangharsh Samiti. In fact, BJP has called it "communication gap" between the two organisations. Going on the backfoot after being snubbed by Sangharsh Samiti chief Leela Karan Sharma, who denied there were any plans for a rally, leave aside any invitation to BJP leaders L K Advani and Rajnath Singh to participate, the party's state president Ashok Khajuria told TOI , "The Sangharsh Samiti is the last word on this movement and BJP is only one among its 42 member units and hence will follow what the Samiti says." Interestingly, a good number of field level National Conference and PDP workers in Jammu have joined the Samiti. Surinder Singh Shinghari of NC, a corporator from the city's Bakshinagar area, has resigned from his party and post and joined the movement. He is not the only one. It is not easy for a city that thrives essentially on trading and business activities to sustain complete closure of shops and business establishments for 53 days without having any idea as to how much longer they will have to take it. Leela Karan Sharma said, "We are ready to talk as equals to all - the Centre, Kashmiri leaders - but only if our core issue of allowing the High Court order on the land is reverted back to."