Friday, June 12, 2009

Justice for Nilofer and Asiya

Omar Abdullah-The Apathetic Idiot

Shopian looks like a ghost town today. There are no people on the streets. The shops are shut wide and the atmosphere of gloom looms large over an otherwise bustling suburb. The rape and murder of two young women has left the town full of bitterness, anger and hopelessness.

There obviously are no two ways about the fact that the ghastly murder and rape should invite severest possible criticism with a strong call for finding the perpetrators of this heinous crime and punishing them in a manner as to make an example of them. But here we are. The young prince dismissed their rape and killing as a simple case of drowning. As a Chief Minister of the State shouldn’t he have been a little more prudent than this clownish dad. He should have at-least bothered to know the depth of the water in Rembyaer Nallah in this season. As someone who has crossed this Nallah even without his knees getting wet I must say that the Chief Minister was at his apathetic and ignorant best. Little did he realise that a man as perverse as Yasin Malik or Bitta Karate is roaming free to commit more crimes.

The day the badly bruised bodies of Nilofer and Asiya were recovered, they bore marks of what seemed like molestation if not rape. Their clothes were torn and bodies disfigured. Yet the Police dismissed it as a case of drowning. Forensic reports now confirm the rape of a pregnant Nilofer and a studious and intelligent Asiya.

Two grown up women drowning in knee deep water!

This led to huge protests all over the valley. A simple word of acceptance of the crimecould have avoided all that happened later. The separatists were quick to latch on some food. After all the Young Prince had given them a stick to beat with which they could beat him, the army, the establishment and India. The beastly Mehbooba wasn’t the one to be left behind. Despite the fact that her party-men were beaten on way to Shopian, she looked at it as opportunity she was in no mood to let go off. The sexually frustrated Asiya Andrabi too took to streets with her band of Dark Scary Images. The calls for justice soon got lost in the din of cries for Azadi and removal for AFSPA.

This obviously is no time for politicking. Unequivocally we condemn the State governments handling of this entire episode. What was ideally a law an order problem has now spun into a huge controversy thanks to the kid who our National Media projects as the best thing to have happened to India after the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. Apart from firing the SP of Shopian(who obviously deserves to be fired) the Chief Minister should also have resigned for the way he led Kashmir to one more crisis.

Nilofer’s husband, Shakeel Ahmed has said time and again that he wants justice and not Azadi. Unfortunately what he gets is denials and more denials and now an enquiry commission. The State ought to show its concern for its people irrespective of their political alignments. But then that virtue is lost long time back.

In this hour of grief we are with the family of the victims. May God give them power to overcome this grief .We at Roots in Kashmir will do our best to ensure that the family gets justice. Although we are in exile,yet we mourn alongside the family of the victims.

The need of the hour is that the Chief Minister personally meets the family and apologises for his errant comments and asks the commission to submit a report in a time bound manner and then act fast to punish the culprits of this sick crime. It may not bring them their dear ones back but at-least it would restore the confidence of the people in the State.

15 comments:

Aarti Tikoo Singh said...

The right message at the right time.

"In this hour of grief we are with the family of the victims. May God give them power to overcome this grief .We at Roots in Kashmir will do our best to ensure that the family gets justice. Although we are in exile,yet we mourn alongside the family of the victims."

Keep it up.

Anonymous said...

i agree that Omar Abdullah should have been sensitive and compassionate rather than the way he did....noone seems to be looking into the real issue .... and it seems noones really concerned about the girls who lost their lives....its actually another situation being misused by the people who want Azadi for Kashmir....its disgraceful i guess these people should first go and learn about humanity rather than screaming for azadi...

Anil said...

Very well said - it is truly a tragedy. Unfortunately this is being hijacked by Azaadi and other hoodlums. The perpetrators MUST be identified and punished in the severest possible manner. The CM is a joke - how can he be enjoying Gulmarg with his family when two young women were brutalized in Kashmir. May be we have a NERO in making!!!

Unknown said...

Evolution. Societal Evolution to be precise, is the key. Value of human life and dignity above every thing else. That is what we need to realize as a society. Abdullah or Sayeed or Malik, these are just skillful manipulators, doing everything in their power to keep people engaged in emotionally exhaustive ordeals and not allowing them to settle and evolve as a society. In this world of uncertainty, there are fundamental issues of survival and growth that should be concerning us. And what we have is painful experiences like Niloufer and Asiya, that manage to unsettle us every time. I wish people would stop getting embroiled in the politics and be more compassionate in providing support to the fellow citizens who suffer such unfortunate and irreparable damages. And I wish politicians like Omar Abdullah suffer some personal grief of such magnitude as the common folk of Kashmir have experienced over last two decades, because that is the only thing that will probably bring them back to being humans. Unless they are too hardened to feel anything even when their own kith and kin meet such a fate.

I pray for the families, and I wish somehow their pain be relegated to these insensitive SOBs.

Thanks Rashneek and RIK for bringing up the social issues to the fore.

Anonymous said...

Sentiments expressed in this write-up reflect 'true kashmiriyat' and true humanity. Let the truth be told - two young women were brutalized in my Kashmir and the criminals - whosoever they are - must be identified and hanged in Lalchowk. Scientific methods can be used to pin-point the culprits - if only the authorities are sincere!

- A 1989 Refugee from Kashmir

Anonymous said...

first of all i pay my grief to these two ladies.who died...but police dismissed it as a case of drowning . what a shame on police.politicians ...what i say about them. the ministers like mufti mohd.sayeed, mehbooba mufti fools the innocent people of kashmir..and yasin malik the most wanted criminal of kashmir is roaming free...awww....The so called politicians of kashmir are a big joke on public...they emotionally black mails people by the name of religion freedom.and the innocent people takes it seriously.. I thought our new CM will do something serious...but he is not taking it seriously. the duty of cm is to pay a visit to the victims home and listens to them.women r always used as a source of pity and foot of men....awww. so sad laws and order wat i have to say about them law has never helped any women in kashmir no justice for women ...what a shame. those who commits crime must be hanged in lal chowk either he is a politician or police or ny person. and women should be given justice. some methods should be taken to solve this..
Niharika B.A part II
Udhampur

I.D.K.P.Y.F. said...

Shopian incident is yet another blot on the face of present day society; every single person cutting across the political, social, cultural spheres should condemn this incident.
At the same time politicising this issue should also be condemned,
Today on the fifteenth day Shopian along with whole Kashmir province is tense, bar counsel Kashmir, state Govt employees and other self styled groups are adding fuel to the situation. State CM is not acting and is busy attending meetings.
State / central Governments have always mishandled the issues there is nothing new in it and I assure you that State has no will to book culprits ,

We are with the family of the victims Nilofer and Asiya and really hope justice is delivered.

Rashneek ji I wish that not only the family of Nilofer and Asiya get justice but the families of Girija Kumari Tiku who was gang-raped, and chopped into two equal halves on 11.6.1990.
Sarla Bhat gangraped for five days.
Prana Ganjoo gangraped and her breasts chopped off.
Mrs Babli , Asha Koul, Shrimat Roopawati , Dr. (Mrs) Soni many more……also get the justice pending for a long time …shame on our civil society.


Rakesh Gurkha
Internally Displaced Kashmiri Pandit Youth Front
9873003069

Anonymous said...

I personally have full faith in ROOTS IN KASHMIR.
I wish ROOTS IN KASHMIR, though in exile could guide the concerned in the valley or in Delhi and lead the protest against the heinous crime as efficiently as that of the Tragedy of Priyadarshani to its logical end. I am afraid lest some vicious circle who may be directly involved in the shameful act should mislead the masses and end up the investigation as ‘proper investigation has not been possible hence the case is closed. I remember when in 1964 an innocent, agriculture graduate from Pampore was alleged to be the culprit and beaten to death by the police for stealing the holy relic a Hazratba. Slogan ‘Asli mulzim ko pesh kero is still in the live archives of the CBI.

Nilofar and Asiya are daughters of our land. They deserve our love & affection.
Roots in Kashmir must come up to its heights as it is expected of it.

Meghana said...

I'm happy to hear such positive words from you all in times of such embarrassment and injustice in our homeland. My heart goes out to the victims' loved ones, and I'm concerned about how this is going to affect Indian legitimacy in Kashmir.

Unknown said...

Dear RIK Heroes,
I admire, as always, Sh. B.K.Dass's wisdom and fully support his suggestion that RIK should launch a similar agitation as for Priyadarshini Mattoo in Delhi. We Hindus in general and KP's in particular were never parochial when fighting for justice and human rights.Our religion teaches us this whole world is Vasudeva Kutumbam. Our taking up the cause of justice for Nilofer and Asiya is going to do a lot good to Indian society, India and KPs in particular. Your action/agitation on streets of Delhi will get a lot of support and help in changing the mindset and expose the Kashmiri Jihadis who have have unscrupulously hijacked the agitation from call for justice to agitation for Azadi. I know you can do it successfully. If you need any help please contact us.

God Bless you RIK

Sunil Moza

Currently in Canada

Unknown said...

The government needs to act and should be passionate to problems of common man. Justice delivery should be top priority and should be done without any bias of community and region.I deplore separates and PDP for politicizing the agony of people for their very mean interests. Blaming Army persons outrightly is highly deplorable.We should not forget the separatist had to cut a sorry figure with its previous experiences in Jawhar Nagar, North Kashmir , Kangan etc, where local Kashmiris were involved.Who so ever have done it, are beasts like Bita Karate, Yasin Malik and co.

Rajesh Pandit

Preeti Bakaya said...

its time that the Indian govt acted more maturely on kashmir now. they need to take a hard look at the injustices that are being done in the name of "territorial integrity" and "mera bharat mahan" by the armed forces. if we have to bring kashmir through the non force route we have to get down to working on a political solution which will make the people feel that they are a part of India.

Sagar Raina said...

The incident is the most unfortunate one. The family of the victims must be shocked and stunned. Now these separtist in Kashmir have got another new srory to prolong violence in Kashmir, since they need some thing to go on with.Only they are initiators and people like Nilofer and Aishya are sufferers.
Omar Abdullah could have played a n important role in giving Justice to the family of Victims but unfortunately at the end we should not forget he is a politician.

I absolutely agree with the author.

Seasonviews... said...

every coin has two sides.. anyways another close view of Shopian..
http://kashmir-timemachine.blogspot.com/search/label/omar%3B%20shopian

AntiIndia said...

I found various comments in this post that people r interlinking azaadi with this sad case
bt let me help u people to know
azaadi is a process and not only this 1000 of cases like that r interlinked with azaadi
Actually India is treating us like slaves
According to a report from last 17 years more than 17000 women hav been rped and molested
dont u people still think we need Azaadi from atrotic hands of India