Sarabjit’s lawyer, Awais Sheikh in Dock! ….By Rashmi Talwar / Rising Kashmir

(Right) Awais Sheikh Sarabjit’s Lawyer releasing book- ‘Sarabjit Singh- A case of mistaken Identity

Sarabjit’s lawyer -Awais Sheikh, in dock !

Letter to caretaker Punjab CM for security to Pak lawyer

By Rashmi Talwar

AMRITSAR May 3, 2013——————

Awais Sheikh, the Pakistani counsel for deceased Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Pak jail, is a scared man. Although having a slight physical stature, he has guts of steel and has never felt frightened while supporting Sarabjit’s case. He took over as lawyer of Sarabjit after 26/11 Mumbai attacks from Mr Rana another counsel of the Indian prisoner, during the time when hatred between the two countries was at its peak and the Pak SC had announced an ex-parte decision due to the absence of Sarabjit’s counsel in court.

Even when Awais was thrown out of his rented place by his landlord, labeled an Indian agent and during the time when protests were held against him outside Lahore Press on the announcement that Sarabjit was to be released but was retracted within six hours and another prisoner Surjeet singh was released in his place; Awais did not cow down and never backtracked, he held on to his courage. He came to India more than 25 times without fear of persecution from intelligence agencies of Pakistan.

In a letter today to the caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab- Najam Sethi (in view of forthcoming elections in Pakistan) the Human Rights Watch has written that Awais was subjected to an attempt at kidnapping at Wagah border besides receiving threatening letters and phone calls from organizations that claim to have strong links with Taliban. They have urged the government to provide him clandestine (invisible) security so that he does not become a visible target of those who want to eliminate him.

Awais has addressed umpteenth press conferences since 2008, in both India and Pakistan, even garnering support of celebrities to urge both countries to repatriate their prisoners after their prison terms were over and has mounted an attack on both countries for their callousness, time and again especially in the case of Sarabjit.

But after Sarabjit’s death in Lahore, it was the first time that fear was in Awais’s voice. After the attack on Sarabjit he said, he was fearful that he too may be eliminated. He related to me over phone from Lahore – “I came to see off Dalbir Kaur and Sarabjit’s family at Wagha Indo Pak border after they met Sarabjit in hospital, and this time the intelligence sleuths laid a trap me, of which I was pre-warned, so I managed to sneak out in a private vehicle.” And further, expressed his fear that after Sarabjit’s slaughter –“This time, they will come after me and kill me too!”

Awais has written a book titled “Sarabjit Singh- A case of mistaken identity” published by Indian Publishers Rajkamal Prakashan, that was released in Delhi and Amritsar in January 2013. The book has complete details on Sarabjit’s case as well as many other prisoners in jails of India and Pakistan belonging to either country.

Besides this he has copies of documentations to prove Sarabjit’s real name was Sarabjit and not ‘Manjit Singh’ as filed in the FIR. He had earlier penned another book –Samjohta express”- The train between India and Pakistan. Awais was last here in India, to release the book on Sarabjit Singh, in Delhi and Amritsar in January 2013.
Justice Markandey Katju Chairman of the Press Council of India, former Supreme court Judge and chairman of the ‘Free Sarabjit Committee had commented on the book –“The prosecution evidence in the case of Sarabjit Singh is very weak . His name was not even in the First Information Report”.

The winner of USA’s ‘Global Media Award for Excellence’ Zubeida Mustafa had stated on the book –“Sarabjit has not received a fair trial. That is the irony. The quirks of international relations and a flawed legal system have combined to determine the unhappy fate of this man.”

FIRST PUBLISHED IN RISING KASHMIR RK

URL:http://www.risingkashmir.in/news/sarabjits-lawyer-awais-sheikh-in-dock-46560.aspx

Sarabjit’s autopsy shows clear motive of murder : Doctors / by Rashmi Talwar /Sify.com

Indian Prisoner Sarabjit Singh killed in Pak Jail

Sarabjit autopsy shows clear motive of murder: Doctors

By Rashmi Talwar

AMRITSAR May 3, 2013———— “Sarabjit was attacked by multiple people, with the clear motive of murder” commented Dr Gurmanjit Rai, HoD Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Civil Hospital, Patti District and heading the five member team to conduct post-mortem, formed on the
instructions of the Punjab government.He commented during a press conference here today, after the team conducted the second post mortem, on Sarabjit Singh- the Indian prisoner attacked in a Lahore jail, who succumbed to his grievous injuries yesterday.

“There were six to seven injuries on Sarabjit’s head caused by heavy blunt objects, hit multiple times by more than one person in multiple attacks and it is being presumed by whatever viscera we could collect that the cause of death could be due to head injury. “Yes the object of attack could be bricks!” the doctor admitted.

“The injuries are 6-7 days old and the time of death 00.45 am May 2, 2013 is correct, but the one-page Death certificate sent by the Jinnah Hospital’s medical board in Lahore, Pakistan is quiet insufficient.” And added, “Sarabjit was a healthy, tall person and it was not possible that the attacker could have been only one!”

Answering a query Dr Rai explained that in medical lingo, the organs of the deceased Sarabjit were considered ‘not present’ and were wrongly mentioned as ‘missing’. “We have found clear cut incisions and roots of the organs of the heart, the stomach, gall bladder and both
kidneys.” This is a routine exercise in the first post mortem, that organs from the body are removed for forensic and other examinations. Since the heart and other organs cannot be cut in parts the whole has to be sent for examinations, he explained.

The post mortem in India was done on other organs -spleen, brain, lungs and overall body. There is also suspicion that severe head injury may have been the cause of death and not a cardio pulmonary
arrest as mentioned in the death certificate, the doctor stated.

Other than the brutal head injury causing skull fractures Sarabjit’s body bore wounds of fractured ribs including ribs number 3,4,5 with fractures in three on the left side and two on the right side, while the central bone to which the ribs are attached was also found fractured, as also the ‘mandible’ or the jaw bone.

There were dark bruises on the back of his shoulders, lips, left ear and left side of the head. Some stitched wounds were also found. In answer to whether the treatment to the deceased was proper the doctor said -“We are awaiting treatment records and want to see what medicines and other treatment was imparted to him”.

India would await the report from Jinnah Hospital Lahore, Pakistan to conclusively arrive at the final answers for Sarabjit’s custodial killing. The reports of the second post mortem would be sent to the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA).

URL: http://www.sify.com/news/sarabjit-autopsy-shows-clear-motive-of-murder-doctors-news-national-nfdsxcdgcfc.html
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Pak’s Chishty versus India’s Sarabjit

By Rashmi Talwar

AMRITSAR, May 3, 2013 ———-
When Dr Mohammad Khalil Chishty, was discussed at the lunch meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari during the latter’s one-day India visit to pay obeisance at Ajmer Sharief , in early April on a Sunday, a wheelchair bound Prof Chishty’s case was not only expedited but was also released, soon after.

Zardari had urged the Indian PM to follow up the case of Dr Chishty, an 80-year-old Pakistani virologist, accused in a brawl that killed one person while Dr Chishty was on a visit to meet his ailing mother in India. The doctor had pleaded innocence. Chishty was booked in 1991, almost the same time as India’s Sarabjit in Lahore, Pakistan.

Chishty’s trial took 18 years. In year 2010, he was awarded life-imprisonment for murder. An appeal in the High Court was rejected, while he did get bail, his passport was impounded and he was forced to stay in Ajmer for nearly two decades, the 80-year-old Pakistani scientist was allowed to return to Karachi by the Supreme Court of India in May last year after a more than 20-year-long legal battle. For many years Dr Chishty lived alone in his ancestral home near Ajmer in Hatundi growing frail and suffering heart attacks and finally had to be put on a wheelchair. When Chishty was to be released, Hope elevated about Sarabjit’s release in exchange, on the forthcoming Diwali that year.

“But our PM did not do anything to affect that exchange and gave Pakistan its Chishty without any returns or even assurances of release of Sarabjit” cried Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit who had fought for years to secure her brother’s release from Pak prison and who succumbed to the murderous attack in Pak Jail.

“All hopes were dashed when Chishty’s wheelchair strolled down the Radcliff line separating the two neighbours, to his home country, Pakistan, without any one bringing back Sarabjit” and added –“ The entire Bhikhiwind village was euphoric and hopeful that an exchange would take place . But nothing happened! While Zardari managed to bring back his Pakistani citizen to his country our PM’s voice was too weak to be given any weightage by a minion country like Pakistan.”

“You (government of India) failed to protect your citizen…They (Pakistan) got (Pakistani scientists Dr Chishty freed.” Dalbir accused a mum PM.
http://www.sify.com/news/pak-s-chishty-versus-india-s-sarabjit-news-national-nfdwbHadiig.html?source=sifyhome&slot=c1s2#disqus_thread

Sarabjit was sent to Pak by RAW :Hindustan Times

‘If India leaves, Kashmir will be grabbed in hours’….By Rashmi Talwar/Sify.com

Rahul Pandita:’If India leaves, Kashmir will be grabbed in hours’
By Rashmi Talwar/Sify.com

Over the years, the gurgling waters of River Chenab near Jammu-the city of temples, have become the staple for legends, folklore, separations and yearnings; of sufferings and pain and bloodbaths or as they say crossroads for lovers or symbolic of lovelores. Legendary singer Suraiya Multanikar and later Punjab’s Nightingale Surinder Kaur cooing to her beloved to cross over the banks of River Chenab for a rendezvous must surely have stirred longings in young and not-so-young hearts and is perhaps one of the most hummed Punjabi scores –
“Langh aa jaa pattan Chaana da yaar, langh aa jaa Pattan Channa da..” (Cross the shore of (river) Chenab and meet me ..O my Love! Cross the Chenab and come and meet me).

And yet another poetic great Amrita Pritam mentioned river Chenab in her heart wrenching poetry during the partition bloodbath
‘Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu….’:
“Uth dardmandan diaa dardiiaa uth tak apna Punjaab!
Aj bele laashaan vichiiaan te lahuu dii bharii Chenaab!
Kise ne panja paanian vich dittii zehar rala!
Te unhaan paaniaan dharat nuun dittaa paanii laa!

(O friend of the suffering, Rise and see your Punjab!
Corpses strewn on pastures, Blood runs in the Chenab.
Someone had poisoned our five rivers
And turned the poisoned waters to our land.)

And just like the pain of partition of 1947, the brunt of which was borne by Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, the topography of J&K through which Chenab flows, saw yet another upheaval in 1990, just like Punjab in the 80s.
Yet another, grieving lot, of forced exile, of a kick, of a push, of betrayals galore. The waters of Chenab and another river Jhelum from Kashmir, into which Chenab eventually flows, seemed sullied and poisoned once again, and its moon had blood clots! Yes! RAHUL PANDITA, who bared the saga of exodus of hapless Kashmiri Pandits out on the cold, dark, path to nowhere, spoke to RASHMI TALWAR in Jammu- the land where blood flowed like rivers, after the launch of his book ‘Our Moon has blood clots’ in an exclusive, bare all talk.
During the book launch, many in the audience and amongst the distinguished readers, let their tears flow freely. There was Ravinder Kaul, who choked on his tears several times during the reading of poignant passages in the book. A grey haired lady, Prof. Rita Jitendra’s tears rolled unabashedly, she is a former Secretary of J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. Noted Actor Sanjay Suri who unveiled the book and recalled how he lost his father to terrorists’ bullets. There was also one who questioned a former Deputy Commissioner of Jammu and eminent Punjabi writer Khalid Hussain’s tale of one Kartar Singh who killed his own son to protect the honor of a Muslim girl sheltered in his house. “There were no Kartar Singhs for us, to hold our hands!” mourned the largely Kashmiri Pandit audience, sitting alongside some learned Kashmiri Muslims who braved to face the accusations of betrayal, by their majority community, that lead to the ouster and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their hearths and homes, to empty roads leading nowhere.
Khalid was perhaps the only one who accepted –“Haan! mein Gunehgar hoon!”. (Yes! I am guilty!) on behalf of few of his community, who indeed indulged in games, most foul. The book’s unveiling organized by publishers -Random House, represented by Rukun Kaul, most ironically took place in one of the most unlikeliest of places i.e. the Urdu Department’s seminar hall, of Jammu University.
EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

Why did you write Our Moon has Blood Clots? Did you hope that chronicling the account of the Pandit exodus would help get the trauma off your chest? Do you hope the book will force people to do something to lessen the sufferings of the community?

The main aim for writing this book is to set the record straight on the events of 1990; the book is aimed at arriving at a true picture of the conflict of Kashmir. The story of the Kashmiri Pandits and the kind of brutalization they faced in the Valley has hardly been mentioned as a part of the ‘Kashmir discourse’. So my book is an act of defiance, like one of the reviews of my book stated.

My book is for anyone who is on the side of truth. It is also a tribute to the grit of my community that has suffered religious persecution for centuries and has survived the onslaught bravely.

Why did you wait so long to write this book?

This is the first book I ever wanted to write. And every time I visited Kashmir, that resolve only strengthened. In the past few years, the anger at how our story has been ignored has only risen.

But this book is not a result of that anger. This book is a result of helplessness arising out of that anger.

What were your feelings about visiting home for the first time after you decided to write the book? How much did the lies and truth you heard disturb you, every time you visited Kashmir?

It was traumatic to visit my home, despite the fact that I had been regularly coming to Kashmir. It was only in the year 2007 that I could muster the courage to visit home. The lies and truths are all there and so, it’s been a difficult book and took so much time to write. Also, I was not sure what form this story should take. I was also aware that this story can’t be told again and again; that I’ll get only one chance to tell this. That is why it took time.

Image: A scene from the Mishriwala refugee camp at Jammu in 1991

Picture copyright: Vijay Koul. Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

What has the response from Kashmir been to your book?

The response from Kashmir has been on predictable lines. Since 1990, there has been an orchestrated effort to wash off their hands from the ethnic cleansing of the Pandits in which many among the Muslim majority took part.

The Kashmiris from the majority community have written so many scathing reviews of my book. But not one of them has challenged the core of my book – that in 1989-90, 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits were rendered homeless and hundreds of them killed, raped, and maimed on the streets and inside their homes.

The truth, you see, is like the sun. It blinds you when you look at it. You should have the moral courage to look at it. Those who deny us our truth lack the moral courage

How do you perceive the ground situation in Kashmir today? What are your feelings about the calls for ‘Azadi’, which are still on? Do you think demanding Independence is just a front for joining Pakistan?

If Kashmir was to be declared Independent today, it would not be able to survive its independent status even for 24 hours! It would be gulped in no time by countries surrounding it.

Moreover there is no vision in the slogan of ‘Azadi’ or independence of Kashmir. Did Kashmiris ever have a dialogue as to what Independence for Kashmir would encompass? For instance, would independence also mean the freedom and consolidation of areas occupied by China and Pakistan?

Even in PoK there is no ‘Azadi’ or independence visible. In many ways the calls for independence are a front for joining Pakistan, in my view. The calls are made to break the shackles of being ruled.

Image: A 1998 file picture shows bodies of Kashmiri Hindus killed by unidentified gunmen in Wanhama village of Ganderbal town on the night of January 26. 23 Hindus, including nine women and four children, fell victim to indiscriminate firing of three killers.

Picture copyright: AFP. Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

In your view, what is the best way forward for Kashmir? What if India gave up on Kashmir?

As a Kashmiri and a non political entity, the best future Kashmir can have is only with India, even if India is riddled with so many problems of its own, especially corruption. This is owing to India’s multiculturalism, and secular dynamic makeup.

In India, people are seen to be moving forward and not bound by rituals, religion and faith factors from dawn to dusk. Kashmir would be grabbed in minutes if not hours, were India to give up on Kashmir!

Do you feel that people like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Mallik and other separatists. who have recently been calling Kashmiri Pandits their brothers and talk about their ‘anxious wait’ for the KPs’ return to Kashmir, mean well? Or is all this just a political stunt?

It is a complete political stunt. A handful of Kashmiri Pandits who stayed back in Kashmir despite the turmoil are now being used as ‘showpieces’ by these hardliners who have changed their tunes and are now calling upon them. Where were they when stories trickled out, about betrayal and treachery by their own brethren?

The Kashmiri Muslims had whispered these stories amongst themselves in gatherings, but never have they accepted them. It is merely a political lip service, nothing more.

Image: A scene from the Mishriwala refugee camp at Jammu in 1991

Picture copyright: Vijay Koul. Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

What was your view on Basharat Peer’s book Curfewed Nights?

There have been innumerable narratives by Kashmiri Muslims about their lives during the turmoil, but very few from the Pandits. Basharat wrote his own story and I wrote mine. .

Many Kashmiri Muslims seem to feel perturbed about the incidents you mention in your book. Many are known to come to ‘Kheer Bhawani’ shrine when Pandits visit the place during ‘Jyeshtha Ashtami’, urging them to return. Do you equate them with the property dealers in your book who use these tactics for ulterior motives?

Everyone knows what happened. The bigger betrayal is the denial.

The man hiding in the half-filled rice drum was not killed by militant’s bullets but by the neighbour who gave away his hiding place.

No one from the majority community acknowledges the misdeeds of some among them. Only a handful of youngsters want to know about what really happened to our Kashmiri Pandit community, that too out of curiosity. But I am happy they want to know.

At least there would be some, who would know both sides of the story, about the lies and the truth.

No, I cannot equate them with the property dealers; I still have faith in humanity.

Would you return to Kashmir if you were given an opportunity to make a living there – Despite the mindset still prevalent there about Kashmiri Pandits?

Yes, in any circumstances I would return one day soon to Kashmir. Only thing that holds me back is to reclaim my home and live there when I come back.

Image: A file picture shows Kashmiri Pandit women cleaning rice for a hawan in Mattan Teertha of Kashmir in happier times.

Picture copyright: Autar Mota. Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

What is your take on the process of rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits so that they can return to settle in Kashmir? What more could be done?

As far as rehabilitation of Pandits in Kashmir is concerned, it is a joke they are playing with the community.

Talking of composite culture and Kashmiriyat , they are doing precious little to wean the community back to their roots.

In the camp in Jagti, corruption is rampant. If they are serious, each step should be ‘visionary’ and each step forward be ‘monitored’. Other than that, security concerns of the community should be addressed and redressal should be fast-tracked to restore confidence.

Do you think AFSPA should go?

AFSPA should be banished from Jammu and Kashmir. It has taken a severe toll on the populace and is the prime cause of alienation.

What kind of law gives immunity to perpetuators of crimes of rape, cold blooded murder, fake encounters etc.

It should be removed from Srinagar Municipal Limits immediately. The J&K police are capable of dealing with situations per se. The army or paramilitary should be called only in case of reinforcements, is my gut feeling, though I am not an expert in this matter.

In areas of Kupwara, Uri and other border areas it should be removed in a phased manner as per the demands of the situation. It is time the Army did its real job of protecting the country’s borders from infiltrators and leaves the civilian duties to the police.

Image: A scene from the Mishriwala refugee camp at Jammu in 1991

Picture copyright: Vijay Koul. Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

What is your comfort level with Kashmiri Muslim friends in and out of Kashmir?

It is great, as long as the uncomfortable chapter of Pandits doesn’t crop up.

Has this book been a catharsis, an emotional release for you?

Catharsis No! My emotional wounds would only heal when I go back and live in my ancestral home in Kashmir.

The book has faced severe criticism. Someone has even written an open letter to you and tried to nullify questions about the sequence of events on January 19, 1990. There is also a popular propaganda that Jagmohan engineered these situations, any comments on that?

By criticism they are only insulting the memory of my community. Truth is very hard to swallow. By falsifying the sequence of events cleverly, the fools are only playing games and everyone can see through the transparent veil of falsehood.

If Jagmohan had engineered the situation why would loudspeakers in every mosque in Kashmir, located even in far-off places and in Srinagar, blare anti-infidel anti-India and anti–Pandit slogans all at the same time? Jagmohan was placed as a scapegoat to justify our forced exit.

Journalist Pradeep Magazine, too, has raised some questions about your version of the story…One of them being “Why do Hindus in the valley comprise of only Brahmins?” What would your answer to that be?

He has no understanding of Kashmir and I would not like to waste my energy in answering this question.

Image: A scene from the Mishriwala refugee camp at Jammu in 1991

Picture copyright: Vijay Koul. Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

The book is filled with sadness. Which portions have upset you more?

The hardest fact is that I am unable to read my own book – such is my emotional state. The episodes of losing my dearest brother Ravi, my mother’s illness because of wretched conditions of refugee camps and vagabond years and the hardships faced in exile – These give me sleepless nights.

Who are the writers who have influenced you the most? Any books about exile and persecution that you would recommend?

WG Sebald, a German writer and academic, VS Naipaul Primo Michele Levi- an Italian writer and survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Stories about holocaust borne by Jews have influenced me the most; Primo Michele Levi’s account, as also the Leon Uris series.

Did Vidhu Vinod Chopra offer to make your book into a film?

Yes, he certainly did. In the film industry today, no one is better equipped and qualified to make a film on Kashmir than Vidhu Vinod Chopra. He is a brilliant filmmaker and is from Kashmir and understands every thread of Kashmir. So if a film on Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits has to be made, it will have to be made by him. And, it will be.

Image: Rahul Pandita with director Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Vir Chopra

Picture copyright: Sify.com. Any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

URL Sify.com :http://www.sify.com/news/if-india-leaves-kashmir-will-be-grabbed-in-hours-imagegallery-features-nezqUwdhfbh.html

If India leaves, Kashmir will be grabbed n hours saanjh.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/rah… @abdullah_omar @rahulpandita @bdutt @sardesairajdeep @rahulkanwal

— Rashmi Talwar (@rashmitalwarpg3) April 27, 2013

Shades of KASHMIR’S Red — By Rashmi Talwar Rising Kashmir RK

Our Moon has blood clots :- Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits By Rahul Pandita

Book Review:

“Our Moon has blood clots”- Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits written by Rahul Pandita
Shades of KASHMIR’S Red
— By Rashmi Talwar Rising Kashmir RK

Color red surely must have emerged from Kashmir–no one has ever returned from there without being fascinated by its red apples, reddest of cherries, tulips, red flower bells or strawberries on a reddish ride. When its dusk spreads that rare crimson, soothsayers in Kashmir are known to predict of bloodshed somewhere. Is it then a natural corollary that Kashmir’s waters be ruddied with blood through generations, just as the red appled cheeks of its light skinned people?

If that be the case, how could Kashmir’s legendry tales of a robust composite culture, deny the blemish and clots of red blood, on the fair face of its moon, and call it a flaw-less beauty. The stains come in the form of its belief and make-belief, its truth and half-truths, its faith and its faithless, which comes across boldly through Rahul Pandita’s book ‘Our Moon has Blood Clots–The Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits’.
The book reminds me of a famous couplet of Allama Iqbal:

‘Jis Khaak Ke Zameer Main Ho Aatish-E-Chinar,

Mumkin Nahin Ke Sard Ho Wo Khaak-E-Arjumand’

(The Earth that enshrines in its bosom, the autumn red fire of a Chinar tree,
It is impossible for that celestial Earth to cool down).

Iqbal too has recognized the red in Kashmir. Perhaps the Almighty in painting the beautiful picture of this Glorious vale, sought the brightest contrast of red and white, like the frothy white streams, waterfalls of its rivers and the snow blankets that make it so picturesque.

Rahul Pandita releasing his book “Our moon has Blood Clots” – Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits

If Basharat Peer’s ‘Curfewed Night’ could blaze and awaken the collective consciousness of all with its painful episodes, Rahul’s book sears and tears through the shroud that had till now ‘burqaad’ the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits and becomes a must read to get to the bottom of the Kashmir’s maze of problems and puzzles.

‘Our Moon….’ races through two decades of mayhem and also touches the landmark of Indo-Pak partition of 1947-the partition that tore apart Kashmir and Punjab, yanking and wrecking families, dividing hearts and territories, then ripping apart the fabric of composite culture and bracketing them into Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.

Bringing to the fore the history of the evolution of this land of Rishis, Rahul has unfolded the bands of blood, in episode after episode, relating to the helplessness of Pandits who faced the recent fiery militancy in Kashmir, as also the blazing tribal attacks of 1947 engineered by Pakistan to grab Kashmir. How Pandit families had fled then, during partition from marauders who spared none, not Sikhs and not even Muslims, and in recent militancy when even friends turned foes, is heart wrenchingly narrated in the book.

But militancy of 1989 was different, it targeted a soft community and Rahul’s extensive research has bared the lies, opened the cans of truth, the same way as majority community’s story was told by Basharat in his book.

Rahul’s book could have easily got colored by lenses of ‘my side, my coin’, but many episodes mentioned in the book have already appeared in newspapers. Some merely as four liner news reports and relegated to the corners in what appeared to be a covert immunity to the plight of a minority community when roaring guns and raging gun-battles had caught the headlines.

In the entire narration there is only one instance in the entire book when I laughed unabashedly and that is Kashmiri-Hindi ‘gobar-guss’ goof-up . But then the writer too has called it laughable, despite the creepy circumstances. The writer’s brother Ravi’s killing and their ‘tippi-tippi-tap’-bosom pal brothers remind me of another set of Kashmiri brothers, when one day the elder one suddenly died in a freak accident, I know how excruciating is it to see the shouting pain in the flooded eyes over that irreparable loss, as if the forlorn eyes were speaking thus:

Badley mein koi bhi imtihaan ley le
Kahe toh meri Jaan ley le
Bas ek dafa mujhe bataa de,
Kahan tu hai, kahan hai tu.

(In exchange put me through any test.
Or even take my life
But tell me just once
Where you are, where are you?)

The author, a 37-year-old Associate Editor with Open Magazine, says –“I wanted to write this book since I entered college”. The book’s beauty is also in the inclusion of several rituals and traditions followed by Shaivites, which many of us had heard in passing as per our acquaintances, friends and relations. Specks of poetry by Agha Shahid Ali and the famous poetess Lal Ded have aptly enveloped and developed the striking situations.

Some of the most chilling and moving lines and incidents in this book are about an old Kashmiri who lies dead clutching a pack of chilled milk against his cheek- his last ice pack, to ward away the heat of the plains, unbearable for Kashmiris, who have never seen a fan in any room of their homes; the author as a 14-year old, holding a half tomato in the relief camp food distribution and recalling the times when unripe tomatoes of their vegetable garden became balls to play cricket with; the obsession with the tale of 22 room house by Rahul’s mother who is unable to come to terms with the exile.

Rahul lays bare the stark truth about vicious ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits from their hearth and homes wherein not only militants from across the border but also some from the majority community in Kashmir played a cruel role out of personal grudge or by getting swayed by the hate-wave of the time. But the author has been careful in his writings not to add his own feelings to the inquiry and injury. His book is informative and thankfully devoid of chest-beating narratives.

Having met the new generation of Kashmiri Muslims, born after the exodus of Pandits, I have noticed that they have very little idea about their co-existence with Pandits or living with other communities, except in some pockets where Sikhs in a good number reside in and around the surrounding villages. This is not the only reason to have enlarged the gap between the two communities, Muslims and Pandits, but the fact that even Kashmiri Muslims hardly talk about how the Pandit exodus took place in its right perspective to their younger generation.

“In every home, someone has died; maybe he was a militant or died in an encounter, bomb blast, picked up by security forces, gone, disappeared,” says Rahul -“I remember all the names of people killed, where they were killed – it keeps playing in my head. I sleep with it at night. It’s a part of who I am now. Like the old newspaper which carries the headline of my brother Ravi’s murder.”

This book comes as a strong equalizer to the alternate tales woven around vicious militancy nurtured from across the border and atrocities attributed to security operations, the guile of some in the majority community had been carefully hidden and the real stories of exodus of Kashmiri Pandits had remained shrouded in mysteries and ever changing testimonies that bore little resemblance to reality.

Standing in the snow in Srinagar, lost in thought about those who must have played with snowballs and created snowmen, plucked the icicles hanging from their roofs through the windows, thrown them into a glass and poured sherbet on it or maybe just jutted out their tongue to lick the icicles as they remained suspended, I am about to fall. I grab to hold a nearby Deodar tree to hug it and help me break my fall in Kashmir’s snow. Rahul Pandita’s book is like an icicle that instead of giving you pleasure, pierces through your heart and leaves you bleeding forever and there are no Deodars in the story to hold on to for support.
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FIRST PUBLISHED IN RISING KASHMIR BY RK : http://www.risingkashmir.in/news/shades-of-kashmiracutes-red-43822.aspx

Daughters ‘unsafe’ in womb and outside — By RASHMI TALWAR–Rising Kashmir RK

Gang Rape

GANG RAPE

Like a fight, lost … like a pride, lost … like shame, lost…like a life, lost ..

Thus, started my morning, splashed in dark hues, over the news of death of the 23-year old Delhi Gang Rape victim.

It made me think of hundreds and thousands of women who faced similar rapist brutes and lived or died, deeply scarred, viciously violated in both body and soul. I also think of so many who hid this heinous outrage to suffer silently and picked up the pieces of their shattered souls.

Today ‘black dots’ replaced profile pictures all over twitter as a mark of protest and mourning . Each Indian is shamed, angry and as Tavleen Singh, a noted columnist wrote, “In a real sense, India died a thousand deaths today. In her death, she lives and in her death, India lives with shame.”

Anupam Kher actor, taunted and redefined the “Incredible India” slogan with a scathing take on female foeticide and rape – “Incredible India: A Nation where Daughters are neither safe inside Womb nor Outside.” Calling upon the Nation for a Revolution, to boycott the forthcoming Republic Day Celebrations in protest. He wrote “Let the PM & the President address vacant spaces & buildings. They don’t want our presence now , let us be absent when it matters most. Let them get a taste of our disgust.”

Each took on different expression following this heinous tragedy. Vivek Mehra, a resident of Amritsar shared his feelings –“ Jitna bhi rokoon khud ko; aaj har pal bekhud;, palkein nam, nam; ankhein sharm, sharm..”(No matter, how much I try to stop myself today; each moment involuntarily; my lashes turn moist, my eyes turn shamed).

While Chief Minister of Jammu& Kashmir wrote on twitter ‘Rest in Peace brave one..’ People in Jammu& Kashmir are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the recent Jammu gang rape case.

Actor Abhishek Bachchan, a father whose daughter just celebrated her first birthday, displayed his abhorrence for the declining values of the country and wrote –“This is not the country I grew up in as a child, this is not the country, I want my daughter to know whilst she grows up! Ayesha Takia Azmi, host for TV reality show ‘Surshetr’ as a new parent endorsed “We parents have to take much more responsibility, in bringing up our children.”

Sagarika Ghose a columnist and TV anchor quoted Shakespeare –“Thou art more deep damn’d than Lucifer, there is not yet so ugly a fiend of Hell, thou that didst kill this child.”

Barkha Dutt, TV journalist reporting on situation in the capital said –“5000 security personnel deployed in & around India Gate to keep protesters away. Will GOI ever deploy as many to keep women safe?” To which, Shujaat Bukhari Editor of Rising Kashmir, a noted daily, retorted ‘Delhi becomes Kashmir’.

But there were others who rose to the situation and looked for solutions especially women. Actress Gul Panag, perturbed over mere hollow words stated “Enough said. Time, for action. We’re compiling a database of people, with their numbers/cities to help any lady in need.”

Her call aroused a lot of men, to post their numbers on social networking sites promising help to woman in distress in their areas. I call such a solution oriented action, a move forward, a gutsy route.

Following the Delhi case I had posted-“U board a PUBLIC transport! Take that Pepper Spray in one hand till you reach your destination.” Several responded – Davinder Paul Singh shot back “Time has come to take a little law ( & a pepper spray ) in hand”.

Keith Nathan Albrecht, from NY, who was a Taxi driver for 10 years shared –“ I carry a sharp tongue and an attitude, to avoid the victim syndrome.” Aditi Tandon, a senior journalist in Delhi wrote back –“Pepper spray? Are you joking or something? There are animals on the loose with iron rods in their hands. What will your spray do?” I answered, “Pepper spray is a deterrent, let us not advocate gun licensing after the Newtown massacre in US.” Keith seconded me with her take “It is hard for someone , if you immobilize them with a pepper spray in the eyes -that has a wide dispersal application.” And added –“It’s a deterrent not an execution!”

While Kunal Kapoor asked –“People across the country have risen, do our politicians have the will to rise, or are they still hoping, ‘this too shall pass..’”.
As an Indian, I demand- “If Political parties are so sincere, let them first put all those leaders on trial, who face rape charges. Let the accused re-enter the party only after being acquitted. Let us see which party takes a lead” …Calling ! –BJP, Congress, SAD, SP, BSP & others!

FIRST PUBLISHED IN RISING KASHMIR IN DECEMBER 31, 2012

Hafiz roams free on Twitter, Spews venom against USA, India…By Rashmi Talwar

Hafiz roams free on Twitter
Spews venom against USA, India

Hafiz roams free on Twitter, Spews venom against USA, India
..By Rashmi Talwar

Hafiz Muhammed Saeed, the 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind, sharing dias with JKLF chief Yasin Malik recently in Pakistan has landed the latter to face some hard questions from the Indian authorities in India, including his passport being confiscated, clamped and stalled for renewal. The term for clamp down on Yasin’s foreign visits may be in place for nearly a year or two according to highly placed Defence ministry sources. Sharing the dais with Yasin on the cause of Afzal Guru’s hanging -(a convict in the Indian Parliament attack-) this, for Hafiz, is not the only passtime that he undertakes these days.

The notorious terror mastermind, remains a free man with a security cover and all his fundamental rights intact despite huge terror related evidence against him. So free, in fact that he has jumped on the ‘Twitter’ band-wagon to sprinkle his poisonous views liberally.For many Kashmiris, Yasin may have looked scowling, maybe even unwilling, to sit beside Hafiz during his protest in Pakistan as seen in the pictures but he would have to explain long and hard about his alleged association with the terror mastermind, who is not only a key figure of the Mumbai attacks but also believed to be strongly linked with the terrorist organization LeT -Lashkar-e-Toiba under the garb of JuD – Jama’t ud Da’wah.

Hafiz is a free man in Pakistan. And why wouldn’t he be, he has been let off for by the apex court of Pakistan citing lack of sufficient evidence about his role in Mumbai attacks. To placate its own publics, Pakistan has thus emboldened an international criminal to freely roam the country, address public rallies as also turned a blind eye, as Hafiz chides, scoffs and heaps anti-US propaganda openly on the super power and Pakistan’s biggest benefactor and ally of many years.

Just so, Pakistan apparently postures to strive for good relations with India, while it gives a free rein to Hafiz, whose conviction may not only restore much of the trust deficit between the two countries, but help to gloss over many past wrongs committed by the errant neighbour. Few know this that Hafiz’s bunch of wiz-kids operates his account on social networking site ‘Twitter ‘on his behalf. This account was started in early November, last year.

~ ~ ~
Mushaal Hussein Mullik, a Pakistani national and wife of Yasin Mullik, had recently posted many pictures of Yasin and Hafiz together during the Guru’s hanging protest in Pakistan, on her Facebook wall, which has been deleted a few days back. With a tense atmosphere prevailing in Kashmir post Guru’s hanging, the JKLF which had started the armed revolt in 1989 in Kashmir a few years after Maqbool Butt’s hanging may again get a shot in the arm with Afzal’s hanging wherein Yasin may appear like a hero, if not tackled sensibly on his return to India.

Experts from India and Pakistan both feel that there is little possibility of any armed revolt this time around with Pakistan having forsaken the Kashmir issue, but who is to stop the readily available stones and the stone-pelters to flare up Kashmir once again and push into the darkness for decades ahead.
~ ~ ~

Interestingly, to the US’s announcement of a 10 million dollar bounty on Hafiz for his alleged role in 26/11, the terror mastermind retorted that he was living his life in the open and America could contact him whenever they want, as they know where he was and was ready to face any American court to answer charges. “I am not hiding in a cave!”. He tweeted through JuD – “I have written to the UNSC (United States Security Council) saying that these allegations have been charged against me. I am ready to answer any questions”

Surprisingly, on November 3, last the terror mastermind condemned Mumbai attack in a post –“26/11, I condemn this attack and innocent lives that have been lost. No matter which country they are from”.

While India keeps hammering Pakistan about his arrest and trial, given India’s bundles of dossiers pointing a direct finger at Hafiz, he freely flies on cyber space although his Facebook link has been blocked or deleted recently.

Did we hear Union Communication Minister Kapil Sibal once say something in early December last year about filtering internet content on social networking sites? I wonder if Sibal ever thought beyond the morphed pictures of the PM-Dr Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. He probably conjured ‘objectionable religious content’ for an added effect to escape allegations of being a watchman for the Congress high command. Has he ever raised the issue of ban on cyber activities of terrorist organizations and their members inimical to India, that vociferously?

Hafiz’s twitter account started in November, 2012 last year. It has in a matter of about 5 months, collected 5,342 followers with nearly 500 new followers in just a few days when he posted his first tweets. This means an addition of nearly 50 to 60 followers every day, given the fact that few ‘tweeties’ are aware about his presence on twitter, the compounding effect of having a monumental following would be far greater. Many of them who follow his account are from the media though, following on just a curiosity wave cannot be ruled out.

Hafiz is following only 30 persons out of which one is popular journalist Hamid Mir, Syed Talat Hussain Senior Anchor at Express News affiliated with Sach TV, Former Pakistan Ambassador to the US 2008-2011- Hussain Haqqani’s verified account, Kamran Khan –group director of Geo News, Shehbaz Sharif Chief Minister, Punjab, Pakistan, Declan Walsh of the New York Times Pakistan Bureau Chief. Murtaza Solangi journalist heading Radio Pakistan, Ijaz Ul Haq- a Pakistani Politician and son of Former President of Pakistan General Zia Ul Haq. While among his followers are not many prominent persons.On his wall are also posted pictures of him and Yasin Mallik that caused a stir in India.

Hafiz’s s organization Jama’t ud Da’wah claims to be a Islamic Dawah and a philanthropic organization and claims –“Hafiz ‘Sahab’s account is managed by his media team and RT’s are not endorsements”.

In one of his posts Hafiz Saeed retweeted a October 30 post of JuD offering aid to Hurricane Sandy affected Americans. His organization JuD offered to send volunteers, medicine and food to those on the East Coast who were struggling to cope in the aftermath of the storm. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad turned down the offer and officially stated: “We respect the Islamic tradition of help to the needy but we can’t take Hafiz Saeed’s offer seriously.” Hafiz on his twitter had posted –“If US allows, JuD will send its doctors, relief and rescue experts, food and medicine on humanitarian grounds. We have differences with US Gov policies, but the American people are only human; we are all human. It’s not their fault”.

A twitteratti viewed this as a blatant taunt to the superpower on whose crumbs Pakistan has been existing and HuD -not even a pin-prick of the US might, notwithstanding its banned organization status.

Just days after offering help to Sandy victims in US, the terror ideologue posted- “The American New World Order will come to an end by the will of ALLAH. This is what they fear, hence their last ditch efforts to save it. On one hand we have the New World Order and on the other we have the Muhammadi World Order – In reality, the war is between these two. It is our responsibility to make sure that the Muslim world stands up properly End differences between each other”

Just 10 days later, he reiterated his venom against India- “India and Israel have hatched conspiracies to spread violence in Pakistan on the basis of religious beliefs”. Regarding the silence of UN following attacks on Palestine he predicts in a post –“Sacrifices by Muslims will result in America’s collapse. America is trying to save itself from being divided into smaller parts, but by the will of ALLAH (SWT) this will not happen. America & its allied forces are now trying to divide Muslims after facing tremendous defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan.” “Hostile Jews, Crusaders and Hindus are trying to divide Muslims and succeed in retaining their capitalist system. They believe that this is the same thing that caused Muslim’s defeat previously, and today, the same thing can weaken the Muslims.”

On December 12, the terror outfit chief had increased his rhetoric against India and also underscored the connivance of Pakistan government in making Kashmir a non issue –“India wants to drive the issues of Kashmir, Samjhota (blast in the train between India- Pakistan) Siachen (Glacier) to oblivion with complete support of our (Pak) government. ”People of Pakistan will never accept these conspiracies tantamount of treachery against our Muslim brothers in Kashmir”.

“Unity is needed to defend Pakistan. India is not a friend, it is worst enemy. We can never allow Kashmir on the back burner and bring trade ahead endorsing a ‘No’ to the MFN status to India. We want to tell India, if few people consider you friend in the (Pak) Govt – whole Pakistan knows you are an enemy. Mr.Rehman Malik if you have presented proofs of Indian involvement in Baluchistan then why MFN??”

Significantly, on December 18, 2012, Hafiz was at Wagah Indo Pak Border just days before beheading of India soldier in Jammu sector that caused a major standoff between the two countries. He had then posted “Pray to ALLAH to accept the hard work of everyone here at Wagah.” On Hafiz’s account are other posts of – “The Era of Freedom has begun, US is returning – India should learn lesson; will not be able to sustain Kashmir.” Sometimes the tone of his posts is self contradictory sample this- “Kashmir does not mean hatred against Indian people – It’s meant to expose the atrocities and violations by Govt. Of India”

In his posts Hafiz writes “We believe Indian govt to be contributing in US regional game. They want to make Kashmir a lost cause, which is not possible at all.” Perhaps, this may have pushed Hafiz to sit with Yasin Mallik who held a protest in Pakistan over the hanging of Afzal Guru.

Interestingly in one post it is written “We serve and respect humanity, we took pride in being able to serve Hindu community at many occasions during natural calamities faced.” And in another –“No Hindu, No Christian should feel threatened in Pakistan. We should enlighten them with message of Islam through character and service.”

Indian Minister for Home Sushil Kumar Shinde seems to be on a hot and cold platter with Hafiz. When Shinde spoke about presence of Hafiz on LOC before the beheading of the Indian soldier, Hafiz wrote on Jan 10- “HuD strongly rejected Shinde’s allegations as spineless and fact less of Hafiz’s involvement in LOC raid” – The very next day a number of posts were shot by Hafiz’s account – “I will accept every Indian allegation if they prove my alleged visit at the LoC”. And more “It is nothing but blatant lies. India is trying to shift focus from its internal problems of Rape, Communal Riots and exploiting the sentiments against Pakistan.” At the time in India, the ‘Damini rape case’ had gathered steam.

Taking the Pak Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani line for a UN probe into the soldier beheading case, Hafiz literally roared on Twitter to call for a UN probe on the LOC violations as also injustice, rapes, mass-graves and abductions in ‘Occupied Kashmir’ – he went on so far to post –“Shinde has blatantly lied against me, if unable to prove evidence then world has the right to question their (India’s) propaganda & lies on 26\11”. His Jan 20, post reads –“Pakistan should raise this (Shinde’s confession of BJP and RSS Terrorist Camps) in UNSC and OIC”.

Hafiz’s war rhetoric with India has also emerged giving a warped view of the situation. On Feb 17 a post stated –“Pakistan will soon become the center of trade of whole world; US, India never want this to happen. Their wishes will turn into dust. India is planning a war on Pakistan in 2013-2014; Make no mistake – India wants to fight for its survival and disintegration due to Kashmir. These are not the days of 1971 – India knows this very well. They are in a rush to engage and intimidate Pakistan, fearing backlash from Afghanistan.”

Simultaneously, Mushaal Hussein Mullik, a Pakistani national and wife of Yasin Mullik, had recently posted many pictures of Yasin and Hafiz together during the Guru’s hanging protest in Pakistan, on her Facebook wall, which has been deleted a few days back. With a tense atmosphere prevailing in Kashmir post Guru’s hanging, the JKLF which had started the armed revolt in 1989 in Kashmir a few years after Maqbool Butt’s hanging may again get a shot in the arm with Afzal’s hanging wherein Yasin may appear like a hero, if not tackled sensibly on his return to India.

Experts from India and Pakistan both feel that there is little possibility of any armed revolt this time around with Pakistan having forsaken the Kashmir issue, but who is to stop the readily available stones and the stone-pelters to flare up Kashmir once again and push into the darkness for decades ahead.

FIRST PUBLISHED IN http://saanjh.wordpress.com

India has no constant policy on Kashmir: Gen (retd) VK Singh… By Rashmi Talwar /Sify

Retd COAS Gen VK Singh

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Gen VK Singh

India has no constant policy on Kashmir: Gen (retd) VK Singh
By Rashmi Talwar

Gen (retd) VK Singh former COAS (Chief of the Army Staff), post his retirement has chosen to come into public life . The Army Chief, had once waded through thick layers of controversies. He first came into the limelight with the confusion of his date-of-birth, then bugging allegations of defense ministry’s office, pushing the panic button on inadequate ammunition in Indian army’s arsenal and others. Now out of power, out of office, secrets are slipping from him, baggages of silence have been shed and many a behind- the- scene, brasstacks are being readily exposed.

The former army chief is trying to wean the public towards the newly formed-Jantantar Morcha (JM) of which Anna Hazare is the patron, and the former COAS Gen Singh, the chairperson. How much militaristic experience in planning, precision, implementation he brings into this civil movement through the fledgling organization that he calls apolitical, is yet to be seen.

His take on National and International issues are thus gathered by RASHMI TALWAR in an exclusive interview with the former COAS, during his Amritsar visit, to announce the flagging-off of the JM from Amritsar’s historic Jallianwala bagh on March 31.

Q. Why have you joined hands with Anna Hazare?

Ans: Because I am equally perturbed about where our country is heading. I too can contribute much to arrest the nation’s current downslide, due to corruption.

Q. Having remained a COAS what is your take on India and Pakistan?

Ans: I am for peace between India and Pakistan. I favor good neighborly relations with trade, business, commerce and other soft channels, but in no way am I in favor of Kashmir being a condition for any forward movement towards peace. Next to its obsession with Kashmir since 1947, Siachen has been the biggest bone that is stuck in Pakistan’s throat since it lost the glacier to the Indian Army in 1984.

Q. Recently former Pakistan President Gen Parvez Musharaff talked about solving the Kashmir issue by revival of the 4-point programme, what do you make of that ?

Ans: In recent times, demilitarization of Siachen is being touted as ‘the’ ultimate solution to the Kashmir problem. Do you know who all were in the 11-member Indian committee formed for Track-II diplomacy? Air Chief Marshal Shashi Tyagi , ‘Fauji’ Journalist Col Ajai Shukla. They were calling for demilitarization of Siachen Glacier in the Saltoro range. (Agitatedly), these are those people who have not visited nor have any notion of the reality of Siachen and the Indian position there. Pakistanis are on the west side of the Saltoro Range. Pakistan has a zero presence in Siachen and is fooling its people. All upper regions are under India’s control and Indian troops are well-entrenched. I wonder, if demilitarization has any scope of spreading this troop withdrawal by Pakistan, from Baltistan as also areas further in the west? Till now, there has been no move to arrive at an agreement by Pakistan to draw a ground demarcation i.e. AGPL (Actual Ground Position Line) to identify which side is where and here we are talking of demilitarization and troop withdrawal. I see no logic, it is ridiculous. In Siachen, Indian army is at an advantageous position sitting on strategic heights, why should we vacate it, for Pakistan to engineer another Kargil?

Q. It is being speculated that USA is bringing India and Pakistan closer to counter the growing power of China?

Ans: If USA is thinking that by bringing India-Pakistan together it can counter China’s growing power then US is ‘naive’. However this idea is too far-fetched. Does America not know that a country like Pakistan can do to it. How it is a complete supply chain for terrorism.

Q. And the Kashmir issue?

Ans: So far, Kashmir has served as a domestic gain for Pakistan. Kashmir is a like pinprick, albeit a large pinprick, that Pakistan uses on India when it wants or unwants something. Kashmir is merely being used by Pakistan. See how Pakistan has spent billions on its anti-India stance and jeopardized its economy. Club that with Pak’s multiple problems of Baluchistan, Quetta, Karachi, Lahore, judiciary, civil society; each of them is flaring. Pakistan army has a vested interest in keeping the turmoil along the border with India alive.

Q. What about India’s handling of Kashmir?
Ans: India’s drawback is that it has never had a constant policy on Kashmir. Its policies go up and down, governed more by political motives than by national interests.

Bad governance is the single major reason for the state of affairs in Kashmir today. Congress in coalition with present NC in J&K was PDP’s partner earlier. Look at the level of opportunism. The kind of money pumped into Kashmir, is unimaginable. As per the present regime’s record, see how the Shopian Rape case was handled, how stone pelters were handled? They had a successful Panchayat election, but do not want to empower them. How was the Amarnath issue handled? Corruption is so rampant and money hardly reaches the needy. I have been a commander, led a Battalion, a Brigade and a Division in Kashmir and I know the ground realities there.

Q. What about AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) that gives unlimited powers to army in Kashmir without answerability or trial?

Ans: AFSPA has been deliberately ‘demonized’ to deflect attention from main issue of misgovernance by vested interests. Kashmir is a highly emotional place. In one instance a rumor in Pattan had all Shias, chest-beating without a single one of them knowing the reason for it. There are hundreds of such instances that could be cited similarly in Kashmir. It is easy to manipulate a highly biased public. More hurt is caused by distrust and suspicion. Once such rumors spread, no one is willing to listen and no one can set the record right. It’s about hyperbole and all hell breaks loose, much like a chinese whisper or a spreading wild fire. In J&K, Pakistan has unleashed a proxy war and the situation has to be tackled by the army to safeguard interests of the nation.

Q What about Afzal Guru’s hanging?

Ans: I do not wish to go into legalities of Guru’s case. But concerning the political manipulation, there is no end to it. There can’t be appeasement of any sect or have double standards.

Q As former army chief do you think Op Bluestar was the right decision?

Ans: Operation Blue Star, in 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple, was a ‘hastily taken political decision. The then COAS Gen AS Vaidya was unwilling to carry it out.

It is the manner in which it was presented that made all the difference. Gen Vaidya was not in favour of it .Gen Vaidya was against the whole plan of action including the timing of it (Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev). I was a major at the time and I know Gen Vaidya had said, “No” to army action against people belonging to the nation, but he had to follow orders.

Q Did Gen Vaidya follow orders reluctantly?

Ans: (Shrugs his shoulders!) Orders are orders! (Operation Blue Star was carried out at Golden Temple to flush out militants led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, holed up there, who had fortified the holy precincts. Bhindranwale was also killed during the operation by the army.)

Q. What is the plan of Anna Hazare’s Jantantar Morcha for the public?

Ans : Jantantar Morcha is an apolitical organization aimed to reach the grass roots level in villages and cities on a 25-point charter prepared by Anna Hazare .

Q. How can you clean up the filth in the well of politics if by not jumping into it? Will you support any party or individual in the political fray? What are the chances of Arvind Kejriwala’s ‘Aam Adami’(AA) party? Any hierarchy created for your JM?

Ans: We shall inform, create awareness and motivate the masses to rise in a peaceful manner to change the system. We need not be in politics to clean it up, because it is difficult to change the set of rules laid in politics for the past six decades. But yes, we will support clean individual candidates in the forthcoming elections. As far as Kejriwala’s political party is concerned, it would have a very limited success. Some of the party workers of AA met us here and are willing to support our organization to make village ‘leaders’. As of now there is no hierarchy or line of command created in the organization. We plan to take our yatra in the form of a public rally from the strongest symbol of Freedom Movement- the Jallianwala Bagh, covering most of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi . The last leg of this All India rally would be from the Punjab areas to Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pardesh besides others.

Q3. Do you think you can replicate or expect a mass movement yet again, as was seen in Jantar Mantar supporting Anna Hazare ?

Ans: People are fed up, now is the chance for the people to make their voices heard, presence felt and act as a pressure group to change the rules that have brought ruination. This mass presence, this frustration and anger with the system was recently seen in the ‘Damani Gang rape case’.

Q4. Damini’s case aroused the public anger as they identified strongly with the security of their children? How does JM plan to trigger such a movement? Is there a plan to charge the masses? It could cause a law and order problem, what then?

Ans: The boiling process has already started and we are targeting the first time voter numbering 9 crore and the 2nd time voter numbering 19 crore. Youth is where JM draws its strength. Yes, we do have a plan but I am not about to share it. It will be visible at the right hour. Our aim is to carry forward this agenda peacefully with a mass movement and we have full faith in Anna ji who will flag the Morcha from Jallianwala bagh on March 31. JM wants the 25- point charter, to be progressed in this one year. Its moot points are ‘Right to Reject’, formation of ‘Gram sabhas’ as watchdog units at village level since panchayats too have become political, Criminals be disallowed to contest any election, besides others.

Post Script: Army Chief Gen Singh who at one time was refuting allegations of phone tapping of defense ministry during his ongoing ‘date-of-birth’ related controversy alleged that his phone was tapped .

FIRST PUBLISHED IN SIFY.COM at : http://www.sify.com/news/interview-vk-singh-on-anna-movement-kashmir-s-problems-and-afspa-news-national-ndfnvcajdei.html