Kashmir's cry for 'freedom'

It is yesterday once more in Kashmir. From the time I have flown into the valley on Monday, Srinagar has resembled a ghost town, bringing back memories of a visit two years ago. The only signs of life are tetchy security forces manning checkpoints or idly fiddling with their mobile phones, the odd chemist or a cigarette shop that is open, an occasional car with a flashing red beacon or an ambulance hurtling down its empty roads, a "ration truck" bringing in supplies to its besieged residents. The interminable day and night curfews have drained all life out of Srinagar. People have retreated into their homes leaving back graffiti on the walls screaming Go Back India! In the restive old city, surly young men sit outside shuttered homes and shops and glare at the troops peering out of sandbagged bunkers and manning the razor wire checkpoints. People wake up at the crack of dawn to store up on supplies when the grocers open for a few minutes. At night, an eerie silence descends over the city as the moon plays hide and seek with the clouds.
It is another summer of unrest in what is possibly the most scenic valley in the world. Two months of cyclical violence between stone pelting protesters and heavily armed security forces have left more than 50 dead - mostly teenagers. Things are looking grimmer than ever before. It's a summer that could turn out to be another defining point in the valley's tortured history. A whole generation of children of the conflict - Kashmiri writer Basharat Peer evocatively calls it their "war of adolescence" - who grew up in the days of militancy and violence in the early 1990s are driving the protests today. (Seven out of 10 Kashmiris are below 25.)
Growing up in the shadow of the gun and what they say is "perpetual humiliation" by the security forces, they are angry, alienated and distrustful of the state. As prominent opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti tells me when I visit her at her heavily secured home overlooking the stunning Dal lake: "If these young men are not given something to look forward to, God help Kashmir." The valley, most residents say, is in the early stages of an intifada.
Mainstream politicians admit that they have lost confidence of the people. "We can only wait and watch how the situation develops," says Ms Mufti. The hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani appears to be only leader with a modicum of legitimacy, however precarious. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "give peace a chance " appeal to Kashmiris in a televised speech on Tuesday appears to have left them cold. When politics and the state withers away, it creates a dangerous vacuum. One senses an early beginning of this in Kashmir today.
In the labyrinthine heart of the old city of cone-roofed cheek by jowl brick homes and shops, old "heritage" houses in elegant decrepitude, overflowing sewers and potholed roads, India has receded further from the collective consciousness of its residents. In their homes, mothers are stocking memories of their dead children in trunks, suitcases, cupboards and school bags. Most have died in the firing by security forces.
One mother emptied a cupboard and a suitcase full of of her 14 yr-old boy's belongings for me. Wamiq Farooq had gone to play in the neighbourhood when a tear gas shell fired by the troops exploded on his head. Doctors tried to revive him for an hour at the hospital before declaring him dead. Now, sitting on a brown rug in a modest family home, his mother brings out Wamiq's red tie, red belt, white cap, fraying blue uniform, half a dozen school trophies, report cards, school certificates and then his pithy death certificate. "He is sure to be a face in the crowd," writes his school principal on one certificate praising Wamiq, the Tom and Jerry cartoons and science-loving teenaged son of a street vendor father. Then she slowly puts back Wamiq - his life and death - back into the suitcase and the cupboard and tells me, her eyes welling up: "I never understood why Kashmiri people demand freedom. After Wamiq's death, I do. I want freedom too. So that my children can return home unharmed and in peace."

Pregnant women told not to fast during holy Ramadan

Pregnant women who fast during Ramadan could be putting the health of their unborn baby at risk, according to a new study.
Fasting during the month is one of the five pillars of Islam, although pregnant women are exempt if it poses a risk to their health. However, some Muslim women still choose to fast, despite the health implications. Aanisa Butt, 32, fasted during both of her pregnancies.
''I wouldn't fast everyday, I would do one day of fasting followed by a day of rest. Doing alternate days helped me keep my energy levels up,'' she said.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and a time when Muslims across the world fast from dawn until sunset. ''When Ramadan falls in the summer, it can be really difficult to stay without food and water the whole day and if you're pregnant it is even more hard,'' said Aanisa.
''But I wasn't worried about my health or my baby's. I think Allah gives you strength and he protects your unborn child.'' Although Aanisa gave birth to two healthy sons, if women fast for long hours during their pregnancy it can result in problems for their unborn child.
A study by scientists in the United States, based on census data from the US, Iraq and Uganda, found that pregnant women who fast are likely to have smaller babies who are more prone to learning disabilities in adulthood. The researchers from Columbia University found that this trend was most marked if mothers-to-be fasted early on in their pregnancy and during the summer when longer days meant they went more hours without food. Religious leaders say pregnant women shouldn't attempt to fast as it puts the health of their unborn baby at risk.

Exempt :Imam Madani Abdur Rahman, from London, says Islam does give pregnant women options. Nurse Nuala Close says pregnant women should seek advice during Ramadan
''We have to assess the situation, if the doctor says fasting could cause problems for the mother or her baby, then women should not fast. Health must always come first," he added.
Pregnant women who request an exemption from fasting are expected to make up the days they have missed after the baby is born. Nuala Close is a nurse at Barts and London Hospital. She says many women do not make use of this provision. ''If women are exempt from fasting they have to make it up at another time, like once they've finished breastfeeding or in the lighter hours.

Kashmir crisis threatens pregnant women

Lack of regular check-ups cause complicated births

Srinagar: The ongoing crisis in the Kashmir Valley and the resultant curfews and restrictions has drastically slashed both the patient inflow and ante-natal checkup of expecting women, thereby taking toll on the health of the mother as well as the newborn.
Experts fear that lack of regular consultation during pregnancy and the increasing number of "obstruct" cases, is resulting in high mother-baby mortaility rate across the Valley. “Due to the lack of ante-natal checkup, we have witnessed some cases that are very hard to manage and treat in these situations,” a doctor at Srinagar's Lal Ded Hospital said. She said there has also been an increase in the referral cases to the tertiary-care hospital and this, according to her, has added challenges to the hospital administration. “We deal with such patients with utmost care. Despite a handful of staff available, we try to provide the best treatment possible to the patients,” she said. However, officials at LD declined to show the exact figures of mother-baby deaths, citing some technical problems as reasons. Most expecting women have their first and longest ante-natal checkup between weeks 8-12 of pregnancy. The doctors suggest that earlier the checkup, better for the patient; and there will also be check on the increasing mortality rate. Meanwhile, patients admitted that due to lack of regular examination during the period of pregnancy, they have to face lots of healthb problems. “It has been difficult for patients to visit consultants during the present Kashmir unrest. This has affected the maternity care badly. I had to spend more days at the hospital because of some complications,” said a patient Mehmooda from central Kashmir’s Budgam district.
Mehmooda’s newborn baby has been put on the ventilator and it is only her husband attending to the child at ward 218 of the hospital. Her other family members or relatives could not reach the hospital owing to the disturbed conditions, curfews and restrictions. Meanwhile, noted gynecologist and Principal Government Medical CollegeSrinagar Dr Shahida Mir told Rising Kashmir that the lack of ante-natal checkup and regular examination poses a severe health hazard which can take toll on the lives of the patients. “During ante-natal examination, complicacies get timely treatment which is good for both mother as well as the baby. But the ongoing crisis has put hurdles to this important checkup and is affecting their health,” she said. “We have been receiving several complicated cases and the number is ever rising. The prolonged curfews and restrictions across the Valley have crippled the OPD. But we have to remain firm to treat emergency cases,” Dr Mir said. “We have been receiving several complicated cases and the number is ever increasing. Prolonged curfews and restrictions across Valley have crippled the OPD. But we have to remain firm to treat emergency cases,” she said. Mir said that the morbidity rate among the patients is on increase and patients referred from different areas of the valley encounter many problems which later take toll on their health. "During the ongoing disturbances morbidity rate has increased and patients complain of different problems,” she added.

Why Kashmir is again on a knife-edge

Whether they are being listened to or not, the people of Kashmir have been making a point every day for the past two months - they are tired of the status quo.

Twenty years after massive peaceful protests on the streets of the Kashmir Valley were superseded by violence, the people have hit the streets again - and not without good reason. About 50 people, mostly students, have been killed in sporadic police shootings since the death on 11 June of a Srinagar teenager, Tufail Ahmed Mattoo, who was killed by a tear gas shell as he returned home from class.Mattoo, who was just a few days shy of his 18th birthday, died after security forces opened fire on an anti-India demonstration, but locals say he was not involved in the protest.He was one of many teenagers who have fallen victim to Indian policemen and paramilitaries in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley in the last two months.

There has been a depressing cycle of protests, death, violence at funerals and more deaths. And across Indian-administered Kashmir ordinary people - children, women and men - have been taking on police personnel.
What are their grievances?
After elections to the state assembly at the end of 2008, where Indian Kashmir saw a turnout of 60%, a popular government headed by Omar Abdullah - grandson of modern Kashmir founder Sheikh Abdullah - took power.
Kashmiris, Delhi felt, were now part and parcel of Indian democracy.
The elections came soon after protests over the planned transfer of some land near the Amarnath shrine, one of the holiest shrines of the Hindu religion.
The state government proposed the transfer of forest land to organisers of pilgrimages to the site, triggering controversy and anger.The authorities dropped the plan following Muslim protests, and then found itself subjected to Hindu demonstrations protesting that decision. At least five people were killed in the protests.The following year - in May 2009 - the Valley was rocked by allegations that two women had been raped and killed by the security forces.

And this year has been characterised by a seemingly never-ending series of street protests.
The approaching month of Ramadan may be the only thing that will dampen violence that has been raging since June.
"What we are seeing is a massive eruption of discontent that can turn into an insurgency," Wajahat Habibullah, a former chief secretary of Indian-administered KashmirIt shows that the leaders of Kashmir have lost contact with the people."
Sarwar Kashani, a young Kashmiri journalist based in Delhi, believes the sentiments which fuelled the Valley boycott of Indian elections in 1989 have not changed. "The rejection of the status quo remains," he says. For 20 years, the Indian state battled hard to deal with the militants. Now they have to deal with the people again. This time they are confronted with a largely leaderless mob - very different from fighting an insurgency.Over the last 20 years, many Indian prime ministers and leaders have promised the people of Kashmir different forms of autonomy. In 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up five different committees to address their problems. But all these have come to nothing.The dialogue with Kashmiri leaders is off and the peace process with Pakistan is in limbo.

The government of India is lucky that the international focus on Kashmir is virtually non-existent. Some years ago, this would have been a big issue. British Prime Minister David Cameron did not use the K word (Kashmir) during his recent trip to India, but instead chose to talk about Pakistan.In the 1990s, Western countries would often refer to the disputed nature of the entire territory of Jammu and Kashmir. But, in the post-9/11 world, militancy has lost its sheen. The one-time champion of the Kashmiri cause, Pakistan, whose intelligence agencies propped up militant groups in the 1990s, has also lost much of its international credibility. In short, much of the world is not interested in Kashmir or the Kashmiris. The expansion of the Indian economy is another reason why the world does not want to anger Delhi. Indian officialdom can be quick to take offence and Western officials now seem to want to accommodate Delhi on Kashmir. In the end, it is not international attention (or the lack of it) that should govern Delhi's Kashmir policy. The world's largest democracy, and its civil society, must understand that stones cannot be met indefinitely by more bullets.

Anti-Indian sentiment is growing stronger among young Kashmiris

The new face of Kashmiri women

S.m. Hali

The freedom movement in Indian Held Kashmir has received fresh impetus with its women taking up the cause of freedom. The situation in Kashmir has greatly deteriorated since the death of a 17-year-old student, who succumbed to his injuries after being hit by a teargas shell. Protest rallies have been baton charged, teargassed and brutally fired upon, with more than 50 lives being lost. However, just as the freedom struggle seemed to be stagnating, the women emerged on the streets, beating on their utensils, throwing stones at the Indian forces and chanting slogans for freedom. Over the years, Kashmiri women have played an important role in the struggle for freedom. Names like Asiya Andrabi, who led protest rallies comprising Kashmiri women, have filled volumes. However, the image of Kashmiri women in the liberation struggle has been mostly of wives, mothers, sisters or daughters mourning over the dead body of a relative, who embraced shahadat as a result of the atrocities of the Indian army. The new face of the Kashmiri women is unparalleled. Hundreds of women and girls, many in shalwar kameez, have since been regularly out on the streets chanting “we want freedom!” and “blood for blood!” Indeed, their message is loud and clear. Although the Indian army has not refrained from targeting the unarmed women, dealing with female protesters is a fraught challenge for the police and paramilitary troops. Many women who do not directly take part in rallies carry drinking water to the protesters and also direct youths down escape routes as they flee from baton charges, teargas and gunfire.Exasperated by the deteriorating situation in Kashmir, India’s Interior Minister P. Chidambaram has alleged that Pakistan may have instigated these protests. This is the first time New Delhi has linked Pakistan to the recent spate of violence in the Kashmir Valley that began on June 11. Earlier, India had said Pakistan-based militants were inciting trouble in the region. “Pakistan appears to have altered its strategy in influencing events in Jammu and Kashmir,” Chidambaram told the Indian Parliament during a debate on the protests. India, however, remains confident that it can foil Pakistan’s “evil designs” if it is able to win the hearts and minds of the people.

Bashir Bhat condemned the killing of youth in Kashmir

Srinagar: Vice Chairman Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front(JKLF) Advocate Bashir Ahmad Bhat has strongly condemned the killing of youth at the hands of Indian Armed forces who are on killing spree and these trigger happy forces have unleashed reign of terror in all the fours of Kashmir and has expressed concern over the stepped up Human Rights violations , as a state policy Indian armed forces in Kashmir are on the budge of genocide , therefore JKLF urges world HR bodies especially ICRC, Asia Watch, Amnesty International ,Human Rights Watch especially United Nation`s Human Rights Commission to take the cognizance of recent cases – a sort of savagery demonstrated by Indian forces at the askance of India and its sleuths, Bhat said .He expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in Leh after flash floods hit the Leh town and its adjoining regions where 200 are feared and more than 500 hundred are still missing JKLF expresses sympathies with the bereaved families . Vice Chairman JKLF has said that in 1947 India and Pakistan became two dominions but Kashmir was a separate state with recorded and rich history of 5000 years,after 1947 due to continued conflict Ladakh, including Aksai Chin and Gilgit-Baltistan became regions of geo-political importance and after 1962 Sino-Indo war whole of the Kargil region was converted into a military cantonment and afterwards a strategically important for India, Pakistan and China now the highest battle field in the world .

No pain bigger than losing one's mother

Aisha, third woman victim of Kmr unrest

Srinagar, Aug : Death came in the form of a stone for 55-year-old widow Aisha of Basantbagh Gowkadal in Old City Friday evening. She was neither a stone-pelter nor part of any protest but got caught in the violent clashes between angry youths and troopers in the area. Aisha had left her house to buy some milk at 8.30 pm after the curfew had eased and the troopers were rushing back. However, some clashes erupted in the area and a stone hit her in the chest and she fell down.Her death has left her three sons orphaned, having already lost their father some eight years back. Aisha’s elder son had moved out post-marriage three years back and for the two other boys, she was everything.“She asked me for Rs 20 so that she could buy milk. Troopers were almost leaving for their respective camps. There was a CRPF vehicle still parked in the locality and suddenly youths started throwing stones at it,” says Aisha’s youngest son, Firdous Ahmed. “My mother had poor eyesight. She told me that she would return soon but, instead, we received the news that she was hit by a stone.”Firdous says the family had gone through hard times after the death of their father. “My father was a labourer and after his death some eight years ago, it was my eldest brother and mother who looked after us,” he says. “Now we have no one to call mouj (mother). No bigger pain than losing one's mother.”Locals say it was very difficult to say the stone from which side hit Aisha. “Stones were raining from both sides. Youths were stoning the CRPF vehicle and police and CRPF men were retaliating with sling-shots, stones and even teargas canisters,” they say.Living in a small house in the interiors of Basantbagh, Firdous, a salesman at a shop, says it would be difficult to come out of the shock. Their house wears a deserted look as the one who would bring smiles on the faces of inmates was gone forever. With her death, the desire to see the brides of her two younger sons also lay buried.“She always wanted to see our brides. But death knocked first,” says Firdous, sobbing.He rues that his mother continued to be on the ground unattended for at least 15 minutes after being hit. “As stone-pelting was on, we were afraid to go out despite receiving the news that our mother had fallen down,” says Firdous. It was only at 9.15 pm that they could come out and remove her to the hospital.According to the medical certificate the cause of the woman's death has been described as “cardiac arrest due to traumatic cardiac rupture". She was hit by a stone on the chest, the certificate further mentions.Aisha is the third woman victim in the ongoing unrest that began June 11. Fancy Jan (25) was hit by a stray bullet at Batamaloo on July 6 and a 17-year-old girl Afroza was killed during a protest in Khrew on August 1.

When This Will Become A Reality Again........

تاریخ موجودہ حکمرانوں کو قاتلوں کے ٹولے کے خطاب سے نوازے گی:فاروق ڈار

سرینگر:لبریشن فرنٹ کے چیئرمین فاروق احمد ڈارنے بھارتی افواج اور پولیس کی طرف سے معصوم کشمیریوں کا قتل عام کرنے پر گہری تشویش کا اظہار کرتے ہوئے کہا ہے کہ بھارتی حکمران اسرائیلی پالیسی پر عمل پیرا ہوکر کشمیریوں کی نسل کشی کرکے تحریک آزادی کو دبانے کی مذموم کوشش کر رہا ہے ۔ پچھلے تین مہینوں کے دوران کشمیر میں تقریباً پچاس سے زائد کشمیریوں جن میںزیادہ تر کمسن بچے شامل ہیں کوفائرنگ کرکے شہید کیا گیا ۔کشمیر کے مختلف ہسپتالوں میں تین سو سے زائد نوجوان جو گولیاں لگنے سے زخمی ہو چکے ہیں ، موت و حیات کی کشمکش میں مبتلا ہے ،صرف صورہ ہسپتال میں دو درجن کے قریب ایسے نوجوان ہیں جو Ventilater کے سہارے زندگی کی آخری سانسیں لے رہے ہیں ۔فاروق احمد ڈار نے مختلف ہسپتالوں میں گولیوں سے زخمی ہوئے معصوم افراد کے ساتھ اظہار ہمدردی کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ قوم کو انکی معاونت کیلئے سامنے آکر جذبہ ایثار کا مظاہرہ کرنا چاہئیے۔انہوںنے حکمران طبقے کو خبردار کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ تاریخ موجودہ حکمرانوں کو قاتلوں کے ٹولے کے خطاب سے نوازے گی اب تک شہید ہوئے نوجوانوں کا قتل عام نام نہاد حکومت کے ماتھے پر ایک ایسا کلنک ہے جو کبھی بھی نہیں مٹے گا

مختلف تنظیموں کی طرف سے شہید شیخ عبدالعزیز کو خراج عقیدت پیش

سری نگر: پیپلز لبریشن لیگ، سیاسی تحریک اُمت ،شباب المسلمین اور تحریک آواز حق کے مشترکہ آرگنائزر جناب عبدالمجید کشمیری اور جے اے کے اے ایف نے الگ الگ بیان میں شہید عزیمت شیخ عبدالعزیز کو اُنکی دوسری برسی کے موقعہ پر اُنکو شاندار الفاظ میں خراج عقیدت ادا کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ شہید موصوف نے جو قربانیاں تحریک آزادی کشمیر کیلئے پیش کیئں ہیں اُن کو ہمیشہ یاد رکھا جائے گا۔شہید نے اپنی زندگی کا بیشتر حصہ جیلوںمیں گزارا اور آخر کار اپنی جان بھی اسی راہ عزیمت میں قربان کردی۔تنظیم کی طرف سے جاری ایک بیان میں ترجمان نے کہا کہ زندہ قومیں اپنی ان محسنوں کو ہر صورت میں یاد رکھتی ہے جو قوم کی آزادی اور اور قوم کے افراد کے کل کیلئے اپنے آج کو قربان کردیتے ہیں اور انہیں یاد رکھنے اور خراج عقیدت پیش کرنے کا بہترین طریقہ یہی ہے کہ ان کے مشن کیساتھ وفاداری نبھائی جائے اور حصول مقصد تک کسی طرح کے جھکاو ¿، بکاو ¿ کا مظاہرہ نہ کیا جائے۔ادھرجے اے کے اے ایف کے ترجمان نے مرحوم کی بے لوث قربانیوں کو تحریک کا ایک سرمایہ قرار دیتے ہوئے کہا کہ شہید شیخ عبدالعزیز ہمارے لئے رول ماڈل ہیں اور انہیں کے نقش قدم پر چل کر کشمیر ی قوم کی آزادی حاصل ہوگی۔ یاد رہے شیخ عبدالعزیز اگست 2008 ءکو مظفر آباد چلو مارچ کے دوران دیگر کئی افراد کے سمیت شہید کیا گیا۔

'Kill Us Before You Kill Our Sons And Daughters', Kashmiri Women's Message

Srinagar: Kashmir's women in a protest against the Indian Forces were seen holding banners that said "Kill us before you kill our young boys and girls".
The ruthless killing that has been going on for more than eight weeks in the Indian Occupied Kashmir have killed more than 45 people in such short period.
According to a woman teacher in the Indian occupied Kashmir, Kashmir's women are now mentally ill, because of the mass killing taking place in their region. The lady teacher continued saying that they have lost their patience; the Indian army has killed their sons, brothers, father and many more innocent people. Therefore, they can no more stay as silent spectators. This time, an increased number of women were seen involved in the demonstrations. This is particularly because two women recently got killed during the curfew timings by the Indian Army in the Kashmir.

Kashmiri agitators get Naxalites' salute

NAGPUR: The central committee (CC) of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) has given its thumbs up for the Kashmiri protesters clashing with the security forces in the valley. In a scathing criticism on the role of the central and state governments, the Naxals have claimed that the enemy was the same, be it at Dandakaranya or Kashmir. Through a two-page release, the rebels have extended their 'revolutionary salute' or Inquilabi salaam to the Kashmiri protesters fighting for their rights. The Maoists were critical of the use of force by the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government to crush the resistance of the people. The CC, along with the people's army and other revolutionary outfits, has vowed to continue supporting the valley protesters. The naxals dramatically equated the stone throwing youths of Kashmir to the bow-and-arrow equipped tribals of Dandakaranya. The CC "believes that the Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris". It has also appealed to all to support the 'just national liberation struggle of the people of Kashmir'. The CC has lashed out at the media for distorting Kashmir's history. Naxals have also urged citizens across the length and breadth of the country to raise their voice against the 'heartless killing of youth' by the security forces. They have also made an appeal to the activists and right bodies to demand the withdrawal of the forces from Kashmir. The rebels had made a similar demand several times in the Dandakaranya region in the past too.

SHEIKH AZIZ: TRAUMATIZED BUT POISED

Sheikh Abdul Aziz, born in 1952 A.D at Pampore Kashmir, after proper schooling, joined the resistance movement in 1972. He was arrested in 1973 for his pro-freedom stand and stance. The freedom zealot, after feeling humiliated, made up his mind to take up the gauntlit and continue to tread the thorny path of resistance with conviction, resolve and volition characteristics of an uncompromising resilient revolutionary. As a senior stalwart of Peoples League, with proclivity and disposition to subjectivity in self-assertion and objectivity in strategic manoeuvre and march, joined the armed resistance movement in 1990 when vitriolic and energetic young revolutionaries like Ashfaq Majeed Wani and others, who were in twenties then, created a situation where almost all the senior stalwarts of political resistance movement felt convinced that armed resistance had indispensably become paramount as an effective alternative course of resistance against the Indian forces of occupation. Thus Al-Jehad was the militant outfit which Sheikh Aziz spearheaded with determination of a genuine Mujahid. After receiving proper training in Pakistan he returned to Kashmir valley to lead the armed resistance forces in his own style.Sheikh Aziz was arrested in 1992 and after his release in 2000 A.D he got a chance to visit Pakistan as senior political resistance leader, where he literally kissed the soil of Pakistan after alighting from the aeroplane in Lahore. On his return to Kashmir valley he was again put behind the bars for his intractability as resistance leader.In 2008, Kashmiris launched a vehement and vigorous anti-India movement when rumours were rife that India had decided to ensure that South Kashmir be swarmed with a million Sadhus (who would become the custodians of Amaranth Cave). By way of political backlash and whiplash the fanatic Hindus of Jammu felt instigated and fulminated in a such way that they literally imposed trade embargo on Kashmir to strangulate it economically. Kashmiri trucks were looted and burnt; and truck drivers were assaulted. In such a situation sensitive Sheikh Aziz felt traumatized and he became serious in his revolutionary thinking to break the deadlock and show the path of salvation. On Aug. 6, 2008 all the leaders of APHC headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq assembled in Hurriyat head office Rajbagh to discuss the situation created by trade blockade of the Jammu chauvinists. Sheikh Aziz Saheb liked to sit beside me on the left flank of the Chairman (Mirwaiz Umar Farooq) to exchange pleasantries with me. He was all ears when I, in my historic address as a member of Hurriyat shoora (the general council as it was called then), emphasized that should be adopted as policy slogan to break the blockade and pave the way for reunification of two parts of Kashmir. At 4 P.M Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Saheb addressed a press conference and, while dwelling on the economic-blockade issue in a discursive tone and accent, said, “well, if the people of two and half districts of Jammu want to carve out a”Dogra-desh” for themselves we have no objection.” objection.” Umar Farooq, by way of a part of future programme introduced the slogans:
On Aug. 11, 2008 Kashmir Witnessed a historical and momentous spectacle of unity of resistance forces when, by way of abreaction and catharsis, freedom sentiments got exuded and elicited in the form of highly emotionalized and resolute procession of revolutionaries of Sopore spearheaded by the stalwarts like Sheikh Ab. Aziz, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Saif-ullah etc. The valiant and chivalrous processionists while facing and overcoming the obstacles created by the Indian authorities, succeeded in reaching Chahla Uri (the Kashmir Karbala as I call it). Where they displayed their freedom sentiments in a peaceful democratic style. Indian forces including the notorious Kashmir SOG, in a fit of arrogance and intoxication opened fire killing a dozen freedom zealots and injuring about hundred of them.

Sheikh Aziz Saheb, who was on the forefront like his colleagues Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Saif-ullah and others, got injured seriously. Wounded leader was immediately removed to Srinagar hospital where he breathed his last and became a martyr. On Aug. 12, 2008 over a lakh people assembled at Eidgah Srinagar for Nimaz-e-jinaza. All the resistance leaders, barring ailing humble self, including senior leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Moulvi Abbas Ansari, Fazal Haq Qureshi were present and paid tribute to the slain leader. Sheikh Aziz was martyred on Monday- Aug. 11, 2009 (Shai’ ban 9, 1429 A.H-the day when prophet Muhammad (PBHU) prioritized eternal rest.) The exasperated emotional youth, while the obsequies were being completed, roused patriotic feelings and emotions of the mourning multitude through pathetic epicedium. On Aug. 12, 2008 the agitating youth restored to violent paroxysmal activities and in the melee 22 freedom zealots got martyred and hundreds of them were wounded in the valley. Thousands of furiously agitated youth called at the residence of Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. The two leaders felt emboldened and therefore mustered up courage to accompany the exacerbated and anguished youth in their march towards Eidgah to defy the curfew and literally demolish and obliterate the bunkers of Indian forces. Nayeem Ahmad Khan and Shabbir Ahmad Shah were released from captivity a day after. The co-ordination committee representing S.A Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq suggested using of one flag only with the emblem . On Aug. 16, 2008 about three lakh people marched to Pampore to express solidarity with the bereaved family of sheikh Aziz. In the morning of Aug. 16, 2008 I, along with my Mahaz activists including Meer Iqbal, boarded a vehicle on the top of which the green flag with the monogram remained fluttering; we condoled with the family members of martyr Sheikh Aziz at their residence. Then after we attended the condolence congregation of mourning people at Eidgah Pampore. On the platform I sat beside Fazal-ul-Haq Qureshi, Mohd. Hassan (Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami), Moulvi Abbas Ansari, Late Prof. Sheikh Gh. Muhammad. Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Shabbir Ahmad Shah and others addressed the grand audience. In the stampede the improvised platform collapsed; elderly leaders felt strangled and suffocated. Meer Rasheed, a robust student of mine, retrieved me from the situation.
Progeny will remember martyr Sheikh Aziz with love and respect.

Little girl appeals CM to trace disappeared sibling

Family wary of Fark's safety
Baramulla : A distinction holder in Class XII, Syed Fark Bukhari of Kreeri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district always dreamt of becoming a journalist.
He wanted to lend "voice to the voiceless" in Kashmir, who he believed required his services the most. But fate had wished something else: Fark went missing after he was reportedly bundled into a Rakshak vehicle by troopers at Chooru on July 28.Fark was busy chatting with his mother Zahida Bukhari that day when he noticed some commotion outside the house and went out to see what was happening, at the same time promising his mother that he would return soon. In fact, it is this promise of Fark that the crestfallen mother is reminded of day-in and day-out as she cries for her missing son.According to his father, Syed Bashir Bukhari, who is Imam at the local mosque, Fark has been subjected to forced disappearance by the uniformed men after some protesters were arrested near Chooru the same day. Bashir said some protesters from Palhalan had come to enforce shutdown in Kreeri. He said they (protesters) insisted that some local youths join them. Fark obliged, as did some other youngsters. “They came in some four to five trucks and enforced shutdown in the township. Later they insisted that some youths accompanied them till the highway,” said the father, who is under shock and bedridden eversince Fark went missing.As they left the town, Bashir said, a police gypsy chased them all the way till they reached Chooru village. The chasers had already informed the police at Chooru and the youths were cordoned from all sides with additional deployment from other police stations.“They resorted to heavy teargas shelling and baton-charging the youths. They bundled over 40 youths in police vehicles while Fark was the lone youngster to be pushed into a Rakshak vehicle,” Bashir said.He said the following day the police sent information to the Kreeri elders about the arrested youths; however, Fark did not feature in the list."Officials from Pattan police station assured us that they will locate him in next couple of days as he may have been picked up by some intelligence agencies. But after failing to locate him, these officials claimed it was not in their jurisdiction,” said Bashir.Disappointed at the police apathy, Fark's uncle Sareer Ahamd Bukhari said they approached SSP Baramulla and IG North Kashmir for seeking the whereabouts of Fark."They assured us to locate him as he was carrying his cellphone and the network could easily trace him. But after some days they had the same argument to offer, that it did not fall in their jurisdiction,” Sareer said. Meanwhile, for the past two weeks of their son's disappearance, the Bukhari family ran pillar to post to seek his whereabouts but to no avail.While protesting over the disappearance of her son, Zahida was hit by a teargas shell in the eye on July 30. The wound remains unhealed as tears keep rolling down throughout the day as she wails for her missing son.The younger brother of Fark, Lukman is too young to understand the tragedy that has struck the family. A Class IV student, Lukman is a look-alike of Fark and thereby adding to the crestfallen mother's pain of not being able to see Fark.However, the worst has befallen Fark's younger sister Hawana Bukhari, a Class XI student. The day her older brother went missing, she lost her voice. Doctors advised her parents to make her cry by calling ''Baya, Baya'' as it may help her come out of shock.She however regained some power to speak in some days and summons some strength to whisper words into this reporter's ears. “Can you ask Chief Minster Omar Abdullah to return my Baya as he is innocent? I am sure he will, if you ask him.”Although Hawana is known to be a good student, perhaps she knows little about the trend of disappearances in Kashmir. Fark is not the first one to meet this fate, neither the last one. For, in his bedroom, Fark has books that talk of the chilling truth of disappearances in Kashmir in the last over two decades like 'Curfewed Night', 'Unveiling the Truth' and 'Did they vanish in thin air?'.

Geelani assures minorities’ protection

Srinagar, Aug 8: The Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani Sunday assured protection to people of different minority communities who live in Kashmir. Describing them as “organs of his body”, the veteran pro-freedom leader appealed people to ensure that minorities feel safe and secure in Kashmir while the ongoing movement continues.“It is our duty to ensure protection of people belonging to different communities including Sikhs and Pandits,” Geelani told Greater Kashmir after interacting with a delegation of Pandit community led by Sanjay Tikoo and another delegation of Sikh community led by Jagmohan Singh Raina. The Pandit delegation named “Kashmiri Pandit Sangarash Samiti” had arrived at Geelani’s Hyderpora residence this afternoon. It was followed by the Sikh delegation named “All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee.” The delegations had raised “some apprehensions” about their safety in view of the present crisis in the Valley. More than 50 Kashmiris have got killed since June 11 in action by police and CRPF pushing Kashmir into crisis. “People belonging to minority communities are like organs of my body and if any organ gets hurt the entire body feels the pain. I made it clear to them that our fight is not against any community or religion but it is a battle for freedom. Islam teaches us to ensure safety of people,” Geelani said after an hour-long interaction with the communities. However, he cautioned against “some vested interests” who may try to harm the ongoing struggle by giving it different colors. “People belonging to all the communities have to remain cautious at every step. Some vested interests from any community may try to exploit the present situation and defame the ongoing movement,” he told the Pandit community. The 12- member Sikh delegation also raised apprehensions about their safety with Geelani. “They never left Kashmir and have supported us during the past 20 years. I told them various agencies have in the past spread different rumors. We have to remain vigilant and never allow them to succeed in their evil designs,” Geelani said following meeting with the Sikh delegation.

PPP govt silent over Kashmir issue

LAHORE : The Kashmir issue is not on the priority list of the incumbent PPP government, as it is keeping mum over the status quo in Held Kashmir, say leaders of Kashmir Action Committee Pakistan (KACP). Justice (r) Syed Sharif Hussain Bokhari, president KACP, Lt Col (r) AM Mir, Dr Khurshid Sikander along with other leaders of the KACP expressed these views while addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Saturday. They said the status quo in Held Valley suits India but not the Kashmiris and the Pakistanis, however, silence of Islamabad on the status quo was a matter of serious concern. Leaders of the KACP said India, instead of taking up the real issue of holding dialogue over the Kashmir issue, always touched the supplementary issues which established the fact New Delhi was not serious in talks on the issue. Terming the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) as ‘Wooden Horse’ they asserted the organisation had not played its due role regarding building pressure on India to resolve the Kashmir issue. However, they expressed the hope that OIC would play its due role in the times to come in this regard. They said the current uprising in Occupied Kashmir was a ‘New Intifada’, which, the Indians could not suppress with its thousand guns and it would continue till the independence of Kashmir

Dear sweat kids - be careful. Indian army is there not to watch your innocent game... they will come and will consider little Mujaheddin of Carrying bombs in football. So be careful.

Kashmiri boys hit a burning police vehicle after it was set on fire by protestors in Srinagar

Make sure no child is killed in Kashmir, women's group urges

Why has Kashmir lost children to a conflict they don't even understand?" a women's organization that calls itself 'Mothers of India' asked on Friday and urged the government to stop innocent killings in the troubled valley. Calling for a "peaceful resolution to (the) mindless violence" in Jammu and Kashmir that has left nearly 50 people dead in three weeks, 'Mothers of India' called all mothers across India to "make sure that no child is killed in Kashmir, that no mother cries in silence and that violence does not beget more violence". A statement from the outfit, with signatures from 100 women activists from across India, said the sound of mothers in Kashmir was not being heard even as they were crying "waiting for their children to return knowing that they may not. Wailing, as they wonder why their young ones were killed". Striking an emotional chord with the bereaved mothers of the Kashmir Valley, it said, "Mothers all over the country need to demand answers. Why has Kashmir lost children to a conflict they don't even understand? We, the mothers, must raise our voices against any kind of extremism. After all we do not give birth to our children to see them killed brutally by bullets. How can we justify the violence on either side? How long can we be mute spectators and not respond to the pain of our sisters in Kashmir?" "We need to raise our voices for dialogue and debate. We need to look at a peaceful resolution to this mindless violence." The Mothers of India said the situation in Kashmir could still be retrieved if the government acknowledges that young people are feeling alienated. "Treating it as a law and order problem will only deepen conflict and alienation."

Kashmir: Echoes from 20 years ago

When columns of the Indian Army drove through Srinagar on July 7, rifles pointed out at the city, it was meant as a show of force; to tell its 'mutinous' population -- and those watching elsewhere -- just who was really in charge. Disconcertingly for the Indian government, it has had the opposite effect. Alarm bells have been sounding off: the situation in Kashmir is again explosive; the lid looks ready to blow off. Although the army has for years virtually controlled rural Kashmir, images of grim-faced soldiers on a 'flag-march' in Srinagar carried a different symbolism. For Srinagar has been the exception -- the showpiece of 'normalcy', of a possible return to the bosom of India's accommodating heart. Typically, the well-publicised entry of the soldiers was followed by a flurry of obtuse clarifications: the army was not taking over Srinagar; this was not a flag-march, only a 'movement of a convoy'; yes, it was a flag-march, but only in the city's 'periphery'. The contradictions seemed to stem from a reluctance to deal with the elephant in the room: after more than 15 years, the army had once again been called out to stem civil unrest in Srinagar.
When the Indian Army was deployed in Kashmir during the 1990s, the rebellion seemed to be fast spinning out of India's control. Twenty years later, what has changed? There is now a massive investment in a 'security grid', built with more than 500,000 security personnel and shored up by a formidable intelligence network, said to involve some 100,000 people. The armed militancy, too, has officially been contained. Meanwhile, the exercise of 'free and fair' elections has been carried out to persuade the world that democracy has indeed returned to Kashmir. (Elections certainly delivered the young and telegenic Omar Abdullah as chief minister; but about democracy, Kashmiris will be less sanguine. They will recognise it the day the military columns and camps are gone from the valley.) Yet July was haunted by echoes of the early years of the tehreek, the movement for self-determination. As a brutally imposed lockdown curfew entered its fourth day, there was no safe passage past the paramilitary checkpoints not for ambulances, not for journalists. For those four days, Srinagar's newspapers were not published; local cable channels were restricted to just 10 minutes a day, and still had to make time for official views. SMS services remained blocked the entire month; in some troubled towns, cell-phone services were completely discontinued.But Srinagar still reverberated with slogans every night, amplified from neighbourhood mosques: 'Hum kya chahte? Azadi!' (What do we want? Freedom!) and 'Go back, India! Go back!'

Women at forefront of protests

Srinagar:From joining protests to running community kitchens, hundreds of women are out across the Kashmir valley. Raising pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, these women — young and old — march ahead of the men. On the streets here and in other parts of the Valley, ‘stone pelting’ women can now be seen more often than before. The pictures of these women are regularly flashed across newspapers and Facebook. “All these years, Kashmir’s women have suffered silently. We have always protested peacefully. But this time the situation is different. Our children are being killed. That’s why we don’t hesitate from pelting stones,” said Shagufta Parveen, a resident of old Srinagar. “They (government) have left us with no option. When we protest peacefully, they open fire on us,” she added. On Friday last week, the women protesters stopped two Air Force vehicles, asked the security personnel and their family to disembark before the vehicles were set afire. The women, however, ensured that nobody was hurt.

Female protesters pile on pressure in Indian Kashmir

SRINAGAR: "We are out on the streets with a message -- kill us before you kill our young boys and girls," says Rehana Ashraf, a female teacher in Indian Kashmir. It is a stance which makes the security forces deeply anxious as they battle to suppress a surge of violent protests against India's rule of the Muslim-majority region. An increasing number of women have been involved in the demonstrations, during which at least 45 people have been killed in the last eight weeks. Most of the victims are young men who have died in gun fire as security forces try to enforce curfew orders that have brought ordinary life to a halt. Each death , particularly those of two women so far -- has triggered further angry protests and an equally strong response from Indian paramilitary troops and police."Under such circumstances, you can't expect us to remain silent," said Ashraf, 49, who lives in the region's main town Srinagar with her two young daughters. "We want to send out a message that we are not weak." Young men have always led the street protests and stone-throwing in Kashmir during 20 years of rebellion, but that is changing. "We have lost our patience. They have killed our sons and brothers. How do you expect us to be mute spectators?" 41-year-old Mehbooba Akhter, a mother of three teenage sons.
Akhter, a Srinagar resident, said she has been taking part in the wave of anti-India protests, which began when a 17-year-old male student was killed by a police tear-gas shell in Srinagar on June 11. Hundreds of women and girls, many in colourful salwar kameez dresses, have since been regularly out on the streets chanting "we want freedom!" and "blood for blood!" Some carry sticks and stones. Dealing with female protesters is a fraught challenge for the police and paramilitary troops struggling to control the protests, which India says are instigated by hardline groups supported by Pakistan. "Putting women and children in the front of rallies is a deliberate attempt by separatists to put us on back foot," Prabhakar Tripathi, spokesman for paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). "They know we won't confront them," he said. Many women who do not directly take part in rallies carry drinking water to the protesters and also direct youths down escape routes as they flee from baton charges, tear-gas and gunfire.
"It is not the responsibility of men alone to protest against injustice. We women have to be in the forefront to fight it too," said Shamima Javed, 38. "I am joining protests to express my solidarity with those women who lost their sons and daughters." Other women believe they should not become involved. "I am against protests. They affect education and the livelihoods of thousands," said Haleema Akhter, a retired woman in the southern town of Pampore. "But even my own 40-year-old daughter and her children are not willing to listen." Syeda Afshana, a leading columnist and lecturer in the main Kashmir university, says the increasing female presence reflects the sense of injustice felt by Kashmiris. "Out on the streets, women are making their minds felt," Afshana told AFP. "By pelting stones, they are expressing their collective anger."

Flash floods kill 88 in Indian Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Nearly 90 people were killed and hundreds injured after rare rainfall triggered flash floods Friday in an area of Indian Kashmir popular with foreign fans of high-altitude adventure sports. The overnight floods, prompted by an intense cloudburst, tore through Leh, the main town in the Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region, causing what state Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora described as "unprecedented" devastation. Television footage showed scenes reminiscent of an earthquake, with collapsed buildings, downed power lines and residents scrabbling knee-deep through mud to try to dig survivors out of the rubble. The floods hit Leh and surrounding villages without warning during the night when most residents were asleep.
"At least 88 bodies have been recovered and dozens are still missing," a police spokesman said from Leh by telephone. At least 300 people were reported injured.

Kashmiri youths use Internet to express their anger

SRINAGAR: The streets of Kashmir Valley are not the only places burning with angry protests over the civilian killings. The rage has also spilled over into the virtual world where youngsters are venting their pent up sentiments. Youngsters aged 15-25 are using their personal or community internet pages to express their anger against what they see as human rights abuses. Social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, YouTube and many such web platforms have turned into a new battleground for the angry young generation of the valley. With nearly 50 people dying in less than seven weeks - most of them in firing by Indian forces - many such voices are proliferating on the internet. "I Protest", a community page created by an unknown user, has over 2,500 members -- Kashmiris as well as non-Kashmiris. It is described as "a campaign for international awareness against human rights abuse in Indian Kashmir.” The page says, "I protest for being treated as a commodity, for being a slave in the dawn of the 21st century; I protest to be killed for protesting against abuse and basic human rights." A user status on the "I Protest" page reads, "This brutal government has failed to communicate with people and done nothing to stop this unabated genocide. The government which came to power with high hopes has no right to be there, sadly lost its support & confidence. Shame on them." A similar page, "I protest against the atrocities on Kashmiris,” has over 2,100 members. "Kashmir Dispatch" that serves more like a news portal giving one line updates about the current situation, protests and news photographs has over 5,000 members. The virtual protesters have not spared Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. A page, "We hate Omar Abdullah...A politically immature person!," has nearly 1,500 members. Zahra IV, a user, poses a rhyme of a question for the chief minister on the site. "What do you feel when you see young boys dying on the street? Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep? What do you feel when you look in the mirror? Are you proud? How do you sleep while the rest of us cry? How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye (to her son)? How do you walk with your head held high? Can you even look me in the eye? And tell me why?" The virtual rebellion of angry Kashmiris is also directed at Hurriyat separatist leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and others for their "failure to deliver” "Internet is an important tool. The youth of Kashmir are expressing dissent through all the means and tools at their disposal," said Zamir Tajammul Qadri, 22, who uses an iPhone to update his status throughout the day. "The young generation of online rebels should be an eye-opener for the tech-savvy young chief minister. He should be, and I am sure he is, reading all this. He was supposed to connect with the constituency of youngsters and this shows he has failed utterly," Qadri said. While the online protests have been peaceful, on the streets the story has been different. The unrest shows no signs of relent, authorities have clamped down on stone-pelting protestors, arresting dozens and putting the entire valley under curfew. Despite restrictions and shoot-at-sight orders, men, women and children have been taking to the streets. Kashmir, where a bloody 20-year-old separatist war had shown signs of abating only last year, is on the edge once again.

Kashmir unrest getting out of Indian hands

Political parties, including the Hurriyat Conference and even the militants, are fast becoming irrelevant in held Jammu and Kashmir and the masses have taken over the movement, leaving the Indian government with only two options — either commit wide scale massacres or impose the governor’s rule in the state.
Anti-India sentiments, police atrocities and public anger are being daily reflected on the streets in the Valley but the public is in no mood to listen to militants or the Hurriyat leaders. The latest example is of the Hizbul Mujahideen supreme Syed Salahuddin, who had recently appealed to the general public to continue the stir in a phased manner as people were suffering and schools were closed.
Soon after this appeal, the Kashmiri people became so enraged that they burnt the effigy of Syed Salahuddin in Srinagar on Aug 2. Nobody could have imagined that the people could take such an extreme step.
Similarly, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani darted off a message of truce to the government from his hospital bed, claiming that he would calm the people if the government was ready to lift the curfew. When people came to know about this, they assembled outside Geelani’s house and threatened to set it ablaze.
Again on Aug 2, two militants were spotted in Badgam district who were carrying arms. A public procession was passing by highlighting the anti-India sentiments. Agitators surrounded the militants and told them they were not needed now as the people had vowed to take the struggle to its logical end. They asked the militants to drop the arms and follow the procession.
During the nights, people stay on the roads, they do not go to their homes and they are ready to face anything, which may come their way. Anti-India and anti-government sentiments are running high. To express these sentiments, they usually attack the government buildings and set them on fire. When they wish to vent their ire against the J&K state government, they pelt stones at the residences of state ministers as they did on the night of Aug 2. People assembled at the houses of Senior Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar and Omar Abdullah’s confidant Mubarak Gul and pelted stones.
Indian forces have also increased their atrocious actions. In Batmaloo, policemen thrust a baton inside the mouth of an eight-year-boy Sameer on Aug 2. His lungs ruptured and he is in a hospital in critical condition.
Twenty-nine people have been killed in the last three days, and a total 47 since June 11.
Pro-India Chief Minister of J&K, Omar Abdullah has no clue what to do. On the one hand, he demands more security troops and on the other he wants them to exercise restraint. He rushed to New Delhi and had meetings with the Indian prime minister on the held Valley situation. After the meeting, he told a press conference: “J&K has a political situation. It needs a political package more than an economic package. By political package, I mean dealing with issues like Armed Forces Special Powers Act, footprint of the security forces, rehabilitation package for youngsters who are across the Line of Control and compensation for victims of the ongoing trouble.” When posed a question by a correspondent on the indigenous nature of the agitation and massive participation of the general public, Omar Abdullah sternly stared and left.

Srinagar :A boy displays bullet shells in Qmarwari, Security forces opened fire in the area killing 25-year-old Mehraj Ahmed Lone and injuring three others

Nawaz asks India to end atrocities in IHK

MUZAFFARABAD – Mian Nawaz Sharif, Quaid Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), has asked India to put an end to the atrocities being perpetrated and human rights violations being committed by Indian forces in Indain Occupied Kashmir. He cursed that our Foreign Office was behaving as a silent spectator saying Pakistan should have lodged a protest against this terrorism in Occupied Kashmir. Mian Nawaz Sharif was addressing a reception meeting organised by PML-N workers on his arrival here to see for himself the plight of flood stricken people and express solidarity and sympathy with them. Regarding the statement of British Prime Minister David Cameron accusing Pakistan of abetting terrorism Mian Nawaz Sharif opined our rulers should not have visited Britain. Pakistan and Kashmir are one and Pakistani and Kashmiris are also one, he said. He recalled to have constructed and widened Kohala-Muzaffarabad road and if God accorded the opportunity he would carry out the development works in Azad Kashmir with more vigour than in Pakistan. Mian Nawaz Sharif had a round of Muzaffarabad city’s flood affected localities and at the Neelam bridge came out of his car and moved on the other side of the bridge and talked and waved to the people.

Kashmiri artists mesmerise audience at Virsa in Islamabad

Maqsood Muntzer

ISLAMABAD: Leading artists and musicians from Indaian Occupied Kashmir performed in a cultural evening at Lok Virsa Complex Islamabad on Tuesday. Lok Virsa, the pakistan National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage in collaboration with Kashmir Cultural Academy (KCA) organised the cultural event to promote the Kashmiri folk music. The artists from Sri Nagar who performed on the occasion included Saeed Tariq Perdesi, Mussarat Naz and Syed Kabal Bukhari. They presented popular Kashmiri, Pahari, Gojri and Urdu songs and enthralled the audience. It was a well-attended show as a large number of music lovers from Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad participated in the cultural evening and appreciated the brilliant performances of the visiting artists and musicians. “It is an initiative of Lok Virsa with purely a cultural perspective to highlight the achievements of folk artists and musicians striving hard in Occupied Kashmir to continue to practice their rich musical traditions despite the difficult situation,” said Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javaid while talking to this scribe. He said Lok Virsa had already documented and preserved Kashmiri indigenous craft heritage in a beautiful three-dimensional cultural display on “Kashmir” at the first ethnological museum of Pakistan at Islamabad. “The famous crafts documented and projected here included papier mache, Kashmiri embroidery, gabba, namda, Kashmiri shawl, miniature, brass and metal works”, he added.

'It's the manifestation of anger among Kashmir's trauma generation'

Mushtaq A Margoob is an internationally recognised expert on disaster psychiatry. A faculty member in the department of psychiatry, Government Medical College, Srinagar, and honorary director, Advanced Institute for Management of Stress-related Disorders, Margoob spoke to Humra Quraishi .
Srinagar , Aug 04,2010
A decade ago, you said 90 per cent of the Kashmir valley's population suffered from emotional distress due to the persistent violence in the region. What is the condition today?
The amount of emotional distress, caused by the perpetual state of uncertainty, insecurity and moment-to-moment living, is hard to imagine. More than 58 per cent of the adult population has experienced or witnessed traumatic life events. The disabling disorder PTSD is currently prevalent in more than 7 per cent of the population. More than 19 per cent of people suffer from depression. Women and children are the worst affected. Take the children between 5 and 12 years living in orphanages. More than 40 per cent suffer from PTSD, 25 per cent from depression and more than 12 per cent from conversion disorder. Kashmir is today among the world's worst medicinal opium preparation abuse places.
What could be the impact of the death of young boys and teenagers?
Harm deliberately caused by others can lead to shifts in societal conventions and processes, including an increased sense of rage and entitlement to revenge when mourning loss or reversal of feelings of helplessness and humiliation. Under such circumstances even a fully-grown up adult's brain automatically shifts operations from highly evolved reality-based action processes to instinctual/emotion-based reactions. Since the young brain is yet to fully develop psychological mechanisms, children/adolescents are much more vulnerable to emotional actions and reactions. When they assume that they are getting pushed against the wall they get dominated by their emotions and stop caring for the consequences. Youngsters identify with the group rather than with their individual identities and can accordingly get heavily involved in activities that essentially had been nonexistent in the society earlier. Young Kashmiris reflect the above-referred psychological processes in more ways than one. The recent developments of defying law and order could also be a manifestation of the ever-increasing indescribable levels of frustration and anger among this 'trauma generation', who have hardly seen a minute of complete peace or tranquillity in their lives.
Could there be some relief or emotional cushions for the affected?
The specific issues pertaining to children and adolescents need to be understood with the appropriate psychological perspective. They can't be treated as miniature adults. Of the many people exposed to stress, although only a minority ultimately develops full-blown psychiatric disorders, a significant proportion suffers from a dissatisfied life on account of unrecognised emotional issues and different psychosocial problems/adjustment difficulties. Post-disaster survivors are charged with a mix of disbelief, anger, grief and frustration, which they need to ventilate. Supportive listening without excessive probing into the event is extremely helpful to relieve survivors of their emotions. Appropriate psychological support can remarkably enhance the capacity of the affected to regain the power to resolve problems. This can be achieved by helping survivors to get back their psychosocial skills, which can be of immense help to prevent future emotional complications and associated disability. Spirituality is also a strong tool to reinforce resilience among the survivors and cope with various difficulties through the course of trauma.

Kashmir burns but not in newsletter

New Delhi, Aug. 2: Playful hanguls, the Kani shawl, a cricket stadium and a picture of Juhi Chawla in a dry-fruit store — the news from Kashmir in July, as told by the Union home ministry. The July issue of Jammu and Kashmir Update, a monthly newsletter brought out in English, Urdu and Hindi by the home ministry, led with the headline “Saving the Hangul”.
“The Hangul is a large deer. The male deer have impressive antlers, while the female Hangul does not have horns,” the illuminating essay says. Another write-up celebrates the Kani shawl getting a “geographical indication” (GI) tag and says every shawl would now have a microchip to prevent the sale of fakes. “A Kashmir Success Story” is the headline for a report on Noor-ul-Amin’s dry-fruit shop in Srinagar’s Polo View market. A picture of Juhi with the 63-year-old Amin accompanies the story, which informs readers that the shop owner had worked as assistant to director-producer Nasir Hussain in the 1970s before returning to the Valley to sell walnuts, almonds and dried apricots. The colourful newsletter, edited by home ministry officials V. Candavelou and A.K. Dhyani and available on the ministry’s website, is propaganda material and not the place to report the 33 deaths in unstoppable street protests across Kashmir since June 11. Or to point out that Srinagar has remained closed for all but three days in the past two months.
But since the ministry has chosen not to comment on the violence that threatens to unravel the political process in the state, apart from giving the mandatory answers to questions in Parliament, its only voice being heard on Kashmir is the Jammu and Kashmir Update.
Available on its own website jammuandkashmirupdate.com as well as on the ministry’s site, the newsletter paints a rosy picture of the state where tourists are beating the heat and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah is asking engineers to speed up work on the Sher-i-Kashmir cricket stadium. “People continue to lead lives despite everything,” a home ministry official said, justifying the content. Sweet as it may sound, the bitter truth about the seriousness of the situation may have to be told by Union home minister P. Chidambaram tomorrow, when he briefs Parliament on what transpired between chief minister Omar Abdullah and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today. Abdullah, facing the worst crisis of his one-and-a-half years in power, met Singh, Chidambaram, defence minister A.K. Antony, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and foreign minister S.M. Krishna today. And one thing is for sure, the talks at the Prime Minister’s residence had nothing to do with “Tourists Beating the Heat in Patnitop”.

The bleeding Kashmir

Alam Rind

It was the charisma of Bulbul Shah, a Sufi Saint, that persuaded King Rinchan from Ladakh to embrace Islam. That laid the foundation of Sufiana Islamic culture where Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists co-existed in perfect harmony. In 1339, the foundation of Shah Miri dynasty was laid by Shams-ud-Din Shah Mir. Muslims ruled the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir for about four hundred years. In 1819, Gulab Singh operating under the auspices of Ranjit Singh annexed Kashmir valley to the Sikh rule and the Muslims were deprived of their independence. As the history unfolded, the valley was sold to Gulab Singh by British Raj for Rs 75 lacs. Last of their ruler, Hari Singh, ascended to the throne of Kashmir in 1925. He unleashed an unprecedented rain of terror against Muslims. During his rule, life was made miserable for Muslims through heavy taxes, bonded labor and capital punishment for even slaughtering a cow. In 1931, consequent to the trial of Abdul Qadeer at Central Jail, Srinagar, there was widespared unrest and to subjugate Kashmir’s Dogra army ransacked and destroyed villages of Jandial, Makila and Dan with their inhabitants burnt alive. In fact, the Kashmiris had started enduring hardship far before partition of India.Kashmiris have suffered hardships since 17th Century but the tyranny that has been unleashed by so called secular government of India since its partition knows no parallel. According to recent Human Rights report, between 1989 and mid 2010, the Indian Army and paramilitary forces have killed 93,274 innocent Kashmiris. There have been 117,345 arrests and 6,969 custodial killings. Reportedly, 22,728 women have been widowed and 107,351 children rendered orphan. As if it wasn’t enough, 105,861 houses were razed to ground. Crimes against women included 9,920 gang rapes. All this exposes the degree of human rights violation that has been committed by Indian security forces in occupied Kashmir. It was India which took the Kashmir problem to the UN Security Council. The 47th (1948) Resolution of 21 April 1948 of UN Security Council noted it with satisfaction, “That both India and Pakistan desire that the question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite.” But India never allowed this plebiscite to be held. Rather their effort all along has been to crush the freedom struggle of the people of Kashmir to the extent that they stop demanding independence. To realize this dream, they enacted draconian laws like Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act 1990 (TADA) and Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA) that gave right to Indian security forces to kill anyone in the name of combating terrorism and get away with it. Lt Gen B. S. Jaswal, GOC-in-Chief of Indian Army Northern Command has described AFSPA as a holy book for security forces. For the reason that it provides immunity to the troops for their atrocities against Kashmiriis. It was the existence of these black laws that Indian troops opened fire and killed two Kashmiri youth those who had reported to a Military Medical Center to seek a job that was advertised by a local military command. The incident has triggered the recent unrest and agitations in the held Kashmir. It was like scratching the wounds of Kashmiriis. The pain that resides deep in their soles erupted in the form of protest and soon it engulfed the entire Kashmir. Police handed over the situation to the military and curfew was imposed in Srinagar, Sopore, Baramulla, Kupwara, Handwara, Islamabad, Koimoh, Pulwama and Kakpora towns. As is evident from the remarks of GOC-in-Chief of Indian Army Northern Command the incident will be brushed aside as an encounter with possible terrorists. The story of fake encounters is not new to the Kashmiriis. Thousands of Kashmiri men have been killed in such cold blooded manner. The trauma caused to Kashmiri women due to forced disappearances or killing of their loved one is simply indescribable. How words can carry the burden of expressing the grief of a mother who has lost her son or a wife who has lost her husband or a child who has lost her father. The spite caused by such acts persists till the atrocities are avenged.India’s unreasonable attitude and inept handling of Kashmir is one of the major impediments in its resolution. Her disregard for UN resolutions and stationing of 700,000 troops in the valley speaks of her unwillingness to heed to the demands of the people of Kashmir. That is one of the major reasons that whenever the dialogue process between Pakistan and India starts and there is a possibility of some headway, the same is torpedoed by someone from within Indian establishment as was done at Agra and during the recent foreign minister level dialogue at Islamabad. It is a positive development that Indian foreign minister has accepted the ineptness of the statement made by Indian Home Secretary G K Pillai on the eve of his visit to Pakistan. One only hopes that the next round of talks scheduled at Delhi proves helpful in bridging the gap between the two countries for the betterment of Kashmiriis and the people of the region of which most live below poverty line.

Omar spoke military language: Aasiya

Srinagar : The Chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Syeda Aasiya Andrabi on Monday denounced Omar Abdullah for what she termed as speaking military language during the press conference in New Delhi on the prevailing situation in Kashmir. In a statement, Aasiya said “Omar Abdullah behaved like an autocratic military ruler while announcing to quell the aspirations of Kashmiris by force From his (Omar’s) body language, it is clear that he wants to crush the ongoing movement. After exhausting all the options, he is now planning to deploy the Rapid Action Force personnel in Kashmir, who spread reign of terror against Muslims during Gujarat riots.” She maintained that the Kashmiris were not rendering sacrifices for jobs or perks. “The spontaneous protests on streets of the Valley stand testimony to the fact that Kashmiris are fighting for attaining their right to self-determinations. Since 1947, India tried to crush the sentiments but every time had to taste defeat,” she said. She made a fervent appeal to people to strengthen the relief committees in their respective localities. “While fighting for the just cause, we should not forget to take care of poor, needy and under-privileged people. I appeal people to donate generously and help the deserving in their respective mohallas,” she said.

Freedom struggle 'now or never' mode: Salahudin

Srinagar: While condemning the “criminal silence” of world over the killing of innocent people in the Valley by paramilitary forces and police, Hizbul Mujahideen, indigenous militant outfit of Kashmir, Monday said that the ‘ongoing freedom struggle’ has entered into “now or never” stage.“Despite Indian suppression from last 64 years, the Kashmir struggle has now entered into ‘now or never’ mode. Everyday dozens of people are being martyred while hundreds are injured,” Hizb chief, Syed Salahudin Ahmad was quoted as saying in a statement by a Muzaffarabad spokesman of the outfit in a statement here to Press Bureau of India.“People irrespective of age and sex are up in arms against India. They are facing the bullets and bombs of the forces unarmed. This exemplified show by people have taken the struggle into now or never mode,” the spokesman, Ahsan Illahi quoted the Salahudin as having told central Command Council of the outfit in his address today. Terming as unfortunate the recent statement by Britain Prime Minister?David Cameron, the Hizb Supremo said that the Kashmir issue was basically created by the English. “He should have taken strong note of the human rights violations in Kashmir and impressed upon the New Delhi to resolve the issue. Thereby, he would have honoured the tenets of democracy.”Salahudin also condemned what he said as criminal silence by the world over the growing ‘human rights violations in the valley.’

Govt has declared war on people: Mehbooba

Srinagar: Expressing outrage at the continued killing spree of young men and women across Kashmir and “the heartless response to it from the Government,”Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti Monday said that it is declaration of a direct war on the people of the state.In a statement issued here, Mehbooba said what Kashmir needs at present is understanding, compassion and a political approach but unfortunately what has been promised at the end of the two month long spell of death and destruction is more force and brazen threats against the civilian population here.Strongly condemning what she called the unabated wave of killings on the streets of the Valley resulting in the loss of another six young people at Kakapora, Sangam,

وادی میں قتل و غارت کا بازار گرم

چار روز میں 22 ہلاکتیں، عمر عبداﷲ حکومت عوام کے زخموں پر نمک پاشی کرنے میں مصروف، عالمی برادری خاموش

ابن کریم

سری نگر:وادی کشمیر میں گزشتہ چار روز میں بھارتی فورسز کی اندھا دھند فائرنگ سے شہید ہونے والے نوجوانوں کی تعداد 22 ہوگئی جبکہ سینکڑوں زخمی ہوگئے۔ کشمیر میں گزشتہ دو ماہ سے ہلاکتوں کانہ تھمنے والے سلسلہ بدستورجاری ہے۔گزشتہ روزکشمیر کے شمال و جنوب میں تشدد کی خونین لہر میں کپوارہ ،کولگام، سنگم، بجبہاڑہ ،سم تھن اسلام آباد اور پلوامہ میںمظاہرین پر فورسز کی اندھا دھند فائرنگ کے نتیجے میں 7نوجوان جان بحق ہو گئے اور اس طرح سے گذشتہ 4روز کے دوران مرنے والوںکی تعداد 22تک پہنچ گئی جبکہ نصف درجن خواتین ،پولیس کے 3اعلیٰ افسران ،20پولیس اہلکاروں16فورسز اہلکاروں سمیت150سے زائد افراد زخمی ہوئے جبکہ کل مشتعل ہجوم نے کاکہ پورہ میں بی ڈی او آفس ، کمیونٹی انفارمیشن سنٹر، نائب تحصیلدار آفس، پولیس اسٹیشن،3منزلہ عمارت اور گرلز مڈل اسکول کو نذرآتش کر دیا۔ اس دوران پٹن میں بی ڈی او آفس اور اسلام آباد میں وزیر تعلیم کے رہائشی مکان کی توڑ پھوڑ کی گئی ، شوپیان میں ڈی سی آفس پر حملہ ہوا اور کپوارہ میں ایس او جی کیمپ پر دھاوا بول دیا گیا۔ کاک پورہ میں ریلوے ٹریک کو بھی نشانہ بنایا گیا ، کھریو پانپور میں بی ایس این ایل ایکسچینج، آئی ٹی آئی، اور پی ڈی پی کے ممبر اسمبلی کے مکان اور دکان کو پھونک ڈالا گیا۔ قاضی گنڈ میں شکست خوردہ امیدوار کے مکان کی بھی توڑ پھوڑ کی گئی۔وادی میں فورسز کے ہاتھوں اتنی بڑی تعداد میں ہلاکتوں پر نیشنل کانفرنس کی حکومت ٹس سے مس نہیں ہورہی ہے ۔ وزیر اعلیٰ عمر عبداﷲ مظلوم کشمیریوں کے بجائے بھارتی قاتلوں اور درندوں کی حمایت میں کمربستہ نظر آرہے ہیں۔ادھر عالمی برادری بھی کشمیر میں ہورہے قتل عام پر بالکل خاموش ہے جو انصاف اور عدل کے قتل کے مترادف ہے۔

عمر عبدﷲ حکومت ناکام، ایڈوانی کی جموں و کشمیر میں گورنرراج نافذکرنے کی اپیل

کشمیر کی موجودہ صورتحال کیلئے یو پی اے سرکار کو برائے راست ذمہ دار،وزیر اعظم کشمیر معاملے پر بے بس
سرینگر//ریاست جموں وکشمیر کی سرکار کو مکمل ناکام سرکار قرار دیتے ہوئے بھارتیہ جنتا پارٹی کے سینئر لیڈر ایل کے ایڈوانی نے یو پی اے سرکار سے اپیل کی ہے کہ وہ ریاست میں گورنر راج کا نفاذ فل فور عمل میں لائے تاکہ یہاں پر تشدد کی بھٹی کو ٹھنڈا کیا جاسکے۔ لوک سبھا میں کشمیر کی موجودہ صورتحال کے متعلق اپوزیشن جماعت بھارتیہ جنتا پارٹی نے حکمران جماعت کانگریس آئی کو زبردست گھیرے میں لے کر وزیر اعظم ہند ڈاکٹر من موہن سنگھ اور مرکزی وزیر داخلہ پی چدمبرم سے سوالات کی بوچھاڑ کردی۔ اس موقعے پر لوک سبھا میں کافی دیر تک ہنگامی جاری رہا ، وقفہ سوالات کے دوران ایڈوانی نے کشمیر کے متعلق وزیر اعظم ہند سے جواب طلبی کی اس موقعے پر ایل کے ایڈوانی نے کشمیر کی موجودہ صورتحال کیلئے یو پی اے سرکار کو برائے راست ذمہ دار ٹھہراتے ہوئے کہا کہ وزیر اعظم ہند ڈاکٹر من موہن سنگھ کشمیر کے معاملے میں بے بس نظر آرہے ہیں اور وہاں پر جاری تشدد کو قابو میں کرنے کیلئے مرکزی حکومت ہاتھ پے ہاتھ درے بیٹھی ہے۔ لال کرشن ایڈوانی نے ڈاکٹر من موہن سنگھ سے سوالات کے دوران کشمیر میں جاری تشدد کے بارے میں جواب طلبی کی اور کہا کہ مرکزی حکومت وہاں پر امن وامان کی بحالی کیلئے کیا کررہی ہے۔ ایڈوانی کی ہاں میں ہاں ملاتے ہوئے دیگر اپوزیشن لیڈران نے اس بات پر افسوس کا اظہار کیا کہ کشمیر میں حالات روز بہ روز بگڑتے جارہے ہیںاور ان حالات کو قابو میں کرنے کیلئے مرکزی حکومت خاموشی تماشائی کا روال نبھارہی ہے۔ اپوزیشن لیڈران نے حکمران جماعت پر ریاستی حکومت کی پشت پناہی کرنے کا الزام عائد کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ ریاستی حکومت کشمیر میں جاری تشدد کو قابو کرنے میں مکمل طور پر ناکام ہوچکی ہے۔

اوڑی پر اسرار تدفین کے خلاف آبادی مشتعل

سرکاری گاڑیوں کی توڑ پھوڑ،10افراد گرفتار

سرحدی قصبہ اوڑی میں گذشتہ20برسوں کے دوران سنیچر کو پہلی بار پولیس نے اُ س وقت مشتعل مظاہرین کو منتشر کرنے کیلئے ہوائی فائرنگ کی جب پولیس کی طرف سے رات کی تاریکی میں فوجی ہیڈکوارٹر کے نزدیک واقع قبرستان میں پر اسرار طور پر ایک لاش دفن کرنے کے خلاف لوگوں کی ایک بڑی تعداد نے پولیس اسٹیشن، ڈی ایس پی کے رہائشی کوارٹر اور ایس ڈی ایم آفس پر شدید پتھرائو کیا جبکہ پولیس گاڑی کو نذر آتش کرکے ایس ڈی ایم کی گاڑی کی توڑ پھوڑ کی گئی۔مظاہرین نے حکام کی اجازت کے بغیر مذکورہ قبر کھودکر لاش باہر نکالی تاہم لاش بوسیدہ ہونے کی وجہ سے اسے دوبارہ قبر میں ڈال دیا گیا۔اس صورتحال کے بعد قصبہ میں فوج طلب کرکے سخت ترین کرفیو کا نفاذ عمل میں لایا گیا ہے اور قصبہ میں ہر طرح کی مواصلاتی سہولیات منقطع کی گئی ہے جبکہ پولیس نے10افراد کو گرفتار کرلیا ہے۔اس سلسلے میں اوڑی سے موصولہ اطلاعات کے مطابق چند روز قبل اوڑی پولیس کی ایک ٹیم نے ایک نامعلوم لاش وہاں پہنچائی اور بعد میں دوران شب صرف ایک مقامی شہری کی موجودگی میں لاش کوفوج کے12انفینٹری بریگیڈ کیمپ کے عقب میں واقع مقامی قبرستان میں دفن کیا گیا۔چنانچہ مقامی لوگوں کو جب اس بات کی بھنک لگی تو انہیں شبہ ہوا اورسنیچر بعد دوپہر تین بجے یہ خبر جنگل کے آگ کی طرح پورے قصبے میں پھیل گئی جس کے نتیجے میں دکانیں اور کاروباری ادارے آناً فاناً بند ہوئے اور لوگ احتجاج کرتے ہوئے سڑکوں پر نکل آئے ۔مقامی لوگ اس معاملے پر پولیس اور انتظامیہ کی طرف سے متضاد بیانات پر غم و غصے کا اظہار کررہے تھے اور ان کا کہنا تھا کہ اگر چہ پولیس یہ کہہ رہی ہے کہ قبرستان میں ہائیگام سوپور میں حال ہی میں مارے گئے غیر مقامی جنگجو کو دفن کیا گیاہے لیکن سب ڈویژنل مجسٹریٹ نے اس بات سے لا علمی کا اظہار کیا ۔اس ضمن میں مقامی لوگوں میں طرح طرح کے خدشات کا اظہار کیا گیا اور جب انتظامیہ اس کی وضاحت کرنے میں ناکام ہوگئی تو لوگوں کی بھاری تعداد نے اسلام اور آزادی کے حق میں نعرے بازی کرتے ہوئے جلوس کی صورت میں قبرستان تک پہنچ گئے، حالانکہ پولیس نے ان پر ٹیر گیس شیلنگ کرکے جلوس کو روکنے کی کوشش کی تھی۔اس موقعہ پر ایس ڈی ایم اوڑی نے لوگوں کو یہ کہہ کرخاموش کرنے کی کوشش کی کہ وہ ایک گھنٹے کے اندر اندر ضلع مجسٹریٹ بارہمولہ سے قبر کھولنے کی اجازت حاصل کریں گے لیکن کافی دیر تک وہ واپس نہیں آئے جس پر لوگوں نے قبرستان تک مارچ کیا۔مقامی لوگوں کے مطابق انہوں نے وہ قبر از خود کھول دی جس میں ایک لاش پر اسرار طور رات کی تاریکی میں دفن کیا گیا تھا۔لوگوں نے بتایا کہ وہ لاش ٹاٹ میں لپٹی ہوئی تھی اور اس کے تن پر کپڑے اور پیروں میں جوتے موجودتھے۔عینی شاہدین کا کہنا ہے کہ لاش انتہائی بوسیدہ ہونے کی وجہ سے اس سے بدبو آرہی تھی جس کے باعث انہوں نے لاش کو قبر سے باہر نکالنا مناسب نہیں سمجھا اور لاش کو دوبارہ دفن کردیا۔کچھ لوگوں کا یہ بھی کہنا ہے کہ انہوں نے قبر کے نزدیک دو افراد کے خون میں لت پت کپڑے پائے لیکن اس کی تصدیق نہیں ہوسکی اور نہ ہی اس بارے میں پولیس یا اوڑی انتظامیہ کے حکام کے ساتھ رابطہ ممکن ہوسکا۔اسی دوران لوگ انتہائی حدتک مشتعل ہوئے اور انہوں نے پولیس اسٹیشن کے ساتھ ساتھ ڈی ایس پی کے رہائشی کوارٹراور ایس ڈی ایم اوڑی کے آفس پر شدید سنگباری کی جس کے جواب میں ان پر ٹیر گیس کے گولے داغے گئے اور جب مظاہرین منتشر نہیں ہوئے تو پولیس کو صورتحال پر قابو پانے کیلئے ہوا میں گولی چلانی پڑی جس کے نتیجے میں وہاں افرا تفری پھیل گئی۔مشتعل مظاہرین نے پولیس کی ایک گاڑی کو آگ لگادی اور ایس ڈی ایم گاڑی کی شدید توڑ پھوڑ کی۔یہ گذشتہ20برسوں کے عسکری دور میں پہلا موقعہ ہے جب اوڑی میں مشتعل مظاہرین کو منتشر کرنے کیلئے پولیس کو ہوائی فائرنگ کرنا پڑی، حالانکہ کئی موقعوں پر قصبہ میں کرفیو نافذ کردیا گیا۔مظاہرین مطالبہ کررہے تھے کہ پولیس اس بات کی وضاحت کرے کہ فوجی کیمپ کے عقب میں واقع قبرستان میں کس کی لاش دفن کی گئی اور اسے اس طرح پر اسرار طور دفن کرنے کا کیا مطلب ہے اور یہ کہ اگر وہ واقعی ایک جنگجو ہے تو اسے اور جنگجوئوں کی طرح باضابطہ کفن دفن کے ساتھ سپر خاک کیوں نہیں کیا گیا؟اس صورتحال کے بعد قصبہ میں پولیس کی بھاری تعداد کے ساتھ ساتھ فوج بھی تعینات کی گئی اور لوگوں کی نقل وحرکت پر مکمل پابندی عائد کی گئی۔کشمیر میڈیا نیٹ ورک نمائندے کے مطابق اس معاملے کو لیکر مقامی لوگوں میں غم و غصے کی لہر دوڑ گئی ہے اور آج صبح گھرکوٹ علاقہ سے لوگوں نے جلوس نکالنے کی کوشش کی تھی لیکن فوج کی بڑی تعداد میں تعیناتی کے باعث انہیں واپس بھیج دیا گیا۔اس دوران پولیس نے10نوجوانوں کی گرفتاری بھی عمل میں لائی گئی۔دریں اثناء سنیچر کے واقعہ کے بعد اوڑی قصبہ میں ہر طرح کے لینڈ لائن اور موبائیل فون بند پڑے ہیں اور حکام نے مواصلاتی سہولیات کو منقطع کروادیا ہے جبکہ قصبہ میں امن و قانون کو برقرار رکھنے کے لئے فوج تعینات ہے۔اس سلسلے میں کے ایم این نے اوڑی پولیس اور ایس ڈی ایم سے رابطہ قائم کرنے کی کوشش کی لیکن مواصلاتی سہولیات ٹھپ ہونے کی وجہ سے ایسا ممکن نہیں ہوسکا۔

SRINAGAR FACES SHORTAGE OF ESSENTIALS, MEDICINES

Srinagar, Aug 1: With no relaxation in curfew in the summer capital for the past three days, the City dwellers are facing shortage of essentials and medicines. The people complained that the police and paramilitary CRPF didn’t even allow the milkmen to move out for business while many a family couldn’t get bread since Friday. “Earlier we would manage getting Naan (traditional morning bread) from the local baker. But today the cops didn’t allow us to move out,” complained some residents of Ram Bagh. A family said despite request before the cops on guard in the area, they were denied permission to get milk for their baby from adjoining Barzulla. “We begged before the cops that our child doesn’t take anything other than milk, but they paid a deaf ear to our pleas,” the father said. Similar was the scene of adjoining Chanapora where a youth was critically wounded in alleged police and paramilitary firing Friday. Shafat Ahmed, a local said there domestic stock of edibles had exhausted. Shafat gave an interesting reason to the depleting stock. “We had stocked edibles in line with the Hurriyat calendar but as the situation turned worst than expected we ran short of the stock,” he said adding they had no vegetables to cook for meals. While this was the scene in Civil Lines, the Shahr-e-Khaas plight was no better either. The residents living near vegetable growing areas of Eidgah-Anchaar belt said the troops didn’t allow any vegetable vendor to venture out nor was anyone allowed to go their for the essential shopping. “This is the height of atrocities that even though in the past we could get access at least to the vegetables grown in the adjoining areas, now even this basic facility is being denied,” said Ghulam Muhammad, a resident of Narwara. The residents of Nowhatta said given the shortage of vegetables they were preferring to consume Tehri, Haldi rice.