Failure to keep track of history lessons on Kashmir

By Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani

The author is President of London based Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights – NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations.

My family like any other family in the Valley remains behind the locked doors from 05 August 2019. The twin impact of the brutality of Indian soldiers guarding them from outside and the extreme vagaries of the winter weather could hardly be imagined. It would be a situation of distress and helplessness. The entire population remains without any access to the outside world. Even the neighbour does not have any reliable information about his neighbour next door. It is an extraordinary situation and to annul it we need to be engaged in extraordinary crusade on all fronts.

After the arrest of my elderly father (late) Syed Sad Uddin Gilani, uncle Syed Jaffer Shah Gilani, and brother Syed Shabbir Ahmad Gilani, by Assam Rashtriya Rifles, on the alleged “suspicion of harbouring militants and having an arms dump in their orchards” in Jammu and Kashmir on 19 December 1995 and intervention by the United Nations on 05 January (Para 207 of UN Report E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1 dated 20 December 1996), they were released on 04 January 1996. The world would listen. It breaks my heart to notice that we have not been able to twist Indian arm ever since 05 August and our people are consigned to a situation never seen in the history of Kashmir.

What are the reasons that India is finding itself with no holds barred? There are a number of reasons and Kashmiri leadership and the leadership of Pakistan, have their own respective shares of misdirection of judgement or ill placed hopes.

The main mistake has been losing the track of history. Pakistani and Kashmiri leadership should have written in bold letters, as a constant reminder, that RSS (Rashtriya Sewak Sangh) on 20 December 1931 took out a huge procession on the streets of Lahore, against the Muslims of Kashmir and in support of Hindu Maharaja. Hindu Maharaja’s police had killed 22 innocent Kashmiri Muslims on 13 July 1931. RSS arms bearing volunteers went to Kashmir as a supplement to the Maharaja’s forces. It was to counter the Muslim support galvanised by Kashmiris and other Muslims living in British India. The movement was influenced and lead among others by Allama Iqbal.

Kashmiri and Pakistani leaders failed to roller skate themselves, on parallel tracks with RSS and keep looking at the writing on the wall. It has been a serious negligence that Kashmiri Muslims while observing the Martyr’s Day of 13 July 1931 and 6 November 1947, failed to flag and inform the younger generation, that Hindu Mahasabha has also a Martyr’s Day since 30 August 1947. It has wicked and vicious credentials.

Militant Hindu organization, The Hindu Mahasabha organised Martyrs’ Day on 30 August 1947 in Delhi. The organization distributed a leaflet in the city. The leaflet was titled “Remember the 30th of August 1947” and it advised all its members:

“When you have to observe ‘Martyrs’ Day’, the day should begin with the mass murder of Muslims, children and women alike. Forcible occupation of Muslim buildings should be your objective. Set fire to Muslim mohallas’ (quarter of the town) “but beware that fire does not spread to Hindu and Sikh localities”. (Source 228th Meeting of UN Security Council – Speech by Sir Zafrullah Khan 17 January 1948). All these years since 1947 Hindu Mahasabha has worked hard to sneak into Kashmir Valley. Its members are embedded in the Indian security forces and administration. It is currently engaged in brutal violence against Kashmiri Muslims in the Valley.

Pakistan started well on Kashmir at the United Nations but somehow could not keep its hands on the handle. Pakistan had its fingers on the pulse of historical facts. It became very clear in Document II submitted by it to the United Nations Security Council on 15 January 1948 that Pakistan was overwhelming in argument.

Document II is a statement of disputes with India. The authors of the Document II circulated at the 228th meeting of UN Security Council, have looked into future and have very rightly stated, “The tragic events and the happenings in East Punjab and the Sikh and Hindu States in and around that Province had convinced the Muslim population of Kashmir and Jammu State that the accession of the State to the Indian Dominion would be tantamount to signing of their death warrant. When the massacres started the Muslim population of the State realised that the fate that had overtaken their co-religionists in Kapurthala, Faridkot, Nabha, Jind, Patiala, Bharatpur and Alwar, etc; was about to overtake them also”.

Indian hopes began to fall one after the other like a pack of cards. Pakistan scored a principal victory, when India allegation of aggression in Kashmir was dismissed. United States of America took the lead and made it clear at the 471st meeting of the UN Security Council held on 12 April 1950 that, “It has never been necessary for the Security Council to consider the question of blame, guilt, or anything of that kind. It has had enough to do in considering the facts, the perplexity of which was the natural outcome of a situation having many ramifications and a long and ancient history”.

Pakistan scored another victory on the question of withdrawal of its army and on the number of its soldiers. United Kingdom came out with a strong defence of equitable demilitarization. UK representative at the 606 meeting of the UN Security Council on 6 November 1952 in para 27 has found the Indian argument, as a condition not compatible with the idea of a ‘free plebiscite’. Sir Gladwyn Jebb said, “I have mentioned earlier that at no stage should demilitarization involve a threat to the cease-fire agreement. This would mean that the forces of each side of the cease-fire line should be, broadly speaking of the same kind. I should make it dear that the United Kingdom Government has never thought that the proposal to limit the forces on the Pakistan side of the cease-fire line to an armed civil force while leaving a military force on the other side of the cease-fire line was consistent with a really free plebiscite. I hope that representatives will join me in urging that the parties should resolve any differences they may still have on this point in the way which I have suggested.”

If we had kept the UN course and followed the UN jurisprudence on Kashmir, Plebiscite should have been through in October 1948. We had two appointments, UN Representative for India and Pakistan, to organize demilitarization and UN Plebiscite Administrator, to conduct a Plebiscite in place. At the 608 meeting of the UN Security Council on 8 December 1952 Indian representative Mrs. Pandit conceded that, “…after careful examination and assessment by its experts, the Government of India had come to the conclusion that a minimum force of 28,000 was required to carry out its responsibilities.” Indian representative added, “However, on complete disbandment and disarmament of the Azad Kashmir forces, and as a further contribution towards a settlement, the Government of India is prepared to effect a further reduction of 7,000 to a figure of 21,000 which is absolute and irreducible minimum…. It should further be emphasised that this force will have no supporting arms such as armour or artillery.”

Pakistan had India on her knees. Our interest in Kashmir sagged and our arguments flip flopped. Hindu Mahasabha and Rashtriya Sewak Sangh waited for 05 August 2019. It is time to re-organise our argument and flag the principality of Kashmiris to vacate the Indian occupation.

Restrictions further intensified in IOK

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Srinagar, January 19 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, Indian authorities further intensified restrictions in the already besieged Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu region in the name of security during a visit by a group of Indian ministers to the territory.

People were forced to stay indoors and vehicular movement was largely restricted amid the ongoing military lockdown and internet blackout on the 168th consecutive day, today.

Commenting on the so-called visit by the Indian ministers, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party Chairman, Harshdev Singh in a statement said that the macabre drama had been conceptualized as a political firecracker by the BJP to whip up hysteria in its favour in the elections.

Meanwhile, the so-called announcement by the authorities on the partial restoration of Internet service has proven to be hoax as Indian media itself confirmed that the Internet continues to remain totally blocked in Srinagar, Badgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Islamabad, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts in the Kashmir valley.

Hundreds of Kashmiri students gathered outside the University of Hyderabad, India, to protest against the state repression and continued lockdown in occupied Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir Students Association members used poetry and revolutionary slogans to register their protest during the sit-in. Student Association President Hadif Nisar said the protest was about the injustices unleashed upon Kashmiris by the successive Indian governments.

APHC AJK leaders Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Abdul Majeed Malik, and the Chairman of Kashmir Council Europe, Ali Raza Syed, in their separate statements denounced the statement of India’s Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat about detaining the Kashmiri children in so-called de-radicalisation camps. They asked the international human right organizations to take serious action of the Indian General’s assertions.

On the other hand, the official website of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has made a ridiculous claim concerning the population of Jammu and Kashmir, underreporting the population of the Kashmir valley by more than 10 times. As against 69,07,623 residents according to the Census 2011, the website states that the Kashmir Valley houses a total of only 5,35,811 residents. This foolish error comes at a time when Kashmir has already become an international issue of debate and discussion and the world is watching every development in the Valley very closely.

Indian troops martyr three youth in IOK

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Srinagar, January 12 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred three Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district, today.

The youth were killed by the troops during a cordon and search operation in Gulshanpora area of Tral in the district. Police claimed that the youth were killed during an encounter with the troops. The martyred youth were identified as Umer Fayaz Lone, Faizan Hamid and Adil Bashir Mir.

Meanwhile, people in occupied Kashmir continue to face miseries on the 161st day of military siege and lockdown, today. Amid shivering cold, the residents complain of acute shortage of daily commodities particularly in the Kashmir Valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu region.

In an attempt to sideline the officers in Indian forces belonging to minority communities, Hindu extremist Modi government has arrested a Sikh Deputy Superintendent of Police, Devinder Singh, at Mir Bazaar in South Kahsmir’s Kulgam district. He was arrested on the fake charge of supporting mujahideen.

Posters and placards reading ‘Free Kashmir’ are frequently displaced during protests against controversial Citizen Amendment Act indicating that the freedom struggle in occupied Jammu and Kashmir has become an icon for the suppressed masses of India, especially the minorities, living under Modi-led fascist government. Despite registration of cases on treason charges against demonstrators, the ‘Free Kashmir’ protests had refused to die down in India. Such posters and placards have, so far, been seen during protests in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

The President of Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights, Dr Nazir Gilani, in a statement issued in Islamabad reacting to new Indian Army Chief’s assertions on Azad Kashmir said that General Manoj Mukund Naravane had lack of understanding of the Kashmir dispute. He said that any move against Azad Kashmir by India could trigger a nuclear war in the region.

On the other hand, the US State Department has expressed concern over the continued detention of political leaders and imposition of restrictions on internet in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The concern was expressed by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells, in a tweet message in Washington.

India has to return to UN mechanism on Kashmir: JKCHR

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Islamabad, January 05 (KMS): The Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights (JKCHR) has said that Kashmir dispute has been duly described by the UN Security Council as “the greatest and the gravest single issue in international affairs” and that its resolution demanded, expedition, urgency and immediacy.

JKCHR President Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani in a statement issued in Islamabad said that the Government of India had surrendered itself at the UN Security Council for a UN-supervised vote.

He said that India could not succeed in holding the people of Kashmir against their will by the use of brute force. India and Pakistan shall have to return to Resolutions of 13th August 1948 and 5th January 1949, because these two resolutions have won the express agreement of both India and Pakistan, he added.

He said, in addition to return to the basic mechanism, we have a template advanced by the United States of America. The US has favoured an “agreed” – and not an imposed solution. The three element proposed by US, namely “first, a definite period for demilitarization; secondly, the scope of demilitarization and quantum of forces that will remain at the end of the period of demilitarization; thirdly, the day for the formal induction into office of the Plebiscite Administrator”, needs urgent revisiting for peace and security in the region, he added.

Dr Nazir Gilani said, the ultimate objective of a fair and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations has been written into solemn agreements by the two governments and endorsed by the Security Council. These agreements have been affirmed and reaffirmed by the two governments many times. The world community has said that the legendary people of Kashmir are “worthy of the right of their own self-determination through a free, secure and impartial plebiscite” and holding these people under lock and key by Indian security forces since 05 August 2019 is a violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 38, 39, 47 and 91, he maintained.

He said, the Government of India has to vacate its political vandalism, military aggression and cultural invasion, in Jammu and Kashmir. Consent of the people is the basis of any legitimacy of governance and India has lost it. Government of India has to yield to “the ultimate objective of a fair and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations”, he added.

Dr Nazir Gilani said that China had very rightly highlighted the peculiar nature of Kashmir case. He said, China has said, “This dispute has another peculiar feature. From the very beginning, the Council began with an agreement between two parties. In fact, before the two parties directly concerned ever appeared before the Council, the two parties agreed that the plebiscite should be the answer. What did the Council do? The Council tried to build a solution on this prior agreement that the two parties had before they came to this Council. So the idea of a plebiscite was not imposed by the Council on the two parties.”

The JKCHR President reminded India of its statement made at the 533rd meeting of the UN Security council held on March 01, 1951 stating that, “The people of Kashmir are not mere chattels to be disposed of according to a rigid formula; their future must be decided in their own interests and in accordance with their own desires”, and has urged India to vacate her occupation and imprisonment of the people and allow the people of Jammu and Kashmir, to set up a responsible Government as designated by the UN for holding a free, secure and impartial plebiscite.

Miseries of IOK people continue due to lockdown

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Srinagar, December 28 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the miseries of the residents of the Kashmir Valley continued unabated as they remained besieged on 146th consecutive day, today.

As restrictions under Section 144 remain enforced amid deployment of thousands of Indian troops, the people of the Valley are cut off from their immediate surroundings and the entire world due to ban on internet, text messaging and prepaid mobile services. The harshest cold weather has added to the woes of the besieged people as they couldn’t stock essential commodities for the winter season. As per a centuries-old practice, usually the inhabitants of the Valley used to store food stuff and firewood in abundance for the winter as the Srinagar-Jammu Highway – the only surface link of the region with the rest of the world – remains mostly closed due to snowfall and rains in the months of December and January. However, this time around, they could not do so due to military lockdown which is in force since 5th August.

The students and businesses are the worst sufferers of continued suspension of the internet services since 5th August, this year. Hundreds of students, who aspire to appear in various competitive examinations, have to make frequent visits to the internet kiosks set up in offices of deputy commissioners of some districts. However, these facilitation centres are not enough to cater to a huge number of students and job aspirants who have to fill the forms online.

On the other hand, the occupation authorities had pressed into service drones to keep a close vigil during Friday prayers in Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid, yesterday. Indian troops and police personnel were deployed in large numbers outside the mosque to prevent anti-India demonstrations.

The High Court of occupied Kashmir has quashed detention orders of three persons booked under draconian law, Public Safety Act.

The occupation authorities have dropped Martyrs’ Day observed on 13th July and the birth anniversary of former puppet Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah on 5th December from the list of public holidays for 2020. However, 26th October is in the list of public holidays as so-called Accession Day.

Members of a delegation of human rights activists from Canada at the conclusion of their three-week visit to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, vowed to intensify their efforts on behalf of the suffering people of occupied Kashmir. The delegation was led by Zafar Bangash, Convener of Friends of Kashmir Committee Canada and also included Mrs Karen Rodman, Ms Michaela Lavis and Dr Jonathan Kuttab.

APHC-AJK leader and Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement, Abdul Majeed Malik talking in Islamabad to the Kashmiri refugees, who had come from Bagh and Kotli areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, appealed to the world community to put pressure on India to settle the Kashmir dispute according to the UN resolutions and Kashmiris’ aspirations.

‘Go to Pakistan’, says Indian officer as leader praises crackdown

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Officials in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, including its hardline chief minister, have made controversial remarks while rejecting accusations that police are using “deadly force” against mostly Muslim protesters.

The state, India’s most populous with nearly 20 percent of them Muslims, saw 19 of the 27 deaths so far in nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which critics see as anti-Muslim.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rebuffed accusations from Muslims and rights groups of police abuses, crediting his tough stance with restoring calm to the streets.

‘Every rioter is shocked’

“Every rioter is shocked. Every troublemaker is astonished. Looking at the strictness of the Yogi government, everyone is silent,” one of Adityanath’s verified official accounts on Twitter said late on Friday.

“Do whatever you want to, but the damages will be paid by those who cause damages,” it added, repeating the warning his government had made earlier in the week.

“#TheGreat_CMYogi,” read the hashtag with the tweet, which came hours before a video appeared in which a senior Uttar Pradesh police officer is seen telling a group of Muslims: “Go to Pakistan.”

The video circulating on social media is likely to compound the concerns of those worried about the plight of Muslims, who accuse the police of killing peaceful demonstrators, raiding and ransacking homes, and beating hundreds of people, even children, since protests against the CAA began earlier this month.

The video shows Akhilesh Narayan Singh, a police officer in Meerut district where five Muslims have been killed, telling a group of men in a Muslim neighbourhood to “go to Pakistan if you don’t want to live here”.

“You eat here but sing praises of another place… This lane is now familiar to me. And once I remember, I can even reach your grandmother,” Singh says in the video. “Every man from every house will be arrested.”

Zeba Warsi@Zebaism

“GO TO PAKISTAN”

Watch how UP Police speaks the language of trolls.

Meerut SP Akhilesh N Singh can be seen here Speaking to protesters.

How can our police talk like this! #AntiCAAProtests

Singh told Reuters News Agency that some protesters were shouting pro-Pakistan slogans. “It is in this situation I told them to go to Pakistan,” he said on Saturday.

The “Go to Pakistan” statement is often posted on social media by the supporters of the right-wing BJP in response to posts critical of the ruling party.

Threats of confiscating property

Uttar Pradesh has seen the most violent turmoil over Modi’s citizenship law, which activists say is discriminatory towards Muslims, who make up some 14 percent of India’s 1.3 billion population.

The clashes in the state appear to have eased over the past week, however, although small-scale demonstrations are still taking place.

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Indian state warns protesters it will confiscate property

Earlier this week, Adityanath’s government said it was demanding millions of rupees from more than 200 people, threatening to confiscate their property to pay for damage caused during the protests.

Rights groups have decried what they say have been mass detentions and excessive force in the state, where officers have arrested more than 1,000 people.

Activists have pointed out that while protests against the citizenship law have happened across the country, protesters have been killed only in states governed by the BJP.

“There is terror over there [Uttar Pradesh] … people in Muslim colonies are staying up all night to guard their houses. They are terrified of a police raid or a communal attack,” Kavita Krishnan, a member of a fact-finding team that visited the state, told reporters.

The citizenship legislation makes it easier for members of religious minorities from India’s Muslim-majority neighbours – Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan – who settled in India before 2015 to get citizenship but does not offer the same concession to Muslims.

Critics say the law – and plans for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) – discriminate against Muslims and are an attack on the secular constitution by Modi’s government.

Protests continue

While the government says no citizen will be affected and there are no imminent plans for a register, conflicting statements by Modi and his closest aide, Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, have added to confusion and fear.

Officials from the opposition Congress party held a protest in Uttar Pradesh’s main city of Lucknow on Saturday under the slogan, “Save Constitution-Save India”.

“They can punish us, throw us in jail, siphon our property but they will not be able to stop us from continuing our protest,” said Akhilesh Tomar, a student activist who has teamed up with Congress to coordinate protests in four Muslim-majority districts of the state.

Protests were also planned in the northeastern state of Assam, where migration has long been an emotive political issue, with protesters expecting increasing turnout in smaller towns.

Meanwhile, Hindu activists associated with Modi’s party were conducting workshops in slums in an effort to ease public discontent.

“We have to explain the facts to the common people who are being misled against the law by the opposition,” said Ram Naresh Tanwar, a member of a group called the Hindu Jagran Samiti, or Hindu Reawakening Committee, in the capital New Delhi.

Genocide of Muslims a step away in IOK, Assam: Dr Stanton

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Washington, December 14: The world’s best-known expert on genocide has said Muslims in occupied Kashmir and Assam (India) are just one step away from extermination (genocide).

President of the Genocide Watch, Dr Gregory Stanton, at a Briefing at the US Congress in Washington said, “Preparation for genocide is definitely under way in India.” He said, the persecution of Muslims in Assam and Kashmir is the stage just before genocide and the next stage is extermination- that’s what we call a genocide.

The Congressional Briefing “Ground reports on Kashmir & NRC” was organized by three US-based civil society organizations – the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), Emgage Action and Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR).

Dr Stanton said the ongoing genocide in both Kashmir and Assam was a “classic case” and followed the pattern of the “Ten Stages of Genocide”. He said that Modi’s regime had all the hallmarks of an incipient Nazi regime. “Nationalism taken to its extreme is fascism and Nazism,” he added.

Dr Stanton created the world-famous “Ten Stages of Genocide” as a presentation to the US Department of State when he worked there in 1996. He also drafted UN Security Council resolutions that created the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda and the Burundi Commission of Inquiry, two places where genocides had occurred.

After leaving the Department of State in 1999, Dr Stanton founded Genocide Watch, a civil society organization that says it “exists to predict, prevent, stop and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder”. A former President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, his research on genocides in Cambodia and Rwanda, and of the Rohingyas is recognized worldwide.

The first stage was “classification” of “us versus them”. The second stage, “symbolization”, named the victims as “foreigner”. The third stage, “discrimination”, ‘classified [the victims] out of the group accepted for citizenship” so that they had no “human rights or civil rights of citizens” and were “discriminated against legally”. The fourth stage, dehumanization, “is when the genocidal spiral begins to go downwards. You classify the others as somehow worse than you. You give them names like ‘terrorists’, or even names of animals, start referring to them as a cancer in the body politic, you talk about them as a disease that must be somehow dealt with.”

The fifth stage was creating an “organization” to commit the genocide: the role played by the “Indian army in Kashmir and the census takers in Assam”. The sixth stage was “polarization”, which is achieved by propaganda. The seventh stage was “preparation”, and the eighth “persecution”, where Assam and Kashmir currently were. After the ninth stage of “extermination”, comes the tenth stage of “denial”, Dr. Stanton said.

Dr Angana Chatterji, a scholar with University of California, Berkeley, also participating in the Briefing via video link, slammed the crackdown in occupied Kashmir since Modi government revoked special status of Kashmir on August 5. “Reports have documented the inhumane treatment and torture of children, the elderly, and women; illegal detentions, including mass detentions; the denial of the basic needs of life, the curtailment of freedom of speech and movement, the falsification of social facts and their amplification by the authorities and the closure of sacred places,” she said.

She criticized India’s Home Minister, Amit Shah, for reportedly saying that Western human rights standards cannot be blindly applied to India. “Today, over 120 days into the siege, the continuance of preventive detention and illegal, warrantless detention; custodial torture; the reported violation of the right to information, health, education, food and shelter, restrictions on freedom of speech and civil and political rights; and the denial of political space remain urgent, critical issues,” she added.

Dr Chatterji said, “Kashmiris be given the opportunity to publicly articulate their experiences and express their anguish, rage, fear, helplessness and dissent. The international community’s outrage has not been impactful thus far. When a state fails to uphold its mandate to govern within the parameters of international law, the international community must act.”

Raqib Hameed Naik, a journalist from occupied Kashmir, said the ongoing lockdown in the occupied territory was one of the worst sieges in the last decade. He also disputed the Indian government’s claim that Indian troops had not killed any Kashmiris since August 5 when the special status of the territory was withdrawn.

“Let me put it on record that, so far, we have been able to document five killings by Indian forces. The number could be higher, but due to communications blockade and severe restrictions on the movement of the press, we have not been able to get exact figures from different parts of the Valley,” Naik said.

He said that he had met with many minors who were imprisoned without charges. One of them, Muzamil Feroz Rah of Srinagar was arrested by the police in a midnight raid from his home. He said that the courts in Kashmir were not functional as most lawyers were on strike against the illegal detention of Bar Association’s President. In any case, he said, many family members are reluctant to seek judicial remedy as they fear that the authorities might charge their kin if they approach the courts for bails.

The communications blockade was also affecting every sector and healthcare, IT, hospitality, banking, and education were affected the most, Naik said. “The e-commerce sector dependent on the internet has seen 10,000 people lost their jobs. Thousands of children couldn’t submit forms for engineering and medical entrance examinations due to the Internet shutdown.

He said, “Patients needing dialysis, chemotherapy, and emergency surgeries, and pregnant women are unable to reach tertiary health care centers due to the transport shutdown.” Communications had broken down between pharmacies and drug suppliers. “Dr Farida Ghoghawala, who runs infertility clinics in Kashmir, hasn’t been able to follow up on even a single patient in last five months due to the Internet shutdown,” Naik added.

Ms Teesta Setalvad, a human rights defender, who also joined the briefing by video, said that the National Register for Citizens (NRC) in Assam, which had discriminated against Muslims in the state, was being used to subvert human rights in Assam. There are laid down guidelines and standard operating procedures to carry out this exercise but none of it is being followed, she added.

The NRC process was being used to pit lingual communities against each other and creating fissures between different castes… A frenzy is being whipped up in West Bengal, Meghalaya and other states “to disturb the peace and create unrest,” she said.

Ms Setalvad criticized the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) that was approved by Indian Parliament this week and aims to introduce religion as a basis to grant Indian citizenship to foreigners. The CAB, along with a nationwide NRC as Amit Shah has announced, will bring untold suffering to people across the country. It will damage, fundamentally and irreparably, the nature of the Indian republic. This is why they, and all citizens of conscience, demand that the government not betray the constitution,” she said.

India just redefined its citizenship criteria to exclude Muslims

By Sigal Samuel

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A man holds a placard during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in New Delhi, India.  Getty Images

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India is home to 200 million Muslims. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they have faced mounting threats to their status in the majority-Hindu country. And on Wednesday, they were walloped by a new worrisome development: The upper house of India’s Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).

The legislation turns religion into a means of deciding whom to treat as an illegal immigrant — and whom to fast-track for citizenship. The bill is being sent to President Ram Nath Kovind for his approval (he will almost certainly sign it), and then it will become law.

At first glance, the bill may seem like a laudable effort to protect persecuted minorities. It says Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who came to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan won’t be treated as illegal. They’ll have a clear path to citizenship.

But one major group has been left out: Muslims.

That’s no coincidence.

The CAB is closely linked with another contentious document: India’s National Register of Citizens (NRC). That citizenship list is part of the government’s effort to identify and weed out people it claims are illegal immigrants in the northeastern state of Assam. India says many Muslims whose families originally came from neighboring Bangladesh are not rightful citizens, even though they’ve lived in Assam for decades.

When the NRC was published in August, around 2 million people — many of them Muslims, some of them Hindus — found that their names were not on it. They were told they had a limited time in which to prove that they are, in fact, citizens. Otherwise, they can be rounded up into massive new detention camps and, ultimately, deported.

So far, this measure affects potentially 2 million people, not all 200 million Muslims in India. However, Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said it plans to extend the NRC process across the country.

Muslims have faced increasing discrimination and violence over the past few years under Modi’s BJP. But the one-two punch of the NRC followed by the CAB takes this to a new level. The country is beginning to look less like a secular democracy and more like a Hindu nationalist state.

If the Indian government proceeds with its plan, in a worst-case scenario we could be looking at the biggest refugee crisis on the planet. The United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom have all warned that this could soon turn into a humanitarian disaster of horrifying proportions.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill

The CAB is only the latest measure the Indian government has taken to marginalize its Muslim minority (more on this below). This measure is particularly blatant in its discrimination.

The CAB will grant citizenship to a host of religious minorities who fled three nearby countries where they may have faced persecution — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan — before 2015. But Muslims will get no such protection.

The BJP is positioning the CAB as a means of offering expedited citizenship to persecuted minorities. “It seeks to address their current difficulties and meet their basic human rights,” said Raveesh Kumar, a spokesman for the country’s Ministry of External Affairs. “Such an initiative should be welcomed, not criticized by those who are genuinely committed to religious freedom.”

After the CAB passed on Wednesday, Modi tweeted: “A landmark day for India and our nation’s ethos of compassion and brotherhood! … This Bill will alleviate the suffering of many who faced persecution for years.”

In fact, this bill is likely to increase the suffering of many Muslims and is discriminatory on its face, as some of the BJP’s political opposition and several human rights advocates in India have noted.

Shashi Tharoor, whose Congress party opposes the CAB, dubbed it “fundamentally unconstitutional.”

Cedric Prakash, a Jesuit priest and human rights advocate, said in an emailed statement that by “assuring citizenship to all undocumented persons except those of the Muslim faith, the CAB risks … destroying the secular and democratic tenets of our revered Constitution.”

India’s Constitution guarantees everyone equality under the law. Religion is not a criterion for citizenship eligibility, a decision that goes all the way back to the 1940s, when India was founded as a secular state with special protections for minorities like Muslims.

Harsh Mander, a noted rights advocate of Sikh origins, wrote that the CAB represents “the gravest threat to India’s secular democratic Constitution since India became a republic.” He said that if the bill becomes law, he’ll declare himself a Muslim out of solidarity. Meanwhile, he’s also calling for Indians to fight the CAB with a nationwide civil disobedience movement.

Already, protests are underway. In Assam’s capital, authorities have shut down the internet and implemented a curfew. The New York Times reported:

The Indian Army was deployed in the northeastern states of Assam and Tripura as protests grew bigger and more violent. The police were already battling demonstrators over the past few days with water cannons and tear gas. More than 1,000 protesters gathered in the heart of Assam’s commercial capital, Guwahati, yelling: “Go Back Modi!” In other areas, angry men stomped on effigies of Mr. Modi. Crowds set fire to tires and blocked thoroughfares with trees.

As protests against the legislation erupted in different corners of the country, the debate centered on what kind of country India should be.

“The idea of India that emerged from the independence movement,” said a letter signed by more than 1,000 Indian intellectuals, “is that of a country that aspires to treat people of all faiths equally.” But this bill, the intellectuals said, is “a radical break with this history” and will “greatly strain the pluralistic fabric of the country.”

Meanwhile, international human rights organizations are up in arms. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom said India is taking a “dangerous turn in the wrong direction,” adding that the US should weigh sanctions against India if it enshrines the bill in law.

Activists from All Assam Students’ Union burn effigies of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others associated with the Citizenship Amendment Bill.  Getty Images

However, Modi enjoys strong support from the Hindu majority, members of which seem to applaud him even more loudly when he cracks down on Muslims. And the country has swung to the right since he first came to power in 2014. It’s noteworthy that the bill passed not only in the lower house of parliament, where the BJP enjoys a majority, but also in the upper house, where it does not.

Now, the CAB will almost certainly be signed into law. The only hope for those who oppose it is that it will be struck down in court on the grounds that it’s unconstitutional.

Muslims stripped of citizenship may end up in massive detention camps

Exacerbating Muslim Indians’ anxiety about the citizenship bill is the recent rhetoric around the NRC.

Those in Assam whose names do not appear on the NRC have been told the burden of proof is on them to prove that they are citizens. But many rural residents don’t have birth certificates or other papers, and even among those who do, many can’t read them; a quarter of the population in Assam state is illiterate.

Residents do get the chance to appeal to a Foreigners’ Tribunal and, if it rejects their claims to citizenship, to the High Court of Assam or even the Supreme Court. But if all that fails, they can be sent to one of 10 mass detention camps the government plans to build, complete with boundary walls and watchtowers.

The first camp, currently under construction, is the size of seven football fields. Even nursing mothers and children will be held there. “Children lodged in detention centers are to be provided educational facilities in nearby local schools,” an Indian official said.

If the detainees in the camps end up being expelled from India — and that is the government’s plan — this could constitute a wave of forced migration even greater than that triggered by Myanmar in 2017, when hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims were displaced.

And it’s not clear where the newly stateless people would go. Neighboring Bangladesh has already said it won’t take them. All this has induced such intense anxiety that some Muslims are committing suicide.

By undermining the status of Muslims, India is undermining its own democracy

India is known as the largest democracy in the world. But its current government is leading it away from democratic norms.

Modi champions a hardline brand of Hindu nationalism known as Hindutva, which aims to define Indian culture in terms of Hindu history and values and which promotes an exclusionary attitude toward Muslims. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet recently expressed concerns over “increasing harassment and targeting of minorities — in particular, Muslims.”

Under Modi, vigilante Hindus have increasingly perpetrated hate crimes against Muslims, sometimes in an effort to scare their communities into moving away, other times to punish them for selling beef (cows are considered sacred in Hinduism). And this summer, Modi erased the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state, which had previously enjoyed considerable autonomy over its own affairs.

Muslims comprise approximately 14 percent of the national population. and more than twice that in Assam state. In the 2019 Indian election, one of Modi’s central campaign promises was that he’d get the NRC in shape and deal with the Muslim migrants in Assam once and for all. Other BJP members have used dehumanizing language to describe the Muslims there.

“These infiltrators are eating away at our country like termites,” BJP president and home minister Amit Shah said at an April rally. “The NRC is our means of removing them.” Shah has openly said the goal is to deport those who are deemed illegal immigrants.

Last month, Shah said the government will conduct another count of citizens — this time nationwide. This could be used to clamp down on Muslims throughout India, potentially triggering a huge humanitarian disaster.

The Latest from Indian Occupied Kashmir

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Military siege continues to affect daily life in IOK

Srinagar, December 08 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, unabated military siege and lockdown continue to affect the daily life in the Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu region on 126th straight day, today.

A sense of fear prevails among the local population due to the imposition of restrictions under Section 144 in the territory. Shops and other business establishments are mostly closed and educational institutions and offices wear a deserted look as mark of people’s disobedience against Indian occupation, particularly anti-Kashmir steps taken by India on August 5.

The suspension of internet, text messaging and prepaid mobile services continues to haunt almost all segments of the society including students, businessmen, doctors and patients.

Senior Congress leader and former Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that the freedom was being denied to 75 lakh people in the Kashmir valley. P Chidambaram addressing a press conference in Channai after release from Delhi prison dubbed the Indian government “retrograde”.

A bipartisan resolution has been introduced in the US House of Representatives asking India to end the restrictions on communication and mass detentions in Jammu and Kashmir.

End curbs, allow int’l observers to access IOK, India asked

Washington, December 08 (KMS): A bipartisan resolution has been introduced in the US House of Representatives asking India to end the restrictions on communication and mass detentions in Jammu and Kashmir as swiftly as possible.

Resolution number 745 was introduced by Indian-American Democrat lawmaker Pramila Jayapal, along with Republican lawmaker Steve Watkins. It has been more than four months now since political leaders, including three former chief ministers, were detained in Jammu and Kashmir, following the revocation of Article 370 under the Constitution that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The internet remains cut off for most people. The resolution in the US, which will be put to vote in the house, says: “…Urges the Government of India to lift the remaining restrictions on communication and to restore internet access across all of Jammu and Kashmir as swiftly as possible; swiftly release arbitrarily detained people in Jammu and Kashmir; refrain from conditioning the release of detained people on their willingness to sign bonds prohibiting any political activities and speeches; allow international human rights observers and journalists to access Jammu and Kashmir and operate freely throughout India, without threats, and condemn, at the highest levels, all religiously motivated violence, including that violence which targets against religious minorities.

The US lawmakers said they reject arbitrary detention, use of excessive force against civilians, and suppression of peaceful expression of dissent as proportional responses to security challenges.

“…Urges the Government of India to ensure that any actions taken in pursuit of legitimate security priorities respect the human rights of all people and adhere to international human rights law,” the resolution said.

The US House is Representatives is dominated by Democrats who have been extremely critical of India’s restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir. India has been lobbying hard to counter this, and has hired a lobbying firm close to the Democratic Party to get its message across.

There have been two US Congress hearings on Jammu and Kashmir so far.

In October, India said it is regrettable that a few US lawmakers used a Congressional hearing to question measures to protect the lives of people in Jammu and Kashmir. “It is regrettable that a few members of the US Congress used the Congressional hearing on human rights in South Asia to question the measures taken recently to safeguard life, peace and security in Kashmir,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar had said.

Syed Ali Gilani calls for shutdown, Black Day on World HR Day

Srinagar, December 07 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani, has appealed to the people to observe the World Human Rights Day, the 10th December, as Black Day to draw the attention of the international community towards the appalling human rights situation in the territory.

Syed Ali Gilani in a statement issued in Srinagar also asked the masses to mark the day with complete shutdown to remind the world that it has an obligation to stop Indian repression against the Kashmiri people and play an effective role in resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.

The APHC Chairman said when the world is observing Human Rights Day, Indian occupational forces have broken all records of committing barbarity and excesses on the Kashmiri people. He said that Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, was a milestone with regard to the rights and freedom for every human being, but despite this universal document, Kashmiri people’s political and human rights were being violated constantly.

Syed Ali Gilani said that the continued denial of right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir was the biggest human rights violation. He maintained that right to self-determination is a universally recognized right and the same was promised to people of Jammu and Kashmir by the United Nations but India was suppressing this right by resorting to the worst human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. “It is unfortunate that the world has remained largely unmindful about these violations and as a result India got encouraged to carry on its brutal repression against peaceful and unarmed Kashmiris,” he added.

The APHC Chairman said that the Kashmiri people were suffering for the past over seven decades due to the non-resolution of the Kashmir dispute. He said that New Delhi’s obduracy had remained a stumbling block in the peaceful settlement of this dispute and noted that New Delhi was denying not only the Kashmiris their fundamental right to self-determination but was continuously violating their civil and political rights at the dint of its military might. He said that human rights violations would continue to occur as long as Indian troops were present in occupied Kashmir. He urged the international community to break its silence on the current human rights situation in Kashmir and held India accountable for its crimes in the territory.

Syed Ali Gilani said that people in occupied Kashmir were striving for their just rights but India was using brutal methods to suppress their genuine aspirations. He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir have seen and continue to see the worst human rights violations as state repression goes from bad to worse post India’s illegal and unilateral action of stripping Kashmir of its special status on August 5, 2019. He said Jammu and Kashmir, already one of the most militarized zones on earth, has been under inhuman lockdown since then, with a communications blackout, mass arrests, and an intensified military presence.

The APHC Chairman said over 70 years have passed and Kashmiri people continue to suffer immensely at the hands of Indian forces, who are implementing the policy of subjugation of Kashmiris and control over their lives, rights, culture and dignity. He maintained that India will face humiliating defeat in Kashmir one day as history is witness to the fact that freedom struggles can’t be suppressed by dint of force forever. He added that the people’s will to fight for their freedom is stronger than the usurper’s evil machinations.

Syed Ali Gilani said today when Indian rulers are displaying bigotry and have increased repression manifold against the Kashmiri people to defeat their resistance, it is the duty of all Kashmiris to remain steadfast, uphold unity in their ranks and keep the flame of freedom lit. He said that a struggle that is nourished by the sacred blood of martyrs cannot be defeated and as long as a single Kashmiri is alive, this struggle for freedom and right to self-determination will remain alive.

Anger over India’s diplomat calling for ‘Israel model’ in Kashmir

Al-Jazeera – With inputs from Bilal Kuchay in New Delhi

In video posted by filmmaker, India’s consul general to US seems to advocate Israel-like settlements of Kashmiri Hindus.

 

Kashmir is reeling under a crippling military lockdown and internet blackout for nearly four months [Danish Ismail/Reuters]

 

Kashmir dispute can lead to a nuclear catastrophe: Prof Ghani

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Amid lockdown, increasing chill adds to woes of IOK people

Srinagar, November 23 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, senior Hurriyat leader, Professor Abdul Ghani Butt, has said that India should accept the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is a recognized international dispute, which is testified by the relevant UN resolutions.

Professor Abdul Ghani Butt in a media interview in Srinagar said, if the Kashmir dispute is not resolved, the situation can lead to a nuclear catastrophe in South Asia and the world will not be able to cope with its dangerous consequences. He said that the human rights violations in occupied Kashmir by Indian troops were condemnable and military lockdown and the gagging of Internet were the worst of the rights abuses. He said that the people of the occupied territory were staying inside their homes and in this way they were expressing their anger in a graceful manner.

Professor Abdul Ghani Butt pointed out that the efforts of Pakistan, particularly those of its Prime Minister Imran Khan, had centre-staged the Kashmir dispute all across the globe and this issue had assumed the priority number one for the global powers.

Meanwhile, the residents of the Kashmir Valley continue to suffer immensely as India-imposed lockdown remained enforced on 111th consecutive day, today. The increasing chill after fresh rains and snowfall has added to the miseries of the people. Due to continued lockdown, people could not stock essential commodities for the harsh winter – a centuries-old practice as Srinagar-Jammu Highway, the only surface link of the territory remains closed for most of the season. The anger among the masses increased against India over its illegal actions and the recent statement of the Indian Home Minister, Amit Shah, in which he claimed return of the normalcy in the Kashmir Valley. The presence of barbed wires and police check-points in every chowk of the Hindu-dominated Jammu city proves that the situation is contrary to the claims of the Indian rulers even about Jammu region.

Even former BJP leader, Yashwant Sinha, who is part of a team of Indian activists visiting occupied Kashmir talking to reporters in Srinagar refuted Amit Shah’s claims about the normalcy in Kashmir. He said that Amit Shah gave a one-sided picture of the Kashmir situation, which was far from normal as people in the Kashmir Valley were angry and distressed about the present situation.

The occupation authorities had to face embarrassment as Indian police itself shared with the media a document highlighting the human rights abuses by Indian troops in the territory. The document contains screenshots of pro-Kashmir tweets or reports, pictures of torture by the forces and anti-India statements by Pakistan or leaders of other countries.

On the other hand, three Left members of Indian Parliament have sought permission from the authorities of occupied Kashmir to visit the territory. The members of Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian Parliament, T.K. Rangarajan, Elamaram Kareem and Binoy Viswam have written a letter to occupied Kashmir’s principal secretary, home, Shaleen Kabra, stating that if the administration could allow Members of the European Parliament, surely Indian parliamentarians too could be allowed.

Yashwant Sinha refutes Amit Shah’s claims of normalcy in IOK

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Srinagar, November 23 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, former leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Yashwant Sinha, has refuted Indian Home Minister, Amit Shah’s claims about the return of normalcy in the territory.

Yashwant Sinha, the former Indian external affairs minister, is part of a team on a four-day visit to the Valley for an independent assessment of the prevailing situation in the aftermath of the repeal of Kashmir’s special status by the Indian government on August 5. The team also includes Wajahat Habibullah, Bharat Bhushan, Sushoba Bharve and Kapil Kak.

Talking to reporters in Srinagar, Sinha said, “Home Minister, Amit Shah gave a one-sided picture of the Kashmir situation, which is far from normal as people in the (Kashmir) Valley are angry and distressed about the present situation. The statements made by him in the Parliament are totally averse to the ground situation. The picture of normalcy presented is incorrect.”

He said that Kashmir had been reeling under severe uncertainty since August 5 and their team would gauge the actual ground situation and present the same to Indian government. He said that people had suffered huge losses and their lives had been affected. “People associated with the trade and industries, tourism and transport have suffered huge losses; whole chain has been disrupted,” he said.

He said that people were unable to pay back loans. “I have seen banks seizing the vehicles of transporters who were unable to pay bank loans due to lack of transportation and tourism. “Livelihood of several people has been affected and this aspect has not been counted in the normalcy. Whatever we have heard in the Parliament no one talked about this aspect. The economic loss which the people have suffered here would be our priority. We would talk to the people of Chamber and Commerce. Our effort will be to present right picture of Jammu and Kashmir to India,” he added.

Yashwant Sinha said that although they had not carried out assessment but saw shops closed on way to hotel from airport. “We have not carried any assessment yet. We just came from airport and found all shops shut on our way. It suggests that the chain has been disrupted,” he maintained.

Former chief information commissioner of India, Wajahat Habibullah, who is part of a group called ‘Concerned Citizens’ Group’ that arrived here on Wednesday, said the suspension of the democratic liberties of people is of highest concern for him. “If the democratic liberties of people are muzzled, that should be immediately restored,” he said.

The day the story of Kashmir changed forever

By Hafsa Kanjwal

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India unintentionally internationalised the Kashmir issue when it revoked the region’s special status in August.

Demonstrators protest in solidarity with the people of Kashmir outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 27, 2019 [Shannon Stapleton/Reuters]

 

On October 22, the US House Subcommittee on Asia held an historic hearing on Human Rights in Asia. While the hearing covered human rights concerns in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Indian state of Assam, the bulk of the discussion was on the ongoing siege in Indian-occupied Kashmir. It was the first time so much attention had been devoted to Kashmir in the US Congress.

Ever since the Indian government revoked the region’s special status on August 5, imposed a communication blockade and precipitated fears of a settler-colonial project, the world’s most militarised zone has been internationalised in an unprecedented way.

The US hearing marks a critical shift in how the Kashmir issue has been discussed in policy circles.

Witnesses were able to highlight the immense amount of state repression in Kashmir, and not just after August 5. Amnesty International’s representative, Francisco Bencosme, spoke of the detentions, the lack of press freedoms and the worrying attacks on religious freedom in India. Members of Congress asked difficult questions about the justification for the communications blockade. As Susan Wild, a representative from Pennsylvania, stated: “To me, if there is no transparency, there is something that is being hidden.” Expert scholars on Kashmir, including Nitasha Kaul and Angana Chatterji, spoke about the rise of Hindu majoritarianism and its relationship to Nazism, as well as the prevalence of enforced disappearances, rape, extrajudicial killings and torture in Kashmir.

While admitting that US diplomats had not been allowed into Kashmir since August 5, officials from the State Department, including assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and assistant secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Robert Destro,  demonstrated an apologetic approach to India’s talking points, emphasising the importance of US relations with India.

Nonetheless, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did for Kashmir overnight what the movement for Kashmiri self-determination had struggled for more than seven decades to do.

Last month, for the first time in 50 years, the United Nations Security Council held a closed-door session on Kashmir. During his visit to the US, Modi was met in Houston and New York with the largest protests ever seen in the US over Kashmir.

Dozens of elected officials in the US have spoken out against the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Modi’s actions have also reinvigorated an otherwise politically complacent Kashmiri diaspora, who are now fully aware of the existential threat their families face under the Hindu nationalist government. They have been at the forefront of urging the international community to centre Kashmiri perspectives and aspirations, and to move away from seeing the issue solely through the lens of a bilateral dispute between India and Pakistan.

Hundreds of cities around the world have held protests, vigils, marches and teach-ins. People who might have never heard of Kashmir before August 5 are now mobilised and want to take action. Progressive and interfaith coalitions are becoming aware of the links between Kashmir and other anti-fascist, anti-colonial, anti-occupation and anti-war struggles around the world.

Most importantly, however, India’s miscalculation has managed to highlight the right to Kashmiri self-determination, and the realisation that Kashmir is indeed a disputed territory awaiting a political resolution.

For years, India hid behind the rhetoric of the so-called war on terror, treating Kashmir as an “internal” law and security concern. It bragged of its status as the world’s largest democracy, while brutally repressing the pro-freedom sentiments of the Kashmiri people.

Given that the international community rarely spoke out when dozens of Kashmiris would be killed or pelleted, or when reports of torture and human rights violations were released by human rights organisations, the Indian government, perhaps, thought that this time the response to such state aggression would be no different.

Instead, US presidential contenders like Bernie Sanders are calling for the implementation of UN resolutions on Kashmir that “respect the wishes of the Kashmiri people,” and the Labour Party in the United Kingdom has also passed an emergency motion on Kashmir calling for party leader Jeremy Corbyn to seek international observers to “enter” the region and demand the right of self-determination for its people.

Despite its best efforts, the Hindu nationalist government in India has struggled to combat the international condemnation. While they have certainly been on the diplomatic offensive, they have been unable to provide coherent answers for the gagging of over eight million people, besides resorting to the age-old tropes of Pakistani interference and terrorism.

It has become difficult for even the most vociferous allies of India to justify a siege that is implemented in the interest of the region’s people. Amnesty’s Bencosme said as much during the hearing when he stated: “It’s completely unthinkable that you will detain children, political leaders and youth adults, close down all communication, put people under a curfew to bolster tourism in a region.”

Nonetheless, the Indian lobby and its apologists never fail to raise the bogey of Pakistan. While India’s talking points on Kashmir have always been to posit mass civil resistance as “proxies for Pakistan,” they now parrot the same narratives for those mobilising outside of Kashmir. Indian journalist Aarti Tickoo Singh, who defended India’s actions at the hearing, described the Kashmiri diaspora-led grassroots solidarity group Stand with Kashmir as “Pakistan’s ISI team.”

It is this kind of attitude, and the inability or sheer refusal to see the writing on the wall, that has marked India’s position on Kashmir. But the unravelling of this position is giving way to a new movement – one that can no longer be contained.

Ilhan Omar faces abuse after challenging Indian reporter at US Congress

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Congresswoman Ilhan Omar criticised Indian journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh for defending India’s actions in Kashmir and found herself in the midst of a Twitter hate campaign.

US Representatives, Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (R) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) look on during an Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation Subcommittee hearing on “Human Rights in South Asia: Views from the State Department and the Region” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on October 22, 2019. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP)

Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar received enormous hate from Indian Twitter users for challenging journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh’s defence of India’s aggressive actions in Kashmir.

Singh testified at the US House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Human Rights in South Asia on October 22 2019, describing India’s lockdown in Kashmir as a necessary measure to avoid civilian casualties and to take the state on the path of prosperity.

Singh also defended the revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution by the Indian government which effectively ended Kashmir’s special status with India. India revoked Article 370 on August 5 2019, sparking much controversy and worldwide concern.

This article was the bedrock of Kashmir’s accession to India in 1947. It also safeguarded the environment and demographic balance of the disputed region by forbidding citizens of other Indian states from buying land there.

While ending Kashmir’s special status, the Indian government blocked communications in India-administered Kashmir, cutting off landlines and the internet, and imposed a curfew as well. The lockdown continued for over two months. In early October, about 50 percent of mobile communication was restored in the region but the internet ban is still in effect.

Singh said Kashmiri Muslims were more terrorised by Pakistan-sponsored militants, overlooking India’s bad human rights record in Kashmir, where cases of abuse, ranging from custodial killings to enforced disappearances and torture by Indian armed forces, can be found in almost every neighbourhood.

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar would have none of it. Omar accused Singh of using her platform as a journalist to whitewash India’s crimes in Kashmir.

“Ms Singh, a reporter’s job is to find the objective truth about what is happening and report it to the public. You have an enormous audience at The Times of India and you have an enormous responsibility to get it right. I am aware of how the narrative shaped by reporting can distort the truth. I am also very aware of how it could be limited to sharing only the official side of the story,” Omar said.

“The press is at its worst when it is a mouthpiece for a government. In your version of the story, the only problems in Kashmir are caused by what you call militants, the only people protesting to break away from India; and are all nefariously backed by Pak.”

Omar didn’t stop there: “You also make the incredible dubious claim that the Indian government’s crackdown in Kashmir is good for human rights. If it was good for human rights, Ms Singh, it wouldn’t be happening in secret. You make, what I might call, a feminist case for the occupation of Kashmir and communication shutdowns, saying it will be better for women.”

Singh responded: “My record, my professional record is that I have lashed out at every single government in India on various issues, from human rights violations committed in Kashmir to the lynchings over beef.”

She continued: “I have a record of being non-partisan throughout in my profession of the last 20 years. So for Ms Omar to say… such accusations against me, is really condemnable.”

Omar’s support of Kashmiris affected by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decisions made her a target in social media. She was falsely accused of having “married her brother” for example.

Harbir Singh@HarbirSingh_

The woman who married her brother to defraud American immigration, then fornicated with her own employee, is now the hero of Pakistan’s Jihad against India in Kashmir.

What desperate straits @NarendraModi has put the Jihadis in, now leaning on degenerates like @IlhanMN https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1186698702309724160 …

Rep. Ilhan Omar

✔@Ilhan

Kashmiris have been restricted from communicating outside their country for 50+ days.

In Assam, almost 2 million people are being asked to prove their citizenship. This is how the Rohingya genocide started.

At what point do we question whether PM Modi shares our values?

The same user, Harbir Singh, who happens to be Aarti Tikoo Singh’s husband, also claimed that Omar was a Somalian gang member before immigrating to the US, and would not delete his tweet despite others challenging its veracity. Only later did he thank Twitter users “for pointing out that this is not @IlhanMN.”

Pratik Sinha

✔@free_thinker

After journalist Aarti Tikoo Singh’s congressional hearing, Columnist Harbir Singh shared an image of a woman with an automatic weapon claiming she is US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. | @Pooja_Chaudhuri https://www.altnews.in/no-this-is-not-us-congresswoman-ilhan-omar-at-a-training-camp-of-a-somali-warlord/ …

No, this is not US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a training camp of a Somali warlord – Alt News

Columnist Harbir Singh quote-tweeted a tweet which shared a photograph of a turbaned woman holding an automatic weapon. The original tweet claimed that the image showed US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at…

Criticisms aimed at Omar did not stop there. Twitter user Abhijit Iyer-Mitra alluded to Omar wearing a vest that detonates, suggesting that she is a suicide bomber. In a previous tweet, Iyer-Mitra had called Omar a “jihadi”.

Abhijit Iyer-Mitra

✔@Iyervval

Hoo boy!!! @AartiTikoo is really giving it back in a nice dignified way!!! Forced Sherman to correct the record on “foreign press not allowed in Kashmir” … waiting for Ilhan to detonate her vest anytime now https://twitter.com/iyervval/status/1186726505256144896 …

Abhijit Iyer-Mitra

✔@Iyervval

Wow!!! Jihadi @IlhanMN just levelled a set of slanderous Pakistani talking points at @AartiTikoo & then doesn’t give her the chance to respond turning to Fai’s lil ISI muppet Angana Chatterji. Choreographed misuse of her prerogative.

Despite a campaign to smear Omar’s name for sympathising with Kashmiris suffering in India-administered Kashmir, there was still support for the congresswoman.

Irena Akbar@irenaakbar

So, I watched the video. Ilhan Omar actually did Aarti Tikoo Singh a favour by reminding her of the basics of journalism. She told her upfront that a journalist isn’t a mouthpiece of the government (in response to Tikoo’s M0di-fied account of Kashmir lockdown). I love Ilhan!

Millions of people continue to suffer in IOK

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Strict military siege enters 83rd straight day

Srinagar, October 26 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, millions of people living in Kashmir Valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu region continue to suffer immensely due to strict military siege imposed by India.

Normal life remains badly hit on the 83rd straight day, today, in the Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu due to restrictions and gag on internet and cellular services barring partial restoration of postpaid connections and landline phones.

Despite the occupation authorities’ efforts to restore normalcy in occupied Kashmir, people continue to observe shutdown as a silent protest against India’s recent actions in the territory. Shops and business establishments remain closed most of the time except for few hours in the morning and evening. Although private vehicles are plying on the roads, but due to the absence of public transport, people particularly patients and doctors are facing difficulties in reaching the hospitals and moving from one place to another.

On the other hand, Newsweek, an American weekly news magazine, reported that Twitter has been accused of bowing to Indian censorship and suppressing freedom of speech in Kashmir after nearly one million tweets were removed.

Almost 100 accounts were also made inaccessible to locals in the last two years, spurring claims that Twitter is contradicting the very values it purports to uphold.

The findings were revealed in a study by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), showing that Twitter agreed to block more accounts in the region than in every other country combined.

Five killed in Kashmir’s deadliest day since losing special status

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Some observers say Delhi’s promises falling flat and unrest likely to increase

An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard on a street in Srinagar. Shops are open only during the early mornings

Five people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, thought to be the deadliest day in the region since it was stripped of its autonomy this summer.

Two non-Kashmiris – an apple trader from Punjab and a migrant labourer – were killed in separate attacks by suspected militants in Shopian and Pulwama, south Kashmir. A second apple trader was in a critical condition.

Earlier on Wednesday security forces killed three alleged rebels near Bijbehara town, 28 miles south of the main city of Srinagar.

Kashmir has been under a security lockdown since 5 August when the Indian government scrapped its special status. Mobile phone services were restored for some users on Monday after a 72-day blackout but internet services remain suspended.

Before Delhi’s announcement that it was to remove Kashmir’s autonomy, the leader of the region’s largest militant group, Hizbul Mujahideen, had warned that the move would make Indians in the territory legitimate targets.

Indian officials argued that removing Kashmir’s special status, which granted it its own constitution and rules protecting land ownership, would bring greater development and rid the state of terrorism.

Some policy experts say the high death toll on Wednesday undermines such pledges. “The government’s claims are really falling flat,” said Khalid Shah, an associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. “My sense is that the violence is only going to increase, it’s not going to decrease, and to what extent, where it leaves Kashmir, is very difficult to say.”

An insurgency has waxed and waned on the Indian-administered side for three decades, and tens of thousands of people have been killed. Critics say Delhi’s actions have undermined the political mainstream and created fertile ground for militant groups.

Kashmir’s most prominent political and business leaders as well as the president of bar association are all in detention. Officials said such detentions were to prevent unrest, but others warned of a dangerous power vacuum.

Last weekend a spokesman for al-Qaida in Indian Subcontinent described Indian-administered Kashmir as “the worst prison” and called for attacks against the Indian government and army.

In Anchar, a neighbourhood of Srinagar where residents have fought back against security forces, graffiti on the wall reads “Welcome Taliban”.

In an attempt to win over Kashmiris, the Indian government placed a front-page advert in one of the region’s most popular newspapers, Greater Kashmir, urging people to resume normal life. “Closed shops, no public transport? Who benefits? Are we going to succumb to militants? Think!”, the advert said.

In Srinagar, government offices are operating but shops are open only during early morning hours and children are not attending schools. Residents told the Guardian that the refusal to open businesses was an act of defiance. Some reported that residents were complying with a shutdown because they were afraid of being targeted by militants.

Arshad, who lives in south Kashmir, where sympathies for militants are widespread, said he would welcome “any external support” that came for Kashmir’s separatist struggle.

“We cannot fight this war on our own, we need external support whosoever it be,” he said. “So far Pakistan has pleaded our case and supported us, but even if South Sudan or China offer us help I will be the first to raise their flag here,” he said.

Arshad, who has a postgraduate degree and who agreed to be identified by his first name only, said Delhi had restricted all scope for all political activities in the region, which would push militants to the centre stage.

“I think militants will now have a dual role of carrying out the armed struggle as well as taking over the role of political leadership and I feel they are already doing that,” he said.

India’s crackdown in Kashmir has paralyzed and silenced entire communities

By Rana Ayub

Global Opinions contributing writer

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There was an eerie silence on the drive toward the Shopian district in southern Kashmir, as stray dogs and cattle walked past on a recent overcast afternoon. But the silence was suddenly shattered as a convoy of heavily armed vehicles passed by shielding top officials of the paramilitary forces.

When these trucks show up around these parts, children and young men disappear.

As we arrived in Shopian on Oct. 17, a local resident of this fertile apple-growing region led us to the house of Firdaus Jaan, whose two grandsons, Junaid, 13, and Ahmed, 22, were picked up by the paramilitary forces on Oct. 14, joining the thousands of young men and minors who have been arbitrarily detained amid a brutal crackdown in Kashmir since the Indian government revoked the special autonomous status of the region on Aug. 5.

Jaan, 92, tried to protect her grandson Junaid, who cried as 20 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men dragged him out of the house. She would not let go of him until an officer hit her with a stick. Jaan said the paramilitary forces entered the village by the hundreds and rounded up young men and children. Soon they began beating them, along with older residents, asking about the whereabouts of militants who had burned a migrant laborer’s apple truck.

Jaan’s neighbor Mohammed Yusuf Butt, who has acres of apple orchards, was despondent, suicidal. That same night his son, Shikir Ahmed Butt, went to the police station to inquire about the apple truck that had been burned. The Shopian police detained him and told his father that they would be slapping the draconian Public Safety Act against his 30-year-old son. The act allows for detention for up to two years without trial or due process. “They have taken my only son, my apples are rotting in the farms, and then they accuse us of shielding militants,” Mohammed told me. “First they took away our rights, now they accuse us of shielding militants.”

Thirty minors were picked up in Shopian on Oct. 14, according to residents interviewed.

Gulshan, 50, kept approaching the Shopian police station, where her husband was begging for the release of their two sons, Raees Ahmed, 11, and Liyaquat Ahmed, 14. They both attend a school in Srinagar but had come home to help the family with the apple harvest. “We are scared to send our children into the orchard, the CRPF is camping there, they see our children and detain them,” Gulshan said. She doesn’t know whom to fear more: the militants or the military forces.

When I arrived at the Shopian police station to verify the claims of the family, Nazeer Ahmed, the second in command, told me he had no idea about the arrests; his phone had not been working for four days, he said. His colleagues exchanged smiles. There’s a verse painted on a station wall, by the Urdu poet Allama Iqbal: “Thy abode is not on the dome of a royal palace; You are an eagle and should live on the rocks of mountains.”

Under constant surveillance and facing brutal repression and arbitrary detention, Kashmiris seem to be in constant mourning.

In the streets in downtown Srinagar, some families sat quietly mourning the absence of their children. Mudassir Majeed, a 19-year-old studying business administration, arrived home on Aug. 4 to help his father, a sheep trader. The next morning, as he was helping his father herd the sheep from the truck, paramilitary forces dragged him into a van. When his father reached the police station, he was told his son had been sent to jail in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and they cited the Public Safety Act. “I dread when my son comes out, they will label him a terrorist,” Mudassir’s father told me.

Nusrat Jahan, a doctor at the largest government hospital in Srinagar, tells me the population is suffering from borderline depression. “I have choked in the bathroom when cancer patients scream in pain and there is no morphine available to administer,” he said. “I have treated pellet injuries on 10-year-olds, and it feels as if I was operating on my own son. Our anger is spilling over. Ask the psychiatric ward. Patients are asking for drugs that can kill them in their sleep.”

On Oct. 19, I visited houses in Khanyar and Rainawari in Srinagar. The areas are known for their protests, and every household told me of a detained child. Mubasshir Peer, a chemist who lives in Rainawari, told me that more than 300 children were picked up on the night of Oct. 18, a few weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the United Nations.

“Does your prime minister care for us?” he said. “He spoke about creating toilets while we are bleeding. Kashmiris celebrated when [Pakistani Prime Minister] Imran Khan spoke about us because at least he pretended he cared for us.”

I was also able to interview Mohammad Shafi, one of the most senior members of the National Conference, a political party whose leaders have been under house arrest since Aug. 5. “Even if there is a day when the democratic process is ushered in Kashmir, what will any of our parties promise the people of Kashmir?” he asked. “That New Delhi will take decisions on their behalf while they lock Kashmiris down like lambs. Look at this government, it arrested an 80-year-old academic yesterday who just sat on the street with a placard.”

He was referring to the arrest of 18 female academics and activists, including the wife of the former chief justice, Hawa Bashir, who sat on a silent protest in Srinagar to ask for the return of civil liberties. The women, including an 82-year-old academic with a pacemaker, were taken to jail and then released a day later on the condition that they would neither protest nor speak of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

It all reinforces the distressing silence in Jammu and Kashmir. When I asked people why they weren’t going to work, their response was fear. A government employee told me Kashmiris are keeping their children indoors.

“We fear that they will take our children away,” he said. “I can tell you this is the apocalypse Kashmir feared. We are all lifeless here.”

His 18-year-old nephew, Saquib Nazeer, has been lying in a hospital with 174 pellet wounds, including four in his heart, he told me. He is on life support.

Kashmiris are avoiding Indian TV. The news reports showing “normalcy” fill them with rage. I watched as a journalist from the channel India Today talked about a new era of peace in Kashmir. (The same journalist was called out on Twitter a week ago for anchoring a 30-minute program praising a genocidal speech by a member of the paramilitary force). Kashmiri radio just plays songs — the announcers have been off the air since Aug. 5. Newspapers don’t publish editorials — only the official version of the story makes it to print.

As I wrote this, “Boycott all Muslims” was trending in Indian Twitter. Most tweets are amplified by followers of Modi and his ministers. Some ask for a genocide against Muslims, others ask for the blood of Kashmiris.

I think about the words of Nusrat Jahan, the doctor. Soon all Kashmiris could be either in jails or mental asylums.

The world’s apathy — and the apathy of many Indians — is only perpetuating a climate of fear, silence and repression the region hasn’t witnessed in decades.

But it’s time to take notice. On Tuesday, participants at a U.S. congressional hearing about human rights in South Asia singled out India’s actions in Kashmir. Francisco Bencosme, Asia Pacific advocacy manager at Amnesty International, said his organization had documented “a clear pattern of authorities using administrative detention on politicians, activists and anyone likely to hold a dissenting opinion before and after Aug. 5” in Jammu and Kashmir.

More of us need to speak up. The world must hear the deafening silence from Kashmir. Looking the other way for strategic relations is not an option. Kashmir and her children are waiting for justice.

How Israel Uses Bollywood to Whitewash the Occupation — Astute News

Between Tuesday and Thursday this week, Bollywood actors are travelling to Israel for the Indo Fest TLV, a “cultural showcase” touted as the biggest event in the history of India-Israel cultural relations. The festival – featuring Anil Kapoor, Amisha Patel and at least eight other stars of Indian cinema – promises to be a cultural extravaganza designed to […]

via How Israel Uses Bollywood to Whitewash the Occupation — Astute News

Kashmir under lockdown: Anger over ‘unacceptable burdens’

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Protesters chant pro-Pakistan slogans and demand an end to what they describe as Indian occupation of their territory.

On Friday, there were protests on the Indian side of the line of control that divides the disputed Kashmir region.

People say restrictions are placing unacceptable burdens on their lives. And many are concerned about what India is planning next.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Vall explains.

Kashmir under lockdown: All the latest updates

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Separatist group says it intends to cross de facto border with India with ‘3,000-5,000 supporters’ and enter Srinagar.

The Indian government revoked the special status accorded to Indian-administered Kashmir in its constitution, the most far-reaching political move on the disputed region in nearly 70 years.

A presidential decree issued on August 5 revoked Article 370 of India’s constitution that guaranteed special rights to the Muslim-majority state, including the right to its own constitution and autonomy to make laws on all matters except defence, communications and foreign affairs.

In the lead-up to the move, India sent thousands of additional troops to the disputed region, imposed a crippling curfew, shut down telecommunications and internet, and arrested political leaders.

The move has worsened the already-heightened tensions with neighbouring Pakistan, which downgraded its diplomatic relations with India.

India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory. A rebellion in Indian-administered Kashmir has been ongoing for 30 years.

Here are the latest updates: