Plan for India

M.F Hussain - A Counter Point

2010-03-23T13:40:00.002+05:30

This is another viewpoint. Worth Reading.

• This is a Letter to the Editor of The Hindu, from a practicing Christian lady who was Professor in Stella Maris College, Chennai till recently; now settled at Baroda, regarding an Edit in The Hindu in favour of bringing back M.F Hussain to India.

Dear Ram,

I have taken time to write this to you Ram-for the simple reason that we have known you for so many years- you and The Hindu bring back happy memories Please take what I am putting down as those that come from an agonized soul. You know that I do not mince words and what I have to say I will-I call a spade a spade-now it is too late for me to learn the tricks of being called a ‘secularist’ if that means a bias for, one, and a bias against, another.

Hussain is now a citizen of Qatar-this has generated enough of heat and less of light. Qatar you know better than me is not a country which respects democracy or freedom of expression. Hussain says he has complete freedom- I challenge him to paint a picture of Mohammed fully clad.

There is no second opinion that artists have the Right of Freedom of expression. Is such a right restricted only to Hussain?
• Will that right not flow to Dan Brown-why was his film-Da Vinci Code not screened?
• Why was Satanic Verses banned-does Salman Rushdie not have that freedom of expression?
• Similarly why is Taslima hunted and hounded and why fatwas have been issued on both these writers?
• Why has Qatar not offered citizenship to Taslima?
• In the present rioting in Shimoga in Karnataka against the article Taslima wrote against the tradition of burqua which appeared in the Out Look in Jan 2007.
• No body protested then either in Delhi or in any other part of the country; now when it reappears in a Karnataka paper there is rioting. Is there a political agenda to create a problem in Karnataka by the intolerant goons?
• Why has the media not condemned this insensitivity and intolerance of the Muslims against Taslima’s views?
• When it comes to the Sangh Parivar it is quick to call them goons and intolerant etc. Now who are the goons and where is this tolerance and sensitivity?

Regarding Hussain’s artistic freedom it seems to run unfettered in an expression of sexual perversion only when he envisages the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. There is no quarrel had he painted a nude woman sitting on the tail of a monkey. The point is he captioned it as Sita. Nobody would have protested against the sexual perversion and his orientation to sexual signs and symbols. But would he dare to caption it as ‘Fatima enjoying in Jannat with animals’?

Next example-is the painting of Saraswati copulating with a lion. Here again his perversion is evident and so is his intent. Even that lets concede cannot be faulted-each one’s sexual orientation is each one’s business I suppose. But he captioned it as Saraswati. This is the problem. It is Hussain’s business to enjoy in painting his sexual perversion.
• But why use Saraswati and Sita for his perverted expressions?
• Use Fatima and watch the consequence.
• Let the media people come to his rescue then.
• Now that he is in a country that gives him complete freedom let him go ahead and paint Fatima copulating with a lion or any other animal of his choice.
• And then turn around and prove to India-the Freedom of expression he enjoys in Qatar.

Talking about Freedom of Expression-this is the Hussain who supported Emergency-painted Indira Gandhi as Durga slaying Jayaprakash Narayan. He supported the jailing of artists and writers. Where did this Freedom of Expression go? And you call him secularist? Would you support the jailing of artists and writers Ram –would you support the abeyance of the Constitution and all that we held sacred in democracy and the excessiveness of Indira Gandhi to gag the media-writers- political opponents?
• Tell me honesty why does Hussain expect this Freedom when he himself did not support others with the same freedom he wants?
• And the media has rushed to his rescue. Had it been a Ram who painted such obnoxious, .degrading painting-the reactions of the media and the elite ‘secularists’ would have been different; because there is a different perception/and index of secularism when it comes to Ram-and a different perception/and index of secularism when it comes to Rahim/Hussain.

It brings back to my mind an episode that happened to The Hindu some years ago.[1991]. You had a separate weekly page for children with cartoons, quizzes, and with poems and articles of school children. In one such weekly page The Hindu printed a venerable bearded man-fully robed with head dress, mouthing some passages of the Koran-trying to teach children .It was done not only in good faith but as a part of inculcating values to children from the Koran. All hell broke loose. Your office witnessed goons who rushed in-demanded an apology-held out threats. In Ambur, Vaniambadi and Vellore the papers stands were burned-the copies of The Hindu were consigned to the fire. A threat to raise the issue in Parliament through a Private Members Bill was held out-Hectic activities went on-I am not sure of the nature and the machinations behind the scene. But The Hindu next day brought out a public apology in its front page. Where were you Ram? How secular and tolerant were the Muslims?

Well this is of the past-today it is worse because the communal temperature in this country is at a all high-even a small friction can ignite and demolition the country’s peace and harmony. It is against this background that one should view Hussain who is bent on abusing and insulting the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Respect for religious sentiments, need to maintain peace and harmony should also be part of the agenda of an artist-if he is great. If it is absent then he cannot say that he respects India and express his longing for India.

Let’s face it-he is a fugitive of law. Age and religion are immaterial. What does the media want-that he be absolved by the courts? Even for that he has to appear in the courts-he cannot run away-After all this is the country where he lived and gave expression to his pervert sadist, erotic artistic mind under Freedom of Expression. I simply cannot jump into the bandwagon of the elite ‘secularist’ and uphold what he had done. With his brush he had committed jihad-bloodletting.

The issue is just not nudity-Yes the temples-the frescos in Konarak and Kajhuraho have nude figures-But does it say that they are Sita, Sarswati or any goddesses? We have the Yoni and the Phallus as sacred signs of Life-of Siva and Shakthi-take these icons to the streets, paint them -give it a caption it become vulgar. Times have changed. Even granted that our ancients sculptured and painted naked forms and figures, with a pervert mind to demean religion is no license to repeat that in today’s changed political and social scenario and is not a sign of secularism and tolerance. I repeat there is no quarrel with nudity-painters have time and again found in it the perfection of God’s hand craft.

Let me wish Hussain peace in Qatar-the totalitarian regime with zero tolerance. May be he will convince the regime there to permit freedom of expression in word, writing and painting. For this he could start experimenting painting forms and figure of Mohamed the Prophet-and his family And may I fervently wish that the media-especially The Hindu does not discriminate goons-let it not substitute tolerance for intolerance when it comes to Rahim and Antony and another index for Ram.

I hope you will read this in the same spirit that I have written. All the best to you Ram.

Dr Mrs. Hilda Raja,

Vadodara

General Fonseka's Resignation Letter to President Rajapaksa

2009-11-20T12:01:00.002+05:30

His Excellency the President
Through the Secretary, Ministry of Defence,
Public Security, Law and Order
Presidential Secretariat
COLOMBO
12 November 2009

Your Excellency,

REQUEST TO RETIRE FROM THE REGULAR FORCE OF THE SRI LANKA ARMY
1. I, General G S C Fonseka RWP RSP VSV USP rcds psc presently serving as the Chief of Defence Staff, was enlisted to the Ceylon Army on 05th Feb 1970 and was commissioned on the 01st June 1971. On the 6th Dec 2005 due to the trust and confident placed on me, Your Excellency was kind enough to promote me to the rank of Lieutenant General and
appoint me as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army in an era when the Country was embroiled with the menace of a bloody terrorism and was in a stalemate state after having toiled for a solution politically or otherwise for over 25 years without a success.

2. During my command of 3 years and 7 months, the Sri Lanka Army managed to eradicate the terrorist movement having apprehended an unbelievable stock of arms and munitions and decisively defeating the LTTE and its murderous leadership. which Your Excellency is obviously aware of. I would not be exaggerating to state that I was instrumental
in leading the Army to this historic victory, of course with Your Excellencys political support, which helped to materialize this heroic action. Though the field commanders, men and all members of the Army worked towards this common goal, it is with my vision, command and leadership that this yeomen task was achieved.

3. I do appreciate the fact that the Country and Your Excellency did recognize my services which led to me being promoted to the first ever serving four star general to command the Army, nevertheless the courses of action which initiated subsequently greatly depressed me which I have enumerated in the Annex hereto.

4. Considering the facts mentioned in the Annex and more, which I am privy to withhold, I am compelled to believe that Your Excellency and the Government has lost your trust and faith bestowed upon me for reasons best known to Your Excellency. Hence as the senior most serving military officer in the Country with 40 years of service, such a situation does not warrant a continuation of my duties any longer, thereby I have the honour to request that I be permitted to terminate my services and retire from the Regular Force of the Army with effect from 01st December 2009.

5. Furthermore I have the honour to request that on retirement Your Excellency would be kind enough to grant me sufficient security which includes trained combat soldiers, a suitable vehicle with sufficient protection (Bullet proof) and escort vehicles for my conveyances due to the fact that I am considered as one of the highest priority targets by
the LTTE, which they are yet capable of achieving. Also, I wish to bring to Your Excellencys kind notice that over 100 men, six escort vehicles and a bullet proof vehicle have been placed at the convenience of the former Commander of the Navy, Admiral WKJ Karannagoda. I presume that such arrangements would be made available to me, considering the
threat factor I am facing, which Your Excellency is well aware of.

6. I would also wish to quote an example in the case of the former Indian Chief of Army Staff General A S Vadiya, instrumental in leading the Indian Army in Operation Blue Star against the Sheiks at the Golden Temple, Amristar in 1984, was assassinated whilst on retirement in 1986 purely in revenge of his victories achieved. I do not wish to
experience a similar incident as I have already sustained serious injuries after the attempt on my life by a suicide cadre of the LTTE. Thereby, I am compelled to entrust you with my security which is requested for life.

7. Furthermore, I would like to emphasis on a statement made by me during my tenure as the Commander of the Army. In that, I mentioned my dislike to be in command forever and also I would ensure that my successor would not be burden with the task of war fighting, which I abided with. Hence, as I have already overstayed my retirement date by
4 years, I wish to proceed on retirement without further delays.

8. Forwarded for Your Excellencys kind consideration please.

I have the honour to be Your Excellency's
Obedient Servant

G S C FONSEKA RWP RSP VSV USP rcds psc
General
Chief of Defence Staff

CONFIDENTIAL
Annex A
12 November 2009

FACTORS AFFECTING MY RETIREMENT FROM THE REGULAR FORCE OF THE ARMY
1. Various agencies misleading Your Excellency by stating a possible coup immediately after the victory over the LTTE which obviously led to a change of command in spite of my request to be in command until the Army celebrated its 60th Anniversary. This fear psychosis of a coup is well known among the defence circle.

2. Appointing an officer pending a disciplinary inquiry who performed duties only as a holding formation commander in the final battle as my successor, disregarding my recommendations to appoint Major General G A Chandrasiri as the Commander of the Army who was the then Chief of Staff and an officer with an exemplary service as the Security Forces Commander in Jaffna for over 3 years. This has already led to a deterioration of the high standards I was capable of
introducing to the Army, to my bitter disappointment.

3. Appointing me as the Chief of Defence Staff, though a senior appointment to that of a service commander, with basically no authority, except for mere coordinating responsibilities in a manner which mislead the general public of the country and most members of the Armed Forces. In that the Secretary Defence pushing me to vacate the post of the Commander in just two weeks after the victory and Your Excellency insisting me to hand over duties in less than two months depriving me of my morel obligations in revamping the welfare and providing a sound administration to the men who fought a gallant battle.

4. Further, prior to my appointment I was mislead on the authority vested with the CDS. I was made to understand that the appointment carried more command responsibilities and authority than earlier, but subsequent to my appointment a letter by the Strategic Affairs Adviser to the Secretary Defence indicated that my appointment was purely to
coordinate the services and not that of overall command. The letter is attached herewith for Your Excellency's information. Such actions clearly defines Your Excellencys and the Governments unwillingness to grant me with command responsibilities which leads to believe in a strong mistrust in me, which is most depressing after all what was
performed to achieve war victory.

5. During a subsequent Service Commanders Meeting, the Secretary Defence was bold enough to state an unethical and uncalled statement by mentioning that if operational control of all three services is granted to the CDS it would be very dangerous, which indeed was a loss of face to me in the presences of subordinate services commanders.

6. Your Excellency, you too made a statement at the very first security council soon after the 18th of May 09 when the battled was declared over, that no further recruitment would be necessary and a strong public opinion is in the making stating that the Country is in possession of a too powerful army. It was surprising to hear such a comment from Your Excellency in spite of your repeated praise and boast of the war victory. I personally felt that Your Excellency has
commenced mistrusting your own loyal Army which attained the unimaginable victory just a week ago. You again repeated the same statement even after I handed over the command. Over these comments I felt disgusted as we even insulted those who made the supreme sacrifice by such comments.

7. The present Army Commander immediately on assuming duties commenced transferring senior officers who immensely contributed to the war effort during my command tenure including those junior officers working with my wife at the Seva Vanitha Army Branch which was clearly to challenge the loyalty of officers and most discouraging to the
officer corps of the Army, with a wrong signal being transmitted on my authority.

8. With a pain of mind it was noted that the same Army which gained victory for the Nation was suspected of staging a coupe and thereby alerting the Government of India once again on the 15th of October 2009, unnecessarily placing the Indian Troops on high alert. This action did tarnish the image and reputation gained by the Sri Lanka Army as a competent and professional organization who was capable of defeating a terrorist group after the Malayan Emergency, in the eyes of the World. This suspicion would have been due to the loyalty of the Sri Lanka Army towards me as its past Commander who led the Army to the historic victory.

9. During my absences from the Country (23 Oct 2009 to 5 Nov 2009) being on overseas leave, the Army Headquarters was bold enough to change the security personnel deployed at the AHQ Main Entrance and the Ministry of Defence emphasizing the withdrawal of the Sinha Regiment troops who were attached to me, as you are aware is my parent regiment and supplementing them with other regimental personnel. The Sinha Regiment troops were good enough to provide security to the Ministry of Defence for 4 years and it is surprising to note how the combat efficiency of the said troops supposed to have dropped overnight as per Secretary Defences opinion. Further the Sinha Regiment troops
numbering a mere 4 non combatants, deployed for vehicle checking duties at the AHQ Main Entrance, were replaced by 14 armed Armoured Corps personnel, whilst a further two platoons were brought in to prevent the 4 non combat Sinha Regiment personnel performing duties, creating a mockery to the general public including to some foreign missions. This clearly indicates a questionable loyalty of troops good enough for duties for over four years purely due to the fact that the troops were from my Regiment. This also indirectly reflects mistrust on me or an indication that the persons concern wish to keep a tab on my movements and visitors to my HQ/residence which is a clear display of suspicion created on me.

10. Further on instructions of the Secretary Defence, troops from the Gajaba Regiment was brought in to the MOD complex which indicated a divide loyalty within the Army and reasons to believe that the Army now being politicized. This is being encouraged by the Army Commander too who thinks that the Armoured Corp troops should over power Sinha Regiment troops.
11. Instigating malicious and detrimental news items and rumors by interested parties including several senior government politicians which led to identify me as a traitor in spite of my personal contribution of the government to change the history of our country.
12. During my absence from the Country, an acting CDS or an officer to overlook duties was not appointed which indicates that the much spoken appointment of the CDS is unimportant to the Government and the National Security Council. If the appointment was of significant important as stated by most, it should have been imperative to appoint
somebody to oversee the duties and thereby I am convinced that I have being granted with an unimportant appointment in spite of all the work done.

13. It is with sadness that I note that the ordinary Army which I toiled to transform into a highly professional outfit is now loosing its way. Increased desertions, lack of enthusiasm to enlist (A drop in enlistment rate by 50% is recorded), disciplinary problems on advocating divided commands indicates an unprofessional organization in the offing. During the last two months the members deserted are higher than the recruitment.

14.The plight of the IDPs is also a point of great concern to me. Thousands of valiant soldiers sacrificed their valuable lives to liberate these unfortunate civilians from the brutality and tyranny of the LTTE in order that they could live in an environment of freedom and democracy. Yet, today many of them are continuing to live in appalling conditions due to the lack of proper planning on the part of the government and the IDPs who have friends and relatives elsewhere in the
country must be given the choice to live with them until proper demining has been done in their areas.

15. Your Excellency's government has yet to win the peace in spite of the fact that the Army under my leadership won the war. There is no clear policy to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people, which will surely ruin the victory, attained paving the way for yet another uprising in the future.

16. The peace dividend the whole country expected at the conclusion of the war has yet to materialize. The economic hardships faced by the people have increased while waste and corruption have reached endemic proportions; media freedom and other democratic rights continue to be curtailed. The many sacrifices the army made to end the war would not have been in vain, if we can usher in a new era of peace and prosperity to our motherland.

The Messiah and the Promised Land

2009-10-11T00:54:00.002+05:30

Margaret Bourke-White was a correspondent and photographer for LIFE magazine during the WW II years. In September 1947, White went to Pakistan. She met Jinnah and wrote about what she found and heard in her book Halfway to Freedom: A Report on the New India, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1949. The following are the excerpts:

Pakistan was one month old. Karachi was its mushrooming capital. On the sandy fringes of the city an enormous tent colony had grown up to house the influx of minor government officials. There was only one major government official, Mahomed Ali Jinnah, and there was no need for Jinnah to take to a tent. The huge marble and sandstone Government House, vacated by British officialdom, was waiting. The Quaid-i-Azam moved in, with his sister, Fatima, as hostess. Mr. Jinnah had put on what his critics called his "triple crown": he had made himself Governor-General; he was retaining the presidency of the Muslim League -- now Pakistan's only political party; and he was president of the country's lawmaking body, the Constituent Assembly.

"We never expected to get it so soon," Miss Fatima said when I called. "We never expected to get it in our lifetimes."

If Fatima's reaction was a glow of family pride, her brother's was a fever of ecstasy. Jinnah's deep-sunk eyes were pinpoints of excitement. His whole manner indicated that an almost overwhelming exaltation was racing through his veins. I had murmured some words of congratulation on his achievement in creating the world's largest Islamic nation.

"Oh, it's not just the largest Islamic nation. Pakistan is the fifth-largest nation in the world!"

The note of personal triumph was so unmistakable that I wondered how much thought he gave to the human cost: more Muslim lives had been sacrificed to create the new Muslim homeland than America, for example, had lost during the entire Second World War I hoped he had a constructive plan for the seventy million citizens of Pakistan. What kind of constitution did he intend to draw up?

"Of course it will be a democratic constitution; Islam is a democratic religion."

I ventured to suggest that the term "democracy" was often loosely used these days. Could he define what he had in mind?

"Democracy is not just a new thing we are learning," said Jinnah. "It is in our blood. We have always had our system of zakat -- our obligation to the poor."

This confusion of democracy with charity troubled me. I begged him to be more specific.

"Our Islamic ideas have been based on democracy and social justice since the thirteenth century."

This mention of the thirteenth century troubled me still more. Pakistan has other relics of the Middle Ages besides "social justice" -- the remnants of a feudal land system, for one. What would the new constitution do about that? "The land belongs to the God," says the Koran. This would need clarification in the constitution. Presumably Jinnah, the lawyer, would be just the person to correlate the "true Islamic principles" one heard so much about in Pakistan with the new nation's laws. But all he would tell me was that the constitution would be democratic because "the soil is perfectly fertile for democracy."

What plans did he have for the industrial development of the country? Did he hope to enlist technical or financial assistance from America?

"America needs Pakistan more than Pakistan needs America," was Jinnah's reply. "Pakistan is the pivot of the world, as we are placed" -- he revolved his long forefinger in bony circles -- "the frontier on which the future position of the world revolves." He leaned toward me, dropping his voice to a confidential note. "Russia," confided Mr. Jinnah, "is not so very far away."

This had a familiar ring. In Jinnah's mind this brave new nation had no other claim on American friendship than this - that across a wild tumble of roadless mountain ranges lay the land of the Bolsheviks. I wondered whether the Quaid-i-Azam considered his new state only as an armoured buffer between opposing major powers. He was stressing America's military interest in other parts of the world. "America is now awakened," he said with a satisfied smile. Since the United States was now bolstering up Greece and Turkey, she should be much more interested in pouring money and arms into Pakistan. "If Russia walks in here," he concluded, "the whole world is menaced."

In the weeks to come I was to hear the Quaid-i-Azam's thesis echoed by government officials throughout Pakistan. "Surely America will build up our army," they would say to me. "Surely America will give us loans to keep Russia from walking in." But when I asked whether there were any signs of Russian infiltration, they would reply almost sadly, as though sorry not to be able to make more of the argument. "No, Russia has shown no signs of being interested in Pakistan."

This hope of tapping the U. S. Treasury was voiced so persistently that one wondered whether the purpose was to bolster the world against Bolshevism or to bolster Pakistan's own uncertain position as a new political entity. Actually, I think, it was more nearly related to the even more significant bankruptcy of ideas in the new Muslim state -- a nation drawing its spurious warmth from the embers of an antique religious fanaticism, fanned into a new blaze.

Jinnah's most frequently used technique in the struggle for his new nation had been the playing of opponent against opponent. Evidently this technique was now to be extended into foreign policy. ....

No one would have been more astonished than Jinnah if he could have foreseen thirty or forty years earlier that anyone would ever speak of him as a "saviour of Islam." In those days any talk of religion brought a cynical smile. He condemned those who talked in terms of religious rivalries, and in the stirring period when the crusade for freedom began sweeping the country he was hailed as "the embodied symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity." The gifted Congresswoman, Mrs. Naidu, one of Jinnah's closest friends, wrote poems extolling his role as the great unifier in the fight for independence. "Perchance it is written in the book of the future," ran one of her tributes, "that he, in some terrible crisis of our national struggle, will pass into immortality" as the hero of "the Indian liberation."

In the "terrible crisis," Mahomed Ali Jinnah was to pass into immortality, not as the ambassador of unity, but as the deliberate apostle of discord. What caused this spectacular renunciation of the concept of a united India, to which he had dedicated the greater part of his life? No one knows exactly. The immediate occasion for the break, in the mid-thirties, was his opposition to Gandhi's civil disobedience program. Nehru says that Jinnah "disliked the crowds of ill-dressed people who filled the Congress" and was not at home with the new spirit rising among the common people under Gandhi's magnetic leadership. Others say it was against his legal conscience to accept Gandhi's program. One thing is certain: the break with Gandhi, Nehru, and the other Congress leaders was not caused by any Hindu-Muslim issue.

In any case, Jinnah revived the moribund Muslim League in 1936 after it had dragged through an anaemic thirty years' existence, and took to the religious soapbox. He began dinning into the ears of millions of Muslims the claim that they were downtrodden solely because of Hindu domination. During the years directly preceding this move on his part, an unprecedented degree of unity had developed between Muslims and Hindus in their struggle for independence from the British Raj. The British feared this unity, and used their divide-and-rule tactics to disrupt it. Certain highly placed Indians also feared unity, dreading a popular movement which would threaten their special position. Then another decisive factor arose. Although Hindus had always been ahead of Muslims in the industrial sphere, the great Muslim feudal landlords now had aspirations toward industry. From these wealthy Muslims, who resented the well-established Hindu competition, Jinnah drew his powerful supporters. One wonders whether Jinnah was fighting to free downtrodden Muslims from domination or merely to gain an earmarked area, free from competition, for this small and wealthy clan.

The trend of events in Pakistan would support the theory that Jinnah carried the banner of the Muslim landed aristocracy, rather than that of the Muslim masses he claimed to champion. There was no hint of personal material gain in this. Jinnah was known to be personally incorruptible, a virtue which gave him a great strength with both poor and rich. The drive for personal wealth played no part in his politics. It was a drive for power. ......

Less than three months after Pakistan became a nation, Jinnah's Olympian assurance had strangely withered. His altered condition was not made public. "The Quaid-i-Azam has a bad cold" was the answer given to inquiries.

Only those closest to him knew that the "cold" was accompanied by paralyzing inability to make even the smallest decisions, by sullen silences striped with outbursts of irritation, by a spiritual numbness concealing something close to panic underneath. I knew it only because I spent most of this trying period at Government House, attempting to take a new portrait of Jinnah for a Life cover.

The Quaid-i-Azam was still revered as a messiah and deliverer by most of his people. But the "Great Leader" himself could not fail to know that all was not well in his new creation, the nation; the nation that his critics referred to as the "House that Jinnah built." The separation from the main body of India had been in many ways an unrealistic one. Pakistan raised 75 per cent of the world's jute supply; the processing mills were all in India. Pakistan raised one third of the cotton of India, but it had only one thirtieth of the cotton mills. Although it produced the bulk of Indian skins and hides, all the leather tanneries were in South India. The new state had no paper mills, few iron foundries. Rail and road facilities, insufficient at best, were still choked with refugees. Pakistan has a superbly fertile soil, and its outstanding advantage is self-sufficiency in food, but this was threatened by the never-ending flood of refugees who continued pouring in long after the peak of the religious wars had passed.

With his burning devotion to his separate Islamic nation, Jinnah had taken all these formidable obstacles in his stride. But the blow that finally broke his spirit struck at the very name of Pakistan. While the literal meaning of the name is "Land of the Pure," the word is a compound of initial letters of the Muslim majority provinces which Jinnah had expected to incorporate: P for the Punjab, A for the Afghans' area on the Northwest Frontier, S for Sind, -tan for Baluchistan. But the K was missing.

Kashmir, India's largest princely state, despite its 77 per cent Muslim population, had not fallen into the arms of Pakistan by the sheer weight of religious majority. Kashmir had acceded to India, and although it was now the scene of an undeclared war between the two nations, the fitting of the K into Pakistan was left in doubt. With the beginning of this torturing anxiety over Kashmir, the Quaid-i-Azam's siege of bad colds began, and then his dismaying withdrawal into himself. ....

Later, reflecting on what I had seen, I decided that this desperation was due to causes far deeper than anxiety over Pakistan's territorial and economic difficulties. I think that the tortured appearance of Mr. Jinnah was an indication that, in these final months of his life, he was adding up his own balance sheet. Analytical, brilliant, and no bigot, he knew what he had done. Like Doctor Faustus, he had made a bargain from which he could never be free. During the heat of the struggle he had been willing to call on all the devilish forces of superstition, and now that his new nation had been achieved the bigots were in the position of authority. The leaders of orthodoxy and a few "old families" had the final word and, to perpetuate their power, were seeing to it that the people were held in the deadening grip of religious superstition.

credit: Margaret Bourke-White & her book Halfway to Freedom: A Report on the New India, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1949

Afghanistan from a General's Eye

2009-10-11T00:37:00.003+05:30

Gen. McChrystal's Speech on Afghanistan

International Institute for Strategic Studies
London, United Kingdom

I. Preamble

It is an honour for me to be here and I would like to thank you for giving me the time. I would also like to thank not only my hosts but also all of you who took time to be here today. This is an extraordinarily important subject: we have young people – not only from the coalition but also young Afghans – in the field today, who depend on the decisions we make and the analysis we do. Taking the time to talk and think about it is always time well-spent, so I thank you for that.
I am privileged to speak here today as the Commander of NATO’s ISAF forces, representing people from 42 troop-contributing nations. I represent them today and I hope to do that well. As you know, I have a British deputy, Lieutenant General Jim Dutton, who is coming to the end of his term and will soon be replaced by another great British officer, Lieutenant General Nick Parker.
Before I continue, I would like to recognise the enormous sacrifice that families here in the UK have made. As you know, the losses that we have suffered are significant in terms of those who have fallen, suffered life-changing injuries, or given up parts of their life just by being away from family. I am in awe of the performance of the British brothers whom I have been honoured to work with for a number of years now.

I am humbled to be here because I do not claim to be in the same category as people who have been talking here, such as Prime Minister Brown and President Zardari, who expressed their views on this complex subject. I do, however, believe that I can offer some perspectives and will try to do that today. I will start by posing seven questions before attempting to answer them. If this works according to my plan, it will totally exhaust your appetite for this issue and I will leave the room to wild cheers and lucrative job offers. If my plan fails, as most of mine do, I will be happy to field any questions that we have time for.

II. What is the Right Approach to Use in Afghanistan?

1. People’s Own Suggestions

People ask me this question all the time; many people offer their own suggestions. There is a multitude of approaches to what to do. Some people say that we should focus primarily on development; others say that we should conduct a counterterrorist-focused battle, given that this really started after 9/11 and Al-Qaeda’s strikes. Other people say that we should conduct counterinsurgency (COIN). A paper has been written that recommends that we use a plan called ‘Chaosistan’, and that we let Afghanistan become a Somalia-like haven of chaos that we simply manage from outside.

2. The Complexities of Afghanistan

a. The delicate balance of power

I arrived in Afghanistan in May 2002 and I have spent a part of every year since then involved in the effort. I have learned a tremendous amount about it and, every day, I realise how little about Afghanistan I actually understand. I discount immediately anyone who simplifies the problem or offers a solution, because they have absolutely no idea of the complexity of what we are dealing with.
In Afghanistan, things are rarely as they seem, and the outcomes of actions we take, however well intended, are often different from what we expect. If you pull the lever, the outcome is not what you have been programmed to think. For example, digging a well sounds quite simple. How could you do anything wrong by digging a well to give people clean water? Where you build that well, who controls that water, and what water it taps into all have tremendous implications and create great passion.
If you build a well in the wrong place in a village, you may have shifted the basis of power in that village. If you tap into underground water, you give power to the owner of that well that they did not have before, because the traditional irrigation system was community-owned. If you dig a well and contract it to one person or group over another, you make a decision that, perhaps in your ignorance, tips the balance of power, or perception thereof, in that village.
Therefore, with a completely altruistic aim of building a well, you can create divisiveness or give the impression that you, from the outside, do not understand what is going on or that you have sided with one element or another, yet all you tried to do is provide water.

b. COIN mathematics

There is another complexity that people do not understand and which the military have to learn: I call it ‘COIN mathematics’. Intelligence will normally tell us how many insurgents are operating in an area. Let us say that there are 10 in a certain area. Following a military operation, two are killed. How many insurgents are left? Traditional mathematics would say that eight would be left, but there may only be two, because six of the living eight may have said, ‘This business of insurgency is becoming dangerous so I am going to do something else.’
There are more likely to be as many as 20, because each one you killed has a brother, father, son and friends, who do not necessarily think that they were killed because they were doing something wrong. It does not matter – you killed them. Suddenly, then, there may be 20, making the calculus of military operations very different. Yet we are asking young corporals, sergeants and lieutenants to make those kinds of calculations and requiring them to understand the situation. They have to – there is no simple workaround.
It is that complex: where you build the well, what military operations to run, who you talk to. Everything that you do is part of a complex system with expected and unexpected, desired and undesired outcomes, and outcomes that you never find out about. In my experience, I have found that the best answers and approaches may be counterintuitive; i.e. the opposite of what it seems like you ought to do is what ought to be done. When I am asked what approach we should take in Afghanistan, I say ‘humility’.

III. What Environment Are We Operating In?

1. Generally Accepted Truths

The answer to this question starts with some generally accepted truths about Afghanistan, which we all know to be true:

• It is a graveyard of empires.
• Afghanistan has never been ruled by a strong central government.
• Afghans do not consider themselves Afghans.

All three are untrue. If you ask an Afghan what he is, he will say, ‘I am an Afghan’. There have been strong central governments, although different from what you think of as central government. In the sense of governance, there have been periods when Afghanistan absolutely had a central government. Therefore, we have to start by not accepting any of the generally accepted ‘bumper sticker’ truths.

2. Real Truths

a. Complex, difficult geography and demography

In terms of real truths, it is complex, difficult terrain, both in terms of land and people. It is also a tribal society with a culture that is vastly different from what most of us are familiar with. There are variations around the country; you cannot assume that what is true in one province is true in another. That goes for ethnic, geographic and economic issues. You cannot even assume that what is true in one valley is true in the next any more than you can assume that one neighbourhood in London is exactly the same as another. We would not generalise here, yet sometimes, as outsiders, we want to do that.

b. A long period of conflict

I would also remind people that we have been waging a war for eight years, yet the Afghans have been at it for 30. Life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44 years, so not many people remember pre conflict life in Afghanistan. Of those 30 years, about 10 were spent fighting the Soviets, followed by six years of ‘war lordism’ and a further six years of Taliban rule and civil rule, and the last eight years have been eight more years of fighting.
One elder said something that really struck me one night as we were talking: ‘What you see in Afghanistan now is a reflection of pieces of each of those eras’. It is now a mosaic of the experiences of all those eras. If you think about the impact of 30 years on people and on a society, calculations change. The certainty that you have when you walk through your neighbourhood in London is not the certainty that they have. The expectation of the future is not the expectation that they may have. The opportunities to be educated and to associate with different ethnic groups, which have become more of a challenge in recent years, are very different.

c. A damaged society

The society is what I would call ‘damaged’. Individuals may not be damaged, but the society is not as it was. It is not so uniformly; nor can you say ‘it is all different here’. Tribal structures, relationships and expectations are uncertain now. When you go into a village in a Pashtun area, traditionally you could have predicted what the role and interrelationships of the mullah or the elders would be. That is no longer true. It varies based upon the experience of that area. In some areas, some have disproportionate influence and others have none. Some have been killed. In other cases, elements like the Taliban have come in and completely turned upside down the traditional structures. You can also not assume that traditional structures have disappeared, so you have to go in and learn what the structure is and how people deal with it.

3. A Uniquely Complex Environment

What we face, then, is a uniquely complex environment, where there are at least three regional and resilient insurgencies, with further sub-insurgencies. They have intersected on top of a dynamic blend of local power struggles in a country damaged by 30 years of war. You then run into someone who raises their finger and says ‘here is the solution’ – they can have my job.

4. A Crisis of Confidence

We also face a crisis of confidence. Afghans are frustrated after the most recent eight years of war, because in 2001 their expectations skyrocketed. Along with the arrival of coalition forces, they expected a positive change. They saw that initially and then waited for other changes – economic development and improvements in governance – that, in many cases, may have been unrealistic but, in many cases, were unmet. Therefore, there was a mismatch between what they had hoped for and what they have experienced. Again, as we learn in all societies, expectations and perceptions often matter as much as the reality.

IV. What Is the Situation Now?

1. Serious and Deteriorating

The situation is serious, and I choose that word very carefully. I would add that neither success nor failure for our endeavour in support of the Afghan people and government can be taken for granted. My assessment and my best military judgment is that the situation is, in some ways, deteriorating, but not in all ways.

2. Tremendous Progress

I can also point out areas in which tremendous progress is evident: the construction of roads, provision of clean water, access to healthcare, the presence of children in school, and access to education for females. All of these are up dramatically and hugely positive, and portend well for the future.

3. A Need to Reverse Current Trends

However, a tremendous number of villagers live in fear, and there are officials who either cannot or do not serve their people effectively. Violence is on the increase, not only because there are more coalition forces, but also because the insurgency has grown. We need to reverse the current trends, and time does matter. Waiting does not prolong a favourable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely, and nor will public support. However, the cruel irony is that, in order to succeed, we need patience, discipline, resolve and time.

V. Who is Winning?

1. A Battle of Minds and Perceptions

a. Not a game with points on a scoreboard

The answer to this question depends on who you ask. This is not like a football game with points on a scoreboard; it is more like a political debate, after which both sides announce that they won. That matters because we are not the scorekeepers: not NATO ISAF, not our governments, and not even our press. The perception of all of these entities will matter and they will affect the situation, but ultimately this is going to be decided in the minds and perceptions of the Afghan people of the Afghan government and of the insurgents, whether they can win or are winning, and, most importantly, the perception of the villager who casts his lot with the winner.

b. Villagers make rational and practical decisions

Villagers are supremely rational and practical people: they make the decision on who they will support, based upon who can protect them and provide for them what they need. If a villager lives in a remote area where the government or security forces cannot protect them from coercion or harm from insurgents, he will not support the government – it would be illogical. Similarly, if the government cannot provide him with rule of law, the basic ability to adjudicate requirements legally, or just enough services to allow him to pursue a likelihood, it is difficult for him to make a rational decision to support the government. The Taliban is not popular. It does not have a compelling context. What it has is proximity to the people and the ability to provide coercion and, in some cases, things like basic rule of law, based upon the fact that they are there and can put themselves in that position. The perception of the villager matters in terms of which side he should support, so winning the battle of perception is key.

c. Allowing the facts to speak for themselves

I also think that winning the battle of perception, as it applies everywhere but particularly to us, is about credibility. As I told you, the situation is absolutely not deteriorating by every indicator, but I will not stand up and say that we are winning until I am told by indicators that we are winning. For me to stand up and claim good things that are not supported by data in order to motivate us and make us feel good very rapidly undermines our credibility. Our own forces are smart enough to do that, so I intend to tell people the best assessment that we can, as accurately as possible, and allow the facts to speak for themselves.

VI. It Has Been Eight Years – Why Is It Not Better?

This is a fair question for the Afghan people and for societies that have supported this effort. It is true that, after eight years of tremendous effort and expenditure and the loss of good people, many things are worse. Why have eight years of effort not made things better? There are a number of complex reasons:

• The insurgency grew.
• Expectations – both expected and unexpected – were not met, which has
created frustration.
• It took us longer than I wish it had to recognise this as a serious
insurgency. As the Taliban started to regain its effectiveness, we lagged
in terms of accepting that as a clear reality.

Through our actions, we – i.e. the coalition and its Afghan partners – sometimes exacerbate the problems.

• We have under-resourced our operations.
• In some areas, we have underperformed; in others, we have under-coordinated.
• We have struggled with unity of effort, national agreements and chains of
command that are complex to say the least.
• In some ways, we have not overcome some of our intrinsic disadvantages. We
are operating in a very different culture, with language differences,
relationships that do not exist and a complex situation that takes time to
understand, yet we have not effectively developed enough expertise,
continuity of people or sufficient numbers of language-trained people to
deal with the situation as effectively as we could have.
• Most importantly, our own operational culture – and by ‘our’ I mean
coalition forces – and manner of operating distances us physically and
psychologically from the people who we seek to protect. We need to connect
with people, yet physical or linguistic barriers make it increasingly
difficult. Ultimately, our security comes from the people. We cannot build
enough walls to protect ourselves if the people do not.

We must, then, operate and think in a fundamentally new way.

VII. Can We Succeed?

1. Protecting the Afghan People from the Enemy

We can succeed. We must redefine the fight. The objective is the will of the Afghan people. We must protect the Afghan people from all threats: from the enemy and from our own actions. Let me describe it: a few days ago, just before we left to travel here, a bus south of Kandahar struck an improvised explosive device (IED) killing 30 Afghan civilians. That is tragic.
On the one hand, you might say that the Afghan people would recoil against the Taliban who left that IED. To a degree, they do, but we must also understand that they recoil against us because they might think that, if we were not there, neither would be the IED. Therefore, we indirectly caused the IED to be there. Second, we said that we would protect them, but we did not. Sometimes, then, the most horrific events caused by the insurgents continue to reinforce in the minds of the Afghan people a mindset that coalition forces are either ineffective, or at least that their presence in Afghanistan is not in their interest. That does not happen all of the time. There are times when they feel differently, but you have to put things in that context to understand what we must do.

2. Protection from Our Own Actions

a. Respecting the people

We also need to protect them from our own actions. When we fight, if we become focused on destroying the enemy but end up killing Afghan civilians, destroying Afghan property or acting in a way that is perceived as arrogant, we convince the Afghan people that we do not care about them. If we say, ‘We are here for you – we respect and want to protect you’, while destroying their home, killing their relatives or destroying their crops, it is difficult for them to connect those two concepts. It would be difficult for us to do the same. The understanding, then, must be that we respect the people.

b. Changing our mindset

We must assign responsibility because, ultimately, the Afghans must defeat the insurgency. As a force, however, we must change our mindset. Whether or not we like it, we have a conventional warfare culture – not just our militaries but our societies. Our societies want to see lines on a map moving forward towards objectives, but you will not see that in a counterinsurgency because you do not see as clearly what is happening in people’s minds. We will have to do things dramatically and even uncomfortably differently in order to change how we think and operate.
In short, we cannot succeed by simply trying harder. We cannot drop three more bombs and have a greater effect; it is much more subtle than that.

3. Crucial Next Steps

In my mind, therefore, what we must do over the next period of time is:
• Gain the initiative by reversing the perceived momentum possessed by the
insurgents.
• Seek rapid growth of Afghan national security forces – the army and the
police.
• Improve their effectiveness and ours through closer partnering, which
involves planning, living and operating together and taking advantage of
each other’s strengths as we go forward. Within ISAF, we will put more
emphasis on every part of that, by integrating our headquarters, physically
co-locating our units, and sharing ownership of the problem.
• Address shortfalls in the capacity of governance and the ability of the
Afghan government to provide rule of law.
• Tackle the issue of predatory corruption by some officials or by warlords
who are not in an official position but who seem to have the ability,
sometimes sanctioned by existing conditions, to do that.
• Focus our resources and prioritise in those areas where the population is
most threatened. We do not have enough forces to do everything everywhere
at once, so this has to be prioritised and phased over time.

4. A Need for Resolve

As you know, the concepts that I have outlined here are not new, but if we implement them aggressively and effectively, we can create a revolution in terms of our effectiveness. We must show resolve. Uncertainty disheartens our allies, emboldens our foe. A villager recently asked me whether we intended to remain in his village and provide security, to which I confidently promised him that, of course, we would. He looked at me and said, ‘Okay, but you did not stay last time.’

VIII. Why Bother?

1. The Risk Posed by Al-Qaeda

Afghanistan is difficult, so why bother? It is a long way away. It is not our business. As we know, however, 9/11 brought us here to the latest interaction, and Trans national terrorist threats absolutely remain. I believe that the loss of stability in Afghanistan brings a huge risk that Trans national terrorists such as Al-Qaeda will operate from within Afghanistan again.

2. High Stakes for Afghanistan and the Region

I also believe that the stakes are high for Afghanistan and for the region. An unstable Afghanistan not only negatively affects what happens within its borders but also affects its neighbours. Afghanistan is, in many ways, one of the keys to stability in south Asia. A state that can provide its own security is important to all international security, and certainly to that of the UK, the US and our international partnership. The Afghan people are worth bothering about and they deserve that.

IX. Conclusion

In conclusion, I am exceptionally proud to serve at ISAF. Within my office, I have a picture of a British battle group, led by Lieutenant Colonel Gus Fair, with whom I worked for a long time in Iraq. He is with his soldiers, who I had the opportunity to speak with when I visited them during operations in Spin Majid this summer in the Helmand River valley. I keep that picture because, when I looked into their eyes, which were bloodshot with fatigue, I remember the extraordinary professionalism, competence and sheer courage of those young men. Whenever I come to London, I like to run through the city, and I particularly like the statues that you have erected to heroes. I hope that you erect one to that generation – they have earned it.

Thank you.

Pak war hero honoured at India's recommendation

2009-07-26T19:37:00.002+05:30

New Delhi: Pakistan army’s Colonel Karnal Sher Khan, who died during the Kargil war, is remembered with great pride.

The man who fought on Tiger Hill from Pakistan's side was given the Nishan e Haidar, Pakistan’s highest gallantry award on the recommendation of the Indian Army.

Captain K Sher Khan's brother Sikandar Sheikh says, “Allah ka shukar hai ki humara dushman bhi koi busdil dushman nahi hai. Agar log kahen ki India busdil hai to main kahunga nahi kyuki usne aelania keh diya ki karnel sher hero hai (No enemy is a coward. I won’t call India coward because it proclaimed Sher Khan as a hero).”

Captain Khan had led an assault to re-capture Tiger Hill soon after Indian troops had taken it and had lost his life in the process.

Ten years after Kargil, Karnal Sher Khan is a folk hero. His images visible everywhere, his native village has even been renamed after him.

Sikandar Sheikh says, "Ek game hai yeh. circikete ek game hai, Chakka mara..mara. Ye ek game hai. Cup milna hai bahadur ko. Cup Kernel Sher ko mila.aur wo bhi dushman ke kehe par (War’s a cricket game, but the winner has got the cup awarded by the opponent)."

On the other side too, valour was prized but the culture was different.

Instances of the Indian soldiers tortured as prisoners of war (PoW) by the Pakistani army can’t be forgotten easily.

However, captain Khan's family, unaware of the torture of Indian troops at Kargil, agree there must be a code of honour among warriors.

courtesy: defence.pk

Lest We Forget - Nagarwala Mystery 1971

2009-04-24T14:07:00.002+05:30

Capt Nagarwala, a close confidant of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, withdrew lakhs of rupees from the secret chests of State Bank of India Parliament Street New Delhi, the account being numberless. Chief Cashier of the branch Mr. Malhotra readily gave the cash to Nagarwala allegedly on instructions of Indira Ji. The story thus goes that he imitated the voice of PM to tell Malhotra to pay Nagarwala Rs. 9 lakhs. Soon there was hot chase and Nagarwala was nabbed, cash recovered and ‘restored’ to the rightful owner. In the process Malhotra was fired from Bank service for gross violation of ‘rules’.

But then it is possible that two and two make five. Soon Malhotra became the Chief Security Officer of the Maruti Udyog Ltd then owned by Sanjay Gandhi! He also found himself rewarded with many licenses for plying buses and matadors on Delhi roads for owning everything but the money. See the linkage of the heritage?

Incidentally, CBI Deputy Director Madhvan who had almost reached the end-users was fired half way through the enquiry even as Nagarwala was sent to mental ward in GB Pant Hospital and of course ‘died’. The police party led by an SP who enquired into the Nagarwala case was shown having perished in accident with truck!

Jai Ho!!!!!!! Congress Party

credit:Daily Excelsior

Kargil War from the Donkeys mouth

2009-03-17T23:36:00.004+05:30

KARGIL CONFLICT AND THE PAKISTAN AIR FORCE

Pakistani writings on Kargil conflict have been few and, those that have come out were largely irrelevant and in a few cases, clearly sponsored. The role of the PAF has been discussed off and on, but mostly disparagingly, particularly in some uninformed quarters. Here is PAF airman's perspective, focusing on the IAF's air operations and the PAF's position.

Operational Planning in the PAF

Since an important portion of this write-up pertains to the PAF's appreciation of the situation and the decision-making loop during the Kargil conflict, we will start with a brief primer on PAF's hierarchy and how operational matters are handled at the Air Headquarters.

The policy-making elements at Air Headquarters consist of four-tiers of staff officers. The top-most tier is made up of the Deputy Chiefs of Air Staff (DCAS) who are the Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) of their respective branches and are nominally headed by the Vice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS). They (along with Air Officers Commanding, the senior representatives from field formations) are members of the Air Board, PAF's 'corporate' decision-making body which is chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). The next tier is made up of Assistant Chiefs of Air Staff (ACAS) who head various sub-branches and, along with the third-tier Directors, assist the PSOs in policy-making; they are not on the Air Board, but can be called for hearings and presentations in the Board meetings, as required. A fourth tier of Deputy Directors does most of the sundry staff work in this policy-making hierarchy.

The Operations & Plans branch is the key player in any war, conflict or contingency and is responsible for threat assessment and formulation of a suitable response. During peace-time, war plans are drawn up by the Plans sub-branch and are then war-gamed in operational exercises run by the sister Operations sub-branch. Operational training is accordingly restructured and administered by the latter, based on the lessons of various exercises. This essentially is the gist of PAF's operational preparedness methodology, the efficiency of which is amply reflected in its readiness and telling response in various wars and skirmishes in the past.

In early 1999, Air Chief Marshal Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi was at the helm of the PAF. An officer with an imposing personality, he had won the Sword of Honour at the Academy. During the 1971 Indo-Pak War, as a young Flight Lieutenant, he was on a close support mission in erstwhile East Pakistan when his Sabre was shot down and he was taken POW. He determinedly resumed his fighter pilot's career after repatriation and rose to command PAF's premier Sargodha Base. He was later appointed as the AOC, Southern Air Command, an appointment that affords considerable interaction amongst the three services, especially in operational exercises. He also held the vitally important post of DCAS (Ops) as well as the VCAS before taking over as CAS.

The post of DCAS (Ops) was held by the late Air Marshal Zahid Anis. A well-qualified fighter pilot, he had a distinguished career in the PAF, having held some of the most sought-after appointments. These included command of No 38 Tactical Wing (F-16s), the elite Combat Commanders' School and PAF Base, Sargodha. He was the AOC, Southern Air Command before his appointment as the head of the Operations branch at the Air Headquarters. He had done his Air War Course at the PAF's Air War College, another War Course at the French War College as well as the prestigious course at the Royal College of Defence Studies in UK.

The ACAS (Ops) was Air Cdre Abid Rao, who had recently completed command of PAF Base, Mianwali. He had earlier done his War Course from the French War College.

The ACAS (Plans) was the late Air Cdre Saleem Nawaz, a brilliant officer who had made his mark at the Staff College at Bracknell, UK and during the War Course at the National Defence College, Islamabad.

There is no gainsaying the fact that PAF's hierarchy was highly qualified and that each one of the players in the Operations branch had the requisite command and staff experience. The two top men had also fought in the 1971 Indo-Pak War, albeit as junior officers.

First Rumblings

As Director of Operations (in the rank of Gp Capt), my first opportunity to interact with the Army's Director of Military Operations (DMO) was over a phone call, some time in March 1999. Brig Nadeem Ahmed called with great courtesy and requested some information that he needed for a paper exercise, as he told me. He wanted to know when had the PAF last carried out a deployment at Skardu, how many aircraft were deployed, etc. Rather impressed with the Army's interest in PAF matters, I passed on the requisite details. The next day, Brig Nadeem called again, but this time his questions were more probing and he wanted some classified information including fuel storage capacity at Skardu, fighter sortie-generation capacity, radar coverage, etc. He insisted that he was preparing a briefing and wanted to get his facts and figures right, in front of his bosses. We got on a secure line and I passed on the required information. Although he made it sound like routine contingency planning, I sensed that something unusual was brewing. In the event, I thought it prudent to inform the DCAS (Ops). Just to be sure, he checked up with his counterpart, the Director General Military Operations (DGMO), Maj Gen Tauqir Zia, who said the same thing as his DMO and, assured that it was just part of routine contingency planning.

After hearing Gp Capt Tariq's report, Air Marshal Zahid again got in touch with Maj Gen Tauqir and, in a roundabout way, told him that if the Army's ongoing 'review of contingency plans' required the PAF to be factored in, an Operations & Plans team would be available for discussion. Nothing was heard from the GHQ till 12 May, when Air Marshal Zahid was told to send a team for a briefing at HQ 10 Corps with regard to the 'Kashmir Contingency'.

Air Cdre Abid Rao, Air Cdre Saleem Nawaz and myself were directed by the DCAS (Ops) to attend a briefing on the 'latest situation in Kashmir' at HQ 10 Corps. We were welcomed by the Chief of Staff (COS) of the Corps, who led us to the briefing room. Shortly thereafter, the Corps Commander, Lt Gen Mehmud Ahmad entered, cutting an impressive figure clad in a bush-coat and his trademark camouflage scarf. After exchanging pleasantries, the COS started with the map orientation briefing. Thereafter, Lt Gen Mehmud took over and broke the news that a limited operation had started two days earlier. It was nothing more than a 'protective manoeuvre', he explained, and was meant to foreclose any further mischief by the enemy, who had been a nuisance in the Neelum Valley, specially on the road on our side of the Line of Control (LOC). He then elaborated that a few vacant Indian posts had been occupied on peaks across the LOC, overlooking the Dras-Kargil Road. These would, in effect, serve the purpose of Airborne Observation Posts (AOP) meant for directing artillery fire with accuracy. Artillery firepower would be provided by a couple of field guns that had been heli-lifted to the heights, piecemeal, and re-assembled over the previous few months when the Indians had been off-guard during the winter extremes. The target was a vulnerable section of Dras-Kargil Road, whose blocking would virtually cut off the crucial life-line which carried the bulk of supplies needed for daily consumption as well as annual winter-stocking in Leh-Siachen Sector. He was very hopeful that this stratagem could choke off the Indians in the vital sector for up to a month, after which the monsoons would prevent vehicular movement (due to landslides) and, also suspend all airlift by the IAF. "Come October, we shall walk in to Siachen – to mop up the dead bodies of hundreds of Indians left hungry, out in the cold," he succinctly summed up what appeared to be a new dimension to the Siachen dispute. It also seemed to serve, at least for the time being, the secondary aim of alleviating Indian military pressure on Pakistani lines of communications in the Neelum Valley that the Corps Commander had alluded to in his opening remarks. (The oft-heard strategic aim of 'providing a fillip to the insurgency in Kashmir' was never mentioned.)

When Lt Gen Mehmud asked for questions at the end of the rather crisp and to-the-point briefing, Air Cdre Saleem Nawaz opened up by inquiring about the type of air support that might be needed for the operation. Lt Gen Mehmud assured us that air support was not envisaged and that his forces could take care of enemy aircraft, if they intervened. "I have Stingers on every peak," he announced. Air Cdre Saleem tried to point out the limited envelope of these types of missiles and said that nothing stopped the IAF from attacking the posts and artillery pieces from high altitude. To this, Lt Gen Mehmud's reply was that his troops were well camouflaged and concealed and, that IAF pilots would not be able to pick out the posts from the air. As the discussion became more animated, I asked the Corps Commander if he was sure the Indians would not use their artillery to vacate our incursion, given the criticality of the situation from their standpoint. He replied that the Dras-Kargil stretch did not allow for positioning of the hundreds of guns that would be required, due to lack of depth; in any case, it would be suicidal for the Indians to denude artillery firepower from any other sector as defensive balance had to be maintained. He gave the example of the Kathua-Jammu Sector where the Indians had a compulsion to keep the bulk of their modern Bofors guns due to the vital road link's vulnerability to our offensive elements.

It seemed from the Corps Commander's smug appreciation of the situation that the Indians had been tightly straitjacketed in Dras-Kargil Sector and had no option but to submit to our operational design. More significantly, an alternate action like a strategic riposte by the Indians in another sector had been rendered out of question, given the nuclear environment. Whether resort to an exterior manoeuvre (diplomatic offensive) by the beleaguered Indians had crossed the planners' minds, it was not discernable in the Corps Commander's elucidation.

Perhaps it was the incredulousness of the whole thing that led Air Cdre Abid Rao to famously quip, "After this operation, it's going to be either a Court Martial or Martial Law!" as we walked out of the briefing room.

Back at the Air Headquarters, we briefed the DCAS(Ops) about what had transpired at the 10 Corps briefing. His surprise at the developments, as well as his concern about the possibility of events spiralling out of control, could not remain concealed behind his otherwise unflappable demeanour. We all were also piqued at being left out of the Army's planning, though we were given to believe that it was a 'limited tactical action' in which the PAF would not be required – an issue that none of us agreed with. Presented with a fait accompli, we decided not to lose any more time and, while the DCAS (Ops) went to brief the CAS about the situation, we set about gearing up for a hectic routine. The operations room was quickly updated with the latest large-scale maps and air recce photos of the area; communications links with concerned agencies were also revamped in a short time. Deployment orders were issued and, within the next 48 hours, the bulk of combat elements were in-situ at their war locations.

IAF – By Fits & Starts

The IAF deployments in Kashmir, for what came to be known as 'Operation Safedsagar', commenced on 15 May with the bulk of operational assets positioned by 18 May. 150 combat aircraft were deployed as follows:

Srinagar - 34 (MiG-21, MiG23, MiG-27)

Awantipur - 28 (MiG-21, MiG29, Jaguar)

Udhampur - 12 (MiG-21)

Pathankot - 30 (MiG-21, MiG-23)

Adampur - 46 (Mir-2000, MiG-29, Jaguar)

One-third of the aircraft were modern, 'high-threat' fighters equipped with Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missiles. During the preparatory stage, air defence alert status (5 minutes to scramble from ground) was maintained while Mirage-2000s and Jaguars carried out photo-reconnaissance along the Line of Control (LOC) and aging Canberras carried out electronic intelligence (ELINT) to ferret out locations of PAF air defence sensors. Last minute honing of strafing and rocketing skills was carried out by pilots at an air-to-ground firing range near Leh.

Operations by IAF started in earnest on 26 May, a full 16 days after commencement of Pakistani infiltration across the LOC. The salient feature of this initial phase was strafing and rocketing of the intruders' positions by MiG-21, MiG-23BN and MiG-27. All operations (except air defence) came to a sudden standstill on 28 May, after two IAF fighters and a helicopter were lost – a MiG-21 and a Mi-17 to Pak Army surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), while a MiG-27 went down due to engine trouble caused by gun gas ingestion during high altitude strafing. (Incidentally, the pilot of the MiG-27 Flt Lt Nachiketa, who ejected and was apprehended, had a tête-à-tête with this author during an interesting 'interrogation' session.)

The results achieved by the IAF in the first two days were dismal. Serious restraints seem to have been imposed on the freedom of action of IAF fighters in what was basically a search-and-destroy mission. Lt Gen Mehmud's rant about a 'Stinger on every peak' seemed true. It was obvious that the IAF had under-estimated the SAM threat. The mood in Pak Army circles was that of undiluted elation, and the PAF was expected to sit it out while sharing the khakis' glee.

The IAF immediately went into a reappraisal mode and came out with GPS-assisted high altitude bombing by MiG-21, MiG-23BN and MiG-27 as a makeshift solution. In the meantime, quick modification on the Mirage-2000 for day/night laser bombing kits (Litening pods) was initiated with the help of Israelis. Conventional bombing that started incessantly after a two-day operational hiatus, was aimed at harassment and denial of respite to the infiltrators, with consequent adverse effects on morale. The results of this part of the campaign were largely insignificant, mainly because the target coordinates were not known accurately; the nature of the terrain too, precluded precision. A few cases of fratricide by IAF led it to be even more cautious.

By 16 June, IAF was able to open up the laser-guided bombing campaign with the help of Jaguars and Mirage-2000. Daily photo-recce along the LOC by Jaguars escorted by Mirage-2000s, which had continued from the beginning of operations, proved crucial to both the aerial bombing campaign as well as the Indian artillery, helping the latter in accurately shelling Pakistani positions in the Dras-Kargil and Gultari Sectors. While the photo-recce missions typically did not involve deliberate border violations, there were a total of 37 'technical violations' (which emanate as a consequence of kinks and bends in the geographical boundaries). Typically, these averaged to a depth of five nautical miles, except on one occasion when the IAF fighters apparently cocked-a-snoot at the PAF and came in 13 miles deep.

The Mirage-2000s scored at least five successful laser-guided bomb hits on forward dumping sites and posts. During the last days of operations which ended on 12 July, it was clear that delivery accuracy had improved considerably. Even though night bombing accuracy was suspect, round-the-clock attacks had made retention of posts untenable for Pakistani infiltrators. Photo-recce of Pakistani artillery gun positions also made them vulnerable to Indian artillery.

The IAF flew a total of 550 strike missions against infiltrator positions including bunkers and supply depots. The coordinates of these locations were mostly picked up from about 150 reconnaissance and communications intelligence missions. In addition, 500 missions were flown for air defence and for escorting strike and recce missions.

While the Indians had been surprised by the infiltration in Kargil, the IAF mobilised and reacted rapidly as the Indian Army took time to position itself. Later, when the Indian Army had entrenched itself, the IAF supplemented and filled in where the artillery could not be positioned in force. Clearly, Army-Air joint operations had a synergistic effect in evicting the intruders.

PAF in a Bind

From the very beginning of Kargil operations, PAF was entrapped by a circumstantial absurdity: it was faced with the ludicrous predicament of having to provide air support to infiltrators already disowned by the Pakistan Army leadership! In any case, it took some effort to impress on the latter that crossing the LOC by fighters laden with bombs was not, by any stretch of imagination, akin to lobbing a few artillery shells to settle scores. There was no doubt in the minds of PAF Air Staff that the first cross-border attack (whether across LOC or the international border) would invite an immediate response from the IAF, possibly in the shape of a retaliatory strike against the home base of the intruding fighters, thus starting the first round. PAF's intervention meant all-out war: this unmistakable conclusion was conveyed to the Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, by the Air Chief in no equivocal terms.

Short of starting an all-out war, PAF looked at some saner options that could put some wind in the sails after doldrums had been hit. Air Marshal Najib Akhtar, the Air Officer Commanding of Air Defence Command was co-opted by the Air Staff to sift the possibilities. Audacious and innovative in equal parts, Air Marshal Najib had an excellent knowledge about our own and the enemy's Air Defence Ground Environment (ADGE). He had conceived and overseen the unprecedented heli-lift of a low-looking radar to a 14,000-ft mountain top on the forbidding Deosai Plateau. The highly risky operation became possible with the help of some courageous flying by Army Aviation pilots. With good low level radar cover now available up to the LOC, Air Marshal Najib along with the Air Staff focused on fighter sweep (a mission flown to destroy patrolling enemy fighters) as a possible option.

To prevent the mission from being seen as an escalatory step in the already charged atmosphere, PAF had to lure Indian fighters into its own territory, ie Azad Kashmir or the Northern Areas. That done, a number of issues had to be tackled. What if the enemy aircraft were hit in our territory but fell across, providing a pretext to India as a doubly aggrieved party? What if one of our own aircraft fell, no matter if the exchange was one-to-one (or better)? Finally, even if we were able to pull off a surprise, would it not be a one-off incident, with the IAF wisening up in quick time? The over-arching consideration was the BVR missile capability of IAF fighters which impinged unfavourably on the mission success probability. The conclusion was that a replication of the famous four-Vampire rout of 1st September 1965 by two Sabres might not be possible. The idea of a fighter sweep thus fizzled out as quickly as it came up for discussion.

While the PAF looked at some offensive options, it had a more pressing defensive issue at hand. The IAF's minor border violations during recce missions were not of grave consequence in so far as no bombing had taken place in our territory; however, the fact that these missions helped the enemy refine its air and artillery targeting, was, to say the least, disconcerting. There were constant reports of our troops on the LOC disturbed to see (or hear) IAF fighters operating with apparent impunity. The GHQ took the matter up with the AHQ and it was resolved that Combat Air Patrols (CAPs) would be flown by the F-16s operating out of Minhas (Kamra) and Sargodha. This arrangement resulted in less on-station time but was safer than operating out of vulnerable Skardu, which had inadequate early warning in the mountainous terrain; its status as a turn-around facility was, however, considered acceptable for its location. A flight of F-7s was, nonetheless, deployed primarily for point defence of the important garrison town of Skardu as well as the air base.

F-16 CAPs could not have been flown all day long as spares support was limited under the prevailing US sanctions. Random CAPs were resorted to, with a noticeable drop in border violations only as long as the F-16s were on station. There were a few cases of F-16s and Mirage-2000s locking their adversaries with the on-board radars but caution usually prevailed and no close encounters took place. After one week of CAPs, the F-16 maintenance personnel indicated that war reserve spares were being eaten into and that the activity had to be 'rationalised', a euphemism for discontinuing it altogether. That an impending war occupied the Air Staff's minds was evident in the decision by the DCAS (Ops) for F-16 CAPs to be discontinued, unless IAF activity became unbearably provocative or threatening.

Those not aware of the gravity of the F-16 operability problem under sanctions have complained of the PAF's lack of cooperation. Suffice it to say that if the PAF had been included in the initial planning, this anomaly (along with many others) would have emerged as a mitigating factor against the Kargil adventure. It is another matter that the Army high command did not envisage operations ever coming to such a pass. Now, it was almost as if the PAF was to blame for the Kargil venture spiralling out of control.

It also must be noted too that other than F-16s, the PAF did not have a capable enough fighter for patrolling, as the minimum requirement in this scenario was an on-board airborne intercept radar, exceptional agility and sufficient staying power. F-7s had reasonably good manoeuvrability but lacked an intercept radar as well as endurance, while the ground attack Mirage-III/5s and A-5s were sitting ducks for the air combat mission.

In sum, the PAF found it expedient not to worry too much about minor border violations and instead, conserve resources for the larger conflagration that was looming. All the same, it gave the enemy no pretext for for retaliation in the face of any provocation, though this latter stance irked some quarters in the Army that were desperate to 'equal the match'. Might it strike to some that PAF's restraint in warding off a major conflagration may have been its paramount contribution to the Kargil conflict?

Aftermath

It has emerged that the principal protagonists of the Kargil adventure were the Chief of Army Staff (COAS): General Pervez Musharraf, Commander 10 Corps: Lt Gen Mehmud Ahmed and Commander Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA): Maj Gen Javed Hasan. The trio, in previous ranks and appointments, had been associated with planning during paper exercises on how to wrest control of lost territory in Siachen. The plans were not acceptable to the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, to whom the options had been put up for review more than once. She was well-versed in international affairs and, all too intelligent to be taken in by the chicanery. It fell to the wisdom of her successor, Mr Nawaz Sharif, to approve the Army trio's self-serving presentation.

In an effort to keep the plan secret, which was thought to be the key to its successful initiation, the Army trio took no one into confidence, neither its operational commanders nor the heads of the other services. This, regrettably, resulted in a closed-loop thought process which engendered a string of oversights and failures:
• Failure to grasp the wider military and diplomatic ramifications of a limited tactical operation that had the potential of creating strategic effects.
• Failure to correctly visualise the response of a powerful enemy to what was, in effect, a major blow in a disputed sector.
• Failure to spell out the specific aim to field commanders, who acted on their own to needlessly 'capture' territory and expand the scope of the operation to unmanageable levels.
• Failure to appreciate the inability of the Army officers to evaluate the capabilities and limitations of an Air Force.
• Failure to coordinate contingency plans at the tri-services level.
The flaws in the Kargil Plan that led to these failures were almost palpable and, could not have escaped even a layman's attention during a cursory examination. The question arises as to why all the planners got blinded to the obvious? Could it be that some of the sub-ordinates had the sight but not the nerve in the face of a powerful superior? In hierarchical organisations, there is precious little room for dissent, but in autocratic ones like the military, it takes more than a spine to disagree, for there are very few commanders who are large enough to allow such liberties. It is out of fear of annoying the superior – which also carries with it manifold penalties and loss of promotion and perks – that the majority decide to go along with the wind.

In a country where democratic traditions have never been deep-rooted, it is no big exposé to point out that the military is steeped in an authoritarian, rather than a consensual approach. To my mind, there is an urgent need to inculcate a more liberal culture that accommodates different points of view – a more lateral approach, so to speak. Disagreement during planning should be systemically tolerated and, not taken as a personal affront. Unfortunately, many in higher ranks seem to think that rank alone confers wisdom and, anyone displaying signs of intelligence at an earlier stage is, somehow, an alien in their 'star-spangled' universe.
Kargil, I suspect, like the '65 and '71 Wars, was a case of not having enough dissenters ('devil's advocates', if you will) during planning, because everyone wanted to agree with the boss. That single reason, I think, was the root cause of most of the failures that were apparent right from the beginning. If this point is understood well, remedial measures towards tolerance and liberalism can follow as a matter of course. Such an organisational milieu, based on honest appraisal and fearless appeal, would be conducive to sound and sensible planning. It would also go a long way in precluding Kargil-like disasters.

Tailpiece

Come change-over time of the Chief of Air Staff in 2001, President Musharraf struck at PAF's top leadership in what can only be described as implacable action: he passed over all five Air Marshals and appointed the sixth-in-line who was practically an Air Vice Marshal till a few weeks before. While disregarding of seniority in the appointment of service chiefs has historically been endemic in the country, the practice has been seen as breeding nepotism and partiality, besides leaving a trail of conjecture and gossip in the ranks. Given Air Chief Marshal Mehdi's rather straight-faced and forthright dealings with a somewhat junior General Musharraf particularly during Kargil conflict, there is good reason to believe that the latter decided to appoint a not-very-senior Air Chief whom he could order around like one of his Corps Commanders. (As it turned out, Air Chief Marshal Mus'haf was as solid as his predecessor and gave no quarter when it came to PAF's interests.) Whatever the reason of bypassing seniority, it was unfortunate that PAF's precious corporate experience was thrown out so crassly and several careers destroyed. Lives and honour lost in Kargil is another matter.

INDIA - AFGHANISTAN: War and Friendship

2009-03-14T12:46:00.003+05:30

The past week was by all accounts a momentous one, as no less a person than former Pakistani President and former Chief of the Army Staff, Gen (Ret'd) Pervez Musharraf, assertively disclosed what has been a 'no-go' area for India's mainstream media and the otherwise hyper-ventilating broadcast media thus far: that India's Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) has, since 2002, waged a highly successful covert war against Pakistan by actively rendering all kinds of financial assistance to Balochistan-based separatists. But mind you, such covert warfare has not been waged by the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), but by the tri-services DIA and Afghanistan's Riyast-i-Amniyat-i-Milli, and in addition to his routine assignment as India's Defence Adviser at the Embassy in Kabul, Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta was officially dolling out huge financial assistance as ordered by the DIA to the Baloch separatists as and when required. For the past one year such activities being undertaken by the DIA were, in fact, openly discussed by both serving and retired senior military officials at both the Armed Forces Gymkhana and the United Services Institution within the National Capital Region. It, therefore, did not come as a great surprise to South Block when Brig Mehta was specifically targeted for assassination by the Pakistan Army's Peshawar-based 324 Military Intelligence Battalion . This in many ways is reminiscent of the era ranging from the mid-1980s and early 1990s during which RAW had succeeded in gaining the trust of what would later morph into the Northern Alliance.

In fact, by 1986, despite India's official recognition of the then Soviet-backed Afghan regime led by Dr Najibullah, India had begun extending medical assistance to the guerrilla forces led by the legendary leader Ahmad Shah Massoud and as a consequence of this, one wing of the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) was completely cordoned off by South Block and it was there that all those Mujahideen wounded in battle while fighting the Soviets under Massoud's leadership received the urgent medical attention that they deserved. So impressed was the Northern Alliance by India's humanitarian assistance that this relationship, at first opportunity, got elevated to a higher level when, in the early 1990s after the breakup of the USSR, the Northern Alliance succeeded in securing Tajikistan's approval for an Indian Army-run field hospital to be established at Farkhor.

To Our Dear Prime Minister - From Air Marshal SY Savur (Retd)

2008-12-08T00:43:00.002+05:30

Dear Prime Minister,

I admire you hugely for all that you have done for the Indian economy and for many things that you have done for India since becoming the PM. Today, I watch is despair the terrorist attack inspired frenzy of promises and assurances of action. I plead for sanity, clear thought and an action plan that is not only effective but also long-term.

I plead with you; do not be tempted to take knee-jerk, short term decisions without considering their long term implications just because you want to be seen as a man of action. In the nearly 5 years you headed the Govt, you took time to even think that there is need for counter-terror mechanisms, so a few days more will not be of substantial loss unless you have the General Elections 2009 in your sights.

I plead with you not to disperse the Special Action Group (SAG), the counter-terror arm of the NSG to the four metros. Have you heard about the Special Air Service (SAS), counter-terror fighting unit of the UK being dispersed even though it fights all over the world?

If you heed some opinion and disperse the SAG please consider the following: -

Centralised training ensures that standards are the highest and the same for every man in the SAG. Dispersal would mean that training standards and maintenance of equipment would be diluted because different people train differently in different circumstances. And there will be temptation to provide one unit more/better equipment because some one will tell you that the perception of terrorist threat there is more than elsewhere.

If at all you want to place the SAG in a place where it can reach any corner of India then please consider Nagpur. It is equidistant in terms of flying duration from the 4 metros as well as the large cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Nagpur’s Sonegaon airport is not the busiest of airports and the IAF base there has an IL-76 squadron which can make available its aircraft. It is better to utilise the large open spaces for setting up a training facility than making an air cargo hub that nobody will use.

While on this topic of aircraft, please ensure that more than six IL-76 are serviceable at any time by providing them the spares that they badly need. You know that one of the reasons that the SAG was delayed was because the IL-76 became unserviceable and the SAG had to be flown in by An-32 (not because the IL-76 is slower than the B-737 or the Airbus). Come to think of it, why wasn’t an Air India Airbus used?

Please make the MoS-cum-National Security Adviser (NSA) just a MoS. Let the MoS handle the political requirements, which Prabhu Chawla said was herding MPs to support the Govt in July 2008.

The NSA should head the National Security Agency (not the National Security Council which is top heavy and hence unable to take quick decisions or react to any crisis). The NSA should be a serving officer selected from amongst the (in alphabetical order so that I don’t step on some corns) Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence), Director of the IB and the Secretary, R & AW. The post should be held on a rotational basis for a fixed tenure of 3 years.

Please make the Director IB, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence) and Secretary R & AW answerable to the NSA for collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of intelligence.

Please make every State’s ADGP (Intelligence) responsible to the NSA for ensuring action and feedback on the intelligence inputs supplied to the States.

Please place an embargo on any intelligence or police authority talking to the Press or leaking information when an operation is in progress; better still till prosecution of the apprehended terrorist or completion of investigation in case of deceased terrorists is over. It will help by not providing the terrorist set up or leaders so that the SAG can complete its job.

Please tell the media that by giving breathless descriptions and broadcasting TV pictures they are actually helping the terrorists and their outfits know where the counter-terror SAG persons are and what they are doing. I shudder to think whether the terrorists were watching TV channels (and surfing them too) to know what was going on to help them play “hide and shoot” with the SAG.

The leadership of the LeT, JeM even the ISI must have been glad that, (in alphabetical order), Aaj Tak, CNN-IBN, Headlines Today, NDTV, Times Now et al were giving them a free ringside seat.

Sir, in your extensive travels and study you would have found that the British media showed restraint in broadcasting pictures of the bombing in the Underground, the Police and the Intelligence agencies did not resort to the blame game nor passed the buck. Why does our IB, R &AW always tell us that they told the State Police and the police did nothing? After all the same IB and R &AW is staffed by IPS officers!

Sir, why should the DG NSG have to tell the media what they already know? Have you ever heard of, let alone seen a photo, of the commander of the SAS? Why shouldn’t our SAG/NSG also do their job and disappear? Is it because DG NSG wants exposure so that he is rewarded in the next Republic Day honours list? Even that could be done but quietly.

Sir, I cannot but appreciate your firmness in telling India that you will not cut the price of petrol, diesel etc because the oil companies had suffered losses. How about the same firmness in handling the IB, R &AW etc?

Finally, Sir, the Federal Investigative Agency – laudable but will go the way the CBI unless you give it the autonomy of the Election Commission, Comptroller & Auditor General even the Chief Vigilance Commissioner.

Thank you, Prime Minister for your patience.
Jai Hind

Air Marshal SY Savur (Retd)

Indian Army: Counter Insurgency Force Motto

2008-12-05T10:57:00.000+05:30

"It's God's responsibility to forgive the terrorist organisation, It's our responsibility to arrange the meeting between them and god."

National Security Guard (NSG)

2008-11-30T14:21:00.002+05:30

Terrorism, both national and international raised its head in the West during the seventies. It manifested in many forms including hijacking of aircraft, taking of hostages, assassination of dignitaries and others. The normal law and order machinery and the defence forces of the West were found wanting to deal with this menace. Specially equipped and trained Forces like SAS of UK, DELTA Force of USA and GSG-9 of West Germany were raised abroad.
The need for creating a Special Force for executing surgical operations based on tactical intelligence was felt when Blue Star Operation was carried out by the Army at the Golden Temple, Amritsar in 1984. This operation not only caused extensive damage to the Golden Temple but also occasioned a large number of casualties
and above all the Sikh psyche was badly hurt. NSG was conceptualised and created after studying and analysing Special Forces like SAS in the United Kingdom, GIGN in France, GSG-9 in Germany, Shar-et-matkal in Israel and DELTA in the USA. It
consists of selected and highly motivated personnel from the Army as well as the Para Military Forces. 53% of the personnel are drawn from the Army while the Para Military Forces like BSF, CRPF and ITBP contribute 47%.

Tasks

(a) Neutralisation of specific terrorist threat in any given area, building, vital installations, etc.
(b) Engaging terrorists in a specific situation in order to neutralise them.
(c) Handling hijacks situation-involving piracy in the air and on land.
(d) Rescue of hostages in kidnap situations.

Additional Tasks

(a) Security of high risk VIPs.
(b) Anti sabotage check of venue of visits/public meetings of VVIPs.
(c) Create information Bomb Data Centre.
(d) Training of State Police personnel on anti terrorist, VIP Security, PSO duties, bomb detection and disposal etc.

The Ethos of the force is:—

(a) Elitism.
(b) Pursuit for excellence.
(c) Lead from front.
(d) No runners up.
(e) One for all and all for one.

National Security Guard is a small Specialised Force with each of its component having a specific role. The Central Govt. has in NSG a viable Force to carry out specialised CT Ops like Op Black Thunder I& II and Anti-hijack Ops. It mobilised for Hazratbal Shrine in October 1993 also. The Force is well trained, motivated and highly skilled in their tasks. NSG with its expertise and sophisticated
equipment and weapons can take on counter terrorist tasks which are beyond the capabilities of State Police personnel, Central Police Organisations and at times even the Army.

Operations and Training

National Security Guard has been raised to counter terrorism and counter hijack operations in the country. NSG has 51 SAG trained and equipped to carry out CT Ops, while 52 SAG is trained and equipped for CH Ops.

Presently there are two types of elitist roles which this organisation is performing; Counter Terrorist (CT) and Counter Hijack (CH) operations. In addition to that NSG is also entrusted with close protection and mobile security duties of threatened VIPs of Z + category risk. CT & CH tasks are very specialised and high risk duties and the best of personnel are required for this job. Similarly VIP protection is also highly skilled task. NSG has patterned VIP security tasks on the same lines as the protection of the Prime Minister by special protection group (SPG). Since VIP protection duty personnel remain under constant threat while moving with the
VIPs, they have to be selectively enrolled, well trained and highly motivated. To streamline these duties and integrate the commandos with their tasks, NSG propose to internally divide its force into two parts; one for CH and CT duties and the other for VIP security duties. This step will further add to the elitism of NSG and more
importantly will further refine the training .standards and performance of these personnel. This will provide them with the upgraded skills, techniques and operational competence for foolproof performance of their duty at all times. Due to the risks involved in the above mentioned highly sensitive tasks and to attract high quality manpower for this elite organisation it is essential that Pay & Allowances of the NSG personnel is made the best and at par with SPG if not better than them.
To carry out Counter Terrorists Commando operations, routine operation tactics is not adequate. Commando type operations are special operations and they have to be conceived and conducted as such.

The salient aspects of Commando type operations are:—

(a) Speedy induction from the Administrative Base up to target area, to achieve maximum surprise.
(b) Isolation of the area by Special Ranger Groups (SRGs).
(c) Surgical strikes by Special Action Group (SAG).
(d) SAG is relieved by SRG/State Police.
(e) Rapid denudation of the task force.

To carry out CT Tasks at a very short notice and to ensure the force is operationally ready and fit we have evolved a system whereby one Squadron is readily available for operation and is available at 3 hrs notice. Another Squadron is placed on training while the third Squadron is on leave and other routine duties. Thus at any time 2 Squadron worth of personnel are always available to be launched for any tasks.

The main Commando type operations carried out by NSG are given below:-

(a) OP Black Thunder-I (29 Apr-30 Apr 86). Approx 80 offers, 180 JCOs and 1500 men participated in it. The temple was cleared and handed over to Punjab Police by 0600 hrs on 01 May 1986. 122 terrorists surrendered.
(b) Op Steeple Chase III (5 Sep 87—15 Jan 88). Guarding of a high risk terrorist code 'Jack'.
(c) Op Black Hawk (20 Jan 1988). Heliborne ops in Mand area of Punjab. 2 terrorists killed and one 7.62 SLR recovered.
(d) Op Black Thunder-ll (10 May-20 May 88) Ops in golden Temple in conjunction with Punjab Police. 30 terrorist killed 217 surrendered. 69 weapons of all types recovered. AK-47-22, CPMG-3, Pistol-19, 1500 (all ranks) of the NSG participated in the ops.
(e) Op Cactus (03 Nov-08 Nov 88). 600 Commando (Cdo) Mob for ops in Male, Maldives. Subsequently tasked for rescue mission of Hostages on "MW Progress Light".
(f) Op Mouse Trap (04 Aug 89). Ops in Taran Distt in conjunction with PP and SF. 26 terrorists killed, 17 apprehended, 27 weapons recovered including 13 x AK 47, 2 Gp MG's one RPG.
(g) Op Ani Ban (25-26 Jan 91). CI Tasks at Baroda. Punjab terrorists holed up inside a house in Baroda. 2 terrorists killed and 2 AK 47 recovered.
(h) Op Ghost Buster (01 Jul—20 Sep 91). NSG Commandos deployed with SIT for search and strike missions after the assassination of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi.
(j) Op Sudarshan (25 Nov-16 Dec 92). 150 NSG Cdos deployed at Ayodhya during RJB and BM dispute.
(k) Op Winter Storm (27 Oct-18 Nov 93). Ops at Hazratbal Shrine. A TF of 20 Offers, 29 ACs and 176 Cdos was moved on 27 Oct 93 to Srinagar. Ops called off after final preparation had been made.

Op Black Thunder I & II were conducted by the NSG. Op Blue Star conducted by the Army in the Golden Temple in 1984 caused extensive damage to the temple complex as well as hurt the psyche of the Sikhs. Op Blue Star was conducted by the Army in a conventional manner employing max fire power to flush out the terrorist inside the Golden Temple. By excessive use of force, there was not only excessive damage to the temple but the casualties on both sides were heavy. However, the after effects of Op Blue Star is yet to be healed. On the other hand NSG carried out Op Black Thunder I & II of similar magnitude. These ops conducted by well trained, well equipped tips of NSG not only completed the task with élan, but the ops had no ramification thereafter.

Counter Hijack Role

52 SAG is earmarked and trained for CH Tasks. Along with 52 SAG, 52 BD and 52 Dog Units provide the Bomb Disposal and detection cover to this force. 52 SAG is based at Palam. The composite TF for CH Ops based on a Boeing 747 aircraft is
quarantined for 2 months at a time at Palam and placed at 30 minutes notice.

Some of the Hijack situations in which NSG commandos were deployed are:-

(a) Op Dum Dum (10 Nov 90). CH TF mob and move to rescue hostages of Thai airbus by Burmese students at Calcutta.
(b) Op Turning Pt (27 Mar 93). CH TF mobilised and move to Adampur for rescue of hostages of IA fit 436.
(c) Op Ashwamedha (24-25 Apr 93). CH Ops to rescue hostages of IA flt IC-427. Mission successful. Without any casualty. Op Ashwamedha was meticulously planned and conducted with a clock like precision. Once the hijack took place, the CH TF was mob at 1505 hrs and was ready to take off at 1525 hrs. The TF took off in an IL-76 ac at 1718 hrs and landed at Adampur. The TF was taken by 6 x MI-17 and 1 x MI 26 hectors to move to Amritsar. The TF arrived at Amritsar airport at 1925 hrs. Throughout the negotiations, the hijacker did not relent to release even ladies and children and ordered the aircraft to be refuelled and flown to Kabul. On 25 Apr
93 at 0047 hrs, the Crisis Management Group cleared the operation of NSG to go ahead. The aircraft was stormed by the NSG Cdos with its specialised CH eqt and shot the hijacker. The Op lasted barely 15 sec» from the word 'go'. The passengers and the crew thereafter were released without any casualty.

Special Ranger Groups (SRG)

The Special Ranger Groups (SRGs) i.e. 11, 12, & 13 SRGs provided immediate support to the SAGs and undertake all facets of anti terrorist actions. Presently the SRGs' manpower is not available for intimate support to the SAGs in case of a CH/CT scenario in view of VIP security duties.
VIP security duties have been entrusted to the NSG for the 'Z' risk category of VIPs. They include 12 Delhi based VIPs and 6 out station VIPs. The manpower of the SRGs is completely committed on the VIP security duties. This becomes worse during elections due to extensive tour of VIPs requiring prepositioning of escorts.

BD & Dog Units.

The BD and Dog Units are to support the ops of the two SAGs. However, they also handle bomb incidents and bomb threat around Delhi. They carry out Anti Sabotage check (ASC) of Parliament House during parliament sessions, important buildings, vehicles and so for PM, President and visiting Heads of State, the BD and Dog Units
have taken part in all ops conducted by the NSG. They have also been deployed in Delhi for major events like Republic Day parade, Independence Day celebrations etc.

Weapon Equipment in the NSG

Keeping in mind the role and the task of various units of the NSG, the over-riding requirement is to process 'State of the Art' weaponry at all times. During the time of initial raising of the NSG, equipment for only one-third of the force was procured.

In the world of fast changing technology newer and better weapons are developed and are available in the world market in a short span of time. To ensure elite force like the NSG to have superior weapons and have guaranteed success, it is essential that the NSG possesses better weapons & equipment with precision, there is a requirement that the quality of manpower in the NSG be of a high standard.

Quality of Manpower

For the task envisaged for the NSG, it requires highly motivated, dedicated personnel who are physically tough and mentally robust. Since NSG is a zero error and no runners-up force and to accomplish the assigned task with no failure, officers and men are handpicked from CPOs and Army. Some of the notable operations undertaken by the NSG and its achievements have been highlighted. In the absence of adequate incentives, the men and officers from the Army and CPOs are not responding to the desired extent, and as a result there are a large number of vacancies. Besides the quality of men volunteering for deputation to the NSG due to lack of adequate incentives is also being felt by the NSG. This no doubt has a direct impact on their performance when a special task is entrusted to them. Till date they have not been able to fill up a large scale vacancies which are continuing since its very inception mainly due to lack of incentives. The training is very tough and the tasks are sensitive and hazardous. To volunteer to NSG one expects attractive perks to compensate the hard life, risks and nature of duty.

Training

NSG Training Centre is located at Manesar. Initially, only NSG probationers were given training at NSG Training Centre. •Subsequently, it was decided to make use of the spare training capacity of the Training Centre to impart training to the personnel
from CPOs, State Police and Army as well. NSG Training Centre is now conducting three types of courses for the Police personnel viz Police Commandos, Personal Security Officers and Bomb personnel viz Police Commandos, Personal Security Officers and Bomb Disposal courses. As per the then PM's decision the bulk of the
instructional staff is from the Army.

The quality of training in NSG has made a mark in the country and is emerging as a major Counter Terrorist Training outfit for different organisations. The demand is growing much faster than, can be met by NSG. It has been proposed to upgrade the Training Centre to the status of a National Academy of Counter Terrorism. This will necessitate a large well trained staff structure for effective handling as well as other institutional establishment security organisations to continuously scan and update their methods. It will be our endeavour to make the Training Centre a 'Centre for excellence for combating terrorism', once the up gradation is carried out.

Risk: The risk factor to its personnel is self explanatory. When dealing with terrorists having 'State of the Art Weapons and Equipments': and ops in unconventional manner, the risks involved are enormous. Even during training the NSG personnel are subjected to risk of injury and even permanent disablement.

Constant Training: To be able to motivate and instil a sense of confidence to carry out any task with surgical precision the NSG has to be always on training to sharpen their skills. Thus it will be seen that NSG carries out constant training to ensure that
when called to carry out a particular task, it is accomplished with 100% success. In addition, the NSG personnel have to operate with latest State of the Art weapon system and equipment which needs constant training to use them to its best advantage.

Constant Alert: In view of short notice at which tasks may be entrusted to the NSG, the NSG personnel have to be constantly on Alert to be deployed for either CT/CH tasks. It is for this very purpose there is an Alert system whereby one TF is always on Alert status. The remainder too will have to be mobile in case needed at a very short notice. This alertness on the NSG personnel puts additional pressures on him and his family.

Credit: Bureau of Police Research and Development

Sardar Patel - "Terrorist" - Hurray Secularism

2008-10-25T13:08:00.004+05:30

Muslim Political Council of India has said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was a terrorist. Reason: He annexed Hyderabad forcibly and had deliberately allowed the massacre of Muslims in post-partition era when he was the Home Minister of India. Not only this, the Muslim outfit has demanded that present Home Minister Shivraj Patil should also be tried and declared a terrorist for his biased approach on Muslim terrorists.

“Sardar Patel was responsible for all the riots after partition, for lakhs of Muslims who were killed in the riots. He deliberately allowed them to be killed. He was a terrorist,” said Taslim Rahmani, chief of Muslim Political Council — a Muslim outfit formed in 2001 and registered in 2006. It has about 33 members and small units in most of the Muslim dominated areas of the country.

Rahmani had made similar comments about Patel on Monday while addressing the Muslim clerics meet in Azamgarh. He had said that Nathuram Godse was the first terrorist of Independent India and Patel the second one. “I stand by my comment. Besides, Patel issued Government order that Muslims were not faithful so they must not be given important positions in Government jobs. He acted against Muslim community, which as per the widely perceived definition of terrorism is a terrorist activity,” said Rahmani.

He went on to state that even Shivraj Patil is a terrorist as he has been deliberately concealing facts about the involvement of extremist Hindu outfits in terrorist activities. “The Home Minister pronounced the Muslims caught from Jamia Nagar as terrorists but he has failed to come public on the blasts in Mehrauli and other parts of the country where Hindu outfits are suspected to be involved,” he said.

In a suo motu Press statement, Secretary General of the All India Mili Council Mohammad Manzoor Alam, Secretary, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind among other Muslim groups condemned Rahmani’s views. “It was and deplorable to term Sardar Patel a ‘terrorist’,” read the statement. “He should apologise. One may differ with Patel in opinion, but cannot label him as a terrorist,” added Alam. Jama Masjid’s chief cleric Imam Bukhari said that he did not want to speak about Rahmani or his statements.

Credit: The Pioneer

p.s - A ray of Hope in this news, J.E.U.I-Hind as always and true to their nationalist background have denounced these idiots. Maybe this is the reason that J.E.U.I-Hind has not able to raise their profile in post Independent India.

Bomb Blasts: Indians - Half truths, Full lies and lots of rumours

2008-09-26T14:36:00.003+05:30

The last few days have been very crucial for the investigators of the pan India bomb blasts. They seem to have found some leads after the humiliating 4 years where they were running around in circles (like a dog trying to jab its tail). As usual the police and the public gave different version of things which most of the media was quick to show as “Breaking News”. The media content swung like a pendulum moving from India’s Osama Tauqeer to Azamgarh being India’s Waziristan. One channel showed Tauqeer and others with devils ears and tongue. Please for god sake “SHUT UP”. If this is the level of media coverage then I and other sane people will support going back to the days of “Dukhdarshan” (Doordarshan).
As being slightly more “knowledgeable” and “Level minded” (pun intended) than our electronic media journalists, there are a couple of points that I wish to communicate out on these bomb blasts, their investigation and also take the liberty of commenting on some allied issues.

The Delhi – Batla House Encounter

Please for god’s sake, this was not a fake encounter. Fake encounters are not done in broad day light in the middle of a colony, nor does the mission leader tell his family that he is going to be back in a couple of hours leaving behind his critically ill son. Please accept the encounter story of the Delhi police as they are saying the truth (at least this time). Any sceptic can watch a very balanced coverage on headlines today news channel which was able to procure the actual encounter footage shot either with a mobile phone camera or a normal camera with low quality digital zoom. It clearly showed a below par police action where casualty was nearly 100% sure. As has been reported in some creditable media that the cops were of the opinion that this would be a “QUICK ARREST” operation and before other people realise it, they would be back at their Lodhi Road office. Some Police officers want to join such raids for the lure of medals; some for promotions but some do have genuine team spirit and all these scenarios’ can lead to mistakes and lots of them were committed on that fateful day. As for the shots having hit Inspector Sharma from the back, the headlines today clip clearly shows the volley of fire coming from the house and the ill equipped and ill prepared raiding party rushing downstairs to escape that gun fire. As for the escape of the terrorist, well if such was the planning of the arrest, then escapee of 2 -3 or all the terrorists is no big deal. Having myself seen visuals and also read about the manual of procedures employed by a raiding party in U.K, I can tell that this was a shoddy work by the special cell. The blame if any goes to the concepts in training for such operations that Indian police employ in which a false sense of bravado and complete sense of recklessness gets groomed into them. In this age of the internet and you tube, just look into clips of such raids by U.K and U.S police and one can appreciate my view on this. I do not doubt the bravery or the team spirit of these policemen but just sacrificing one’s life leads to nothing. What if the court tomorrow says that no the encounter was not perfect or the captured people are not terrorists? These scenarios can happen and the only reason is that our police hardly go with an effort to create a case against the accused. The entire exercise is to capture an accused and then “Break” him down to reveal everything. This does sensationalise the news of that day but when the story goes to the inner pages of the newspapers, the terrorists go scot free. This is totally opposite to the procedure employed by the U.K police who operate in a scenario where the suspects are trailed for months and only when enough legally admissible evidence is accumulated, the cell is busted. This is the biggest reason that police in such countries enjoy far higher credibility than our police do. Such credibility not only leads to better moles in the terrorist cells but also in improved convictions.

Month of Ramdan – There were murmurs at the Batla house area that a Muslim could not do something so un-Islamic during the holy month of Ramdan. The terrorist have no knowledge of Islam or love for it. They only know the language of hate and nothing else. This was reaffirmed as within a couple of days the terrorist and that too the wahibi’s (purist) nearly blew up the Marriott in Islamabad and that also when an iftar dinner was being organised. This is their level of knowledge of Islam and their thoughts for a Muslim Ummah or an Islamic Caliphate.

What can be done to assure the sceptical people of India that such encounters are genuine?

1. Give raiding party helmet cams (U.K police has started using them). This if needed can show if the raiding party was following the set procedures or not. Army has been doing this for a long time and it is time that the police forces start the same also.
2. All deaths natural and unnatural needs be verified by a system called Coroner’s Inquest. This simple process goes a long way in clearing the air about encounters. The system is presently working in the U.K and has been able to produce wonderful results. The Coroner is somewhat like a constitutional figure and he/she goes beyond the role of a post mortem expert. He/She also enquires about the conditions leading to the death and also what could and should be done to prevent such a loss of life. Lots of changes have been bought into the emergency management system in the U.K by such inquests.
In the U.K even the Armed Forces are under the preview of the Coroner’s Inquest which might not be possible so we could have a separate Coroner for Armed forces directly reporting to the Defence Minister. We need this openness not only for keeping the Armed Forces record clean but also to make sure that generals who are responsible for the life of the front line jawans and officers give them the best quality tools to achieve their missions. Right now jawans and officers who lay down their lives for this nation are quickly termed Saheed and no institutional effort is made to address the root causes of their deaths. Lots of deaths in Indian Armed forces are attributed to malfunctioning of ammunition or poor quality of communication equipment or weapons or body armour and nothing is done quickly enough to correct these issues.
3. Please allow press briefings to be done by professionals and not regular policemen and women. Train your P.R cops in what P.R means. For someone who has wielded lathi all his life, words would not be the easiest things which would flow from his/her mouth.
4. Rumour mills work over time at such places especially where the majority of the people are either illiterate or semi educated or like most Indian’s - Born sceptics. What the police and their P.R fellows need to do is to make sure that their voice is heard. Tools that You Tube, Orkut, Face book and Internet chat rooms offer a quick and easy way to disseminate your point of view. These days even royal family of U.K, U.N, etc have their own video channels on the You Tube.
5. Order a Coroner’s Inquest and publish its finding or even updates on the internet.
6. Train and prepare your men and women on such missions well enough. Equip them well and show your evidence gathered to a magistrate before a raid is started (Italy does that – A Magistrate leads the police campaigns against mafia’s, terrorist or other shady characters). This will allow the encounter specialists to access if the evidence gathered is good enough or more needs to be done under the existing laws to nail the terrorist in a court of law.
7. Pick up more people from smaller communities into the force especially Delhi Police in the lower rung. There are hundreds of young retired ex Army men and women including Muslims who could be immediately absorbed into the force. This will allow some credibility and increase professionalism into the police forces.

As I have reported in my earlier blogs that intelligence agencies and police forces are busy doing “bandobast” for their “bade sahibs” and their free loader relatives rather than trailing the terrorists. A quick reading of Maj. Gen V.K Singh’s book on R&AW reveals the same, 90% of all information in R&AW is purely technical and that is shocking. Human assets remain and will remain your best bet in thwarting any sinister plans of the terrorists.

Religion from a modern perspective is the right to practise your rituals and beliefs without any fear until and unless they impede on the other person’s right of existence. If you look at these terrorists this is not what they want, they are hell bent on forcing their beliefs on people lesser capable of defending themselves which include groups like women, economically downtrodden, etc. Forcing religious beliefs leads to different problems and that is pretty well seen in Muslim countries. If you starting discriminating than people have a habit to take such acts to levels beyond the comprehension of sane people. Glaring examples are Muslims in Iraq; first the division was between Iran and Iran, then it was divided between Iraqis and Kurds and the Iraqis subdivided themselves between Iraqis and marsh Arabs; then Iraqis got divided into Shia’s and Sunni’s and then Shia and Sunni’s got divided into different factions and then these factions would finally get divided into different factions as per each household. Gen. Petreus of the U.S ARMY did nothing extraordinary but just divided people as per their wishes and some kind of peace was restored in Iraq.

A proof of forcing people to follow a certain philosophy is that a few days back I read an interesting fact about Pakistan. Lots of Sunni Muslims write their faith as Shia Muslims to escape the compulsory Zakat during the months of Ramdan that Gen. Zia had introduced in that country. This Zakat amount is compulsorily deducted from the salaries for all Sunni Muslims and exempted for Shias and other Minority groups. Also anybody flying into Bangkok can find Saudi jets with their billionaire owners are parked in Bangkok and other places of pleasure for days at end – Do not think for prayers (As far as I know Bangkok is NOT famous for that).

Trust me if Hindu’s think that their saviour in the current times is Dr. Praveen Togadia or Raj Thackeray and Muslims think that their saviour is Osama or some Paki funded politician or “Amar Chitra Katha of Dalal Salam fame and his Netaji or the very “Punny” Chara Eater – Laloo, Aloo, Balu and his family including his railway platform changing brother in Laws” then all the best to those who believe in this. I would to stick myself to reading books and writing by blog.

Live together we have to, so better it is that we start quickly.

p.s – Ignorance breeds even more ignorance: I asked a friend of mine if he knew who was ABU FAZL. The answer even before I could end the question was TERRORIST (As all terrorists change their names to Abu something). All I can say is the fact is that Abu Fazl was one of the most learned scholars that Akbar had in his court. Abu Fazl wrote Akbarnama, translated Bible into Persian and also was instrumental in changing Akbar’s temperament to a modern outlook.
Now there are two ways of looking at this answer, one all is lost and now Muslims are doomed. The other way is that such things need to be highlighted. Firstly accept that there is a problem and this cycle of violence that can be stopped if and only if people from within the Muslim community wake up and tell not only other Indians but also young boys and girls of their community that their ideals need to be Abu Fazl or Dara Shikoh and not osama’s of this world.

Please also read: Muslim Freedom Fighters of India/edited by S. Ganjoo. ISBN 81-261-1281-6

India - Union, Federation or Commonwealth

2008-09-26T00:57:00.002+05:30

Human beings by their nature are divisive people, they are greedy and if left to them, they would like to blow up the whole world and have all its riches for themselves. Strength of nations is their ability to work together as one. Why India is a success is not because we are able to help each individual in his or her hour of crisis but the belief of people to keep their past behind and move ahead to create a bright and positive future for this great land. The greatness of Sardar Patel is magnified million fold as he was able to tell different Indian ethnic groups that their destiny laid in a common and strong India. He greatness was that he was able to tell people to keep their belief in this gods own country called India. He was able to tell a Dogra that what they historically did to say a Punjabi or what the rajputs did to maratha’s was irrelevant in this new India. The idea of India is to keep people together and not further divide them. Just read some constituent assembly debates on allowing secession and the reasons given against them. Hardly a few would know that the constituent debated on the definition of India and whether to keep India a federation or a commonwealth or a union and finally settled for a Union. One of the most liberal constitutions was framed so that people do not feel the need to secede and find their voices heard with the frame work of the Union of India. The problem is that the system has failed and not the constitution.

The constitution allows a great deal freedom and if any section of the society feels that the executive or even the legislature is not up to the mark, the judiciary can be called upon to act like an alibi. In how many countries and that too developing can an ex P.M be taken to a small district court and made to stand in the convict’s box. The liberalism of this nation even after enduring subjugation in form of a foreign rule for nearly 800 years and even after seeing 30% of your territory taken away by creating an experimental country called Pakistan is something that enhances my respect to our nation’s constitutional forefathers. How many nations which have gone through all that we underwent prepare something as liberal as our constitution? Even issues like declaring this nation a Hindu Rashtra or banning conversions was debated in the constituent assembly and finally decision was taken not to go in that direction. Look at our neighbourhood and one realises what was the calibre our leaders who allowed such a thing. Pakistan – Muslim nation, Nepal – Hindu, China – Communist (Han), Sri Lanka – Sinhala, Burma – Buddhist, Maldives – Muslim, Afghanistan – Muslim and later Bangladesh – Muslim and INDIA - SECULAR. Look today where most of these other nations are; top in the list of failed states and ask a reason why – the answer is not difficult, religion cannot be a basis of nationhood, secularism will be. Mr. Jinnah’s experiment called Pakistan has failed and faster the Paki’s accept that the better it is. Nations like Saudi Arabia or Bahrain or Qatar survive as they hold a tight lid over their people and incentives like free cash doles and loan waivers are granted to keep the population from revolting. Time is a great leveller, it shows your propaganda might be the best (Pakistan’s) but it is the ethos that run a nation. Paki’s might fill venom in their text books against India and call Indian by their casteist names but “SATYAMEV JAYTE” – another great motto by our nation’s founders has come true. The millions of baby snakes made to order for India are now biting their own people in Pakistan. Hate only breeds hate; travel on a Paki passport and you see your condition at the immigration desk of any country. Over the years an Indian passport has earned for itself a great degree of respect and thanks to our software professionals and people like the Tata’s and the Mittal’s and many more like them.

Most of our countries problems are human created and that too mostly by the great politicians. You need not go further than see the state our parliament is in today. 90% of the members do not even come prepared for important discussions on subjects like 123 Nuclear Deal, Defence Budget, etc. The parliament has been reduced to a verbal and sometimes physical duel between members on issues which a national parliament should not even discuss. Our parliament discusses issues like village roads, rural health, poverty alleviation, etc leaving no time for issues concerning our strategic depth, energy security, reform of services like immigration, armed forces, Para military, police, etc. Why should centre even have a ministry like rural health or tribal welfare when the same issues are state subjects? Why should centre even spend money directly on issues like rural roads, health, etc? All these issues should be given to the states to handle and centre should move out of the same ASAP. This was the biggest crime that congress did to this country; it never allowed institutions to be formed autonomously. They subverted the entire democratic process of this country just because Justice Sinha of Allahabad high court declared Indira Gandhi’s election for the Rae Bareilly lok sabha seat null and void. Centre and its institution should now focus themselves on issues like defence, finance and security – energy, internal, etc.

My idea is to make states an equal partner in the development of this nation and not to overlap schemes which only result in increased bureaucracy and lesser delivery on the ground. Some ideas can be like the Airports in metro’s have been privatised, make assets like Non metro airports a JV between centre and state governments and run by professional bodies. All local city and within state trains should be run by a JV company similar to the lines of NJ transit in America and all interstate trains to be run as they are (under Indian Railways). In U.S, such ports and trains are operated by local municipal authorities like Ports Authority of NY and NJ handles most of the airports in the NY/NJ area and also run the NJ transit system. I can also say the in case of currency notes; we can issues them bearing great freedom fighters of each states. I saw a very similar system done by U.K for their regions of Northern Ireland and Scotland. Both regions have something called a Scottish or Northern Irish Pound which is always pegged to the U.K pound. Such measures will not make states secede from India but will allow them room to manoeuvre on issues like finances, social harmony, etc. This will allow a more serious leadership to come up in states as they will have no longer an option to blame centre for all their ills. The centre should act as a friend and a guide to states and not a big daddy as it does today.

To end this essay on India all I can say is that apart from SATYAMEV JAYTE, the very idea of India is derived from 2 mottos; E Pluribus Unum (U.S.A) meaning FROM MANY, ONE and Dieu et mon droit (England) meaning GOD AND MY RIGHT. The American motto is something that we truly are – one in a million and to further enhance our prestige we need to constantly introspect. For surviving and thriving in this modern uni-polar world; my logic would be to have an eagle sharp mind like America and a compassionate soul like Europe.

p.s - Next in the series, I would write this in context of Kashmir

DELHI BOMB BLAST - 13 SEPTEMBER 2008 – COMMENT REPLY

2008-09-17T15:27:00.002+05:30

Thanks to my learned friend who has put his comments on my blog about the Delhi Blasts. Let me clarify some things on what I wrote, firstly none of the people whom I criticised is a constitutional authority. P.C Halder and Home Minster form the bureaucracy/executive. Only people in the position like the President of India or the Governor of a State or the Election Commissioner or the Judges of Supreme Courts are constitutional authorities. Even if they were constitutional authorities, why should we not be able to criticise their conduct. Look at what the courts have said about the family of the President, there are cases of first degree murder on the immediate family members of the president and we should allow such people to hide behind the cloak of not criticising any constitutional authority. Look at the cases of the judges of the Ghaziabad courts defrauding the lowest rung employees of their life’s saving (P.F Scam). Our motto should be the one that I have taken from an American Security Organisation - IN GOD WE TRUST, ALL OTHERS WE INTERCEPT. No one is above the law and that too when people’s lives are involved.
Secondly, again I was tagged along with a few million eunuchs who ran away, from where I do not know but if this blog commentator person is referring about the Kashmiri Migrants, well at least I and my community are clearly on one side and not like other Kashmiri’s who are still in the valley and chant Pro India slogans when they come begging for their monthly cash dole and anti India slogans when they reach back in the valley. My close family, friends as also the wider community to which I belong have been working in the government and security forces trying to fight terror not only in the Valley but in other parts of India (and around the world too). Lots of our community boys have laid down their lives fighting terrorist in the valley and more so like I have said before, our community does not need any certificate from anyone for our patriotic feelings; it is the others who need to show where they belong too; India or Jhootistan. Where ever our community has gone it has always raised the bar as far education and other activities is concerned. Look at the valley, even today thousands of kashmiri muslims send their kids outside of the valley so that they get some good education. This was not an inborn phenomenon as the Kashmiri muslims were deprived from good education before the Indian independence. Whatever mass Kashmiri education came in the valley was only after Bakshi’s saw that the biggest reason that the pundits did well for themselves was their strong emphasis on education. Look at the scenario today, the same things the pundits have done to the Jammu region as well. There is a mass education movement on and what is different from the previous times is that the dogra boys and girls are pushing for higher studies and not stopping at graduation. Jammu has witnesses an exceptional boom in their economy after the migration 1989-90 and lots can be attributed to the Pandits. As a community we have always pushing more on education and less on guns. Imagine the situation in valley now and see where Jammu is today, Valleys loss is Jammu’s gain. Pandits are not pickpockets or rapist but educationist and they have shown that in Jammu. I again say look at the valley and look at Jammu.
Thirdly as far as our identity is concerned, well it will be preserved come what may. That is protection that any Indian will get in our country, unfortunately people who have been fed on Jhootistan propaganda know very little of this. I really hope that the government of India freely opens up the muzzafarabad route for both trade and people to people contact so that people on the Valley realise that there the original state subjects of P.O.K have been put in a minority in their own state by the Punjabi’s through the Pakistani army’s ex servicemen rehab scheme. Better still has been done in Northern Areas – Gilgit and Baltistan, where the Shia’s after their rebellion during Zia’s tenure were brutally hacked and driven out of their land. The shia’s have been revolting frequently against this inhuman treatment in more than one way, Zia’s death is also blamed on a Shia airmen who came from the northern areas. In contrast if there is some semblance in P.O.K area (due to its propaganda nature), the northern areas are a black hole. There is no government and the only authority that people know is the Army and the I.S.I. Look in one of my previous blogs and you would see what Baloch’s say about Pakistan and how their leaders are treated by the Pak army and the ISI and we on the other hand pay for the medical treatment of Kashmiri separatist leaders. Helping some in need is the Indian ethos but let it not be known that Kashmiri’s are thankless people. Indian ethos stems from the old proverb that a fruit bearing tree is always bent downwards, so we need to be humble for all the acts that we do but the other side should not see that as our weakness.
Kashmiri people in the valley should see this and realise that what their ancestors did during the 1948 Pakistani - Kabaili raid was because they saw through the designs of Jhootistan. Today 99% of the valley folk would not know that today’s Lal chowk in Srinagar infamous for grenade attacks was actually the place where Pakistani - Kabaili’s who were caught by the JK Militia were publically executed in that square. As I have said before that an entire generation has grown up in the valley without any knowledge of their history and only knowing the Nizam e Mustafa that has been enforced privately since 1989.
p.s – Just got a post asking if I am in the army, Please NO. That was a typo error which I realised after I published it. I am a common Indian citizen who is in a private organisation and that is the reason that I do not write under my name. As for hunting down is concerned, well house to house search is common in all law and order manuals all around the world. In the recent muslim youth riots within Denmark, the police used the same techniques to quell the riots. The 2006 Paris immigrant riots were quelled by the French police only after a house to house raid at the Picasso estate area of Paris. In the 2000 BNP-South Asian riots, the Leeds, Leicester, bradford and other police forces in the U.K used house to house searches and identity parades to fight this menace. What we need to remember that community needs to be involved in such mass exercises and educated on the need for the same.
Also please do not publish hearsay stories about the truckers and this donation. Please all of it is based on hearsay - Half truths and full lies and lots of rumours. Lots of people have called saying that on the 6th October, Geelani is going to declare Independence after the Id namaz and Pakistan, Bangladesh and some other Muslim nations will recognise it. All this has stemmed from just one statement of Zardari at his swearing in press conference that something is going to be done within a month. Lots of our friends who are honest, secular Kashmiri’s (including Minority shia’s) have called our relatives to enquire if such reports were true. Ha Ha Ha.
Please we cannot be bogged down by half truths and full lies and lots of rumours. Please there is so much to do, there are so many people suffering and if we the lucky few who are blessed with good education and support waste our time on 400 acres of Land then there is nothing sadder to say. The faster that issue is over the better it is, we have family ties with so many kashmiri muslims that it is amazing that we have allowed the situation to reach such a turn. The main culprits are the leaders of the valley and then Jammu. Now if there are any bad feelings talk it across and clear it up. We would meet each other again and then as a saying goes – Hate a person but not so much that next time you meet, you would have to lower your eyes in shame.
My strength and that of this nation comes from our democracy. My personal motto IN GOD WE TRUST, ALL OTHERS WE INTERCEPT gives me the freedom to criticise our own bad politicians, our own gods, our holy books which have some negative references and it is because of this freedom I still say that GOD BLESS INDIA. This great country of 5000 years, of a book of knowledge of Rig Veda and it has managed to retain its roots. It is amazing and nothing else. The more I have read about the ethos that defined this nation even in 1947, the more I respect it. The debates in the constituents assembly before the constitution was passed are iconic and should be read by one and all as to why we call this nation as great and why I will stand by each and every letter of the same.
More later.

DELHI BOMB BLAST - 13 SEPTEMBER 2008

2008-09-14T17:27:00.005+05:30

So the eunuchs have stuck in Delhi and killed innocent people and as usual our leaders are even bigger eunuchs. They have lost all moral decency and are clinging on. The leader of the pack is Shivraj Patil - the Marathi manoos of Raj Thackery, followed by P.C Halder and tons of other like laloo, Aloo and Balu. I get shocked when i think that this is the same seat on which my ideal and idol Sardar Patel used to sit. This is the same marathi manoos that Raj Thackery wants to defend. This is my problem with such issues, you are deviating from the core issues. Our nation is under threat and we need to to fight it together. Mr Patil, get out of the ministry and get lost to Italy and enjoy the favours of the pope. Your heart cried when kadamal burnt and you have no tears when Indian's were killed in Delhi. People who were killed were Indian and not Hindus, Muslim's, etc. For the sake of India, get out of the ministry and the bureau and allow new people to run them. Open up the intelligence services to common men and women of India, throw IPS officers out of the IB and recruit ordinary citizen who have a caliber to understand the terrorists. Recruit people from all sections of the society where the criteria is their caliber and not the person being a marathi manoos or kashmiri manoos or kerala manoos.

Also simultaneously hunt down the laloos and aloos who visit the Abu Bashir's of India and stop police from doing their duty. Hunt down the Raj Thackery, Abu Azmi and the Raza Murad's of this world who want to destroy India and its ethos, who think that they can cook their political roti's over the lives of people killed. Hunt down the people who take as little as Rs 700/- and provide bangladeshi's the false identity papers when they land up in India. Hunt down the Mohammad Azam Khan's and Mohd. Shabuddin's who are the listed I.S.I agents in the books of Intelligence agencies. Hunt down each and everyone, even if one has to do house to house search or crack down that we ask our security forces to do in the Kashmir valley.

Remember that we are the third biggest sufferer of terror attacks after Iraq and Afghanistan. Time now is to hunt down one and all who do such killings.

p.s - I have seen some new comments that someone calling himself/herself as anonymous. A lot of garbage has been written in the same and I will soon respond to that person. Again like previous times and true to a Kashmiri's mindset, a lot of rumours have been used to create this response. Half truths and full lies are being used to write responses to this and other blogs and newspaper article. I will respond point to point but right now just too troubled with the blasts.

KASHMIR - JK POLICE and CRPF - FOLLOW UP NEWS STORY

2008-09-12T10:50:00.004+05:30

Well sometimes when you write your blog there is a strange feeling that what you write may come true and that is what happened with the last story. Within 2 days of writing this blog i read a news column that the central government has announced additional IPS positions for Para Military Organisations. I guess one must remember who is at the helm of affairs in the Home Ministry in New Delhi.

Govt nod for 48 new posts for IPS men in paramilitary forces

New Delhi: The government on Thursday cleared a proposal for creation of 48 new posts in various central police organizations to accommodate IPS officers — a move which has been strongly resented by cadre officers of the paramilitary forces who term it an attempt to provide a ‘parking lot’ for those senior cops who do not want to return to their parent states.
The decision — taken by the Union Cabinet — will create new posts of special directors-general of police (SDGPs) and extra posts of additional DGs and inspector-generals of police (IGPs) in paramilitary forces like CRPF, BSF, CISF and ITBP besides central police organizations (CPOs), including CBI.
Though the government called the decision a “functional necessity”, the cadre officers in the paramilitary forces said that “the move was not only demoralizing for them but also added fuel to the fire” at a time when the Centre has even denied them the recommendation of the 6th Pay Commission over the issue of giving more senior-level posts to officers from within the cadre.
The government, however, has a different take on it. Referring to the Cabinet decision, a senior home ministry officer said: “It will strengthen the supervisory structure of the CPOs for better command and control and for effective implementation and monitoring of projects and activities in the specified organizations.”
A number of middle-level cadre officers of CRPF and BSF, however, questioned the Cabinet decision while talking to TOI, asking whether the cadre officers who fought Naxals and terrorists and thereby gained actual experience of the ground situation were not qualified enough for the job. The decision will help the country’s largest paramilitary force, CRPF, in getting three new SDGPs. They will be posted in Jammu and Kashmir (militancy), Bihar (Left-wing extremism) and Assam (insurgency).
Other organisations like BSF would get two new SDGPs who will be posted in Chandigarh (western front) and Kolkata (eastern front). ITBP and CISF will also get one SDGP each while the premier investigating agency, the CBI, has been sanctioned an additional Special Director’s post raising the number to two.
The Special DGs will have the rank of Director-General but a slightly lower pay scale.
In yet another decision, the Cabinet approved a Rs 500-crore special scheme to create police infrastructure in the Naxal affected states during the 11th Plan period.

CREDIT: TIMES NEWS NETWORK

KASHMIR - J.K POLICE and CRPF Actions

2008-09-09T16:24:00.004+05:30

Last month a strange thing happened, as i was all geared up to write a blog on the C.R.P.F’s handling of the current turmoil in the valley, i found that there were 5 comments by an unidentified blogger commenting on the same topic. In the last few days I have been troubled by the pathetic handling of the situation by 3 different parties, the central government, the governor and the CRPF. Today I would like to keep my focus on C.R.P.F’s handling of the valley situation and leave the other 2 characters for a later date.

Firstly, I would like the readers to go through my previous blog on police reforms and see this as a continuation of the same. Firstly it is my firm belief that the Local Police and the CRPF is the worst that the Indian state has to offer to the citizens. What creates my view is seeing their conduct from both historical and contemporary perspective in the valley as in the rest of India. This time my views are also supported by the fact that people on both sides of the Pir Panjal are unhappy with the handling of the situation by both the Local Police and the CRPF.

First let us the talk of the Police actions in Jammu, when Kuldeep Kumar Dogra died due to the intake of a poisonous substance at a rally in Jammu, the police in connivance with the hospital staff managed to smuggle out his body from the morgue and were trying to cremate it by putting it on fire using discarded car and truck tyres. They would have succeeded in the same had it not been for a passing sadhu who raised an alarm and alerted the local population of that area. This desecration of the mortal remains of a person killed during the agitation was the second big booster to the ongoing agitation; the first being Omar Abdullah’s parliament speech. Maybe the police as also Omar might have thought that the act would pass off as a regular police action or for Omar a freedom of speech. What both forgot is the fact that most of the Indians generally will forgive millions of acts that are perceived as not correct but something’s are generally non negotiable. These two were part of that which is termed as non negotiable especially when the scenario is as tense as it is now. We should not ignore the basic premise that people anywhere in India have a right to demonstrate. Why the extra judicial killing or the rallies there after Kashmir do not shake the national conscious is due to the fact that such rallies turn into a Pro Pakistani Pro Azaadi rallies. What amazes people in other parts of India is the condition that Pakistan is itself in. The kind of extra judicial killings that are being committed by each and every concerned (or unconcerned) party including government, ISI, Pakistan Army, US Army, CIA and many more is simply ignored. This added to the fact that Pakistani generals take money from CIA after each “terrorist” captured or killed or even after each “Predator” strike. This is quietly ignored by the people lecturing the common people in the Valley. Just because Justice Ifthkar Chaudhury the CJ of Pakistan Supreme Court wanted some sort of accountability from the government on these killing that emergency was imposed in Pakistan. This is the level to which our Jhootistan neighbour can go to hide their extra judicial killing machinery. So the less the valley and in particular Geelani talk about their undying love for the land of the pure the better it would be.

Now let us look at the CRPF, well this force is probably the most untrained, unmotivated, ill equipped and over utilised forces that the union of India has. There is no system of governance or leadership that exists in that force. The officers that command the frontline soldiers are mainly from the ranks whose training and leadership skills are suspect and the only reason of their promotion from the ranks is the length of service and their Annual Confidential Report. This is absurd as the basic criteria for a leader of soldiers is to have leadership qualities either in born in him or been trained to have them. This ACR driven promotion business works well in bureaucracy but not in forces either military or Para military. The best part is that hardly anyone understands the basic problems of the force and the main thrust for any so called correction in the force usually ends up creating more posts for I.P.S officers at the CRPF Hqrs in Delhi.

Looking specifically at the valley and the CRPF reaction, well the same things happened when B.S.F took charge of the valley. They used all kinds of trials and error methods to strengthen their grip in the valley. They had very few positives in their method of operations and even those were lacked by the CRPF. The biggest problem comes from the fact that Para military units do not have a fully vetted counter insurgency manual. This coupled with the unfamiliarity of working in new operational setup like CI Grid or using collateral Damage Avoidance procedures and Lack of adequate weaponry or training has created the situation which will take its toll not only on the people of the valley but also on the CRPF men and women who work there. Today the BSF may laugh and say that they had told the home ministry that CRPF is not equipped to handle the CI grid in the valley as the premier force along with the JK police but the fact of the matter is that BSF had itself been a totally disjointed and ill equipped force when it landed in the valley. They picked up after a long and painful period in which they used draconian methods like their PAPA ONE interrogation centre, capture, death and the brutal skinning of some BSF men in the villages of Kashmir, number of terrorist attacks at key installations in spite of having their own intelligence wing – the G branch cannot be forgotten. Also R.A.F was created out of the CRPF to handle such situations and again it has not been used in the valley. This act is unpardonable as it makes the Home Ministry suspect in the eyes of all the people who know the effectiveness of the R.A.F. I guess you cannot expect much from this home minister who is in a way there because MADAM likes meo cats and not roaring tigers in the Home Ministry. I guess as any other law abiding citizen of the country it is a matter of shame that we have to use illogical force on people who have a right to demonstrate. I might have a difference in opinion from the people who demonstrate but it cannot take away their rights. All peaceful agitations must and need to be promoted in all over India, however when they threaten life and limb – please use all modern methods minus firing to stop them. Crowd control is something that a lot of research is going on in Europe and lessons can be learnt from them. Use of dye coloured water, video recording of the event, issuance of criminal record on the person and the threat of dismissal from service can be used as more humane and civilised ways to control a crowd. The faster we move from the British methods of General Dyer, the better it will be for our nation.

Being a devil’s advocate, firstly it is not easy being CRPF trooper in India and more so currently in the Valley. They have no system of training either on induction or during their tenure. Their units are moved not as battalions but as companies. This goes against the basic tenets of any general duty force which 90% of the CRPF belongs to. Although comparisons are tough but a general duty force on a CI grid like the Indian Army infantry units on the other hand move only in battalion strength, making it easier to manage command and logistical issues. This added to the fact that army can use its own engineering or supply regiments to arrange for accommodation or other logistical matters which the CRPF lacks. Most of the times the CRPF moves to their designated location even before the CPWD which is tasked to help them in issues of accommodation start putting out tender notices. CPWD’s speed even at the best of the times is to wake up only after a couple of weeks of deployment have passed. The only Army units that work on company strength are specialised units like Engineers, medics, Bomb disposal and dog squads and those too within their command. In the CRPF it can happen that the commanding officer is in Kashmir and his 2 companies would have been airlifted for a deployment in Kerala. This deployment of the 2 companies of the CRPF is for infinite time leaving a complete sense of disarray in the battalion. The state government which request for these men and women do not want to relieve these units leaving even further disarray as far as the operational, leave and training requirements of that particular battalion are concerned. The charter of these men and women is just not defined making them tools in the hands of state governments. Then same company or even the battalion could be one day used for polling booths, next day for anti electricity theft operations, next day land clearing operations, next day for rally, then next day for VIP bandobast, the next day in anti naxal operations and finally to flush out heavily armed terrorist from some house in the valley. Please have a look at the quality of food of the CRPF men and women, their tents, their weapons, their duty hours, their nature of duties, their motivations and one will can easily understand why this force is totally out of the sync with the methods to be adopted in the valley. Which force can do all that? Is it humanly possible to do all this and then remain sane and think logically? How many of the CRPF DG’s have worked at the level of SP and below for more than 10 years in the force? Please read my previous blog on police reforms to understand the crux of this problem and maybe it’s possible solutions.

I have myself seen one of their ROP (road opening party) methods in Jammu division and all myself and a friend of mine (whose is in the army) could do is to hold our heads in disgust. The entire CRPF company had no arrangement for transportation or accommodation of the men and each of their boys were carrying their own gun, holdall, bucket, sticks and trunks. All this was on a road that was a very strategic road which terrorist were using as their main crossing point between P.O.K and Doda (for their onward movement to the valley from south Kashmir). This lacklustre approach was when there was a specific threat that the terrorist were thinking of ambushing forces on that road and Army (which was earlier doing the ROP) was relieved to make way for some clearing operations in the higher reaches of those hills to thwart such an attack. The next day Army had to spare some of its men to augment the CRPF ROP as the brigadier of that sector had no trust on the ROP abilities of the CRPF (as the road was also used by Army conveys). This example is only to illustrate the frustration of all the concerned parties in such a scenario.

There is no short cut to arranging leadership of troops. It is a very painful process that even the Indian Army is discovering given the drop in quality of people applying for the officer’s rank. I do not say the Indian Army is perfect and all other forces are fools but the fact of the matter is that the Army is able to adapt faster to such changes. The army is backed by schools for its troops like CI ops schools, High altitude schools, etc which the other forces do not have. They can rotate their troops from peace to active duty which CRPF cannot do; they have a system of no carry forward leave (all troops under the home ministry have that) which enables them to retain a minimum level of force for deployment. Small measures like splitting the very generalised of this force can help create a better CRPF.

All this is no sympathy for the near and dear ones of people who suffer due to such an action. This debate to re invent the CRPF and also the Indian police forces must be pushed to its logical end otherwise if today it is Kashmir, tomorrow it can be any other Indian City.

Hurrah - State of Pakistani Minorities

2008-09-02T12:55:00.002+05:30

I dedicate this article to Mr. S.A Geelani and his band of terrorists in Kashmir

A Pakistani Sikh, who graduated from the Punjab University this year, has become the first from his community to receive a bachelor's degree from the prestigious institution since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.

Juswinder Singh, who passed his Bachelors in Arts (Honours) programme, now plans to do his Masters in Business Administration in finance from the same university.

Singh said he was proud of being the first Pakistani Sikh in the country's history to get a four-year degree from the Punjab University and demanded that seats be reserved for in the institution for religious minorities.

Bilateral relations between India and Pakistan should be strengthened as this would give an opportunity to Pakistani Sikhs to pursue education in India, Singh told the Daily Times newspaper.

Singh, who hails from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas was admitted to the University in 2004 on a seat reserved for students from the tribal belt.

He demanded that the government frame a policy on admitting minorities seeking admission to the university.

The Punjab University has reserved seats for children of army personnel, teachers and varsity employees and those who excel in sports and debate.

"They have also reserved seats for students coming from ATA, Waziristan and Balochistan, but no seat has been reserved for minorities," he said.

Singh said he enjoyed his time at the Punjab University and faced no discrimination throughout his stay.

"No one discriminated against me because of my religion and appearance during my four years at the university," he said.

credit: NDTV

p.s: Sorry for being so cynical about our neighbour Jhootistan

Lest We Forget - Siachen Warriors

2008-08-24T16:53:00.003+05:30

Lest We Forget - Pakistan Army in Bangladesh

2008-08-23T17:47:00.004+05:30

One of the very few remaining Horror Videos of the Pakistani Army's action in Bangladesh. I dedicate this one to the Mr. Geelani of Kashmir for his viewing pleasure.

The images in the videos are very disturbing.

Lest We Forget - Balochistan

2008-08-23T17:18:00.002+05:30

This is the text of the speech Dr. Wahid Baloch of the Baloch Soceity of North America had delivered at the National Press Club, Washington D.C on the 15th of August 2008. He comes from a place that today is termed as a forgotten struggle of a people who are opressed by the first Nation on this planet founded on religious lines.

As i personally read more about the baloch people and their struggle, i realise more about the fundamental differences between the dispute in my state J&K and Balochistan. I will discuss all those points in some later blog but right now please read this wonderful speech of Dr. Baloch.

The speech

"Balochistan is a Texas sized region, divided among Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. The Iranian portion was given to Iran by British rulers in 1928 as part of the British forward policy to serve as a buffer between its imperial possessions in India with the Russian communist empire. The Pakistani portion that remained in British hands was granted freedom separately from India and Pakistan. Balochistan emerged on the map of the world as a sovereign state for more than seven-and-half months until March 1948, when Pakistani army attacked Balochistan and forcefully annexed it into Pakistan. Just as a matter of record, the issue of Balochistan's independence was taken up before the bicameral Baloch parliament, Diwan-i-A'am, or the House of Commons, and Diwan-i-Kha'as, or House of Lords, both of which unanimously opted for independence. The second option for the Baloch was acceding to India, which they thought made better political sense. And still do.

Since March 1948, Balochistan, a land rich in oil, gas and minerals, with a 900 miles of strategically located warm water coastline on the Straits of Hormuz has been under the Pakistani occupation. The Baloch people never accepted to this day the illegal occupation of their homeland and the loot and plunder of their natural resources that is being done at the gun point by Pakistan. On July 19, 2008 a 12-year old boy named Jani Baloch was among nearly 100 civilians killed in Dera Bugti area by the Pakistan army.

Thousands Baloch have lost their lives in this war and tens of thousands of Bugti and Marri tribesmen have been forced to leave their homes and thrown into destitution because of the Pakistan army operation that began in 2005. According to a UN survey report there are more than 80, 0000 displaced homeless Balochs and 59,000 of those suffering are women and children. Quote I would say, this qualifies as 'crimes against humanity', unquote, said a UN official who visited the affected area.

For those who don't know about Pakistan army, it is a Jihadi army. To be more precise, they are in fact Taliban in uniform holding U.S. arms in their hands. For those who still think that Pakistan is a an ally in the war in terror, they need to re-check the facts. Pakistan has never been an ally in the war on terror, because Pakistan itself is the terror. Pakistan, its military and ISI, are the main sources of terrorism.

We have no doubt Islamabad played a crucial role in the 9/11 attacks against America. If the Taliba'an and Al Qaeda had a hand, how come their main sponsors can be innocent?

The killing of Balochs is continuing on both sides of the artificial border of Balochisan as I speak before you.

In Iran, extremist Mullahs and Iranian revolutionary guards arrest and kill Baloch at will, on flimsy pretexts. The case of Yaqub Mehrnihad, a journalist and civil rights activist, who was hanged on August 4, 2008 in Zahedan in Iranian occupied Balochistan is a case in point. Thousands of young Baloch activists are victims of torture and languishing in Pakistani and Iranian Jails. Their only crime was attending peaceful demonstrations and protest rallies.

In Pakistan, many hundred Baloch have been made to disappear and their loved ones don't know where they are. In Iran the Mullahs hang the Baloch in public, without a fair trial on mere charges of being 'mufssid fil arz' (miscreant on earth). Each time they hang a Baloch in public the mullahs Chant slogans like "Allahu Akbar, Margbar Amreeka, Margbar Israel", Which mean, "God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel." They think killing innocent Balochs is their religious duty as they consider the Baloch agents of Israel and U.S.A.

Similar slogans are raised by the Pakistan army soldiers when they attack Baloch villages.

The Pakistanis use the label Indian and Afghan agents to kill and torture the Baloch. More recently they have started suspecting the Baloch nationalists and their allies of pushing the U.S. agenda. One case is that of activist Dr. Safdar Sarki, who was tortured for 20 months in Pakistan military intelligence dungeons on suspicion he has links with the Baloch resistance and was working for CIA and pushing a U.S. agenda.

Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, 79, former governor and chief minister, president of the Jamhoori Watan party and chief of the Bugti tribe, was killed extra judicially by the Pakistan army, who began suspecting him in the late 1980s when he befriended the then U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Robert Oakley. Balach Marri, a member of Balochistan assembly, was also killed by Pakistan army.

All of this must stop

The Iranian and Pakistani jihadi armies can not fight the Indian and Israeli armies, but with impunity, they are carrying on their shameful terror campaign against the defenseless innocent Baloch civilians, which is going on for many decades.

Since August 2006, after the extra judicial killing of Nawab Bugti by Pakistani army, Pakistan has increased its terror campaign against the Baloch people. The genocide of Baloch nation is continuing on both side of the border. The US F-16 jets and Cobra gunship helicopters given to Pakistan to hunt down Taliban terrorists are being used in Balochistan against the innocent secular Baloch people. Last week Pakistani jihadi terrorist army attacked a village in Dera Bugti Balochistan, killed 48 people and arrested several hundred innocent Bugti Baloch who were then taken to nearby military camp, where they were summarily executed in Nazi style and their bodies were dumped in mass graves t cover up their crimes. This is not the first time Pakistani army has committed such crimes against humanity. The genocide of three million innocent people in Bengal and rape of half million Bengali Muslim women is now part of the world's history books.

1n 2006, a key Pakistani organization, the Human Right Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in their fact finding mission report, reported gross human right violations, scores cases of arbitrary arrests, detentions, tortures, disappearances and summary extra judicial execution by Pakistan army in Balochistan. Appeals and urgent actions have been issued many times by Amnesty International, Asian Human Right Commission and other human right organizations to highlight the Pakistani and Iranian military atrocities against Baloch people.

Soon after Nawab Bugti's assassination,the dejure ruler of Balochistan the Khan of Kalat, Suleman Dawood Ahmedzai, called upon the Balochistan's representative assembly, the Grand Balochi Jirga, which was attended by almost all Baloch tribal leaders, political activists, and students--nearly 100 tribal chiefs and 400 notables. The historic Grand Balochi Jirga denounced the Pakistani military operation in Balochistan and extra judicial killing of Nawab Bugti and they unanimously made a declaration to challenge the illegal occupation of Balochistan at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague.

Let it be crystal clear that Balochistan was never a part of Pakistan. Trying to Pakistanize Balochistan at the gun point and through the slogan of Allahu Akbar has not worked for the last six decades and will not work in the future. Simply because the state of Pakistan in itself is not a very legitimate State by herslf. Just because the majority of Baloch are born Muslim, does not give the jihadi armies of Pakistan and Iran a license to continue to occupy our lands, conduct genocide of our people, loot and plunder our resources, and test their nuclear weapons in Balochistan. The world community must not close their eyes over the crimes against secular Baloch people. I urge the U.S. Government, in particular the Pentagon, and international community, in particular the N.A.T.O., to immediately intervene and initiate dialogue with De Jure ruler of Balochistan Mir Suleman Daud Ahmedzai, who is seeking asylum in the UK. I ask the other international leaders, particularly the leaders of India, Afghanistan, Israel, Russia and European Union and His Royal Majesty King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and the leaders of Gulf States to support the Balochistan's case at the ICJ against Pakistan's illegal, unjust and immoral occupation of Balochistan.

Baloch people, just like the Kurds, are secular and a great ally in the war on terror. We support and defend the International Security Assistance Force and the democratic government of Afghanistan's right to pursue the Taliban and Al-Qaida terrorists right into the sanctuaries provided to them by the Pakistan army and the Inter Services Intelligence. A Balochistan ruled by secular forces is in the interest of the peoples of the world, including the United States.

We urge our friends on the Capitol Hill to not support Pakistan, a terrorist State, but extend a helping hand to the Baloch people who are their best and natural ally in the war on terror in the region. Small baby steps can make a sea of difference. One of these steps is an embargo on all military supplies and equipment until Pakistan ends its illegal and immoral occupation of Balochistan, hands over terrorists like A.Q. Khan, Osama bin Laden, Ayman Alzwahiri, Daud Ebrahim and Rashid Rauf and rolls back its nuclear weapons program.

We urge the U.S. Department of State to set up the Voice of America Balochi service as soon as possible. We also urge immediate resumption of USAID for Balochistan to bring in more Baluch youths into the U.S. by an enabling visa waiver program and political asylum for Baloch activists who are facing Pakistani and Iranian persecution".

(Text of Speech given at the National Press Club, Washington DC on 15^th August, 2008 - http://www.bso-na.org/ )

(Dr. Wahid Baloch is the President of Baloch Society of North America and can be reached at e-mail: dr_wahid_baloch@bso-na.org)

Ahmedabad Blast - Abdul Rashid alias Mufti Abu Bashir Ilahi

2008-08-18T18:28:00.004+05:30

Please read this quite a funny story on how the dreaded terrorist Abdul Rashid alias Mufti Abu Bashir Ilahi was caught by police in his hole in Azamgarh. That is why they say "Phus Gaya Bechara - Shadi bhi nahi hui aur azaadi bhi chali gayee" (Poor fellow even without getting married, he still lost his freedom).

Lucknow: On the evening of August 14, when a middle-aged man knocked at the door of a dilapidated house in Sarai Meer police circle of Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh, the house owner, Abu Bakar was a bit surprised. Introducing himself as Qudus Alvi of Jalaun, the stranger expressed his desire to meet Abdul Bashar, the eldest son of Abu Bakar, for a marriage proposal.

"We are actually looking for a pious man for my daughter. Mizban saheb of Jalaun told us about your son. We are looking for a god-fearing match for our daughter," he said in one go before Bakar could open his mouth. "My family members are waiting outside in a car. Should I call them?" he asked as a perplexed Abu Bakar nodded his head in the affirmative. Moments later, 'Qudus Alvi' was back with four other men.

Barely had the men made themselves comfortable on a cot, when Qudus Alvi started off again: "Sahabzade dikhai nahi par rahe hain. Kahan hain? (Your son is not to be seen, where is he?) ." "Nahi. Hain yahin. Abhi bulwate hain (He is here. I will call him just now)," Bakar replied as he called for Bashar.

Moments later, a lean man of average height appeared from a dingy room. "As salaam alai kum," he greeted the guests. 'Qudus Alvi' got up on his feet to shake hands with Bashar. But everything changed in a fraction of a second. The guests herded Bashar out of the house and virtually dragged him to a waiting Sumo. Even before Bakar could understand what was happening, the men had disappeared with Bashar. A little later, some local residents who witnessed the "kidnapping' ' told Bakar that Bashar has apparently been taken away by the police.

credit: Times of India 17th Aug 08

Amarnath Yatra Struggle - Reply

2008-08-14T21:19:00.005+05:30

Hi Bloggers,

This is my repsonse to comments that i got from someone calling himself Indian Muslim. As you would see from his comments, his understanding of India and his ethos is very low. Please decide yourself.

Definition of Legend Oxford Concise English Dictionary: A traditional story popularly regarded as historical but which is not authenticated; Oxford Pocket English Dictionary: A traditional story from the past which may or may not be true
Definition of Puranas : eighteen ancient books consisting of legends and mythological narrations dealing with creation, recreation and the genealogies of sages and rulers
Definition of Mythology (Oxford Pocket English Dictionary): Set of widely held but exaggerated or false stories or beliefs.

Reply: Thanks for telling me the oxford pocket dictionary meaning of English words. I definitely need it given that I am on a temporary assignment in London.

Look my friend, matter of faith is never solved by oxford dictionary meanings.

Faith is something that you and I cannot comprehend. How can you define the fact when people travel to places like Kumb Mela or Perform Hajj and think that their soul will get cleansed by doing so? When holy books say that God create the world with Adam and Eve and Noah had an Arc through which he saved the world. You and I can discuss scientifically all this and maybe able reject these theories but for most it is a matter of faith and I as an Indian and that too a proud one – am committed to make sure that people are allowed to maintain that faith until it doesn’t harm my Nation. I am committed to the fact that our holy constitution has framed a system for all to practise the same and not to ridicule Holy Books like Veda’s or Puran’s or Quran or Bible. Can you scientifically prove anything written in these books? So it is your limited knowledge about other people and their religion and maybe including your own which prompts you to tell me the Oxford dictionary meaning of faith and mythology.

Faith is said to move mountains and that is all I can say.

2. Supported by Malik Family agreed. But who are the pony owners? Who give shelter to Yatris during storms? Who carry the old on their backs? For your information, they are all Muslims since you seem to have seen Kashmir only through the internet and through “mythological” stories.

Reply: Well I really did not know that 300,000 people stay with Pony wallah’s at their homes during storms. I do not think that in the snow storm on the yatra route in 1996, the 250 people who died were the ones who were left out of the pony owner houses. Please let us stop to dramatise the situation. Religions and people co exist and for multiple reasons, maybe trade and commerce, maybe faith. Leave it to them to run their lives like it is and create situations to smoothen the yatra. Take a look at what Jagmohan did for Vashino Devi Yatra and see how the vested interests tried to do what they are doing in the valley for the Amarnath yatra. Read his book “My Frozen Turbulence” and you get a better idea in your closed mindset.

3. Total No. of Kashmiri Muslims Killed (as per Govt. of India Statistics) since 1988 – 31,000
Total Number of Kashmiri Pandits Killed (as per your own blog): 361
It is grossly incorrect to term Kashmiri Muslims as terrorists. The statement “All terrorists are Kashmiri Muslims” can to an extent be a valid statement. But when you take the converse statement it is an utter violation of logical reasoning. The total Terrorist population by exaggerated estimates would be no more than 1% of the entire population.
Hence if you say Yatris were killed by Kashmiri Muslims, I suggest you go back to school and take a class in reasoning.
By the way, terrorists have no religion and have been misusing religion/race/creed since time immemorial across the world.

Reply: Deaths in a conflict zone are inevitable and as there are no Pandits left, it is the Muslims who would be on the death list. If there are 200,000 official guns of the security forces in the valley and 3500 terrorists, you can well imagine that killings would happen. Guns do not shoot out roses but deadly bullets. As far as who kills these people, well I cannot say Robots or Birds or Hunguls; it must be humans and if there are mostly one community there, it is some disgruntled elements from the same doing it on provocation of our friendly Jhootistan neighbour. Once peace returns in the valley and one day it will, the people in valley will understand that the cost they paid for all this violence was far greater than what they were promised by our friendly Jhootistan neighbour.

Also thanks for the school suggestion, will look into it.

4. SASB had only 8 Hindu members - Justice (Retd) G D Sharma, Prof Vishnu Murti Shastri, Sunil Sachdeva, Manoj Gaur, Dr Vimla Dhar, Professor Neerja Mattoo, Raghu Modi and Dr Arun Kumar. The people who did the actual work on field were all Kashmiri Muslims. Thus, to say that just 8 people managed a gathering of 300,000 people is absolutely ridiculous.

Reply: Does your oxford dictionary tell you about the word Governance or Leadership? There are only 40 Lt Generals in the Indian Army of 1 Million Men and Women. Does this that they do all the fighting or they are just to lead men without discriminating on any basis? I really do not believe in this hindu members in hindu shrines or muslim in muslim shrines. My simple yardstick is that if any Indian can lead an army battalion without any discrimination, why shrine boards can’t be run like same. We are not asking them to pray but to behave like a professional and work in his or her area of professional expertise to enhance the spiritual quest of the followers.

5. I absolutely agree with your statement. The primary aim of Pakistan is to destroy any and every system in India. They had been trying to disconnect the Valley from the rest of India for the past 20 years. When they didn’t succeed people in Jammu came to their aid. For God’s sake stop communalizing the whole issue.

Reply: How is it not communalised? Look the problem if it has to be tackled needs to be sorted head on. First accept that there is an insurgency and that too Muslim insurgency in India’s only Muslim majority state. Just by saying so does not make the personal communal. It is like older people in India never say the person has cancer but they always say that he has a bad illness – running away from the reality. There are number of questions that need to be asked: Why is the insurgency there? How has the Indian state treated Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh? How are the people doing vis a vis other parts of India and also P.O.K? How has the Indian Army ever operated in a counter insurgency operations in the valley before 1988? What was the crime rate in J&K before 1988 and what is it now? Why cannot the people in valley have this fascination for Jhootistan? As you have no idea of the valley; Pakistan Independence Day was celebrated and Indian Independence Day always had a strike call? Why Pakistani team victory was celebrated and not the Indian teams? As you have no idea of Kashmir, probably not coming from there, you are mostly like the Barkha Dutts of Indian Media, who are out of sync with the genesis of the problem. The minute Jammu came out for something it was turned communal and for 20 years valley people have driven out all minorities the situation was secular.

6. As in point No 4

7. I’m sorry but I’ll again say that Jagmohan was responsible for the unfortunate uprooting of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. He planned to “cleanse” the Kasmiri separatists in an indiscriminate planned attack. He along with his agencies spread terror amongst the KPs and they used to send Military Trucks to aid the migration. Even today, 1100 KP families still live in the valley. Why did anyone not touch them?

Point 1: Well this is something that if you have not been there you are unable to comprehend. I cannot say much but just to tell you what land means to people in India is that 80% of cases in our courts pertain to Land & Housing. Why such a big number; the reason is that people are unwilling to part with their land or houses even when they are paid hefty amounts. You all would have seen scenes at narmada, nandigram and singur and that is a reflection on what happens if you taken someone out from your land even after paying them money. So pandits were fools to leave their homeland for living in tents because one gentleman had so much power to do that. Maybe we use Mr. Jagmohan for all such places like singur and nandigram.

Point 2. Even today, 1100 KP families still live in the valley. Why did anyone not touch them?

Wandhama massacre refers to the murder of Kashmiri Hindus in the town of Wandhama on January 1998.It was one of the worst incidences of violence against Kashmiri Pandits being carried out by terrorists in Kashmir. It was an illustration of the Kashmiri terrorist's policy of ethnic cleansing .The victims, all of them Hindus, included four children, nine women and 10 men.

Point 3. Military Trucks

Personal Story II: Well I would not like to go far but start with my own family. Our family resided at Karan Nagar locality in Sringar. On 20^th of January when Farooq Abdullah had resigned and Mr. Jagmohan had not taken charge (when was no real government in place), the whole valley was shouting slogans like kashmiri pandits leave the valley but keep your women behind for us (translated), what will rule here – nizam e Mustafa, what to worship here holy quran and only quran…..what we need azaadi……there are some more but I really do not want to remember that period. All the newspapers were filled up of notices for KP and other secular people along with their pictures giving notices to them either embrace the movement or suffer death. Leave the valley or suffer death. Who was the person doing all that; people like bitta karate, Yasin malik and their likes. Slowly they started killing key KP people and that too at different localities across the city and the valley to create a feeling that terror had reached the doorsteps of the pandits. Then on the 21^st Jan 90, all the mosques in the valley started making theses slogans from their loudspeakers and that went on till at least 2 more days. Similar slogans and that too simultaneously from all over the city. The Doordarshan was totally taken over by terrorist and was broadcasting their news (this was before the entire programming was transferred to Delhi-you might not know and neither it might have been in your oxford dictionary).

So the situation was really terrible and on 24^th January, just 2 days before the Republic day; one of my cousins who had grown a beard, went to the batmaloo bus stand to look for a K.M.D (Kashmir Motor Drivers Association) bus to take us to Jammu. No one agreed as they need buses for the mass rally on the 26^th where they were told to bring 10 Million people in total to enforce the blockade/strike on the 26^th January 1990. Finally one driver agreed (charging 4 times the money) so the family started at 3.30 am in the morning loading 4 suit cases. It was all we took from a 4 storied house having 20 rooms. That was the last time we would see the house. All of the journey will banihal was undertaken sitting on the floor of the very cold bus between the seats. The driver was stopped at 1 or 2 places (even at 3.30 AM) but he told that his “duty” was to collect the people for the rally from banihal. Only once we crossed the tunnel did we get a chance to sit on our seats; 12 people in a bus for 65 people.

Personal Story II: Another cousin of mine (55 year old husband and wife) had come to Delhi in November 1989 during the winter break to meet their son. Learning that the situation was fast deteriorating in the valley for KP’s, my uncle decided that he needs to go back to collect some more clothes and some other valuables from his house. 2 days before he was to leave, our cousins in Jammu (who had moved out of the valley some days earlier) sent a copy of a newspaper having his picture with a warning for him to leave the Valley for good. That was the last he would ever think of visiting his house (nearly 200 year old house for nearly 4 generations – all left because of Mr. Jagmohan).

Anyhow, as half of my family and friends work in the Army/ Defence Forces, after 3 years of migration (in 1993) we could manage to arrange 1 small 407 truck (on a personal basis) with 2 escort trucks of CRPF men (as army cannot be used for all these jobs –so much for the military trucks of Mr. Jagmohan). My uncle’s was given exactly 25 minutes by the Asst Commandant of the CRPF to take his belongings from a house where his family had stayed for nearly 200 years. As my uncle stayed near Habba Kadal – and very near to a major terrorist leaders house (he now has turned hurriyat politician, the commandant did not want to anyone to know that we were vacating the house; so all lights were cut and my uncle and aunt was both given a burkah to wear and take away their 200 years old belongings in 25 minutes. As they went in their house of 200 years without electricity, they realised that it had already been used as a militant store house previously. The temple etc had been desecrated and so had some rooms. Anyways within 25 minutes (like a reality game show) they could gather 3 suitcases and that was the last they saw of their 4 generational home (Thanks to Mr. Jagmohan). Just for your information this uncle of mine is one of the top kashmiri writers whose Books and plays have something like a cult status in the valley for all Hindus and Muslims- who had nothing to do with either Jagmohan or Politics.

Sorry but I have yet to thank Mr. Jagmohan for helping us and also other KP’s with all this including military trucks.

Mr. Indian Muslim – please keep you logic with you. I and also any another KP does not need either your certificate in secularism or oxford dictionary meaning for any word.

Coming to issues at Jammu, we have heard all voices coming from Jammu and from Kashmir. The voices and actions from Jammu are categorically against Muslims to the extent that even houses of Gujjars are being destroyed and supplies to the valley have been stopped.
On the contrary, Kashmiris made all attempts to make the Yatra successful by all means. Who is communal?

Reply: Given last time. Please tell me what Jammu or even Doda (Hindus and Muslims) have got in the last 60 years from Kashmiri politicians.

8. Excuse me; the land belongs to the people of Jammu as well, unless they choose not to associate themselves with the state. They have an equal right being state subjects. I agree that Kashmiri Pandits are also inhabitants of the land and Omar never disputed that in his speech. However, many of the Pandits chose to leave their homeland. I have read the other story about your childhood on your blog. But tell me how were Muslims different from Pandits. More Muslims who went against the terrorists were killed than Pandits. I will again reiterate that Jagmohan was responsible for the migration. Why did Sikhs and Christians never leave? Even after Chhati Singhpora incident? As I have already stated more than 31,000 Kashmiri Muslims have died due to Militancy, and the number excludes the number of Kashmiri Terrorists.

Reply: There are 30 Christians in the Valley and that too mostly running some churchs and schools. Even in the Zionist state of Israel, there are more Muslims (not counting west bank and gaza). The target was to remove the KP as they had a larger share of Central Government Jobs in the valley (the state government jobs were slowly out of the reach for the younger generation). Once that was achieved, no one had any problems for them to visit the valley like a tourist. The fight was to move them out of the valley; as long as they came as tourist, there were always wazawans ready. As for the Sikhs; in 1990 the slogan was “Muslim sikh bhai bhai, yeh Hindu kom kahan se aayee” and there were lots more but unprintable. The fight was to remove Hindus and keep the Sikhs; 2 reasons – 1. the kashmiri terrorist were getting a lot of help from Khalastani terrorists 2. the Sikhs were located in pockets mainly into commerce and agriculture and not in government jobs.

9. It is not about demographics. It is about pollution and contamination of ecology. The SASB started a helicopter service to add to the pollution. They were constructing permanent structures thereby destructing ecology. For evidence you may check their site at http://www.shriamarnathjishrine.com/amarnath-shrine-board.html
Moreover, if the Yatra is going on smoothly, isn’t it immaterial whether the land is transferred or not?

Reply: Ok, that is a new thing. Railways have denuded couple of Lakh trees, the Big Baglihar Dam has done the same, so has been the condition of the city forest that Jagmohan created at casmishai next to the governor’s house for creating a golf course, the big timber mafia at dacigam, nearly 10,000 trees on the Uri Poonch Road, the trees for creating the campus of Baba Ghulam Shah university at Poonch/Rajouri, etc. The structures were temporary as they were the same DRDO made stuff that helped Kashmiri earthquake victims in their time of crisis some years back.

The problem with Omar was his speech was highly charged and when politicians like him with whom people associate themselves overcoming their own religious or regional lines, such politicians need to make speeches in a different tenor. His speech like I said was the final straw in the camels back and now this whole issue has become a matter of prestige.

10. Same a/a

11. Pakistan & ISI are benefiting from the protests and from the economic blockade. Wake up!

Reply: There is no blockade and there was only disruptions. Pleae avoid going by Jhootistan news.

12. Our soldiers died to keep the link open but our fellow citizens- brothers and citizens succeeded!

Yes, everything was well till Jammuites called a strike. The strike called by secular Yasin Malik, Sajjad Lone, Syed Ali Shah Geelani (who unashamedly took 70 lakhs of Indian Tax payers money for his health bills), etc are not economic blockades for people of Kargil, Dras or Leh.

13. By blocking the road they are supporting the plans of secessionists

Yes, the same way as today sitram yechury of CPM has said in his article in the Hindustan Times , that we should not vote for BJP or any other party that we like - as the Militants say that they too like that party. There can be nothing more ridiculous than this. This is what creates communal politics in the long run. Also today Mr. Geelani has blamed the entire problems of J&K on the communal parties of Jammu. Look who is talking.

14. We want a unified state under India. Recent developments in Jammu aim at further dividing the state.

Yes when Jammu does anything it is dividing and when valley does the same it is all secular. When salman rushdie says something to the prophet Mohd. 5000 miles away the valley will burn, when danes publish highly objectionable cartoons – the valley will burn, when taslima nasreen writes something wrong in Bangladesh the valley must burn – but when jammu protest for 400 acres of land for temporary structures it is all communal and aimed at dividing the state. Please stop saying such unrelevant and unreasonable things. It only strikes fire.

15. I’m sorry but Sikhs and Christians still continue to live in harmony with us. They, like us, never bowed down to terrorism. We have some of the leading schools run by Christian missionaries. Churches, Gurudwaras and temples and mosques continue with their religious proceedings.
If you now say that temples were destroyed, I would like you to find out how many mosques and shrines were destroyed by terrorists? Remember the destruction of one of the holiest shrines at Chraresharief? I again reiterate, terrorists don’t have any religion.

Reply: Thanks but really when you write Christians in the valley, I cannot help laughing at your poor knowledge of the valley or its demographic composition. The terrorist burnt a dargah and that is something that they consider as un Islamic in the deoband-wahibi school of Islamic thought. As the terrorists who did that were non kashmiri, they felt is easy to burn down something that they did not believe in. It also signalled the end of the great sufi tradition of Kashmir. Not a single person on the street rose to condemn that (very similar to what happened during the KP exit from the valley) – no mass hysteria like the land transfer agitation. Even that is the one and only discretion that the terrorist did to a mosque.

It is very unfortunate that sometimes ill informed individuals start to "blog" half-truths encouraging communalism. In the world today when everyone is striving towards peace, please use your efforts to contribute for a better tomorrow. Dont sow seeds of violence and hatered!

Yes, thank you Mr. Oxford Dictionary informed person. For someone to comment on the other judgement is very easy. It is sad that people like you who have no relevance or have not even been there talk about the valley as if it is their play ground. I term it as the Barkha Dutt syndrome – you unfortunately have it and I really cannot help. I do not need your secular tag and you can keep that with yourself, writing irrelevant responses to blog’s without understanding what people construe as a simple thing as religion. For you the purans as well as other holy books of muslims, Sikhs, Christians, jews and others are a source of mythology which in turn is all falsehood, then I can not discuss this issue any further. I might be personally an atheist but I have no right to question the beliefs of millions of muslims, hindus or other religious people of India. This is how this great nation of Bharat has run for 5000 years and this is how it will run for 50000000000 + years. This is why our nation is named Bharat and I might not agree with everything of King Bharata but on his name is our great country named.

I guess like millions of other Indian who do not know this story or of why our country was named Bharata, please read this and realise the importance of mythology in the life of all Indian Hindus, muslims , Sikhs and each and every one who calls himself an Indian citizen. Maybe it will help make you a better Indian and also a better Muslim.

Lest We Forget - Indian Independence Day

2008-08-14T19:49:00.003+05:30

Lest We Forget - Kargil War 1999 - Captain Vijayant Thapar , Vrc

2008-08-14T16:22:00.008+05:30

Credit: Do not know for sure but definitely Captain Vijayant Thapar, Vrc family.

This is something that i never intended to post (as it is a personal letter) until i got it today in my mail. It takes precedence over some of the replies that i wanted to post on the comments sent to me 2 days back. This blog as mentioned earlier is a tribute to all such martyrs who gave up their lives for our better tomorrow.

Lest We Forget - Indian Independence Day - 15th August

2008-08-14T16:16:00.002+05:30

Truth about Holy Amarnath Cave and the Yatra

2008-08-11T15:58:00.004+05:30

Hi Bloggers,

I got these comments from one of the bloggers and my response is given below.

Some points for thought!

1. The shrine was discovered by a Kashmiri Muslim.

Reply: According to legend, when Kashyap Reshi drained the Kashmir valley of water (it was believed to have been a vast lake), the cave and the lingam were discovered by Bregish Reshi who was travelling the Himalayas. When people heard of the lingam, Amarnath for them became Shiva's abode and a centre of pilgrimage.

Then it was rediscovered by a Muslim shepherd named Buta Malik who was given a sack of coal by a sadhu. Upon reaching home he discovered that the sack, in fact, contained gold. Overjoyed and overcome, Buta Malik rushed back to look for the sadhu and thank him, but on the spot of their meeting discovered a cave, and eventually this became a place of pilgrimage for all believers. To date, a percentage of the donations made by pilgrims are given to the descendants of Malik and the remaining to the trust which manages the shrine.

As the history of Kashmir goes back to the days to Sharda Peeth, Kalhan’s Raj Tarangni and the fact that Kashmir was a major centre of learning for the Shivite School of thought, the probability of the cave being discovered earlier also remain. It however should not be an issue to score brownie points but to understand that the history of Kashmir is ancient and way beyond what is being taught to the kids in the valley.

There is ample and conclusive historical evidence, on the other hand, to prove that the holy cave and the ice lingam were known to the people since very ancient times and have been continuously and regularly visited by pilgrims not only from Kashmir but also from different parts of India.

“While the earliest reference to Amarnath can be seen in the Nilamata Purana (v.1324), a 6th century Sanskrit text which depicts the religious and cultural life of early Kashmiris and gives Kashmir’s own creation myth, the pilgrimage to the holy cave has been described with full topographical details in the Bhringish Samhita and the Amarnatha Mahatmya, both ancient texts said to have been composed even earlier.”

References to Amarnath, known have also been made in historical chronicles like the Rajatarangini and its sequels and several Western travellers’ accounts also leaving no doubt about the fact that the holy cave has been known to people for centuries. The original name of the tirtha, as given in the ancient texts, is of course Amareshwara, Amarnath being a name given later to it.

Giving the legend of the Naga Sushruvas, who in his fury burnt to ashes the kingdom of King Nara when he tried to abduct his daughter already married to a Brahmin youth, and after the carnage took his abode in the lake now known as Sheshnag (Kashmiri Sushramnag), Kalahana writes:

“The lake of dazzling whiteness [resembling] a sea of milk (Sheshnag), which he created [for himself as residence] on a far off mountain, is to the present day seen by the people on the pilgrimage to Amareshwara.”(Rajatarangini, Book I v. 267.Translation: M. A. Stein).

This makes it very clear that pilgrims continued to visit the holy Amarnath cave in the 12th century, for Kalhana wrote his chronicle in the years1148-49.

At another place in the Rajatarangini (Book II v. 138), Kalhana says that King Samdhimat Aryaraja (34 BCE-17CE) used to spend “the most delightful Kashmir summer” in worshiping a linga formed of snow “in the regions above the forests”. This too appears to be a reference to the ice linga at Amarnath. There is yet another reference to Amareshwara or Amarnath in the Rajatarangini (Book VII v.183). According to Kalhana, Queen Suryamati, the wife of King Ananta (1028-1063), “granted under her husband’s name agraharas at Amareshwara, and arranged for the consecration of trishulas, banalingas and other [sacred emblems]“.

In his Chronicle of Kashmir, a sequel to Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, Jonaraja relates that that Sultan Zainu’l-abidin (1420-1470) paid a visit to the sacred tirtha of Amarnath while constructing a canal on the left bank of the river Lidder (vv.1232-1234). The canal is now known as Shah Kol.

In the Fourth Chronicle named Rajavalipataka, which was begun by Prjayabhatta and completed by Shuka, there is a clear and detailed reference to the pilgrimage to the sacred site (v.841,vv. 847-849). According to it, in a reply to Akbar’s query about Kashmir Yusuf Khan, the Mughal governor of Kashmir at that time, described among other things the Amarnath Yatra in full detail. His description shows that the not only was the pilgrimage in vogue in Akbar’s time - Akbar annexed Kashmir in 1586 - but the phenomenon of waxing and waning of the ice linga was also well known.

Amareshwar (Amarnath) was a famous pilgrimage place in the time of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan also. In his eulogy of Shah Jahan’s father-in-law Asif Khan, titled “Asaf Vilas”, the famous Sanskrit scholar and aesthete Panditraj Jagannath makes clear mention of Amareshwara (Amarnath) while describing the Mughal garden Nishat laid out by Asif Khan. The King of gods Indra himself, he says, comes here to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva”.

As we well know Francois Bernier, a French physician accompanied Emperor Aurangzeb during his visit to Kashmir in 1663. In his book “Travels in Mughal Empire” he writes while giving an account the places he visited in Kashmir that he was “pursuing journey to a grotto full of wonderful congelations, two days journey from Sangsafed” when he “received intelligence that my Nawab felt very impatient and uneasy on account of my long absence”. The “grotto” he refers to is obviously the Amarnath cave as the editor of the second edition of the English translation of the book, Vincient A. Smith makes clear in his introduction. He writes: “The grotto full of wonderful congelations is the Amarnath cave, where blocks of ice, stalagmites formed by dripping water from the roof are worshipped by many Hindus who resort here as images of Shiva…..”

Another traveler, Vigne, in his book “Travels in Kashmir, Ladakh and Iskardu” writes about the pilgrimage to the sacred spot in detail, clearly mentioning that “the ceremony at the cave of Amarnath takes place on the 15th of the Hindoo month of Sawan” and that “not only Hindoos of every rank and caste can be seen collecting together and traveling up the valley of Liddar towards the celebrated cave……” Vigne visited Kashmir after his return from Ladakh in 1840-41 and published his book in 1842. His book makes it very clear that the Amarnath Yatra drew pilgrims from the whole of India in his time and was undertaken with great enthusiasm.

Again, the great Sikh Guru Arjan Dev is said to have granted land in Amritsar for the ceremonial departure of Chari, the holy mace of Lord Shiva which marks the beginning of the Yatra to the Holy Cave. In 1819, the year in which the Afghan rule came to an end in Kashmir, Pandit Hardas Tiku “founded the Chhawni Anmarnath at Ram Bagh in Srinagar where the Sadhus from the plains assembled and where he gave them free rations for the journey, both ways from his own private resources”, as the noted Kashmiri naturalist Pandit Samsar Chand Kaul has pointed out in his booklet titled “The Mysterious cave of Amarnath”.

2. The Yatra has always been conducted by Kashmiri Muslims.

Reply: Yes the yatra has been supported by the Malik family descendents but not conducted by them.

3. No Yatri was ever harmed by a Kashmiri Muslim.

Reply: Yes, numerous. Even this year some were killed at Bus Stand (5), grenade attack at Gulmarg, etc. Here are only some of them from previous years, it is a long list but i have taken only 3 years;

2000: At least 25 persons, including 16 Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 60 others were injured in an attack by militants at Pahalgam base camp.

2001: Twelve persons, including three women pilgrims and two police officials, were killed and 15 injured when a militant hurled two grenades at a camp and later fired indiscriminately near the holy cave.

2002: Two pilgrims were killed and two others injured when militants threw a grenade and later opened fire on a group of devotees in Jammu ahead of their trek to Amarnath cave shrine.

Twenty four persons were injured in a powerful grenade attack by suspected militants at a bus station on the route of the Amarnath pilgrimage.

A devotee and a taxi driver were killed and three injured when suspected militants lobbed a grenade in Anantnag along the pilgrim route.

Eight persons were killed and 27 wounded in an attack by militants on a base camp at Nunwan.

4. This year, we had record number of Yatris (more than 300,000) visiting the holy Shrine.

Reply: Yes, that is good but it has nothing to do with the valley as the arrangements are done by the SASB. Generally Yatra’s world over are matter of faith and people endure great hardship to complete them. Kashmir being part of India, 300,000 or 3 million is no big deal.

5. Each and every Yatri had praises for the locals who fed them in spite of scanty supplies due to the economic blockage of the highway.

Reply: Well, that is what was the great sufi kashmiri culture that Paki’s wanted to destroy. This was the culture of Lal Ded and Rishi peer. This was the culture where hindus celebrated the 3 day Herath festival (shivratri) with the next day as Salam for their Muslim neighbours. This was the valley which not only fed but gave alms to one and all inculuding hindu sadhu’s coming or going to the cave.

6. Entire country including the 300,000 Yatris are fully satisfied with the arrangements.

Reply: Well, the arrangements were done by SASB.

7. A handful of communal elements at Jammu have a problem.

Reply: It is not as our P.M say “an issue of modalities”. It is a decision of how people will be treated. 400,000 pandits were forced out of their land, 361 were killed, their temples destroyed and sahbir shah, sajjad lone, yasin mailk and their likes are saying that Jammu has communal elements. Well it is like Pakistan accusing India of supporting Taliban.

8. The local Jammu Dogra has never in history protested like this.

Reply: Well that is the point, their patience has now broken and the last straw in the camels backs was Omar Abdullah’s speech in the parliament. It is he who shouted “it is OUR LAND and we will die but not give it away”. How dare he, Kashmiri Pandits were the original inhabitants of the land and by saying so he has proved that he no sense or understanding of history. Clarifying that he meant all of J&K, well please do not lie now. If state subject was the issue, how come land was transferred to Railways, Airports Authourity, NHPC, HMT, Centaur, etc.

9. Some of the people who migrated from valley more than decade ago see this as an opportunity to take a revenge to rout out Muslims from Jammu

Reply: Well again you are missing the point. Surely 20 years is a long time to take revenge. It is akin to agreeing that temporary structures 13000 feet at Baltal can be used for changing the demographic’s of the valley.

10. The Jammu Dogras have fallen prey to the game plan.

Reply: same as above. Sadly, you are missing the point.

11. Who is benefiting from the protests?

Reply: Sometimes, protests are done without immediate gains. What will be gained is that the fact that Kashmiri’s have got too much without doing anything. How many pay taxes- state or central, pay for their electricity bills, etc. The formula of aid dispersal for rest of India is 75% loan and 25% grant, whereas Kashmir it is 75% grant and 25% loan (even that is not repaid back).

12. Our soldiers have laid down their lives fighting militants to keep the National Highway open for the past 20 years.

Reply: Yes, that is the point. The Highway is a scared piece if land for all and we cannot allow it to be used to pump in secessionist elements. Just for your information, an R.O.P (road opening party) of the army clearing the highway, starts their day at 4AM in the morning and ends it at 12PM midnight. It is too holy for anyone to understand. Hopefully the people would now realise how much it takes to keep the lifeline open. Troops can always be flown in as they have been for such a long time, it is common people who will suffer if disruptions occur.

13. Whose cause are people at Jammu supporting?

Reply: They are fighting for the cause of India and the right of an Indian over secessionists.

14. Kashmiri Leaders want a unified state including Jammu/Kashmir/POK/Ladakh

Reply: Sorry but that is not a consolation. It is and will remain unified as per the 1947 agreed boundaries. It is the writ of the Parliament that the P.O.K been taken back from Pakistan. Please read the pre 1947 history of J&K and the exploits of Maharaja Gulab Singh and how Indian have a claim over the entire state of J&K.

15. Protestors at Jammu want separate Jammu, Separate Kashmir, Separate KP Land, Separate Ladakh and maybe further slices of the flesh of our motherland.

Reply: Haven’t heard that but there will always be multiple view points and that is the corner stone of democracy. People in valley who have been following nizam e Mustafa cannot and will not understand what a pluralistic society is. After all they forced out 400,000 people out of the valley by the fear of gun to enforce their singular point of view. Imagine an entire generation of people growing up in a place where there are no minorities left. Most of the over 20 year olds in the valley have not even seen what Diwali, Herath, Nevreh or any other minority festival is like and that is the root cause of all these problems.

If this was not the case, tell me one conflict where the state has suffered so much in spite of their claim being backed by history that Pandits were the original inhabitants of the valley. The problem is the fact that people in the valley are not used to the other side reacting back and this is what has really puzzled them. It was always this Paki notion of a superior race being fed into the valley people which has now turned back to haunt them.

For 60 years Paki’s have fed into the people of valley a sense of utopia something which can only be compared to the communist. A false sense of bravado and beliefs. If you take a step back and understand that a nation who is number 6 or 7 in the list of failed states has not right to talk to India about running a nation or handling it’s conflicts. What they did to Lal Masjid, their use of gunships and missles against Tribal people, balti’s and balouch is well known. It is a country that sold its people to America for as less as 1000$$ and sent them to guantanamo bay and other American prisons.

Have a look at these 2 links and you would understand what I am trying to say. Have a look at this gentleman Amanullah Khan part I and II who was once the so called great freedom fighter of Kashmiri’s and what he has been reduced to. He is also talking of utopia but look at the fear in his speech when he says something about the Pakistan Army and ISI. He is senile but looking at his position you feel nothing but sad. This is what happens to someone who is backed by Paki’s.

Have a look at all this and then decide for yourself which way to go!

Lest We Forget - Shri Amarnath Shrine Struggle

2008-08-10T03:30:00.002+05:30

Lest we forget - Tales of Kashmiri Pandits forced to flee their homeland of 5000 years

2008-08-10T02:40:00.005+05:30

Tales of Kashmiri Pandits forced to flee their homeland of 5000 years

For all my "secular" friends who keep on saying that Mr. Jagmohan was responsible for my community to leave their 5000 year homeland and happily survive in tents in other parts of India.

One day we will go back to our Vitasta and our Khir Bhavani and the land of Sharda Peeth. The land for which hundreds including Sikh Gurus (and their families) gave their life, we will return. It took jews nearly 1000+ years to get their place and we will wait even longer but will go back to our roots.

SURVIVOR’S STORY

Srinagar

For past couple of months the situation had been extremely tense in the valley. Everywhere there was fear and uncertainty. A lot of our relatives and friends had already fled from Kashmir. My mother and I were still resisting because we had nowhere to go, no home outside Kashmir, no source of income outside the valley. My mother had told me on 19th January that no one could make her leave her home. “This is my home and my state, I was born here and I will die here, no body can drive me out of here”, she told me categorically. Little did she know that she would have to change her statement in less than 24 hours. My school had been closed down because of the turmoil and I was restless and fear stricken at home desperately listening to every news bulletin on the radio.

On 20th morning everything looked normal or so it seemed. It was my grandfather’s birthday. Usually this occasion was a big day for our entire clan. All my cousins and aunts and uncles got together in my grandfather’s house and we all spent this day together with traditional gaiety and tons of happiness. But today was different. Everything was gloomy and sad. We lived about 15 mins away from my grandfather’s house but my other aunts lived far away. For the first time in my life we were contemplating whether we should go to our grandfather’s house or not on this day. My mother was crying since morning. She told me she had never felt so helpless all her life. I had known my mother to be a rock who would face every situation with calm and poise. ‘If she was feeling helpless something must be terribly wrong’, I told myself.

Around lunchtime my mother told me to dress up in my warm clothes.’ We are going to nana’s house’ she told me simply. I quickly dressed up and we set out. My mother held my hand and two of us walked down to my nana’s house. January is probably the coldest month in Kashmir. The walk to my grandfather’s house had never seemed so long before. My mother held my hand firmly in her hand and we walked, shivering more with fear than cold. We were met with cold stares from policemen and BSF officials who could be spotted everywhere. It must have been quite a sight for them to see two women walking on the deserted road. My mother told me not to look at anybody and we quietly walked. Little did we know that this would be our last trip to nana’s house. My mother told me that we would wish nana happy birthday and come back before it gets dark. Finally we reached nana’s house. For the first time I found their door locked. I don’t remember them ever locking their front door, but today things were different. We lived in tough times. My mother knocked on the door. My grandmother shouted from inside asking who it was. After confirming that it was my mother and I, she opened the door and let us in. The fear on her face was obvious. She was glad that we could make it. She was almost sure that her two other daughters would not be able to make it because they lived little far away and would not be able to brave the situation. Inside the house my grandfather sat at his usual place with hookah in front of him, but he was not smoking today. He looked worried too. I quickly ran to him and wished him happy birthday and he in return hugged me and told me to sit in the blanket because I was very cold. He told my mother to stay over for the night. ‘Your brother will drop you back tomorrow morning.’ My mother agreed and soon we were chatting away and for some time forgot what was happening outside. That night after dinner we sat around the TV watching some old classic movie. After a while I saw my mother get up and suddenly I heard a loud shriek from her. All of us rushed to the courtyard and heard loud noises coming from loud speakers. At first we were too shocked to understand what was happening. All the noises seemed like battle cries and we all huddled together in fear. We were standing in the courtyard and our faces were white with fear. Slowly everything started making sense. All the militants or so-called Jehadis were declaring Jehad from the loudspeakers placed in the mosques. They were coaxing Muslim men, women and children to come out of their houses and join them in the so-called holy Jehad. All kafirs or Pandits were threatened to join them or face serious consequences. In the fifteen years of my existence I had not known what fear really was and for the first time I asked my mother that why was being Hindu such a big crime. The noises were getting louder and louder and we all had blank expressions on our faces. No one knew what all this meant or why all this was happening to us. Later we got to know that all the Mujahideens or simply militants had crowded in Maisuma Chowk and a battle ensued between security forces and militants. That night the government of India had named Jagmohan as the governor of Kashmir and then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had resigned in protest. So that night, on 20th of January 1990 there was no government in Kashmir, no one to control the situation and no one to protect us. My grandfather went around his house like a mad man frantically praying to God to protect his family. Tears were trickling down his eyes and he kept repeating ‘ kabali loot gav, kabali loot gav’ [the kabalis have struck again! (ref to kabali invasion that Pakistan had masterminded in 1947)]. My mother looked at me and said ‘ my child we will have to leave Kashmir, for you I will have to go. You are more precious to me than anything else’

Next morning Curfew was clamped in the city. We were at Nana’s place for a week. And then returned to our house. I still remember how sad my house looked that day. As soon as we reached all our immediate neighbors came to meet us and they all were sure that the time to leave their homeland had come. Nobody said anything but they all knew that it was all over. After that we hardly left our homes. We were literally trapped in our own homes. All we could see everywhere were security forces marching up and down. Soon it was almost clear that schools could not run properly in this situation and my mother was concerned about my studies. All our neighbors had fled and we were the only Pandit family in that neighborhood. Militants had also started selective killings of Pandits and one of our close relatives had also become a victim of this manslaughter. By now it had become clear that militants wanted all Pandits to leave Kashmir. The gory tales of their violence spread everywhere like wild fire. My mother was concerned about our safety and well being. With a heavy heart she woke me up one night and said, ‘ I have decided to go to Delhi and get you enrolled in some school there.’ She was heart broken. We had no where to go in Delhi. We had to start life all over again. My mother would have to look for a job there and it would be a very different life from what we were leading at Kashmir. In about two weeks, we packed just the bare essentials and left our home forever.

I still remember the night before we left our homes. My mother cooked our last meal in the house that we still called our own. She had been quiet the whole day and in the evening as she was serving the food she could bear it no longer. She broke down and told me ‘ I came to this house as a young bride. This house has been a witness to all my good times and bad times and even when your father left us forever, this house protected me against all outsiders and evils. Today I am leaving the security of my house and don’t know where I am going. I cannot pack the moments spent in this house. I cannot pack my memories, why am I being forced to leave my homeland, I have not committed any crime, why am I paying the price for the mistakes of others.’ I was too small then to say anything. I just wiped the tears from the face of my mother and two of us quietly ate our last meal in our house and wept till we could weep no more.

The moment we left our house we were branded as ‘MIGRANTS’ by the Government and so called ‘ALREADY SETTLED’ Pandits living outside valley. For the first time I realized how tough it was to survive in this harsh world. We lived in a rented apartment in Faridabad, near Delhi. The house we lived in had no windows and no fans. For first couple of weeks we didn’t even have a refrigerator. We had to battle against a lot of things outside valley, heat of plains being one of them. God somehow gave us, and many families like us, a lot of strength. We survived and took everything as a challenge. My mother found a job for herself. We started gathering the threads of our life with time. But strangely enough, the scars have only become bigger with time. My grandfather literally went insane. He could not bear the fact that he was being forcibly made to leave his house. He could not bear that he had left his palatial bungalow and was living in a rented home in Jammu with absolutely no amenities. He soon stopped recognizing people and stopped eating. We lost him soon and the tragedy was that we could not even mourn for him properly. Many more such tragedies happened. Many people have been languishing ever since in the migrant camps and normal life has never been restored for them.

More than a decade has passed but the wounds are still there. When I see how callously the Kashmir situation is being handled the wounds start bleeding all over again. When I hear of Bamiyan Buddhas being destroyed by Afghan Vandals my wounds become fresh and I am reminded of the vandalism I am a victim of. When I see no one taking up the cause of Kashmiri Pandits because we don’t form the vote bank for any politician my wounds start aching.

Although we are all survivors but something has died in all of us. We are all leading an incomplete life. Our homes have been burnt down, our dreams have been trampled upon, our numbers are decreasing fast, yet we are holding against all odds hoping that one day we will return to our land of ancestors, our home land.

I can only say in the end

‘zuv chum braman ghar ghasha”…..[I am pining to go back to my home]

Sunanda Vashisht (Zadu) - 2004-09-13

That Scary Night....

It was horrible to witness the night, when the roads, lanes were filled with people and crying for the Azadi. We were taken aback and could expect anything possible. Even we could not decide that why people are on the roads, unexpectedly. One of our neighbors came to us and knocked our door, saying, "Do you know what is happening?". We also were as surprised and shocked as they were. We could not respond a little bit, other than saying "What to do next?" They too had no reply, quite obviously. Then we quickly decided to segregate our ladies lot, so that at least they are saved and nothing adverse happens in our presence. This was what we could decide instantaneously/briskly, without a second to wait. Thereafter, my two friends went to the KPs in our belt, which were about 10 to 12 and told them to send the ladies folk to one house which was slightly off in our belt and gave them some money, so that they can save their honor/ lives, if it comes to running away from the place.

Everybody had a little option to decide otherwise and we landed all the ladies/girls in one house, which we thought was safer as compared to other ones. Though this was a only a matter of self-satisfaction, which we could depend during that crisis. We all men folk decided to guard our houses and it was crystal clear that we could prefer to die rather than witnessing our ladies folk to be dishonored in front of our eyes. We called the police station, and they advised us to stay inside rather than giving any hope for a safety. This was the height of desperation, but we had little to do about it. Every second of that night passed on like a hell, not knowing what shall be the next, but fortunately nothing happened as we were expecting. we had a sigh of relief in the morning, thinking that we had got a breathing time to decide what to do. The next move landed us only at Jammu without bag and baggage and reeling under the tremendous agony, desperation and exasperation, thinking what is in our fate. Rest all of us are very well aware and need not to be updated.

Satish Raina - 2004-09-13

Why my 24 years old son was killed? My son Dilip was promised a job by one Habib Rishi of Reshipora Zanipora a local Congress leader. He assured us of all protection being head of a militant outfit in the area. It was 1990. He directed some militants to help us to do our normal business (looking after our orchards and agricultural land). As insurgency escalated, Habib asked for money to be paid to some Govt. authority for issuing appointment order to Dilip. We had no money. "Sell your land which after sometime will be usurped by the militants and you will have neither land nor job" he repeatedly said. Dilip sold a portion of land. Habib borrowed spray machine and other Agro-equipments (costing Rs. 50,000). In all he made Rs. 70,000 from us. But as no orders were received, Dilip asked for return of the money. This annoyed Habib who had obtained money to the tune of Rs 70,000 - including cost of agricultural equipment with the promise of returning the equipment back costing about Rs. 50,000.

Dilip was mercilessly beaten by Unidentified militants and his body badly mutilated thrown on a street. Dilip's Grandmother, Mother (both widows), sister and unemployed younger brother were brought to Jammu with the help of security forces. The Grandmother passed away with a heat stroke. Rest of the destitute family, all females, are in the Muthi camp today.

Mother of one Dilip Kumar, B.A. (aged 24 years) S/o of Late Mohan Lal R/O village Mujamarg, Tehsil Shopiyan, District Pulwama, J&K, India, presently in Muthi Refugee Camp, Jammu, J&K, India.

A Mother - 2004-09-13

What is my greatest problem in the Valley?

"When you kill one person, you go to the prison. When you kill one hundred persons, you are a hero. And when you are responsible for the killings of hundreds of persons you are invited to peace talks."

My father a petty shopkeeper was picked up from our home, within minutes hanged to death in the precincts of our house in presence of my mother, sister and brother with no charge, rhyme or reason. Neighbouring elderly Muslim women came to console us. Some of them said that it was God's will. Not an insect can be killed unless Allah wills. There were tears in the eyes of a few girls, my class mates, but when one of them told me to forget the dark past and rejoice in the new faith I was greatly hurt. She told me this while the dead body was still hanging from our walnut tree in front of our house. I was shown a Muslim neighbour elder to me 10 or 15 years to be my husband.

BSF by chance suspected something wrong as they saw hundreds of men, women and children running to our house. BSF helped us to move to Jammu. In Jammu I pin-pointed names of all those who mercilessly eliminated my dearest father but all in vain. Kashmir is 100% Islamised now. If I return to my home in the valley someday, how shall I feel when I face the same people who proved so cruel and barbaric and easily escaped any punishment even the formality of being questioned.

(Name withheld), Resident of District Badgam, J&K, India.

Name withheld - 2004-09-13

Where is secularism in Kashmir?

I belong to downtown Srinagar. During 1987-88 I spent Rs. 80,000 of my life savings to renovate my house. The lure of property kept me in my home till August,1990 while my Hindu neighbours fled from Jan, 1990. But I had to pay Rs. 300 per month from March to July 1990 for being allowed to stay back in my house towards donation to the so-called freedom movement (Aazadi).

In mid August, 1990 militants from some far of place in Srinagar came with arms. They packed up all our valuables, beat us mercilessly and asked us to flee. No neighbour even whispered in our favour, not even those who recovered the monthly Jaziya from us.

Now six long years have elapsed. Our house in Srinagar has become residence of a militant family. Here in Jammu I pay Rs. 1200 monthly as rent without getting even a penny from the one who occupied my house. I am not an exception. Same is true with many many families in exile. For the Central Govt., things have improved. There is a change in Muslim hearts. For me it is a blatant lie and bluff of the nincompoop rulers ignorant of ground realities.

Mohan Rani (Surname withheld upon request)

Camp Muthi-Jammu, J&K, India.

Mohan Rani - 2004-09-13

Kashmiri Hindu - the acid test for secularism in India

You can retain the land called Kashmir but can you give a place of honour and dignity to the exiled Kashmiri Hindu when he returns back to his 10,000 year old homeland ? The future of Kashmiri Hindu is the acid test for secularism in India.

How was it that every Muslim contributed to the hounding out of Kashmiri Hindu from the valley from 1947-90. Now when the dream of gifting away the land to Pakistan became impossible they purchase immovable property of Hindus on throw away prices. Day in and day out you see Kashmiri Muslims in refugee camps in Jammu, Delhi and elsewhere. They are erstwhile neighbours urging ailing patients, starving inhabitants, parents with grown up girls with no means for their weddings to sell their property in Kashmir. They did so in 1992-93 in a different way. Then terrorists openly threatened them that their houses would be set ablaze if not sold. In many cases Insurance Companies refused to entertain the insurance proposals of the exiled Hindus.

Only one option was left to the Secularist pro-Indian Hindu that was to sell his house under duress. Will anybody believe that a house built at the cost of 15 lakhs in 1983 fetched Rs. 2 lakhs to a family when one of their members became victim of kidney failure ?

Roshan Lal in exile in Mishriwalla Refugee Camp, Jammu, J&K, India.

Roshan Lal - 2004-09-13

I want to share the experience we had in our colony on the day when all Muslims came out on the road and started crying for Azadi. It was sudden outburst of something underlying since a longtime, but we were certainly unfortunate not to have taken any cognizance of it before hand, otherwise, we would have not been taken aback. The horrible experience on that night still passes shudders in my body. We were certainly out of wits to decide what to do and what no to do on witnessing a mammoth crowd out on the roads. One of our neighbors came to us with his wits off to have a interaction what is happening and what could we do. We had a few young boys in our colony and we immediately decided to collect the ladies/girls of our colony at one place and gave them some money so that if something untoward happens at least they would be equipped to tackle the problem of running away in what ever transport available. All the gents gathered to see what they had to face next, but it was pre-decided that we would not see our mothers/sisters/wives being dishonored with our eyes. We had very little to save ourselves, except to alter our lives for our the sake of our families. The conditions seemed to be like a person where he finds himself deserted amid a huge populace, but we had hardly anything to do about it. we were left with no alternative, but to reconcile with the situations presented to us.

With the blessing of that Almighty, nothing happened to us except for a huge amount of tension which we reeled for that full night. We had a sigh of relief on finding ourselves with our families again. The amount of exhilaration can not be described in words, this one can only feel and I do not find any words to explain the moments which rejoined us with our families. There and then everybody of us felt that we are unsafe here, hence the resultant was an exodus from our birth place. I am forced to put on record that when we left our houses, we all had a last glance of it and thereafter till date , things are amply clear to everyone of us.

We still long to go back, but how and when is a question which haunts all of us.

Satish Raina - 2004-09-13

My family suffered not only once....

We used to stay at a small village about 15kms from Anantnag.

I still remember Shivratri(a major festival of Kashmiris) of the year 1986.My maternal grandfather was in the last stages of his cancer so all my masis(aunts)and mausas(uncles)were there at his place trying their best to serve him during his last days of life.During this period,riots had started in the southern part of the valley and some miscreants in Kashmir had started looting the Hindu families.One morning we got the news that my Aunt's place had been looted.It was like a nightmare, on one side my grandfather was very sick and on the other side we had no knowledge of the whereabouts of my cousins and their paternal grandmother who were there at that time.

Then my Masi(Aunt) borrowed a burkha(veil)from a neighbour to conceal her identity as a hindu woman and walked for hours to reach her village just to find her wrecked house and shocked children and mother-in-law.

After a few days my grandfather passed away and slowly we had to return to our normal lives trying to forget the painful past.

Then came a time (ending 1989 onwards)when everybody had to decide whether to leave the valley or not.My parents had to stay there for a little longer than everybody else did due our personal problems.I was sent to Jammu,since my school had been shut down, to take admission in another school there.

One night,when my perents,grandmother and great grandmother were getting ready for the dinner, they heard a knock at the door.My mother went to open the door and the first thing to enter was a barrel of a gun followed by two masked terrorists.She almost lost consciousness. They took my father in a separate room and started questioning him about him having a wireless telephone and being involved with the Indian Army calling him mukhbir(informer).Truth being, my father had nothing to do with a wireless telephone.He is a man of principle and has always believed in a live and let live policy. They showed him a letter stamped by some area commander saying that if they found him guilty he would be given the appropriate punishment according to the rules.

In the other room my mother and grandmother tried to escape through the window to get some help when they realised that our house had been surrounded from all sides by the terrorists.

My great grandmother who was a courageous and selfless woman, forcefully entered the room where they were questioning my father and she started screaming at the top her voice, condemning them of killing innocent people without any reason. With her entrance in the room, my father gathered courage and started yelling at them telling them to do whatever they had to do in front of the whole village. He told them that they were cowards and challenged them to prove his guilt and then punish him in front of everyone in the village.

The terrorists were really shocked as my father pushed them aside and dragged one of the two terrorists outside in the courtyard and told him repeatedly to call the villagers. They got confused and fled without harming anyone from my family.

Later when my father reported the incident to the so-called elders of the village(who tried to assure him that nothing like this would happen in future and he doesn't have to fear any more),they did an investigation and we came know that an ex-tiller of ours had hired these terrorists so that he could own our land that was just next to his.

My family had to leave the place soon after this incident since my family no longer felt secure there.

I am thankful to God for blessing us with my father's precious life.

It is really shameful that we have lost so many precious and innocents lives and the culprits are still at large.

Namrata Kaul - 2004-09-13

My Dad had a good business in the heart of city which was first targetted by the radicals so we have to sit idle for the next four months and one day we had to leave our home in the dead of night leaving our belongings. Then we came to Faridabad were we do not have anything to do, for the next 6months. Then my sister found a job as a teacher in Faridabad to sustain us. Now our precious 15years have passed and we are not able to go to our birth place freely. Some people are going there just as tourists. No Govt. Central or State is doing anything for us as we are not a vote bank for them , but we have a glorious past of 5000 years and one day we will see the light of the tunnel. As we are not a vote bank no one is interested in us , it is our fault we should elect our leader who can raise our voice and who can be heard, I would prefer Shri Jag Mohan as every K.P. know what he is for us. When 2500 sikhs died in 1984 riots, now politicians are creating hue and cry and they bow they heads in shame, Sikhs are coming on streets. When about 600-800 Muslims died in Gujrat Riots politicians are saying that it is black blot in ones party face (BJP). When around 1lacs K.P. were forced to leave their homes and apprx. 1500 were mercillesly killed by radicals ,where were these politicians then, when one is focibly taken out of their homes and given the name of migrants in their own country. DO NOT THEY FEEL ASHAMED they should also bow their heads for this community. If our politicians do not stop appeasing these radicals, one day OUR HINDUSTAN will become ISLAMISTAN. Hope some good sense will prevail to our politicians and will work earnestly to solve the Kashmir problem and pave for our return to our maez kashir.

jatinder - 2005-08-21

16 years back “Wake up Shreyas, wake up. We have to leave, wake up”, said my mother shaking my hand briskly. On opening my eyes, I saw my father unfastening the chain of his bag and inserting his clothes and other personal things in it. Shree was standing in corner of room gazing mother continuously. I went up to her and asked, “What is happening didi, where is papa going”. She murmured, “We all are going”, as if she was talking to herself. I turned to mother and asked, “Where are we going ma”. “GOD knows where are we going, what all I know is that we are leaving KASHMIR, and don’t ask anything just wear your clothes,” she said, “Shree will help you. Go now”. “Should I pack up my passbook, cheque book, job related credentials and other documents?” asked ma to papa. I saw tears swelling and rolling down her eyes. Papa replied in negation and said, “better keep them in locker or handover them to pitaji”. I kept on asking the same questions repeatedly to Shree while she was buttoning my shirt but was not reciprocated with answers. She was looking eccentric to me, as I had never ever seen her so blank and numb. As it was a usual December night with sub zero temperature I was left covered with woolen from top to bottom. While papa, ma and didi continued what they were doing, I rushed to my grandparents' room. Dadi was sitting on her couch with her legs folded and her wrinkled yet glowing face resting on her knees, which was vacant and reddened eye. Dada on seeing me came forward, kissed me on my forehead, and said, “Let them go now, we need not to be anxious about anything and if you wish so, we will join them afterwards. Let them go and do not increase their troubles. Come, come and help them”. Dada raised me into his arms and walked into our bedroom with dadi following him. “Don’t you worry about us. We will stay here. They will not harm us. We are old and of no value for them. After all this is our motherland, we have been living here for centuries. We share common blood and a mere difference of faith will not make them so brittle. If GOD will be kind upon us then we won’t be required to leave our home and you too will return”. Tears rolled down on cheeks of dadi nevertheless she quickly wiped them off. “Onkar beta take all necessary things and your personal belongings with you so that you don’t have to look up at others for aid and support’’ said dadi and while she articulated these words I clearly saw her hands quacking. Dadi headed toward ma, brought ma close to her and murmured something into her ears. What she said , I will never ever be able to know but after completing her words she bursted into tears. As if tears are contagious, they instantaneously infected ma and Shree and swelled up in their eyes. Dada walked out of the room. When packing was done papa ringed up Hariom Uncle and asked his whereabouts. Leaving valley was a group resolution and pundits fled away in large chunks, some in their own vehicles and some in private vehicles. The centuries old tradition of KASHMIRIYAT was being torned by PUPPETS of ALLAH. This mass exodus of pundits was not very first incidence of its kind in the history of Kashmir. This time we were driven out of our homes, of our motherland, of our culture for the fifth time. This time it was for the AZADI of Kashmir from the illicit occupation of INDIA. Pundits, the centuries old inhabitants of KASHMIR were tagged as INDIAN agents and KASHMIR was being unfurnished by MUJAHIDIENS from this unwanted debris. Names of pundits were being pasted on walls of civic buildings and on local mosques. Letters bearing threats and warning notes were left on doorsteps by anonymous. Such edicts were also published in local Urdu newspapers. It all started something around November 1989 when I was just seven years old and shree was something around 12 years. Our four-storied dwelling was located in GANPATYAR locality of SRINAGAR district. My grandfather Sh. Brij Nath Koul was ex-chairman of history Department in Kashmir University. He was a man of values. Everyone in our locality knew him well. He was a divine lover of Kashmir and was a devout SHIVAIT. My father Sh. Onkar Nath Koul was Jr. Engineer in state Electricity board. He was the only son of my dadaji. My mother Smt. Kalpana Koul, carried on the profession of dadaji and was reader of zoology in Kashmir university. Hariom uncle, my ma’s brother was a resident of Jawaher Nager and ran a store in Residency Road area. We were living a reasonably happy life before it all started. My parents all the time thought that happen what may we will not be harmed by anyone for we were not drawn in anything happening at that time in valley. Our firm consideration was further strengthened by words of uncle Junaid Ahmed Bhatt and Aashiq Rasool Wani, both of them being my father’s friends. Uncle JUNAID was also our neighbor. His son waseem and I were of same age and therefore were best of friends, that time. However, destiny played a harsh game with us. One fine evening Junaid uncle informed papa that his name was pasted on wall of a nearby mosque with names of many other pundits counting Hariom mamaji as well, asking all of them to abscond Kashmir or to get ready to see their fate. A small group of pundits assembled and it was decided that we will leave Kashmir for the interim as a safety measure only and will come back to our dwellings as soon as the blizzard vanishes. The governor of the state, then, is also blamed for our exodus from our houses. As dada’s name was not on the list, he decided to stay back. Our turn arrived a bit late; a number of Pundits had already fled away to JAMMU. It was our turn now. After discussing, the situation with Hariom uncle on phone papa asked all of us to walk down to garage and get seated in our car. Hariom uncle was coming to our house with whole of his kin and some other pundits. Ma jam-packed five large bags, all of them full of our household things and other necessary items. All that time dadi kept on howling and cursing the terrorists. Ma tried to console nevertheless she was weeping herself. Papa, dada and didi were all vacant and pale with no emotions on their faces except that of fright. Thirteen other cars and mini buses arrived near our house and Hariom uncle jumped out of one of them speedily. He wished my grandparents, kissed me on my forehead, and said, “Onkar bhaisaab the valley is burning and situations are worse for Hindus to continue here. Do not wait even for a second; just run for your lives”. Hearing his words dadi started crying as if she was mourning for someone who is dead now. Junaid uncle might have heard our conversation by then so he opened his door and walked out of his house. He took papa’s hand and said with a heavy throat, “what a day has arrived. My friend is being forced to leave his home and I am not in a position to do anything. Oh Allah, what should I do. How can I see you fleeing away like this?” “Don’t you worry Junaid everything will end up correctly and we will be back before long” said papa “and pitaji and ma are staying here so please look after my old parents. If conditions will become fatal then I will take them away with me but until then they and my house are your responsibility. Please take care of them”. “Oh don’t worry at all they are my own parents, mouj is mirror image of my mother for me. Now you all should leave. Go,” said he “Allah hafiz Onkar bhai”. He handed over his kangri to ma and kissed didi’s forehead. While all this was happening Zarina aunty, wife of Junaid uncle and Waseem were peeping out at us through window in their house. Our car became an entity of long caravan of vehicles taking pundits away to safer places. I turned and gazed at my grand parents standing with Junaid uncle at our gate. Dadi was continuously crying and dada was trying to console her. That time I didn’t thought that I was seeing my grandparents for the last time. I kept on looking them continuously until they were in my range of vision. Along with Hariom uncle, we were five souls in that fastening car and all were as silent and immovable as dead. Snow was heavily pouring down and the chill was shivering our bones and jaws. As we moved on and came near GOW KADAL (a bridge in Srinagar city), I don’t know what happened to ma that she started beating her forehead with her palms and started crying. Those outbursts of emotions bring a shivering in my spine even today whenever I think of it. Our cars kept on moving until a mad crowd of our Kashmiri counterpart stopped them. It was a mob of over hundred Kashmiri men, all of them dressed in pheren and carrying kangris in their hands. They all were shouting “Allah o akbar, Allah o akbar. Kashmir mian rehna hoga, Allah o akbar kehna hoga. (Saying Allah o akbar is the only condition to live in Kashmir). Asi gachi Pakistan bata rosta batanev san (We will go to Pakistan and will take hindu women folk with us)”. That throng emerged out from nowhere like a flash mob, enmeshed us, chanted out these slogans, grimed at us and suddenly disappeared in dark. Some of them turned back and forced out all pundit men out of their cars at their gunpoint. This increased the trauma of my mother manifold. She soaked Shree didi and me into her shawl. A shrouded face came to us, knocked at glass of window, and pointed out his armament on father. Ma started pleading him of our lives. I remember those eyes behind that mask. They were full of fury and revenge. The image of those eyes is intact in my memories. Even today, I can identify them. He stared at all of us for a while and pulled out papa from the driver’s seat. Papa was pulled as if he was not a human being but a sack of flesh and bones. Ma at once jumped out of car, took hold of his arm and begged “As per instructions we are leaving Kashmir then why are you holding us here like this”. The man opened his mouth for the first time “We are letting you go out of valley, is that not enough for you. What are you people taking with you in these bags? Your lives are the only thing, which you will be allowed to take from Kashmir. Rest all belongs to poor and oppressed muslims of our Kashmir whom you pundits have never considered as human as yourself. You handful pundits have always been overweighed. For centuries, you cowards have dominated in every run of life. It’s our turn now. Leave Kashmir, India awaits you and Kashmir awaits NIZAM -E- MUSTAFA”. His question was immediately answered by ma and she pulled out all five bags out of car and handed over to him. By then he let papa free from his grip. “I said punditani take your lives with you, rest all is ours,” he shouted “don’t you listen”. “We have given you all our belongings, nothing is left to us. What the hell do you want now, for GOD’S sake let us go now at least” said Hariom uncle. The man replied at once in an angry tone “look at your lady. She is wearing dejharoos, handover them to me immediately otherwise bullets of my gun are ready to penetrate your body”. Ma handed over her dejharoos to him at once and he gave a silent permission to all of us to proceed. Ma collected a bit of courage within her and asked that man to give our bag of clothes back to us. I think this irritated him a lot, he turned back to her and snatched the kangri which uncle Junaid had given her and crushed that kangri under his boots. He looked at us and asked us to leave immediately. Our fellow pundits were also bereaved. Life cheats, sometimes atleast. The same scenes were repeated in other parts of valley too. Pundits were appalled in every corner of valley. In our way, we saw thousands of eyes staring at us, ‘the busted pundits’ from their windows. The streets were all deserted as it was nighttime and curfew was imposed in all parts of the valley. The last thing, which I remember of that night, is JAWAHER TUNNEL. This tunnel is gateway to Kashmir. After passing safely out of valley well and safe, my parents and all of us felt relieved and in warm lap of my mother I felt asleep soon. TODAY That night changed the course of my life, not only mine but of over four hundred thousand Kashmiri Hindus who are popularly known as pundits for their knowledge, intelligence and standard of education. I am Shreyas Koul and I am 24 years old now. I am living in a tent made up of plastic sheet with my parents in outskirts of Jammu district on Jammu-Udhampur road. Ours is a complete village comprising of about 800 tents and a population of over 7600. I have graduated in commerce from Government Degree College three years back and I am still looking out for a job. In meantime I had learned repairing and maintenance of mobile phones at a near by electronic shop and presently I am earning about Rs. 1700 from it. My elder sister Shree(now 28) is married to Vijay Zaroo and Mrs. Shree Koul Zaroo is now a mother of three tiny tots who were born in the same tent in which they are living presently. One of her boy child is suffering from hysteria. My brother-in-law, Vijay assists a pharmacist at his drug shop. Hariom uncle left our tent village six years back when he got a job in a private textile mill in SURAT. They are now living an enjoyable lower middle class life, over there. As my parents left their papers back home, the government found itself hapless in providing them their salaries and any other job. On inquiry papa found that, his service book was missing from office records. Ma was not differently treated. God knows who had eaten up the service books. Ma is something around 52 but she looks like 102. Reader of zoology in Kashmir University now gives home tuition for 300 bucks. Papa works with PANUN KASHMIR and thinks that one day they will succeed in carving a separate homeland for pundits within the valley. He is 125 years old now, I suppose. My grandparents thought they were of no value for those freedom seekers but they were so wrong. They made a huge contribution in freedom struggle and cleaning of Kashmir. As per what we were told by those who fled late, some freedom seekers rushed into our house two nights after we left valley. They pumped thirteen bullets into my dada’s body, three of them in head, two in heart, and three in his legs and rest in his groin region. Before this, his head was beaten with hammer and skin was pealed off on which he used to apply a TIKA very proudly. There was no scar on my dadi’s body. They say she just died of shock. Death of my grandparents paved a way for easy and automatic cleansing of Kashmir from unwanted debris. Junaid uncle who kept every word of what he had promised to papa did the cremation rites of my grandparents. He was rewarded for this deed by freedom seekers. He was beaten mercilessly for showing sympathy to pundits. We still have some contact with each other by exchange of letters. His son Waseem, whom I had not seen since we left Kashmir, is now pursuing his degree in medicine from AMU Aligarh. Destiny has been kind upon him. Agony hurts. He is rising and I am in a pitfall. The exile of Shree RAM was of fourteen years but we are out of our homes for over sixteen years and RAVAN has not been identified yet. In these past sixteen years life had taught me a number of lessons. Life has made me tolerant. Today I know a lot about life but the biggest agony of my life will be that I don’t know myself. I am a rootless sapling, planted on a barren land. I do not know what does being a Kashmiri Hindu means. I don’t remember anything about Kashmir. I had never been there since we came here. That night is very much there in front of my eyes as it was a night that deserted my life but besides that, I don’t have anything in my mind. I barely remember our house, except for our bedroom. Neither I remember much of it nor will I ever be able to see it again because it was burnt down to ashes as an act of revenge after demolition of BABRI MASJID. Along with our house, the tiny temple of our locality was rocked down to a heap of bricks and mud. My ma often talks about SHANKARACHARYA TEMPLE and KHEER BHAVANI TEMPLE both of which are in Kashmir. She describes how fondly she used to take me there; but here too I am blank. I will never know how SHIVRATRI and NAVRATRA were celebrated over there in Kashmir. MAA SHARDA is already behind iron bars in AZAD JAMMU and KASHMIR. Although I am a Kashmiri pundit yet I found it difficult to talk in KOSHUR; HINDI and DOGRI are much easy, at least for me. I think the game is about to get over in near future. Soon the culturally and otherwise distinct community of Kashmiri pundits will be extinct. Today I am just a Hindu, nothing more than that. Let them be proud about their Kashmir ‘the paradise on earth’. The heaven has lost its charm in my eyes when they ‘hell-bent for AZADI’ ruined my life and made it a living hell. Today my tent is heaven for me and for next few centuries, it will remain so. I wonder how people live in cages of concrete and bricks. We don’t think about future anymore. We left everything in valley which we owned; by everything I mean our culture, traditions, kashmiriyat and our future too. We have stopped dreaming. Making the ends meet is in itself quite troublesome. My biggest desire presently is to owe a TV set and to have electricity connection in our tent. Silly thought; I know it is. A tent does not deserve to have an electricity connection but an ailing old Jr engineer in state electricity board needs and deserves a bit of comfort, atleast at dusk of his life. I don’t know when did all this started. Neither have I had any clue of it nor am I interested in that rubbish thought. Some say the root cause is marked differences in both the faiths. Some others are of firm belief that it is result of incomplete partition of the sub continent. A few also believe that misgovernance of the state governments of nineteen eighties’ is the mother of this freedom struggle. However, for me it all started when my mother waked me up one night saying “wake up Shreyas, wake up. We have to leave”. its a piece of fiction which i had written taking tha name of shreyas. i am aniruddh singh, 21 years old and presently living in aligarh with my parents. i feel as if i a also a kashmiri. i want to do something for kashmir. if you find me worth entertaining then please do reply me at aniruddh_singh85@yahoo.co.in

aniruddh singh - 2006-11-10

My story is nothing different from the thousands of KP's who fled from the valley of their dreams (Kashmir) for their life in around Jan/Feb 1990. I lived alongwith my family of four in a small house in Nai Sadak, Near Badiyar Bala in Srinagar. I'm witness to the numerous brutalities that the KP's had to face and the final blow of 19/20 Jan '90 (Night)when the loudspeakers from the Mosques blazed venom and we finally decided to leave. The morning was a scene when the road leading Lalchowk was filled with KP ladies,men and children running with loads of their belongings on their backs and heads and the Muslims on the roadside and windows of their houses laughing away the plight of the hapless Pandits running for their life to get a lift for Jammu outside the bounds of the fanatic Muslim population. The scene is engraved in my memory and can never be viped away. Our journey Jammu also commenced the same morning and what were the odds that we had to face there is a real story to tell but --------------

JL Bhat - 2006-12-22

Dear Sir, I wish to make an appeal thru this portal. Wanted to put an appeal up for one Ms. Kusum Handoo who is alone staying with her parents and her son is batelling lukemia,and to save the precious life docs have recommended bone marrow transplant. The kid is presently hospitalised at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and needs to undergo the transplant at either Vellore Hoppital-Tamil Nadu or TATA at Bombay. If possible can u post this message on ur portal to help kusum handoo save here kid. She at the moment is batteling it out alone. Should voluntary donors come forward we may b able to save a precious life Kusum Can be reached at her mobile # +919871893360

Rajiv Munshi - 2007-01-05

Though being called a survivor will not be fair to people who actually fought for their existence. I was only 7 year old at the time we left kashmir therefore was unaware of the turbulances my elders faced thus i would call my father and other elders in our community the survivors. I still get shivers when i remember a day when 4 terrorists came to a mosque just behind our house at rainawari(Naidywar).It was the first time in my life i saw a terrorist with a gun hidden under his pheran.He was a bearded man . He shouted anti india anti pandit slogans. It was kind of a festival for local kashmiri muslims. I remember people shouting and pelting stones at our house during the time these terrorist kept speaking. These were same muslims who used to play on our fields. The other incident i remember is of Burning of DAV SCHOOL which was visible from the Kaani(Balcony) of our house. It was during a cold winter night we heard screams of people that DAV SChool is burning. We all went to our balcony and saw the burning DAV. I remember my father had tears in his eyes as it his Alma Mater. I started crying with fear and asked my father to leave for Jammu. The last incident that will be in my memory till i Die is when we left for Jammu. It was early in the morning we left towards the Bus Station.Though i dont remember its location but i remember Shankracharya could be seen from there.My Grandma,My aunty,DAD, Uncle and cousin sister and 3 months old brother all boarded the bus to jammu. I remember the last words uttered by my grandmother"HEY MAEJ KASHIR AES DRAYE" meaning MOTHER KASHMIR WE ARE LEAVING.I would like to mention here that when we reached Jammu it was raining heavly may be raingods also cried . WE LEFT KASHMIR.....

Vithal Motilal Chowdhary - 2007-10-06

credit: Kashmiri pandit websites