Flashback 2017

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News Kashmir Analysis

2017 remained another high-voltage year of happenings and sad developments that defined the buzz on street in Kashmir .We analyze the top five developments that impacted Kashmir in year 2017.

NIA raids against separatists and others

In June this year, NIA had carried out searches at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in the national capital in connection with terror funding. Around eight hawala dealers and traders in the national capital were also raided. The raids and arrests related to it continued for several months.

 

Six Hurriyat members were arrested from Srinagar and one was nabbed from Delhi. Among those arrested, six of them including Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah (also known as Altaf Fantoosh), Geelani’s close aides Nayeem Khan, Merazuddin Kalwal and Pir Saifulla, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar, and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq’s close aide and spokesperson Shahid-ul-Islam were arrested in Srinagar. Farooq Ahmed Dar alias ‘Bitta Karate’ was arrested in Delhi.

At the yearend many leaders, businessmen continued to remain in Jail in what NIA termed its effort to curb terror and violence in Kashmir.

Braid chopping

Braid chopping was yet another burning issue faced by Kashmir in year 2017 and it remained intense in months of September and October.”Braid-chopping” attacks  had resulted in protests across the region.

At least 200 women in Kashmir had reported being attacked by masked men resorting to braid chopping.

The women had claimed that the attackers sprayed chemicals on their faces and left them unconscious. Upon waking up, they found their hair had been chopped off.

Review Of Article 35A, Key to J&K’s Special Status

The politics over the article 35 a which grants special status to the Jammu and Kashmir state was another dominating development defining debates on Kashmir. A case over whether Jammu and Kashmir can keep its right to decide who qualifies as a permanent resident of the state has  been taken for hearing by the Supreme Court  and would be taken again in January-end next year.

Intrestingly during last hearing The  Central government had cited the recent appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as its interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, saying the top court’s hearings in the politically volatile and emotive one could have some impact on the government’s initiative. The case is being heard by three judges including Chief Justice Dipak Mishra.

Operation  against militants

 

‘Operation All-Out’, an offensive launched by the security forces against militants in year 2017 that killed more than 210 militants  and security forces stated that it would continue till there was complete peace in the state.”The people of Kashmir will feel peace very soon,”. the top cops have maintained .

During these encounters scores of civilians also lost their lives in firing by security forces on protesters.

Daily Wage, Permanent Relief

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Farzana Mumtaz

“Our govt will be regularizing 60,000 daily wagers & casual labourers working in various departments in J&K to provide sustainable livelihoods to those who need it the most,” tweeted Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti few days back, which many have seen a big stride towards solving this complicated and serious issue .

Daily Wagers and Casual Labourers have become symbols of agitation over the past few decades owing to their unfulfilled demands.

 

 

Some years back the state Finance ministry stated that 61,446 casual/seasonal /need-based employees were engaged in as many as 31 government departments.The reply added that at present wage rate of such workers was Rs 150 per day however in someDepartments,

The need-based and part-time workers were being paid consolidated wages at varying rates.

Importantly, this  reply also contained  department-wise number of such employees with Public Health Engineering-Irrigation and

Flood control (PHE/I&FC) department alone employing 23711

followed by Forest Department (7171), R&B (6692), Agricultureproduction (4383) and Housing and Urban Development(3922). In a worrying development despite the  state government imposing  a blanket ban on appointment of daily wagers on several instances, these people were engaged by various departments under different names such as casual workers and need-based workers.

After the State was burdened with huge appointments of daily wagers by polity that lacked foresight , what followed was the Lack of concrete policy on daily wagers, no regularization policy, huge delay in payment of salaries has defined the plight of daily wagers. With crisis growing into a disaster Daily Wager issue was among the  serious issue that has been surfacing as a very big headache  for the state administration and successive governments.

Importantly, The panel headed by Chief Secretary BB Vyas submitted its report to the finance department in October, stating that the total number of workers engaged in 31 departments under 15 different categories, including casual labourers and seasonal workers, was 1,00,501.

Syed Mohammad Haadi, an expert voice on it stated  “We should all welcome the decision of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to regularize the daily wagers as agitation was becoming only means for these daily wagers over past many years .The daily wagers have faced great number of serious issues mainly due to very meager amount paid and that too after much delays .One is hopeful that the recent policy decision from the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti will be implemented in letter and spirit. Once the daily wage issue is solved with great vision and pragmatics it will take state to new level of transparency.’’

One hopes there would be light at the end of dark tunnel on byDaily wage issue with announcement on daily wage issue by CM.

 

 

 

 

Crushing Human Rights

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(The age in which we live can only be characterized as one of barbarism. Our civilization is in the process not only of being militarized, but also being brutalized. Alva Myrdal).

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December every year.

The date was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights and one of the first major achievements of the new United Nations. The formal establishment of Human Rights Day occurred at the 317th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on 4 December 1950, when the General Assembly declared resolution 423(V), inviting all member states and any other interested organizations to celebrate the day .

 

Humanity in Kashmir has been brutalized ever since the political conflict of Kashmir took a violent turn .. Heart-wrenching stories are all alike around Kashmir – . Hundreds of humans lost their lives during this year too and mothers wailing over their dead sons or wives mourning over their husbands killed has been a scene since many decades in Kashmir  .

As a matter of fact, almost every day  the heartrending images  of Kashmir conflict are seen in the print media and in some sections of the satellite television medium.

Yesterday , was never  different in kashmir as bloodshed is  visible quiet clearly in every nook and corner of Kashmir.

 

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No doubt, human rights are crushed. It has also been an established fact that many cases of human rights violation stem from abuse of power under repressive laws and under undue use of gun.  Sometimes even for  acts that are legitimized by international human rights standards of free speech, freedom of association and assembly, and freedom of the press are met with highhandedness.  While many arrests are without any legal justification and Shamefully, even corpses have been beaten up in Kashmir which is quiet heart rending.

Bilal Bashir Bhat, a journalist stated -“We need to respect human rights and as we all know the situation with reference to burning issue of human rights has not been that much promising thus realities call upon the Indian state to be more serious in taking to task those who have abused power and violated human rights of kashmiris.”

Clearly, the latest cycle of tremendous  violence in the troubled valley is a stark reminder that more than seven  decades after independence of both India and Pakistan, the troubled  territory of Kashmir remains as volatile as ever and as a result human rights suffer .Mood on ground zero clearly indicates that that until a permanent solution to the Kashmir crisis is found, normalization of ties between Pakistan and India will not be possible and peace can also  be not achieved .

Especially Neglected

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Global Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992. It has been celebrated with varying degrees of success around the world . The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. It was originally called “International Day of Disabled Persons” until 2007. Each year the day focuses on a diverse issue related to the Specially-abled humans.

 

 

According to rough estimates there are about 4.5 lakh specially-abled persons in Jammu and Kashmir.  According to activist and opinions expressed by specially- abled in the state they suffer a lot   due to government apathy  .Specially- abled   humans are facing a large number of  problems as there are very few facilities for them and thus their families are suffering every sort of trouble.

Sameer Ahmad, an specially – abled person states  – “It is quiet heartbreaking to point out that the overall condition of specially-abled  persons and other handicaps is quiet troublesome in our state. Successive governments have failed us so the  state Government especially the state social welfare department should wake up and gear up its efforts to improve the conditioning  with reference to it . We also need  a comprehensive proposal and roadmap formulated by the State Government and supported by  the Government of India for securing necessary funding for undertaking a survey of all physically challenged persons in the State so that targeted intervention programmes could be planned and implemented  and we also should have at authority level the concern about sensitivities of Specially abled persons taken into consideration while developing infrastructure . Our buildings especially the many government institutes lag the infrastructure that can cater to the needs of the specially- abled persons especially like building friendly ramps.”

On the otherhand of the spectrum, the association  of specially-abled have also stated that they be provided the  financial assistance  that is upto the mark with the needs of time and  relaxation should be granted when it comes to recruitment or promotion. Activists and associations also demand that  specially-abled  in Government service may kindly be posted under five kilometer parameters and while granting ration cards, instead the income of the family, the income of the Disabled persons should be taken into consideration.

In nutshell, we need to go a long way in proving the best atmosphere to persons with disabilities .

Dual Pain

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Farzana Mumtaz/Rameez Makhdoomi

The painful saga of disappeared persons families in the valley of Kashmir is quite heartrending  and disturbing reality of our society. The families of Muhammad Shafi Rah and Mushtaq Ahmad Rah of Maharjganj Srinagar , who were doing  leather business  in Nepal bear testimony to this grim reality.  Pertinently,  the two brothers shifted to Kathmandu, Nepal in 1995 from Srinagar to earn a living. But fate wrecked miseries on them . On September 5, 2000 the two brothers were arrested by a joint team of police from Nepal and New Delhi never to be seen again. They were enforced to disappearance in custody.

As News Kashmir Team visited the families of victims, the parents of these disappeared brothers are still in shock as if the episode has taken place yesterday. Abdul Ahad Rah, the ailing 80-year-old father of Shafi and Mushtaq in painful tone narrates his woeful story – “ These 17 years have been total nightmare for our family . I have run from pillar to post with no success in finding my sons. I  rushed to Jodhpur jail  when we were told by authorities  here that they are lodged there  , initially the authorities there at Jodhpur jail acknowledged that my  sons were detained in the jail and told us to get documents done from kashmir , but then we went back with documents they said that they were not there . Some CID officials told us at Jodhpur they have been whisked away by the intelligence men from Jodhpur jail. We searched for them even in Tihar jail but could not trace them. Despite long drawn legal battles and virtually begging to the state institutions nothing substantial has come out yet. We were fleeced by lawyers, jail authorities and even at one instance a private channel in Delhi took money to highlight our plight. The relative of late Sheikh Aziz Hurriyat leader told us that he had told them that the both were lodged there in Jodhpur jail . The elder one  was though involved in minor resistance as was case with every second youth in 90s but younger knew nothing about politics. ”

As a matter of fact,  Kathmandu Post, which is the largest selling newspaper in Nepal, published the news about the arrest of Kashmiris in Nepal in 2000. The news item mentioned the names of Mushtaq and Shafi among the 27 arrested. Even the Indian embassy had given the two brothers  letter that they are working in Nepal.

The mother of these disappeared brothers Khadijah Rah states  –  “ These 17 years have inflicted seventeen million stabs on our heart . We did not get justice anywhere . Our pain is immeasurable as we don’t know what happened to our sons . Even a criminal is taken to jail and courts but not disappeared like this .I have not lost hope and think one day I will see the glimpse of my sons. I appeal to Government of India to disclose location of my sons and come clear on where the state agencies took them. ”

Rah family story is saga of million tears waiting for justice .

 

Mission interlocutor

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Farzana Mumtaz

 

 

In a major development, the Centre few  weeks back  appointed Shri Dineshwar Sharma, former Director of Intelligence Bureau, as the Representative of Government of India to initiate and carry forward a dialogue with the elected representatives, various organizations and concerned individuals in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The development was seen as a deadlock breaking move with reference to painful situation of Kashmir prevailing since long.

 

When  Sharma was appointed as Interlocutor it was stated that he will initiate a sustained interaction and dialogue to understand the legitimate aspirations of the wide cross sections of society, particularly the youth in Jammu and Kashmir and communicate them to the State Government and the Centre.

 

 

I will try my best,” Sharma told reporters when asked if he would go an extra mile to meet the Hurriyat Conference leaders.

The Joint Resistance Forum, a conglomerate of three prominent profreedom  organisations—the hardline and moderate factions of the Hurriyat Conference and the JKLF—had announced that they would not meet with the interlocutor  and termed  his appointment a “time-buying tactic” of the Centre.

CPI-M MLA Yusuf Tarigami   told the central government’s special representative Dineshwar Sharma that peace in Jammu and Kashmir can only result out of “genuine and meaningful parleys”. Pertinently, addressing a joint press conference with Hakim Yaseen, leader of the Peoples Democratic Front (PDF), and Ghulam Hassan Mir, leader of the Democratic Party Nationalist (DPN), after they met Sharma, Tarigami said peace cannot be made a pre-condition for a dialogue process.

 

 

 

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had an advice to offer for interlocutor. We discussed the prevailing situation in the state as also steps that can be taken to make his visits to the state more meaningful,” Abdullah said in a post on microblogging site Twitter. He told media persons that he hoped that Sharma acts on his suggestions “as waiting for people to come and meet him won’t yield results”.

 

 

Bilal Bashir Bhat, member JKYJA and Editor in Chief Only Kashmir speaking on the development stated – “The interlocutor step was a step in right direction but the lack of homework from the government ruined the beginning of this otherwise good move. Giving confused signals and reducing the prestige of institution of interlocution forced many sane voices to stay away from the process and thus also desired results were not achieved .One hopes the next time interlocutor comes here it would bear fruits and a proper homework would be done .All parties of dialogue being serious in the process is the only way ahead to resolve Kashmir tragedy.”

The hopes are pinned that Mission interlocutor gains desired momentum.

Dark Ages

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The power crisis is back haunting the valley of Kashmir with long power cuts hitting the length and breadth of Kashmir valley. With winter about to dawn the situation is giving lot of worries to people of kashmir .

With Darbar moving to Winter capital Jammu the Power Department has issued an annoying curtailment schedule . According to this schedule, Kashmir will be facing twenty one- hour power cut in metered areas in a week and forty two- hour cut in non- metered areas, as per the curtailment schedule of Power Development Department.

Students facing different exams and industries, trade are usually the worst hit due to these power curtailments.

Manzoor Ahmad, a student states – “ Power crisis during winters is a reality of Kashmir . The load shedding in crippling manner is back and is causing worry among all the  Students who consider themselves the worst affected by this out uncontrolled load shedding,  as during evening time especially this brings all important exam preparations to a near standstill. The bad impacts of load shedding are beyond description – From Housewife to students, Professional to Labourer everyone seems to be badly hit by this recently spell of never ending load shedding. “

On its part, Power Department has maintained that  it can only effort 1200 MWs of power these days however the demand is 1600 MWs. So we have started the power curtailment from last few days and according to the schedule the metered areas are subjected to 21 hours of weekly cut and non- metered 42 hours.

As a matter of fact, the J&K State has the potential to generate around 20,000 MWs. of hydroelectric power, but it has largely remain untapped  and whatever it has  not been given due share in the various hydro-electric projects as  NHPC continues to mistreat the state, and electricity seems by and large a Delhi-controlled affair.

Importantly,  Dry weather for the past about six months has resulted in considerable drop in the water level, lowest in about two decades, in river Jhelum and its tributaries, and all this has adverse consequences on the generation of electricity as well.

Realities call upon the Government to take necessary all the necessary steps to curb load shedding before this problem goes out of hand and people are forced to protest. Sane voices are also urging upon the masses to use electricity judiciously so that the crisis does not worsen further.

Walk The Talk

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For some years , the strife-torn region of Kashmir had witnessed a period of relative calm, but a recent spate of violent protests since last year and continuous upsurge in violence  which have resulted in number of civilian, militant, soldier  fatalities is a bleak reminder of the ever worse situation   in Kashmir, which has been at the heart of enmity between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan. The every week upheavals have crippled the economy of Kashmir; tourism is in shambles; the academic calendar has been badly disturbed and above all the common man is hit hard both sentimentally as well as economically.

At this juncture of time, in the Valley of Kashmir, the urge for achieving honorable peace is even greater than it was ever before.. Every sagacious voice suggests that peace is important because we can enjoy the benefits of the latest economic schemes, technological and scientific advancements only in times of peace.

In a significant political development related to peace and prosperity in Kashmir , it is learnt that in a bid  to restart the political process in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre is planning to invite “all shades of opinion” including the Hurriyat Conference. The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government has announced appointment of Dineshwar Sharma, former Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), as interlocutor for Kashmir. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while making the announcement on 23 October, stated that Sharma will initiate a sustained interaction and dialogue to understand legitimate aspirations of people in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bilal Bashir Bhat, a young Journalist and Editor-in-Chief Only Kashmir News Portal states – “ Kashmir is drenched in bloodshed and engulfed in tragedies and the  masses of Kashmir are calling on all the parties related to the institution of “Dialogue” to make any future talks process a result oriented as the experiences of past have simply been harsh and haunting. On a larger level peace in South Asia can be achieved when we also acknowledge  the importance of having  intra-regional dialogue,  tourism and increased exchanges, particularly among the youth and  civil society . The sane voices and commoners aptly suggest that peace is significant because we need a better world for our next generations”

After going through the bloody history of conflict, the realities call upon both Indian Government and separatist leaders to initiate a meaningful dialogue over the Kashmir so as to prevent further dance of death and destruction.

On the other hand of the spectrum, worsening scenarios urge upon the both governments of India and Pakistan and also the separatist leadership of Kashmir to walk the talk on the Kashmir issue in order to secure a affluent future for the region, as unsolved Kashmir continues to be a nuclear flashpoint and an paragon  of human tragedies.

Braid Chopping :Dignity Attacked

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Scores of braid chopping incidents across the length and the breadth of the Kashmir valley have send shock waves in entire valley and installed fear in the masses especially women .

 

In the past seven weeks, more than 200 “braid chopping” incidents have been reported in Kashmir , according to reports .All this has once again brought the issues of women safety concerns into limelight .

Pertinently, the monster of domestic violence had already been paining our women. It is worth mentioning here that  Domestic violence (also domestic abuse, spousal abuse, intimate partner violence, battering or family violence) is a pattern of behavior which involves violence or other abuse by one person in a domestic context against another, such as in marriage. Globally, a wife or female partner is more commonly the victim of acts of domestic violence.

In recent past, even the Urban Police Stations have registered hundreds of cases of domestic violence showing the grim nature of the issue. Sometime back the Data compiled by the Jammu & Kashmir Police Crime Branch reveals that in the past two years, it has registered over 4,000 cases of crimes against women.

Not Enough protests and Sit-ins have been witnessed with reference to burning issue of Domestic violence but the trend seems changing as against the menace of braid chopping several protests, anger and rage has been witnessed.

 

 

In a heartening development,  District administration Anantnag has constituted a Committee to investigate the braid chopping incidents reported in the district.  The district administration has sought cooperation of the general public to nab culprits and maintaining peace.

 

Meanwhile, the district administration thanked Village and Auqaf committees for being proactive in their approach and maintaining vigil. The administration appealed people not to pay heed to rumors and cooperate with the Committee so that a thorough investigation is carried out into these incidents.   In this regard, People have been urged to cooperate with district administration and for any assistance contact on 18001807054/ 01932222337/ 9419047052/ 9419367252.

Mushtaq ul Haq Sikander, Gender Justice Activist stated – “ The issue of braid chopping has once again brought to fore front how crimes against women are taking different forms, painfully enough the concerned authorities are having no clue about the evil forces behind these acts whileas people have complete distrust towards authorities. All these bleak realities have further worsened the situation with reference to serious issue of women safety in our part of the world .”

Nevertheless, braid chopping has instilled a wave of fear and uncertainty in Kashmir with respect to women safety.

 

 

Chaotic Kashmir

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Chaos, Panic has spread throughout in Kashmir in wake of braid chopping attacks being reported from length and breadth of the Kashmir Valley.

Scores of women in Kashmir have reported being attacked by masked assailants in the last two months. The women claimed the attackers sprayed chemicals on their faces and left them unconscious. Upon waking up, they found their hair had been chopped off.

Meanwhile, a PIL has also been filed by some lawyers in this regard .

 

Talking to our  correspondent , Advocate Masrat Kawsar  (who filed PIL) stated -”  Braid Chopping has assumed menacing form .We have in our PIL brought attention of honorable High court into the serious matter of braid Chopping and calling upon the Police to ensure nabbing the culprits and making the women folk feel secure .With intervention from Court we are hopeful that the process of acting swiftly in these ugly incidents of braid chopping will gain momentum. We are hopeful that it would be Soon listed for hearing.”

Uneasiness, hooligan approach at some instances has also crept in.

Narrating the ordeal of a mentally challenged person who was roughed up taken as braid chopper Javeed Ali, columnist wrote  “ A person was roughed up near our house. My all attempts to protect him from beating and listening to his version failed completely as he was badly overpowered by the huge group of people of our vicinity. In the meantime, police vehicles arrived and they asked to hand him over to them. The people declined to hand him over to police and started chanting slogans suspecting him as Army worker. They pelted stones on police vehicles but police burst tear smoke shells and took him forcibly in their vehicle. After that everyone started making bizarre stories surrounding the incident as is common in Kashmir.

The next day, respectable and trustworthy elders of our area went to the police station to enquire about the fate of the alleged braid chopper. They were shocked to know that the person whom they had beaten barbarously is a mentally retarded patient of our nearby locality. He was now admitted in a hospital. His family members were present there with the medical documents which confirmed that he is suffering from stress and depression since last 20 years. They were crying bitterly along with the mentally challenged person whom we had suspected as braid chopper.”

Without doubt the alleged braid-choppers have frightened locals across the valley of Kashmir and life has literally come to grinding halt , with growing suspicion and innocents also been targeted becoming the sad realities .