Kashmir: On the verge of another uprising?

The Kashmiris don’t seem to surrender to the occupying forces which may result in another, maybe final, push that will earn them independence

I grew up watching Bollywood movies filmed in Kashmir. This was the time in mid-80s when Kashmir was called “Paradise on earth”. Being one of the most sought-after tourist destinations of the world, Kashmir valley is till date the most favourite location for the film producers.

Things eventually worsened in late 80s and early 90s when popular peaceful freedom movement of Kashmiris turned into an armed struggle. Since then, the lush-green valley of Kashmir has turned red due to the bloodstains of Kashmiris of all ages who have been subjected to imprisonment, torture, rape and death by occupying forces.

Being a disputed territory between neighbours who happen to be nuclear powers aswell- China, India and Pakistan – Kashmir still remains a nuclear flashpoint.

Since partition in 1947, both India and Pakistan claimed the state of Jammu and Kashmir belonged to them. The state comprises Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions, and has since remained the epicentre of political hiccups, with India and Pakistan having fought wars over it. The region has a huge geopolitical significance.

Keeping the geo-strategic and military significance of the entire region tied with the verity that huge water resources it holds back in its glaciers which indeed prophesises that the place is going to be a vigorous conflict zones in coming years. Kashmir is the only Muslim majority state in India, and has had very turbulent relationship with India since 1947.

Kashmir today is one of the most militarised zones of the world as over 700,000 soldiers have been given a license to shed blood in and around the valley of Kashmir. The surprise rise of pro-freedom leader Musarrat Alam, the operation leader of Hurriyat Conference (Geelani group), has almost shocked the newly elected PDP chief minister Mufti Sayeed who had ordered his release despite pressure from New Delhi.

Soon after his release, Musarrat Alam led huge rallies where thousands of jubilant youth hoisted Pakistani flags and chanted “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans. The huge rallies led by Alam also exposed the ‘high voter turnout’ in recent polls held in Indian-Held Kashmir where BJP had suffered a defeat at hands of PDP.

Finally, Mufti Sayeed had to put his foot in his mouth as the BJP government had to order immediate arrest of Alam in an unceremonious manner.

Data released in 2011 by Indian-Held Kashmir government stated that, in the last 21 years, 43,460 people have been killed in the Kashmir insurgency. Of these, 21,323 are militants, 13,226 civilians killed by militants, 3,642 civilians killed by security forces, and 5,369 policemen killed by militants. Human rights watch also blamed both Indian security forces and Kashmiri separatist militants for human rights abuses.

In year 2011, the state human right commission said it had evidence that 2,156 bodies had been buried in 40 graves over the last 20 years.

According to the state human rights commission, among the identified bodies 574 were those of “disappeared locals”, and according to Amnesty International’s annual human rights report (2012) it was sufficient for “belying the security forces’ claim that they were militants”.

Claims of human rights abuses have been made against the Indian Armed Forces and armed insurgents operating in Kashmir. Since 1989, over 50,000 people are claimed to have died during the conflict, a figure strongly contested by pro-freedom activists who put the figure at 90,000.

To the Indian surprise, Kashmiris have refused to give in to the repressive regime. It is an irony that despite oppressive methods used by the Indian army, even the third generation of the Kashmiri people is turning towards militancy.

Raising pro-Pakistan slogans and hoisting Pakistani flag is the most favourite pastime of youth in the valley. Though there is no data available to assess how many Kashmiri students have been expelled by various universities for raising pro-Pakistan slogans while watching the cricket and hockey matches played against India, Kashmiri organisations claim around 8,000 youngsters have been denied their right to education in across India.

According to Junaid Rather, an educated Kashmiri journalist working with a local media outlet, the recent uprising started with the brutal death of an eight-year-old boy, named Sameer, in year 2010. Hailing from Batamaloo area of Srinagar, Sameer was brutally clubbed to death for raising pro-freedom slogans.

“Sameer took two rupees pocket money from me and stepped out to join his friends near his uncle’s house,” the Guardian quoted his father as saying.

“Sameer walked into a lane and impulsively shouted a few slogans for Kashmir’s independence. He didn’t realise that a group of Indian paramilitaries was around. They caught the 8-year-old boy and beat him with bamboo sticks, resulting in his death,” Junaid Rather said.

The 2010 uprising got ignited with the killing of another 17-year–old boy, Tufail Matto, on June 11, who was hit by a tear gas canister from a close range, when he was returning home from tuition.

These simultaneous phases of violence, mistreatment and torture have left generations of youth with deep psychological trauma and an unceasing hopelessness.

Kashmir today is one of the most militarised zones of the world as over 700,000 soldiers have been given a ‘license’ to shed blood in and around the valley of Kashmir

“The most vivid thing among the youth is victimhood, which has evoked a frustration throughout these years. However, after more than two decades, the militant movement in Kashmir has not bowed down. There are gun battles every two to three months, which is one of the indicators that militant movement is not over. Then followed the ‘summer uprising’ of 2010, where more than 120 people, mostly youth, were killed,” Junaid Rather added.

In 2014, as per the www.satp.org, as many as 21 militant incidents had taken place in Kashmir Valley.

“In 2014, all of 101 militants have been eliminated which is much higher than the 62 in 2013 and 69 in 2012. And even as we began this year, we already had 10 militants neutralised. So I do not think the situation is grave,” General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, Lt General Subrata Saha told reporters at Badami Bagh cantonment recently.

 “The militancy in Kashmir is witnessing a local patronage from almost all quarters.

There is a respect for those who lose their life for the land and for them it is a holy war – ‘Jihad’. One of the controversies which was evoked in the recent past was when two local boys who had joined militant ranks in Hizbul Mujahidin were killed in an encounter on January 27, 2015. The encounter lasted for around 4 hours, and resulted in the death of Colonel Munindra Nath Rai and Head Constable Sanjay Kumar of Special Operation Group (SOG). Soon after the death of the Indian cops, the whole Indian state started mourning the death of its two soldiers.

The same happened in Kashmir; the two militants who died were given a high honour in which thousands of people joined their funeral and were shouting slogans, “Assalam Assalam aye Shaheedo Assalam; Aaj teri mout pay ro raha hai asmaan.” (Peace, Peace Oh the martyr peace be on you, today heavens are crying on your death.)

Even the womenfolk had assembled at the corners of different villages, and were singing hymns for the departed souls. “This is how the discourse changes and the politics of language become important. Is it so simple to change the discourse or it is actually beyond that which we need to understand,” Junaid rather said.

Thousands attend funeral of a militant of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) outfit, Abid Khan during his funeral in village Honduras, about 35 kilometres south of Srinagar. Recently, it emerged that the father of one of the militants killed in the encounter was a former cop, who hailed his slain son for achieving martyrdom. When one looks within, no shoulder of any father on this earth is strong enough to carry the coffin of his son. And, when a father, after his son’s killing, hails his (son’s) decision, it compels one to understand the intensity of anger against the brutality of tyrant.

When looking in retrospection and statistics of killings, sexual violence and destruction, it only amalgamates to an anxiety that Kashmir’s youth struggle to cope with. Despite the fact that there have been a lot of ‘rehabilitation schemes’ launched by the Indian state – among them Udaan, and others like Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship schemes – to regain the trust and confidence of youth, the reality is that very little has changed on ground.

Amnesty International has accused security forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir of exploiting the Public Safety Act that enables them to “hold prisoners without trial”. The group argues that the law, which allows security forces to detain individuals for up to two years without presenting charges, violates prisoners’ human rights.

In its report of September 2006, Human rights watch stated, “Indian security forces claim they are fighting to protect Kashmiris from militants and Islamic extremists, while militants claim they are fighting for Kashmiri independence and to defend Muslim Kashmiris from an abusive Indian army.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, “Indian security forces have assaulted civilians during search operations, tortured and summarily executed detainees in custody and murdered civilians in reprisal attacks. Rape most often occurs during crackdowns, cordon-and-search operations during which men are held for identification in parks or schoolyards while security forces search their homes.

In these situations, the security forces frequently engage in collective punishment against the civilian population, most frequently by beating or otherwise assaulting residents, and burning their homes. Rape is used as a means of targeting women whom the security forces accuse of being militant sympathisers; in raping them, the security forces are attempting to punish and humiliate the entire community.”

The allegation of mass rape incidents as well as forced disappearances are reflected in a Kashmiri short documentary film by an Independent Kashmiri film-maker “The Ocean of Tears”. It was produced by a non-governmental non-profit organisation called the Public Service Broadcasting Trust of India and approved by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India).

The film also depicts mass rape incidents in Kunan Poshpora and Shopian as facts and alleging that Indian Security Forces were responsible.

A report from the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that the seven people killed in 2000 by the Indian military, were innocent civilians and the killings were allegedly committed in “cold-blood” by the Army. The Indian Army has decided to try the accused in the General Court Martial.