Understanding the conflict in Kashmir

edit violent image

Thanks littlek - this is one subject which is very close to my heart - will be back here with a coherent post (one which requires me to do a lot of thinking )

That would be very welcome Gautam.

Southern Indian politicians accused of terror links under the country's new terror prevention laws. "Officials took the action after the couple were allegedly in contact with the banned People's War Group (PWG) over plans to kill a member of the ruling party."


justified or not?

A complex political landscape. Faction fighting nipped in the bud by state police? Pre-emptive action at a time of heightened tensions?

Faction fighting

Kashmir range.

Kashmir range.
http://www.euronet.nl/users/e_wesker/jpg/19.jpg

(I have already said I hate war.)

BBC's the voices of Kashmir

~ In Kashmir there are no human rights. The world over people talk about human rights violations but they seem to overlook it when it comes to us.

~ Kashmiri Hindus form about 5 to 6% of the total population of Kashmir and the Muslims form about 95%. But what sustains my belief that Kashmir is incomplete without its Hindus is the fact that we have lived together for six centuries amicably, without shedding blood.

~ There is little chance of either country emerging as an outright victor in a conventional war, which means Kashmir will continue to be on the boil. It suits both countries.

So at the end of the day we all have to go to the negotiating table - India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris.

~ A political commentator on Kashmir, Mr Mohiuddin has been threatened by militants and beaten by the Indian security forces for taking a strong line against both.

~ We are being asked to vote and choose our representatives. Who do we pick? I haven't seen a single party or politician with a programme that talks about our problems or deals with issues close to our heart.

~ What we need is a visionary - a saint to lead us out of this darkness. Someone who is pure inside so that his deeds are clean.

Voices

it's lovely Satt.

I lost a friend "Don" in Kashmir

Is he still missing?

Yep

that's very sad

Jane has finally move on with her life.

Must be incredibly hard w/o an instance of closure.

Hindus in Kashmir being forced by the indian government to stay at their homes despite the massacres that have taken place against them.

"The village of Nadimarg in southern Kashmir, where 24 members of the minority Hindu community were gunned down two weeks ago, looks like a fortress.

More than 125 police have been deployed to guard the village which has a population of just 28.

A barbed-wire fencing has been put up around the village. But none of this has restored a sense of security to the villagers who survived the massacre.

Instead they feel as if they had been lodged in a prison."



To the BBC

Kashmiris watching the war in Iraq wonder if / worry that they might be attacked next.

BBC

This is the tragedy of Kashmir. The media, both Indian and foreign, fails to see the real picture.

For instance, how many of you know that

- There is no state called Kasmir in India - it is actually Jammu and Kashmir
- It comprises of three parts, the Kashmir valley, The Jammu region and the Laddakh region
- Pakistan has illegally occupied a large part of Kashmir (known as POK) which serves as a convinient bridge between Pakistan and China.
- All most 400,000 Kasmiri Hindus have been ethenically cleansed from the Kashmir valley and are living as refugees in their own country.
- Kasmir enjoys a special status as a state in India - it does not contribute to central funds, non resident of the states cannot buy property or set up industry and a whole host of other sops.
- It has been proved several times, that Pakistan is sponsoring cross border terrorism in Kasmir, specially from speaclist training camps in POK

THere is so much I can say abt Kashmir, but I do not want to turn the thread into a rant by an Indian Hindu. I would prefer that I take this as a question and answer session....

But in the meanwhile, here is something to poder abt...

May 14, 2002 (Kaluchak, Jammu)

A two-year-old baby is lying in his bed trying to sleep. His mother is telling him stories about his father, who is a soldier and has decided to give his life for his country. She is telling him how brave his father is and how proud he is of his service to the nation.

Suddenly, bullets start raining on the mother from all directions. Within seconds, she is lying dead next to her son. A dreaded terrorist appears at the door and takes a hard look at the crying baby. At the next moment, the terrorist empties his AK-47 into the baby. The baby lies silent in a pool of blood.

33 innocent people, including 11 women and 11 children, were gunned down by Islamic terrorists that day in Kaluchak, Jammu.

March 24, 2003 (Nadimarg, Kashmir)

Suraj, 4 and Malu, 5 are sleeping like little princes with their parents. Around midnight, 15 Islamic terrorists show up at their door and wake them up. They herd them to their neighbour's courtyard and in seconds shower them with bullets from automatic guns. The two princes are silenced forever along with their parents. Suraj had just celebrated his 4th birthday.

24 innocent people, including 11 women and 2 children, were gunned down by Islamic terrorists that day in Nadimarg, Kashmir.

That is the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

India cannot and need not listen to the advice of 'Restrain. Restrain. Restrain' from the White House, US State Department and Pentagon. Colin Powell's reasoning for giving us the 'Restrain' advice is Indo-Pak conflict at this time is going to adversely affect our war on terror.'

Apparently, in the eyes of US policy makers, it is okay to keep sacrificing the lives of innocent Indian until General Tommy Franks captures Osama bin Laden dead or alive in Afghanistan/Pakistan or Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Everything else is secondary. The life of a two-year-old baby, who was gunned down by an Islamic terrorist and thus could not see his third spring, is apparently less precious than an American life.

Suraj who will never celebrate his fifth birthday has no value in the eyes of Colin Powell.

That is the logic of the United States. But that does not buy me and my fellow Indian citizens any peace and security. India needs to stand up for its rights, defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty, with or without the United States.

I wonder how the west can sleep at night when two-year-old Indian babies are machine-gunned to death by Islamic terrorists. I certainly cannot.

Oh but I forget, we are the third world, uncivilized, non-english speaking, non white, barbarians. We really don't matter.

Do we ?

Gautam, thanks for posting. I know we are sadly uninformed about India. I never think of it as a third world country. Nor do I think it uncivilized. Actually, in many ways a much more civilized country than the US is.

Anyway. I'm sure I will have loads of Qs for you. Right now, I'm trying to collect info, links, interviews that seem real to me. I'm aiming to collect that info from the Indian angle, but will undoubtably have data from Pak and US as well.

After we collect some data and some history (and hear more from you), people can see for themselves what the story is.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2935155.stm

something of interest.