Area 14/8: Who will provide affirmative action in India?

Area 14/8

Consumed with weapon purchases, maritime capabilities and external threats from China and Pakistan, India has it seems neglected to peek at the state of affairs within its own boundaries. In the past few months, multiple incidents infringing the right of freedom of speech have occurred which has prompted writer Salman Rushdie to smear India with his “cultural emergency” allegation.

Although Rushdie’s credibility is uncertain and his agenda equally debatable, his accusation rings of the truth. India’s cultural intellect, its writers, poets, film makers and artists are being censured if their opinion and expression does not conform to the mainstream perceptions of India. Recently, a Tamil film called Vishwaroopam was condemned by Muslim religious groups in Tamil Nadu since it projected Muslims in a negative light. The government decided to ban the release of the film claiming that they lacked sufficient police forces to monitor all cinema houses for riots. Vishwaroopam’s producer, Kamal Haasan was so disillusioned that he threatened to leave India for a secular state abroad. Eventually, he agreed to cut some scenes from the film.

Elsewhere, renowned sociologist, Ashis Nandy, was attacked for insulting unprivileged classes by drawing links between corruption and “other backward classes, scheduled casters and scheduled tribes” at the Jaipur Literary Festival. A case was registered against him by Rajpal Meena, Chairperson of the SC/ST Rajasthan Manch, and subsequently, he was charged with the Prevention of Atrocities Act.

The controversial Salman Rushdie also made headlines when he accused the West Bengal government of deliberately hatching a plan to prevent his participation in Kolkata Literary Meet for the promotion of his new novel, “Midnight’s Children”. Even last year, protests and death threats had compelled him to cancel his visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival.

There are many other instances where unconventional news or statements have been targeted. India ranked a shocking 140th out of 179 countries on the Press Freedom index, issued by Reporters Without Borders. Reporter Soorinje would attest to this fact. He was arrested for multiples offences including criminal conspiracy, rioting with deadly weapons and using criminal force on a woman with the intention of outraging her modesty. Soorinje’s report on an attack on a birthday celebration involving Muslims at a homestay in Mangalore had held right wing extremists Hindu Jagarana Vedike responsible. Similarly, two women were arrested in last November when they Facebook comments offended followers of Bal Thackeray.

India should not be singled out for rising social discontent over freedom of speech. There are many such cases present in modernized societies too. The real issue concerning India is why the government chooses to be a part of this oppression? This is the government which likes to highlight itself as a democratic pluralistic nation where people of different religions, ethnicities, races and social statuses reside in harmony.

The government uses the maintenance of law and order as a justification for its extreme measures. But is law and order code for protecting parties’ mandate? In West Bengal similar to Tamil Nadu, people believed extreme steps were taken by the government to prevent any ill-will with Muslim voters. Are these infringements on the freedom of speech a political game only? Politicians may indeed be using cultural intellectuals as easy targets to keep the public distracted from pressing issues like poverty and unemployment.

It may not be just that the government is afraid of extremists; it may even share the same sentiments. Many state officials include hardliners like members of the Bharatiya Janata Party( BJP) sparking suspicions about state-sponsored terrorism. India’s Home Minister admitted to the involvement of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP in promoting terrorism within the country and placing the blame on minority communities. Just recently, BJP was very vocal in banning Pakistani writers from attending a literary festival in India.

Freedom of speech is guaranteed in the Indian Constitution under Article 19. However, this freedom is subject to certain limitations such as “public order”, “decency or morality” and “security of the State”. The Supreme Court seems to be maintaining a low profile in controlling the government’s outbursts of actions. In Nandy’s case,for example, it stayed the arrest but also supported the state’s response saying that an “idea” is capable of inflicting harm.

Indian has failed to implement affirmative action. Since the government is not longer impartial, it is now up to the masses to reclaim their right to the freedom of speech.

Plunder of India

Unknown to the world – and especially to Indians – Indian ‘citizens’ have approximately 1.4 TRILLION US dollars stashed away in foreign accounts. Wikileaks just exposed the ones in Swiss banks.

The fact remains that India suffers from the most corrupt, nepotistic and money-hungry administration ever seen in its history. The fact that Manmohan Singh jee was responsible for ending the license raj and removing bureaucratic red tape in India’s economy is being used to the hilt by Congress and its favourites. India also “lost” 462 billion US dollars, but India’s politicians and businessmen believe that India and its poor can tolerate such a loss if it benefits the rich.

India’s corruption perception index is 3.3, and India ranks number 87 in the list, showing how the people are aware of rampant corruption and that common public and political perceptions are cognizant of corrup activities, regardless of the INC or BJP being in power.

All hopes are vested with Anna Hazare and his embryonic movement, so that India’s growth and development can finally trickle down to the poorer masses who have suffered for too long.

Plunder of India.pdf
ZoneAsia-Pk

Indian Govt stands exposed Reacting to (and Insulting) Supreme Court’s judgment

by Thinktank

Reacting to Supreme Court’s judgment of cancelling the controversial appointment of PJ Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner, BJP on Thursday said that the decision has completely exposed government on the issue of corruption.

Coming down heavily on the government BJP spokesperson, Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “Misgoverance has been proved by apex court’s ruling.”

Addressing the reporters outside the Parliament Rudy also observed that the judgment vindicates Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj as well as BJP’s stand.

“Today, in a historic decision, the CVC appointment by the union government has been struck down. This also vindicates the BJP position, more so the position taken by the Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj who had opposed the appointment then on the same ground on which the Supreme Court has struck it down,” he said.

Thomas was appointed CVC on September 7 last year. The CVC is selected by a committee made up of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. At a meeting on September 3, 2010, the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj placed on record her objections to Thomas’ candidacy. The government over-ruled her, and Thomas was appointed.

Another BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad said it was a “historic” day for the Rule of Law and that Thomas was tainted from Day one.

Both house of the Parliament were adjourned minutes after the verdict but, surely, the government will have to face a reinvigorated united Opposition, who now seems to be gunning for the Prime Minister as well as the Home Minister.

CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said he will take rake the issue in Parliament and the government should answer how was the appointment of Thomas was given a go ahead when his name figured on corruption cases and was also chargesheted.

JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav also hailed the apex court’s decision and said Home Minister P Chidambaram who was part of the selection process should resign on moral grounds.

CPI’s D Raja said the court decision was a “big blow” for the Union Government.

CPI (M) flays BJP for “fuelling polarisation” in J&K

PTI

The CPI(M) on Sunday lashed out at the BJP over its plans to hoist the national flag in Srinagar on the Republic Day, saying the saffron party had a history of fishing in troubled waters to seek political advantage and sharpening communal polarization.

Flaying the BJP for being adamant on hoisting national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on January 26, CPI(M) Secretary M.Y. Tarigami alleged that the saffron party and Sangh fountainhead RSS were whipping up frenzy against minorities.

“BJP’s choice of hoisting the flag in Srinagar alone and not elsewhere in the country is aimed at gaining political mileage by sharpening communal polarisation in the state,” he told reporters here.

“RSS does not use tricolour in its functions. The RSS headquarter at Nagpur does not hoist it nor do the RSS Shakhas display it in daily parades,” he said.

Mr. Tarigami said the saffron party has a history of fishing in troubled waters to seek political advantage and sharpening communal polarization.

The Amarnath Yatra Movement that the BJP spearheaded into 2008 resulted in wide spread dislocation of normal life and strengthened the alienation between the two religious communities along with widening differences between Jammu region and the Valley, the Kulgam MLA alleged.

Mr. Tarigami said the BJP was using the national flag to strengthen vote bank politics.

Muslim future in India

Khaled Ahmed

It has become a part of our nationalism to highlight communal trouble in India. We don’t realise that this kind of thinking is not good for the Muslims there. Scholars think that if India and Pakistan proceed on their hostile course and threaten each other with nuclear weapons, Muslims in India will face the possibility of subordination, expulsion and genocide.

This is gleaned from the history of what happened to such minorities elsewhere in the world. But if things remain normal, the Muslims of India will face the following four options: assimilation, pluralism, secession and dominance. This is the thesis of the volume Living with Secularism: The Destiny of India’s Muslims: Edited by Mushirul Hasan; (Manohar, India, 2007).

The following Indian states have Muslim minorities, as indicated by percentages: Assam (28 per cent), Kerala (23 per cent) West Bengal (23 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (17.3 per cent), Bihar (16 per cent) and Karnataka (16 per cent). Needless to say the largest number live in UP, where the total population is more than that of Pakistan.

Indian scholar Mushirul Hasan wrote, Will secular India survive? (2004) and challenged the doctrine of Hindutva spread around by the BJP. After 2004, Hindutva has not gone away. It threatens the Muslims more than the other communities because: 1) Muslims are the largest religious minority in India and the latter has the second largest Muslim population in the world; 2) Muslims are erstwhile rulers of India and the memory presents them as a threat to the Hindu majority; 3) Muslims are considered as members of a settler colony by Sangh Pariwar; 4) Muslims get excluded because of majoritarian nationalism with Pakistan as the ‘other’, and because Indian Muslims are seen as a separatist population; 5) Muslims are targets of all communal riots; 6) Muslims serve as instruments of Hindu unity under Hindutva because India is presented as being under threat from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir; 7) Muslims spoil the Indian monolithic identity as a Hindu Rashtra and are an obstacle in India’s unification.

What will happen to the Muslims of India? Muslim threat is expressed by the fact that their population, although only 13 per cent of the total, has grown to this number in fifty years, more quickly as compared to the Hindus. Is this fear comparable to the Christian fear of ethnic supersession by Muslims through birth rate, aroused in Lebanon after 1943, ending in the civil war of 1975-88? There is a Muslim majority in Kashmir and large Muslim minorities in West Bengal and Assam near the border of an adjoining Muslim state that equally arouses fear and loathing.

Southern and coastal India don’t hate the Muslims as much as the Indian north and northwest, but may begin to have communal riots as the BJP and its friends spread their influence there. It is possible that the Muslims may actually be squeezed into the coastal areas in the South to join the non-threatening ‘middlemen Muslims’: Memons, Khojas, Bohras, Navayats, Marakayyars, Lebais, Rawthors and Mapillas. They pose no threat to the majority dominance.

Muslims in Hyderabad, Bhopal and Junagadh are humorously equated to past elite but they are, in fact, local poor Hindu converts who can never challenge Hindus unless they step out of poverty and acquire education.

But the final solution lies in Indo-Pakistan relations. Conceptual solutions don’t appeal in South Asia because the social sciences have been neglected here. Indirect solutions, like free trade that brings prosperity to the masses, and getting rid of the paranoia of the state – read dominance of intelligence agencies – could normalise relations and remove the fear of war and save the Muslims of India from being persecuted.

The writer is a director at the South Asia Free Media Association, Lahore khaled.ahmed@tribune.com.pk

Raids could loosen Suresh Kalmadi’s hold over Pune

Imtiaz Jaleel

Pune: Raids that lasted eight hours at his houses in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune didn’t seem to affect Suresh Kalmadi’s holiday cheer.

”I’m not hurt. I told you I wanted to give good Games. After that I’m ready for any investigations. So I am happy they’ve come and gone and they’ve taken whatever they wanted,” said the man who chaired the Organizing Committee of the Commonwealth Games.

His laptop and some hard drivers were among the items collected by the CBI which showed up at his homes early this morning.

While Kalmadi – a politician of considerable experience and acumen – keeps up the bluster, he is increasingly finding himself in a corner with allies in the slim-to-none category.

Even before the Games began, near-daily reports in the media proved the voluptuous and naked corruption that seemed embedded in every aspect of the Games. Virtually every major contract -from broadcast rights to sponsorship deals – seemed infested with financial malevolence. The men in charge of the Games seemed to have signed on dotted lines that, when traced, led to the front doors of their families and friends.

At the closing ceremony for the Games, Kalmadi was booed by a stadium packed with thousands, Sonia Gandhi shook her head when he thanked Rahul Gandhi and her for their support and leadership.

On November 9, 2010, Kalmadi was dropped as Secretary of the Congress Parliamentary party. (Read: Suresh Kalmadi sacked from senior Congress post)

Pune has been his bastion – for 30 years, he has represented the city in the Lok Sabha and Rajya SAbha. His lordship covered not just politics, but the cash-rich automobile industry that’s based here.

Kalmadi ensured that Pune remained unwinnable for Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), even as the party strengthened its control over the rest of Western Maharashtra.

The raids in Pune today could impact the municipal elections, scheduled in 2012. The NCP knows that it has a soft target now in Kalmadi – and it’s taking aim.

”Definitely it will impact the Congress. The morale of their workers is down. We will see a political change in the municipal elections of 2011,” said NCP spokesperson Ankush Kakde.

The CBI earlier arrested three of Kalmadi’s close aides. Their interrogation – and today’s raids – have nudged Kalmadi into an odd defense . He doesn’t deny any wrongdoing- instead, he opts for safety in numbers, stressing that he could not have acted alone. ”There’s an entire executive board. There’s an Organizing Committee Finance Committee, another finance committee, all the government officers there,” he says.

Absolutely, says the BJP, whose leaders sarcastically suggested today that Kalmadi turn approver and turn in the big fish in the Congress who allegedly benefitted from the crooked deals he struck.

In the run up to the Games, Kalmadi worked hard to project himself as the face of one of India’s largest events – the Games would be unforgettable, he promised repeatedly. The credit for the Games eventually went to officials like Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. And Kalmadi is a solitary man now, the unwitting totem of the roughest side of the Games.

Indian opposition to hold anti-corruption protests

India’s main opposition alliance is due to hold a major demonstration against alleged corruption involving the ruling Congress-party led government.

India has seen a slew of high-profile corruption investigations in recent months

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led group plans to hold anti-sleaze protests in Delhi and across the country.

India has been rocked by a slew of high-profile corruption cases.

Among them is an alleged telecoms scandal in which phone licences were sold for a fraction of their value.

Ex-telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja, who resigned over the scandal, is expected to be questioned soon by India’s top investigation agency, the CBI.

Mr Raja, who denies any wrongdoing, is a member of the DMK party, a member of the Congress-led ruling coalition.

Parliament has been deadlocked over opposition demands for a major inquiry.

Correspondents say that the main opposition Hindu nationalist BJP-led alliance has decided to take to the streets to pin down the government over corruption.

‘Nothing to hide’

The opposition protest comes days after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he has “nothing to hide” from an investigation into the sale of phone licences.

He told a party meeting he was ready to be questioned by a parliamentary panel in the inquiry.

Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi told the same meeting that graft was a “disease spreading through our society”.

The CBI raided Mr Raja’s premises this month and is expected to question him about claims he issued 2G licences on a first-come, first-served basis instead of auctioning them.

The national auditor said the 2008 sale cost the government up to $37bn (£23bn) in lost revenue.

The other corruption investigations in recent months involve financial malpractices at October’s Commonwealth Games and an alleged housing scam.

Organisers of the Delhi Commonwealth Games have been arrested on charges of swindling millions of dollars before the October event.

The Congress party ordered the chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra to quit over his alleged role in a scam involving homes meant for war widows being given to relatives and bureaucrats.

Nearly 90 percent of tribals miss college education: BJP

IANS

Raipur, Nov 11: Up to 90 percent of students belonging to the tribal communities of the country never make it to college, a resolution passed by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) tribal cell said here today.

A three-day convention of the party’s tribal cell began on Tuesday in the state capital of the BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh.

The resolution claimed that of an estimated tribal population of 10.45 crore, 45 percent still live below the poverty line.

“About 96 lakh tribal families were displaced in the country in the post-Independence period due to government’s bigger development projects,” the statement said.

Just 29 lakh families were rehabilitated by successive governments, while the remaining were driven away after being paid a nominal amount, it added.

The resolution also expressed anguish over lack of basic facilities even after 63 years of independence.

“The tribals have not been provided water, road, medicine, electricity and houses,” it said.

The resolution, passed unanimously, also said that a total of 698 tribes exist in India, of which 75 have been recognised as the most backward.

CWG: Raids at 60 places around India for financial irregularities

Shweta Rajpal Kohli

New Delhi: Three-hundred officials are spending the day raiding 60 offices in different cities including Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai for financial irregularities linked to the Commonwealth Games.

The offices being raided belong to companies who provided services like landscaping and street lighting as well as sports equipment for the Commonwealth Games.

The raids are aimed at unearthing unaccounted income or attempts to suppress profits. In Kolkata alone, 30 offices are being raided.

In the NCR, raids are being reported at the offices of Satya Prakash Constructions, which provided landscaping services for the CWG, and at the offices of Shiv Naresh Sports which provided synthetic track surfaces and sports accessories like tracksuits.

The recently-held event in Delhi was the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever. The Prime Minister’s office has promised that those who “shamed the country” through corrupt practices will be punished.

Different agencies including the Enforcement Directorate have been asked to uncover a multitude of financial misdeeds that range from payments being made to companies that don’t exist, to contracts that allowed those hired for the Games to get away with severely over-priced equipment and services.

Earlier this month, the offices of four different groups that provided overlays or moveable equipment like treadmills were raided by the income tax. BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal’s house was among the places searched for documents by tax officials. Mittal was a Director for a company owned by his nephew, Vinay Mittal, that won a multi-crore contract for the Games. Mittal says he is being made a political scapegoat.

Ruckus in J&K assembly over Omar’s remarks

Srinagar: There was chaos in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly Thursday as opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Panthers Party legislators tore papers and snatched mikes to protest Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s speech a day earlier.

The legislators, who gathered near the speaker’s podium, were marshalled out of the House. In the process, BJP legislator Durga Das was injured and received stitches in a hospital. He said he was hurt by the ‘kada’, or steel bangle, worn by one of the marshals. Two other BJP legislators also claim to have been injured.

The BJP, Panthers Party and the Jammu Morcha, who were also lashing out at the Chief Minister outside the Assembly, accused him of carrying out Hurriyat agenda. The MLAs have decided to boycott the rest of the session.

The opposition legislators were protesting Abdullah’s speech Wednesday where he had said Kashmir had acceded to India under an agreement and not merged with it. He had also asked why the BJP was repeatedly stating that Kashmir was an integral part of India, as it meant they had doubts about their own statement.

Omar had also asked leaders to desist from harping on the fact that Kashmir is an integral part of India.

(With inputs from IANS)

Ram temple is my mind’s desire: Advani

Sunny Sebastian

JAIPUR: Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani on Tuesday said building a Ram temple at Ayodhya was his mind’s desire. “Until a temple is built in Ayodhya, I would not be content,” he said while delivering a lecture on electoral reforms here.

Though Mr. Advani mostly confined his lecture to aspects pertaining to electoral reforms and the desirability of State funding of polls, the lone reference to the temple post-Allahabad High Court verdict came when he talked about the earlier date he was invited to deliver the lecture here.

“I was to come here on October 25, the day I started the Somnath Yatra which could not be completed. I do not go anywhere on that day or do any work. I only visit Somnath temple for a darshan,” Mr. Advani said.

Talking about the poll reforms, the BJP leader said his party preferred simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies, an idea first mooted by the late Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Another poll “reform” by the BJP-ruled Gujarat – a Bill making it compulsory to vote in the panchayat elections – too came in for a favourable comment from Mr. Advani.

“The Bill passed by the Gujarat Assembly has been pending with the Governor for clearance for sometime. I hope it will be given a green signal,” he said.

During the lecture, Mr. Advani sought fresh reforms to curb the influence of money power in elections. “There should be a consensus on the issue of funding of elections.”

“To strengthen democracy, electoral reform has to be a continuing process. Our country has undertaken many reforms, but a lot still needs to be done, particularly with regard to curbing the influence of money power,” he said.

“The prevailing cynicism that nothing can be done with regard to money power must be shed. What the United Kingdom has achieved in this context has a lesson for us: as a student of poll reform in the U.K., I can affirm that elections in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries were shockingly corrupt,” he said.

The former Rajasthan Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, State BJP president Arun Chaturvedi, and several senior BJP leaders were present at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Memorial Lecture, which was organised by the Research and Development Foundation for Integral Humanism, headed by the former State BJP president, Mahesh Sharma.

Mr. Advani said his party had been a passionate advocate of poll reforms. “State financing of elections by itself is not going to solve all problems. Corruption is an evil which has to be attacked from all sides. What could be primarily achieved by a scheme of poll grants is that all parties and candidates in the field who really matter will be assured a minimum wherewithal of electoral campaigning,” he said.

We forget, Azadi is not a fixed term

During the current agitation, Farooq Abdullah was heard remarking impatiently on TV: “I don’t know what these Kashmiris want!” Both Farooq and his narcissistic son Omar have failed to understand the aspirations of Kashmiris. Not surprisingly, whenever the National Conference is in power in Jammu & Kashmir, we see the rage of Kashmiris spill onto the streets – something that works to the advantage of Pakistan. The current joke is that Pakistan has decided to dispense with ISI’s services because Omar does the job better.

Young blood Anger explodes on the streets

During my trip to Kashmir as part of Manushi’s factfinding team, I was pleasantly surprised to find that even at the height of estrangement from the Indian establishment, the most respected political figure in Kashmir is neither a separatist leader nor a Pakistani general but former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Barring the minority of die-hard pro-Pakistani elements, people across the entire political spectrum, including a significant section of moderate separatists, say openly that if only Vajpayee had stayed in power, he would have steered the country towards a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem.

Muzaffar Hussain Baig of the PDP was not too far off the mark when he declared in a public meeting that if Vajpayee were to contest from any constituency in Kashmir, he would have won hands down. The special affection for Vajpayee is in part due to the reason that he presided over one of the two cleanest elections in our parliamentary democracy. In 2002, Vajpayee made sure neither the Central nor the state government dirtied their hands by tampering with ballot boxes, thus ensuring one of the most credible elections in Kashmir, despite Pakistan-inspired militants unleashing violence and even murdering candidates to enforce a boycott.

Even though the PDP was a coalition partner of the Congress during Vajpayee’s tenure, the Centre yielded unprecedented political space to the state government in addition to supporting its various ‘healing touch’ measures. He let the PDP take new political initiatives and define its agenda rather than be a Delhi Durbar puppet.

Vajpayee did not depend on intelligence agencies to define his political agenda and roadmap for Kashmir. He engaged with the entire cross-section of political opinion, including the separatists, and gave ordinary people hope that his government was ready to take concrete steps to resolve the Kashmir issue through honest dialogue. His declaration that ‘insaniyat ka dayara’ (the domain of humanity) was higher than all other mandates created an unprecedented wave of enthusiasm and hope. This does not mean that Kashmiris expected him to bypass the Constitution. It only indicates Vajpayee’s willingness to acknowledge that most previous governments had too often trampled upon human rights.

It is indeed tragic that there is no one in the BJP with the sagacity to build on the goodwill created by Vajpayee. Instead most current BJP leaders are prone to issuing thoughtless jingoistic statements to prove their nationalist credentials without making any attempt to have direct contact with the people.

Similarly, one hears people remember former Prime Minister Morarji Desai as the respect-worthy face of Indian democracy even though he is all but forgotten in the rest of the country. Kashmiris remember him with warmth and gratitude for letting them have their first taste of free and fair elections in 1977. This was because the Janata Party came to power after defeating Indira Gandhi, who had built a highly authoritarian, centralised power structure in her desire to rule all of India from her imperial durbar. Morarji put his foot down against managing or rigging elections, making Kashmiris feel part of the post-Emergency democratic upsurge.

Another hero for Kashmiris is former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh because he personally oversaw the 2002 poll. George Fernandes is a respected name because even as defence minister he did not indulge in jingoistic politics and reached out to Kashmiri people even at the height of the secessionist movement in the Valley. Likewise, former President APJ Abdul Kalam cut through a security cordon and mingled freely with the people, establishing very warm rapport with the younger generation, especially students. He had no difficulty in getting thousands of Kashmiri students join him in singing the national anthem.

These names are evidence that the majority of Kashmiris want the same freedom as we do. When they find their democratic aspirations crushed through brute force and devious Delhi Durbar games, with puppet chief ministers allowed to loot and plunder the state’s resources without any instruments of accountability available to citizens, they do get desperate. Frustration and disillusionment with Indian democracy are the most valuable assets for Pakistan in its proxy war.

By ignoring the cry for azadi, the central government has offered a golden opportunity to Pakistan to fish in troubled waters. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has himself witnessed how the constituency for secession from Indian can be made to shrink or expand depending on how responsive or ham-handed the governments in the state and at the Centre are in responding to people’s legitimate grievances and aspirations.

When their elected representatives prove capable of providing a responsive administration, especially security of life and property along with efficiency in delivery of basic civic amenities, people start demanding IITs, IIMs and stadia, aspire to become ‘Indian Idols’ and show eagerness in the vibrancy of Indian democracy.

For example, people have clamoured for the Right to Information Act to be made applicable to Kashmir. But when they are saddled with a callous, dysfunctional and corrupt government which uses the brute might of the Indian State to crush their democratic rights, they are bound to feel estranged from Indian democracy, especially if the Central government seems to back the brute actions of the state government.

The constituency for secession in Kashmir shrinks or expands depending on how governments act

IF OMAR had any emotional connect with his people, he would not have felt elated at Rahul Gandhi’s open and unconditional support to his regime. He should have known that any politician who tries to ride roughshod over his own people simply because he enjoys the patronage of Delhi Durbar becomes a hate symbol. The timing of the statement – on the eve of the Parliamentary delegation to Kashmir – was even more damaging because it sought to undermine the very credibility of the high-powered team. It has been interpreted in Kashmir as an attempt to influence the team since it is headed by three senior-most ministers of the UPA government. This has confirmed fears that the Delhi Durbar will only support puppet chief ministers in Kashmir, no matter how disastrous they are for the state and for India.

The delegation’s visit has proved a total flop for other reasons as well. It was not structured to enable the MPs to meet ordinary people, to listen to their grievances, to see for themselves the havoc being caused by Omar’s callous draconian rule. It turned out to be a flying touchand- go visit. It was ritualism at its worst.

In order to rekindle hope in Kashmir, a select group of senior MPs should have spent several days in the Valley and held public hearings, meeting a varied crosssection of ordinary citizens as well as professional organisations, students as well as businessmen. Instead, they met a select group of politicians behind closed doors. Many important Kashmiri politicians boycotted the meeting. The state government enforced such a severe curfew that no one could stir out of their homes. The National Conference handpicked some of its own men, briefed them on what to say and ferried them in government vehicles, parading them as the voice of Kashmir. Even grassroot Congress leaders and workers were denied the opportunity to meet the delegation.

The Deputy Commissioner was put in charge of screening those who put in requests to meet the MPs. They were told to fax the text of what they wanted to say to the delegation. Given the shoot-at-sight orders and a deadly curfew, how could people access fax?

And yet some brave ones persevered. They phoned their friends in Delhi and other parts of India to send faxes on their behalf. Many such people had the CID come visiting in a brazen attempt to intimidate them into silence. The very attempt to impose strict censorship through the office of the Deputy Commissioner shows what desperate measures Omar is capable of adopting in order to survive as Chief Minister. In the process he is ensuring that he cannot function as CM.

Most people outside the Valley don’t know that Omar forced all government offices to remain closed for nearly three months by denying government employees curfew passes. He is afraid if they join duty they might start demonstrating against him in the office complex itself. Any time the separatists give a call for hartaal, Omar extends his government’s support by imposing a very strict curfew. Those few journalists or others who manage to get curfew passes often face the wrath of the J&K Police that does not hesitate to tear up the passes in their faces. I personally witnessed people being booked under PSA and other sections of IPC and locked up in police stations for daring to defy curfew.

At a time when both the state and the Central government appear to be trampling on the constitutional rights of Kashmiris with brute force, leading to daily deaths of young men, women and children, for the Prime Minister to announce his willingness to talk to only those who abjure violence and declare allegiance to the Constitution amounts to rubbing salt in people’s wounds. Instead of setting this pre-condition, let the PM first demonstrate through concrete example that the Government of India cares for and knows how to safeguard the constitutional rights of its citizens. If this can be done, an enduring solution to the vexed Kashmir problem will follow effortlessly.

If not, the Congress high command will have to bear the ignominy of furthering the political agenda of Pakistan in Kashmir.

MADHU KISHWAR remembers Indian leaders who have won the Valley’s confidence in the past

BJP opposes autonomy for Occupied Jammu & Kashmir

After the all-party meet on Kashmir ended without a consensus on the lifting of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from some districts of the state, the BJP has come out and said that they strongly oppose autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir.

Full text of the joint memorandum submitted by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik

“Let me say clearly that we accept the basic proposition that the future of Kashmir is going to be decided finally by the goodwill and pleasure of her people. The goodwill and pleasure of this Parliament is of no importance in this matter, not because this Parliament does not have the strength to decide the question of Kashmir but because any kind of imposition would be against the principles that this Parliament holds.

“Kashmir is very close to our minds and hearts and if by some decree or adverse fortune, ceases to be a part of India, it will be a wrench and a pain and torment for us. If, however, the people of Kashmir do not wish to remain with us, let them go by all means. We will not keep them against their will, however painful it may be to us… However sad we may feel about leaving we are not going to stay against the wishes of the people. We are not going to impose ourselves on them on the point of the bayonet.” – Jawaharlal Nehru, Speech to the Indian Parliament, August 7, 1952

“When a question becomes an international question like the Kashmir question, this Parliament can take many steps, of course, but it cannot solve the international part of it… the accession of Kashmir to India… was in that sense complete, not subject to anything except subject to the goodwill of the people of Kashmir… It is a very important thing and by that declaration we are going to stand. It is left to their decision… Now it is before an international forum and how can I or this Parliament take it away?” – Jawaharlal Nehru, Speech to the Indian Parliament, March 25, 1952

The All-Party Delegation from Delhi comes to Srinagar on the heels of some of the most vexed circumstances that Jammu & Kashmir has faced. The assault on the life and dignity of the average Kashmiri has been relentless. Daily life in our homes and streets has been turned into a nightmare as an entire population is treated as hostages on their own soil.

Just a simple act of stepping out of our own houses has been turned into an act fraught with danger, threat and menace with unprecedented prolongation of the brutal curfew, ruthless persecution, topped up by some of the most uncivilized acts by a nation that claims to abide by democratic practice and the rule of law.

The blockading of food, fuel and medical supplies with even life-saving drugs and ambulances being prevented from reaching their destinations, nocturnal raids and illegal detention of children and teenagers, clampdown on the local media and thrashing of media persons in recent days, is clearly an attempt at bullying and humiliating the Kashmiri population with base and inhuman tactics employed earlier only by rogue regimes in some notorious instances of international shame like in Kampuchea, Bosnia Palestine and Sri Lanka.

We cannot help but feel that we Kashmiris have been corralled into a concentration camp of concertina wires, jack-booted surveillance and vengeful assault by the Indian State, which deliberately chooses to deny this part of its ‘claimed’ nation the constitutional guarantee of ‘the Right to Life’.

And we have not even begun talking yet about the more than 100 Kashmiri youngsters senselessly but brutally killed by the Indian security forces in just over 100 days. It follows the thousands of lives already lost over the past decades due to the unresolved Kashmir Dispute.

All this precipitates your visit today.

We had hoped the 21st Century would offer our children a new world of opportunities. Indeed, both Prime Ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh gave us reason to hope for an honourable and lasting solution to the Kashmir Dispute through their multiple public declarations on Kashmir. We believe these statements represented not only their personal or partisan views but a commitment on behalf of the Indian people which your delegation today now represents.

We started this decade with the intention of engaging in a meaningful process to resolve the Kashmir Issue and we continue to be committed to that objective. However, for the people of Jammu & Kashmir, this first decade of the century has only been one of continued human misery, unfulfilled promises, false hopes and failed efforts to resolve the issue.

Failure has bred cynicism and destroyed hope.

In recent times, the struggle in Kashmir has transformed from a violent to a non-violent movement and the new generation has adopted the mode of democratic protest rather than the gun to voice its aspiration. It leaves us shocked and resentful that rather than listening to and engaging with this call from the streets of Kashmir, India is responding to it with bullets and violence.

We are at a threshold and it is vital that a new generation of Kashmiris should not be pushed to the wall. Dialogue and negotiation must come to the front, not a new chapter of violence and instability. Nobody will gain and we will all lose, if such a situation develops.

The passage of time over the past 63 years has, in fact, made the Kashmir Problem more, rather than less, intractable. Allowing this dispute to fester will only extract increasing human costs from the people of Jammu & Kashmir and, for that matter, the people of India and Pakistan.

Frankly, today we hope to make a break from the past.

What we have seen for the last 63 years and what we are seeing in the current bloodshed is an aggregation of failed approaches. Above all we are seeing a failure to develop and evolve a sustainable, purposeful, results-oriented process of dialogue and negotiation aimed at tangibly resolving core issues rather than dealing with the crisis of the day.

We are concerned that domestic politicking in India has again started to create hurdles on the way to developing a meaningful process of negotiation. This has been a phenomenon right from the inception of the Kashmir Conflict. Due to domestic politics in both India and Pakistan, the windows for working towards a solution to Kashmir have been narrowed or interrupted and, as a result, the people of Jammu & Kashmir have had to suffer dearly.

It is disconcerting that today the BJP has taken a hard line on Kashmir. This is the same party whose veteran leader Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee went to Lahore and declared from the base of Minar-e-Pakistan: “It is my dream and wish to resolve the Kashmir Issue.” This is the same BJP who initiated peace talks with the then united APHC under the chairmanship of Syed Ali Shah Geelani. This is the same party that engaged Hizbul Mujahideen in a cease-fire and talks process in the Summer of 2000. This is the same BJP that declared a unilateral cease-fire in the Month of Ramadhan and then offered talks “under the constitution of Insaniyat”. This is the same BJP whose Prime Minister Vajpayee laid out an inspiring agenda on Kashmir from Kumarakom on January 2, 2001: “We shall not traverse solely on the beaten track of the past. Rather, we shall be bold and innovative designers of a future architecture of peace and prosperity for the entire South Asian region”.

We are now disheartened to see the same party advocating a contrary view as the principal Opposition in the Indian Parliament. It is time to develop a peace process on Kashmir that is immune to domestic politics and power tussles, both in India and Pakistan.

On many occasions, in 2004 and again in 2006 from Amritsar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked boldly about engaging in an irreversible process of dialogue to reach a political solution on Kashmir. We are concerned that the recent statements of the Prime Minister suggest that the Kashmir Problem is being seen as a matter of unemployment and that conditions are being imposed on the dialogue process.

For an entire generation, more than 20 years, we have engaged in multiple exercises of dialogue and talks with the Government of India. We took risks to do so and some amongst us sacrificed their lives to tread the path of peacemaking, while others amongst us paid with our credibility. we give some suggestions with a view to generating a favourable political climate for a purposeful dialogue like (a) revocation of draconian laws, (b) release of political prisoners (c) withdrawal of troops and (d) zero tolerance for human rights etc but these suggestions were not taken seriously.

We are now wary that your visit today, however well-intentioned, represents only an effort at short-term crisis management and that there is no clear commitment nor path towards effective resolution of the Kashmir Issue and addressing the aspirations and interests of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.

We have seen in the past that it is only when a major crisis erupts that visible efforts are made to engage and understand our aspirations. And as soon as the immediate crisis subsides, the demonstrated and inherent political complacency and negligence is restored.

Today in light of the concerns expressed above and to voice our unequivocal condemnation of the killings of our children and youth, we choose not to meet with your delegation

Today, we ask not for unilateral political concessions but rather a joint commitment to a meaningful process that guarantees results. We believe this is possible only if serious efforts are made to create a conducive environment for dialogue by removal of the harsh and repressive measures that are in force here, to suppress our aspirations and our fundamental democratic rights.

We look forward to entering into a dialogue based on the following shared commitments:

To create a beginning and to sustain the process of dialogue we need to create a process in which all views and options – most of all Kashmiri aspirations will be considered and explored before arriving at an acceptable solution.

Let resolving the Kashmir Dispute in accordance with aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir become a Common Minimum Programme shared by all political parties in India and in Pakistan. Achieving a solution to the Kashmir Issue should now rise above vote bank politics and be taken up as a national agenda shared by all, worked for by all, and risked for by all major political parties of India.

Let the Government of India act on the suggestions given by the Kashmiris and facilitate to establish and empower an official body, a Kashmir Committee, consisting of senior representatives of all major Indian political parties to develop and enter into a process of engagement with the representatives of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. Let this process be transparent designed to deliver a negotiated solution to the Kashmir Issue that is mutually worked towards by and acceptable to all parties concerned.

We believe that a similar Kashmir Committee, bringing together all political forces, should also be established in Pakistan. We will advocate to the political parties in Pakistan that this be done. This will ensure that all major political forces in India and Pakistan are on board with the peace process and it will help institutionalize and sustain the process to resolve the Kashmir Problem. We must render the process immune from domestic politics and tendencies to act as spoilers

On our part we are ready and willing to engage and sustain a meaningful and irreversible process of dialogue designed to avoid the failures of the past and to jointly develop and implement a solution to the Kashmir Dispute that is acceptable to all sides – India,Pakistan and above all the people of J&K

Sincerely,

SD/
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq
All Parties Hurriyat Conference

SD/

Muhammad Yasin Malik
Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front

Mirwaiz slams inconclusive Kashmir APC

AFP / Express

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, has slammed the All Parties Conference (APC) on Kashmir and said that Kashmiris will not accept any solution but independence.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that there could be no dialogue until a draw down of Indian troops and a release of prisoners. PHOTO: AFP

He said he would have supported the conference if it had focused on the Kashmir resolution, but that the meeting had a limited agenda. He said India should first put an end to human rights violations in Kashmir.

“Kashmiris are fighting for freedom, not just protesting,” said Mirwaiz. He added that there could be no dialogue until a draw down of Indian troops in the region and the release of prisoners.

“The meeting is a cosmetic and half-hearted measure,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. “Our focus continues to be on the bigger issue of resolving the Kashmir dispute.” Another senior leader, Javed Mir, scorned the idea of a fact-finding mission and contrasted the response to the Kashmir violence with the reaction to recent floods in the nearby region of Leh.

“When the natural tragedy struck Leh recently, every Indian who matters, be it the prime minister, the president, Sonia Gandhi and Raul Gandhi visited the grief-struck people. But no one bothers to visit Kashmir,” he said.

‘Dialogue is the only way to peace in Kashmir’

Earlier, speaking at the all parties conference that was held in India to try to forge a consensus on how to defuse escalating tension in Kashmir after the worst violence in three months of protests, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he is ready to speak to anyone who shuns violence and that dialogue is the only way to peace in the Kashmir crisis.

“The only path for lasting peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir is that of dialogue and discussion,” Singh added. “Those who have grievances against the government have to talk to the administration,” he said. “But it is also true that meaningful dialogue can happen only in an atmosphere free from violence and confrontation.”

Singh said he was “shocked and distressed” by deadly protests in Kashmir and called for calm to enable talks on the crisis to take place. He said some of the escalating demonstrations, which began in June, “may have been impulsive or spontaneous” but he also pointed the finger at “certain groups” for orchestrating them.

India’s government said that it would send a cross-party delegation to Kashmir to gather information about the unrest that has left 93 people dead in the last three months.

The decision was the main outcome of the crisis meeting, with no consensus reached on withdrawing a tough military law in the region.

The Armed Forces Special Power Act enables the army and paramilitary forces to detain suspected militants indefinitely and is seen as fuelling a sense of injustice and military occupation for Kashmiris.

The fact-finding mission will help inform policy making, the government said.

However, a date for the mission’s visit was not given and there were few details as to its remit, other than an order to meet different sections of the population and gather opinions.

No senior ministers or mainstream national political figures have visited the Kashmir Valley since the unrest began three months ago. Kashmiri leaders dismissed the meeting as a public relations ploy.

New Delhi has in the past blamed Pakistani groups and hardline separatists for stirring up trouble in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan.

“I was shocked and distressed to see young men and women – even children – joining the protests on the streets,” Singh said at the opening of a meeting of political parties called to debate ways of easing tensions in Kashmir.

His comments came as police opened fire on another demonstration in the disputed Himalayan region on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring at least 11 others.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who admitted last week that he was “groping” for a response, is chairing the all-party meeting at his residence, with the government under pressure to show leadership in the worsening crisis.

One measure under consideration is the partial withdrawal of a tough military law in the region, which grants the armed forces immunity and is seen as fuelling a sense of injustice for Kashmiris.

The cabinet discussed this at a meeting on Monday, but decided against taking a decision on a day that saw the worst violence since mass street protests began in June. Seventeen protestors were killed in police shootings and one police officer died in the mob violence.

“Ultimately we thought that before we take a final decision, we should take into confidence all major political parties,” Defence Minister AK Antony told reporters on Tuesday. “It is better to involve everybody.”

A strict curfew imposed in all major towns and troublespots in Kashmir since Sunday remained in place. There were no reports of clashes overnight or early Wednesday.

Politically, the ruling Congress party is hemmed in by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) main opposition group, which sees any concession on autonomy or security as a betrayal of the nation. “Kashmir is in turmoil due to wrong policies of the state and the centre and the need is to have more forces, but the Congress is looking to reduce the number of security personnel” in Kashmir, BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain said. “The BJP wants total peace in Kashmir prior to any talks and it is of the opinion that unless this happens any form of talks is useless.”

The prime minister warned last week that there “is no royal road to success” and that he “can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat” in Kashmir, which is part of the northwestern state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

Many before him have tried and failed, producing a deadlock that dates back to the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, when the Muslim-majority region was split between India and Pakistan. It has triggered two of the three wars between the nuclear-armed nations and remains an enduring source of tension in South Asia.

The Hindu newspaper criticised 77-year-old Singh in an editorial on Wednesday, saying the protests had made a “bonfire” of his “vanity project” of finding a solution to the 60-year problem. Singh has doggedly pursued peace talks with Pakistan, argued in favour of reducing the military presence in Kashmir and repeatedly offers talks to all parties in Kashmir that reject violence.

“Each of these enterprises ended in impasse,” said The Hindu. “By talking big while having little to offer, New Delhi has unwittingly fanned the flames in J&K,” it said. “Firm, generous-spirited action to win over the people is needed.”

For three months, young Kashmiris have thrown stones at security forces, defied strict curfews and held anti-India rallies, resulting in clashes that have left 88 people dead. The frustrated new generation has become the focus of resistance to Indian rule, superseding the militants who made the region one of the most dangerous places on Earth in the 1990s.

Since 1989, an anti-India insurgency has plagued the part of Kashmir ruled by New Delhi, claiming an estimated 47,000 lives.

But militancy has fallen to its lowest level for two decades and New Delhi estimates there are now just 500 militants active in the region, a fraction of the thousands previously.

More people have died at the hands of the security forces this year than in militant attacks. A majority in Indian Kashmir, where New Delhi has an estimated 500,000 troops, favour independence for their region, according to a recent poll.