The Baggage Of Kashmir

For almost six decades Pakistan has been carrying the baggage of Kashmir, unable to resolve it. Musharraf was Kashmir’s best bet, his efforts now rest in history. Unable to bear the baggage of Kashmir anymore, Pakistan through a well thought of policy is throwing off the same. While as it might have been an over-sight and not much credence should be given to news items such as these…

“Federal Information Minister Sherry Rehman was thrilled over the fact that everybody was convinced with her presentation highlighting the government’s policy during the in-camera session of the Parliament,” a participant told The News. He said that some PML-N members protested saying one of the maps used in the briefing showed Occupied Kashmir as part of India. The PML-N raised a lot of hue and cry over it. However, a federal cabinet member told The News that three maps were shown during her presentation and that two maps very clearly showed Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) as disputed territory but one map shown in the briefing was blurred which misled the PML-N members.
The News

…however, it does though show Pakistan’s efforts at gentle shifts in its Kashmir Policy and it also shows that it is testing its domestic waters at the same time. When Zardari termed the Kashmiri Militants as Terrorists; there was the usual expected opposition from the politicians, however the people of Pakistan seemed to take it in stride, to some extent it could be because of being bogged down by the back-breaking inflation, but more so because the people of Pakistan, the younger generations, no longer see Kashmir as their problem with the same lens they did in the past. This shift will in itself shall help Kashmir’s cause more than their support, since India would no longer be able to label the Kashmir Struggle as Cross Border Terrorism. And also so because the younger generations of Kashmir do not identify themselves as easily and sympathetically with Pakistan as the older generations did. To the young people of Kashmir, Pakistan is as far off as say Saudi Arab. One would make a mistake though if one were to say their desire for freedom is that far, it is closer than ever before.

 

UN, We Are Not Indian

A message for the world, all Kashmiris already know this:

Rhetoric, notwithstanding.

Two more fall prey to the bullets of India’s Army, as India’s Prime Minsiter visits the occupied state of Kashmir.

 

Rail Mubarak, a new greeting in Kashmir, wonder whether we will soon have a railway public holiday!

And someone, somewhere was shown his rightful place.

Forgetting Heroes

This is just one of the ills that ail our civil struggle. Absence of self-introspection has plagued our society tremendously, we tend to forget our own sacrifices way too easily, detrimental to our own cause.

Asiya Andrabi’s words are almost always to get media attention. If she were as honest in demanding succour for those martyred and injured as her words claimed to be, she (or her organisation, since she is in Jail right now; on a different note: Kashmir suffers from a lack of Organisations, there are only individuals (read leaders lacking even the basic sense of leadership)) would have fought for their rights in a similar manner she fought for the closure of liquor shops in Kashmir. Geelani definitely has taken a leaf from this news item:

Seven-year-old Bisma looks shabby in ragged clothes. There are no chances of her getting a new pair on Eid. The father who used to get her dresses every Eid is no more. He was killed by Hindu fanatics during the economic blockade of the Valley in August.

According to Jigri the president of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) president Prof Bhim Singh paid for the admission of the children in a private educational institution.

“No body else has come to the rescue of the children,” she said.

Greater Kashmir

I Shot Him Because His Name Incensed Me

From a reader’s words

…I was reminded of a conversation with a major in the Indian army whom I met at a friend’s place in Delhi, recounting how he killed a Kashmiri driver during a routine check because he was incensed at the driver’s Muslim name and how this was listed as yet another “encounter” death. That was about eight or nine years ago at the height of the BJP’s rule at the center. Gruesome as it was listening to his slow- motion account of that “encounter”, what struck me at that time was that the man felt no shame or remorse. Instead there was a sense of bravado. That was the first such “encounter” he had had and remembered it as one would remember a first love.

This major went on to join the elite Black Cat commando force set up to counter terrorism.

Read the complete post here

Innocents are killed, killers are rewarded, this is the story of life in Kashmir!

• We need a kill , operations have dried up, the shocking story of India’s army in Kashmir.
• A young student was shot point blank , instead of an investigation, the killers were rewarded.
• Does a 19 year old deserve to be tortured, burned and then killed ? India’s Army thinks he does.

Was It Just A Few Hectares Of Land? – I

The city of Srinagar abounded with sparkling lakes, today just one survives, the rest having died unnoticed and silently. This one lake, the oft-quoted and oft-photographed, Dal Lake has withstood the onslaught of man’s greed and nature’s fury for centuries. This lake perhaps is the symbolic representation of a Kashmiri – one who has survived decades, nay centuries, of onslaught by foreign rulers, and continues to sparkle, like the lake, hiding its scars far within. Kashmir would see an era of Peace only when the seat of power was held by one of its own. Never have foreign rulers been able to control it for good and nothing has ever dampened the spirit of the people of this humble valley. A Vale surrounded by such tall mountains that it should never have been discovered by ‘the others’ to begin with. Invaders of all religions, colours, hues, wishes and desires have trampled this humble valley but never could they escape from the fire that burns within the heart of every Kashmiri, the desire to be free. Having lived under subjugation and enslavement, the Kashmiri body may have been enslaved, not the Kashmiri soul!

The year 1947 saw such turn of events, that Kashmir, instead of seeing a breather after an excruciating survival under the Dogras saw it being occupied by a country it did not know. A country it never had any ‘unconditional’ economic, social, political, cultural or religious ties with, any that it might have had were forced. The country was India and 61 years have passed without the slightest ebb in the hatred for the state of India in the hearts of Kashmiris.

Non-violent protest never seen in the past; art of subjugation learned from Israel by India; and a silent international community are the hallmarks of Kashmir since last three months. Was it a simply a case of the few hectares of land that were transferred or the blocking of the National Highway that has given birth to such staunch resentment in Kashmiri hearts? Are they willing to die of starvation rather than come on the table just because of these two issues? Even the rampant un-employment in the state never led to such massive civil disobedience. What is it then exactly? Is Freedom the uncomplicated and simple answer to this complicated and intricate problem that has been dragging on even before the states of India and Pakistan were created?

Freedom does suffice as an answer for a Kashmiri. A Kashmiri who is not well read may not be able to explain further this Freedom to a non-Kashmiri; a learned Kashmiri may elaborate to a non-Kashmiri as to what exactly this ‘Freedom’ means, but still the definition would be elusive. It has a thousand contours and colours, rather Oppression in Kashmir has a thousand contours and colours and the only way to even out those contours and the only antidote to this oppression, as all Kashmiris see it, is Freedom.

To think that it was just the Land Transfer or the Economic Blockade is naïve thinking, it would be murderous for India and the people of India to think of these two abstract reasons as the only and main cause of all the effect we have been seeing in Kashmir.

From a previous post on this blog 1521 For 1, written February 0f 2008:

For those who want to know, this is a clear indication that the fight in Kashmir is not just with the 460 odd always on run militants but something greater. What is that greater? That greater is the burning desire in every Kashmiri for Freedom. The never dying desire to breath the crisp fresh air of Freedom; Freedom from slavery, subjugation, torture and oppression or perhaps just the freedom from having to carry an Identity Card for moving outside our homes in our land or still just perhaps the freedom to know that every morning won’t bring the news of deaths by bombs and bullets. Increasing number of tourists visiting Kashmir or decreasing number of militants is not an indicator of peace, as the Government is trying to portray. Kashmir is a volcano about to burst, like it did in 1989.

And Kashmir did burst the summer of 2008.

The Killings Continue

Kashmir -Friday, the 12th of September, 2008

The emotions, the rage, the strength and the helplessness of Kashmir.

Stats:

2 Killed.

25 Hit By Bullets.

150 Injured.

2 Million Protesting.

Perpetrator:

India.

Rebirth Of Kashmir

The Rebirth Of Kashmir is a beautiful post by David Lepeska, an American journalist who has done a stint of reporting in Kashmir.

This post of his captures and does justice to the emotions of Kashmiris apart from being a decent analytical view on the present situation in Kashmir -and he is honest to Kashmir, since having stayed and interacted with the people of Kashmir he knows the ground reality – unlike the desktop Indian journalists who, often never having visted Kashmir, write what they feel and think, not what the truth is.

The police and Indian army troops, armed to the teeth and out in force earlier in the day, have melted away. How do you attack someone laughing and dancing joyously as he denounces you and your country?

Yes, many protesters are vehemently denouncing their oppressor, India, and celebrating Pakistan and Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. But these are less acts of allegiance, more expressions of Kashmiri unity, as separatist and Muslim.

So while Kashmir remained beautiful the shadows of the past and a lingering threat darkened the days.

No longer. The floodgates have opened and Kashmiris are releasing two decades of pain, anger, fear, frustration and loss – the pent-up emotions of the conflict generation. It is not a revolution as much as an evolution. We are witnessing the rebirth of Kashmir. For now, the insurgency is over, giving way to a broad-based non-violent movement for azadi.

And for my money, this is how freedom arrives. Not from the barrel in a gun. Not with a knock at your door in the dead of night. But from a seething, jeering, bopping mass of one.

All Over The Place

David Lepeska had also written about Kashmiri Bloggers for The Kashmir Observer. His blog has some other interesting posts and pictures on Kashmir also.

I Will Not Quit…

…since I am just a humble henchman of India, a hypocrite, a chameleon and in unholy matrimony with India.

Omar Abdullah’s lie:

I WILL QUIT IF unbridled force IS UNLEASHED ON MY INNOCENT PEOPLE!

Source

This still isn’t unbridled force for Omar Abdullah, but wait, he wasn’t speaking anything he means, he never does.

Is This NOT Unbridled Force?

Killer Roaming Free – Henchman Of India, No Different Than Abdullah

Shot In The Neck By Indian Forces

Tear Gas And Kill

Is This NOT Unbridled Force?

Youth Shot In Nowhatta, Srinagar POINT BLANK.

Ready To Fire, Finger On Trigger

Beaten For Daring To Buy Food!

Woman SHOT POINT BLANK By CRPF Troopers!

Stop Me If You Can!

No Unbridled Force All This!

I Will Quit If…

Omar Abdullah, a sad progeny of one of the greatest leaders of Kashmir, however controversial, Sheikh Abdullah, is no different than the gun-wielding Special Task Force personnel desperate to kill a Kashmiri. He is no different than the other henchmen of Indians in Kashmir, be it the Muftis, the Azads or the Ansaris or the hundreds of shameless and guiltless Kashmiris on the payrolls of one of the biggest daemon-cracy of World. These same people claimed all these past years that all is well with Kashmir on one hand and on the other helped execute one of the worst possible state-sponsored terrorism on the hapless people of Kashmir. These idiots had forgotten all along, rather stupidly that the desire for freedom can not be quelled by force- direct, indirect or psychological. I call them idiots, for their lack of understanding, for what they have done to our home, not theirs , since their homes stand protected by their paymasters away for Kashmir, for in Kashmir they should never imagine a home.

Omar Abdullah, the chameleon that he is, recently had claimed that

I WILL QUIT IF unbridled force IS UNLEASHED ON MY INNOCENT PEOPLE!

This statement, widely circulated in the press, and put on a blog by another henchman of India, a Kashmiri Leader, who claims the impossible in his introduction:

I am a kashmiri but i love both India and Kashmir.

First of all I do not know how Omar claims Kashmiris to be my people, even if one would ignore the fact that he has no moral right to call Kashmiris my people and take the sham elctions as a yard stick, he lost from the National Conference’s stronghold rather shamelessly. He has not been elected even once and there he goes!

And if all that India has been unleashing all these months is not unbridled force, I wonder what would be! Ofcourse he has not resigned.

Then, to save his vote bank, and gain with a possible BJP government at the centre in the future, National Conference has welcomed the Amarnath Land Accord:

“a very good sign”.

This accord has been called as Immoral and Illegal by noted columnist A. G. Noorani and Mr. Noorani further elobaorates on how India will treat a demand for restoring the Article 370, the political gimmick used by Abdullah since long.

If the State can thus bend its knees before the Sangh parivar on an issue like this, what hopes of justice can Kashmiris entertain when it comes to restoring the raped Article 370 to a status of worth and respect?

And Now, Omar Abdullah Has Turned To Guiding The people Of Kashmir.

‘I do not believe that independence for Kashmir is a feasible or a viable option and I stand by that,’

Whoever told you that the people of Kashmir care for what you think?! Just like the ancient times you have strong political and family relation with India, there was a time when Kings and Queens would marry into different empires to strengthen their ties, that is what you have done, don’t we all know that your sister married Sachin Pilot. Strong ties anyone would say.

‘I believe that you can give Kashmir independence but you cannot give Kashmir freedom under the circumstances that prevail within the subcontinent – India, Pakistan and China,’ Abdullah argued.

So maybe we should shift Kashmir to a more viable location?

Be that as it may, it’s not my job to follow popular mood,’

You are a jobless politician vying for attention and some media space and let me gaurentee you you have got media space.

‘It needs political handling.

You had 61 years, you won’t get a day more Mr. Abdullah. We want no more of your task forces and unholy matrimonies.

What happened was a spontaneous eruption, arising out of the fear that the economic blockade brought into people’s minds,’

Economic blockade! You kidding who? Bullets haven’t stopped Kashmiris demand for Freedom, you think an Economic Blockade will put fear into peoples minds??

it’s not as bad as 1990, because in 1990 people like myself, my party colleagues, we were all fleeing,’

Ofcourse all of your people were fleeing for their lives. Why are you lying though, you didn’t flee. Wait a minute! You were not exactly in Kashmir then, had you even visted kashmir in 1990’s? When was it that you learnt Kashmiri, 2001?

And, A Question For You Omar Abdullah

When was the last time you saw a crowd such as this attend your political rally? And you call it popular mood! It is not facebook where you set your mood, it is a pity you have not yet understood Kashmir and if you and your henchmen don’t, you will soon be fleeing Kashmir, and the next time you return it will be to answer a Tribunal on War Crimes.

6 Million Men, Women And Children Caged!

Nothing Biting And Bitter, Perhaps The Bitterest, Leaf Was Added To The 60 Years Somber And Traumatic History Of Kashmir On Sunday Midnight.

Not only were many a Kashmiri leader who had led peaceful public rallies over a week earlier were arrested in an overnight crack down but announcement piercing the deathly silence of the night proclaiming curfew in all the 10 districts of the valley were made from megaphone fitted police vans. There is nothing new in the imposition of restriction on public movement in the state. In fact, Kashmir and curfews for indiscriminate use of the later have become synonymous. In the 60-year history, there has hardly been a year when there have not been restrictions on the assembly of people or section 144 has not been in force or when curfew has not been imposed in one or another town.

The curfew in force all over Kashmir for the past seven days is unprecedented. Terming the caging of 60 lakh men, women, children, young, old, toddlers and infants and denying them food and medicine, as curfew can be a misnomer. It will be too mild to call it even an emergency. Martial law in no way is different than the situation that has been prevailing in Kashmir during the past week.

Humanity was torn to shreds when hundreds of patients suffering from serious ailments could not be shifted to hospitals. Stories instilling awe and fear about many pregnant women gasping for breaths on roadsides and even breathing their last have been galore.

Reports about men in uniform beating doctors have disturbed the entire medical fraternity. It was for the first time that restrictions had been imposed even on the movement of hospital ambulances.

There are reports about the paramilitary forces firing on ambulances which were not contradicted. It is not an overstatement but a hard reality that because of scarcity of baby food in the valley and restrictions imposed by the government many crying infants were lulled to sleep by their mothers’ empty stomach. Many chronic patients depending on daily medication had to go without medicines during the unparalleled curfew.

Kashmir, particularly during past two decades, has seen many a grave situations when not only the law enforcing agencies but the entire state as such had gone out of gear. But during those tough times too, newspapers continued their publications. In recent history, it was for the first time when no newspaper was published because of strict restrictions on the movement of newsmen and other newspaper staff. It was nothing but muzzling the media when the government, besides banning private news and current affairs cable channels, very tactfully prevented publication of newspapers. The situation as has been obtaining in Kashmir since Sunday mid-night is reminiscent of the 1976 Emergency in India.

The question arises what prompted the government to create a situation which reminds one of primitive times when human values were almost irrelevant.

Ostensibly, there was no reason for placing entire Kashmir under an undeclared emergency. The All Parties Hurriyat Conferences and other allied organization were holding absolutely peaceful rallies in support of their known political demands. True, the APHC rallies attracted hundreds of

thousands of people and about a million had responded to the call of conglomerate at Eidgah but these rallies were so disciplined and orderly that not a brickbat was thrown on the security forces at any place.

This has been acknowledged even by the known critics of Kashmiris. There was no law and order breakdown anywhere in the valley. Instead, if one looks dispassionately at the law and order situation in Kashmir in the backdrop of the months gone by, it was much more peaceful. Instead of reacting harshly with strong arm methods to the violence-free political scenario, the government should have capitalized over it and given peace a chance to strike deeper roots. It is high time for New Delhi to reassess the Kashmir situation and find out ways and means for a lasting solution to the nagging problem which cost the Indian nation no less.

Source: Greater Kashmir

SAFMA Is Silent Because…

…all it believed in all the time was P0r n0graphy of Peace…

…and as Kashmir burned on the 14th and 15th of August, SAFMA was busy in a ‘Cultural Peace Mela,’ – a midnight party…

… it is strange that Kashmiri Journalists are still asking questions from organisations that never had any respect for or a desire to see peace in Kashmir!

Media fraternity in Kashmir has taken a strong exception about South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) remaining silent over curbs on media in the Valley .

Gujrat In Kashmir

“I pleaded before the troopers that I am expecting a baby and have to immediately reach the hospital. But they hit my stomach and private parts with rifle butts and batons. I helplessly cried for mercy but they continued to thrash me. Finally I started to bleed profusely and fell unconscious,” she said and broke down.

Source Greater Kashmir

What can you say about a woman eight months pregnant who begged to be spared. Her assailants instead slit open her stomach, pulled out her fetus and slaughtered it before her eyes.

Source Boloji

But this then is the character of the Nation called India, it matters not whether the assailants are wearing government approved uniforms or not, they have the approval from the corridors of power. Be it the blue turbaned Manmohan Singh or the poet Atal Behari.

Declare Independence!

For Kashmir,

Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!
Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!

Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!
Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!

Start your own currency!
Make your own stamp
Protect your language

Declare independence
Don’t let them do that to you
Declare independence
Don’t let them do that to you

Make your own flag!

Raise your flag!

Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!
Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!

Damn colonists
Ignore their patronizing
Tear off their blindfolds
Open their eyes

Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!
Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!

With a flag and a trumpet
Go to the top of your highest mountain!

Raise your flag!

Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!
Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!

Raise the flag!

–Bjork

I Am The Supreme Commander…

… of The Indian Armed Forces And This Is What You All (the people of Kashmir) Shall Get and Should Expect From The State Of India!

President of India posing with an AK-47 (Assault Rifle, allegedly recovered from Militants) on a Visit to the Indian Occupied State of Kashmir.

Yes, I Am A Daemon, But Kashmir Scares Me

India, the largest Daemon-cracy of the world, continues it repressive, suppressive and oppressive policies in Kashmir, not realising you can’t kill a Kashmiri – he will live and continue demanding his right – that of freedom!

Here is a Round up of latest news reports from Kashmir, or rather of news that can be reported since there is an embargo on news in Kashmir, Ambulances are being targeted by the Army, Little Kids beaten to death and Water is a scarce commodity!

Yes, We Want People To Die Of Starvation

They said the team wanted to distribute about 5000 litres of apple juice to people at Dalgate this afternoon, but the troopers stopped them from doing so saying that distribution of any eatable or beverage amounts to violation of curfew.

Addressing the troopers, the group of journalists shouted, “Do you want people to die of starvation?”

And pat came the reply: “Yes”

The Peace Of Graveyard

Any conceivable object that came the way of the troopers formed the road blockade. From logs of timber on Jammu-Srinagar highway at Khanabal, Botingoo, Bijbehara to CI pipes at different places along the road at crossings, to Concertina wire and CGI sheet fencing on different openings to Lal Chowk in Srinagar and between Khwaja Bagh and Khanapora in Varmul town, has been used to prevent the milling crowds, or call it swarms of people, from reaching the historic Lal Chowk, the venue of the sit-in called by pro- freedom parties last Monday.

Ban On Ambulance Movement

A woman from Bapora in south Kashmir’s Shopian district died last evening after the police and paramilitary CRPF troopers didn’t permit her to proceed toward a hospital.

Indefinite Curfew Continues

With the death of one more person in the hospital Tuesday morning, the toll in Monday’s firing by Police and CRPF troopers on processionists in the valley mounted to eight. Authorities didn’t give any relaxation in curfew on third consecutive day,today,leading to massive shortage of essential commodities in the Valley. Uneasy calm prevailed in Kashmir as there were reports of people trying to defy curfew in some parts of south Kashmir.

Trust No Kashmiri

Sleuths of Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) Tuesday raided posh areas of Hyderpora, Peerbagh, Rawalpora and Airport Colony to get a clue about the absconding leaders including Shabir Ahmed Shah and Nayeem Ahmed Khan.

The Murder of A six Month Old

“CRPF troopers barged into our home yesterday night. After breaking all the windowpanes and abusing the inmates they beat us with bamboos. My wife was trying hard to save Muskan in her lap. She took several hits on her shoulder to avert any assault on the child but somehow Muskan received a powerful bamboo smash. She cried fiercely and then fell unconscious,” Tariq Ahmad of Pandach, a suburb in Ganderbal district, told the doctors attending the tender Muskan on Tuesday.

Die, O Ye Kashmiri!

A senior consultant in SKIMS said an ambulance that actually belonged to Wakaf Board, a government body to look after Muslim religious estates, which was ferrying the injured persons from Pulwama to SKMS, was damaged on way by the “unruly” CRPF personnel. Since Sunday morning, when the curfew was clamped across Kashmir, nearly a dozen ambulances have been damaged by CRPF.

Dr Mir wondered why the troopers manhandled doctors, beat up attendants of the injured and damaged the vehicles. “The authorities had already made it public through official TV and Radio that the ID Card of doctors or paramedics would be considered as curfew pass. But the way our people have been treated is shocking.”  He expressed concern over the ban on ambulance movement and said the persons injured in far off areas are treated locally and not being shifted to Srinagar for fear of CRPF. “It’s dangerous because we don’t have such an advanced surgical facility in peripheries.”

Begging For Water

Most worrying part of this tragedy is that dozens of orphanages across Srinagar and in parts of Islamabad, Baramullah and Kupwara are in a pitiable condition. The girls-only orphanage at Gopalpora used to get daily dose of water supply through a water tanker of state’s Public Health Department. “We are begging for drinking water. The area is already facing shortage of drinking water. Some neighbours are helping right now but the problem is grave,” said a warden at the orphanage, which is managed by the famed Yateem Trust.

Hear! Ye India, You Can’t Cow Us Down!

Jammu Kashmir Coordination Committee (JKCC) on Wednesday said the arrest of pro-resistance leaders will not cow them down. Condemning the arrest of pro- resistance leaders Muhammad Ashraf Sehari of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat and Duktaran-e-Millat (Daughters of Faith) Chairperson Asiya Andrabi, JKCC spokesperson Masrat Alam said: “The arrest of our leaders will not break us. Our resistance will continue. Freedom movement is not dependent on individuals.”

And Scared Ye Are!

Sakooter, A Kashmiri Blogger Writes:

The world’s largest democracy is scared. The irony of it, it isnt scared of armed gunmen, but of unarmed peacefull protestors who would just want to go out in the streets and tell the world that they want “Azadi” or freedom from India.

Kashmiris want their right to freedom. That is what they wanted to tell the world and that is what the curfew imposed stopped them from doing — partially, for there have been men who dared the gun and got gunned.

Maybe the world is scared. But what makes me glad for once is the fact that India is scared. Scared that the truth will come out…

Source: Sakooter Speaks

[News Sources: Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Observer, Rising Kashmir]

Nor Blocked Nor Hacked However The Embargo Continues

Continuing with its embargo on outflow of news from Kashmir, Greater Kashmir, Kashmir’s most read and popular newspaper’s web-site had been previously blocked by the government and was not accessible. However, as of now Greater Kashmir has not been blocked but is rather undergoing maintenance and can be accessed through the URL www.GreaterKashmir.net.  It is pertinent to mention that Greater Kashmir is reporting extensively on the current scenario and is the only newspaper from Kashmir giving real time updates. Kashmir Observer, another local newspaper, had been hacked sometime back, but is now accessible. Etalaat.net, owned by mainstream politician Iftikhar Ansari, is accessible as is Rising Kashmir.

However embargo on reporting of news continues as journalists are being beaten up by the Indian Armed Forces, for they fear truth will be reported!

On Sunday, several journalists were beaten up by police and three were hospitalised, an association of Kashmiri journalists said.

Reuters

Local media say 15 journalists were among those beaten by Indian police as they tried to cover the protest, despite having curfew passes.

BBC

Inflammatory, What?

The local news channels in the meantime have been told to immediately stop telecast of their news and current affairs programmes.

This follows a directive by the district magistrate of Srinagar. “The DM has issued orders to stop with immediate effect, the telecasting of all news and other items, which are inflammatory in nature and thereby disturbing the peace and tranquillity of general public.”

Rediff

Chameleons

The mainstream politicians, scared of being the target of public ire, are talking the good talk these days. Be it Abdullah or Mufti, both of them have supported the Hurriyat demand of opening of trade routes between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, revocation of special powers to the forces in Kashmir, release of prisoners languishing in Jails and even of Azadi. What one remains amazed at is that were they blind till now to the true desire of every Kashmiri? Why did they, as the rest of the India, need to see hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris on roads to know what the heart desires? Abdullah has dared to speak about Azadi, only after some prominent Indians have done so. Are they so naïve to think that a Free Kashmir will put the reigns of power in their hands?! That will never happen! Ms. Mufti & Mr. Abdullah should better keep quite and not indulge in chameleon talk, for they have damaged the cause of Kashmir like no other.