Demonstrations, strike in Baramulla, Sopore


Srinagar, October 28 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, protest demonstrations, marked with complete strike, continued in Baramulla and Sopore towns today, against the killing of a youth by Indian troops.

The protesters raised high-pitched anti-India and pro-liberation slogans on the occasion. One youth was martyred and several others injured when troops opened fire on peaceful demonstrators on Saturday.

The occupation authorities arrested Hurriyet leaders, Nayeem Ahmed Khan and Dr Ghulam Muhammad Hubbi and shifted them to undisclosed destinations.

The APHC spokesman in a statement in Srinagar and the APHC-AJK in a separate statement in Islamabad strongly condemned the arrest of Hurriyet leaders and activists. Nisar Hussain Rather, the Acting Chairman of the forum patronised by senior Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, in a media interview in Srinagar also took strong exception to the arrests.

Yasin Malik, Maulana Showkat arrested in Srinagar



Srinagar, October 23 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, Indian police personnel arrested the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Mohammad Yasin Malik and a member of Jammu and Kashmir Coordination Committee, Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah from their houses in Srinagar on Thursday and shifted them to unknown destinations.

Mohammad Yasin Malik kick-started the election boycott campaign from Sonawari and urged people to stay away from the polls process. This is the first anti-election campaign by a pro-liberation leader after the announcement of poll schedule by Indian authorities. Hundreds of men, women and children participated in the anti-election rally amidst pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.

“The peaceful election boycott by the masses will be the biggest setback to Indian democracy. It will be a victory for us,” Yasin Malik had said while addressing people. He called on them to lodge their protest by observing civil curfew on the scheduled poll dates while staying in their homes and not casting the votes.

The JKLF Chairman asserted that the sacrifices rendered by Kashmiris would be safeguarded at all costs. “We have to sustain the mass uprising and take it to its logical conclusion. It is our responsibility to protect the peaceful uprising that has awakened the US, UN and international community from the deep slumber and compelled them to issue statements on Kashmir situation,” he added.

Yasin Malik maintained that the recent peaceful pro-liberations protest demonstrations have forced even the intellectual class of India to support Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.

The JKLF Chairman asked people to reject the pro-India politicians, who will be visiting them and seeking their vote. “The mainstream politicians are more concerned about the power and have been exploiting the sentiments of the people for their petty interests,” he said adding, “They will promise roads, employment and other things but you should make them leave alone and empty handed.”

Terming the so-called elections as a futile exercise, Yasin Malik said that the polls couldn’t be a substitute to Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.

Unarmed Kashmiri freedom fighters

Flowing black beard, a headband with “Allahu akbar” (God is great) and a fluttering green flag. This has been the trademark picture of the recent azadi (freedom) processions of Kashmir, where hundreds of thousands marched the streets of this disputed Himalayan region seeking a separation from India.

From a distance, it seems as if the past has returned to Kashmir. But the present contains an irrefutable truth: in place of guns, the people carry slogans. The politics of protest this time is not about the argument of power, but about the power of argument.

Kashmir is the first conflict-ridden Muslim region in the world where people have consciously made a transition from violence to non-violence, and this includes the staunch Islamists too. In fact, the wisdom behind the use of arms to fight a political struggle was being silently debated within Kashmir ever since 9/11 blurred the lines dividing terrorism and genuine political movements. The deteriorating situation inside Pakistan too had tilted the balance towards a peaceful struggle.

Thus when Kashmiris decided to come out to demand azadi recently, there were no militant attacks or suicide bombings. It was through massive unarmed processions where people shouted slogans and waved flags. And when the government tried to halt them, the anger was only manifested through stone pelting. Sensing the overwhelming public mood, the militant groups immediately declared a unilateral ceasefire, admitting the insignificance of the gun for an unarmed people’s movement.

This major shift has not been registered even as it has already formed a new discourse for Kashmir’s separatist struggle. New Delhi’s response was usual – it again used its iron fist, killing 38 unarmed protesters and injuring more than a thousand and enforcing a strict curfew with a hope that the people will be ultimately cowed down. The separatist leadership too was rounded up.

This only shows that New Delhi is misreading the script. This time the authorities are not faced with gun-wielding men but unarmed people. A heavy clampdown keeping the population indoors only puts a temporary lid on the seething anger. Instead of a military intervention, New Delhi should have immediately attempted sincere political and democratic means to engage Kashmir and calm the tempers.

New Delhi’s approach to handling Kashmir for past two decades has been simple and straight: militancy is the only problem and that can be sorted out by stringent military measures. Though there have been several rounds of negotiations with a faction of the separatist leadership too, New Delhi used the process more as a photo-op than a serious effort to address the demands of the people. There have been half a dozen occasions when separatist leadership joined a dialogue with New Delhi to resolve the Kashmir problem amicably – only to find the exercise nothing more than a surrender and thus futile.

The distrust towards New Delhi had reached such proportions that when moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq decided to join talks with New Delhi, his uncle was murdered in Kashmir. Despite a serious threat to his life, he joined the talks directly with the prime minister of India. Again, the non-serious approach of New Delhi derailed the process, further eroding the credibility of talks with New Delhi in the eyes of Kashmiris. The public standing of separatist leaders who had agreed to talk to New Delhi also diminished substantially.

The recent protests by hundreds of thousands of unarmed people too don’t seem to have changed the mindset of New Delhi’s ruling elite. Instead of acknowledging the intensity of the uprising and the depth of the sentiment in Kashmir, New Delhi again refuses to face the reality and delays engaging in a sincere dialogue with the separatist leadership. The Kashmiris have overwhelmingly announced that peaceful processions and not guns are now their favoured means of protest. This needs to be encouraged and allowed to take firm roots because it could help to put an end to the bloodshed in Kashmir and make an amicable resolution of the problem easy. The phenomenon could also have a positive influence over a dozen such violent conflicts in other Muslim regions across the world. But if peaceful protests are crushed like armed movements, another wave of violence will take root, reinforcing the idea that the gun is mightier than a slogan.

Unarmed Kashmiri freedom fighters

Flowing black beard, a headband with “Allahu akbar” (God is great) and a fluttering green flag. This has been the trademark picture of the recent azadi (freedom) processions of Kashmir, where hundreds of thousands marched the streets of this disputed Himalayan region seeking a separation from India.

From a distance, it seems as if the past has returned to Kashmir. But the present contains an irrefutable truth: in place of guns, the people carry slogans. The politics of protest this time is not about the argument of power, but about the power of argument.

Kashmir is the first conflict-ridden Muslim region in the world where people have consciously made a transition from violence to non-violence, and this includes the staunch Islamists too. In fact, the wisdom behind the use of arms to fight a political struggle was being silently debated within Kashmir ever since 9/11 blurred the lines dividing terrorism and genuine political movements. The deteriorating situation inside Pakistan too had tilted the balance towards a peaceful struggle.

Thus when Kashmiris decided to come out to demand azadi recently, there were no militant attacks or suicide bombings. It was through massive unarmed processions where people shouted slogans and waved flags. And when the government tried to halt them, the anger was only manifested through stone pelting. Sensing the overwhelming public mood, the militant groups immediately declared a unilateral ceasefire, admitting the insignificance of the gun for an unarmed people’s movement.

This major shift has not been registered even as it has already formed a new discourse for Kashmir’s separatist struggle. New Delhi’s response was usual – it again used its iron fist, killing 38 unarmed protesters and injuring more than a thousand and enforcing a strict curfew with a hope that the people will be ultimately cowed down. The separatist leadership too was rounded up.

This only shows that New Delhi is misreading the script. This time the authorities are not faced with gun-wielding men but unarmed people. A heavy clampdown keeping the population indoors only puts a temporary lid on the seething anger. Instead of a military intervention, New Delhi should have immediately attempted sincere political and democratic means to engage Kashmir and calm the tempers.

New Delhi’s approach to handling Kashmir for past two decades has been simple and straight: militancy is the only problem and that can be sorted out by stringent military measures. Though there have been several rounds of negotiations with a faction of the separatist leadership too, New Delhi used the process more as a photo-op than a serious effort to address the demands of the people. There have been half a dozen occasions when separatist leadership joined a dialogue with New Delhi to resolve the Kashmir problem amicably – only to find the exercise nothing more than a surrender and thus futile.

The distrust towards New Delhi had reached such proportions that when moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq decided to join talks with New Delhi, his uncle was murdered in Kashmir. Despite a serious threat to his life, he joined the talks directly with the prime minister of India. Again, the non-serious approach of New Delhi derailed the process, further eroding the credibility of talks with New Delhi in the eyes of Kashmiris. The public standing of separatist leaders who had agreed to talk to New Delhi also diminished substantially.

The recent protests by hundreds of thousands of unarmed people too don’t seem to have changed the mindset of New Delhi’s ruling elite. Instead of acknowledging the intensity of the uprising and the depth of the sentiment in Kashmir, New Delhi again refuses to face the reality and delays engaging in a sincere dialogue with the separatist leadership. The Kashmiris have overwhelmingly announced that peaceful processions and not guns are now their favoured means of protest. This needs to be encouraged and allowed to take firm roots because it could help to put an end to the bloodshed in Kashmir and make an amicable resolution of the problem easy. The phenomenon could also have a positive influence over a dozen such violent conflicts in other Muslim regions across the world. But if peaceful protests are crushed like armed movements, another wave of violence will take root, reinforcing the idea that the gun is mightier than a slogan.

Curfew imposed, Hurriyet leaders arrested in IHK


Mirwaiz condemns occupation authorities’ actions

Srinagar, October 05 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, strict indefinite curfew was clamped on all the ten districts of Kashmir Valley and Muslim areas of Jammu region today by the occupation authorities, ahead of Lal Chowk March, tomorrow. Call of the march has been given by the Jammu and Kashmir Coordination Committee, jointly headed by the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Senior Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other Hurriyet leaders’ Professor Abdul Ghani Butt, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Ghani Lone and Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi were placed under house arrest. Hundreds of innocent civilians including the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Convenor of the Coordination Committee in three districts of Jammu region, Mohammad Shafi Rangrez and Zaffar Akbar butt were arrested and taken to unknown destinations.

The officials were heard warning people, through loudspeakers fitted onto police vehicles not to come out of their houses and those defying curfew restrictions would be sternly dealt with. The authorities have sealed all roads and lanes leading to the city of Srinagar, deploying huge contingents of Indian troops in all cities and towns of the occupied territory.

Local television channels have been broadcasting only films and music programmes as they were ordered to refrain from airing any news. No media person was allowed to cover the situation. The transporters said that they were threatened of dire consequences by the authorities if they facilitated people in converging on Lal Chowk tomorrow.

The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq talking to Kashmir Media Service strongly denounced the imposition of curfew and large-scale arrest by the puppet administration to prevent Lal Chowk March. He appealed to the international community to take cognisance of the fact that India was not allowing peaceful activities in the occupied territory, which was quite contrary to democratic norms and international covenants. On the other hand, scores of youth defied curfew today in old town of Baramulla staging anti-India and pro-liberation demonstration.

Senior Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, who complained of severe chest pain, last evening, was shifted to Soura Medical Institute for treatment.

Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism, martyred one innocent Kashmiri youth during a crackdown operation at Dodimal in Rajouri.

India not to succeed in suppressing Kashmiris’ struggle

Srinagar, October 05 (KMS): The All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has reiterated that the ongoing peaceful liberation struggle will continue till the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

In a telephonic media interview from his residence in Srinagar Mirwaiz said that detentions and house arrests are part of liberation movement and India cannot suppress Kashmiris’ struggle by resorting to brute force.

APHC Chairman said, “India has intensified atrocities on Kashmiri people and dozens of innocent peaceful marchers including senior APHC leader, Shaikh Abdul Aziz were killed by Indian troops’ indiscriminate firing in last two months.” He added that India should shun its negative approach and use of brutal force and take positive steps towards resolving the dispute.

Mirwaiz said that Kashmiri people held peaceful protest demonstrations and raised the issue on international front. Movement couldn’t be suppressed now as the Indian literate class was also supporting the peaceful solution of this longstanding dispute. He also stressed on the need to include Kashmiri leadership in Pak-India composite dialogue process to work out the solution of the dispute.