By Kapil Komireddi, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Kapil Komireddi is an Indian journalist. He has written from South Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. The views expressed are his own.
Returning home from a visit to Pakistan in 2009, I was invited to have tea with one of the Indian army officials stationed on the international border. Inside his office, I was introduced to another traveler, a middle-aged Kashmiri man who was also on his way back from Pakistan. The three of us spent the next two hours talking about Pakistan. I spoke fondly of Lahore, but the Kashmiri was full of scorn.
“Take my word on this, sir: Pakistan will break apart,” he told the officer. “They are all starving over there.” Later that day, on our way to Delhi, the Kashmiri spoke with great feeling about his friends in Pakistan and the wedding he’d just attended there. He had put on a performance for the officer, demonstrated his commitment to India by eagerly ratifying the most common Indian prejudices about Pakistan. It was a practiced effort. “I am happy in India,” he later told me. “But our loyalty is always questioned.”
People in abusive relationships must adopt such displays of intense loyalty, and Kashmiris have been in an abusive relationship with the Indian state for more than two decades. What’s striking, particularly in a country that takes so much pride in its democracy, is the refusal of a large number of Indians even to acknowledge this reality. India’s much-revered public intellectuals and its voluble news media maintain a near total silence on the subject. Insulated from any serious debate on New Delhi’s conduct in Kashmir, many Indians fall back on old shibboleths to make sense of what is happening there. In these uncomplicated narratives, Kashmiri Muslims who speak up against New Delhi are naturally Pakistan-sponsored jihadis; Indian armed forces are incapable of wrongdoing; and Kashmir, without exception, is an “integral part” of India.
It’s a belief system that asserts India’s ownership of Kashmir by effectively disenfranchising Kashmiris. Kashmiris are demonized as fifth columnists and denied the treatment extended to “fellow citizens” in other parts of the country. But they are expected, in all circumstances, to pledge constant allegiance to India.
This explains why even the most benign reproof of New Delhi by Kashmiris can prompt so many Indians to erupt with self-righteous indignation. This happened on Monday, when Mustafa Kamal, a senior leader of Jammu & Kashmir’s ruling National Conference Party, upbraided New Delhi for not bringing down troop levels in Kashmir. The Indian Army continues to function under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Kashmir. The AFSPA is one of the cruelest pieces of legislation on India’s statue books. It provides immunity from prosecution to the troops operating in Kashmir and other restive regions of the country.
India advertises itself to the planet as the world’s largest democracy, a nation of laws, but consider the plight of the Kashmiris who are persecuted on the mere presumption of being enemies of Indian democracy – and then denied the legal remedies of democratic India to challenge that premise. The Indian government has invoked the AFSPA in more than 40 instances to prevent soldiers from being prosecuted for crimes ranging from torture and murder to rape.
None of this has produced any public outcry in India – unlike Kamal’s remarks. Speaking to a gathering of his party workers, Kamal bemoaned, somewhat idealistically, India’s refusal to sign a “no-war” treaty with Pakistan, before saying, as part of a much larger conversation about resolving the Kashmir crisis, that “I feel our enemy is our own country, not Pakistan.” This was enough to sound the jingoist tocsins across India. Times Now, the broadcasting arm of the Times of India and India’s answer to Fox News, almost exploded with nationalist rage. “Can Mustafa Kamal get away by calling India the enemy and Pakistan the friend?” asked one of the channel’s anchors. The Times of India published stories accusing Kamal of describing India as an enemy.
It’s clear from Kamal’s statement that he acknowledged India as “our country” and, as a citizen, placed the burden of responsibility for Kashmir on New Delhi rather than Islamabad. But the effort to portray him as a separatist only intensified. Kamal appeared this week on Times Now’s flagship show to clarify his position. But the host, Arnab Goswami, a blowhard whose act combines the buffoonery of Glenn Beck with the belligerence of Mark Levin, cut him off. “Is India not your country?” he shouted. It was an absurd and humiliating inquisition. I don’t know if Kamal ever harbored separatist sentiments. But if he comes out in favor of Kashmir’s secession tomorrow, nobody should be surprised.
Contrast this “controversy” with the arid reaction to the discovery just last year of unmarked graves containing more than 2,000 bodies in Kashmir. There were no angry newscasters demanding answers from the Indian government. Extraordinarily, a discovery of such magnitude, instead of waking us to the brutality of the AFSPA, was cast as evidence of India’s redeeming features, a cause for self-congratulation: it was a governmental body that unearthed the graves, after all. Instead of questioning a policy that so randomly distributed death among Kashmiris, India celebrated its capacity for self-monitoring.
The novelist Amit Chaudhuri once wrote that “Indians don’t know how to fashion eloquence out of a sense of being wronged or having wronged, at least not without the unmistakable timbre of self-congratulation.” This is primarily because we ”have never really known what it means to inhabit a morally uneasy position.” The hysterical reaction to Kamal is a measure of Indian society’s sense of its own unimpeachable righteousness, and its imperviousness to the appeals of those seeking the restitution of their dignity.
Bloodshed has ebbed in Kashmir and something like peace is returning to the valley, yet closure will not come unless there is repentance on the part of those who claim Kashmiris as their “fellow citizens” but withhold from them the privileges of citizenship.
Kapil Komireddi can be reached at komireddi@aol.com
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Amnesty International is calling for an impartial investigation into mass graves found in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Sunday, India's Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission released a report saying a three-year investigation had uncovered 2,156 unidentified bodies in 38 sites in the region. In a statement released Monday, Amnesty International asked Indian officials to allow impartial forensic experts to carry out a thorough investigation of the skeletal remains. The rights group also urged Indian authorities to ensure the safety of the witnesses who gave statements to police during the investigation. Indian authorities conducted the inquiry in response to allegations that Indian security forces have committed rights abuses in fighting a more than two-decade-long Muslim separatist insurgency. Rights activists say at least 8,000 people have gone missing in Indian Kashmir since the separatists began fighting in 1989 for independence from Hindu-majority India or a merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan
Is India another middle east crisis and who to send, the Russians?
India is only protecting its territory.The terrorists have killed or scared away non muslims.If someone comes in to my house and starts telling me what to do I would do the same as India,that is protect my family and possessions.
NEW YORK: Renowned Indian activist and novelist Arundhati Roy has decried the silence of the international community over the continued “brutal Indian occupation of Kashmir” and said Kashmiris should be given the right to self-determination.
“Kashmir is one of the most protracted and bloody occupations in the world — and one of the most ignored,” she told a large audience at the Asia Society during a discussion on “Kashmir — a case for freedom”.
Under the Indian military rule in Kashmir, Ms Roy said, freedom of speech was non-existent and human rights abuses were routine. Elections were rigged and the press controlled.
She said the lives of Kashmiris were made miserable by gun-totting security personnel who harassed and terrorised people with impunity, adding that disappearances were almost a daily occurrence as also kidnapping, arrests, fake encounters and torture. Mass graves have been discovered and the conscience of the world remains unstirred……
The apathy towards Kashmir, especially in the western world, Ms Roy said, was because of their pursuit of commercial interests in India where they were more eager to “sell their goods than human rights”……..
NEW YORK: Renowned Indian activist and novelist Arundhati Roy has decried the silence of the international community over the continued “brutal Indian occupation of Kashmir” and said Kashmiris should be given the right to self-determination……
She said so little was known about the atrocities being committed by more than half a million Indian troops, the continuing repression and indignities let loose on Kashmiri men, women and children.
More than 700,000 troops were concentrated in the tiny valley, with checkpoints at every nook and corner of Kashmiri towns and cities. The huge Indian presence, she added, was in sharp contrast with 160,000 US troops in Iraq.
Ms Roy alleged that Indian army or security personnel were killing young children, adding that Kashmiris were not radical Islamists or jihadists as India portrayed them. She deplored the Indian government’s attempts to demonise Kashmiris who were moderate Muslims.
The insurgency in kashmr was not becuase of the brutal occupation of Indian army. There was no Indian army when the insurgency started. Jihadis (frankensteins) thought they can defeat the Indian army after the USSR lelf afghanistan. The blood thirsty Jihadis backed by pakistan crossed into the Indian kashmir to carry out thierbrutal executions of Kashmiri Brahminis and Sikhs or whoever they thought is not Islamic. This is where the Indian Army stepped in and there are alomost half a million elite Indian forces staioned in Kashmit. Those unmarked graves of foreign fighters and noone else. So dont sit there and cry foul and make it look like India has stationed all those soldiers to kill Kashmiris. "Jai Hind"
Well said...Goood Job done and a very nice reply.
Well Said Pro. I hate the people who start the story from middle of book. Anyways US has a soft corner with pakistan, why to argue with these americans.
nd exactly that is why india is so frightened by the idea of any UN commission presence in Kashmir? hah. jokes.
Well said.Jai Hind.
"Experimental Democracy" has failed in India. An experiment that was being shoved down India's throat by western countries too eager to propagate their own values on a country that was trying to decolonize itself while trying to shed the communist skin of being a Soviet ally. India was thus trapped. What has become evident now is that this "Experimental Democracy" has marginalized the country. The marginalized groups of the country – Dalits and ‘backward’ castes/classes, indigenous ‘tribal’ people and religious minorities have been disenfranchised. "The belief that corruption is the important issue in the country is shared only by the minority living in urban areas and towns who have been beneficiaries of economic liberalization policies mandated by western countries. The most important challenges of Indian society remain as follows: justice, social and economic equality and equal access to certain standards of life for all Indians. “While India seems too eager to please its western masters and put on a progressive and softer face for CNN for public consumption, people see through it. The consequences of this "Band – Aid" approach will be brutal for India geo-politically when it realizes that the GDP statistics that it has been relying to gage its progress has not amounted to much in the long run.
India's Prime Minister is a Sikh, the president and the heir apparent of India's ruling Congress party are Christians, India's Defense Minister is a Christian, Foreign Affairs Minister is a Muslim, The #2 in the Government – the Minister of Home Affairs is from Scheduled Caste (or the so called untouchable caste). So I think you really should get your facts right. No country in the world, including the US would tolerate a portion of their country trying to break away or merge with another. One can sympathize with Kashmiris and work to improve their living conditions – but only under the umbrella that they will cooperate and not attempt to show more loyalty to a country that sees India as its biggest enemy.
We remain extremely appalled and highly concerned about the continued medieval cultural and barbaric social practices prevalent in the name of Hinduism in India. Much to our c. hagrin, the human rights organizations are either turning a blind eye towards these injustices or are being paid off to look the other way. We are particularly aware of the victims of such practices, namely, young children and women especially those women who are pregnant and are bearing a female embryo. They are being mistreated or simply sacrificed in the name of their deities. To the civilized world such atrocious behavior is repulsive and is condemned in the strongest words. We urge the Indian Hindus to immediately cease and desist from such unacceptable norms. To them we say the world is watching and will see to it that justice prevails
Very well said. You inspire me. We have requested the US Congress to intervene
'Extremely concerned with barbaric social practices of hindus'- nice one.
In India, everyone is concerned about this. Action against female foeticide and other social ills is underway on a massive scale. Regards the 'occupation' of Kashmir, the fact of the matter is that a legal ascension to India is being subverted by fundamentalist and terrorist bigots. Which country do you live in? In Pakistan, you can kill as many Shias and Ahmadiyyas as you please? That I guess is the most humane thing to do. And what about the freedom of Balochistan and Baltistan? Why do you not hold a referendum for that? Every country tries to protect its territorial integrity. And what crime on earth has the UN been able to prevent? Could it prevent the US from invading Iraq in the name of WMD? Could it prevent China from occupying India illegally? Every country secures its territory by any means necessary, though the means may be morally and ethically wrong at that time. And the fact that a Hindu ruler in Kashmir was ruling over a Muslim majority?? It became an overwhelming majority only when all the hindus and sikhs were driven out. And when have muslims not subjugated the population when they ruled them, even in a minority? Nizams in Hyderabad, Hindus being killed by Mughal muslims, the African slave trade perpetrated by Muslims, which one of them is fiction? The fundamental problem is the two-sided nature of all Muslims- demand equal rights when in minority, but give no rights whatsoever to minorities when in majority. Can you build a temple in Saudi Arabia? That is proof enough
There is only one group of people that have a "medieval cultural and barbaric social practices " .They do not respect other peoples beliefs and do not mix with other religions.This is the Islamic religion.Kashmir is Indian.Terrorists and terrorist Pakistan need to know this.Indian troops will leave when other religions are allowed to live peacefully with the Muslims and are not threatened or killed by the terrorists..
@Kapil Komireddy I am terribly disappointed with your article. First of all there is nothing substantial in your article and secondly you are more concerned about making this article appeal to the Huffington post and MSNBC liberals. Please save the dramatics. As in every healthy democracy there is plenty of discussion on and off new studio sets about Kashmir and the situation there. Kashmiris are not discriminated against in India. Your myopic view of the issue was amplified by your poorly researched and written article. Not all kashmiris are muslim (your basis for claiming discrimination against them). They are also Buddhists and Hindu Pandits. Additionally there is a bi-partisan commission formed by the parliament which is advising remedial measures so Kashmiri Indians like the rest of the Indians avail themselves of all the benefits and freedoms their country offers. Please do yourself a favor and try to stay away from this subject given that you lack the basic understanding of it. at the very least please dont perpetuate half truths.
The article is rubbish. India accords privileged treatment to Kashmir not granted to other states. Pakistan meanwhile rules its portion of Kashmir with an iron hand, thanks to its legions of jihadist militias who terrorize and kill opponents extra-judicially. Kashmiris in India have participated in more elections than Pakistanis have. Pakistan has cultivated guerrilla terrorist groups to act as its henchmen in both Indian Kashmir and in Afghanistan. The Durand Line dispute between Pakistan and Afghanistan is the true origin of the Kashmir problem. Pakistan sent the Pashtuns to attack Kashmir in 1948 to distract them from their own ethnic nationalism which threatened to break up Pakistan. Likewise today, Pakistan similarly religiously brainwashes and arms Pashtuns to attack US/NATO forces in Afghanistan in order to deflect them away from armed conflict with the Pakistani state. Pashtunistan is the origin of various problems in the region, of which the Kashmir problem is only just one. The Taliban problem in Afghanistan is also another follow-on consequence of the Pashtunistan/Durand-Line problem.
You calling them squads is understandable as you like to see it a Hindu Kashmir which it is not,has never been and Allah willing,will never be.Lest just assume for now that there are Muslim squads in Kashmir.Very good there should be more. There are there to protect the population from the genocide inflicted by more than 700000 armed troops trying to change the Kashmir's demographics.I hope Pakistan send more fights and also arm them with tactical Nukes.Hindu India only understand one language and that the language of power,otherwise it would have acted on countless UN resolutions in the support of Kashmiri Muslims but it does not want peace.It is religious duty of every Muslim to fight off oppression and occupation.
My dear fellow indians,
Just go to Youtube and search for Mustafa kamal's statement.Times Now blew it out of proportion one can easily tell.
And yes now that "we have WON peace in kashmir".
it is time to look back and address thier greivances to bring closure to the matter.
AFSPA is stuck in Kashmir because of RED TAPE otherwise it is no longer needed.
Also By 2015 India will have its own GPS system of Recon sattelites so there willl be no need for so many soldiers for border monitering.
Its time for AFSPA to go.
AND TO THE PAKISTANI trolls here.....Accusing India of being @#$$$% and casteist
Listen to this I JUST LEARNED THE NARENDRA MODI INDIA'S FUTURE PRIME MINSTER is FROM AN erstwhile UNTOUCHABLE CASTE....So keep living in a dream world because in India out of 28 chief Ministers 17 are from Low Castes and 9 of Middle castes and only 2 brahmins...So shove it..EVEN AMERICA took 400 yrs to elect a black president BUT INDIA ELECTED A DALIT PRESIDENT K R Narayanan in 1995 itself.
Kashmir is a disputed territory, it's an occupation. The mistreatment is a part and parcel of it.
True statement, However the occupation is by the illegal middle eastern Islamists who are occupying ancient Kashmiri Hindu territory who inhabited it for over 5000 years even before the so called prophet was born.
By that Logic, India is Kashmir's territory, since our King Lalitaditya II conquered it.
This article is a load of crap, most likely produced by a hired hand of ISI. It is totally one-sided. It fails to address the genocide and forcible eviction of Hindus, from Kashmir. Where were the likes of Kapil Komireddi when my parents were displaced from Kashmir under threat to their lives by the ISI-sponsored terror groups bent on restoring Islamic rule in Asia? What about the fate of Kashmiris in Pakistan occupied Kashmir which has been overrun by Pakistani Taliban and the various incarnations of Hizbul Mojahedeen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, and the Pakistani Taliban?
Good point. Foreign middle eastern invaders who illegally occupy Kashmir today are falsely claiming to be Kashmiri's. The land belongs to the native Kashmiri Hindus who inhabited it for over 5000 years, long before the so called prophet even existed. Yet, these desert bandits refuse to leave the occupied land and continue to wage a war of terror despite the peaceful overtures of the Indian people.
kudos to author for writing such a truth unravelling article,in country of big brother where truth is elusive.
If AFSPA is revoked and Kashmir is demilitarized , who will stop the constant inflow of terrorists from Pakistan? if army does not have any power left & have to take permission before taking any action every now and then, how r they supposed to stop terrorist activity? and then if a terrorist attack happens then people like u will b first to criticize the army and the government. Pakistan based groups are behind terrorism in Kashmir and everybody knows that and also Pakistani government never takes any action to stop them bcoz its good for their policies so naturally India has to take some tough steps to counter it. And Kashmiris are Indian citizens & no one is denying it but to counter the influence of some Kashmiri leaders who act as agents of Pakistan, who try to mislead Kashmiri youth and are interested in keeping Kashmir burning, India has to take some drastic step. its tough to live with it but revoking AFSPA is not a solution but rather we should focus on ways of making government and army more accountable.
You calling them squads is understandable as you like to see it a Hindu Kashmir which it is not,has never been and Allah willing,will never be.Lest just assume for now that there are Muslim squads in Kashmir.Very good there should be more. There are there to protect the population from the genocide inflicted by more than 700000 armed troops trying to change the Kashmir's demographics.I hope Pakistan send more fights and also arm them with tactical Nukes.Hindu India only understand one language and that the language of power,otherwise it would have acted on countless UN resolutions in the support of Kashmiri Muslims but it does not want peace.It is religious duty of every Muslim to fight off oppression and occupation.
some people who have post comments here first either needs to go to school and study history or shut their mouth bcoz Kashmir is Indian territory and legally and integral part of India and its Pathetic Pakistan who has occupied part of it called POK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) or "Azad Kashmir" ,the way they call it but there is nothing "Azad"(independent) about it. (Pakistani has never been able to give freedom to their own people so its wrong to expect they would give any freedom to kashmiris who live in POK, and i can say this for most of Islamic countries, they don't even know what freedom means,pathetic). people who are lecturing India ab human rights first need to look into their own country or home before doing it. U people don't have guts to change ur own society and trying to change India or world
What about PoK where Pakistan have regularly killed Shias right from begining. And what about their own Hindu minority which have reduced from 20%(1947) to 1% now. Do you ever hear news of Gilgitstan ?? . Pakistan has almost finished that part by regular killing.
What about these Kashmiri have done to Kashmiri Pundits who are living as Refugee in their own land. Problem is Muslim always have problems be it any community whether it is Hindus or Sikh or Christian or Jews and now Buddhist too.
Go to Muslim countries and see how they run their countries , you talk about rights !! . See Iran they almost finished Bahai' minorities from their country.
Kapil Komireddy is a self victimised south indian muslim? a paki who works for ISI? who knows.
The author is dishonest.Kashmir has been hindu for 85% of its history.If kashmiri want to show loyalty the best way is to reconvert to hinduism which is the ancient ancestral religion
You calling them squads is understandable as you like to see it a Hindu Kashmir which it is not,has never been and Allah willing,will never be.Lest just assume for now that there are Muslim squads in Kashmir.Very good there should be more. There are there to protect the population from the genocide inflicted by more than 700000 armed troops trying to change the Kashmir's demographics.I hope Pakistan send more fights and also arm them with tactical Nukes.Hindu India only understand one language and that the language of power,otherwise it would have acted on countless UN resolutions in the support of Kashmiri Muslims but it does not want peace.It is religious duty of every Muslim to fight off oppression and occupation.
The best solution would be to let Kashmir gain independence and be a buffer state between India and Pakistan.
The Brits were responsible for the misery of many Indians and Pakistanis. They let Cyril Radcliffe draw the boundary between India and Pakistan. Radcliffe and his commissioners had no idea of what they were doing.
India was a part of the British Empire but eventually broke free after close to 200 years. We are Kashmiris and have nothing in common with indians except that we were all ruled by the British. religion is not a basis to hold a country together as although we are Hindus we are not the same as Hindu Tamils, bengalis, Orrissans and other Hindus. We deserve to be allowed to decide our destiny ourselves like all other people.
Kashmir cannot be compelled to be Indian. We do not speak Hindi or anyother indian language our language is Kashmiri and Pahari.
Our dress, culture, cuisine and mentality is different from Indians.
Bhan dear,
I think you need to go through India's culture and life style. Because not all states of India speak Hindi and non all Hindus in every states are same. The clothing, food, language and life styles are different. On this basis you want every state of India to be separated.
By the way you need to pronounce Odiya and Bangali correctly (not Orissans and Bengalis)
what are all these indian and their myopic opinions about kashmir upto .These are all out of frustration.7 lakhs troops are guarding kashmir for them, whenever their state head visits kashmir india blocks SMS.can any indian show me a place where indian flag is hoisted in kashmir except on army barracks.AFPSA a blot on indian democracy allows security person to kill any kashmiri without any excuse.still indian myopic anchor(arnab goswami) barks in velvet suit in cozy newsroom about kashmir.no doubt india is holding kashmir by force but when it comes to minds and hearts it is a lost battle for indians.a matter of time when indian military control will rupture and kashmiris will see the dawn of freedom.
Take a look at how Islamic Kashmiri terrorists forcibly pushed out Hindu Kashmiri's from their lands. Perhaps the Kashmiri terrorists complaining about Indian oppression can answer why ancient Hindu lands like Kashmir have been forcibly occupied by Middle Eastern Desert Bandits. If such thievery, terrorism and banditry goes unanswered, then it tacitly condones such conduct.
A commentator below mentions a wacko lady called Arundhati Roy. She is paid by middle eastern Oil money to trash her own people. She is a known foreign agent who has previously worked with subversive elements and terrorists.
Screw the hindus, the pundits, and all those purported hindu kashmiris...there is no such thing like it. Hindusim is a cult that was not in existence till late 1800s and was invented by britishers. India's ultimate demise will be kashmir. It has played its card for too long and the time is now up. Giddyup !!!
Your knowledge of history is breathtakingly asinine
Islamic terror squads over 20 years ago drove out native Kashmiri Hindu Pandits. The Islamic Kashmiri's are not the natives, but middle eastern imports. They forcibly pushed out native Kashmiri Hindus from their ancient lands that they have peacefully inhabited for over 5000 years. Due to such hatred and terror, the Indian government was forced to respond. Truly peaceful people would have nothing to fear, however foreign invaders who occupy Kashmir today don't' have any legal right to that ancient land.
If you can't do it yourselves, just ask Israel to take care of it.
Stop hiding behind american and israeli skirts. India needs to stand on own feet and face the forces at work in south asia. Israel knows it will be annihilated if it so little as looks at south asia beyond what it is in india currently. they know it. ask them.
Israel even cant manage Hamas run Gaza!
You calling them squads is understandable as you like to see it a Hindu Kashmir which it is not,has never been and Allah willing,will never be.Lest just assume for now that there are Muslim squads in Kashmir.Very good there should be more. There are there to protect the population from the genocide inflicted by more than 700000 armed troops trying to change the Kashmir's demographics.I hope Pakistan send more fights and also arm them with tactical Nukes.Hindu India only understand one language and that the language of power,otherwise it would have acted on countless UN resolutions in the support of Kashmiri Muslims but it does not want peace.It is religious duty of every Muslim to fight off oppression and occupation.
You calling them squads is understandable as you like to see it a Hindu Kashmir which it is not,has never been and Allah willing,will never be.Lest just assume for now that there are Muslim squads in Kashmir.Very good there should be more. There are there to protect the population from the genocide inflicted by more than 700000 armed troops trying to change the Kashmir's demographics.I hope Pakistan send more fights and also arm them with tactical Nukes.Hindu India only understand one language and that the language of power,otherwise it would have acted on countless UN resolutions in the support of Kashmiri Muslims but it does not want peace.It is religious duty of every Muslim to fight off oppression and occupation.
Let us focus on the causes of terrorism and try to fix the issues. They have been hanging out there for over 60 years ...Palestine….Indian Occupied Kashmir where genocide has been ongoing for decades by predominantly hindu Indian army. After all the inspiration of Talibans are also these geo political unresolved issues. Let us focus on the victims of 9/11 and help the families more than we have done. Let us take care of their kids and put them through college. Let us take care of their wives/husbands/parents. Let us take care of over 200,000+ families whose dear ones gave their lives in Pakistan fighting this terror war. Let us focus on the victims in Afghanistan. Let us honor those soldiers from all over the world who sacrificed their lives believing they were fighting for freedom. They are so many.
I would like to take a moment in silence to respect the memory of all those who have perished/injured in the genocide being carried on by India in Indian Occupied Kashmir. May they rest in peace and god give them eternal abode in the kingdom of heaven. To those who are injured, may you have a speedy recovery. Amen/Ameen/Ah-Mayn.
Why is the press so quiet about Tibet, Xinkiang and Inner Mongolia? I guess China is doing a better work than India and the Indians should learn from the Chinese democratic system
India needs to understand that time is over for them. Either they shape up or they will be reduced to smitereens. The days of them mischiefing in the region is gone. They will live th rest of their lives looking over their shoulders.
India needs to understand that the time has come for it to have free and fair elections in Indian Occupied Kashmir and let the people decide what they want to do. This is the democratic way. Americans will not have it any other way. Nor will Pakistan.
Who the hell is America and who the hell is Pakistan.Do we interfere in their domestic issues.The IDF I Indian Defense forces are there to defend its people and sovereignty from people who are terrorists baked by terrorist Pakistan.
It is fine to have a free and fair election in Kashmir. However, that is only possible if all non-Kashmiris (in particular, the mercenaries sent into Kashmir by ISI) are first expelled from Kashmir and Kashmiri Hindus are allowed to return to their ancestral homes.
Why crying about ISI all the time?This 700000 army you got in small area like Kashmir sounds very incapable and coward to let a small ISI and its agents ruin their dreams by dominating Kashmir.What about the local population ?Do they love India?Why they like displaying Pakistani flags and not indian flag.!
The people that are displaying Pakistani flags should then move to Pakistan.If they do not like to fly their own countries flag then move and fight in Pakistan.
50 million girls in India have gone missing in 3 generations through practices like infanticide, feticide, deliberate starvation, dowry murders, bride trafficking, honor killings and witch hunts !!!! We need to demand accountability and action from the Indian Hindus and the Indian Brahmin government to stop female genocide in India forthwith. It is immoral, illegal, against all civilized norms, against the principles of most religions and above all it setting a bad example for all the neighboring countries. We strongly urge you to join this movement that is now ongoing on all social media.
That's a genuine shame for India and I am glad you are recognizing it...any genuinely constructive suggestions on how to go about solving that problem are appreciated. However please do not use this as an excuse to spew religious venom. Islam is the religion of brotherly love, and Hinduism the religion of devotion, and both religious traditions have at their core complete purity of heart
India is a slap on the face of democracy and human rights.More than 700000 troops are deployed only in Kashmir which is actually far smaller than Switzerland. Remember all those mass graves!These Indian forces are there to do a systematic genocide to reduce the Muslim population and giving huge incentives to Hindus to migrate there.Every now and then there is a massacre against Delits-(the un-touchable), Muslims,Sikhs or Christians in India.Hindus have only ruled India since 1947 in the modern history,but the terror and un-justice they have brought down to minorities are unexplainable.It explains why there are 67 separatist movements including 10 major armed moves going on in India.Kashmir is only one of them.Just like Jew who always got protection and their rights under Muslim rulers but always gave death to very people when they got their chance to rule.India and Israel are burden on this earth and on humanity.They are the route cause of Islamic extremism.India is world biggest armed Importers with more than 200 million under-age kids look for food from garbage dumps let alone more than half of its population below poverty.Making few developed cities can not hide poverty,injustice,religion intolerance,caste based racism happening in their village and also in urban areas.India has more than 70 percent population live in villages where there is nothing but darkness.
Let us focus on the causes of terrorism and try to fix the issues. They have been hanging out there for over 60 years ...Palestine….Indian Occupied Kashmir where genocide has been ongoing for decades by predominantly hindu Indian army.
We have invested a lot of resources in India over the past two decades and given a lot of aid to prop it up. There has been no investment on this return. Instead India has squandered all the resources in building nuclear weapons while poverty remains rampant in the country. Terrorism is rampant in the region in part fianced by Indians. We need to revisit our relationship with India. American taxpayers will not tolerate this anymore. We need to take care of our own populace going forward. We cannot be exporting jobs to India or giving it financial or technical handouts.It has become too big to govern or create any value for western countries or even for its own population. India needs to be carved up into smaller independent states to be a viable economically and geo politically.
Taj Mahal (purely by connotation, not size) reminds one of the saying of our dear architect friend Mies Van Der Rohe that “Less is More” and its application to India geo-politically. The recent economic bubble burst and minority backlash in India point to the necessity of imploding India in a controlled manner to make it more manageable administratively, before it ruptures chaotically. The Moghals may have left behind a legacy of regality in India but it was Mies that has given Indians a political concept that may give Indian Hindus a chance at survival albeit in a fragmented form.
INDIA: On a Goat and a Stick:
The problem with India is that it is built on a system of cultural and societal values based on Hinduism which is a cult. Nations built on a cult seldom survive in the long run. You can only take it so far based on symbolisms of a goat and a stick with a skinny little man aka gandhi banging boys at night and spinning wheels during daytime.
Yes, the goat was also banged by Gandhi, and you were that goat in your previous life
Reblogged this on Reason and Politics and commented:
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Interesting why Kashmir is singled out – the problems are across all states in one form or another. India is no more a democracy today than Russia. The dynasties, oligarchies, selfishness and lawlessness rules – most always with complicity from the authorities of course. Laws on paper exist but are no good unless executed on by courts and the police.
Any discussion which has Indians and Pakistanis logging in soon turns into a slanging match between them. Logic and common laws of decency in debate have no place in them. The fact is that nobody, Indian or Pakistani, cares the least bit about the Kashmiris. The self-serving rulers of both countries have used them cynically for their own goals, Kashmiri politicians (on the Indian side at least, because we hardly get to hear about the part on the Pakistani side) have feathered their own nests flogging the cause of separatism. Pakistan cynically turned over a third of their part of Kashmir to the Chinese. The truth remains that Kashmir is an embattled place, where the least level of negligence on the Indian border has resulted in Pakistani military adventurism which costs India a heavy price to rectify, like the Kargil adventure, when Pakistani regulars infiltrated Indian territory – Pakistan disowned them at first, even denied them military burial and it was only much later that they acknowledged this fact. On the Siachen glacier, the highest battle-ground in the world, Pakistani and Indian soldiers face each other and lose much more men to the cold than they will ever lose to bullets. But the mistrust between both countries is such that they will never back down from this futile eyeball-to-eyeball stance. Pakistan feels that it can make India die the death of a thousand cuts at a low cost by training and infiltrating militants into Kashmir. In fact, any insurgency in India, be it the Sikhs or the home-grown jihadis have never lacked for material or logistics support from Pakistan.
In an insurgency, where the targets wear uniforms or are civilians, the armed forces, who still draw their culture form the British army very quickly adapted to the Westmoreland doctrine "If it's dead and its Kashmiri, it's militant". This quickly degenerated into human rights abuses. There have been prosecutions in a few cases, which are too few. There is a sense of outrage among the people of India about this which is shut up by the National Security slogan. Further, the ethnic cleansing done by the Islamic militants in 1990, when targeted killings of Hindus drove almost the entire population of Kashmiri Pundits out of the Kashmir valley. They have not yet returned to their homes. So any talk of human rights now is shut up by an unanswerable question – what about their rights? It is futile to say that the ordinary Kashmiri is not hostile, it was the militants who did this. The jingoist knows no grays – you are either with them or against them. And in a continent riven with communal violence. where Hindu and Muslim talk of past glories and past misdeeds, and politicians use religion as a tool to rule the masses, any discussion soon turns into a slanging match. So the AFSPA becomes a holy cow. A lone woman in Manipur, in the North-Eastern part of India has been on a hunger strike for the past twelve years, demanding a repeal. Largely ignored by the media, she lives because the India state will not let her die.
Frankly speaking, ideas of freedom and democracy are not very popular in the sub-continent. India fights a war of attrition, Pakistan is more ham-handed. But both of us have crushed revolts, armed or not, with a heavy foot. The Sikh militancy (India), the Baloch revolt (Pakistan) are notable successes. The cost was heavy, but who really cares about a few thousand dead civilians? Pakistan lost In Bangladesh only because of logistics problems and the fact that their military, engaged in ethnic cleansing, soon degenerated into a rabble which was unable to put up a decent fight when Indian troops invaded.
The two countries have more people on the border than the two Koreas, have acquired nuclear weapons. Both countries, which have abysmal levels of development spend money on armaments aimed at each other (India – 2.5% and Pakistan – 2.8% of GDP). And this in counties which are on the lowest on any list on any index, be it development or social justice or transparency. The latest was Pakistan just managing to beat India -Pakistan was the 3rd worst country for women, India the 4th. They both managed to beat Somali, though – the poor Somalis, riven by years of violence, lacking any system of government, lacking all the glories in the past that India and Pakistan claim, came in at a lowly 5th. So, you can see, a little human rights issue serves us no purpose, unless it is for the pot to call the kettle black. Indians will wax eloquent about targeted killings of Shias and Ahmediyyas in Pakistan, the shooting of Malala, etc. Pakistanis will do the same about Kashmiri Muslims, the 1984 killing of Sikhs in 1984, Gujarat riots of 2002 and so on. And we will both kill off our girl children, either in spirit or in body. Our diaspora will carry our "honour" killings into every country we step into.
The Truth!!!
Kashmir to Kerala people are free in India! India must resettle all the displaced people of Indian origin in Kashmir! Unfortunately the caste Hindus are not willing to accept any Hindu Dalits from Pakistan or Sri Lanka!
Mr. Kapil,
Well what India was fighting for is not a freedom movement but a terrorist movement born and bread by Pakistan –if you are ignorant about this –Please do not write such one sided st v p id articles .....
Or u may be on ISI roles like Fai...
Quite idiotic and the worst article ever from CNN, basically from a author who was born and raised in Andhra Pradesh India and who then moved here to US for his convenience and now passing judgements. That too without taking any factors into consideration and I am 100% sure that the author is a dumb head and have zero knowledge about the social dynamics of India and Pakistan. Probably he should have written a article about Andhra Pradesh and promoting Telugu as a language but I highly doubt that he would have been able to do that because of the level of knowledge i just came across from him.
Now coming to the main topic, Kashmiri muslims are getting whatever they sowed. May be due to lack of awareness or just for convenient ignorance I never found anybody talking about Kashmiri PUNDITS.
These poor people were the original natives of the land as like anybody else but Pakistani sponsored terrorists in Kashmir performed ethnic cleansing on them. You might need to visit the Delhi Kashmiri (Pundit) colony or Kashmiri colonies all across India to meet some of the families who lost their homes and land and were terrorized to leave their homes in Kashmir.
Pakistan has been running proxy warfare in Kashmir since 1980's when General Tikka Khan used all the Mujahids from Afghanistan Soviet war against India. Thousands of Kashmiri Pundits and other innocent citizens perished and suffered at the hands of these terrorists.
It was only at this point of time India took tough stand against the terrorism and Kashmiri Muslims who were not only supporting the Pakistan sponsored terrorism but were supporting blood bath everyday. Indian army with its hard work and lots of sacrifices was finally able to brought peace to Valley.
Kashmir is more peaceful that it was in last 15 years.
Kapil Komiredd, you should be ashamed of yourself. Write back to me if you need some lessons in Indian and Pakistan history.
Komireddy is a indian jew, writing in India not usa. (read the article!!!) you can't digest the truth so you throw barbed insults at people without even knowledge of facts.
Great article….!!!Nice to know about new things with helping concept. I am almost brand new to blogging and really like your post, it is really on target! Thanks for all of your time & work. Hope you always write this blog.
kashmir tourism
How many indian soldiers died in kashmir since independence?did ilyas kashmiri behead indian soldiers?how many hindu sikhs and muslims were killed by seperatists,what about people of leh and ladakh whose lifeline to remaining parts of india goes through kashmir.what about kashmiri pandits and their homes?what about hindu pilgrim sights in kashmir.?is kashmir only for muslims who want to join pakistan?
so many question...
I wonder how much this guy Komireddi got paid to write a report like this. Majority of Kashmiri Hindus are now displaced to other parts of India due to fear of Muslim terrorists. Now Kashmir is almost a Muslim only state. Anyone who lives there has to take their chances with the Muslim terror groups sponsored by Pakistan. They have no value for women or children. They have nice weapons like AK47 and RDX (C4) explosives. How do you deal with a situation like this? India don’t want to surrender Kashmir to terrorists. The only was is to take extreme measures. People who live there don’t mind the violence / like violence because if they fear safety of their family they could have moved to other parts of India.
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