22nd Year of Publication

Vol: 22

No. 10

October 2016

Monthly

KASHMIR

INSIGHT

No end to bloodbath in sight in IOK

Protests, rallies continue to rock occupied territory
Pakistan continues
to shake world
conscience on Kashmir

OIC reaffirms support

to Kashmiris right
to self-determination

Kashmiri diaspora
holds demos as Indian
FM addresses UNGA

Pakistan fully supports Kashmir cause

Peace and normalisation between Pakistan and India cannot be achieved without resolution of
the Kashmir dispute. A new generation of Kashmiris has risen spontaneously against Indias
illegal occupation and this indigenous uprising of the Kashmiris has been met, as usual, with
brutal repression by Indias occupation force of over half a million soldiers. These brutalities will
not suppress the spirit of the Kashmiris; it will only intensify their anger and fortify their
determination to see India end its occupation of Kashmir. Pakistan fully supports the demand of
the Kashmiri people for self-determination, as promised to them by several United Nations
Security Council resolutions. Their struggle is a legitimate one for liberation from alien
occupation.
(Prime Minister, Mohammad Nawaz Sharif in his address at the
UN General Assembly in New York on September 21, 2016)

OIC calls for immediate halt to

Indian atrocities in IOK

We are concerned over the grave situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir and call for an
immediate cessation of Indian oppression and atrocities in the occupied territory. The
government of India should settle the dispute peacefully, in accordance with the wishes of
Kashmiri people and the United Nations Security Council resolutions. Though Indian
occupation forces can physically blind the Kashmiri people with pellet guns, they cannot block
their vision for the realisation of their right to self-determination.
(Secretary General of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,
Iyad Ameen Madani, in his address at the
OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir in New York on September 19, 2016)

Kashmir Insight
Editor:

M Raza Malik

Sub Editor:

Benazir Khan

Art Editor:

M.Haroon
C O N T E N T S

Editorial
Indias diversionary tactics

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02

Cover Story
No end to bloodbath in sight in IOK . . . . . . . . . . . . 03
Reports
Pakistan continues to shake world conscience
on Kashmir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07
OIC reaffirms support to Kashmiris right
to self-determination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Hurriyet leaders denounce Sushmas
Kashmir remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Pictorial
Images speak louder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Reports
Hurriyet leadership condemns Indian
aggression on LoC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Kashmiri diaspora holds demos as Indian
FM addresses UNGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
World attention drawn towards HR abuses
by Indian troops in IOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Conference at EU Parliament expresses concern
over IOK situation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chronology
A chronological account of developments
on Kashmir (122) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Beauty thy name is
Leh the Capital of Ladakh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Literature
Two Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Feedback
Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

OCTOBER 2016
From The Editor's Desk
Indian troops and police personnel have been committing
the worst kind of human rights violations - in fact crimes
against humanity - in occupied Kashmir to suppress the
Kashmiris struggle for securing their inalienable right to
self-determination for the last seven decades. They have
intensified their brutalities since the extrajudicial murder
of youth leader, Burhan Wani, by the troops on July 8, this
year that triggered Kashmir Intifada.
Indian forces personnel responded to this mass uprising
with brutal force, killing over 100 people and injuring of
above 13,000 till September 30. The use of lethal pellet
guns by the police and troops have caused eye injuries to
over 1100 people of whom more than 1000 have lost the
eyesight in one or both the eyes. The doctors who
conducted eye surgeries on these pellet victims are of the
opinion that total regain of the eyesight is almost
impossible.
Pellet gun - a form of shotgun usually used for hunting
animals - was first used by Indian police in occupied
Kashmir to quell massive demonstrations during the
popular movement in 2010. The gun fires with high
velocity a cluster of small, round-shaped pellets, which
resemble iron balls. A pellet gun cartridge can contain up
to 500 such pellets. When the cartridge explodes, the
pellets disperse in all directions. They are less lethal than
bullets but can cause serious injuries, especially if they hit
the sensitive organs like eyes. Doctors treating the pellet
gun victims in occupied Kashmir told media that they
were seeing "sharp and more irregular-shaped pellets"
which were causing "more damage" this time.
Ironically, after attack on an Indian Army headquarters in
Uri area of occupied Kashmir on September 18, 2016, the
whole world came forward to condemn it even as the
authenticity of the incident is yet to be established. This
attack in which 18 Indian troops were killed was described
by many political pundits that also include some Indians
as a drama enacted by New Delhi to divert world attention
from the ongoing Kashmir Intifada. It was also aimed at
diluting the impacts of the address of the Pakistani Prime
Minister, Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, to the UN General
Assembly that was scheduled few days after the incident.
But unfortunately, the same world community is
watching the killing, maiming and blinding of innocent
Kashmiris at the hands of Indian brutal armed forces
through pellet guns as a mute spectator. The world should
shun this double-standard and impress upon New Delhi
to stop its brutalities against the Kashmiri people and give
them their inalienable right to self-determination.
Printed & Published by
All Parties Hurriyet Conference AJK
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Email: kashmirinsight@yahoo.com
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Editorial

Indias diversionary tactics

India has been employing every
wicked method to continue its
illegal hold on Jammu and
Kashmir and to suppress the
Kashmiris just struggle for
freedom from its rule for the past
seven decades. However, the
people of occupied Kashmir are
facing and resisting the worst
kind of its brutalities with
courage and bravery and are
determined to take their liberation movement to its logical
conclusion at all costs.
The brutal suppression by Indian
forces of the ongoing Kashmir
Intifada has resulted in tremendous international pressure on
India for stopping its inhuman
actions in occupied Kashmir and
for resolving the Kashmir
dispute. During the Intifada,
triggered by the extra-judicial
murder of noted freedom-fighter,
Burhan Muzaffar Wani, on July 8,
this year, Indian forces personnel
had killed over 100 innocent
civilians, blinded more than 300
and injured over 13,000 others till
September 30 by firing bullets,
pellets and teargas shells on
peaceful and unarmed protesters.
It is unfortunate that instead of
respecting the aspirations of the
Kashmiri people, New Delhi
resorted to unprovoked firing on
the Line of Control and made
false claims of conducting socalled surgical strikes in Azad
Jammu and Kashmir in order to
ease this growing pressure. This
was a well thought-out ploy to
deflect the world attention from
the peoples uprising and the war
crimes by Indian forces in
occupied Kashmir. India even not
only refused to attend the SAARC
summit, which was to be held in
Islamabad in September, but also
pressurised Bangladesh, Bhutan
and Nepal for not attending the
same. This was against the very
spirit of the SAARC, which was
created with an objective of
addressing the regional issues.
Earlier, Indian Prime Minister,
Narendra Modi, had raised the

issue of Balochistan. However,

the fact of the matter is that Indian
government and its secret agency
RAW are directly involved in
conducting terrorist activities in
Balochistan, Karachi, FATA and
other areas of Pakistan to force
Islamabad to give up its support
to the Kashmiris ongoing
freedom movement. After failing
on all fronts to compel Islamabad
to stop supporting the just cause
of the Kashmiri people, India is
also threatening to end the most
favoured nation (MFN) status to
Pakistan and cancelling the Indus
Water Treaty between the two
countries.
All these diversionary actions are
aimed at triggering new and fake
discourses and diverting attention away from the actual
discourse i.e. the ongoing Intifada
in occupied Kashmir. They also
show that New Delhi is not
serious to make the region free of
tension but wants to keep it
boiling for its vested interests.
It is a fact that the massive antiIndia demonstrations in every
nook and corner of occupied
Kashmir after the martyrdom of
Burhan Wani have unnerved the
leaders of ruling BJP in New Delhi
giving them sleepless nights. As
they have also failed to give relief
to the people of their country,
therefore, they want to keep them
in dark regarding the ground
situation in the occupied territory. However, a team of Indian
journalists after visiting occupied
Kashmir recently had revealed
the reality by saying that the
Kashmiris want freedom from
India.
The international community
needs to realise the fact that the
extremist Indian rulers in
desperation could commit some
misadventure that would prove
disastrous for the entire South
Asia. It must play role in
resolving the Kashmir dispute,
which is the basic cause of tension
in the region.

KASHMIR INSIGHT

OCTOBER 2016

02

Cover Story

No end
bloodbath
in sight
Kashmiris
marktoIndias
Republic
Dayin
asIOK
Black Day
Protests, rallies continue to rock occupied territory
In occupied Kashmir, as Indian
police and troops continued
their brutalities to quell the
ongoing uprising, people in the
occupied territory showed their
spirit and valour by staging
massive anti-India demonstrations that rocked the entire
Kashmir Valley for the third
consecutive month in September
2016. Since the extrajudicial
murder of noted freedomfighter, Burhan Muzaffar Wani,
on July 8 in a fake encounter by
Indian troops, 107 people had
been killed due to the firing of
bullets, pellets and teargas shells
by Indian forces on protesters
across the Kashmir Valley till
September 30. In September
alone, Indian police and troops
killed 20 innocent civilians
besides injuring thousands
others.
During the mass uprising that
started after the martyrdom of
Burhan Wani, more than 13,000

people had sustained injuries

due to the brutal actions of
occupational forces on protesters
till the end of September. Over
1,100 of these injured had
suffered pellet injuries in eyes
and more than 1,000 of them had
lost partial or total eyesight in
one or both eyes. The authorities
had arrested around 2,000 people
including Hurriyet leaders and
activists and booked over 400 of
them under black law, Public
Safety Act.
The puppet authorities
continued to impose strict
curfew and other restrictions
across the Kashmir Valley to stop
people from holding anti-India
demonstrations. The curfew was
enforced on July 9, a day after the
killing of Burhan Wani. People of
Kashmir faced shortage of daily
use commodities due to the
unprecedented curfew which
remained in force for 84 successive days till September 30.

In order to quell the ongoing

uprising, India had sent as many
as 102 additional companies of
the paramilitary Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) comprising
8,000 personnel to occupied
Kashmir since July 8. The fresh
induction was in addition to 47
battalions of the force already
stationed in the occupied
territory.
Yes, we have deployed 102
additional companies in the
region during the unrest, apart
from our battalions that are
already present in the region,
media reports quoted as saying a
senior CRPF officer, who wished
not to be named.
Despite restrictions and curfew,
thousands of people marched on
the streets of Srinagar, Badgam,
Ganderbal, Bandipora,
Kupwara, Islamabad, Bijbehara,
Baramulla, Sopore, Palhallan,
Pattan, Pulwama, Shopian,

KASHMIR INSIGHT

OCTOBER 2016

03

Cover Story
Kulgam and different parts of
Jammu region including
Kishtwar, Doda, Bhaderwah,
Banihal and Rajouri throughout
the month to register their
protest against civilian killings
and seeking an end to Indian
occupation and demanding their
right to self-determination.
These protests were marked by
waving of Pakistani flags and
raising of pro-freedom, proPakistan and anti-India slogans.
The normal life remained
affected for the third successive
month in response to the strike
called jointly by resistance
leaders including the All Parties
Hurriyet Conference Chairman,
Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq and Muhammad Yasin
Malik, as part of the protest
programmes against the killings.
Shops and business establishments, private offices and petrol
pumps were shut, while government offices and banks

witnessed thin attendance as

public transport remained off the
roads.
The authorities kept the APHC
Chairman Syed Ali Gilani, and
senior APHC leader, Agha Syed
Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi

under house arrest and other

Hurriyet leaders including
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,
Muhammad Yasin Malik,
Shabbir Ahmed Shah,
Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai,
Hakeem Abdur Rasheed, Syed
Bashir Andrabi, Bilal Siddiqui,
Zafar Akbar Butt, Mukhtar
Ahmed Waza and Ayaz Akbar in
police custody to prevent them
from leading the demonstra-

tions.
The occupation authorities did
not allow the people to offer
Friday prayers at Srinagars
historic Jamia Masjid and other
major mosques of the territory
during the month. Heavy

deployments of police and

paramilitary personnel were
made around the mosques on all
Fridays.
Defying restrictions, thousands
of people attended the funeral
prayers of a martyred youth at
Bunapora in Baramulla district
on September 24, amid highpitched pro-freedom and antiIndia slogans. The youth,
Waseem Ahmed Lone, was
killed after Indian Army
personnel fired upon the men
and women who were busy in
paddy fields at Bunapora
Nadihal in Rafiabad area of the
district on the previous day.
Meanwhile, in a new form of
state terrorism, Indian forces
personnel damaged crops and
apple harvests in different areas
of the occupied territory to
punish the people for participating in anti-India demonstrations. The troops and police
personnel set ablaze rice crop
and grass stacks in Budran,
Aadina, Kanihama and
Mazhama villages of Budgam
district while apple harvest was
damaged at Kareemabad in
Pulwama district. The troops
also set afire paddy stacks in rice
fields in Sundepora area of
Islamabad district.

KASHMIR INSIGHT

OCTOBER 2016

04

Cover Story
Scores of journalists, editors,
photographers and
videographers staged a sit-in
protest at Press Enclave in
Srinagar on September 17 against
the frequent suspension of
Internet services in the occupied
territory.
The All Parties Hurriyet
Conference Azad Jammu and
Kashmir chapter held a protest
outside the UN Observers Office
in Islamabad on September 20
against the civilian killings in
occupied Kashmir. Besides the
Kashmiri leaders, a large number
of Pakistanis also participated in
the protest. The participants
shouted anti-India slogans. The
demonstrators were carrying
placards and banners,
condemning Indian atrocities in
occupied Kashmir and urging
the UN to resolve the Kashmir
dispute in accordance with the
Kashmiris aspirations.
On the other hand, the Hurriyet

Jammu and Kashmir.

The APHC Chairman, Syed Ali
Gilani, in a statement in Srinagar
condemned the brutal killing of
innocent civilians by Indian
police and troops. He said that
hollow and tall claims of restraint
by Indian forces were aimed at
befooling the common people
and testified that their lust for
blood had not ended. He said

and by the mischievous and

wicked intents, Indian forces
made them violent to buy an
excuse for use of force and then
sell it to the international
community. He said that by
doing so the Indian rulers had
devoured over 100 precious lives
so far in about two and a half
months, with hundreds blinded
and thousands crippled by
bullets and pellets.
Syed Ali Gilani said that the
world community should come
out of the cocoon of economic
relationship with India and try to
understand and realise that
behind the mask of so-called
democracy, New Delhi was
doing everything undemocratic
in occupied Kashmir.

leadership strongly denouncing

the civilian killings and use of
brute force on peaceful
protesters by Indian police and
troops said that the participation
of people in anti-India demonstrations in large numbers was a
clear referendum of Kashmiris
against Indian occupation over

that whenever there was

peoples uprising for their basic
and fundamental rights in
occupied Kashmir, India labeled
it as cross-border infiltration and
terrorism to curb it by force.
The APHC Chairman said that
the peaceful demonstrations
were not allowed in the territory

The illegally detained Chairman

of Hurriyet forum, Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq, in a statement in
Srinagar condemned the killing
spree unleashed by Indian forces
in the occupied territory, saying
that India had waged a war
against the unarmed Kashmiri
people. The cold-blooded
murder of civilians is manifestation of naked and brute aggression by a totalitarian regime that
is at war against unarmed
civilians whom it has kept
captive and suppressed in their

KASHMIR INSIGHT

OCTOBER 2016

05

Cover Story
homeland, he stated. The
Mirwaiz said that the silence of
the international community on
the Indian atrocities in the
occupied territory had emboldened New Delhi to carry on its
brutal actions which was
extremely painful. He said that
despite Indian barbarism, the
people of Kashmir would
accomplish the mission of their
martyrs at all costs.
The incarcerated Chairman of
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation
Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik,
in a statement said that Jammu
and Kashmir was an internationally recognised disputed
territory and Kashmiri people
were striving to secure their birth
right to self-determination. He
said, no one can even dream of a
lasting peace and prosperity in
South Asia without resolution of
the Kashmir dispute. He said that
the Kashmiris loved
humanity but the tyrants
who had forcibly occupied
their land using their
military might had
shamed humanity in
Kashmir by killing
innocents in cold blood, by
injuring thousands and by
taking eyesight of
hundreds.
The unlawfully detained
APHC General Secretary,
Shabbir Ahmed Shah, in a
statement urged the world
community to take serious notice
of the worst kind of Indian state
terrorism and hold New Delhi
accountable for its misdeeds in
the region.
He said, if one wants to see
Indian state terrorism, he/she
should visit Kashmir and
witness the atrocities of Indian
occupational forces on the
unarmed people. Those visiting
Kashmir would see only graveyards and the terrorism of Indian

o c c u p at i o n a l
forces, he
added.
O t h e r
Hurriyet
leaders
including
Agha Syed
Hassan AlMoosvi AlS a f v i ,
Aasiya
Andrabi,
Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Yasmeen
Raja, Zamruda Habib, Farida
Bahenji, Muhammad Yousuf
Naqash, Hakeem Abdur
Rasheed, Syed Bashir Andrabi,
Bilal Siddiqui, Mukhtar Ahmed
Waza, Javaid Ahmed Mir, Zafar
Akbar Butt and Firdous Ahmed
Shah in their separate statements
paid rich tributes to the
Kashmiris martyred by Indian

troops during protests. They

termed the continued killing of
innocent civilians by Indian
forces as the worst display of
state terrorism. They said that
through brutal tactics New Delhi
would never succeed in
suppressing the Kashmiris
ongoing freedom movement.
The leaders also appealed to the
world community to impress
upon India to resolve the
Kashmir dispute by giving the
Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination.
The killing of over 100 innocent

civilians by Indian forces

personnel is a proof of the fact
that India gives no value to the
people of occupied Kashmir and
is only interested in the land and
natural resources of the territory.
It has curbed all the basic
freedoms of the Kashmiri people
through imposition of continued
restrictions and heavy deployment of troops and police
personnel, thus turning the
entire occupied territory
into a garrison.
Unfortunately, the so-called
champions of democratic
values continue to watch all
this as silent spectators. This
indifferent attitude has
further emboldened New
Delhi to carry on its atrocities in occupied Kashmir.
The international community should take cognisance of
Indias genocidal actions in
occupied Kashmir and fulfill its
responsibilities to mitigate the
sufferings of the Kashmiris. The
UN also needs to take practical
measures to implement its
resolutions, which promised that
the people of Jammu and
Kashmir would be allowed to
decide their fate by themselves
through a plebiscite held under
the supervision of the World
Body.

Humayun Aziz Sandeela

KASHMIR INSIGHT

OCTOBER 2016

06

Report

Pakistan continues to shake world conscience on Kashmir

Nawaz Sharif urges UN to implement its Kashmir resolutions
While India continued its state
terrorism in occupied Kashmir in
the third consecutive month in
September 2016, Pakistani
leadership kept on drawing
worlds attention towards the
civilian killings by Indian police
and troops in the territory.
Pakistan raised the Kashmir
dispute at the UN General
Assembly and other international fora and highlighted the
sufferings of the people of
occupied Kashmir due to curfew
and other restrictions imposed
by the occupation authorities in
the Kashmir Valley to stop the
masses from staging demonstrations.
Prime Minister, Mohammad
Nawaz Sharif, addressing the
71st session of the UN General
Assembly on September 21
demanded an independent
inquiry and a UN fact-finding
mission to investigate civilian

killings and brutalities perpetrated by Indian forces in

occupied Kashmir to bring the
involved personnel to book.
He said, We demand immediate
release of all Kashmiri political
prisoners, an end to curfew,
freedom for Kashmiris to
demonstrate peacefully, urgent
medical help for the injured and

abrogation of draconian laws.

He said that these Indian
brutalities were well documented.
"On behalf of the Kashmiri
people; on behalf of the mothers,
wives, sisters, and fathers of the
innocent Kashmiri children,
women and men who have been
killed, blinded
and injured;
on behalf of
the Pakistani
nation, I
demand an
independent
inquiry into
the extrajudicial killings,
and a UN factf i n d i n g
mission to
investigate
brutalities perpetrated by the
Indian occupying forces, so that
those guilty of these atrocities are
punished, he maintained.
The Prime Minister said that the
Security Council must honour its
commitments by implementing
its own resolutions on Kashmir.
He welcomed the UN Secretary
General, Ban Ki-moons offer to

help resolve outstanding issues

between India and Pakistan and
said that the General Assembly
must demand of India to deliver
on the pledges its leaders
solemnly made on many occasions.
Peace and normalisation
between Pakistan and India
cannot be achieved without
resolution of the Kashmir
dispute, he said, adding that
this is an objective evaluation,
not a partisan position.
The Prime Minister said, Our
predictions have now been
confirmed by events. A new
generation of Kashmiris has
risen spontaneously against
Indias illegal occupation demanding freedom from
occupation. Burhan Wani, the
young leader murdered by
Indian forces, has emerged as the
symbol of the latest Kashmir
Intifada, a popular and peaceful
freedom movement, led by
Kashmiris, young and old, men
and women, armed only with an
undying faith in the legitimacy of
their cause, and a hunger for
freedom in their hearts.
Nawaz Sharif after delivering
OCTOBER 2016

07

Report
speech at the General Assembly
met the UN Secretary General,
Ban Ki-moon, and showed him
pictures of martyred and injured
Kashmiri civilians who had
suffered brutalities at the hands
of Indian forces in occupied
Kashmir.
The Prime Minister handed over
to the UN Chief the evidences of
Indian brutalities in occupied
Kashmir and thanked him for his
statement regarding Kashmir.
Earlier, on September 19, Nawaz
Sharif during his meetings with
the British Prime Minister,
Theresa May, US Secretary of
State, John Kerry, Turkish
President, Recep Tayyib
Erdogan, Japanese Premier,
Shinzo Abe, Saudi Crown Prince
and Deputy Prime Minister,
Prince Mohammad Bin Naif Bin
Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and Prime
Minister of New Zealand, John
Key, apprised them of the
suffering of the
Kashmiri people at the
hands of Indian
occupational forces.
He urged them to play
role in resolving the
Kashmir dispute in
accordance with the
Kashmiris aspirations. He thanked
President Erdogan for
Turkeys strong
statements in support
of the Kashmiri
people.
On the same day, Nawaz Sharif
also met several leaders at the
UN Secretary General, Ban Kimoons luncheon for the visiting
dignitaries and interacted with
some leaders in the General
Assembly Hall when he participated in the opening session of
the General Debate. He informed
the delegates about the
prevailing human rights situation in occupied Kashmir where
Indian forces personnel are

trying to crush
a popular
struggle of the
people for
their right to
s e l f d e t e r m i n ation.
Meanwhile,
P r i m e
Ministers
Adviser on
F o r e i g n
Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, held meetings with his counterparts from
Japan, Austria and Switzerland.
During these interactions, he
raised the Kashmir dispute and
human rights violations by
Indian forces in occupied
Kashmir and called upon the
international community to play
its part in resolving the Kashmir
dispute in line with the relevant
UN resolutions.
Adviser to Prime Minister on

National Security, Lt Gen (retd),

Nasser Khan Janjua, speaking at
a daylong seminar in Islamabad
on September 20 said that the
world had failed to correct a
historical wrong in Kashmir in
good time. The seminar on
Kashmir Scenario and The
World Conscience was held at
the Institute of Strategic Studies
Research and Analysis (ISSRA)
at National Defence University
(NDU). He said, Kashmir

exposes the mysterious and

callous silence of dumb and
numb international community.
He said, Kashmir is not an issue
of a territory or a piece of land or
security rather it is a humanitarian issue and about right to life
and self-determination. The
settlement of the dispute must be
ensured by peaceful means and
according to the UN resolutions
which will not only end the
perpetual miseries of Kashmiris
and fulfill their
cherished aspirations
but it will also remove
the perpetual cause of
conflict between the
two nuclear states,
Nasser Khan Janjua
remarked. Kashmir
runs in our blood and
is our jugular vein, he
added.
Prime Minister,
Nawaz Sharif, talking
to Pakistani newsmen
in New York on
September 22 said that the world
leaders gave positive response
after understanding Pakistan's
stance on the Kashmir dispute.
He said that he informed the
leaders of the US, China, Britain,
Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey,
Iran and other countries about
the prevailing grave human
rights situation in occupied
Kashmir and they all understood
Pakistan's position. The Prime
Minister said that Turkey
OCTOBER 2016

08

Report
promised to send a fact-finding
mission to occupied Kashmir
and a similar response was given
by the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation.
Nawaz Sharif said that when he
shared the dossier on the Indian
brutalities in occupied Kashmir
with the UN Secretary General,
he was moved by the victims'
photographs and said that the
UN diplomats would look into it.
He said that he urged Ban Kimoon to get implemented the
resolutions on Kashmir adopted
by the World Body itself. The
Prime Minister said that the
world needed to pay attention to
the precarious situation in
occupied Kashmir where over
100 people had been martyred
and thousands injured by Indian
forces in about three months.
Earlier, Prime Minister, Nawaz
Sharif, while interacting with
members of the Pakistani
community upon his arrival in
New York on September 18 said
that Pakistan would continue to

extend moral, political and

diplomatic support to the
indigenous and peaceful
struggle of the Kashmiri people
for securing their right to selfdetermination. India should
realise that it will have to
immediately end human rights
violations in occupied Kashmir
and must understand that will of
the people has to be established,

he added.
Pertinently, before
departing
for the US,
the Prime
Minister
had visited
A z a d
J a m m u
a
n
d
Kashmir
o
n
September
16 and assured the Kashmiri
leaders from All Parties Hurriyet
Conference and PML-N AJKchapter that he would emphatically highlight the Kashmir
dispute at the UN General
Assembly in New York.
President Mamnoon Hussain
while addressing an International Conference on Peace
and Security in South and
Central Asia organised by
Fatima Jinnah Women
University in Rawalpindi on September 22 said that resolution of
the Kashmir
dispute was
imperative
for durable
peace in the
region.
The Senate of
Pakistan on
September 26
unanimously
passed a
resolution
expressing
solidarity
with the
Kashmiri people for valiantly
resisting brute repression of the
Indian occupational forces and
acknowledged that the
Kashmiris were writing a
glorious chapter in the annals of
historical freedom movements
through their determination, will
and spirit of sacrifice. The
resolution moved by Leader of

the House, Raja Zafarul Haq,

strongly condemned the use of
bullets and pellets by Indian
forces that are killing and
wounding unarmed Kashmiri
boys and girls. It reiterated that
only way out is to grant the
people of Jammu and Kashmir
their inalienable right to selfdetermination in accordance
with the relevant UN resolutions
to which India and Pakistan are
signatories.
The National Assembly on
September 27 unanimously
passed a resolution condemning
the Indian claim in the UN
General Assembly that Jammu
and Kashmir is its integral part.
The resolution moved by Syed
Naveed Qamar said that Indian
External Affairs Minister,
Sushma Swaraj, in her speech in
the UNGA ignored the fact that
Jammu and Kashmir was still on
the agenda of the UN Security
Council as a disputed territory.
The resolution said that Modi
government had a history of
threats with the misguided belief
that Pakistan would move away
from its support to innocent
Kashmiris being butchered by
Indian forces.
Earlier, Special Envoy to the
Prime Minister on Kashmir,
Awais Leghari, on September 7
briefed the international community in Geneva on human rights
violations by Indian forces in
OCTOBER 2016

09

Report
occupied Kashmir. He was one of
the 22 parliamentarians sent by
Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, as
his special emissaries to the
capitals of different countries to
highlight the rights abuses in the
occupied territory. During his
meetings with the President of
UN Human Rights Council, the
President of International
Committee of Red Cross and
other ambassadors, Awais
Leghari spoke about the brutalities of Indian forces on the people
of occupied Kashmir.
Information Minister, Pervaiz
Rashid, in an interview on
September 16 said that Prime
Minister, Nawaz Sharif, had won
the United Nations support on
the Kashmir dispute. He said that
the UN Secretary General, Ban
Ki-moon, in reply to the letter
written by the Prime Minister
regarding the
dispute had
offered that the
World Body was
ready to assist
Pakistan and India
in resolving the
lingering dispute.
Finance Minister,
Ishaq Dar, in an
interview with a
F r e n c h T V
channel on the
same day called
upon the international community
to play its role in
settling the
Kashmir conflict according to the
UN resolutions. He said that the
Kashmiris liberation movement
was indigenous and India could
not suppress it through the use of
brute force.
Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif,
addressing a special meeting of
the federal cabinet in Islamabad
on September 30 said that
Pakistan wanted peace to pursue
its development agenda and

e v e r y
Pakistani
was ready to
defend the
motherland
against any
foreign
aggression.
We would
not allow
anyone to
cast an evil
e y e o n
Pakistan,
he maintained and emphasised
that Kashmir was an unfinished
agenda of partition of subcontinent.
The Prime Minister said that
Indias continued brutalities in
occupied Kashmir and aggression were unacceptable.
In their remarks during the
meeting, the cabinet members

reiterated the resolve of the

government to defend the
motherland at all costs.
Prime Ministers Adviser on
Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, said
that support to the just struggle
of the Kashmiri people would
remain priority of Pakistan and it
would not back down on this
account.
Commerce Minister, Khurram
Dastgir, said that India was

creating artificial tension on the

Line of Control in an attempt to
divert attention of the world
from its atrocities on the
Kashmiris. He maintained that
Pakistan would continue to raise
voice for the rights of Kashmiris.
Minister for Kashmir Affairs,
Chaudhry Barjees Tahir, said
that the world had pledged right
t o
s e l f determination
t o
t h e
Kashmiris
through the UN
resolutions
decades back
and now fifth
generation of
Kashmir was
demanding this
right. He said
that Indian
policy of
suppressing the
legitimate
struggle of
Kashmiris
would benefit neither India nor
the region.
Minister for Inter-Provincial
Coordination, Syed Riaz
Hussain Pirzada, deplored that
instead of giving right to selfdetermination to the Kashmiris,
India was resorting to aggression
against Pakistan. He said that the
international community should
take notice of Indias belligerence.
OCTOBER 2016

10

Report

OIC reaffirms support to Kashmiris right to

self-determination

The Organisation of Islamic

Cooperations Contact Group on
Jammu and Kashmir expressed
deep concern over the grave
situation in occupied Kashmir
and demanded an immediate
cessation of Indian oppression
and atrocities in the occupied
territory.
The OIC Contact Group on
Jammu and Kashmir made this

demand during its meeting held

on September 19, 2016, on the
sidelines of the 71st session of the
UN General Assembly in New
York.
Chaired by the OIC Secretary

General, Iyad Ameen Madani,

the meeting was attended by
Pakistan Prime Ministers
Adviser on Foreign Affairs,
Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Ministers of
Turkey and Azerbaijan. Senior
representatives from Niger,
Saudi Arabia and the True
Representatives of Kashmiri
people including President of
Azad Jammu and Kashmir,

Masood Khan, and Ishtiyaq

Hameed, also participated.
The members of the OIC Contact
Group expressed their complete
solidarity with the valiant
Kashmiri people who are

continuing their peaceful

struggle to secure their inalienable right to self-determination.
They reaffirmed their resolve to
keep on highlighting the sufferings of Kashmiris at the international forums.
Iyad Ameen Madani in his
address while expressing serious
concern over the grave situation
in occupied Kashmir urged India
to immediately end its brutalities
and take steps towards peaceful
settlement of the Kashmir
dispute in accordance with the
aspirations of Kashmiri people
and the relevant UN resolutions.
He said, though the Indian forces
can physically blind the
Kashmiri people by their pellet
guns, but they cannot block their
vision for the realisation of their
right to self-determination.
Sartaj Aziz in his speech said that
Indias brutalities in occupied
Kashmir had showed its most
horrendous face in the wake of
the cold-blooded murder of the
Kashmiri youth leader, Burhan
Muzaffar Wani. As a result of
the deliberate and inhuman use
of pellets and bullets by Indian
occupational forces against the
peaceful Kashmiri protesters,
OCTOBER 2016

11

Report
over 100 innocent civilians have
lost their lives, while thousands
have been injured. More than 150
people have become permanently blind and the eyesight of
another 350 has been seriously
damaged, he added.
Sartaj Aziz pointed out that these
repressive measures cannot
suppress the spirit of the
Kashmiri people and their
legitimate struggle for securing
their right to self-determination.
On his request, the members of
the Contact Group offered fateha
for the innocent Kashmiri
victims of Indian aggression.
The Adviser maintained that the
Kashmir dispute
remained central to
lasting peace and
stability in South
Asia. He deplored
that India had not
reciprocated
Pakistans proposal
of meaningful
dialogue for
resolution of the
Kashmir dispute.
The Foreign
Ministers of
Azerbaijan and
Turkey expressed
grave concern at the
deteriorating human rights
situation in occupied Kashmir.
They also condemned the gross
human rights violations perpetrated by Indian forces in the
occupied territory.
The Foreign Minister of Turkey,
Mevlut Cavusoglu, highlighted
the need of resolving the
Kashmir dispute, especially in
the wake of the recent events. He
said that resolution of the dispute
was important for peace and
development in South Asia.
Kashmir issue is the major
obstacle in Pak-India relations
and its humanitarian aspect

requires urgent attention of the

international community, he
said.
The Foreign Minister of
Azerbaijan, Elmar
Mammadyarov, stated that the
OIC should think of innovative
means to highlight the human
rights violations happening in
occupied Kashmir and it must
take tangible steps to help the
Kashmiri Muslim brethren.
The Representative of the
Government of Niger stated that
despite the calls to the
Government of India by
numerous countries to stop
human rights violations in

July 8, this year.

Kashmiri representative,
Ishtiyaq Hameed, in his address
at the meeting said that the
people of the occupied territory
were facing an alarming human
catastrophe due to a new phase
of state terrorism unleashed by
Indian forces. He said that India
was using lethal weapons
including live ammunition and
pellet guns and was targeting the
Kashmiri youth to blind them.
Over 800 young Kashmiris,
mostly teenagers, are at the verge
of losing their eyesight due to the
injuries caused by the pellets
fired by Indian police and troops
on protesters, he added.
T h e
A J K
P r e s i d e n t ,
Masood Khan,
gave a detailed
overview of the
massive violations
of human rights
and international
l a w b e i n g
committed by
Indian forces in
o c c u p i e d
Kashmir.

occupied Kashmir, the situation

in the occupied territory had
become more serious. He said
that the international community
could not remain indifferent in
the wake of such grave human
rights violations. He urged the
OIC to continue mobilising the
world community for settlement
of this longstanding conflict as
per the UN resolutions.
The True Representatives of the
Kashmiri people briefed the
meeting about the continued
Indian brutalities in occupied
Kashmir, particularly after the
martyrdom of Burhan Wani on

T h e
T r u e
Representatives
also presented a
memorandum to the OIC
Secretary General that contained
the details of the brutalities of
Indian forces in the occupied
territory.
The participants strongly
supported the idea of asking the
UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights to send a factfinding mission to take stock of
the grave human rights violations being committed by Indian
forces in occupied Kashmir.
Later, at their annual coordination meeting, the foreign ministers of 57 member states of the
OIC adopted the reports of
OCTOBER 2016

12

Report
various OIC Contact Groups
including the one on Jammu and
Kashmir.
The meeting was chaired by
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled AlSabah, the Foreign Minister of
Kuwait, and was attended by the
foreign ministers of member
states and Secretary General of
the OIC, Iyad Ameen Madani.
Speaking on the occasion, the
Adviser to Prime Minister on
Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, who
led the Pakistani delegation to
the meeting, referred to the
broad range of challenges
confronting the Muslim Ummah,
and briefed the participants
about the gross violations of
human rights in occupied
Kashmir by Indian police and
troops.
He urged the international
community to impress upon
India to stop its state terrorism in
the occupied territory, respect
and restore the fundamental

rights of the Kashmiri people and

implement the relevant UN
resolutions, which guaranteed
the Kashmiris right to selfdetermination.
The meeting, inter-alia, adopted

the report of the OIC Contact

Group on Jammu and Kashmir,
urging the Independent
Permanent Human Rights
Commission of the organisation
to monitor the human rights
situation in occupied Kashmir
and submit a report to the next
session of the Council of
Ministers.
A delegation of the True
Representatives of the Kashmiri

people also spoke on the occasion and apprised the meeting of

the latest situation in the occupied territory.
The AJK President, Masood
Khan, appealed to the OIC Chief

to impress upon the UN

Secretary General and the
President of the UN Security
Council to address the grave and
deteriorating situation in
occupied Kashmir and stem its
serious implications on peace
and stability in South Asia.
On the other hand, in occupied
Kashmir, the Hurriyet forum led
by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq
welcomed the statement of the
OIC in which it asked India to
stop its atrocities in occupied
Kashmir and resolve the
Kashmir dispute in accordance
with the Kashmiris aspirations
and the relevant UN resolutions.
The forum in a statement issued
in Srinagar said, Not only the
Muslim countries but also US,
Britain, France, Germany, China,
Italy and various European
countries have been calling upon
India to stop killings in Kashmir
and put an immediate end to
human rights violations. These
countries have also asked India
to save the entire region from
death and destruction by
resolving the long-pending
Kashmir dispute through
meaningful and result-oriented
dialogue process.
OCTOBER 2016

13

Report

Hurriyet leaders denounce Sushmas Kashmir remarks

Say J&K is internationally recognised disputed territory
In occupied Kashmir, Hurriyet
leaders and organisations
categorically rejected the claim
made by Indian Foreign
Minister, Sushma Swaraj,
during her speech at the UN
General Assembly on
September 26, 2016, that
Jammu and Kashmir is
integral part of India as far
from reality. They said that the
territory had never been a part of
India, which had illegally
occupied it in 1947 against the
wishes of the Kashmiri people.
The All Parties Hurriyet
Conference Chairman, Syed Ali
Gilani, in a statement in Srinagar
termed Sushma Swarajs speech
as full of lies, deceit, arrogance
and persistent denial of basic and
ground realities in Kashmir. He
said that the Kashmiris were
neither surprised because most
people under the toxic influence
of power and might, fail to retain

their mental balance. It is due to

this arrogant mindset that India
prefers to be in denial mode since
the tragedy of Kashmir was born
in 1947, he said.
Elaborating, Syed Ali Gilani said

that more than a dozen resolutions presently lying in the UN

office clearly and loudly contradicted the gentle lady delivering
the sermon on the podium, but
nobody dared to object her on the
basis of historical facts accepted
by her own leadership in the past
at this house. He said that this
was because the world countries
did not want to sever their ties
with New Delhi.
By doing so, India has not only
once again rubbed salt on our
wounds, but has put a big

question mark on the authenticity and effectiveness of this

world forum whose relevance
and authority has already faded
during past few decades, he
added.

The illegally detained

Chairman of Hurriyet forum,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a
statement issued in Srinagar
said that Jammu and Kashmir
was a disputed territory and its
final status was yet to be
determined in accordance with
the resolutions of UN Security
Council. He said that Jammu
and Kashmir even before 1947
was not a part of India and would
never be an integral part of that
country. It is a disputed territory, the final status of which is
yet to be determined in accordance with several resolutions of
the UN Security Council and as
per the aspirations of the people
who are its inhabitants, he
added.
The Mirwaiz said that the
statement of Sushma Swaraj was
also an attempt to divert the
worlds attention from state
terrorism and grave human
rights violations committed by
the Indian state and its agencies
in occupied Kashmir, particularly during the past three
months, to suppress the
Kashmiris struggle for securing
their right to self-determination.
The incarcerated Chairman of
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation
Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik,
in his statement in Srinagar
terming the assertions of Sushma
Swaraj as unrealistic said that
Kashmir was not an integral part
of India but an internationally
recognised disputed territory
whose inhabitants were striving
for their birthright. He said that if
one compared the killings and
atrocities committed by
Britishers against Indian people
and those perpetrated by India
on the Kashmiris would find the
OCTOBER 2016

14

Report
later more ferocious and tyrannical. The JKLF Chairman said that
claiming Jammu and Kashmir as
an integral part of India was
similar to ridiculing the very UN
that had certified the disputed
nature of the territory.
The unlawfully detained APHC
General Secretary, Shabbir
Ahmed Shah, in a statement
issued in Srinagar said that by
resorting to lies at the international forum like the United
Nations, India had made a vain
attempt to mislead the world
about the historical reality over
Jammu and Kashmir.
Other Hurriyet leaders
including Agha Syed Hassan AlMoosvi Al-Safvi, Aasiya
Andrabi, Yasmeen Raja,
Nayeem Ahmed Khan,
Muhammad Yousuf Naqash,
Hakeem Abdul Rasheed, Syed
Bashir Andrabi, Zamruda

Habib, Farida Bahenji, Bilal

Siddiqui, Javaid Ahmed Mir,
Mukhtar Ahmed Waza, Zafar
Akbar Butt and Farooq Ahmed
Dar in their statements said that
rhetoric about Kashmir being an
integral part of India was
absurd. They said that it
depicted the arrogance of Indian

leaders that instead of taking

sincere steps to resolve the longpending Kashmir dispute, they
were continuously evading to
face realities and that too at a
forum that stands witness and
signatory to several resolutions
passed to hold plebiscite in
Jammu and Kashmir.

Majority of pellet victims in IOK is teenagers

In occupied Kashmir, half of pellet victims facing vision
impairment are teenagers and doctors say that total regain
of lost vision is impossible.
Hundreds of youth are at the verge of losing eyesight in one
or both the eyes due to the injuries caused by the pellets
fired by Indian troops and police personnel on protesters
during the past over two months.
The occupied territory is witnessing massive street protests
since the extrajudicial killing of prominent freedomfighter, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, on July 8, this year.
Media reports quoting official data of Srinagars general specialty SMHS Hospital on September 6, 2016,
revealed shocking details about youngsters being disabled by the deadly pellets.
As per record, of the 680 persons admitted at the hospital since July 8 with pellet injuries in their eyes, at least
308 were less than 20-year-old. Furthermore, 60 victims, according to the data, were less than 15-year-old, at
the time of injury.
Over 100 pellet victims were also treated at Soura Institute of Medical Sciences, as per the hospital authorities.

Doctors are of the view that the total regain of the lost vision is impossible.
Even after surgeries, vitrectomies and other procedures, it is not possible to restore 100 percent vision in an
eye injured by pellets, said an ophthalmologist.
Doctors are horrified at what they call the gross nature of injuries inflicted upon the pellet victims, and the
consequent poor prognosis.
We have over 300 young adults blinded in at least one eye. We have over 300 school going children facing
blindness who will perhaps never go back to school again, a senior ophthalmologist at SMHS Hospital said.
OCTOBER 2016

15

Report

Hurriyet leadership condemns Indian aggression on LoC

Says India trying to divert world attention from IOK situation
In occupied Kashmir, the All
Parties Hurriyet Conference and
other resistance leaders
described Indian aggression on
the Line of Control as another
ploy to divert world attention
from the state terrorism and the
war crimes by its forces in the
territory.
The All Parties Hurriyet
Conference in a statement issued
in Srinagar condemned the
Indian action and said that the
unprovoked firing by Indian
troops at the LoC had only
worsened the situation. It said
that there
seemed to be a
sustained
campaign both
on part of
Indian military
and media to
create a warlike situation in
South Asia to
cover the war
c r i m e s
committed by
Indian forces
personnel in
occupied
Kashmir.

Farooq in a statement issued in

Srinagar expressed shock and
concern over the unprovoked
shelling by Indian forces on the
LoC and said that military
aggression was no solution to
any problem. He said that India
planned to change the actual
discourse while throwing
irrelevant narratives. He also
criticised the role of Indian media
for creating war hysteria and
arousing passions among the
people of the two countries.
Senior APHC leaders, Shabbir
Ahmed Shah and Agha Syed

The APHC pointed out that the

world community was seriously
getting involved in Kashmir
while censuring the Indian state
for committing human rights
violations and using brute force
to quell the uprising in occupied
Kashmir. The Indian aggression
on the borders, the statement
added, is aimed at camouflaging
the crimes against the humanity
committed by India in the
occupied territory.

Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi, in

their statements in Srinagar
appealed to the international
community to remain focused on
the sufferings of the people of
occupied Kashmir and the
brutalities meted out to them by
Indian occupational troops. They
pointed out that India was
destined to fail in its attempts to
keep the world in dark about its
state terrorism in the occupied
territory.

The spokesman for the Hurriyet

forum led by Mirwaiz Umar

Other Hurriyet leaders and

organisations including Aasiya

Andrabi, Mir Shahid Saleem,

Mohammad Yousuf Naqash,
Syed Bashir Andrabi, Hakeem
Abdul Rasheed, Bilal Siddiqui,
Nisar Hussain Rathar, Zamruda
Habib, Farida Bahenji, Devindar
Singh, Zafar Akbar Butt,
Muhammad Ramzan Khan,
Shabbir Ahmed Dar,
Mohammad Shafi Reshi,
Mohammad Iqbal Mir,
Muhammad Ahsan Untoo,
Imtiyaz Ahmad Reshi, Ghulam
Nabi War, Qazi Yasir, Jamaat-eIslami of occupied Kashmir and
the APHC-AJK chapter in their
statements also
condemned the
Indian unprovoked firing on
the LoC. They
said that India
was frustrated
by the mass
uprising in the
o c c u p i e d
territory that
had attracted
the attention of
the world
community and
due to this
frustration it
was resorting to cheap tactics to
ease the international pressure
for resolution of the Kashmir
dispute in accordance with the
Kashmiris aspirations. They
warned that Indias any misadventure could prove disastrous
for the entire South Asian region.
They also appealed to the UN to
initiate measures to implement
its resolutions, which promised
that the people of Kashmir
would be given an opportunity
to decide their fate by themselves.
OCTOBER 2016

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Report

Kashmiri diaspora holds demos as Indian FM addresses UNGA

Hundreds of Kashmiris and their
sympathisers staged a demonstration in front of the United
Nations building in New York on
September 26, 2016, to condemn
the killing of innocent civilians
by Indian forces in occupied
Kashmir and to push the World
Body to implement its resolutions as Indias External Affairs
Minister, Sushma Swaraj,
addressed the UN General
Assembly. Holding placards, the
protesters shouted vociferous
anti-India slogans.
A group of Sikhs also joined the
rally, which demanded right to
self-determination for the
Kashmiris as well as Sikhs. All
Kashmiri parties based in New
York and the surrounding areas
came together to register their
protest against the surge in
civilian killings in occupied
Kashmir since July 8, this year.
Over a hundred people had been
killed and more than 13,000

strations was given by the united

resistance leadership comprising
the All Parties Hurriyet
Conference Chairman, Syed Ali
Gilani, and Hurriyet leaders,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and
Muhammad Yasin Malik, as part
of the protest calendar to draw
worlds attention towards the
civilian killings by Indian forces

the day when India was to speak

at the 71st session of the UN
General Assembly.
The demonstrators carrying
photographs of the Kashmiri
youth injured by pellets
condemned the use of brutal
force against peaceful demonstrators by Indian police and
troops in the occupied territory.
India Out Of Kashmir, We
Want Freedom From India,
Wake Up, Wake Up UN,
Kashmir: Nuclear Flashpoint
and India: End Bloodshed
were some of the placards the
protesters were holding.
Speakers at the rally strongly
denounced the killing spree in
occupied Kashmir and called
upon the world powers and the
United Nations to use their
influence on India to stop the
genocide of Kashmiris.

others wounded of whom 100

had become blind due to the
firing of pellets, bullets and
teargas shells by Indian police
and troops during this period.
Call for holding of the demon-

in occupied Kashmir. The leaders

had asked the Kashmiris and the
friends of Kashmir freedom
struggle to march towards the
UN Headquarters and Indian
embassies all over the world on

They also voiced grave concern

over the shutdown of media
offices in occupied Kashmir and
cutting off of all communication
links with the territory, saying
that it was a grave violation of
human rights and freedom of
information, media reports said.
The speakers that included
OCTOBER 2016

19

Report
prominent Kashmiri leaders like
Barrister Sultan Mehmood
Chaudhry, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai,
Dr Ghulam Nabi Mir, Capt (retd)
Shaheen Butt and Sardar Sawar
Khan asked the United Nations
to take steps towards holding a
plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir
to allow the Kashmiri people
decide their future by themselves
so that durable peace and
stability could be ensured in the
South Asian region.
Barrister Sultan Mehmood
Chaudhry said that the
Kashmiris liberation struggle
had reached a decisive stage. He
called for greater unity among
the ranks of
Kashmiri people
to take the
ongoing movement to its logical
conclusion in a
more effective
manner.
Dr Ghulam Nabi
Fai said, there can
be no peace in the
region without
resolution of the
Kashmir dispute.
T h e m o s t
poignant aspect of
the situation is the
acute suffering of the whole
population caused by indefinite
curfew in disregard of normal
life as well as detention of the
Kashmiri leadership. This is a
situation without precedent in
South Asian subcontinent and
few parallels in the whole
world, he said.
Dr Ghulam Nabi Mir deplored
that the UN Security Council was
paying inadequate attention,
while Indian soldiers were
maiming and massacring people
in cities, towns and villages of
occupied Kashmir.
Sardar Sawar Khan told the

protesters that a systematic

campaign of terror had been
launched by Indian forces
against the people of the occupied territory.

in front of the UN building in

Geneva and raised slogans,
condemning the atrocities
committed by Indian forces in
occupied Kashmir.

Captain (retd) Shaheen Butt

drew attention to reports of the
entire population of major towns
in the Valley of Kashmir, defying
curfew and coming out on the
streets with the demand for an
early implementation of the
pledge of plebiscite, solemnly
extended to the Kashmiris by
India, Pakistan and the UN.

The protesters advocating peace

and justice for the Kashmiris
reminded India of its obligations
under international law to
uphold the human rights of the
people of occupied Kashmir,
who are facing stepped up
Indian state terrorism during the
ongoing protests that had
erupted across the occupied
territory after the killing of noted
freedom-fighter, Burhan Wani,
on July 8.

Meanwhile, more than a

hundred Non-Resident
Kashmiris (NRKs) and human

rights activists of Houston, Texas

(US), staged a peaceful protest
outside the Indian Consulate in
Houston.
In Los Angeles, the Kashmiri
diaspora organised a protest
march outside a prominent news
organisation. A large number of
Kashmiris carried banners with
pictures of pellet victims injured
during the current uprising and
demanded an immediate end to
the use of pellet guns in the
occupied territory.
Kashmiris settled in the UK,
France, Italy and Switzerland
gathered near the Broken Chair

T
h
e
protesters
demanded of
India to end
its brutal
suppression
of unarmed
protesters
that had
resulted in
the killing of
over 100
people and
injuring of
more than
13,000 at the
hands of
Indian occupational forces.
A large number of Kashmiris
including representatives of All
Parties Hurriyet Conference also
staged an anti-India demonstration in Geneva. Addressing on
the occasion, the speakers
including Altaf Hussain Wani,
Hassan Al-Bana, Syed Faiz
Naqshbandi, Sardar Amjad
Youssef Khan, Ahmed Quraishi
and Ali Raza Syed demanded of
the world community to play its
role in resolving the Kashmir
dispute in accordance with the
aspirations of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir.
OCTOBER 2016

20

Report

World attention drawn towards HR abuses by

Indian troops in IOK
Speakers at different functions
including seminars, conferences
and demonstrations organised
during the 33rd session of the
United Nations Human Rights
Council held in Geneva,
Switzerland, from September 13
to 30 condemned the gross
human rights violations perpetrated by Indian troops and
police in occupied Kashmir.
They asked India to stop killings
in the territory and resolve the
Kashmir dispute by giving the
Kashmiri people their inalienable right to self-determination
for ensuring durable peace in
South Asia.
Kashmiri representatives, Altaf
Hussain Wani, Syed Faiz
Naqshbandi, Hassan Al-Bana,
Sardar Amjad Youssef Khan,
Shamim Shawl, Ahmed
Quraishi, Professor Shagufta
Ashraf and Atia Anwer, took

various organisations and

apprised them of the present
human rights situation of the
occupied territory.
Addressing the opening session
of the Council, the UN High
Commissioner for Human
Rights, Zeid Raad Al-Hussein,
on September 13 said that an

allow teams from his office to

visit both sides of the Line of
Control. He said that they had
received reports of brute force
used against civilians on the
Indian side and also of
conflicting narratives from the
two sides about the unrest that
had seen over 80 deaths till that
day. He said that he believed an
independent, impartial and
international mission was now
needed crucially and that it
should be given free and
complete access to establish an
objective assessment of the
claims made by the two sides.
Zeid Raad Al-Hussein maintained that Pakistan had acceded
to his request for a visit to its side,
but in tandem with a mission to
the Indian side, India was yet to
do so.

part in different activities during

the 33rd session of the UNHRC
and highlighted the Indian
brutalities in occupied Kashmir.
They also met different dignitaries and representatives of

international probe to human

rights abuses by Indian forces
after the start of mass uprising in
occupied Kashmir was crucially
needed. He said that he had
requested India and Pakistan to

The Permanent Representative

of Pakistan to the United Nations
in Geneva, Ambassador
Tehmina Janjua, addressing the
UNHRC session on September
14 welcomed the remarks by the
UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights regarding use of
brute force by Indian forces in
OCTOBER 2016

21

Report
occupied Kashmir. She urged the
international community to
come to the rescue of the
Kashmiris, who were facing the
worst kind of Indian state
terrorism for demanding their
right to self-determination. She
said, Pakistan supports the
position of the High
Commissioner that an OHCHR
team should visit occupied
Kashmir to independently and
impartially investigate the grave
human rights violations perpetrated by Indian forces over the
past two months.
She added that the visit by the
UN team would help address the
culture of impunity, which was
prevalent in the occupied
territory.
Tehmina Janjua rejected as
patently absurd the claim made
by Indian Ambassador and
Permanent Representative at the
UN in Geneva, Ajit Kumar, that
Pakistan is meddling in Indias
affairs in occupied Kashmir. She

said that Jammu and Kashmir

was not a part of India but an
internationally recognised
disputed territory. She maintained that Kashmiris ongoing
struggle to get freedom from
India was indigenous and

Pakistan was extending its

moral, political and diplomatic
support to their just cause.
Ambassador Tehmeena Janua
said, India insults the intelligence of UNHRC with the usual
twisting of historical facts,
obfuscation of its repressive
actions, and outright denial of
well-documented violations of
human rights in occupied
Kashmir. She reminded the

Council that Jammu and

Kashmir was an international
dispute, which was recognised
as such by a number of UN
resolutions.
The ambassador further rejected
New Delhis claim of exercising

restraint over the volatile

situation in the occupied territory. In just six weeks, if this
restraint has resulted in 90
deaths, injuries to 8,000, with 160
being blinded due to deliberate
targeting of civilians with pellet
guns, then this is a definition of
restraint, which is unique to
India only, she said.
Tehmeena Janjua deplored her
Indian counterparts inability to
own up the fact that the situation
in occupied Kashmir flows from
the nature of the Indian occupation and their unceasing oppression of the Kashmiri people.
Even in their own parliament,
individuals have accepted that
Indian policies are at the root of
the misery of Kashmiris, she
added.
Meanwhile, the All Parties
Hurriyet Conference leader and
the Chairperson of Kashmir
Tehreek-e-Khawateen, Zamruda
Habib, addressing the 33rd
session of the UNHRC via Skype
from Srinagar highlighted the
Indian state terrorism in occupied Kashmir. She said that
during the last two and a half
months Indian forces had killed
over 100 innocent Kashmiris and
injured more than 13,000 besides
maiming hundreds including
OCTOBER 2016

22

Report
women and children.
She demanded of the world
leaders to take cognisance of
Indian brutalities in the occupied
territory and put pressure on
New Delhi to resolve the
Kashmir dispute according to the
UN resolutions and aspirations
of the Kashmiri people.
On the other hand, four top
Kashmiri delegates to the 33rd
session of UNHRC joined human
rights defenders from around the
world on September 15 in
singling out the UN High
Commissioner for Human
Rights, Zeid Raad Al-Hussein,
for praise.
The Kashmiri delegates, Altaf
Hussain Wani and Sardar Amjad
Youssef Khan, took to the
podium to appreciate the Office
of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights for sustaining
pressure on India for its human
rights violations in Kashmir.
Altaf Wani, addressing UNHRC

during general debate, said that

not only did the UN High
Commissioner for Human
Rights has the distinction of
addressing the first session of the
second decade of the Council, he
had also done a great service to
the international humanitarian
system by raising a key issue;
how growing number of

powerful countries refuse to give

access to OHCHR and other
human rights mechanisms.
Sardar Amjad Youssef Khan
appealed to important member
states of the Council not to
sacrifice human ideals at the altar
of business deals with India. He
said that UNHRC had a moral
responsibility to speak and act
for the rights of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir as Kashmir
was a UNmandated
disputed
territory.
Syed Faiz
Naqshbandi, in a
meeting
with the
Deputy
H i g h
Commissioner, Kate
Gilmore,
endorsed
her on High Commissioners
demand for an independent
international investigation into
killings in occupied Kashmir.
Meanwhile, a top Kashmiri civil
rights activist, Parvez Imroz,
who testified earlier in the
European Parliament, and an
Indian lawyer, Kartik

Murukutla, who served in the

UN tribunal on Rwanda,
succeeded in reaching the United
Nations in Geneva to challenge
Indias narrative on Kashmir.
Their colleague, Khurram
Parvez, a leading Kashmiri
activist, was not allowed by India
to board a plane for Geneva.
Khurram Parvez and his team in
the Coalition of Civil Society in
occupied Kashmir prepared the
first Kashmiri document of
human rights violations by
Indian army officers and soldiers
and police personnel in a threeyear effort, which resulted in a
700-page document that was
presented by Kartik Murukutla,
at a packed hall of rights experts
and activists on September 17 in
Geneva.
Speakers from countries as
diverse as the United States, the
Philippines and Spain on
September 23 converged on the
UN building in Geneva to speak
about custodial disappearances
and illegal detention of Khurram
Parvez by Indian authorities in
occupied Kashmir.
Parallel to this, dozens of young
Kashmiris settled in Italy, France
and Switzerland gathered in
front of Palais des Nations and
raised slogans condemning
OCTOBER 2016

23

Report
Indian extremist Prime Minister,
Narendra Modi, and the Indian
Army for massive human rights
violations in the occupied
territory.
Call for holding of the demonstrations was given by the united
resistance leadership comprising
the All Parties Hurriyet
Conference Chairman, Syed Ali
Gilani, and Hurriyet leaders,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and
Muhammad Yasin Malik, as part
of the protest calendar to draw
worlds attention towards the
civilian killings by Indian forces
in occupied Kashmir.

pictures with captions

containing names, places and a
description of major stories in
Kashmir caught on camera.
Meanwhile, activists from the
US, the Philippines and occupied
Kashmir gathered at the UN
building to raise voice for noted
Kashmiri rights defender,
Khurram Parvez, who was first
stopped by Indian authorities
from participating in UNHRCs
session in Geneva and was later
illegally detained in occupied
Kashmir. This event was organised by Kashmiri woman activist,
Shamim Shawl, from the plat-

A delegation of
Kashmir Council
European Union
(KCEU), headed
by the Councils
Chairman, Ali
Raza Syed, also
participated in
the demonstration.
However, the
highlight of the
day was a photo
exhibition titled
Kashmir Crisis
in Pictures at
Geneva Press
Club that depicted the story of
the current situation of occupied
Kashmir through the lenses of
news photographers working for
international wire services like
Reuters, the Associated Press,
Agence France Presse and AlJazeera.
The eighty-seven pictures
displayed with captions in the
exhibition had already appeared
in news publications worldwide
and were disseminated by wire
services. The significance of the
photo exhibition lied in how the
story of the current crisis in
occupied Kashmir was told
through credible, sourced

form of International Muslim

Womens Organisation.
Kashmiris, including representatives of All Parties Hurriyet
Conference, staged an anti-India
demonstration in Geneva on
September 26, the day Indias
Minister for External Affairs,
Sushma Swaraj, addressed the
UN General Assembly.
Kashmiris settled in UK, France,
Italy, Switzerland and other
countries gathered near Broken
Chair in front of the UN office
and raised slogans condemning
the atrocities committed by
Indian forces in occupied
Kashmir.

Speaking on the occasion, the

leaders of different groups and
parties condemned the arrest of
Khurram Parvez and demanded
his immediate release.
The speakers also expressed their
solidarity with the besieged
people of occupied Kashmir and
appealed to the international
community to send a fact-finding
mission as early as possible to
take stock of the prevailing
human rights situation in
occupied Kashmir. They also
hailed the statement of the UN
High Commissioner for Human
Rights wherein he expressed his
deep concern
over the use of
brute force by
Indian state on
peaceful and
unarmed
protesters in
the occupied
territory.
Those who
spoke on the
occasion
included Altaf
Hussain Wani,
Hassan AlBana, Syed
F
a
i
z
Naqshbandi,
Sardar Amjad Youssef Khan,
Ahmed Quraishi and Ali Raza
Syed.
These efforts in Geneva added to
the growing pressure on India
regarding its military occupation
of Kashmir and the rights
violations by Indian army, police
and paramilitary personnel.
India, which worked hard for
years to stop the Kashmir dispute
from being raised at international forums, now faces a
difficult diplomatic environment
where Kashmir is coming at
centre-stage after remaining a
neglected conflict for decades.
OCTOBER 2016

24

Report

Conference at EU Parliament expresses concern over IOK situation

Speakers of an international
conference at European Union
(EU) Parliament on September
27, 2016, expressed serious
concern over the deteriorating
situation of human rights
especially recent wave of state
terrorism in occupied Kashmir.
Kashmir Council European
Union (KCEU) organised the
conference on role of women in
Kashmiris struggle for right to
self-determination. The
conference titled Living under

in Brussels.
Members of EU Parliament,
representatives of different
organisations, a number of
experts and intellectuals from
different parts of the world
including Europe participated
in the conference.
MEP Raja Afzal Khan highlighting the uprising in occupied Kashmir said that both
India and Pakistan were
nuclear powers and Kashmir

Kashmir, Pakistan and India

but also for the whole world.
MEP Dr Sajjad Karim in his
address said that the world
needed to review situation
keenly and give specific
importance to the Kashmir
dispute. Appreciating fresh
stance of European Union on
the dispute, he referred to the
reply given by high representative of the EU to his letter on
situation in occupied Kashmir
and said, It is a significant shift
of EU on Kashmir as Ms
Mogherini insisted over the
participation of Kashmiris in
the peace process.
He said, discernable shift in the
European Unions language
has taken place in the latest
development on the most
recent situation in Kashmir. He
lauded the Friends of Kashmir
Group of the European
Parliament and KCEU for
organising this conference.

occupation - new roles for

Kashmiri women was held in
collaboration with Friends of
Kashmir Group of the
European Parliament at the
premises of the EU Parliament

was a nuclear flashpoint in the

region. He asked the international community to pay
special attention to block a
possible war, which could be
dangerous not only for

Earlier in his welcome address,

the KCEU Chairman, Ali Raza
Syed, said that Indian forces
were involved in grave human
rights violations in occupied
Kashmir. He deplored that on
one hand, Indian forces
personnel were involved in the
OCTOBER 2016

25

Report
worst state terrorism against
the people of Kashmir but on
the other, New Delhi wanted to
suppress the Kashmiris voices
against human rights abuses.
He said that the conference was
one of the series of the events,
which were aimed at creating
awareness about the miseries
and hardships of the people,
particularly women, due to the
Indian occupation.
The conference also focused on
mass rape of women in
Kunanposhpura area of
Kupwara. Over a hundred
women were
raped by
Indian forces
in Kunanposhpora on
the night of
February 23 in
1991. Recorded
interviews of
two of the
authors of the
book, Do You
Remember
Kunanposhpora namely
N a t a s h a
Rather and
Essar Batol were also played in
the conference.
Moderating the first session of
the conference, human rights
activist from Holland, Marjan
Lucas, expressed serious
concern over the arrest of
Khurram Parvez, noted
Kashmiri human rights
defender, by Indian authorities
in occupied Kashmir. She said,
Khurram Parvez was due to
address this conference but he
was stoped from travelling at
Delhi airport and later arrested

under black law, Public Safety

Act (PSA), by the Indian
government. She said, two
other speakers of the conference, Parvez Imroz and
Natasha Rather, from occupied
Kashmir also could not travel to
Brussels due to the prevailing
situation in the occupied
territory. She announced that
Amnesty International would
be approached regarding
current situation in occupied
Kashmir particularly the illegal
detention of Khurram Parvez.
MEP James Carver took keen
interest in the situation in the

occupied territory. In his

speech, he said that this was an
important issue and organising
this gathering was significant
for raising the problem.
Appreciating the conference,
he said, one of the best lobbies is
working in order to raise the
Kashmir dispute at the forum
of European Parliament.
MEP Anthea McIntyre while
hailing the event said, it is
important that a number of
women are also here to raise the
issues of women in occupied

Kashmir. Condemning the

human rights abuses, she said,
EU deplores violence all over
the world including Kashmir.
In her presentation, the expert
on human rights from UK, Ms
Sadia Mir, said, women in
occupied Kashmir were facing
severe hardships but unfortunately India was not allowing
human rights organisations
including the Amnesty
International access to the
occupied territory.
Former member of Belgian
Parliament, Ms Danielle Caron,
prominent
Kashmiri
f e m a l e
figures from
UK, Sumera
F a r o o k ,
Farzana Afzal
and Sabiya
Khan, also
spoke on the
occasion.
During the
conference, it
was also
pointed out
that India
wants to
crush the Kashmiris peaceful
struggle through the use of
brutal force but the Kashmiri
people are determined to
continue their movement till
they achieve freedom from its
illegal occupation of their
homeland.
Member of AJK Assembly and
former minister, Chaudhary
Muhammad Yaseen, and
Chairman of Movement for
Right to Self-Determination,
Raja Nejabat Hussain, also
attended the conference.
OCTOBER 2016

26

Chronology

A chronological account of
developments on Kashmir (122)
By: KMS Research Desk
2013
September 27: Pakistan Prime
Minister, Mohammad Nawaz
Sharif, addressing the UN
General Assembly in New York
says that the World Body needs
to attend to the issue of Jammu
and Kashmir and the
implementation of the right to
self-determination there. He says
that the sufferings of the people
cannot be brushed under the
carpet because of power politics.
He says that the issue of Jammu
and Kashmir was presented to
the Security Council in January
1948 and yet it remains
unresolved after the passage of
nearly seven decades.
The Chairman of International
Chamber for Peace and
Conciliation, Professor Nazir
Ahmed Shawl, along with other
leaders of Kashmiri diaspora
including Raja Zafar Iqbal and
Raja Mohammad Ayub at a
function at the constituency
office of British MP, Steve Baker,
in High Wycombe, UK, present
him a petition signed by around
two thousand constituents of
High Wycombe. The petition
seeks a debate on Kashmir in the
House of Commons. Addressing
on the occasion, Steve Baker
briefs the participants about his
efforts to keep Kashmir in proper
focus in the UK.
September 28: In occupied
Kashmir, Indian police re-arrest
the illegally detained Hurriyet
leader and the Vice Chairman of
Jammu and Kashmir Muslim
League, Masarrat Aalam Butt,

after a court in Bandipora grants

him bail in a false case registered
against him.
In New York, a large number of
Kashmiris including women and
children stage a demonstration
in front of the UN building when
Indian Prime Minister,
Manmohan Singh, addresses the

memorandum to the office of the

UN Secretary General,
expressing appreciation for Ban
Ki-moon's offer that he is ready
to play role in the settlement of
the Kashmir dispute if India and
Pakistan agree to mediation of
the World Body.
October 2: Prominent

UN General Assembly. Shouting

slogans like We want freedom
from India, the demonstrators
carry placards calling upon the
UN Secretary General, Ban Kimoon, to implement the
resolutions of the World Body
that have promised the right to
self-determination to the
Kashmiri people. They call for an
end to the Indian state terrorism
in occupied Kashmir. The
speakers reject Indian Prime
Minister's claim that Kashmir is
an integral part of India, saying
that the relevant UN resolutions
explicitly state that it is a
disputed territory. The
demonstrators also submit a

intellectuals, chief editors and

men of letters from Pakistan in a
function organised by the All
Parties Hurriyet Conference
Azad Jammu and Kashmir
(APHC-AJK) chapter at its office
in Islamabad thoroughly discuss
the Kashmir situation and
Kashmiris' ongoing liberation
struggle. They express serious
concern over the gross human
rights violations being
perpetrated by Indian police and
troops in occupied Kashmir.
October 3: Indian police attack
the government employees
when they conduct a candlelight
march towards the official
residence of the puppet Chief

KASHMIR INSIGHT

OCTOBER 2016

27

Chronology
Minister, Omar Abdullah, to
protest the anti-people policies of
the regime. The police also detain
several top leaders of Joint
Consultative Committee during
the march.
October 5: Indian troops, in their
fresh act of state terrorism,
martyr four Kashmiri youth at
Fateh Galli in Keran area of
Kupwara district.
October 6: Indian authorities
stop Jammu and Kashmir
Liberation Front Chairman,
Muhammad Yasin Malik, at New
Delhi airport and prevent him
from proceeding towards
Kathmandu to meet his minor
daughter and wife in Nepal.
Mohammad Yasin Malik reaches
Delhi to leave for Nepal after his
wife is denied visa by Indian
High Commissioner in
Islamabad. Later, addressing a
press conference in Srinagar, the
JKLF Chairman says that such
tactics cannot stop the Kashmiris
from continuing their liberation
struggle.

October 8: In occupied Kashmir,

the Home Ministry in a written
reply in the so-called Legislative
Assembly of the territory says
that as many as 20,078 cases of
rape and molestation have been
registered against the Indian
Army and police personnel in the
territory since 1989. It says that

from 1989 to 2013, a total of 5,125

cases of rape and 14,953 cases of
molestation have been
registered. However, conviction
is awarded in 579 cases only
while 159 rape and 557
molestation cases are still under
investigation.
October 9: The Indian chapter of
an Indo-Pak lobby group
questions the accession of
Kashmir to India and calls it a
disputed region. The Mumbai
wing of the
Pakistan
I n d i a
Peoples'
Forum for
Peace and
Democracy
(PIPFPD) in
a statement
calls for
w i t h drawal of
I n d i a n
Army from
occupied
Kashmir. The group describes
Pakistan as a "serious victim of
terrorism". PIPFPD is known for
seeking freedom for Indian and
Pakistani prisoners held in each
other's jails. It also facilitates
exchanges and meetings
between journalists, artistes and

intellectuals of the two countries.

October 10: A report issued by
the Research Section of Kashmir
Media Service on the occasion of
World Mental Health Day
reveals that in the wake of Indian
state terrorism, the number of
mental patients in occupied
Kashmir has crossed the one
hundred thousand mark. The
report maintains that the human
rights violations by Indian troops
including beatings, torture,
illegal arrests, enforced
disappearances and extrajudicial killings have adversely
affected the local psyche. The
majority of the psychiatric
patients are women as they are
the worst victims of the Indian
state terrorism.
The Association of Parents of
Disappeared Persons during a
silent protest in Srinagar calls
upon the United Nations to set
up a team to monitor human
rights violations and enforced
disappearances in occupied
Kashmir. The event is attended
by parents and relatives of the
people who have been subjected
to custodial disappearance by
Indian troops and police
personnel during the last twenty
four years.

Compiled by: Showkat Ali

To be continued...

KASHMIR INSIGHT

OCTOBER 2016

28

Beauty Thy Name is

Leh the Capital of Ladakh

Leh, the capital of Ladakh, is
situated at a height of 3,505
meters above the sea level and is
located in the eastern parts of
Jammu and Kashmir. The region
is watered by the Zanskar River,
which flows into the Indus River
just below. Spilling out of a side
valley that tapers north towards
eroded snow-capped peaks, Leh
sprawls from the foot of a ruined
Tibetan-style palace - a maze of
mud-brick and concrete flanked
on one side by cream-coloured
desert and by a swathe of lush
irrigated farmland on the other.
As one approaches
Leh for the first time
via the sloping seep
of dust and pebbles
that divide it from
the floor of the
Indus Valley,
he/she will have no
difficulty in
imagining how the
o l d t r a n s Himalayan traders
must have felt as
they plodded in on
the caravan routes
from Yarkhand and
Tibet; a mixture of
relief at having crossed the
mountains and anticipation of a
relaxing spell in one of central
Asia's most scenic and
atmospheric towns. Leh is a
beautiful destination with so
many attractions and is the
center of Tibeto-Buddhist culture
since ages. Its colourful gompas
have attracted the devout
Buddhists from all over the
globe. Besides, it is also a
favourite hiking locale and is
known for some of the best hikes
in the region.
History of Leh
King Sengge Namgyal who ruled

Ladakh during 17th century and

during whose rule Ladakh was at
its greatest, shifted his court from
Shey to Leh. Leh became the
regional capital and very soon
the town blossomed into one of
the busiest markets on the Silk
Route. During the 1920s and
1930s, the broad bazaar, which
still exists, received more than a
dozen pony and camel trains
each day.
Leh's prosperity, managed
mainly by the Muslim merchants
whose descendants live in its
labyrinthine old quarter, came to

an abrupt end with the closure of

the Chinese border in the 1950s.
However its fortunes began to
look up after India rediscovered
its hitherto forgotten strategic
value after two wars in quick
succession with Pakistan. Today,
Indian troops and their families
from the nearby military and air
force bases are the mainstay of
the local economy in winter
when foreign visitors are few and
far between.
Leh and tourism
Indian government's decision in
1974 to open Ladakh to foreign
tourists was a major shake-up.
From the start, Leh bore the brunt

of the annual invasion, as

busloads of backpackers poured
up the road Srinagar. Forty or so
years on, though the main
approach is now via Himachal
Pradesh rather than Kashmir, the
summer influx shows no sign of
abating.
Leh has doubled in size and is a
far cry from the sleepy
Himalayan town of the early
1970s. During July and August,
tourists stroll shoulder to
shoulder down its main street,
most of whose old style outfitters
and provision stores have been
squeezed out by
K a s h m i r i
handicraft
shops, art
emporiums and
T i b e t a n
restaurants.
Around the
Town
Leh has retained
a more tranquil
side and is a
pleasant place to
unwind after a
l o n g b u s
j o u r n e y .
Attractions in
and around the town include the
former Palace, Namgyal Tsemo
Gompa, and strings of prayer
flags above the narrow dusty
streets of the old quarter, the
small monastery of Sankar
harbors accomplished modern
Tantric murals, and a thousand
beaded Avalokitesvara (also
spelt as Avalokiteshvara) deity.
Leh is also a good base for longer
day trips to the Indus Valley.
Among the string of picturesque
villages and gompas within
reach by bus are Shey, site of a
derelict 17th century palace, and
the spectacular Tikse Gompa.
OCTOBER 2016

29

Literature
Once upon a time there lived in a
village two brothers named
Panzuv and Manut. Both were
in their twenties and their father
had died not long ago. Though
in no affluent circumstances,
they could afford two meals a
day and were not regarded poor.
Their father had been a
thrifty peasant who
looked after his land as
carefully as after his
children and died with
the satisfaction that his
sons had been provided
with almost everything
necessary. In a village
where the assistance of
solicitors is not available, it takes the
survivors a few weeks
to get into the proper
stride of domestic
business. Accounts
have to be settled with
various types of
tradesmen, with
landlords and with
neighbours. Changes in
the revenue records
have to be entered as
regards ownership of
land. The two brothers
were thus preoccupied
with these pressing
matters for two or three
months. Knotty
problems, however,
cannot last till eternity
and before long the two
brothers heaved a sigh
of relief that they had
settled their affairs to their entire
satisfaction. They were now free
to attend to the most important
problem and that was matrimony. The daughter-in-law is
regarded as the corner-stone of
the family in the East, the only
link that perpetuates the race. It
is through the help of this boat
that we can bridge the wide gulf
between the past and the future.

Panzuv and Manut were

provided with every material
necessity but their mother was
anxious that she should have a
couple of daughters-in-law too.
Panzuv was the elder of the two
and in a couple of weeks the

to marriage but he was bashful

and inexperienced. The news of
his wedding within three days
set his heart a-throbbing and his
imagination afire. He did not
know how to meet the situation;
to make preparation for the
usual feast, purchase garments
for himself and presents for his bride. He
was thus at sixes and
sevens. But his mother
came to his help and
she directed the affairs.
Under her advice
Panzuv the elder of the
sons and the wouldbe bridegroom was
to hold the fort at home
while Manut, the
younger one, was to go
to the town only a few
miles off and purchase
various commodities
like sugar, oil and salt. It
was quite acceptable to
both the brothers, this
division of labour.
Early in the morning on
the wedding day
Manut started for the
town. He expected to be
back within a few
hours. He did not
return by the afternoon.
His elder brother
inquired about him but
his mother assured
him: "He is surely on his
way back here." He did
not come back even by
the hour for mid-day
prayers. Preparations for the
wedding feast were afoot but
Manut could not be seen. The
anxiety of Panzuv, all too
excusable, knew no bounds.
Even their mother could not
hide her deep concern. "Something is surely wrong with him,"
she said. But what could be
wrong? Panzuv had not to cross
any torrential stream, nor was

Two Brothers
A Kashmiri
Folktale

match-makers conveyed to the

mother the happy tidings that
the proposal of a matrimonial
alliance had been acceptable by
a farmer in a neighbouring
village between his daughter
and Panzuv and that the
wedding was to be solemnised
within three days. Luck had
befriended Panzuv at double
quick march. He was not averse

OCTOBER 2016

30

Literature
there any danger of wild beasts
pouncing upon him. Her anxiety
for the person of Manut was not
shared by anyone else. All the
same there was great concern as
the wedding hour was
approaching. It was nearing
evening and the wedding guests
were arriving. "Woe is me, for I
cannot entertain them even with
a cup of tea. This silly Manut has
got neither sugar nor salt. He is
such a slothful young man. I
wish I had never asked him to go
to the town."
"You can never be sure of how
another man may handle your
affairs," rejoined a neighbour.
"There is a well-known saying
'Whatever I could not attend to
personally, there I begot only
daughters!"'
While the elder brother, his soul
already hovering over the
wedding ceremonials, was thus
repenting his indiscretion in
having entrusted the purchases
to his slothful younger brother,
their mother persuaded a boy of
the neighbouring family to run
in the direction of the town and
see what happened to poor
Manut. This boy had not gone
far when he spied the younger
brother whom he halloed. In
short, both of them were safely
back within a few minutes now.
The elder brother whose
wedding was to take place
within an hour was seized with
fear when he found Manut
freely swinging his arms. But he
never even suspected anything
and his first reaction was that
perhaps he had engaged a coolie
to carry the load of commodities.
It was, however, soon clear to
him that there was no such
coolie.
"Where are the articles
purchased, pray?" he asked.

The other replied, "While I was

coming back from the town
loaded with salt, oil and sugar,
the sun beat hot upon me and I
felt very thirsty. I felt my tongue
parched and I was panting.
When I reached the farm of our
departed father, I found it had
fared worse. It had parched and
cracked into a hundred crevices.
I could not help recalling to
mind how our poor father
nursed it with his life-blood and
how he would sweat in the hot
sun for it. I took pity on it in the
name of our beloved father and
poured oil into the crevices so as
to save it from absolute ruin.
Haven't I done well?"
Panzuv stood aghast. "How can
the guests be fed?" he exclaimed.
"And where is the sugar?" asked

someone else.
"I was thirsty and I came to the
fountain by the roadside to slake
my thirst," replied Manut. "I
tasted it and oh! the water was
extremely sour, I tell you. I put
some sugar into it and its taste
seemed to improve. I put more
and more till the whole quantity
was dropped. And when I drank
the water, it was excellent. The
passers-by who may go to the
fountain to slake their thirst will
indeed bless me and our
departed ancestors."
He had likewise left the block of
salt in a field for the cattle to lick.
Panzuv felt the earth slipping
from under his feet. He held his
head firmly with both his hands
lest it burst.
OCTOBER 2016

31

Feedback

Letters to Editor
Use of pellet guns
Dear editor, the number of the
people being injured due to the
firing of pellet guns in occupied
Kashmir continues to rise as
Indian troops and police
personnel keep on using this
lethal weapon indiscriminately
on peaceful protesters.
Thousands of youth have
sustained serious pellet injuries
during the anti-India
demonstrations since the
extrajudicial murder of top
freedom-fighter, Burhan Wani,
on July 8, this year, and hundreds
of them have lost the eyesight in
one or both eyes. India had
introduced the pellet gun in
occupied Kashmir during the
mass uprising in 2010 and since
then, many people have fallen
victim to this deathly weapon
besides injuring of thousands still Indian authorities describe it
as non-lethal.
If the data on the extent of deaths
and disabilities that are
occurring due to these guns are
considered, the occupation
authorities must stop their use
forthwith. During the
demonstrations in 2010, besides
the killing of some people, at
least 45 youth suffered loss of
vision because of pellet injuries.
This number must be a tip of the
iceberg. Pellet guns fire a large
number of small pellets
spreading over a wide range,
injuring both demonstrators and
bystanders. So this practice
needs to be ended.
Thanks
Qadeer Ali
Karachi

Genocide of Kashmiris
Dear editor, India has been
committing genocide of the
Kashmiris in a planned manner
for the past almost seven decades

and this phenomenon has

witnessed an alarming increase
from the past few months. India
through its military might is
crushing and muzzling the
peaceful voices of the people of
occupied Kashmir. The incidents
of killings, arrests, custodial
disappearances, extrajudicial
executions, destruction of
properties and rape of women
are a routine matter in the
occupied territory where Indian
forces are perpetrating the worst
human rights violations due to
the impunity given to them
under black laws. The
withdrawal of Indian forces from
occupied Kashmir is imperative
for ensuring peace not only in the
territory but also in the region.
Sameer Ahmed
London

Nawaz Sharif and Kashmir

Dear editor, the efforts of
Pakistani Prime Minister,
Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, for
resolution of the Kashmir
dispute are laudable and during
his visit to the US and address to
the UN General Assembly, he
highlighted the sufferings of the
people of occupied Kashmir very
effectively. We, as Kashmiris,
thank the Government and
people of Pakistan for their
continued moral, political and
diplomatic support to the
Kashmir cause.
Mohammad Nawaz Sharif
apprised the global community
of the ongoing Indian brutalities
in occupied Kashmir and
reminded the world that more
than six decades ago, the UN
passed resolutions for holding a
plebiscite in Jammu and
Kashmir and Kashmiris are still
waiting for fulfillment of that
promise.
Many generations of Kashmiris

have lived their lives under

brutal occupation accompanied
by violence and abuse of their
fundamental rights. Kashmiri
women, in particular, have
undergone immense suffering
and humiliation. Pakistan's
support and advocacy of the
right to self-determination of the
people of Jammu and Kashmir is
its historic commitment and a
duty as a party to the Kashmir
dispute. The core issue of Jammu
and Kashmir has to be resolved
and it is the responsibility of the
international community to play
its role in achieving this
objective.
Sabeen Qureshi
Srinagar

Kashmir and Pak-India

relations
Dear editor, Pakistan wants good
relations with all its neighbours
including India but New Delhi's
unrealistic approach has been a
big impediment in realisation of
this dream. The Kashmir
dispute, which is the unfinished
agenda of the creation of
Pakistan, can be resolved by
giving the Kashmiri people an
opportunity to decide their fate
by themselves through a
plebiscite held under the
supervision of the United
Nations. It is a reality that
thinking about normalisation of
relations between Pakistan and
India without settling the
Kashmir conflict is nothing but
self-deception.
India must give up its
intransigent attitude and
reciprocate Pakistan's efforts for
settlement of the lingering
dispute for the sake of peace,
prosperity and development of
the region and the world at large.
Salman Sheikh
Dubai

KASHMIR INSIGHT

OCTOBER 2016

32

Atrocities by Indian troops

(January 1989 to September 30, 2016)

Total killings

94,548

Custodial killings

7,073

Civilians arrested

137,469

Structures destroyed/damaged

107,043

Women widowed

22,826

Children orphaned

107,591

Women gangraped/molested

10,717
Including custodial killings
Source: Kashmir Media Service (www.kmsnews.org)

Reminder to New Delhi!

He was your leader; Congress is your party ...
But his promise is yet to be fulfilled

"If, after a proper plebiscite, the people of Kashmir said, 'we do not want to be with
India', we are committed to accept it though it might pain us. We will not send an army
against them. We will accept that, however hurt we might feel about it, we will change
the Constitution, if necessary.
"India is a great country and Kashmir is almost in the heart of Asia. There is an
enormous difference not only geographically but in all kinds of facts there. Do you
think (in dealing with Kashmir) you are dealing with a part of UP or Bihar or Gujrat?

(Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehrus statement in

Indian Parliament, June 26, 1952)

All Parties Hurriyet Conference Azad Jammu And Kashmir

P. O. Box No. 2617, GPO Islamabad.
Ph: 0092-51-4861457, Fax: 0092-51-4861458 (Islamabad)
0092-5822-432344 (Muzaffarabad)
Email: kashmirinsight@yahoo.com