Kashmir Pact' Mir Pact'

112 deaths Curfewed Valley. APD visit LADAKH Profile of new LAHDC members 8-Point Formula J & K IN 2011: A FORECAST Commentary on Language, Education AFFAIRS Suicide Bomber In Muzaffarabad Kills Five Soldiers r 112 deaths Back to Schools y. APD visit J&K'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE ISSN : 0974-5653 Curfewed Valley. APD visit Interlocutors a 8-Point Formula Rs 9,000 Cr for Jammu-Srinaga r In Muzaffarabad Kills Five Sol- t Suicide Bomber In Muzaffarabad Kills Highway 80 KM Mughal Road ready Five Soldiers RY ols Delhi's pre-turmoil feelers Back to Schools t Geelani Interlocutors HIGH INTRUSION BIDS IN JANUA for Jammu-Srinagar Highway n Rs 9,000 Cr for Jammu-Srinagar Embarrassing Padma award con al Road ready a Highway versy turmoil feelers to Geelani 80 KM Mughal Road ready Omar's idea to facilitate retur ION BIDSEpilogue IN JANUARY S Delhi's pre-turmoil feelers to youths from PaK gets Chidambr g Padma award controversy t n N E W S , C U R R E N TGeelani A F F A I R S, S O C I A Lsupport S C I E N C E S to facilitate return of youths from Avalanche Kills 17 Soldiers a HIGH INTRUSION BIDS IN JANUARY dambram's support Stone Disgrace: 11-day-old lef Embarrassing Padma award controversy Can't keep J&K hostage to g e Kills 17 Soldiers Omar's idea to facilitate return of youths pelters a grace: 11-day-old left dead from PaK gets Chidambram's support Cross-LoC trade: Scaling hei ep J&K hostage to stone pelters Demand for special industriO Avalanche Kills 17 Soldiers oC trade: Scaling heights age Stone Disgrace: 11-day-old left dead d for special industrial package Militancy fallout: 97000 le Can't keep J&K hostage to stone pelters y fallout: 97000 Orphans, 32000 Wid- 32000 Widows Cross-LoC trade: Scaling heights 219 Kashamiri Pandits Kile Demand for special industrial package 1989 ashamiri Pandits Killed Since 1989 Over 1.38 lakh cases und Militancy fallout: 97000 Orphans, , 1.38 lakh cases under Roshni. Contours Contours of 'Kashmir Pact' mir Pact'. Baglihar dispute resolved. PM's 32000 Widows dispute resolved. PM's Rs.1e 219 Kashamiri Pandits Killed Since 1989 00-crore Sops For J&K Sops For J&K securitymen injured in three months Over 1.38 lakh cases under Roshni 4000 securitymen injur o Contours of 'Kashmir Pact' months akh peaks opened to foreigners Baglihar dispute resolved Ladakh peaks opened t t Cross-LoC survey on future of Kashmir First Cross-LoC survey PM's Rs.1,000-crore Sops For J&K n m grieved more than anyone else KASHMIR Kashmir 4000 securitymen injured in three h t Kashmir issue on hold: PaK PM I am grieved more tha months 0 &K to Generate 20,000 MW From Solar En- Put Kashmir issue on Ladakh peaks opened to foreigners J&K to Generate 20, y By 2020 JAMMU & e First Cross-LoC survey on future of ing awarded writer in Residence Solar Energy By 2020 c a Taing awarded writ Kashmir d Rs 1.7 Crore IT notice to Geelani Rs 1.7 Crore IT noti I am grieved more than anyone else m Kashmir eruption dueAnnual to failure on harnessing Kashmir eruption Put Kashmir issue on hold: PaK PM t ins: Army harnessing gains: Ar J&K to Generate 20,000 MW From Deoband: J&K's future best with India Deoband: J&K's fu Review Solar Energy By 2020 Water tax: J&K to make Rs 850 Crores 2 0 1 0dia Taing awarded writer in Residence Water tax: J&K Faces behind Kashmir's street rage h THE Rs 1.7YEAR Crore IT noticeTHAT to Geelani WASCrores HORTICULTURE EXPORTS DOWN BY 30% Kashmir eruption due to failure on Faces behind KasE Special task forces for Jammu, Ladakh harnessing gains: Army HORTICULTURE o INDIA TODAY SURVEY, Despite troubles, J&K im- Deoband: J&K's future best with India 30% Special task f proves performance ranking Water tax: J&K to make Rs 850 Crores Y 43,000 odd jobs Ladakh Faces behind Kashmir's street rage INDIA TODAm Controversy over private Universities HORTICULTURE EXPORTS DOWN BY 30% troubles, J&K i Stephen Schwebel Heads Kishanganga Arbitra- Special task forces for Jammu, ranking b tion Court Ladakh 43,000 odd jo o

Jammu Regd.No.JK-350.2009IIwww.epilogue.in 4 / Issue 12 Price Rs.30 II Postal Jammu, December 01,2010 / Vol basmati qualifies for exports INDIA TODAY SURVEY, Despite Controversy Gulmarg among 7 top ski resorts of Asia. troubles, J&K improves performance ties Jammu basmati qualifies for exports marg among 7 top ski resorts of Asia. ranking dd jobs te Universi- Gul 43 000 o er priva

1 Epilogue because there is more to know

C O N T E N T

Editor Zafar Iqbal Choudhary PROLOGUE -3 Goodbye 2010 Publisher Yogesh Pandoh COLUMN -44 History Consulting Editor D. Suba Chandran EXCLUSIVE SERIES -46 Manu Srivastsa New Research on Kashmir

Associate Editors Irm Amin Baig LADAKH AFFAIRS -48 • Tsewang Rigzin Lahdc Elections • Zorawar Singh Jamwal Language • Education General Manager Kartavya Pandoh E p i l o g u e CHRONOLOGY -55 Vol 4, Issue 12 Research Officer • Militancy in 2010 Raman Sharma December 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW: 2010 7 - 26 Phones & email 3 - 5 • 112 deaths FORECAST: 2011 Office : +91 191 2493136 • Editorial: +91 94191 80762 Curfewed Valley • APD visit • Panchayat Elections Administration: +91 94191 82518 • 8-Point Formula • Problems of Jammu and Ladakh [email protected] • Back to Schools [email protected] • Interlocutors • The House of Elders • 80 KM Mughal Road ready • • • Mughal Road Printed and Published by Delhi's pre-turmoil feelers to Geelani • Kashmir Resolution Plan Yogesh Pandoh for Epilogue • Embarrassing Padma award • Dialogue NewsCraft from Ibadat House, • controversy • Madrasa Lane, Near Graveyard, • Avalanche Kills 17 Soldiers Headcount • Bathindi Top, Jammu, J&K - 180012 Stone Disgrace: 11-day-old left • Cross-LoC Connections dead and Printed at : DEE DEE • • Cross-LoC trade: Scaling heights Transparency, Accountability Reprographix, 3 Aikta Ashram, New • Demand for special industrial • Jobs Rehari Jammu (J&K) package • • Over 1.38 lakh cases under New Administrative Chief

Disputes, if any, subject to Roshni • Contours of 'Kashmir Pact' jurisdiction of courts and competitive • Baglihar dispute resolved tribunals in Jammu only. • PM's Rs.1,000-crore Sops For J&K • 4000 securitymen injured in three months RNI : JKENG/2007/26070 • ISN : 00974-5653 Ladakh peaks opened to foreigners Price : Rs 30 • First Cross-LoC survey on future of Kashmir

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4 Issus 12 Epilogue, December 2010

PROLOGUE 3

Goodbye 2010

ZAFAR CHOUDHARY

e are at threshold of New Year, an occasion when people usually take Wstock of what happened in immediate past and how things could best shape up in future. In Jammu and Kashmir, looking back at 2010 is all a horrendous experience and therefore looking forward to 2011 does not give much of hope. When scenario is such dismal things are not left to the times alone. To hope for the best in the future one must look at the past for quick introspection and learning. 2010 was one of the most eventful years in Jammu and Kashmir, mostly for all the wrong reasons. 112 precious lives lost for nothing was a series of most traumatic events of the year. No one would want to die so cheap and no one would like to kill so JANUARU 2007 freely. This cycle of protests and killings must stop and the only way of putting an end to this is opening dialogue with various shades of opinion and addressing genuine grievances of the youths who are clearly restless. After so JANUARY 2008 much of deaths destructions the Government of India has opened a system of dialogue through interlocutors. This exercise must be taken to a logical conclusion on whatever cost it takes. Failure of this interlocution process is bound to inject further disappointment and more restlessness in future. In this yearend issue of Epilogue we have tried to bring a recap of the year for our readers. The review section is collection of important happenings of the year. There is also a section on selections from national and international press. Some of the opinions and analyses picked from the international press are not quite in JANUARY 2009 sync with our editorial thinking but we thought of reproducing them in this issue so that readers get to know how world thinking about Jammu and Kashmir is shaping up. JANUARY 2010 4 FORECAST J & K IN 2010 J&K in 2011: A Political Forecast

EPILOGUE BUREAU

Jammu and Kashmir is going through bad times for last few years and 2010 was the worst of them all. As we step into the year, the past precedent does not offer much hope for 2011. However, some processes already set into motion are expected to bring in some change in the way we look at things and in the way we look at a future. Here is a glossary of some events and developments likely to take place in 2011.

Panchayat Elections

olding Panchayat elections at earliest possible occasion was a major point elections of 2008 and Lok Sabha elec- in the 2008 election manifesto of both National Conference and the Con tions of 2009 saw huge and unprec- Hgress, the parties which later formed the ruling coalition in Jammu and edented participation of candidates try- Kashmir. Soon after formation of coalition government in January 2009, the state, ing their electoral fortunes. Political with rest of the country, went to Lok Sabha elections. Later that year some scientists are of the opinion that due complacency, some lack of will and some political reasons delayed the Panchayat to absence of opportunities at smaller elections. Much of 2009 was violent and politically unstable. One couldn't have level for giving vent to aspirations large thought of a democratic political exercise in 2010 even as Panchayat elections number of people take part in Assembly were briefly thought as a potential attention diverter for an escape route from and Lok Sabha elections and lead of di- Kashmir turmoil. At the face of it a serious exercise, involving overhaul of elec- vision of votes. Panchayat elections can toral rolls, is going on as part of preparations for Panchayat elections which are really assimilate those aspirations and likely to be held somewhere between early to mid of 2011. Panchayat elections, offer people platform to compete and if held fairly, can prove to be a major political game changer in troubled Jammu play meaningful role in the democratic and Kashmir. Denial of democratic space and refusal to share power with the spaces. 2011 is the year expected to peoples at grassroots has often been described as one of the major reasons for change the political landscape first time unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the valley. Therefore, the critics of self after 1970s. Panchayat elections were rule proposal of the Peoples Democratic Party and autonomy model of the National first held after a staggering gap of 23 Conference are not wrong enough when they say Panchayati Raj can be real em- years in 2001 but Panchayats were never powerment of the people and answer to many protracted problems. The Assembly empowered to play any role.

Problems of Jammu and Ladakh The House of Elders

wo of the three geographical divisions of Jammu and Kashmir, the Jammu he patterns of political repre and Ladakh have historically complained of developmental and political dis sentation in the upper cham Tcriminations. As a part of wider political engagements with various sec- ber of legislature will change tions of peoples in Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of India constituted, on T substantially as eight seats of the October 13, two Special Task Forces for studying development needs of Jammu Legislative Council are falling and Ladakh regions. While Abhijit Sen, a Planning Commission member, leads a task force on Jammu, Narendra Jadhav, another Planning Commission member, vacant. The process to fill up eight is the chairperson of the team on Ladakh. The two task forces have been consti- vacancies shall take place in Febru- tuted keeping in view the immediate objectives to maintain peace and order ary-Match 2011. Notable among and defuse the situation through confidence building measures. The decision on those who are retiring next is the forming of three task forces was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee Deputy Chairman of Legislative on Security headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 25. The Council, Arvinder Singh Mickey. If terms and references of the two task forces would be to identify the special Panchayat elections are held in early development needs of the region and suggest measures to address them and to 2011, the coming year will throw up examine allocations to the regions in terms of infrastructure needs. They will four more vacancies in the Legisla- make suitable recommendations to overcome the deficiencies. The task forces tive Council. The Upper House of have been given three months to submit their reports. Recommendations of the J&K Legislature has strength of these task forces are likely to be known by January or February 2011. This is for first time when the basis of grievances of Jammu and Ladakh will be known 36 members while four seats to be after a scientific study. Interestingly, the high profile State Finance Commission filled by the members of the which submitted its report to the Chief Minister in December 2010, suggested Panchayats have been perpetually that discrimination allegations in Jammu and Ladakh had no valid basis as some vacant in absence of the elected districts in Jammu were far more development than many districts of Kashmir. Panchayats. FORECAST 5 J & K IN 2010

Mughal Road

hief Minister Omar Abdullah has already taken a trial and a car Crally made a successful circuit. Kashmiris apples made way to Rajouri and Poonch markets in 2010 and pas- senger cabs ferried adventurous passengers across Pir Panjal mountain ranges. 2011 is likely to see formal commissioning of the Mughal Road which carries more political meanings to Jammu and Kashmir than the infrastructural development. Mughal Road, once taken by the Mughals to Poshana, Chattapani, Peer Ki Gali, Aliabad, Zaznar, Dubjan, Heerpora and reach Kashmir, is the road between Shopian. The road was historically used by Moghul emperors to travel and Bafliaz, a town in the Poonch district, conquer Kashmir during the sixteenth century. It was the route used by Akbar to Shopian district in south of the the Great to conquer Kashmir in 1586, and his son Emperor Jahangir died Kashmir valley. The road is 84km while returning from Kashmir on this road near Rajouri. The new road was long, it passes over Pir Panjal Moun- proposed in the 1950s, with the intention of improving the economy of Poonch tain range, at altitude of 11,500 ft and Rajouri districts. Then Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah had taken up this (3505 m), that is higher than Banihal project in 1979 and named it "Mughal Road", but it came to halt as militancy pass (2832 m). The road brings the took over. Bafliaz Bridge on the road was blown up by the militants. The Poonch and Rajouri district closer to construction of the prestigious project was started in 2005 with a target of Srinagar in Kashmir valley. The dis- completion in March 2007 and an estimated cost of Rs 255 crores. The road tance between Srinagar and Poonch cuts through Hirpora wildlife sanctuary. Initially, there was opposition to the will be reduced from 588km to construction of the road because it would fragment the wildlife and inhibit 126km. It makes for alternate road movement of animals, especially the endangered Markhor goat in the region. route to Kashmir valley from rest of Also, opponents claimed the road will get early snowfall in winter and hence will India, other than over-crowded not serve as an alternate route to existing Jammu-Srinagar highway. Finally Jammu-Srinagar Highway through Supreme Court gave conditional permission for the construction of the road. Banihal Tunnel (National Highway The construction work was almost completed in 2010 it is proposed to be open 1A). The road passes through Buffliaz, to traffic by summer of 2011.

Kashmir Resolution Plan Dialogue

ashmir issue is such complicated and protracted that many powerful track-II initiative between In leaders and statesmen could not come close to a formula which dia and Pakistan in its recent meeting Kcould have been acceptable to all. In search of a lasting solution Ain Dubai strongly recommended for re- the conflict has been lingering on for more than six decades. Ruthless sumption of dialogue between New Delhi and killing of 112 persons during the street protests of summer 2010 is Islamabad to focus, among other issues, on reflection of the danger that Kashmir issues poses to peace and Kashmir issue. Both countries have already security in the region. Following a unprecedented protests of 2010, indicated willingness to engage on the out- the Government of India has deputed a team of three interlocutors to standing issues. A dialogue between New find out a solution to Kashmir issue. . To believe that they will be able Delhi and Kashmiri separatists is also likely to come up with a solution to Kashmir issue which is acceptable to all to be revived. Sources aware of the devel- would be a little unrealistic. Had a lasting issue to such a protracted opments claim that the Government of In- issue been so simple and easy, someone would long back have pock- eted a Nobel Prize for peace. However, what they tell us about their dia is likely to add a political heavyweight understanding of Kashmir issues is something worth waiting for. After to the three-member panel of interlocutors all, the Government of India has claimed that this is the most serious to engage with the separatists. The recur- exercise in finding out Kashmir solution. Interlocutors are currently ring eruption in Kashmir is widely believed engaged with different shades of opinions in Jammu and Kashmir and to be an outcome of an absence of institu- their initial term of references is for one year. In October 2010 they tional dialogue. Resumption of dialogue is are likely to unveil what they think of Kashmir issue and what they expected to restore some confidence among propose for resolution. the disappointed lot in Kashmir. Headcount

long with rest of country, the decadal census operation in Jammu and Kashmir took off in early 2010 and the headcount is likely to be completed by early 2011. Provisional population statistics shall be known by March 2011 Awhich would become a basis for fresh planning and, of course, add to the political debates on who is in what numbers. According to last census survey of 2001 the total population of Jammu and Kashmir was given at 10143700 which was 29.43 percent up of estimated census population of 1991. 24.81 percent of total population was urban. In 2001, Jammu and Kashmir's total population was calculated at 0.98 percent of total population of India.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 11 Epilogue, November 2010 6 FORECAST J & K IN 2010

Cross-LoC Connections Transparency, Accountability

ransparency and accountability in public life has been a politi Tcal buzzword in Jammu and Kashmir since then beginning of present century when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of Peoples Demo- cratic Party sought vote to end the alleged corrupt regime of National Conference headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah. Through his artistically drawn election campaign, Mufti made a majority of people to believe that corruption was the most seri- n the separatist political mainland sources privy to some developments ous problem in Jammu and Kashmir of Kashmir, the confidence build in New Delhi are to be believed, the and the real Azadi could be achieved Iing measures like trade and travel Cross-LoC trade is expected to see a through a transparent and account- across the Line of Control are seen major push in 2011. On the list of able system. Delivering towards his diversionary tactics to shift attention hope could be revision of the list of this commitment, he acted fast to for the 'main issue'. This opinion not- tradable items, banking, enhanced enact legislations for an Account- withstanding, the Cross-LoC travel communication, easy travel for reg- ability Commission and an Informa- which came into operation in 2005 istered traders and enhanced facilities tion Commission. While the Ac- and the Cross-LoC trade, launched in at trade facilitation centres. countability Commission died an 2008, are making enormous contri- In another initiative towards enhanc- embarrassing death in little over a bution in helping the divided fami- ing Cross-LoC connections, the Univer- year after its birth, the Informa- lies meet. Originally pushed by Atal sity of Jammu has offered reserve 30 tion Commission is yet to see the Behari Vajpayee and Pervez percent seats at its Poonch campus for day of the light. Omar Abdullah is Musharraf, the Cross-LoC trade is students from Pakistan administered third Chief Minister after Mufti and believed to be an issue close to the Kashmir. A proposal to this effect has on issues of transparency and ac- heart of Prime Minister Manmohan been formally sent to the Prime countability people expect more Singh who has shown keen interest Minister's Office and this is expected from him. He is apparently not too in its launch and promotion. If the to be okayed somewhere in 2011. keen on Accountability Commission but State Information Commission seems to be an issue of prestige Jobs for Omar Abdullah. Three scheduled meetings for selecting a Chief Com- n July 2010 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a job package of missioner for the State Commission 50,000 vacancies for the unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir. A month had to be put off at different times Ilater, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced another matching package. in 2010 for various reasons. It is ex- A panel to recommend creation of jobs has already been constituted by the pected that Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister. The Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Policy for Youth, inches towards transparency in flagship programme of Omar Abdullah government is also taking off. Put 2011 with State Information Com- together 2011 could be the year of jobs. mission formally coming to life.

New Administrative Chief

he incumbent Chief Secretary SS Kapur is retiring by January 31. He had taken over the top administrative post from BR Kundal on June 9, 2008. The Omar Abdullah Government was reportedly keen about Parvez Dewan, an TIAS officer of J&K cadre and Naveed Masud, an IAS officer of Union Territory cadre as possible successors of Kapur but none of the ideas is reported to have materialised. Dewan, a noted writer and chronicler, is presently Chairman of the India Tourism Development Corporation based at New Delhi. He was on a yearlong study leave abroad which ended on December 1. Sources claimed that Dewan is not 'too inclined' to take the assignment of Chief Secre- tary which is a pressing job. It is learnt that Naveed Masood, who was the next possible choice for the Omar Abdullah Government has not expressed any interest in taking assignment of the Chief Secretary. Next in seniority to Kapur is Samuel Varghese who is also retiring around same time. Next to Verghese is Madhav Lal, presently on central deputation and posted as Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner in the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises. Madhav is not being considered for the top bureaucratic post as he has a reputation of being too slow in decision making. At fourth number in seniority is Anil Goswani whose chances of taking over as next Chief Secretary appear very bright if Kapur is not granted extension, which is being talked about in political circles. Goswami is presently in central deputation and posted as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. His last assignment in Jammu and Kashmir was Principal Secretary in Industries and Commerce Department and earlier Home Department and before that he was Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 11 Epilogue, November 2010 7 ANNUAL REVIEW J & K IN 2010 2010: In Review The Year That Was

EPILOGUE BUREAU

ammu and Kashmir is a land of surprises. No pre protests and willingness to talk on the issues that mat- diction can hold true, particularly in case of po tered. In his Friday sermons at Jamia Masjid, Mirwaiz Jlitical processes. In summer of 2008 the state said, "we do not want that this New Year should be appeared caught at a worst intersection of history. It wasted in allowing instability and mistrust to domi- was Amarnath temple land row. Separatist sentiment nate. We hope that this year marks the beginning of swept across the Kashmir Valley. All that happened new friendship between India and Pakistan and all was unprecedented and unpredicted; however, more outstanding issues between the two countries includ- unprecedented and unpredicted was what happened ing Kashmir are resolved". He said people of the State couple of months of later -a huge participation in as- in general and Hurriyat Conference in particular will sembly elections and next year the repeat of same in contribute their bit towards any initiative taken for Lok Sabha elections. Some political observers con- resolution of Kashmir issue. Making a fervent appeal cluded that voter participation was an indication of to put the past behind, the Hurriyat chairman said the waning separatist influence. In his Independence the Centre should give up its rigid attitude and re- Day speech on August 15, 2009, Prime Minister sume the dialogue process with Pakistan for resolving Manmohan Singh said "with massive participation in Kashmir issue. elections people of Jammu and Kashmir have demon- Contrary to Mirwaiz's assertions, the year proved to strated that there was no space for separatist poli- be worst on all fronts. Peacemaking efforts went to tics". Prime Minister's this statement had come when tatters as incidents of human rights violations, some Kashmir was again in eruption -this time on alleged alleged and some clearly evidenced, triggered a chain rape and murder of two women in south Kashmir vil- of violence. Governance and course of normal came lage of Shopian. On first day of 2010, which hap- to a complete halt for nearly four months 112 per- pened to be Friday, the moderate separatist leader sons -aged between 8 and 80 -fell to the bullets one Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called on India and Pakistan to after the other. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah admit- resolve the Kashmir in present year. Mirwaiz's state- ted that situation pushed him to lowest of life but ment indicated two things -a sense of fatigue in sepa- anyone at his place could have done hardly any dif- ratist camp after two years of meaningless violent ferent.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 8 J & K IN 2010 112 deaths

anuary was really a month of home and pragmatism when Jseparatists talked about dialogue and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah talked about governance. The unending chain of violence and killings began in second week of June but the tone for unrest was set in motion in February and then in April bringing the Kashmir society in direct confrontation with security forces and local Police. It was on first day of February that after 14-year- who killed Zahid in "cold-blood." These two incidents caused emotional erup- old teenager, Wamiq Farooq of tion in Srinagar and the town had to be put under curfew several times. In Rainawari was killed by a teargas shell ending April three deaths were reported in north Kashmir's Kupwara district in fired allegedly by an Assistant Sub an encounter with Army. Army said that the slain youths were the militants. Inspector of Police, who was placed However, in ending May locals alleged that three killed in Kupwara were the under suspension. Authorities had local youths who had been hired by the Army as porters. Their bodies were imposed undeclared curfew in the old exhumed and allegations confirmed. This led to a chain of violent protests city and since then restrictions were across different parts of Kashmir Valley which further intensified on the eve put in place. In Brein, Nishat-where of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Srinagar visit on June 7. Before Prime troopers killed another teenager, Minister's arrival the Army instituted a Court of Inquiry and removed a Colo- Zahid Farooq, on four days later - nel from the formation in Kupwara but protests did not ebb. In continuation youth staged protests against his of protests against human rights violations, a school-boy succumbed to tear- killing demanding stern punish gas shell on June 11 which resulted in an unending chain of violent protests ment to the paramilitary troopers taking toll of 112 lives in next four months.

Rs. 12,000 crore in the four months Curfewed Valley as businesses were badly affected. Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir president Shakeel Qalander For next four months death continued to be the only constant in said: "This is the worst time for the the Valley and at several occasions situation completely slipped business community. I do not think out of the hands of state and central authorities. Curfews became we can recover," he said. an order of the day and on September 11, it was first time in 11 The prolonged unrest in the Kashmir years that entire Kashmir Valley -towns, townships and villages - Valley pinched hard the state's was brought under complete curfew. economy. Some 50,000 skilled and non-skilled workers have been reportedly retrenched by their employers during the days of turmoil. The four months of shutdowns and curfews took a heavy toll on the frail economy of the Kashmir Valley. According to estimates by the Federation Cham- ber of Commerce and Industries Kash- mir (FCIK), some 50,000 skilled and non-skilled workers were retrenched by their employers due to the unrest as they were 'unable to meet their idle wage bills'. Kashmir has 16,000 industrial units in the organised and unorganised sector providing direct employment to 1.6 lakh skilled and non-skilled workers. Ten to 15 percent of the skilled and non-skilled rohibitory orders were imposed in all the 14 districts that constitute the non-local workers fled to other places Valley following violence on September 11, which saw 17 people die in as they felt unsafe in the prevailing Ppolice firing. However, protesters took to the streets at several places. state of affairs. Production and mar- Despite curfew being extended to all major towns in the Valley, defiant pro- keting of goods came to a standstill testers took to the streets. Clashes between stone pelters and security forces and incomes nose-dived to naught, went on despite curfew. Experts said the Valley faced a whopping loss of over according to the FCIK.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 9 ANNUAL REVIEW J & K IN 2010 APD visit n September 20, an All Party Del egation led by Home Minister OP Chidambaram arrived on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to assess the ground situation in the state even as the separatists decided to stay away from the meeting. The visit by the all-party team, the first in two decades, tried to help break the deadlock in the Valley. The smaller groups and called on the prominent separatists at their residences. delegation's recommendations were They met Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik considered by the Cabinet Commit- Leader of opposition People's Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti, who decided tee on Security of Kashmir later same not to attend the all-party meeting, sent PDP General Secretary Dilawar Meer week. Hurriyat Conference leader accompanied by a 15-member team to meet the delegation. The separatists Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and had earlier threatened to pull out if curfew was not lifted from the Valley. Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Mufti said there was no purpose in the visit of the all-party delegation if the Malik decided to skip the meeting of members of the civil society and the common people were not allowed to all political parties and instead sent meet it. The 38-member team spent spend two days in Srinagar and Jammu. a joint memorandum to the delega- Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, Samajwadi tion. Though the separatists boy- party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, DMK leader T R Baalu, LJP President Ram cotted the meeting, the members of Vilas Paswan, JD-U chief Sharad Yadav, Indian Union Muslim League President the All Party Delegation broke into E Ahamed are part of the delegation

which was chaired by Prime Minister notifications issued for disturbed ar- 8-Point Formula Manmohan Singh. Home Minister P. eas. The eight-point formula also in- Chidambaram said the decisions cluded grant of an ex gratia of Rs. were based on the report submitted five lakh to the family of each of n follow-up to the visit of All Party by him to the Prime Minister and the those killed in civil disturbances in Delegation to Jammu and Kashmir, inputs of the all-party delegation that Kashmir since June 11. Centre also Ithe Central Government unveiled had visited Srinagar and Jammu on advised the State government to re- an eight-point formula, On Septem- September 20 and 21. In a step view cases of all Public Safety Act ber 25, for lessening tension in the aimed at reaching out to the people (PSA) detenus and withdraw deten- state and building atmosphere for an of the State, the Centre advised the tion orders in appropriate cases. At all encompassing dialogue. As part of Jammu and Kashmir government to that time there were 84 persons un- formula, the Centre announced to ap- release all students detained for der judicial custody, 110 under po- point a group of interlocutors, under stone-pelting and similar violations lice custody and 51 had been detained the chairmanship of an eminent per- of law, and to withdraw all charges. under the Public Safety Act since civil son, to begin the process of sustained The Centre also requested the State disturbances began in the Kashmir dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir with government to convene a meeting of Valley in June. The Centre also re- political parties, groups, students, the Unified Command to review de- quested the State government to civil society and other stakeholders. ployment of security forces in the take steps to immediately reopen all The decision to begin the process of Kashmir Valley, especially in Srinagar, schools, colleges, and universities, sustained dialogue was part of an with particular reference to de-scal- hold special classes and ensure that eight-point initiative taken at a ing those at bunkers and checkpoints examinations are conducted on meeting of the Cabinet Committee in the city and other towns. He said schedule for the current academic on Security (CCS) the meeting of the Unified Command would review year. Suicide Bomber In Muzaffarabad Kills Five Soldiers n first incident of its kind, five Muzaffarabad. Fourteen soldiers were injured and four of them later suc- soldiers died in a suicide attack cumbed to injuries. Part of the barracks was destroyed by the blast. This was Iin Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the third suicide attack in PoK since June last year. Violence by pro-Taliban clashes with militants, even as militants has spread to PoK in recent months. The region was largely unaf- troops pushed on with their search fected by militant attacks over the years. A soldier was killed and two more and clearance operations against were injured when Taliban militants fired several rockets at security forces the Taliban in the Swat valley and at Tabai Sar in the Razmak sector of Waziristan, the military said. Troops Waziristan tribal region, authorities conducted a search and clearance operation at Sherkai near Razmak and said on January. A suicide bomber cleared more than 100 houses. Search and clearance operations were also struck an army barracks at conducted at Badar valley in the Shakai sector. In the Swat valley, security Tararkhal, over 90 km from Paki- forces apprehended two suspected militants and seized a cache of arms and stan-occupied Kashmir capital ammunition during search operations at several places.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 10 J & K IN 2010 Back to Schools

fter being shut for three There were three incidents of stone-pelting at school buses but more months, schools in Kashmir damage was done by rumours of firing - that schools have been attacked Apartially reopened on Septem- and set on fire. At Srinagar's prestigious Burn Hall, the Principal said 30 per ber 27 even as Srinagar and other cent children attended classes which the government says was the average towns in the Valley remained under for urban areas. In rural areas the attendance was better, almost 80 per curfew. The state government on cent. had directed staff of schools to be "In some places miscreants threw stones on students and tried to harass present in their institutes, a day them. They tried to resist the opening of schools. Despite this students after the Centre asked the Jammu came and schools were opened," J&K Education Minister Peerzad and Kashmir government to reopen Mohammad Sayeed said. Home Minister P Chidambaram issued a stern schools as part of the central warning to stone-pelters, after a few incidents of stone-pelting on government's eight-point peace school buses were reported. package for the Valley. Transport "There was a call by one of the Hurriyat leaders to parents asking was provided to teachers and them not to send their children. Happily, parents have disregarded students on 11 important routes in that call. There were a few minor incidents of stone-pelting on school Srinagar. School uniforms treated buses. How can any right thinking person pelt stones on school buses? as identity proof and school buses allowed passage in curfew. Exams The J&K government has assured that every effort is being made to for Class 10 and Class 12 were to ensure that all schools and colleges reopen, and security will be start in the last week of October provided to students," the Home Ministry said in a statement. The and first week of November, re- Home Minister also said government was happy to learn that most spectively. The hardline faction of schools and colleges have reopened in Jammu and Kashmir and most the separatist All Parties Hurriyat students have gone back to schools and colleges today. Conference, however, gave a call "I am confident that the few schools and colleges that remain closed for a shutdown and appealed to today, presumably out of caution, will reopen tomorrow. I am also students and parents not to cooper- confident that the attendance will improve significantly tomorrow. ate with the government's direc- The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has assured us that every tive. "Though education is impor- effort is being made to ensure that all schools and colleges reopen tant, the government can't use our and function normally and that security will be provided to enable the children to suppress the agitation,'' students to attend schools and colleges. said Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Geelani's appeal for Both the Centre and the state government celebrated the reopening boycotting schools drew him criti- of schools, but Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was careful not to tom- cism in the Valley. tom it as a victory over separatists. He reiterated his request to keep It was a big day for kids in the education out of the conflict. "It's nobody's victory and nobody's Kashmir valley with schools reopen- defeat, its only the victory of those children who have been able to ing after a 100 days. The atten- come back to schools and been able to resume their education. We dance was nowhere near 100 per hope that more and more children come back to school," Omar said. cent perhaps because of hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani's call asking parents not to send children to schools. But at least the schools were all open. Both the Centre and the state government celebrated the reopening of schools, but Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was careful not to tom- tom it as a victory over separatists.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 11 ANNUAL REVIEW J & K IN 2010

Interlocutors

n October 13, the Government of India named three interlocu Otors to carry forward dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir and make recommendations for resolution of issues within a period of one year. The panel of interlocutors -comprising eminent journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar and economist MM Ansari - made their visit to Srinagar on Octo- ber 23 after having elaborate meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Chidambram in Delhi. During their first visit to Srinagar and then ing and now we want to listen to people with open mind and big heart. We Jammu, they had brief meetings with would like to focus on youth. When we met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan several political and social groups and Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, they told us to listen to them for made an assessment of situation by future is youth, listen to the women of Kashmir, said Padgaonkar. He added, visiting civilian areas and jails. Team "If we pre-determine that we have some magic formula, it would not be good. leader and journalist Padgaonkar said We want to meet people, listen to them for what they want. There is differ- the team had come to find a solution ent perception in Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh". The interlocutors could not to the political problem of Jammu and secure a meeting with any of the separatist leaders though they said that it Kashmir. "Our mandate is to have was an ongoing process and eventually all sections of opinions will have to dialogue with all shades of opinion talk about their future. First Interim Report: On November 3, the interlocu- to find comprehensive political tors present their first interim assessment report to the Government of In- settlement of Kashmir dispute. It is dia. Speaking to reporters after submitting their first set of recommenda- complex problem lingering on for 60 tions to Union home minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi, Padgaonkar said years, there has been lot of suffer- he was "hopeful" of a solution to the J&K issue even though the panel did not ing in this State and we would try to have a "magic formula." The three-member group, during its meeting with find out a solution through political Mr Chidambaram, briefed him in detail about their six-day visit to Jammu negotiations with every stake holder and Kashmir. s "This was our first visit to state. We gave our set of recom- for political settlement. He said the mendations," Mr Padgaonkar said but declined to give any details. "Let it (the focus of the panel is to address the recommendations) be between government and the interlocutors," he said, a political dimension of Kashmir dis- day after Mr Chidambaram disapproved of the interlocutors giving a ball-by- pute. There has been enough lectur- ball commentary on the progress in the dialogue on J&K. Rs 9,000 Cr for 80 KM Jammu-Srinagar Highway Mughal Road ready he Centre approved, in Ramban, Ramban-Nashri, Nashri- Chinani, Chinani-Udhampur and January, Rs 9,000 crore for he 80 km stretch of historical Tfour lane Jammu-Srinagar Udhampur-Jammu. In all cases, 80 Mughal Road from Bafliaz to national highway, to help smooth per cent of the land has been TShopian has been made double traffic movement, besides easing acquired. A 9-km Qazigund-Banihal laned, besides macadamization of 37 frequent jams on the highway. The long tunnel would be constructed at km. The Rs. 639.85 crore project is preliminary work of the project, a cost of Rs 2,400 crore. Besides expected to complete and thrown open for all type of vehicular traffic which includes acquisition of land another 8.75-kms long tunnel would also be constructed at Nashri- by September, 2011. More than 500 and forest clearance was almost personnel, skilled and unskilled, are Chennai at a cost of Rs 2,100 crore complete. The Jammu-Srinagar NH on job daily besides deployment of stretch has been divided into six which would reduce 60-km of travel 340 heavy and medium machineries phases- Qazigund-Banihal, Banihal- distance on completion. at different places of the road. www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 12 J & K IN 2010 Delhi's pre-turmoil feelers to Geelani

n a significant move in the po meeting, an unexpected turn of events in litical initiatives on the Kash New Delhi's moves on Jammu and Kash- Imir issue, the center, on Janu- mir, comes in the wake of the union home ary 14, made a behind-the- minister's announcement of initiating scenes contact with the chairman quiet diplomacy in Kashmir to engage "all of the Hurriyat G, Syed Ali Shah groups" in fruitful dialogue to resolve the Geelani, through former point 62-year-old Kashmir impasse. Habibullah, man, Wajahat Habibullah, to in- highly regarded across the political spec- vite the veteran separatist for trum for his long innings in the valley, and talks and a meeting with the a keen Kashmir watcher, turned up at union minister for home, P Geelani's quarters in Delhi for a detailed Chidambaram. Geelani, a tren- meeting on the situation in Jammu and chant opponent of any bilateral Kashmir. The former bureaucrat extended engagement with India, con- a formal invitation to Geelani for talks with firmed the one-hour meeting the center and a meeting with the union with Habibullah in New Delhi. The home minister. HIGH INTRUSION BIDS IN JANUARY

he first month of 2010 regis which were higher than 50 in 2008. While the number of militancy-related tered a sharp increase in infil incidents were coming down in the state, the casualty figures were still high. Ttration bids from across the There were 485 incidents in 2009 that killed 85 civilians and 75 security Line of Control (LoC) and Interna- personnel while there were 708 incidents killing 147 civilians and 85 security tional Border (IB). There were 25 in- personnel in 2008. Nearly 238 militants were killed in 2009 and 340 in 2008. filtration attempts along the LoC and The highest number of 5,946 militancy-related incidents happened in 1995, IB in January alone. There were total the highest number of civilians, 1,424, were killed in 1996, the highest num- of five ceasefire violations of the LoC ber of 485 security personnel were killed in 2000 and the highest number of in the state and one of IB in the 2,020 militants were killed in 2001. The year 2009 witnessed least numbers Jammu region. There were about 85 of militancy-related incidents (485), least civilians killing (85), least security incidents of infiltration in 2009, personnel killing (75) and least number of militants killed (238).

Embarrassing Padma award controversy highest civilian awards, to an allegedly dreaded counter-insurgent Ghulam Mohammad Mir alias Momma Kana. Chief minister Omar Abdullah, however, washed his hands of the controversial recommendation, but his father and Union minister Farooq Abdullah unflinchingly declared he had proposed Mir's name. Distancing himself from the move, Omar said: "I enquired from senior officers. No recommendation from the state had gone for awarding (the) Padma to this person. I am not aware of any recommendation. Someone might have recommended on a personal level," Omar said after an uproar by Opposition PDP. The Union minister for new and renewable energy said Mir's "good work" had prompted him to make the recommendation. "I think he deserves it and people who suffer need to be recognised." Mir was conferred the award for public service. Police sources said he still faced an FIR for allegedly attempting to murder a civilian. He has been blamed by many in the past for committing atrocities. Counter-insurgents- gunmen who fight militants but are not officially paid by the government - are often blamed for unleashing atrocities on people, the reason no political party likes to see its name linked to them. bitter and embarrassing politi However, Mir, who hails from central Kashmir's Magam town and is described cal controversy erupted in the as the Valley's first counter-insurgent, defended the move to award him and AKashmir Valley on the eve of Re- said his name was being unnecessarily dragged into controversy. "I have helped public Day when Government of India in arresting or eliminating 5,000 militants. I fought against them when nobody announced Padma Shri, one of the was coming forward and I have risked my life for the country," he said today.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 13 ANNUAL REVIEW J & K IN 2010 Omar's idea to facilitate return of youths from PaK gets Chidambram's support

hief Minister Omar Abdullah's Kashmiris lured to PaK to join militancy, saying that that the Centre was ready proposal of allowing safe pas to welcome Kashmiris willing to lead a peaceful life here. "The idea that any Csage and rehabilitating the Indian who had crossed over to PoK and wishes to return to India is certainly Kashmiri youths who crossed over welcome," Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi. "The idea must now be the Line of Control to Pakistan ad- translated into a scheme... The return can be facilitated through a scheme which ministered Kashmir over last two will entail identification, screening, travel, debriefing, rehabilitation and reinte- decades may have attracted criti- gration," he added. According to the home minister, the return-cum-rehabilita- cism from the rightwing but the Cen- tion of Kashmiri youth willing to give up militancy and return from PaK is among ter stood by him despite concerns the recommendations made by one of working groups on Kashmir set up earlier flagged by a senior Congress Minis- by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Underlining that PaK is an Indian territory, ter. Home Minister P Chidambaram, Chidambaram said the government "should facilitate the return of those who had on February 11, threw his weight gone across the LoC for some reasons". He added all shades of opinion would be behind the J&K government's pro- consulted while formulating the surrender-cum-rehabilitation scheme for Kashmiri posal to facilitate the return of youth who had trained in militant camps across the border.

hit the base during a training session and was one of the worst to Avalanche Kills 17 Soldiers hit the area in years. The injured were admitted and later discharged from a Srinagar base hospital.' Jammu & Kashmir's disaster management unit had earlier issued an avalanche alert and warned people against venturing out in high-altitude areas. The avalanche swept away one of four sub-camps used for training operations at the school, the Army's main mountain warfare training institute at an altitude of 2,730 metres. The school was first set up as a skiing training institute for a frontline infantry division in 1948. Earlier, authorities activated all resources and flew in rescuers from Srinagar and Baramulla to rescue the trapped soldiers. Inces- sant snow, rain,poor visibility and high winds hampered their operations. The met office said Gulmarg, a major draw for foreign tourists and adventure skiers, had received around 10-feet snow in two days. Frequent rain and heavy snowfall n a tragic incident on February 8, 17 soldiers, including one officer, often trigger avalanches and training for high-altitude warfare were killed when a massive avalanche landslides in Kashmir, blocking slammed into an Army training centre based on a high slope near north roads and cutting off tourist resorts I like Gulmarg. Gulmarg is also close Kashmir ski resort of Gulmarg. The rolling snow swept away one of the barracks of the Army's High Altitude Warfare School, which houses around to the LoC. Last year in April, 450 soldiers in the Khilanmarg mountains close to Gulmarg, at around seven soldiers were killed and eight 11AM. Army spokesperson, Lt Col J S Brar said around 70 soldiers got others injured when an avalanche trapped under the snow. 'The Gulmarg Development authority and our hit an Army post at Gurez along the sister services assisted the Army in its rescue operations.' 'The avalanche LoC in April last year.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 14 J & K IN 2010 Stone Disgrace: 11-day-old left dead

s stone throwing remained a key bleeding," said Shakeel Beigh, SSP saved." A four-year-old boy also sus- feature of 2010 Kashmir pro Baramulla. He was rushed to the tained injuries during the attack. Atests, an 11-day-old child died district hospital where he was de- Irfan was the fifth and the young- in the clashes between the police and clared dead. "Since the infant was est victim in Kashmir since stone protesters in Kashmir's Baramulla dis- already ailing, he could not be throwing incidents began in January. trict on February 22. The police blamed stone pelters for the death and registered a case of murder. The infant, Irfan Ahmad, was travelling in a mini-bus with his family, when a group of people stopped the vehicle near Stadium Colony, 55 km from Srinagar, the police said. At 12.30 pm, protesters dragged the passengers out of the vehicle and beat them up. They were demanding the release of those youths arrested during demonstrations against alleged human rights violations in the state, police said. Irfan's father Nisar Ahmad Magray and mother Kulsuma had boarded the bus in Rafiabad. They were taking the baby to a hospital as he was suffering from blood in- fection. "When Kulsuma was being dragged out, she pressed her baby close to herself and he started Can't keep J&K hostage to stone pelters

ommenting on the trend of NC Government used the Act on only stone pelting, which later be 370 persons so far. He revealed that Ccame order of the day in as against 2205 civilian deaths dur- Kashmir's summer of discontent, ing Mufti Government, only 94 civil- Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told ians were killed in one year of NC re- Legislative Assembly on February 25, gime. In six year term of Farooq that 600 to 800 stone pelters can't be Abdullah Government (1996-2002), 11 allowed to hold one crore people of cases of rape and five cases of moles- the State to ransom. Urging media tation were reported while the number to bring facts before the public, went up to 38 and 37 respectively dur- Abdullah noted that problem of stone ing Mufti's term. Even, the number of pelting was confined only to five po- rape and molestation cases was just lice stations of downtown and one 13 and seven respectively during police station each in Sopore and Ghulam Nabi Azad's tenure, he pointed Baramulla. 'It is not right to say that out. Asserting that 2009 witnessed low- entire Kashmir is burning or Valley has est attacks and killings in last two de- erupted in protests'. Claiming that his cades, he, however, said that infiltra- government was not harsh on Kash- lition Government as compared to tion during 2009 has gone up as com- mir youths, Abdullah cited figures on three years term of Mufti Mohammad pared to 2008. Even in less than two imposition of Public Safety Act (PSA), Sayeed led Government from 2002 to months of current year, there had been civil killings, rapes and molestations 2005. He said the PDP Government many infiltration attempts with firing, etc to point out that they were very had imposed PSA on 1231 persons shelling and fence cutting reported less during one year tenure of the coa- during its three year tenure while the from the borders every third day.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 15 ANNUAL REVIEW1 J & K IN 2010 Cross-LoC trade: Scaling heights

or the first time since launch of cross-LoC trade on Poonch- FRawlakote route in October 2008, the business from both sides on two days of the week crossed Rs 10 crore on March 10. Import-exports from Chakan-Da-Bagh cross-LoC point were valued at Rs 5.97 crore on first day of the week while on second day they stood at Rs 4.32 crore totaling Rs 10.29 crore. Cross-LoC trade is conducted every Tuesday and Wednes- day. In February it was suspended for two weeks by the traders in support of their demands including lifting of ban on import of dal moong from Paki- stan administered Kashmir. A jump in cross-LoC trade is being attributed to lifting of ban on import of dal moong by the traders of this part of divided State A jump in cross-LoC trade is being attributed from PaK. Dal moong has a very high to lifting of ban on import of dal moong by the demand by the traders of this side due to huge variation of process in two parts traders of this part of divided State from PaK. of divided State. Traders in PaK were Dal moong has a very high demand by the trad- not in a position to meet the high demand of dal moong from the traders of ers of this side due to huge variation of process this side as only 25 trucks are allowed in two parts of divided State. to exchange sides from one part of divided State to the other in one day.

Demand for special industrial package

hief Minister, Omar Abdullah spirit and all such Income Tax claim Mukherjee appreciated the along with a delegation of busi cases are required to be withdrawn. endeavours of Mr Abdullah for his con- Cness leaders and top officials While discussing scenario of the cern to boost industrial scenario in met the Union Finance Minister, State, Abdullah said strength of the J&K and give new confidence to the Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on industrial sector, which had respect- entrepreneurs. He assured him that February 13 and presented case of able position two decades ago on in- all appropriate steps will be taken to J&K for extension of North-East dustrial map of the country, is re- develop all sectors associated with Package-2007 to the State as well, quired to be restored back so that industries and commerce in the apart from already operational pack- the State ushered in a new era of State. He said his Ministry is cautious age of 2002. He said it is the con- prosperity and affluence. He said all of the fact that during last 20 years cern of entire country to bring out activities in tourism, handicrafts, all the sectors could not keep pace in the State from all such industrial ail- health, floriculture and horticulture the State because of prevailing situ- ments which were caused as a result sectors have to be given full patron- ation. The Chief Minister was accom- of two decade turmoil. The Chief age so that they are not only able to panied by Minister for Industries and Minister said it is the endeavor of develop but play a key role in overall Commerce, S S Slathia, Principal Sec- his Government to ensure massive growth. Omar said with the exten- retary, Industries and Commerce, Anil investment in the sectors of Indus- sion of North-East package ''our ho- Goswami, Commissioner-Secretary, try and Commerce in the State so teliers, service providing sectors and Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, president that better and respectable employ- other key players in tourism and ad- FCIK, Syed Shakeel Qalander, repre- ment opportunities are created for venture tourism, industrial training sentative of KCCI, Rouf Punjabi, presi- the youth. He said as per 2002 pack- including handicrafts, handlooms, dent JCCI, Y V Sharma, president CII, age given to the State, hundred per- bio-tech training, nursing training and J&K, Sanjay Puri, president PHD cent excise refund is provided and different institutions and entrepre- Chamber of Commerce, J&K, Vikrant, therefore the provisions are required neurs associated with floriculture and Afaaq Qadri and other representatives to be implemented in letter and horticulture will be benefited''. Mr of the Industry.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 16 J & K IN 2010 Militancy fallout: 97000 Orphans, 32000 Widows

study conducted by sociologist Prof Bashir Ahmed Dabla of the AUniversity of Kashmir has claimed that two decades of conflict in Jammu and Kashmir has rendered more than 32000 women as widows and more than 97000 children as orphans. 'A Sociological Study of Wid- ows and Orphans' claimed that the number of widows grew up from 16000 in 2000 to 32400 in 2008. It says sudden death of male members has shattered thousands of families leaving behind impoverished and emotionally traumatized widows and orphans. However, the study reveals that condition of widows and orphans of security forces was better as compared to those of militants or civilians. tragic aspect of the situation is that ( "The widows and orphans belonging to the state has not adopted any specific 'A Sociological military, security and police forces have social policy and programme in this Study of Widows been taken care of properly by provid- regard. Their problems accumulate and ing pension and other monetary ben- intensify day-by-day," it reveals. On and Orphans' efits to widows and scholarships-fel- how can be condition of widows and claimed that the lowships and reservation for orphans orphans improved, the study suggests: number of by their respective organisations. But "For the welfare of widows and orphans, at the same time, dominant majority a 3-tier effort system is necessary. In- widows grew up of widows and orphans belonging to ex- dividuals, society-community and the from 16000 in militants and common people suffer state must share responsibilities in extremely." "Neither state nor NGOs terms of coordination, organisation 2000 to 32400 in have been able to help them in an and effective implementation of rel-( 2008. organised and systematic manners. The evant programmes." 219 Kashamiri Pandits Killed Over 1.38 Since 1989 lakh cases

he Jammu and Kashmir govern were registered with the Revenue ment told the Legislative As and Relief Ministry till now. The Min- under Tsembly on March 23 that 219 ister said the government had also Kashmiri Pandits were killed by mili- paid an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh for tants since 1989 while 24,202 fami- each death. "Besides, an amount of lies were among the total 38,119 Rs. 39,64,91,838 has been paid as Roshni families which migrated out of the compensation to the Pandits on ac- Valley due to turmoil. Revenue Min- count of damage to their properties ister Raman Bhalla told the Assem- since the eruption of militancy," he he state Government re bly that "219 Pandits were killed in said. An amount of Rs.71.95 crore ceived about 2,56,844 Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. From was spent in providing relief and Tapplications under Roshni Act 2004, no killing of any person from other facilities to the Kashmiri mi- for vesting of ownership rights. Of the community [Kashmiri Pandits] grants living in Jammu and other these, 1,38,962 applications have took place till now," Bhalla said. A parts in 2007-08, Rs.70.33 crore in total number of 38,119 families com- 2008-09 and Rs.68.59 crore from been disposed off whereas the prising 1,42,042 Kashmiri migrants 2009 up to January, 2010. pending cases are in progress.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 17 ANNUAL REVIEW1 J & K IN 2010 Contours of 'Kashmir Pact'

ormer foreign minister of Paki of a Kashmir settlement. "They have stan Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri Kasuri said the fought five wars, including two minor Fdisclosed on April 27 in Lahore basis of the ones in the Rann of Katch and Kargil. that the agreement on Kashmir, There have been various mobilisations worked out through back-channel di- agreement was the of troops, including the largest one plomacy, was an interim one, and was assumption that since First World War (Operation subject to review after 15 years. Talk- Parakram), in which one million soldiers ing to the Pakistani newspaper The Pakistan and India had remained eyeball-to-eyeball for almost News Khursheed Kasuri claimed the tried everything in a year," Kasuri claimed. He said the Pakistani and Indian sides at that nuclear parity had been established in time had the realisation that in view their power to enforce South Asia after the nuclear tests India of the history of Jammu and Kashmir their version of a and Pakistan conducted, making war be- dispute, no solution that they could Kashmir settlement. tween the two countries nearly impos- think of would be an ideal one. He sible. Reacting to the criticism by Syed termed that agreement on Kashmir ties concerned and, in the light of the Ali Geelani of his statement on the re- the best possible under the circum- experience, this arrangement could ported Kashmir agreement, Kasuri stances. "We were aware of the fact further be improved. He said the claimed that he had great respect for that there would be an overwhelm- water issue was not discussed as a Ali Geelani for his being a freedom ing support for this agreement; but crucial matter at that time; the agree- fighter, but he disagreed with him that we also realised that there would be ment on Kashmir was being negotiated. the solution that was envisaged for criticism from some sections in Kash- However, the management of water was Kashmir would have led to further dis- mir, Pakistan and India," he said, one of the issues included in the joint turbances in the valley and that the adding that it was impossible to of- mechanism. He claimed that the joint people of the valley would never have fer a solution which could be accept- mechanism was apart from the Indus acquiesced in a settlement that he de- able to everyone. Kasuri said they Basin Treaty, which was the basis of scribed as one perpetuating the status decided that the arrangement they water sharing arrangement between the quo. Giving reasons for his disagree- had arrived at would need a review two countries. Kasuri said the basis of ment, he said the whole purpose of the after 15 years of its announcement. the agreement was the assumption that disagreement was to improve the com- During this period, its implementa- Pakistan and India had tried everything fort level of the Kashmiris by the gradual tion would be monitored by all par- in their power to enforce their version demilitarisation. Baglihar dispute resolved

n a significant development, India and Pakistan announced on June 1 Ithat they have resolved at the meeting of the Permanent Indus Water Commission in New Delhi the issue of water flows in the Chenab river being affected during the initial filling of the Baglihar dam in 2008. Pakistan has decided not to raise the matter further. However, the differences on the design of the 45 MW Nimoo Bazgo hydel project on the Indus river in Leh district remained at the end of the third day cedures and parameters in the Indus Waters Treaty were not followed during of talks here on Tuesday. The matter the initial filling of the dam, resulting in reduction of flows in the Chenab will be discussed further in the next near the Marala headworks. However, during the talks, "India gave the assur- round of talks to be held in Pakistan ance that it will be careful in future and Pakistan has accepted that in spirit of this or the next month. "We have cooperation and goodwill." Sources on the Indian side confirmed that the resolved the differences on the ini- issue was resolved but asserted that the "filling of the Baglihar dam was in tial filling of the Baglihar dam (in accordance with the treaty and the differences were on the manner in which Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir) the water flows were measured." Pakistan's objections had come after a World in 2008 in a spirit of cooperation and Bank appointed expert had adjudicated on the dispute between India and goodwill," Pakistan's Indus Commis- Pakistan on the design of the run of the river dam. On the Nimoo Bazgo sioner Jamait Ali Shah, who heads project, Mr. Shah said his country had objections on six counts. "India said it the country's delegation, said in New would come back with requisite information after a week. We hope the mat- Delhi. He said Pakistan felt the pro- ter is resolved amicably in the Commission.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL2 REVIEW 18 J & K IN 2010 PM's Rs.1,000-crore Sops For J&K

rime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a statement. Dr. Singh expressed disappointment that a section of State on June 8, announced a slew of government employees often responded to bandh calls by separatist groups Psops amounting to over Rs. and failed to discharge their duties in the service of the people, the state- 1,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir, ment said. The Prime Minister, who had a one-on-one meeting with the Chief assuring the State that the Centre Minister before leaving for Delhi, took note of complaints on human rights. would do all it could to support it. Visiting the State amid allegations of fake encounters, Dr. Singh sent out a "Things have improved considerably, firm message to security forces, saying "the government policy is to protect fund utilisation is better, but much human rights of the people even when dealing with terrorism. The security more remains to be done," said Dr. forces in Jammu and Kashmir have been strictly instructed to respect the rights Singh, winding up his two-day visit of civilians. We will act to remove any deficiency in the implementation of to the State during which he held dis- these instructions." Noting that three Round-Table Conferences had been con- cussions with Chief Minister Omar vened with participation from many in civil society and other political groups, Abdullah and interacted with lead- the Prime Minister said the recommendations of these deliberations were be- ers of various political parties. The ing implemented in a step-wise manner. Making a fresh offer of talks with Prime Minister ordered restoration those groups which shunned violence, he said the process of talks could be of cuts amounting to Rs. 400 crore extended. Dr. Singh, who reviewed development works with Mr. Abdullah, noted to the State plan outlay for 2009-10. that Jammu and Kashmir was "doing well" on flagship programmes. Mr. Abdullah He also announced that the Centre assured Dr. Singh that local bodies elections would be held in October-Novem- had decided to dispense with the cut- ber this year. The Prime Minister said: "It is heartening to note that the State back of Rs. 691 crore in this year's has gone in for tariff-based bids even for hydro projects." Dr. Singh assured Mr. outlay in the reconstruction plan, the Abdullah of financial support, including on account of difficulties in the imple- Prime Minister's Media Adviser said mentation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, the statement said.

and five police posts were set ablaze. "Mobs set on fire and damaged 31 4000 securitymen injured government vehicles, including 22 police vehicles. Not only this, 23 houses of policemen were torched or damaged, and nine private vehicles in three months of policemen set ablaze. However, in the S.K. Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) alone, 599 people were reported injured in first three months n estimated 4,000 police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel of unrest. It is the biggest tertiary and 504 civilians were injured in the violent clashes in the Kashmir hospital in Srinagar. Sources in the AValley during four months of unrest. According to Polices spokesman hospital said 599 people, who re- 504 civilians suffered injuries when security forces were engaged in control- ceived firearms injury, were admitted ling scores of law and order situations. Of them, 156 were injured in Srinagar to the hospital. Of them, 23 died of alone. In Kulgam district, four sustained injuries. At the same time, "in the their injuries. The hospital is still treat- hundreds of violent incidents of stone-pelting and arson resorted to by mis- ing 31people. During this period, 3080 creants, 2660 police personnel suffered injuries, both grievous and other." surgeries were conducted and 5682 Again, Srinagar district topped with injuries to policemen (640). It was fol- underwent CT scan and MRI tests. Fig- lowed by Baramulla (503) and Handwara (42). Similarly, 1351 CRPF personnel ures show that 46 ambulances, includ- suffered serious and other injuries. "Besides, one policeman lost his life in ing those of Sri Mahraja Hari Singh mob violence. One SHO Pattan Fayaz Ahmed was injured when militants fired Hospital, Bone and Joint Hospital and at a mob," the spokesman said. During this period, 78 pieces of built-up Directorate of Health Service were property, comprising 44 offices of various departments, 29 police stations, damaged in stone-pelting. Ladakh peaks opened to foreigners n a landmark decision, the Govern insurgency by separatists in 1989, hundreds of thousands of tourists flocked ment of India approves throwing to the region to enjoy the glacier-fed streams flowing through the forests I100 high altitude Himalayan peaks and grasslands or lounge on houseboats floating on Srinagar's Dal Lake. The in Ladakh to the foreign tourists, for government in Jammu-Kashmir declared 2010 a 'visit Kashmir year' following the first time. The move by the gov- an improvement in the security situation. The decision has been taken at the ernment to allow foreign climbers highest level and nearly 100 peaks in Ladakh region are open for trekking follows a significant decline in mili- and mountaineering. These peaks are situated at an altitude ranging from tant violence. Before the start of the 3,000 metres to nearly 8,000 metres.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 19 ANNUAL REVIEW J & K IN 2010

it is 0%. However, if the movement across the LoC were to be fully First Cross-LoC survey on liberalised, support for keeping the LoC rises dramatically to 85% overall. Even in the Kashmir valley it rises to over 80%, and in Pakistan-admin- future of Kashmir istered Kashmir to over 90%. It is perhaps the attitudes to the LoC that The conversion of the LoC to a 'soft' border reportedly are most significant. Both Pakistan played a large part in the Musharraf government's back and India have been very reluctant channel talks with India. The poll finding that across to consider openly any question that the LoC might be made permanent. Kashmir around one quarter are strongly opposed to For Pakistan in particular the issue changing the LoC while a further half would accept it if has been presented in all-or-nothing it is liberalised gives a strong signal that this could be terms, and the possibility that the LoC might be made permanent has a fruitful area for further negotiation. been taboo - as it is for some major survey gauging the public opinion in Jammu and Kashmir on both sides Kashmiri groups. Yet there are many of Line of Control, results of which were announced on May 26, shows signs that the LoC has become a de Astartling results. Conducted by Robert Bradnock - an associate fellow at facto part of life, and for some a vital the Chatham House think-tank in London claims that unemployment and other part of their security. Indeed, only economic issues, for example, rank high across the whole of Jammu and 8% said that they were not in favour Kashmir on both sides of LoC. At first glance economic problems seem to be of the LoC in any form. As the poll the top priority in the minds of many Kashmiris, and more important than showed, while 8% of the total popu- solving the dispute itself. Yet when asked how important the dispute was to lation claimed to have friends or them personally, 80% overall said it was very important - 75% in Pakistan- family on the other side, less than administered Kashmir and 82% in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. 1% had visited the other side of the The search for a solution is thus urgently felt. On many other issues, how- LoC in the last five years. In this light ever, opinions were sharply divided, notably by geographical distribution. it is not surprising that in Poonch and The headline figures of 44% (in Pakistan-administered Kashmir) and 43% (in Rajouri, two key border districts in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir) opting for independence, for ex- the Indian state of Jammu and Kash- ample, conceals wide regional disparities. While in the predominantly Muslim mir, more than 90% are in favour of Kashmir Valley in Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir, the proportion in favour keeping the LoC. The conversion of of independence ranged from 74%-95%. But in the four districts of the pre- the LoC to a 'soft' border reportedly dominantly Hindu Jammu, there was virtually no support for independence at played a large part in the Musharraf all. In response to the question 'Will an end to militant violence help to end government's back channel talks the conflict?' opinion ranged from 0% in Rajouri to 98% in Anantnag and Kathua, with India. The poll finding that while in Pakistan-administered Kashmir it ranged from 27% in Kotli to 75% in across Kashmir around one quarter Bagh. Resolution This was a professionally designed and implemented poll. It are strongly opposed to changing the worked with Ipsos MORI (based in London) on the poll's design. FACTS World- LoC while a further half would ac- wide (Mumbai) and Aftab Associates Private Limited (Pakistan) used specially cept it if it is liberalised gives a trained interviewers to carry out the face-to-face interviews in four languages. strong signal that this could be a It was funded by a charitable organisation run by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the fruitful area for further negotiation. son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Dr Gaddafi's foundation had already And the poll shows that there is more been funding development projects among Kashmiri refugees in Pakistan and room than many had anticipated in India. Three quarters of all Kashmiris - on both sides of the LoC - believe that Kashmiri opinion itself for negotia- all sides of Kashmiri opinion should be consulted in negotiations over the tion. The bigger question is whether future of Kashmir. An optimistic sign is the apparent sense of flexibility among the governments of India and Paki- many Kashmiris in seeking a solution. Only 27% of all Kashmiris are in favour stan have the confidence, the power of the LoC in its present form (22% in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and and the goodwill to meet the urgent 29% in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.) All-or-nothing In three dis- aspirations of the Kashmiris for a tricts in Kashmir valley support for the present LoC falls to 1%, while in Kargil peaceful and permanent settlement. I am grieved more than anyone else

hief Minister Omar Abdullah deaths and I am not ready to change the condolence resolution into a political said, on September 30, he would resolution, but me and my God know that I am saddened more than anybody Cnot indulge in politicking over else here about the loss of precious lives,' Omar said in Legislative Assembly. the death of youth killed during on- 'I feel like somebody has put a hand into my chest and pulled out 109 pieces going unrest in Kashmir valley but ex- from my heart. Somebody fired the bullets but I feel like the gun was on my pressed hope that their sacrifices chest, on my shoulder,' he said. 'If the State is benefitted by these sacrifices, would benefit Jammu and Kashmir. 'I I will feel it is much better than death penalty to the culprits. If the State am not ready to do politics over 109 benefits, I feel these sacrifices have not gone waste,' he said.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 20 J & K IN 2010 Put Kashmir issue on hold: PaK PM

n a major policy shift, the PAK Prime Minister advised, on July 6, Paki quite weak because of its internal stan Government not to link ongoing negotiations with India to resolu vulnerabilities,' he said. Asked Ition of the Kashmir issue, saying this is not the right time as Islamabad's about former military ruler Pervez position is 'quite weak' due to 'internal vulnerabilities'. Raja Farooq Haider Musharraf's four-point proposal to suggested that Pakistan should first resolve 'small irritants and controver- resolve the Kashmir issue, Haider sial issues' before finally sorting out the 'core issue of Kashmir.' He said said no Kashmiri would have ac- that Pakistan and India should maintain status quo on Kashmir for 'some cepted it. Haider backed the pro- time.' He said he believed that India and Pakistan 'should resolve other posal to give the status of Most issues before taking up Kashmir.' It would be 'wiser for Pakistan to wait for Favoured Nation (MFN) to India and the right time to restart negotiations' on the Kashmir issue, Haider said. to allow the country to use Pakistani He explained that he was giving this advice because he believed 'this was territory as a transit route for not the right time for Pakistan to press for a Kashmir settlement.' At the trade, including with Afghanistan. moment, Pakistan is facing a 'formidable security challenge from the mili- He also strongly backed India's in- tants' and is not in a position to effectively fight the case of Kashmir, he clusion in the Pakistan-Iran gas added. Haider said that his comments did not mean a 'reversal of Pakistan's pipeline project. However, he con- traditional stand on Kashmir, as many emotional people might instantly tended that the Pakistani media is try to infer.' 'What I am trying to suggest is that this is not the right time not giving importance to the cur- to negotiate Kashmir with the Indians as Islamabad's position is obviously rent protest in Jammu and Kashmir. J&K to Generate 20,000 MW Taing awarded From Solar Energy By 2020 writer in Residence ammu and Kashmir will generate to generate solar power in Ladakh enowned writer of the J&K 20,000 megwatts (MW) from so where people have very little access State, Mohammad Yousuf Taing Jlar energy by 2020, mostly in to conventional electricity. He said was, October 7, conferred Ladakh region of the state, union New R that people interested in installing "writer in Residence" by Sahitya Acad- and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq solar heating devices in their houses emy, New Delhi on his literary works. Abdullah said. 'The use of solar en- will be provided interest-free loans Taing can write his critics at home ergy will help maintain the balance from the banks. Eleven hydro elec- for which the Sahitya Academy shall of environment,' Abdullah said in a tric power projects are under execu- pay him the stipend for encouraging public meeting in Drass, on June 14. tion in the area which on completion his literary capabilities. This award Drass is known as the gateway to will produce about 12 MW of power, is conferred to the renowned writers Ladakh. Possibilities will also be ex- a press release said. The statement in different languages of the country plored to produce more power from said the minister 'instructed the con- for which a committee of experts is water and wind energy to minimise cerned officers to exploit the natu- constituted by the Academy. M Y Taing the huge expenditure incurred on ral resources to harness the power has been selected for this award by exploitation of conventional source of potential available in the area and the committee in Kashmiri language energy, he said. Abdullah said his to make proper use of funds ear- for his contribution for the promo- ministry has sanctioned Rs.473 crore marked for the specific projects.' tion of Kashmiri culture. Rs 1.7 Crore IT notice to Geelani

he Income Tax department, on October 27, asked hardliner separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to pay Rs 1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns after rejecting his appeal. The IT sleuths, who Thad swooped on residences of Geelani and his family members in 2002 and seized valuable items including a diamond-studded watch gifted by Pakistan Government, had raised a tax demand of over Rs 1.5 crore. Geelani challenged the demand and approached the Commissioner of Income Tax (appeals) for review of the case and also sought a waiver, saying he did not earn anything other than the pension from Government of Jammu and Kashmir and from agriculture land. The case dragged on for nearly three years and recently the appeal was dismissed after which he was asked to deposit Rs 1.73 crore as tax liabilities by the end of 2010. The department had raided Geelani's house and other places of his kin on June 9, 2002 and seized Rs 10.2 lakh and 10,000 US dollars in cash, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amount of jewellery, a diamond-encrusted watch inscribed with 'From Pakistan Government' besides documents pertaining to purchase of property and vehicles.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 21 ANNUAL REVIEW1 J & K IN 2010 Kashmir eruption due to failure on the miscreants behind the violent protests.' 'There are few. There are harnessing gains: Army people who are passing instructions on phone. They have to be identified. espite allegation of accesses, the Army said that the basic reason be There are people financing the pro- hind the flare up in the Kashmir Valley is the failure to build on the gains tests. They must be identified,' Singh Dthat had been made by the security forces in the troubled state. Army said. He said it was for the local admin- Chief General V K Singh said on July 11 that the Kashmir situation has been istration and elected representatives to tense for quite some time and the reasons are many. The basic reason being win the confidence of the common man that 'we have not been able to build on the gains that have been made'. Singh and convince him to stay away from the said the army had brought the situation under control to a certain level from protests. 'How do we connect with the where other steps should have been taken to carry forward the process and common man and build confidence in bring peace in the Valley. 'So far as the army is concerned, I think as security him so that he can stay away from all forces, a lot of work has been done. The situation has been brought to a this? This is both an administrative particular level when other initiatives should have started to make way for measure as well as it depends on the betterment,' he said. Elaborating on the steps required to contain the volatile elected leaders out there at various situation, he said: 'First of all, there has to be concerted efforts to identify levels,' the general said. Deoband: J&K's future best with India

he Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, the powerful body of Deobandi clerics, backed they silent so long, All India Muslim the demand to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and re Personal Law Board's Kamal Farooqui Tmove security forces and barricades from civilian areas in J&K on Octo- said, 'Muslims were not comfortable ber 10. In a resolution adopted at its Kashmir Conference organized in Delhi, talking about Kashmir for fear of get- the JuH also demanded an independent inquiry commission to probe human ting branded and harassment by police rights violations and trace 'thousands of lost and missing youths', repeal the and intelligence agencies.' Asked about Public Safety Act, and ensure compensation to victims. It asked for the prom- the prospect of resolution of the Kash- ise of a special economic package to be kept, and asked the Centre to take mir issue, he said, 'The country is in a other steps to facilitate a settlement 'within the framework of the Constitu- reconciliatory mood, be it on J&K or tion'. This is the first time JuH has taken up the Kashmir issue. The resolu- Ayodhya. So, reconciliation within the tion stressed, 'We don't consider interests of the Kashmiri people to be sepa- Indian Constitution is the way out. An rate from the interests of Indian Muslims.' It also called all like-minded people overwhelming section of Kashmiris and organisations to campaign for peace and justice in Kashmir and 'thwart want it, too. Which stupid person would enemy forces bent upon disintegration of Kashmir'. When asked why were want to go with Pakistan?' Water tax: J&K to make Rs 850 Crores

he J&K government, October 9, Centre pay for generating power through projects in the state and make up passed a bill in the Legislative for the losses as a result of the Indus water treaty with Pakistan. The bill was TAssembly making it incumbent moved by Taj Mohiuddin, the minister in charge of public health engineering, on all consumers to pay for using irrigation and flood control, and passed by voice vote in the Legislative Assem- water. According to the Jammu and bly. It will now be sent to the Legislative Council, for ratification. The legisla- Kashmir Water Resources (Regulation tion envisages that any power generation company, whether owned by the state, and Management) Bill, 2010, every- Centre or a private consortium, will have to pay for water used for generating one, including national hydropower electricity. "Our preliminary estimates reveal that we will generate Rs 850 crore projects and those who keep animals annually even if only 2 paise per cubic ton of water is charged from the power for commercial purposes, will be companies," Taj said. It is seen that the Jammu and Kashmir government would taxed. So far, only households have benefit primarily from the NHPC-run projects which use the state's water re- been paying water tax, but the sources for power generation but pay only 12 per cent royalty. What this means amount levied is a pittance. The tax is that if a project run by the NHPC, a Government of India enterprise, gener- is expected to generate Rs 850 crore ates 100MW, the state's share will be 12MW. Jammu and Kashmir has an esti- every year. The move is being seen mated hydropower potential of 20,000MW, out of which 2,456MW have been as an innovative way to make the harnessed so far in the state. Most of the power is generated by the NHPC.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 22 J & K IN 2010 Faces behind Kashmir's street rage

asarat Alam and Aasiya Andrabi are two well known faces in MKashmir's separatist political landscape but the prominence they assumed in 2010 was beyond anyone's imagination. Who controls Kashmir has always been subject to debate. When it comes to stirring the separatists sentiments, the separatist camp itself falls out at the first in staking claims over control of different areas. Throughout the violent summer of 2010, the hardliner sepa- in 2008 during the Amarnath land ratist Syed Ali Shah Geelani remained agitation. Alam was arrested by Po- mostly in jails. In his absence, lice and booked under PSA only when Masarat Alam, who also remained in 2010 agitation was almost over. hiding, called the shots while Aasiya Aasiya Andrabi, 47, founder and Andrabi made most of stirs in the chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, capital city of Srinagar. From his a top commander of a pro-Pakistan isn't new to hardline politics but has hideout, Masarat Alam, 38, issued militant outfit Hezbollah, a group that acquired an active profile during the "protest calendars" and occasionally later faded away. A college graduate, current protests, actively issuing videoclips to the media in which he Alam was arrested in October 1990 statements endorsing the protesters. asks security forces to leave the Val- but released after 13 months. He was In 1985, she broke away from the ley. To avoid detection, Alam doesn't arrested again in 1993 and was in jail Jamat-e-Islami and formed the use a cellphone. Alam, known as an for four years. From 1997 to 2007, Dukhtaran-e-Millat and in 1991 hit the "event manager" for the hardline fac- Alam was arrested and released sev- headlines when she launched a cam- tion led by Geelani, is a militant- eral times. In 2003, when the paign to enforce the veil in the Val- turned-political leader. In the early Hurriyat split, Alam joined the hawks ley. She has been arrested several days of militancy in the '90s, he was led by Geelani. He rose to prominence times under the PSA. HORTICULTURE EXPORTS DOWN BY 30%

xport of fresh fruit from the exported in the same month last Kashmir Valley to other parts However, the numbers year, an equal decrease was regis- Eof the country got severely hit tered in the month of August. The due to prolonged unrest, with rose from 207 in May situation was even worse in Sep- consignments down by almost 30 last year to 233 in the tember, with only 7,060 trucks per cent this year compared to last exported so far, as against 14,665 year. As many as 16,361 trucks same month this year trucks in the same month of the loaded with fresh fruit were and 793 to 964 in June previous year. An official of the exported to other parts of the horticulture department, while country from the Valley between of each respective year. admitting that the strife had April 1 to September 22 this year. Exports in July, 2010, affected transport of fruits to some The number of consignments also recorded an in- extent, said the drop was also due dispatched by truck last year to below par crop yield this year in between April 1 and September 30, crease of 542 trucks view of the unusual weather 2009, was 23,819. Only 51 truck over the 2,195 consign- throughout the early part of the loads of fruit were exported in summer. 'During this summer, we April this year, as against 65 last ments exported in the had day temperatures which were year. However, the numbers rose same month last year, 10 to 15 degrees lesser than the from 207 in May last year to 233 in optimum. It naturally affects the the same month this year and 793 an equal decrease was fruit production,' the official added. to 964 in June of each respective registered in the month After tourism, the horticulture year. Exports in July, 2010, also industry is the backbone of the recorded an increase of 542 trucks of August. Valley and the annual turnover is to over the 2,195 consignments the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 23 ANNUAL REVIEW1 J & K IN 2010 Over Rs 20,000 Crore loss to economy without business for two months ex- he three-month long of shutdowns and curfews in the valley has dented actly,' he said. The hotelier said as the economy of Jammu and Kashmir by an estimated Rs 21,000-crore per the estimates, his 300 rooms and all the sectors including tourism, handicrafts and the nascent indus- T would have fetched him at least a tries have been affected by the unrest. Several established and upstarting revenue of Rs 1 crore per month even manufacturing companies, hotels and restaurants laid off staff due to pro- in a lean season. The strikes, curfews longed agitation. About the estimated losses suffered by the business com- and restrictions also cost the state munity in Kashmir, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry presi- government very dearly as they stand dent Nazir Ahmed Dar said on an average the losses were to the tune of Rs to lose Rs 161 crore for every day of 100 crore. 'Even on the limited days of normalcy we have had since June 11, shutdown in terms of sales tax, in- there has been disturbance in some part or the other of the Valley. It will be come tax and other levies. 'We can safe to put the cumulated losses so far at Rs 8,000 crore,' he said. Dar said broadly calculate the loss to economy business in the state will flourish only after permanent peace is established, per day on pay bill; General State which was only possible when 'Government of India takes concrete steps to Domestic Product is Rs 35,000 crore break the impasse'. Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya, the leading hotelier of Kashmir, per annum and trading and bank credit said he was incurring a recurring loss of Rs 30 lakh per month due to the Rs 17,000 crore per annum. The fig- unrest. 'My salary bill per month is close to Rs 15 lakh while another Rs 15 lakh ure approximately works up to Rs 161 are incurred on overheads like maintaining the hotel properties, electricity crore per day,' an official of the fi- bills, etc,' he said. Chaya, who owns prime hotel properties in Srinagar, Gulmarg nance department said. During the and Pahalgam under the brand name of Grand Mumtaz, said the indications current year, the valley has witnessed were that Kashmir will witness a bumper tourist season this year. 'Most of either a shut down or curfew for nearly hotels were running up to 80-90 per cent occupancy during the early days of the 85 days which translates into loss of season but that came crashing to 30 per cent by the end of June and now we are over Rs 13,000-crore so far. SC dismisses New drug policy

he state government has worked out a new draft SLP on drug policy which among other things provide for Tthe process of procurement and supply of essential medicines as defined by the World Health Organi- delimitation case zation taking care of the health needs of the people. It also provides for an essential drug list, quality assur- he Supreme Court on November 9, 2010 dismissed ance, prompt accessibility and availability of drugs at the Special Leave Petition (SLP © No:2224/2009 filed affordable prices, safety and efficiency of medicines, Tby J&K National Panthers Party challenging the judge- selection of essential medicines, procurement of ment of the Division Bench of the J&K High Court dated generic drugs, setting up of Jan Asudhi Drug stores, February 6, 2009 whereby the constitutional validity of management of materials and inventory control, sales 29th J&K Constitution (Amendment) Act was challenged and storage, quality assurance and regularization, by virtue of which amendment was made in Section 47 and 49 of the J&K Constitution to the effect that there monitoring for rational use of drugs, promoting ratio- will be no increase in the seats of State Assembly till cen- nal use of drugs, creation of drug information centers, sus is made after 2026 in the State, nor any delimitation Pharmaco-vigilance at hospital levels, human resources of the Assembly seats will take place till then. Further, development, monitoring and evaluation. The health Proviso was added top Section 3 of the J&K peoples Rep- department under the new drug policy intends to open resentation Act whereby the constitution of the delimita- four drug stores in the State where generic drugs tion Commission was frozen till the census which would would be provided to the people on reasonable and take place after the year 2026. The 29th Constitution amend- affordable costs. These stores have been proposed at ment was made in February 2002 by 2/3rd majority of the SMHS Hospital, Srinagar, Government Hospital, Gandhi J&K Assembly which is in parameters of similar amendment Nagar and one each at Leh and Kargil in the beginning of the Constitution of India. In article 81 and 170 whereby while in all the districts subsequently. Under the new the increase in the Parliament seats as well as in the State Assembly(other than the J&K) were frozen till census takes drug policy drug information centres in the Govern- place after 2026. The State was represented by Mr. M.I. ment Medical College, Srinagar and Jammu have also Qadri learned Advocate General along with Gaurov been envisaged besides annual publication of a State Pachananda Senior Addl, Advocate General Supreme Court level formulary in line with the World Health Organiza- and Mr. Sunil Fernednes Advocate-on-Record and the Cen- tion and National norms. This publication would be tral Government was represented in the Supreme Court by distributed to all qualified prescribers free of cost or Gopal Subramaniam Solicitor General of India. on subsidized rates.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 24 J & K IN 2010 Special task forces for Jammu, Ladakh

he Government of India, on Oc tober 13, constituted two spe The decision on forming of three task forces was Tcial task forces for Jammu and taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Secu- Ladakh regions to examine the allocations in terms of infrastructure rity headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on needs and make suitable recommen- September 25. The terms and references of the two dations to overcome the deficiencies. task forces would be to identify the special develop- While Abhijit Sen, a Planning Com- ment needs of the region and suggest measures to mission member, leads a task force on Jammu, Narendra Jadhav, another address them and to examine allocations to the re- Planning Commission member, is the gions in terms of infrastructure needs. chairperson of the team on Ladakh. The two task forces have been con- tions to the regions in terms of infrastructure needs. They will make suitable stituted keeping in view the imme- recommendations to overcome the deficiencies. The task forces have been diate objectives to maintain peace given three months to submit their reports. and order and defuse the situation Besides Sen, the other members for Jammu task force are Joint Secretary, through confidence building mea- (Plan Finance-I), Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, Divisional sures. The decision on forming of Commissioner (Jammu), Dr Najeeb Jung, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia three task forces was taken at a University and Dr Amaresh Dubey, Prof of Economics, Centre for the Study of meeting of the Cabinet Committee Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, JNU. Joint Secretary (Kash- on Security headed by Prime Minis- mir), Ministry of Home Affairs will be the Convenor. ter Manmohan Singh on September Besides Jhadav, the task force on Ladakh comprises Joint Secretary, (Plan 25. The terms and references of the Finance-II), Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, Divisional Com- two task forces would be to identify missioner, Kashmir, Prof Akhtar Majeed, Director, Centre for Federal Studies the special development needs of the and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hamdard University, Dr Navnita Chadha region and suggest measures to ad- Behera, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi as members and dress them and to examine alloca- Director (Kashmir), Ministry of Home Affairs as Convener.

INDIA TODAY SURVEY Despite troubles, J&K improves tion, the report issued at the Con- clave says that in 2010 the State has performance ranking targeted an expenditure of Rs. 600 crore under MGNREGA almost three times the last year's. The Govern- survey conducted by the National Rural Employment Guaran- ment has been able to generate more newsmagazine India Today has tee Act (MGNREGA). than 7.9 lakh mandays for about 2.5 A indicated that the Jammu and The State has also been ranked third lakh households and spent nearly Rs. Kashmir State has shown remarkable in Micro Economy, fourth in Primary 140 crore. The parameters of rank- improvement in the governance dur- Education and Investment Environ- ing good health in the State has been ing last two years. As against rank ment while it stands at rank sixth in captured by the infant morality rate, 16 in 2008, Jammu and Kashmir Consumer Markets sector. The awards the percentage of births assisted by jumped to rank 10 in 2010 while it for the achievements were received the trained personnel, the number of stood at rank 11 in 2009. by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Min- registered doctors, access to water, This is viewed as an important break- ister, Omar Abdullah from the Vice good hygiene, removal of biases through achievement of Omar President, Mr. Hamid Ansari at the against women and girl child and per Abdullah led government in view of State of States Conclave at Delhi on capita expenditure on health and fam- the law and order situation during November 19. ily welfare. The survey report also 2009 in the Valley and long drawn dis- The survey for ranking various states indicated improvement in the infra- turbances for over five months in in governance and implementation of structure development in Jammu and Kashmir during the current year. development schemes in different Kashmir while it also recognized im- The Jammu and Kashmir State has sectors was conducted by the India provement in the State in the field been adjudged the best State in the Today Group of Publications. of agriculture. In composite ranking Country for successful implementa- Giving top ranking to the Jammu and J&K has also shown improvement and tion of schemes in Primary Health Kashmir State in Primary Health Care its position from rank 11 in 2008 has Care sector and Mahatama Gandhi sector and MGNREGA implementa- jumped to rank 8 in 2010.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 25 ANNUAL REVIEW1 J & K IN 2010 43,000 odd jobs he State Cabinet, on October 14, and directed for strict adherence of these while making the engagements. It also approved engagement of 43,000 authorized the above said departments for making the engagement for which Tcasual or seasonal labours in the the notification will be issued by the Finance Department. Of the 43,000 en- departments of Power Development, gagements as many as 20,500 will be made in Jammu division and the same PHE, Irrigation, Flood Control, Public number in Kashmir division while 2,000 engagements will be made in Ladakh Works, Rural Development, Floricul- region. An expenditure of Rs. 143 crores on the scheme would be met as ture, School Education and Forests. In per the arrangement which envisages loading of Rs. 23 crores on the cost of new case of Consumer Affairs and Public projects under implementation, enhancing the existing provisions in the non- Distribution Department, the Cabinet plan maintenance budget of the respective departments to the tune of Rs. 40 decided that the department will ex- crores and Rs. 80 crores as maintenance provisions in the Annual Plan 2010-11 in amine its proposal for engagement of different sectors. Earlier, on October 1, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah informed 7,000 causal/seasonal labours, in Legislative Council that as against the reference of 1888 gazetted posts to the greater detail for further consideration PSC for making selection, the Commission has made selections for 3275 posts and order of the Cabinet. The Cabinet clearing the backlog also. Similarly, the Service Selection Board has made 14611 also approved the guidelines for en- selections as against the 10993 posts referred to the Board for making selections gagement of the above said persons thus also clearing the backlogs. Controversy over private Universities

he State Legislative Council re of the Karwan-i-Islamia J&K and its ferred to the a Joint Select Com associated trusts and for matters trust at Jammu for the introduction Tmittee of both Houses three Pri- connected therewith or incidental and promotion of open university and vate Members Bills on establishment thereto. Another Bill for the estab- distance education system on the of three new Universities in private lishment of a residential and techni- educational pattern of the country sector. Some members of the Coun- cal University in J&K to offer Islamic, and for the co-ordination and deter- cil had raised objections to the set- scientific, technical and other educa- mination of standards in such sys- ting of these Universities as all were tion as also to usefully utilize the sur- tems. being funded by religious plus finance of the Jamiat-e-Ahli- organisations. Hadith and its associated trusts as Some members of the Earlier the Legislative Assembly had Salfia Muslim Educational and Re- Council had raised passed private member bills to this search Trust and Wakaf Tanzeem objections to the setting effect on October 9. These included Trust and for matters connected establishment of a university in the therewith or incidental thereto. of these Universities as State to offer Islamic, scientific, A Bill to establish and incorporate and all were being funded by technical and other education as also open university sponsored by religious organisations. to usefully utilize the surplus finance Hemkunt Foundation, a registered Stephen Schwebel Heads Kishanganga Arbitration Court

udge Stephen M. Schwebel, and seventh members of the court. allows it to divert Kishanganga wa- former President of the Inter As per the provisions under the ters to the Bonar Madmati Nallah, Jnational Court of Justice, was Indus Waters Treaty, signed between another tributary of the Jhelum, named on October 29 to head the India and Pakistan in 1960 under the which falls into the Wullar lake be- Court of Arbitration being consti- aegis of the World Bank, the arbi- fore joining the Jhelum again. Paki- tuted to resolve the Kishanganga hy- tration court has to have seven stan has objected to this saying droelectric project dispute between members, including the chairman. India's plans to divert waters will ob- India and Pakistan. Judge Schwebel Already India and Pakistan have struct the flow of the river affect- is an expert on international law and named two international experts ing its Neelam-Jhelum project down- dispute settlement. The Rector of each to represent them. The dispute stream. The matter could not be re- the Imperial College London will ap- is over India's 330 Mw hydroelectric solved during the Permanent Indus point an engineer and the Lord Chief project on Kishanganga, a tributary Water Commission-level bilateral Justice of England and Wales will ap- of the Jhelum in Jammu and Kash- talks and Pakistan decided to take point a legal member as the sixth mir. According to India, the treaty the issue to a court of arbitration.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, November 2010 ANNUAL REVIEW 26 J & K IN 2010 Jammu basmati qualifies for exports

ollowing the revision of the stan because the standard fixed for export by the Ministry of Commerce, Govern- dards by the Ministry of Com ment of India, stipulated a minimum length of uncooked Basmati Rice to be 7 Fmerce Government of India, the mm, where as the locally grown Basmati-370 and Ranbir Basmati types are Basmati growers of Jammu will be slightly smaller in length. Despite the fact that the varieties here possess all now able to export their produce both other parameters and attributes of Basmati rice as described by the Ministry outside the state and in the interna- of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture Government of India, Agricul- tional market. The Minister for ture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) and other Agriculture, Ghulam Hussan Mir, said concerned international organizations, Jammu basmati was not permissible on October 28 that with the fixing for export has it fall short of the earlier length parameters. In fact the taste of new export standards for the un- and aroma of above mentioned varieties of Bsmati is comparable with the cooked Basmati at 6.61 mm length best in the world and is unmatched by many of the long grained basmati rice and 3.5 mm width against the ear- varieties presently being exported. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry lier stipulated standards of minimum Government of India has notified fresh export standards. As per new stan- length of 7mm, the growers of dards for export it shall be more than 6.6 mm of length and ratio of length to Jammu will now be able to sell their breadth of the grain to be more than 3.5. This implies that Basmati-370 and produce in national and international Rranbir basmati varieties grown in Jammu region now qualify for export. markets. The Basmati Rice of R.S. This breakthrough, he said will make basmati cultivation in the region more Pura is widely known for its taste and profitable and go a long way in increasing the area, production, productivity aroma. However, its export outside and quality of basmati rice mainly cultivated in Jammu, Kathua and Samba the country was not so far possible districts of the region. Gulmarg among 7 top ski resorts of Asia

mong the best tourist destina resorts to find their way in the with fresh light powder from the tions in the country, the famous shortlist are Rusutsu Ski Resort, Himalayas, attracting ski bums tired Ahealth resort of Gulmarg has Hokkaido, Japan, Alpensia Resort, of Alpine lift queues and fondues," pushed its way into the top 10 ski des- Yongpyong, Gangwon-do and Jisan writes the CNN report. CNN Interna- tinations in Asia. Placed 7th in the Forest Resort, Icheon, all in South tional further reports that the resort's coveted list, Gulmarg has been rec- Korea, Alshan Alpine, in Mongolia, claim to fame is the Gulmarg Gandola, ommended by CNN International as Yabuli, Ski resort, in Heilongjian and the highest ski lift in the world, at a one of the best ski destinations for Nanshan Ski village, in Beijing, both dizzying 3,979 metres. At the top sta- downhill thrills, which attracts visitors in China. CNN International writes tion, skiers can take on challenging from across the globle. Appi Kogen, that in the 19th Century, Gulmarg was runs with Nanga Parbat, the world's Tohoku, Japan, tops the list as the best a hill station for British colonies to ninth highest peak, in the backdrop. ski resort in Asia, followed by Niseko, escape the summer heat. 'These days, Around 400,000 intrepid skiers took Hokkaido, also in Japan. The other it is a world class ski resort blanketed gondola ride last year, the report adds.

way," Home Minister P Chidambram informed the Parliament on August Tragedy in Leh 16. "As per the Government of J&K's latest assessment, 179 people includ- t least 179 people were killed (115 instantly while other bodies were ing six foreign nationals have lost recovered in later days) and 350 injured and a few hundred more feared their lives and approximately 400 Awashed away in flash floods triggered by a massive cloudburst that hit people have been injured and treated Leh town of Ladakh region, washing away several government buildings and in various Army and other medical houses on the intervening night of August 6 and 7. The cloudburst occurred at facilities," he added. Choglamsar village, which is situated above Leh. Flash floods and mudslides Chidambaram said there had been followed the cloudbursts, unleashing the tragedy on the town. extensive damage to public utilities The unprecedented massive cloudbursts triggered flash floods and mudslides like the BSNL exchange, civil hospi- in Leh town around midnight, washing away concrete structures including tal, airport, drinking water supply government offices, paramilitary camps and residential homes in the town. works, national highways connecting The headquarters of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam limited (BSNL), a government Leh-Manali, Leh-Kargil and also to polytechnic, the ITBP camp, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp, private properties. Over 6,000 per- some government offices, main transmitter of All India Radio in the town and sonnel of the Army, Air Force, Border residential homes were extensively damaged by the flash floods. Roads Organisation, NDRF and ITBP "Since the tragedy occurred during the night there has been substantial loss were deployed along with rescue of precious human lives. Damage to property and disruption of communica- equipment to assist the civil admin- tion and services have also been widely reported. A full assessment is under- istration in relief operations.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 27 INTERNATIONAL PRESS Does India Have an Endgame in Kashmir?

JYOTI THOTTAM / TIME MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER, 24, 2010

eaders from every major largely peaceful uprising, with wide Indian political party flew to popular support. "The armed forces LSrinagar this week to demon- do not know what to do," he says. strate India's seriousness about Absent clear guidelines, the troops resolving the political crisis that simply do what they have always has seen months of protests done - use whatever force they bloodily suppressed in Kashmir. But think is necessary to suppress a the three-day meeting ended with controversial decision to allocate protest, with little fear of prosecu- little sign that India is willing to try land to a Hindu pilgrimage group tion thanks to the legal protection a new strategy, despite the obvious showed that Kashmiri resentment of the Armed Forces Special Powers failings of the current one. toward India was as strong as ever; Act (AFSPA). For India's political establishment, and the November 2008 terrorist But widespread criticism of the use the best-case scenario would be a attacks in Mumbai showed that of force against unarmed protest- return to the relative calm that Pakistan-based militant networks ers, particularly when it results in prevailed from 2004 to 2008. had only been dormant, not dis- the deaths of children as young as Although India and Pakistan had mantled. 8, has shown New Delhi that it made little progress in resolving The Mumbai massacre prompted cannot completely ignore the their competing claims over the India to suspend its ongoing dia- popular anger of Kashmiris. Home territory, the "Line of Control" logue with Pakistan, and the U.S. Minister P. Chidambaram, who is (LOC) established in 1971 between and other Western governments considered a security hawk, has Indian- and Pakistan-controlled joined New Delhi in condemning expressed support for modifying Kashmir had assumed the status of Pakistan's support for jihadist the AFSPA so that it can be lifted in a de facto border. New Delhi was groups. New Delhi also dug in its some areas of Kashmir, but he has pouring development funds into its heels on Kashmir, refusing to faced stiff opposition from the side of that armistice line, armed discuss the issue with Pakistan army. militancy by local separatists had absent a demonstrable reversal of The political impact of the latest been suppressed, and Pakistan its support for jihadists fighting demonstrations has been to restore seemed to have yielded to U.S. against India. The renewed hard the relevance of the Kashmiri pressure to stop sending over its line on Pakistan resulted in neglect separatist movement. Those deadly jihadist proxy forces. That of Kashmir's issues, leaving the leaders realize that mass protest period is remembered in Srinagar - popular anger displayed in the 2008 actions against the Indian state are even among some separatist protests to simmer. It was to those far more effective than terrorism is leaders - as a time when the demonstrations that today's stone in bringing political pressure. The intractable conflict seemed to be throwers date their movement's young stone throwers insist that fading away. The older generation origins. "Millions of protesters were their movement has no leader, but was tired of fighting, and young out in the streets," one of them established separatist figures have people couldn't be bothered. tells TIME. "They forced us to pelt co-opted their cause. In an inter- "Up until 2007, I was of the view stones. We didn't have any other view last month, hard-line separat- that maybe the next generation is options." ist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani not really willing to take this The result has been this summer's claimed the mantle of leadership. forward," says Mirwaiz Umar alarming death toll: more than 100 Geelani has been issuing a weekly Farooq, leader of the moderate people have died since June, as "protest calendar" for shutdowns, wing of the Hurriyat Conference. police and paramilitary outfits protests and days off, but on the "You were looking at [Indian crick- continue to use deadly force street he has no control over eter Sachin] Tendulkar and [actor] against stone-throwing protesters. spontaneous demonstrations. Shah Rukh Khan and, you know, the Ashok K. Behuria, research fellow The stone pelters respect Geelani, corporate India. And everybody was at the Institute for Defence Studies but they have already demonstrated talking about IT and corporates & Analyses in New Delhi, says the the limit of his influence. After and all that." nature of the recent protests has several incidents in which protest- Two episodes in 2008 shattered the taken Indian authorities by sur- ers burned government vehicles, calm: in June, peaceful mass prise. Compared with the armed Geelani on Aug. 4 called for a halt protests in Srinagar against a militancy of the 1990s, this is a and a return to peaceful protest:

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 28 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS INTERNATIONAL PRESS

"By indulging in acts of arson, we tactics. "Why don't you feel our their sharp words have further are harming our own cause." Almost pain if we are a part of your body?" complicated the already strained immediately, he faced a backlash one asked. Even the Hindu nation- both on the Web and from a crowd alists in the delegation seem to negotiation process between the at a funeral procession, who ac- have gotten the message. Arun two countries. cused him of playing politics, and Jaitley, a leader of the right-wing There is, however, still room for was forced to backtrack. Bharatiya Janata Party, told report- New Delhi to make a dramatic The question of who leads the ers after the trip that Kashmiris' gesture toward peace. On Wednes- stone throwers is an important one. "biggest source of anxiety springs day, the Hindustan Times reported The more prominent the roles of from being told on a daily basis that the Kashmir state government is considering the release of 300 Geelani and other hard-line sepa- that they are acting at the behest activists who have been arrested in ratists, the easier it is for Indian of Pakistan." recent months - one of the de- hawks to assert that this summer's But even as India's political class mands made by the protesters. The protests aren't a peaceful mass and Kashmir's local leaders took repeal of AFSPA, too, is still on the movement at all but rather yet that first step toward understand- table. But as the Indian government another iteration of Pakistan- ing each other, Pakistan has deliberates, this year's bloody sponsored troublemaking in Kash- stepped into the picture. On summer in Kashmir is already mir. This week's visit by lawmakers Wednesday, Sept. 22, Pakistan's becoming a recruiting tool for did, however, bring Indian politi- Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood jihadists. The group claiming cians face to face with the very real Qureshi, called for international responsibility for the Sept. 19 anger of young Kashmiris. In an intervention in Kashmir, prompting attack at Delhi's largest mosque emotional meeting in the town of his Indian counterpart, S.M. mentioned this summer's violence Tangmarg, Kashmiris expressed Krishna, to demand on Thursday in Kashmir as one of its motiva- their frustration that India insists that Pakistan remove its presence tions. If India fails to defuse the Kashmir is a part of India but from certain parts of the region stone throwers' anger, it may be suspects Kashmiris of being Paki- before presuming to tell India what only a matter of time before one of stani agents and uses that suspi- to do. Both of them are in New York the groups operating in the region cion as justification for its security for the U.N. General Assembly, and finds a way to ignite it. Kashmir: India's intifada

EDITORIAL / ECONOMIST / SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

T HAS been a dreadful week in the past three months, police Kashmir, the bloodiest yet in have killed at least 87 protesters, Itwo decades of uprisings most of them teenage boys. The against Indian rule. The violence most significant proposal raised began with demonstrations at the government meeting was to against reports that Korans had withdraw the Armed Forces Spe- been or would be desecrated by a cial Powers Act, a tough and small group of Christians in the deeply unpopular law that allows United States. They quickly soldiers to search houses without turned, as protests tend to in the As a sign of its growing alarm, warrants and shoot anyone sus- Muslim-majority valley, to angrier the Indian government summoned pected of being a separatist. The cries for independence. an all-party emergency meeting 20-year-old law, alongside the On September 13th protesters that day in Delhi to discuss ways heavy presence of soldiers in set fire to a Christian missionary of ending the spiralling violence in India-administered Kashmir has school and 18 people were killed, fuelled a sense of injustice in the the region. It has previously been region's restive population. most of them by police bullets. A accused of failing to take seri- Lifting it is viewed by many as a curfew announced via loudspeak- ously the protests that have flared necessary condition for peace. ers mounted on police vehicles in Kashmir throughout the sum- And yet it is uncertain whether a seemed to have little effect. mer. Though the militancy that repeal of the law would do any- Angry youths across the region characterised the insurgency in thing to calm separatist leaders gathered to hurl rocks and chant the 1980s has been mostly sup- and their followers. A new poll, "Azadi!" (freedom!). Four more pressed, anti-government feeling published at the weekend, found demonstrators were killed on is now expressed in street pro- that most Kashmiris want full September 15th. tests that are growing bloodier. In independence from India.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 29 INTERNATIONAL PRESS Ignore the Kashmir Hawks Singh can make peace in the valley

JEREMY KAHN / NEWSWEEK /JULY 17, 2010

he Kashmir valley has been dicial killings. Singh has repeatedly convulsed by a series of violent promised "zero tolerance for human- Tprotests since June. Demon- rights abuses." But that pledge has strations that began over alleged yet to be backed by concrete action. extrajudicial killings by Indian Singh should also reach out again to security forces quickly spiraled out of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, control, claiming at least 15 civilian the umbrella group of Kashmiri lives-with each new death leading to separatists. The Hurriyat, bowing to another round of protest marches its hardline faction, has rejected and more deaths as paramilitary Singh's previous offers of dialogue police met rock-hurling demonstra- for two reasons: the continued tors with tear gas, rubber bullets, extension of the Armed Forces and live ammunition. To break the Special Powers Act to Kashmir and cycle, the Indian Army has been the separatists' insistence that they have a seat at the table in negotia- deployed on the streets of Srinagar, tions between New Delhi and the summer capital of the state of Islamabad on Kashmir's final status. Jammu and Kashmir, for the first Lifting the act, however, might time in 15 years. Officials imposed a provide enough political cover for 24-hour curfew in parts of the city moderates, such as Hurriyat leader and in several smaller towns where it is: an expression of pent-up anger Omar Farooq, to enter into talks. demonstrations took place, and In 2007 India and Pakistan were banned public gatherings of more and frustration by young Kashmiris who feel alienated from the rest of reportedly close to reaching a deal than four people. that would have frozen Kashmir's The civil unrest threatens the gains India. They are frustrated with the lack of economic opportunity in the borders but allowed people and goods that have been made in Kashmir. to flow freely across the Kashmir Over the last few years, the insur- state, and they are fed up with living Valley. The teetering political author- gency that sought to wrest Kashmir like an occupied people: hundreds of ity of then-Pakistani president Pervez from Indian control appeared to be thousands of Indian soldiers and Musharraf, followed by the Mumbai petering out. Pakistani-based terror- police are stationed in Kashmir, their terrorist attacks in November 2008, ist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba presence visible throughout the scuttled that possibility. The two (LeT) continued to send militants valley. These security forces have sides may now be groping their way across the border to attack Indian been granted legal immunity, a back toward a resolution. But unless troops in Kashmir, but increasingly situation that has only invited Singh addresses the concerns of they were killed before inflicting abuses. disaffected Kashmiris about human much damage. Fewer and fewer local What's more, Kashmiris fret they are rights, economic development, and Kashmiris joined the fight. The being treated as pawns by both New political autonomy, he may find he number of violent incidents dropped Delhi and Islamabad, which have has brokered a historic peace with- below 500 in 2009, the lowest level in negotiated over Kashmir's fate out bringing peace to the valley. the history of the conflict, according without any substantive input from to Indian government statistics. the Kashmiris themselves. Young Tourists returned to the region in men participating in the demonstra- record numbers. And in June, New tions say they want an independent Kashmir. But this is largely because, The number of violent inci- Delhi resumed peace talks with dents dropped below 500 in Islamabad, raising hopes that their in their experience, the Indian state dispute over Kashmir might soon be has offered little but repression. It is 2009, the lowest level in the settled. up to New Delhi to change this history of the conflict, ac- For Indian Prime Minister Manmohan perception. With a few important gestures, cording to Indian government Singh, the spate of violence presents statistics. Tourists returned a difficult challenge. He needs to Singh could defuse some of the anger resist hawks in his government, like on the streets and buy important to the region in record num- his home minister, P. Chidambaram, support for a lasting peace with bers. And in June, New Delhi who justify the heavy-handed tactics Pakistan. First, Singh should repeal resumed peace talks with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, of the security forces by conflating Islamabad, raising hopes the recent protests with the long- the law that gives Indian troops in running insurgency and accusing, Kashmir carte blanche to use deadly that their dispute over Kash- without much evidence, Pakistan and force and make warrantless arrests mir might soon be settled. LeT of orchestrating the demonstra- and searches. New Delhi should also tions. Instead, Singh should recog- move to prosecute members of the nize this protest movement for what security forces implicated in extraju-

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 30 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS INTERNATIONAL PRESS What are Chinese troops doing in Kashmir?

RANDEEP RAMESH / GUARDIAN / SEPTEMBER 04, 2010

he claim that more than 7,000 kingdom. The only way out of this Chinese troops have been mess is for Islamabad and Delhi to Thanded "de facto control" of start rebuilding a peace process Gilgit-Baltistan, a northern part of that will eventually lead to self- The Himalayan state is a piece Kashmir, by Islamabad, has set governance on both sides of the de of real estate whose sovereignty alarm bells ringing in Delhi. India - facto border and a withdrawal of has long been contested. With its which, like its nuclear-armed rival substantial numbers of Indian, demography as varied as its topog- Pakistan, claims the entire state - Pakistani and, yes, even Chinese raphy, its various peoples have long has long been worried that the troops from Kashmir. been imbued with a stubborn streak People's Liberation Army was of independence. working on roads and railway So it may be unsurprising that ,, projects in the Karakoram moun- when heavy rains washed away tains. villages in the Pakistan's "Northern All of this troubles Delhi, What is true is that China plans Areas" and Islamabad's response a massive highway linking western which has long asked for was to sit on its hands, the sim- China to the port it is building at mering revolt against Pakistani rule Gwadar, Pakistan, on the shore of China to keep its nose flared again. In response Pakistan, the Arabian Sea. The benefits are so the claim goes, turned to its all- out of Kashmiri affairs. obvious: the journey time from weather friend China, which was factory gate in, say, China's wild However, the rise of the more than happy to send boots west, to container ships bound for flying. All this is dismissed in the Gulf will be cut from weeks to a Middle Kingdom and its Beijing but only after referring to few days. Eventually it may even Gilgit as a "northern part of Paki- need to secure passage become a key energy supply route. stan", which simply angered Delhi All of this troubles Delhi, which further. While Pakistan's problem in through its own trouble- has long asked for China to keep its its part of Kashmir has been of too nose out of Kashmiri affairs. some provinces of little government action, India's However, the rise of the Middle rule in its portion of the state has Xinjiang and Tibet Kingdom and its need to secure been heavy-handed and self- passage through its own trouble- defeating. through to Pakistan some provinces of Xinjiang and Faced with a largely nonviolent Tibet through to Pakistan make this make this unlikely. But revolt which began in 2008, the unlikely. But India suspects, too, Indian authorities have provoked a that China is intent on becoming India suspects, too, that much larger crisis with a regime of the hegemon of much of the east- curfews and the killings of teenag- China is intent on becom- ern hemisphere - able to dictate to ers shot dead with nothing but smaller powers the rules of the ing the hegemon of much slogans in their mouths and rocks game. in their hands. It is time for India In Kashmir this had led to a of the eastern hemi- to admit that its political and round of tit-for-tat diplomatic

military strategy has failed to sphere - able to dictate incidents. So when India refuses to stabilise Kashmir. The actions of allow a Chinese diplomat to visit its both Pakistan and India vitiate to smaller powers the troubled north-eastern state of claims that somehow either could Manipur for a talk, China responds rules of the game. keep the entire state happy. China by blocking the visa of a top Indian has little sympathy with separatist ,, general because it appears his claims - and holds sway over large command includes Kashmir. chunks of the former Kashmiri

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 31 INTERNATIONAL PRESS Kashmir: Worse Than Afghanistan

BRUCE RIEDEL / THE DAILY BEAST / SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

ust as the war in Afghanistan to go alone. He needs the Paki- is getting bloodier and Paki stani army on board, and it is Jstan is drowning in floods, a unclear if the army chief, General new (yet old) battlefield is heat- Kayani, Musharraf's intelligence ing up in Kashmir. President chief during the old talks, is on Barack Obama's strategy for board. It will take strong and dealing with Afghanistan and brave leadership to get a deal, Pakistan always needed a Kashmir but it is critical to defeating the component to succeed; that need jihadist Frankenstein that now is becoming more urgent and terrorizes Pakistan itself. If left obvious now. His trip to India in to itself, the Pakistani army will November will be a key to ad- be tempted to intervene in dressing it. Kashmir again to help the until An independent Kashmir is not now largely indigenous revolt, in the offing. Neither India nor running the risk of another Indo- Pakistan would ever accept that Pakistani confrontation. outcome. Pakistan has been international border between the Singh undoubtedly wishes he trying to annex Kashmir since the two countries. At the same time, had seized the pending deal with hour it was born in 1947 and has it would become a permeable Musharraf when it was there. long and established ties to many border for Kashmiris, who could India cannot become a global terrorist groups operating in the move back and forth easily. Both power with a prosperous economy province like Lashkar e Tayyiba, countries' currencies would be if its neighbor is a constant the group that attacked Mumbai valid on both sides of the line. source of terror armed with the in 2008. India is determined to The two parts of Kashmir, Paki- bomb. A sick Pakistan is not a hold on to the part of Kashmir it stani Azad Kashmir and Indian good neighbor. won in the 1947-48 war at all Kashmir and Jammu, would For the U.S., reducing and costs. handle local issues like tourism, resolving the India-Pakistan Cold This summer, after several sports, and the environment in War before it goes hot is critical years of relative quiet, the joint shared institutions along to stability in South Asia, isolat- Muslim majority in the Vale of the lines of how Ireland and ing the jihadi extremists and Kashmir, the heart of the prov- Ulster work together now on all preventing a war in South Asia ince, began protesting against Northern Ireland issues. that could go nuclear. But India is Indian occupation. Young The broad outlines of this deal understandably averse to Ameri- Kashmiris began protesting were worked out by then Paki- can meddling in its internal against what they allege are stani President Pervez Musharraf affairs. President Obama learned Indian occupation forces' human- and Indian Prime Minister that in the transition, when he rights abuses. Up to 700,000 Manmohan Singh in secret back- briefly floated the idea of an Indian army and police garrison channel talks four years ago. American special envoy for the province with a very heavy Musharraf told me that while a Kashmir and he got a firestorm of hand. Stone-throwing produced deal was not consummated, they Indian resistance. clashes with the Indian army. were very close when his domes- Obama's challenge is to quietly Over a hundred have died in what tic political problems shut down help Islamabad and New Delhi is becoming a Kashmiri version of the exercise. Lashkar e Tayyiba's work behind the scenes to get Mumbai attack was designed to back to the deal Musharraf and the first Palestinian intifada of Singh negotiated. He will have a the late 1980s. Polling shows the kill it for good. The new uprising in the chance to work this subtly when majority of the Muslim population he visits India in November. The wants independence. Kashmiri capital of Srinagar new Kashmiri intifada has put the There is a solution, however, makes it imperative to get back issue back on the front burner. A to the problem. The cease-fire to the back channel and finish the deal is good for America, India, line that divides Kashmir between talks. Pakistani President Asif Pakistan, and especially the India and Pakistan, the line of Zardari probably would embrace Kashmiris, who have suffered control, would become the agreed them eagerly, but he is too weak enough.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 32 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS INTERNATIONAL PRESS Children of the tehreek

SANJAY KAK / HIMAL MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2010

hen columns of the Indian tion between two men described as Army drove through 'hardliner' separatists. As the audio WSrinagar on 7 July, rifles crackled and hissed, television pointed out at the city, it was channels provided translations: meant as a show of force; to tell its 'There must be some more deaths'; 'mutinous' population - and those '10-15 people must be martyred'; watching elsewhere - just who was 'You are getting money but not really in charge. Disconcertingly for doing enough'. Despite the comic- the Indian government, it has had Yet July was haunted by echoes book directness, it sounded like the opposite effect. Alarm bells of the early years of the tehreek, serious business. In the context of have been sounding off: the situa- the movement for self-determina- such 'evidence', mainstream televi- tion in Kashmir is again explosive; tion. As a brutally imposed sion channels began parachuting the lid looks ready to blow off. lockdown curfew entered its fourth their star power into Srinagar, and Although the army has for years day, there was no safe passage past the empty, silent city became the virtually controlled rural Kashmir, the paramilitary checkpoints - not backdrop against which they could images of grim-faced soldiers on a for ambulances, not for journalists. stage their own spectacle. 'flag-march' in Srinagar carried a For those four days, Srinagar's The CNN-IBN correspondent, different symbolism. For Srinagar newspapers were not published; happily embedded inside an army has been the exception - the local cable channels were restricted truck as it made its way through showpiece of 'normalcy', of a to just 10 minutes a day, and still Srinagar, was extolling the impact possible return to the bosom of had to make time for official of the flag march (even as an India's accommodating heart. views. SMS services remained official was busy denying that there Typically, the well-publicised entry blocked the entire month; in some had been any such thing). NDTV of the soldiers was followed by a troubled towns, cell-phone services provided its usual high-wire balanc- flurry of obtuse clarifications: the were completely discontinued. But ing act, with Barkha Dutt dredging army was not taking over Srinagar; Srinagar still reverberated with up the 'pain on both sides'. The this was not a flag-march, only a slogans every night, amplified from grief of the mourning father of 17- 'movement of a convoy'; yes, it was neighbourhood mosques: 'Hum kya year-old Tufail Mattoo, killed when a flag-march, but only in the city's chahte? Azadi!' (What do we want? his skull was taken apart by a 'periphery'. The contradictions Freedom!) and 'Go back, India! Go teargas shell, was weighed against seemed to stem from a reluctance back!' a Central Reserve Police Force to deal with the elephant in the War of perception (CRPF) commandant ruing the room: after more than 15 years, The real barometer of the panic damage to his truck's bulletproof the army had once again been in the Indian establishment, windscreen. But such expedient called out to stem civil unrest in though, was not the army's flag journalism paled before far more Srinagar. march. It was the frantic speed damaging hubris. While these When the Indian Army was (and dismal quality) of the at- 'national' reporters had the run of deployed in Kashmir during the tempts to obscure the crisis. In curfew-bound Srinagar, they omit- 1990s, the rebellion seemed to be place of politics, it was once again ted to mention that their Srinagar- fast spinning out of India's control. left to disinformation to staunch based colleagues - local, national Twenty years later, what has the haemorrhage. At first, the and even international journalists - changed? There is now a massive Home Ministry began with the had been locked in their homes and investment in a 'security grid', built improbable charge that the Paki- offices for three days. with more than 500,000 security stan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba was While the spin generated by New personnel and shored up by a organising and funding stone- Delhi probably has an impact on the formidable intelligence network, throwing on the streets of Srinagar. middle-class viewer of the main- said to involve some 100,000 This was a rather tame accusation stream Indian media, it has little people. The armed militancy, too, for a militant group whose real effect on people in Kashmir. On the has officially been contained. signature is the ferocity of its ground, they continue to make Meanwhile, the exercise of 'free attacks, as displayed clearly in the sense of their own reality. The and fair' elections has been carried Mumbai strikes of November 2008. inability, or refusal, to comprehend out to persuade the world that The only people who appeared to this has become endemic to all democracy has indeed returned to swallow this line were the loyal arms of the Indian state. An exag- Kashmir. (Elections certainly deliv- television anchors on the 'national' gerated, even fluid, notion of ered the young and telegenic Omar media; but with no real evidence to reality takes its place, in which Abdullah as Chief Minister; but go on, even they let the mess perception is everything. This was about democracy, Kashmiris will be quietly slide off the table. underlined forcefully in June when less sanguine. They will recognise it Evidence arrived soon enough, the chiefs of the army, navy and air the day the military columns and when the Home Ministry made force announced the new 'Doctrine camps are gone from the valley.) available a taped phone conversa- on Military Psychological Opera- www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 33 INTERNATIONAL PRESS tions', a policy document that aims more than 400,000 people had street protests started pouring in, to create a 'conducive environment' taken part in the pilgrimage to the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman for the armed forces operating in Amarnath shrine, and elections of the All Parties Hurriyat Confer- 'sub-conventional' operations such were being discussed. Screenings ence, told the press that 'the baton as Kashmir and the Northeast. The of the documentary in India were of the freedom struggle has now doctrine reportedly provides guide- often met with raised eyebrows, been passed on to the next genera- lines for 'activities related to with people incredulous that such tion'. He could have added that, perception management'. Manipu- sentiments could survive the over twenty years, the baton might lating the output of a few dozen weight of the cast-iron security grid also have moved from the armed newspapers and television channels - and, of course, the passage of 20 militancy and the 'separatists', is certainly hard work, but nothing years. Yet things can change in a straight onto the street. compared with the much harder day, and so they did. As the taped phone conversation task of understanding - perhaps In early summer 2008, isolated provided by the Home Ministry was even accommodating - the aspira- protests broke out over the acquisi- being celebrated on TV, in only a few hours a more accurate translations of Kashmiris. tion of land for the Amarnath Shrine Board. This eventually tion of what was actually an innocu- Out of touch ous conversation was burning The intensity of the crisis did turned into the most formidable upsurge of the past decade, with through the Internet. This phone help in one way, though: it forced 'evidence' evaporated under the peaceful demonstrations of up to some candour out of the familiar heat of scrutiny, its effects felt faces of Kashmiri politics. (These 20,000 people at a time. The even in Delhi newsrooms. Such a are the visible ones, called up in cascading protests carried on for speedy deconstruction of a suspect times of crisis to represent Kashmir several months before being claim is only the latest in the deeply on television. The invisible ones curbed, but not before more than political use of the Internet by were, as usual, already in deten- 60 people lost their lives to the young Kashmiris. These are chil- tion.) Mehbooba Mufti of the bullets of the security forces. In the dren of the tehreek, born and People's Democratic Party (PDP) summer of 2009, Shopian district brought up in the turmoil of the last admitted on television that main- was shaken by the rape and murder two decades. They have not, and stream (or pro-India) political of two young women; once again, probably will not, become armed parties have lost all credibility, and mostly peaceful protests paralysed mujahideen. But thousands are out now have no role to play in stem- the valley, and Shopian town was on the streets, throwing stones, ming the anger in the streets. shut down for an unprecedented 47 occasionally drawing blood, often When asked why politicians were days. The cycle of street violence in taking hits, but in any case suc- not taking out 'peace marches', 2010 too began several months cessfully paralysing the increasingly former separatist and now 'main- ago, with the uncovering of the bewildered security forces. What stream' leader Sajjad Lone bluntly Machil killings, where soldiers of armed militant could achieve more? said that all of them ran the risk of the Indian Army (including a colonel So will the Internet be the next being lynched by the people. Mean- and a major) were charged with the threat for the Home Ministry? Will while, all the oxygen was taken up murder of three civilians, present- they accuse the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen by discussion of the survival of ing them as militants for the of supporting the Facebook chatter Omar Abdullah's government, reward money (see accompanying about the 'intifada' in Kashmir? And something that mattered little to story by Dilnaz Boga). Protests led after that? Already, young Kashmiris protestors. Amidst the baying to the killing of protesters, which on social-networking sites are chorus of TV panellists outraged by has led to more protests, and more reporting phone calls from belliger- the gall of 'stone-pelters', many killings. ent police officers, threatening have forgotten that in 1991 it was New front them with serious charges including precisely such public demonstra- What do Kashmiris want? Most 'waging war against the state'. tions - and civilian casualties at the of all, even before azadi, they want Reports said that Qazi Rashid, the hands of the CRPF - that finally justice. As they watched the Indian young mirwaiz of south Kashmir, triggered a full-fledged armed Army columns moving through has been accused of 'instigating militancy. In recent weeks, Chief Srinagar last month, Kashmiris violence and justifying stone- Minister Omar Abdullah's language would have been reminded that the pelting' - through Facebook. has shown how out of touch he is, protests this summer started with joining the talk of 'miscreants' with the Army in the killing fields of When the Indian Army was his comments about 'frayed tem- Machil. But like the Shopian inci- deployed in Kashmir during pers' and waiting for 'tempers to dent, Machil too has begun to be the 1990s, the rebellion cool down'. Across the board, this edged off the burner, and forgot- seemed to be fast spinning ten, as have the hundreds of such disconnect with the structures of out of India's control. Twenty electoral politics helped to put the killings that civil-society groups elections of two years ago in some have painstakingly tried to resur- years later, what has perspective. rect. So, just as elections cannot changed? There is now a In 2007, I finished a documen- be confused with democracy in massive investment in a tary film on Kashmir, which had Kashmir, an elected government is 'security grid', built with tried to pull back from the quag- no substitute for a working justice more than 500,000 security mire of everyday events to under- system. Meanwhile, the prolonged personnel and shored up by a stand the inchoate 'sentiment' for use of the Public Safety Act, and formidable intelligence net- the dangerous license of the Armed azadi. Quite by coincidence, the work, said to involve some film arrived at the very moment Forces (Special Powers) Act, is 100,000 people. The armed that the constructed 'normalcy' of slowly wearing thin for the young. Kashmir was about ready to be This July, as the numbing news of militancy, too, has officially shown off: tourists were flowing in, young Kashmiris being shot in been contained.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 34 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS INTERNATIONAL PRESS The politics of policing Kashmir

JEFFREY STERN / FOREIGN POLICY / AUGUST 03, 2010

ast summer, I sat by a pool at civilians suffer when the state an old hotel in Srinagar, the shoots back, and resentment is felt Lsummer capital of Indian more profoundly for those Kashmir. Mock stucco and wood who open fire than it is for paneling vaguely recalled the those who draw it. It is historical architecture of the Tudor era; this motif that body counts tend to building looked like one of the favor the resistance, which means characteristic Kashmiri houseboats violence does too, and it's why, had sprouted roots and grown perhaps, there are so many Indian widthwise as well, except that the troops in Kashmir: violence doesn't houseboats float on Kashmir's need to be suppressed if it's effec- glass-still Dal Lake; the Broadway tively discouraged. Hotel is moored to the earth, while But the Indian military is an Kashmir moves on around it. This animal calibrated for fighting is the kind of place where British Pakistan; policing Kashmir is a bluebloods and the privileged Indian contortion of sorts. You dispatch a castes came on holiday to socialize soldier to his own country, give him amidst the Himalayas, but the life argument in my own little a gun but tell him not to fire it, of the freelance journalist is a adjudication of the Kashmir conflict send him out to control a crowd as more solitary enterprise, an to the Indian government. The two though he were a municipal cop exercise in incidental contacts and advocates: an, immensely likeable assigned to parade detail. The friends of sort-of-friends, colonel with a casual air, United States has put its soldiers in depended on for life and livelihood. attentively refreshing our rounds, a similar position -- trained them And so I sat in a relic of the Raj and his sidekick, a squirrelly little how to shoot and then tried to train years, kept company by 22 ounces major, quiet but choleric, dark- them how not to, because a of lager and a pad of neatly browed and brooding. country's military doctrine evolves scripted names, belonging mostly "We did learn one thing from Uncle faster than its soldier does. But to separatist leaders. Distance and Sam," the small one says, defensive American soldiers at least have liquor make for easy acquaintance almost instantly. "Indians learned whatever absolution is afforded by and I soon found myself talking not to break down doors. From you being someplace else. In Kashmir, with the two afternoon patrons with when a frightened soldier reacts, whom I shared an otherwise empty in Vietnam. And what about Iraq?" (A year later, when I reached an he is firing on his own countrymen. poolside bar; these two, travelers *** as well, sort of -- Indian soldiers in Indian army public relations officer on the phone, he said before we For this reason and others, "The plainclothes, both speaking of army is leaving the law and order even exchanged introductions, Kashmir as if it were a foreign work to the [Jammu & Kashmir] detachment, though it's a place "What is there to ask? We don't use police," my colonel friend said, India calls India. They were both helicopter gunships like you guys because it's hard to make a soldier officers, but came off as do." Such is the pressure on the and a man he chaperones feel accomplices in their own satire, the Indian soldier in Kashmir that he they're sharing a mother country. colonel wearing a beard and a khaki often defaults to defensive, as if a Still, Indian soldiers are ubiquitous baseball cap, offering that he was question about the Indian military in Kashmir, and as this summer's Sikh by faith, but observant only is necessarily an indictment of it.) seasonal violence ebbs into its enough for an exemption to the second month, there remains the military's shaving rule. Still smiling, The colonel elaborated: "If we know a militant is hiding out in a house, inescapable fact that it was, in he explained that they had the day typical fashion, catalyzed by Indian off because they were supposed to maybe now we will let him go. What do we get from killing two people security forces' lethal use of non- be appraising market prices, lethal force. Already, 30 people though by the end of the afternoon, with AK-47s? It's better to lose one have been killed this summer. So as they hadn't appraised much more or two militants than to go into a people take to the streets to make than the going rate for oversized house and maybe make four or five spectacle of their resentment for bottles of Kingfisher beer. more." This soldier saw a cycle of India, they ask more ardently: why And so there they were, and there violence in which an army helps its is the military here? Why are they was I, granting the opening enemy grow--militants bait them, in the capital? Are there terrorists

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 35 INTERNATIONAL PRESS here? Though her sources weren't re- influence or not, pretty much Few would dispute that India has vealed, her article suggested the everyone in Kashmir seems angry, suffered dearly from terrorists generals seem to understand most feel humiliated by the troops, who have some association with something politicians seemed not and every day, it gets harder to the region of Kashmir, whether to: that the more Indian troops control the young men. India's raised or having trained there, there are in Kashmir, the easier it Kashmir crisis is revealing itself to most notably the attacks on the is for kids to believe the least be less a political problem than a Indian Parliament in 2001 and the sympathetic appraisals of India -- demographic one: if there are siege on the city of Mumbai in that India doesn't care about indeed militants in Kashmir, the 2008. In the latter incident, the Kashmiris, doesn't trust them, ones coming from outside should be attackers trained in Pakistan- doesn't believe they're deserving of of far less concern to India than the administered Kashmir, the scenario the rights the rest of Indians enjoy. ones coming of age. that distresses India the most: It almost doesn't matter whether While Indian soldiers do their militants trained in Pakistan and these things are true: for those best to discharge their duties, the pushed across the Line of Control inclined to believe that they are, rest of India has other things to into India. It's the recurring night- every Indian soldier serves as worry about most of the time. A mare, and variants of it are cited proof. "The troops rolled into the friend in Delhi pointed to "intellec- as justification for the hundreds of state capital," Mustafa wrote, tual fatigue" as a factor (Here in thousands of Indian troops keeping the U.S., the public is weary of the "sealing the anger and the hostility Afghan conflict, long, by Americans an eye on Kashmir. As we talked in the Valley." And here is one of the that afternoon, the colonel shared standards, at not-quite nine years. punch lines in the tragicomedy of India has had trouble in Kashmir his own adaptation. Speaking like a Kashmir: by deploying hundreds of profiler might, he described 'the since partition in 1947-in other thousands of troops to prevent the words, India has been struggling enemy' as "someone who leaves his radicalization of Kashmir, India may with Kashmir for as long as India home where he's nothing and comes be expediting it. has been). Separatists, conversely, here, gets paid more, he's a living The same day the troops are energetic and eager to speak; martyr." The colonel's demeanor marched into Srinagar, the govern- they respond quickly to interview changed: "You know, it's very hard ment made another self-defeating requests, they send information to for us. We have a hard time pro- move, canceling "curfew passes" journalists before journalists even tecting our sources. The militants, for Kashmiri journalists. It restored know to ask for it, they form they will maybe kill or torture them two days later, but during the committees with impressive- someone they know is talking to blackout, while journalists com- sounding members and list-serves us." He draws from his mug, ashes plained that they were being populated by anyone who will listen. a cigarette. "How do we make them gagged and the presses fell silent, They recognize the press as a feel safe? It's harder and harder to weapon, so it follows that the the people did not. Without news- military sometimes treats ques- get information." papers rumors rule, sometimes His description portraits an tions as hostile fire. And anyway, inspired by political and religious the military has protocols and enemy that the Indian soldier leaders but rarely restrained by carries with him like part of his restrictions, wherein certain people them, and the protests grew more are authorized to speak and others equipment, to help him feel he's on violent. When legitimate reporting aren't, and information needs to be the right side of things; that he is stops, an illegitimate kind begins, verified, at least approved, before not stationed in Kashmir to control which for India is far worse. Omar it's released. It's not a phenomenon Kashmiris, but to insulate them Abdullah, Kashmir's chief minister, unique to India, nor one for which from violent-minded intruders here caught on to the phenomenon India bares special responsibility. A to poison the population. It's a quickly but his solution was to try state will always appear to have description however, that is wrong. and prevent this kind of reporting less time for you than the people Or at best, it's unproductive. too, by blocking text messages. resisting it. That afternoon at the Because right now, the troublemak- Broadway, both soldiers understood Even more than before people this phenomenon even before I ers in Kashmir are not trained talked, stories flourished and militants with guns and bombs did. As a foreign journalist, they formed the disparate fictions were certain, I would soon go out torturing people to keep them observers compile when trying to and hear horrible things about quiet. They're kids throwing stones. decide who's right. their comrades in the army. *** Whenever Kashmiris become Likely, that's why I was there; to When New Delhi sent 3,000 especially agitated, Delhi looks report on gang rapes and mass more troops to Kashmir on July 7 to west, assigning responsibility for graves, all the illustrative tres- quell the violence, journalists the violence to Pakistan or mili- passes Kashmiri separatists cite reported that even within the tants hosted there, because it's on their long list of grievances with the Indian military. The military there was resentment of easier to blame a foreign and the decision. Writing as a guest young major resented me for it specific interest than it is to before I even began reporting, columnist for a Kashmiri publica- implicate an entire population. tion, Seema Mustafa, who served instilled, as he was, with all the Accordingly, when violence swelled vigor of a young man told he's as editor of Asian Age newspaper this summer, India released audio fighting for a righteous cause on and Covert Magazine, said that recordings of a conversation it said behalf of an ungracious people. "reluctant generals had no choice proved Pakistani militants had a He was an Indian military man, but to obey the political directive, hand in the violence. Few found the after all, and I a journalist. although they privately fumed tapes convincing, and right now, Regardless of what I felt or feel, against the decision, describing it Pakistan's role should be almost a to him, my presence in Kashmir as dangerous and short sighted." secondary concern. Pakistani was my disapproval of his.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 36 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS NATIONAL PRESS American Diplomacy, Kashmir And Obama

IFTIKHAR GILANI / TEHELKA / NOVEMBER, 04, 2010

ew Delhi: Although US Presi with Shabir Ahmed Shah in Delhi, dent Barack Obama is un whom both India and the West N likely to ruffle feathers by wanted to project as a leader at mentioning Kashmir during his one time. Similarly, then US India visit, Kashmiri separatists Assistant Secretary of State Robin have planned their own strategy Raphel had said during a one-day to gain attention. The hardline visit to Mumbai in October 1994 faction of the Hurriyat Confer- that she was not convinced with the credibility of the elections in ence, currently leading the agita- Perkovich, award-winning author tion, has called for fresh demon- Jammu and Kashmir. In November and director of nuclear policy 1994, she met then Jammu and strations, describing the next 10 programme at the think tank, days as "crucial and significant." Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq believes that successive American Abdullah and reportedly offered On its part, the moderate section administrations have recognised full US support for reverting to has launched a campaign to that India has the power to rebuff the pre-1952 situation. Abdullah collect signatures on a memoran- unwelcome US involvement. Most dum to be handed over to Obama, has himself gone on record saying American scholars also suggest that the US backed his party's urging him to press India to that while the Obama administra- resolve the Kashmir issue. Unlike demand for greater autonomy and tion should ask Pakistan's military conversion of the LoC into a "soft its stand in Palestine, the West to prevent infiltration across the border" between India and Paki- has been inclined to support the Line of Control (LoC) and shut stan. Raphel had also hinted Muslim majority view in Kashmir jihadi centres, it should also ask during her meetings in Delhi that since 1947. American diplomat New Delhi to remedy and author Howard B Schaffer a political package must be made misgovernance and redress human known to Kashmiris. She had divides American engagement in rights abuses. They maintain earlier earned the ire of Indians the state into three phases: Obama cannot avoid disappointing by questioning the state's acces- Washington's deep engagements either Pakistan or India, or both. sion to India. In fact, soon after to bring about a settlement Afghanistan, therefore, under- top separatist leaders were (1948-63); American diplomatic scores the limits of US partner- quiescence arising out of the released from jail in 1993, US ship with India and Pakistan. In diplomats in Delhi and Washington failure of the 1963 negotiations; the past, the US had actively played a major part in banding and focus on crisis management supported Kashmir as a struggle them under the banner of the from 1990, coinciding with the for the right to self-determina- Hurriyat Conference. Even before onset of militancy. However, it is tion, much to India's annoyance. the alliance took shape in evident that due to a host of In September 1993, India was factors culminating in 9-11, the Srinagar, much to the chagrin of offended by then US President Bill various leaders, Abdul Gani Lone US has been losing interest, even Clinton referring to Kashmir as a announced its formation in Wash- in crisis management. In recent major trouble spot in his address ington. In 1995, then Indian Home years, the international to the UN General Assembly. He Minister SB Chavan had accused community's standard position for had also said his country shared the US of harbouring "evil de- maintenance of stability has been Pakistan's concern about human to discourage the redrawing of signs," hampering the political rights abuses in Kashmir. The process in Kashmir and seeking to boundaries and thwart secession- previous year, in his speech to the gain a "foothold" there. The ist movements. But with Afghani- General Assembly, Clinton had American response was to term stan pushing the international referred to Kashmir in the same the charge as "nonsense," saying community to the limits of its breath as Bosnia. US ambassadors their policy on Kashmir was to patience and al Qaeda on the in New Delhi, too, had frequently offensive, the West has focused encourage an end to the violence visited Srinagar and met separat- and a resolution of the dispute on preventing Islamic flashpoints ist leaders. Former American through negotiations between from getting out of hand. A envoys Frank Wisner, Richard India and Pakistan. Another US Carnegie Endowment paper re- Celeste and Robert Blake met official in Washington was cently mentioned Kashmir as a Hurriyat leaders. Former Presi- harsher. "Chavan pops off like challenge for the US, which it can dent George Bush senior (when neither avoid nor resolve. George that once a month or so. He is an out of office) had a long meeting embarrassment to his colleagues

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 37 NATIONAL PRESS

in the government," the official surprising President Obama has possible solution. By a vote of 20 dropped the "K" word from his had said. But in May 1995, then to 8, the House International US Secretary of State Warren vocabulary after taking office, Relations Committee defeated an though he had raised the issue Christopher said India's willing- amendment sought by Republican ness to hold elections in Kashmir two days before election. Ameri- Congressman Dana Rohrabachar. can diplomats still assert - in was an important step towards The amendment wanted the US to resolution of the conflict, and that private - that Washington guides urge India and Pakistan to hold a India and Pakistan's strategic certain steps taken by New Delhi plebiscite as per the UN Security were encouraging. In July 1999, a dialogue from behind the scenes, Council Resolution of 1948. trying to keep the two in line. Congressional panel overwhelm- Almost 25 years later, it is not ingly rejected plebiscite as a

Is this for what 112 Kashmiris died?

Arun Joshi / Hindustan Times / November 09, 2010

his question is being asked in countries, including the word "K" -- Jammu and Kashmir after we're not afraid of that. TKashmiri separatists went gaga But it is our request that you over the US President Barack Obama cannot simultaneously be talking and terming Kashmir as a " long standing at the same time the terror machine dispute between India and Pakistan" both Pakistan and India have an is as active as ever before. Once and read in it a recognition of the " interest in reducing tensions between Pakistan moves away from this sacrifices" made by 112 the two countries. terror-induced coercion, we will be people. The United States cannot impose very happy to engage productively A sense of deep surprise and a solution to these problems, but I've with Pakistan to resolve all outstand- shock has emerged in the state after indicated to Prime Minister Singh ing issues." And those who remember the separatists rolled over the that we are happy to play any role Prime Minister's speech at the end of remarks of the US president . The that the parties think is appropriate the second round table conference on people demanded to know whether in reducing these tensions," Obama Kashmir in Srinagar in May 2006 they sacrificed so many of lives and said and reduction of tensions has know it that he had underlined two suffered economic loss running into been read as a substitute for the dimensions- internal and external, thousands of crores just fr this resolution of Kashmir crisis. the latter being with Pakistan. statement, which is nothing but a What has been left unread by the The hardline separatist leader repeat of what the US had been separatists is what Obama said Syed Ali Shah Geelani said on Monday saying all along. about the starting point about the after the joint press conference was First of all, there is nothing new over that Obama has endorsed our dialogue between India and Pakistan stand on Kashmir. He has not made in what Obama said. That has been : "So my hope is that conversations the stated position of the United the statement in isolation. It is the will be taking place between the two result of martyrdom of 112 youth and States . It has always maintained countries. They may not start on that that Kashmir characterized tensions teenagers and unflinching sacrifices particular flashpoint. There may be rendered by people of Kashmir between two countries much before confidence-building measures that particularly during the peaceful India and Pakistan became nuclear need to take place.". It is an echo of movement of the past five months." power in 1998. That time the then what India has said throughout that All parties Hurriyat Conference US president Bill Clinton had de- let all issues be discussed. chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and scribed Kashmir as a " nuclear flash Agriculture Minister Ghulam JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik also point" Hassan Mir said that Prime Minister spoke on the similar lines. This time, Obama said : "With has made it clear again on Monday, If that's the case, it is being respect to Kashmir, obviously this is as he referred to his statement at argued, then what about more than a longstanding dispute between India the press conference. 50,000, and according to separatists and Pakistan," he said at a joint Manmohan Singh had said : " We double the number, who were killed in press conference with Prime Minister are committed to engage Pakistan. the past over 20 years. The separat- Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on We are committed to resolve all ists have offered no answers to these Monday , and added : "I believe that outstanding issues between our two questions in their statements.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 38 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS NATIONAL PRESS Kashmir's faultlines

GEN SK SINHA / ASIAN AGE / SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

he Kashmir Valley has been organised against an American burning for three months. pastor's threat to burn the Quran, TOver 100 stone-pelting which did not happen. Nowhere youth have got killed. Thanks to else in the Muslim world did a governance deficit, both in violence occur on this score. Srinagar and Delhi, the situation for Amarnath pilgrims, was diverted to the Shrine Board for The Kashmir problem has been appears out of control. communalised in the state, and Zia-ul-Haq Islamised Pakistan `2.2 crore. Since ownership remained with the state, the by the Organisation of the Islamic and this spread to Kashmir. In Conference internationally. 1990 there was ethnic cleansing board could put up only prefabri- cated shelters. This land is Hitherto Indian Muslims outside of over three lakh Kashmiri Kashmir had kept themselves Pandits and several dozen Hindu unapproachable and uninhabitable for eight months in a year due to aloof from the issue. But now the temples were destroyed, but the Jamiat-Ulema-Hind has an- plight of Kashmiri Pandits was snow and yet a canard was spread that Hindus were being brought nounced a convention of 10,000 glossed over and there was a Muslims of all sects at Deoband virtual blackout of information to settle in Baltal and change the demography of the Valley, like on October 4 to express solidarity about the vandalising of dozens with Kashmiri Muslims. This can of temples. In 2007, to appease Israel had done in Palestine. A mass movement of gigantic hold the most dangerous conse- the People's Democratic Party quences in Muslim majority (PDP), the government took the dimensions erupted. To appease the agitators, the government districts in West Bengal, Bihar, bizarre decision of providing Assam and Kerala. money for the families of terror- cancelled the land diversion order and ordered the virtual disband- Delhi sent a parliamentary ists killed in encounters with delegation to Kashmir after three security forces. This does not ment of the Shrine Board. After three months of counter-agita- months. Some members called on happen elsewhere in India or secessionist leaders who had anywhere else in the world. tion in Jammu, status quo ante was restored. In 2009, two refused to meet the delegation. To appease the National One of them, a former Cabinet Conference (NC), the govern- women drowned in a river at Shopian. A mass movement was minister who had campaigned in ment is now considering its the election with an Osama bin demand for autonomy - the started on the basis of diabolical concoction of facts about the Laden lookalike by his side, Supreme Court, the Election declared that the ongoing move- Commission and the Comptroller women being raped and killed by security personnel. Fraudulent ment in Kashmir has no Pakistani and Auditor General would not connection. The Army is being have any jurisdiction in Kashmir, medical reports were prepared and false witnesses produced. constantly demonised for human there would be an elected gover- rights violations when its record nor from the state and no Cen- The Valley was held to ransom for two months. Ultimately the is far superior to that of the US tral services, like IAS and IPS. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan or The PDP, under the garb of self- Central Bureau of Investigation unravelled the truth. the Pakistan Army in Baluchistan rule, wants dual currency and a and Waziristan. Unlike them, we joint state legislature with Having tested the waters in 2008 and 2009, the emotive issue have never used airstrikes or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) artillery against militants in in Kashmir. Perhaps then the of azadi was exploited for a mass movement in 2010. The agitation Kashmir. The Army has been "misguided" young boys in ter- prompt in action against human rorist camps in PoK would also be took the "peaceful" form of stone-pelting. Sympathy was rights violators. Over the years, allowed to return. All this will 1,514 cases against the Army severly undermine India's sover- aroused through portraying "young, innocent" boys being were reported of which 1,470 eignty in Kashmir. were found to be false. Action Pakistan launched repeated brutally killed by the police. Over 2,000 security force personnel was taken against 70 individuals, conventional wars to grab Kash- dismissing them from service and mir but failed each time. It also have been injured due to stone- pelting. This is hardly known, nor awarding imprisonment from two failed to do so through terror- to 14 years. India has also been ism. Since 2008, religious frenzy is the fact that some 1,000 Baluchis have been killed by the humane in dealing with seces- has been aroused and mass sionist leaders. Syed Ali Shah upsurges organised on the basis Pakistan Army in the last one year. The religious card was used Geelani, the veteran secessionist of manufactured lies. In 2008, a leader, suffering from cancer, was 100-acre of barren land at Baltal, to extend the agitation outside the Valley. Protests were refused a visa by the US for traditionally used as a base camp medical treatment because of his

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 39 NATIONAL PRESS terrorist connections. He went to killed. In Kashmir, instead of out curbing the freedom of the Mumbai where Dr Sameer Kaul, a tough action, periodic troop press, we should ensure that the Kashmiri Pandit, operated on withdrawals have taken place. media does not act as the mouth- him, treating him with compe- Now there is talk of amending or piece of the secessionists. The tence. On return to Srinagar, Mr scrapping the Armed Forces law on sedition must be enforced. Geelani said India is in illegal Special Powers Act. This brings to Among Kashmiri Muslims, not all occupation of Kashmir and the mind what Winston Churchill are secessionists, but those who international community should said: "An appeaser is one who are need to be politically isolated impose economic sanctions feeds the crocodile, hoping that from the rest. A political solution against her. Gen. Musharraf it will eat him last." The writ of acceptable to all should be ordered airstrikes in Baluchistan the state must run in the Valley evolved through dialogue but this on the hideout of the veteran forthwith and further must be strictly within the frame- leader Akbar Bugti, who was communalisation checked. With- work of the Indian Constitution. Neither Azad Nor Kashmir

LUV PURI / TIMES OF INDIA / NOVEMBER 24, 2010

hile emphasising the in Khan, the then prime minister of volvement of Pakistan in PAJK, blamed the loss of his major- Wany initiative on Jammu & ity in the legislative assembly on Kashmir, Centre-appointed inter- the Pakistani state and remarked locutors recently expressed a desire that democracy has been slaugh- to involve the people and leader- tered. More than a year later, ship of Pakistan-administered J&K Attique Khan is back again as the (PAJK) in the resolution process. It prime minister of the region. is an idea that has remained Farooq Haider, the deposed integral to several official as well prime minister, accused the Paki- as civil society initiatives between stan Peoples Party-led federal India and Pakistan. government of uniting with his While the Indian side of J&K has has its own Supreme Court, high political rivals in the state, which hogged international attention for court, flag and legislative assembly resulted in his resignation. This is the recent youth unrest, there comprising 49 members, of whom the third time in the last four years seems to be a paucity of scholar- 41 are directly elected and eight that the sitting prime minister has ship and information about the are nominated by the government. lost his majority in the assembly. political, ethnic and economic The head of the government in An objective study will better aspects of PAJK. PAJK is known as prime minister explain the patron-client relation- The region known as 'Azad and the head of the state is desig- ship between the ruling Pakistani Kashmir' in Pakistan has a popula- nated as president. elite and the PAJK political elite. In tion of more than three million and In January 2006, Sardar Abdul 1949, the Muslim Conference, one comprises one-third of the erst- Qayuum Khan, the former president of the political outfits in J&K, was while princely state of J&K. At the of PAJK and father of the region's recognised as the permanent world stage, the region has come current prime minister, Attique representative of PAJK, with into focus during the 2005 earth- Khan, told me at Muzaffarabad that powers to strike agreements with quake or as one of the bases of the struggle of his party, the the sovereign country of Pakistan. militant outfits like the Lashkar. Muslim Conference, would continue It was seen as a political reward for However, the region's impact on till the Indian side of J&K gets the the Muslim Conference, a political South Asian politics and even same degree of political freedom as outfit that supported J&K's acces- outside has remained a less studied he enjoyed in his own region. sion to Pakistan in its July 1947 subject of contemporary scholar- Some of the basic myths about executive body session at Srinagar. ship, though it has one of the PAJK need to be demolished before In the political system that existed largest South Asian diasporas living discussing the politics of the from 1947 to 1960, the person at in Britain which has played a central region. The region is quite distinct the helm of the Muslim Conference role in internationalising the from the Kashmir valley and the was nominated as the president of Kashmir issue since the early majority of the people are PAJK. The major constitutional 1990s. Pothwari-speaking, which on the change came in 1970 when adult Some sections of the Pakistani Indian side is referred to as Pahari. franchise was introduced to elect and pro-Pakistan PAJK elite have Except religion, linguistically and the president. In 1974, the parlia- often marketed PAJK as an inde- ethnically there is hardly anything mentary system was introduced in pendent state. PAJK, officially in common between the Kashmir PAJK. known as "Azad (independent) valley and PAJK. The democratic leadership of Jammu and Kashmir" in Pakistan, In January 2009, Sardar Attique Pakistan continued the tradition of

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 40 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS NATIONAL PRESS military dispensation to bring However, under section 5(2)(vii) of the region with demands for arbitrary executive changes in the the PAJK Legislative Assembly democratisation and respect for region. In 1990, PAJK prime minis- Election Ordinance 1970, "a person autonomy of the region's institu- ter Mumtaz Rathore was 'escorted' will be disqualified for propagating tions by the federal government. to Islamabad in a helicopter and any opinion or action in any manner Any developments in this respect forced to sign a letter of resigna- prejudicial to the ideology of will impact Pakistan's Kashmir tion by the Nawaz Sharif govern- Pakistan, the ideology of state's policy, which has defined the ment. accession to Pakistan or the sover- country's overall strategic and Moreover, there are visible eignty and integrity of Pakistan". tactical calculations since its contradictions between the Paki- The Islamabad-based "Azad Jammu creation. The understanding of stani and PAJK constitutions. For and Kashmir Council" is headed by various aspects relating to PAJK, a instance, Article 257 of the Paki- the prime minister of Pakistan. less studied subject, and other stani constitution holds that the This key institutional body shapes factors in Pakistan is a prerequisite "people of Jammu and Kashmir will the economic policy of the region. for any constructive and result- define their relationship with The post-1990 phase has opened oriented dialogue between India Pakistan after obtaining freedom". up space for new political players in and Pakistan. Kashmir yesterday and today

GAUTAM ADHIKARI / TIMES OF INDIA / OCT 27, 2010

rundhati Roy is right. And she settling a Partition-era dispute. is wrong. She said the state of As India prepares to receive AJammu & Kashmir was "his- President Barack Obama, several torically" not a part of India. But administration officials in this nor was India, as we know it. town have clarified publicly that The geopolitical entity we now the US does not see a role for itself call the Republic of India simply did mediating the Kashmir dispute not exist till the midnight hour of between India and Pakistan unless August 14/15, 1947. So, all its it is invited to do so by both sides. constituent parts technically did not gral part of India. Fortunately, she That amounts to telling Pakistan, constitute a whole we could legiti- has the right to say what she which has been asking for Ameri- mately call India until that hour. wants, even when she knows less can intervention, that the US will There was a British Indian empire, than she ought to about a subject, not intervene if India doesn't want there was a civilisation that we because India's democratic Consti- it. might call Indic and which encom- tution allows her that freedom. She The Indian position is that all passed a huge swathe of South must not be prosecuted for sedition differences between the two Asia, but formally there was no or for being naive. Nor should countries, including over Kashmir, nation of India. Dileep Padgaonkar, now heading a should be reconciled bilaterally. Historically, Kashmir was very committee entrusted with the job That was what the two nations had much a part of that wider of exploring possible solutions for signed up to in 1972 after negoti- civilisation. Roy needs to read up the Kashmir problem, be harassed ating the Shimla Agreement, which that bit of Indian history. The for suggesting that Pakistan would remains legally binding. kingdom of Kashmir was also a have to be part of any move to The problem is one of percep- part, loosely, of British India, as resolve this dispute. Kashmir would tion, internationally as well as, it were several other princely states. not be a problem for India if Paki- seems from the pronouncements of The states opted to join one of the stan did not question the legitimacy Roy and friends, with a section of two independent nations after that of the state's accession to the Indian opinion. Pakistan has midnight hour in 1947. Jammu & Indian Union. To insist that the successfully sold a lemon to the Kashmir formally opted for India status of Kashmir is not a 'dispute' world that it is fighting for when Maharaja Hari Singh, under between India and Pakistan is Kashmir's independence. It adds to attack from Pakistani army irregu- nothing but silly, ultra-nationalist the deceit by qualifying the portion lars, signed India's Instrument of posturing. In fact, the dispute is of Kashmir it has taken over as Accession Act on October 26, 1947. exclusively between the two nations 'Azad' or independent Kashmir. So if Kashmir is not a legitimate over who should possess the state. Which, of course, is nonsense. part of India, and we should accord- It is not about 'independence' for Pakistan's north-west frontier ingly give it up to Pakistan, then the Kashmiri people. That is not to areas enjoy a greater degree of much of India including, say, Baroda say that a section of Kashmiris in effective independence from or Mysore, is illegitimate. We hope the Valley would not like indepen- Islamabad. that is not what Roy implied when dence; the contest between India The fact is that neither India she said Kashmir was not an inte- and Pakistan, however, is about nor Pakistan is ready to offer

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 41 NATIONAL PRESS independence to any part of Jammu Pakistan or India. That is to say possibility that Pakistani army & Kashmir, certainly not under nothing of China, which occupies 20 irregulars will pounce to merge it those oft-cited UN resolutions per cent of the state's territory, and with the part it now controls and asking for a plebiscite in J&K to no one in the world dares ask it to call it all Azad Kashmir? assess how much popular support vacate. Some will argue that an interna- each country enjoys in the state. Independence, if it is to be at all tional force can be created, per- No plebiscite has taken place but considered, becomes a complicated haps under UN auspices, and several credible opinion polls in issue when we try to visualise it. stationed in a truncated Kashmir to recent years have offered a glimpse Will it be independence just for the guarantee its independence. Yes, of of public opinion in Kashmir. One by Muslim majority Valley? Or will it be course, like an international force the respected Chatham House of also for Jammu, with a predomi- is today guaranteeing protection London showed barely 2 per cent nantly Hindu population, and for Afghanistan from marauding support among people in the Valley Buddhist Ladakh, neither of which bands of ISI-directed Taliban and al- for joining Pakistan. A majority in is particularly anxious to break with Qaida jihadis operating out of the Valley wanted independence but India? And who will protect that shelters in Pakistan, right? Come that's not on offer from either independence from the likely on, get real. The unislamic Mirwaiz

NAJEEB JUNG / INDIA TODAY

rom time to time, the Govern Ulama-i-Hind organised large meetings ment of Jammu and Kashmir and clarified that while they Frestrains Mirwaiz Umar Farooq empathise with the difficult times from leading the Friday prayers. In that the Muslims in the Valley are one of his more intemperate state- going through, and do not endorse ments of recent times, the Mirwaiz the tactics often used by the Gov- has said that he will protest against ernment apparatus, they maintain this to the ambassadors of different that Kashmir remains a regional issue Islamic countries. and a problem that has to be handled In his efforts to internationalise within India. It would also be good for the Kashmir issue, the Mirwaiz is the Mirwaiz from addressing the the Mirwaiz to reflect that till date giving it a communal colour.First, let Friday congregation when there is a there has been no act of terror us be clear about the mandate of a realistic fear that his address may involving an Indian Muslim in Kashmir. Mirwaiz or Imam at any Muslim place have potential law and order implica- The terror in the Valley was and of worship. The Imam, as an institutions. remains an imported entity. The local tion, is expected to give the call for Now to his declaration that he support that terrorists sometimes azaan, or call the faithful to prayer. shall appeal to the Organisation of receive is either because of the fear Before any major prayer, the Imam Islamic Countries (OIC) ambassadors. of the Mujahids or from those families makes a short speech called the The Mirwaiz is a well-spoken and an who bear scars from heavy-handed khutba. While there are instances of obviously educated man. Yet in his police and army tactics. the khutba being used for political efforts to internationalise the It's an irony that the Hurriyat has ends, as Sheikh Abdullah did time and Kashmir issue, he is now, for political been granted observer status at the again, the contents of the khutba are considerations, giving it a communal OIC and by campaigning through the expected to be religious and, at colour. The Mirwaiz fully understands it, the Mirwaiz is communalising the times, can also be an objective that while Kashmir is a Muslim major- Kashmir issue. He has to be clear in narration of the prevailing socio- ity state and there are enough his mind whether his notion of self- political environment. But the Quran reasons for the people of the Valley determination is meant for all or the Sharia does not permit misuse to be dissatisfied with the policies, Kashmiris or only for Kashmiri Mus- of the pulpit for speeches that would and indeed with the administrative lims. disturb civic society. The Quran, in tactics of the Central and the state Further, he has to make his stand fact, specifically prohibits attempts Governments, the issue is a regional clear on Kashmiri Pandits. Mere to create any form of mischief. one within the context of the Union assurances to them to return to the Sura Al-Baqarah 2:191 states: "Wal of India. Valley will not rehabilitate them. The fitnato ashaddo minal qatl" (mischief The Muslims of India are sensitive more he goes to the oic, the less is worse than killing). And again Sura and sympathetic to their Kashmiri confidence it creates in the Hindu Al-Baqarah 2:217 states: "Wal fitnato brethren. Most do not approve of minority of Kashmir. The Mirwaiz is akbaro minal qatl" (mischief is a the rough, callous and high-handed better advised to think through the greater evil than killing). treatment meted out to Kashmiris. circumstances. I believe that if blood Therefore, the Government of But they do not see it as a be the price for gaining political Omar Abdullah is well within its rights communalissue. In fact, the Dar-ul- power and prominence, then Kashmir - in fact, it is obligated - to restrain Uloom Deoband and the Jamiat- has overpaid.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 42 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS NATIONAL PRESS RSS voice seeks separate Kashmir state

SANKARSHAN THAKUR / TELEGRAPH /OCTOBER, 02 2010

furcation of Jammu and Kashmir on leading RSS ideologue has regional lines, rejects autonomy, and turned the stated position of remains theoretically committed to Athe Sangh and the BJP on Kash- the abrogation of Article 370. mir on its head by floating radical cor- The Congress, which has been rective proposals that could trigger more accepting of Kashmiri demands a new debate on the way forward in than the BJP, too has pointedly ig- sitory" status it currently has. He has the troubled Valley. nored the autonomy resolution f the suggested that once Kashmir be- In what's a plunge against the Assembly which is being foregrounded comes a separate state, it should also tide, former RSS spokesperson M.G. as a key demand by chief minister be allowed to enact a separate crimi- Vaidya has recommended that Kash- Omar Abdullah. nal law. mir be cleaved from Jammu and The autonomy proposals, Vaidya The Centre should call a Ladakh and granted pre-1953 levels says, should not be "imposed" on the roundtable conference comprising all of autonomy with a prime minister people of Jammu or Ladakh. shades of opinion in the Valley to put (Wazir-e-Azam) as head of govern- Speaking to The Telegraph from in place the minutiae of the new ment with powers over all subjects Nagpur, the 88-year-old Vaidya was framework to ensure that Kashmir other than defence, currency, foreign keen to stress that the views were remains an integral part of India, affairs and telecommunications. personal and did not represent the Vaidya has suggested. But unlike the pre-1953 status, "official position" of the RSS. But Among the other issues the con- there should be no separate president that he has gone public with his note ference should discuss are the juris- (Sadr-e-Riyasat) for the state be- suggests that he is seeking a clean- diction of the Supreme Court and the cause "we have only one President for slate debate on Kashmir within and Election Commission over Kashmir as the whole country". outside the Sangh parivar. The BJP, well as census operations and the Insisting that the office of the unsurprisingly, rejected the Vaidya appointment of IAS and IPS officers governor appointed by the Centre be remedy out of hand. in the state. retained, Vaidya says: "During the "The BJP has a clear, well-medi- He also believes that Kashmiri British regime, there were many tated position on Jammu and Kash- opinion should be sought on whether princely states that enjoyed complete mir," chief party spokesperson Ravi Parliament should continue to make autonomy on internal matters. But a Shankar Prasad said, reacting to laws for the state in accordance with British Resident used to be there to the points made by Vaidya. Article 249 of the Constitution and look after the interests of the em- "Anything that becomes a facade whether central rules of excise, cus- pire and the geographic unity and for separatism or independence is toms, civil aviation and post and tele- integrity of the state was not dam- totally unacceptable. Kashmir is and graph should continue to apply to the aged. So will it happen in the case of will remain an integral part of In- new state of Kashmir. the new state. Our governor, like the dia." The RSS senior has attached a few British Resident, will have to be vigi- Without engaging with the spe- critical caveats, though. All Kashmiri lant about the whole nation's inter- cifics of Vaidya's suggestions, Pandits forced into exile by a mili- est." Prasad said: "We must reach out to tant insurgency in the early 1990s He has also suggested that pow- the people of the Valley, provide should be rehabilitated in the Valley ers to impose governor's rule under them relief and confidence and dif- and elements that seek a merger Article 356 should be retained in the ferentiate between them and sepa- with Pakistan should have no role in interests of national integrity. ratists who only become important consultations over the new arrange- Jammu, according to the Vaidya when there is violence. The current ment. plan, should become a separate state cycle of violence is the consequence Vaidya's sweeping and contentious and Ladakh a Union territory in ac- of Omar Abdullah's misrule; we be- reforms are part of a paper he circu- cordance with its distinct "geographi- lieve his removal has to be the lated to scant notice following an all- cal, religious, linguistic and cultural" starting point of turning the Valley party delegation's visit to Jammu and identity. around." Kashmir last month. His prescription In addition, he has said that in Another senior BJP leader not merely represents a drastic de- order to contain Kashmir's drift to- sounded more dismissive of Vaidya parture from the Sangh's position, it wards separatism, Article 370, which and his Kashmir proposals. "Vaidya also vastly exceeds what parties like grants special status to the state, be has always been a bit of a the Congress are willing to concede strengthened by making it a perma- freelancer," he said. "Often, even at the moment. nent feature of the Constitution within the RSS and the Sangh The BJP rejects outright the tri- rather than the "temporary and tran- parivar, his views are not taken se-

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EDITOR'S SELECTIONS 43 NATIONAL PRESS riously." Vaidya sounded unper- discuss," he said. "Many of my par charcha honi chahiye kyonki Kash- turbed by either criticism or indif- friends have told me that the medi- mir bahut mahatvapurna maamla hai ference from colleagues. "Of cine I am prescribing is more dan- (there should be a discussion on these course, these are ideas that many gerous than the disease. But I believe matters because Kashmir is a very will find difficult to accept or even this should be debated…. In muddon important issue)." Change for whose sake?

JAGMOHAN/ HINDUSTAN TIMES / SEPTEMBER 09, 2010

n the course of a debate in the considerations. Lok Sabha on Kashmir recently, Those who are now asking for Isome MPs pleaded for autonomy the 1952-53 status are forgetting for the state as if it was a panacea this fact. Nor do they explain how, for all the ills that have been if only defence, foreign affairs and plaguing the Valley. To a large It was only after the coming into communication remain with the extent, the current turmoil in the being of the new state government, Centre, the financial needs of the Valley owes its origin to the vested headed by Bakshi Ghulam State would be met. At present, it interests in J&K that want to Mohammad, that the process of is the Union finances that provide exploit the issue of autonomy to implementation of the Agreement funds for the State's Five-Year build a power-base for themselves. began. Apart from establishing Plans and also for a substantial part More often than not, these inter- financial links between the Union of the non-Plan expenditure. In ests have erased the line between and the State, the jurisdictions of fact, while the State's share of autonomy and azadi. the Comptroller and Auditor- India's population is 1 per cent, it After the execution of the General, the Supreme Court and has been receiving about 11 per Instrument of Accession in 1947 the Election Commission of India cent of all grants disbursed by the and adoption of the Constitution in were extended to the State; Ar- Centre. 1950, J&K was brought under the ticles 356 and 357 were also made Further, the proponents of jurisdiction of India. Article 370 applicable. autonomy do not care to address provided for special relationship With these 'extensions' and certain questions. Do the Kashmiris but it was temporary. The sum and 'applications', the nomenclature, not have all the fundamental rights substance of this Article 370 is status, functions and mode of that are available to individuals in that, in addition to the items appointment of 'Sadar-e-Riyasat' modern liberal democracies? Has included in the Instrument of and the Prime Minister of J&K their identity, culture, religion or Accession, the Parliament can make became anachronistic. It was, language been undermined by the laws with regard to the subjects of therefore, considered necessary to constitutional arrangements that the Union and Concurrent Lists, but change the nomenclature and mode have been in existence for the last only with the concurrence of the of appointment of 'Sadar-e-Riyasat' several years? How would the state. and also the nomenclature of the common Kashmiri be benefited by To define these constitutional PM and the necessary changes were changing the nomenclature of legal, financial and administrative made in 1966. Governor to Sadar-e-Riyasat and of relations, the Delhi Agreement was In the changed circumstances chief minister to prime minister? signed in 1952. Soon thereafter, arising out of India's triumph in the How would requirements of national unfortunately, Sheikh Abdullah Bangladesh War, Sheikh Abdullah security be met and how would started changing colours. Whatever threw hints for returning to the certain other contingencies be dealt provisions of the Agreement suited mainstream and an agreement, with if Article 356 is not applicable? him, he got them implemented. But known as the 'Kashmir Accord', was If all issues concerning Kashmir with regard to items that related to signed in 1975. The only concession autonomy are subjected to consid- the linkages between the Union and made by Indira Gandhi was to erations, it would be found that no the State, he adopted an obstruc- review any specific proposal, if material change in the existing tionist attitude. Those who accuse received, in respect of 'extensions arrangements is warranted. The the Centre of 'breach of promises' of the Indian Constitution made to nation is already paying a heavy will do well to ponder over the the State with adaptations and price for the mistakes made in the events of 1953. If they do so, they modifications'. But neither the past under pressure. Let us not add would discover that the real breach governments of Sheikh Abdullah nor another one to them by falling into occurred at that time and it was that of Farooq Abdullah could send a trap of those who, for their own caused by the excessive ambition any proposal for 15 years, primarily narrow ends, are out to exploit the of Sheikh Abdullah and his proclivity because the changes made earlier constitutional illiteracy of the to hob-nob with foreign powers. were necessitated by practical masses on the subject of autonomy.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 44 COLUMN HISTORY Kishtwar in History

PROF. JIGAR MOHAMMED

he Himalyan region of the Indian madan Power in India), Jahangir's consists of fines, and for a small of- sub-continent has influenced Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, and Inayat Khan's fence he takes a heavy sum. From Tseveral historical regions in Shahjahan Nama etc. depict Kishtwar whomsoever is wealthy and in com- terms of the geo-political and eco- as an autonomous state of the fortable circumstances the Raja, on nomic life. Though modern social sci- Himalayas. In the 19th century Shivji some pretext, clears out all that he entists are more interested in the Dhar produced an exclusive work on has. From all sources his income is study of the regions facing either the history of Kishtwar entitled about Rs. 100,000. In time of war "political crisis" or "religious fanati- Tarikh-i-Kishtwar in Persian language. 6,000 or 7,000 men on foot collect cism", the historical studies find con- According to the Memoirs of the together; there are but few horses structions on larger scale than de- Mughal emperor Nuruddin Muhammad among them. The Raja (of Kishtwar) structions in a given region. Kishtwar Jahangir "Kishtwar is to the south of and the chief men have about fifty has been one of the most active ar- Kashmir. From the city of Kashmir between." (Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, Vol.II, eas of the Himalayas. The first ref- (Srinagar) to the city of Alka, which pp. 138-39). erence to Kishtwar is found in Kalhan's is the capital of Kishtwar, the dis- The Mughal emperor Jahangir Rajatarangini in terms of its history. tance is 50 koss by measurement." rated Kunwar Singh, the king of Kalhan's Rajatarangini mentions (Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, Vol. II, Eng. Tr. p. Kishtwar, a ruler conscious of his Kishtwar as Kashthavata. According 135). It is important to mention that prestige and royalty. It is important to a modern research of the history Jahangir was the first Mughal em- to mention that Jahangir's army un- of Kishtwar, the Kashthavata term is peror whose army conquered Kishtwar der the command of Dilawar Khan had derived from two elements; first and made it as a tributary of the defeated Raja Kunwar Singh of from the Kishta, which is a hill term Mughal empire. Since Jahangir was Kishtwar in 1620; but the Mughal used in Kishtwar, meaning dried apri- very much interested in recording the emperor appreciated the qualities of cot. And Kishtwar means "a place of historical heritage of the places of the king of Kashmir in terms of the dried apricot." It is also understood the Mughal empire, he incorporated latter's power and prestige. Accord- that it is derived from the term some important aspects of the his- ing to Jahangir, "He (the Raja of Kasht, which means "trouble" or "mis- tory of Kishtwar pertaining to histori- Kishtwar) is not wanting in dignity. ery." The modern historians J. cal geography, agricultural produc- His dress is after the Indian fashion, Hutchison and J.Ph. Vogel quote the tions, horticulture, local ruling fam- and he knows both the Hindi and the following local rhyme: ily and its army etc in his Memoirs. Kashmiri languages. Contrary to other Kashtwar, kasht ka banda, According to Jahangir, "In Kishtwar Zamindars (local kings) of these re- Din ko bhukha, rat ko thanda, there are produced much wheat, len- gions, he looked like the inhabitant Jo ki ae jab wuh jae, tils, millet and pulse. Differing from of a town." (Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, Vol. Wuh hai gosain ka jhanda. Kashmir, it produces little rice. Its II, pp.139-40). The meaning of above mentioned saffron (Zafran) is finer than that of Jahangir's mentions not only rhyme is: Kashmir. About a hundred hawks and attest the political and socio-eco- Kashtwar is the servant of falcons are caught here (annually). nomic significance of Kishtwar in the adversity, Oranges, Citrons, and water-melons Himalayas during the medieval pe- Hungry by day and cold by of the finest kind are obtained. Its riod, but more importantly his nar- night, melons are of the same kind as those ratives of Kishtwar also show that the Whoever comes, when he of Kashmir, and other fruits, such as systems developed by the Kishtwaris departs,Is as thin as a grapes, apricots, peaches, and soar attracted the attention of others and garden's flag-staff. pears, are grown. If they are culti- Kishtwar as a state had potentiali- According to Hutchison and Vogel, the vated, it is possible they would im- ties of sharing huge power in the above mentioned rhyme "is from the prove. A coin of the name of Sanhasi Himalayas. lips of Kashmiris, and may be only a is a relic of the old rulers of Kashmir, From administrative point of play upon the name. The name one and a half of which equal rupee. view, Kishtwar was divided into sev- Kashthavata is a Sanskritized rather In their business transactions they eral administrative units. The mod- than a true Sanskrit word, and if reckon fifteen sanhasi, or ten rupees, ern historians generally divide taken literally can only mean a "gar- as one padshahi muhar (gold coin). Kishtwar into ten administrative den of wood"; the second member of They call two seers of Hindustani units. Hutchison and Vogel find the the word vata-var, meaning "enclo- weight a man (maund). It is not the following administrative divisions of sure" or "garden". (J. Hutchison and custom for the Raja to take revenue Kishtwar from medieval period on- J. Ph. Vogel, History of the Punjab from cultivation; he takes annually wards: (History of Hill States, Vol.II, Hill States, Vol. II, p. 643). six sanhasi-that is, four rupees-from p.638) However, the term Kashtwar each house. All the saffron is as- 1. Kishtwar proper-including the or Kishtwar is very much highlighted signed, as pay, to a body of Rajputs plateau and neighbouring by the Persian chronicles of the and to 700 musketeers (tupchi) who country on the left bank of Mughal period or from 16th century are old retainers. When the saffron the Chinab (river). onwards. Abul Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari, is sold, four rupees per maund, or 2. Nagsun-the main valley of Farishta's Tarikh-i-Farishta (Eng. Tr. two seers, are taken from the pur- the Chandrabhaga between By Briggs in History of the Muham- chaser. The whole income of Raja Kishtwar and Padar, as far as

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 COLUMN 45 HISTORY

the Lidrari Nala which was mir." (History of the Punjab Hill later on with the Mughal emperors. the boundary with Padar in States, Vol.II, pp. 641-642). It is known that the ruler of Kishtwar Chamba (district of modern A tribe named Panjsasi is started to use title of Singh from the Himachal Pradesh). also associated with the early history early fifteenth century and Raja Jai 3. Sarthali or Shatli- a small of Kishtwar. It is understood that the Singh accepted Islam under the in- valley on the left bank of the Punjsasi tribe was a trading commu- fluence of the Qadiri Sufi Sayyid Chandrabhaga to the south nity of Punjab, which made trade Muhammad Fariduddin. From Jai of Kishtwar. with Kishtwar. The major items of Singh onwards the rulers of Kishtwar 4. Surur-a small valley to the their trade were medicines and other used both the titles Singh and Khan. south of Sartali products of Kishtwar. The dried apri- For instance Jai Singh bore the title 5. Bhonjwah- the valley of the cots were the major item of Kishtwar of Bakhtiyar Khan, Kirat Singh Dindar Bhonjwah Nala south of Surur, for trading purpose. With the pas- Khan, Mihr Singh Sadmand Khan, bordering with Bhalesa in sage of time a Panjsasi colony sprang Inayatullah Singh and Muhammad Bhadrawah. up in Kishtwar. Though for some Tegh Singh or Saifullah Khan. 6. Dachin and Maru-Wardwan- times the Punjsasi lived with the lo- Kishtwar is also known as a comprising the whole of the cal population of Kishtwar peacefully, great centre of the Shaktism and Maru-Wardwan Valley. when their position was stabilized Sufism. The Ashtadashbhuja Devi is 7. Udil- the country to the they overpowered the Rotar and the most famous and popular goddess north-west of Kishtwar in the Ganai. Consequently, rivalries be- of Kishtwar. She is also known as the valley the Kasher Khol, a tween Panjsasi and lacal tribes be- Sarthal Mata and a Sarthal Mata tributary of the Maru- came a source of the political insta- temple is situated in Kishtwar. It is Wardwan river. bility in Kishtwar. According to known that one sufi Sayyid 8. Kontwara-the territory on Hutchison and Vogel, "Panjsasi lived Muhammad Fariduddin Qadiri came the right bank of the near the southern end of this plateau to Kishtwar form Baghdad during the Chandrabhaga between Udil in the vicinity of the Hoderi spring, reign of Raja Jai Singh. Since the and Doda-Saraj. and being constantly in dread of an Qadiri Sufi Silsila or Order believed 9. Doda-Saraj-on the right bank attack they did not lay aside their followed the concept of the of the Chandrabhaga from arms even when engaged in field Wahadatul Wajud or Unity of Being, Sihghat to Doda. The former labour." Fariduddin Qadiri is said to have re- name was Mahbul However, one Kahn Sen is ceived huge social support in 10. Banihal-from Doda to understood to be the founder of Kishtwar. After his death his and his Ramban. Kishtwar state. It is known that Kahn son Israruddin shrines became the Some of the abovementioned admin- Sen belonged to Gaur in Bengal. He centre of social gatherings in istrative divisions of Kishtwar are came to Kishtwar, defeated the Kishtwar. mentioned by the historical sources Panjsasi , and occupied Kishtwar's Kishtwar was linked to of the Mughal empire. For instance, major areas such as Chandrabhaga Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh through Abul Fazl in his Ain-i-Akbari mentions valley, Kadani, Kontwara, Bhandarkot well established routes. The ruling both Maru-Adwin (Wardwan) and and Maru-Wardwan etc. He also built family of Kishtwar had established Dachchhinparah (Dachin) as border- a palace and fort. (History of the matrimonial alliance with the ruling ing areas of Kashmir and well con- Punjab Hill States, pp. 643-44). family of Jammu at least from six- nected with Ladakh or Great Tibet or Though Kahn Sen dynasty ruled for teenth century onwards. There are Tibet-i-Kalan in Persian.(Ain-i-Akbari, quite long time, the chronology and some instances that at time of some Vol. II, Eng. Tr. pp. 359-60. ) policies of his successor are very little political or economic crisis some of The two tribes, known as known. It is only known that Kahn Sen the Kashmiris migrated to Kishtwar Rotar and Ganai are understood to be was succeeded by his son Gandharbh for their betterment during the me- the earliest inhabitants of Kishtwar. Sen who ruled for fourteen years. dieval period. Abul Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari According to Hutchison and Vogel, After him Maha Sen, Ram Sen, Kam shows that both Dachin and Maru- "The earliest reference in the ver- Sen, Madan Sen, Brahm Sen, Udhat Wardan were linked to Ladakh nacular history to an invasion of the Dev, Mata Dev, Ganga Dev, Sang Dev, through land routes. The Kishtwaris plateau on which the town Kishtwar Rakh Dev, Indra Dev, Avtar Dev and were experts in making of rope is situated, by two tribes, probably Bhag Dev ruled Kishtwar in succes- bridge, known as Zampa, which was from the neighbouring hills-called sion. very effective for defense purpose Rotar and Ganai. The Rotar founded Although till early sixteenth against the external invaders. The the village of Ziora, and Ganai settled century the period of an individual Mughal emperor Jahangir was very near the centre of the plateau, where king of Kishtwar state is not known, much impressed from the expertise the town now stands. Both of these from 1540s onwards, the life and of the Kishwaris in the making of the tribes are still represented in the times of the kings of Kishtwar find rope bridge. s Thus Kishtwar have population and rank as the sub-divi- mention in the Persian chronicles of one of the active participants in the sions of the Thakkar caste, which is the Mughals. For instance, the kings processes of the making of the his- the chief agricultural community in of Kishtwar such as Rai Singh(1547- tory and culture of the Himalayas the hills. The name of Rotar may 50), Viraj Singh (1550-70), Bahadur through out the ages. Its local prod- possibly be abbreviation of "Ranotar" Singh (1570-88), Pratap Singh or Bhup ucts both Saffron and apricots ex- = Ranaputra, and, if so, we may in- Singh (1588-1610), Kunwar Singh or tended cultural relations of the fer that Ranas ruled the valleys to the Gur Singh (1618-29), Jagat Singh Himalayas with the plains of the north north and east of Kishtwar. It is prob- (1629-42), Bhagwan Singh (1642-61), India. Its strategic location attracted able, that the Rathi and Thakkur Maha Singh (1661-74), Jai Singh or the attention of the Mughal emper- caste is indicated, that these petty Bakhtiyar Khan (1674-81)…Tegh Singh ors to retain it as an autonomous and chiefs continued to rule till after the (1789-1820) are very much known for tributary state of their empire. The foundation of the State, possibly un- their territorial expansion and rela- Shakti cult and Sufism have become der the nominal suzerainty of Kash- tions with neighbouring states and sources of inter-regional contacts. www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 46 EXCLUSIVE SERIES NEW RESEARCH ON KASHMIR The Storm before the Lull: November- December 1947

RAKESH ANKIT

he Kashmir conflict remained a man when under duress, made a General Lockhart, Air Marshall Commonwealth issue till India broadcast which was rated "first Elmhirst and Admiral Hall - the three Tdecided to take it to the United class" by his admirers and critics - Indian Chiefs. Nations on the very last day of 1947. among the British - alike. Both At this early stage, a first, feeble at- Once there, it, inevitably, became a Terence Shone, UK High-Commis- tempt was made at a "solution" by 'plaything of power-politics' as Josef sioner in Delhi, a fan of Nehru and a two very different personalities which Korbel was to reflect later. Korbel knew friend of India and Philip Noel-Baker, if successful could have the changed what he was talking about - after all, Nehru's and India's bete noire on everything. On 3 November, a far- he was a member of the United Na- Kashmir, heralded the speech as sighted Auchinleck thought aloud tions Commission for India and Paki- "statesmanlike". Apart from explain- about "partition" in a letter to the stan on Kashmir (UNCIP). The coming the immediate past, the speech Commonwealth Relations Office ing of April and August resolutions, also set out India's position as to the (CRO), London. Wary of being able the negotiations at New York, Paris, immediate future - withdrawal of to control British officers serving on Geneva and Brussels and the final raiders and conduct of plebiscite. both sides and sceptical of the slow push for ceasefire towards the end Liaquat Ali Khan responded two days UN, Auchinleck proposed giving of 1948 are part of a long, technical later. Mirpur-Poonch to Pakistan and and at times tiresome story. They Meanwhile, Auchinleck and Jammu to India. Of course, this left have been best chronicled by, among Mountbatten had already been to out the crux of the competing claims earlier writers, Jyoti Bhushan Das Pakistan - to meet Jinnah. While the - the Srinagar Valley - but the "Auk" Gupta, Michael Brecher, Korbel him- former had gone to dissuade Jinnah perhaps was not yet willing to stick self and Sisir Gupta and, among re- from ordering General Gracey to send out his neck on an area where heavy cent writings, by Alastair Lamb, regular Pakistan troops into Kashmir fighting was going on and no one Victoria Schoefeld and Navnita and succeeded in doing so, the lat- quite knew which way the outcome Chadha-Behera. ter went in place of an unwell Nehru would go. The raiders had occupied This little essay attempts a prologue to represent the Government of In- Bhimber, Rajouri, and Rawalkot and to the stage set at the UN by the In- dia in the first of the face-to-face were threatening Kotli, Poonch and dian approach. It looks at the two talks since the invasion and the ac- Naoshera. But Auchinleck's plan had months leading up to the strong, if cession. The meeting was unproduc- a taker at the CRO in the form of questionable, advice that Louis tive. While Jinnah wanted simulta- the minister himself, Philip Noel- Mountbatten gave to Jawaharlal neous withdrawal of Indian troops Baker. He wrote to his High-Commis- Nehru to refer the conflict to the UN. and claimed that then "all he had to sioner at Karachi and Delhi on 6 No- It attempts to answer not so much the do was to order tribals to withdraw vember that 'as there was not much 'why' of the advice as the 'how' of it. or send large forces to down their different between Nehru's views and Once the deed of invasion and acces- lines of communications", Pakistan's regarding withdrawal and sion had been done in the dramatic Mountbatten held to India's stated plebiscite, would not partition be a last week of October 1947, it was time position and also expressed his in- "most helpful course" with Jammu to for two simultaneous processes to ability to make any commitments as India and rest to Pakistan?', plainly start: the military and the diplomatic he was the Head of the State while wanting them to test the idea with engagements. Both inexorably wid- the executive powers resided with the their Pakistani and Indian ened the canvass of the affair and Prime Minister. A supreme Jinnah interlocuters. led to its evolution from a crisis lo- was not impressed at this show of British foreheads were increasingly cally fought to a conflict globally felt. constitutional propriety which he felt creased with worry lines because Mehr Chand Mahajan kicked off the was a technical red herring. He also first partition and now Kashmir were proceedings in the period under our minced no words about the airlift of understood as culminations of the review by making a public broadcast Indian troops and the signing of the follies of British Raj. London was on 1 November in which he refuted Instrument of accession and referred being informed by Karachi that in Pa- Pakistan's allegations while explain- to a "deep-seated Indian plan". kistan "public opinion was equating ing the reasons of accession. This was Mountbatten had anticipated this 10 Downing Street as pro-Nehru and followed by Jawaharlal Nehru taking and was armed with a "timetable" of anti-Jinnah" and by Delhi that "pub- to the microphone. On 2 November, events in Delhi from 24 October to lic opinion was crediting vast major- the Indian Prime Minister, an eloquent 27 October bearing signatures of the ity of British, as pro-Pakistan, not

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 EXCLUSIVE SERIES 47 NEW RESEARCH ON KASHMIR

appreciative of the reasons for their as a forum to discuss the crisis on left what was after all Indian terri- [India's] actions". The CRO was in a 16 November. Actually, he was belat- tory now. Sheikh Abdullah's adminis- tight spot and knew it. While the edly responding to Nehru's sugges- tration was a valid arrangement be- knowledge that it was London's in- tion of holding the plebiscite "under cause he was the popular leader of tention to withdraw all British offic- the auspices of the UN" made during Kashmir and represented the people. ers and men from both armies in the the 2 November speech. As the next In any case, India and Abdullah would event of the outbreak of a direct, two weeks had seen a succession of gladly test this claim in a plebiscite declared war between the two domin- victories for the Indian troops, the to be organised under the emergency ions was encouraging to India, the Indian stand had stiffened and UN administration once peace returns. British proposals for a neutral, inter- had receded into the background. This crystallization of views took national commission led by UK under Now with Liaquat bringing the UN place on 10 December, the same day the auspices of the UN to undertake back to the fore, the British moved that Indian military plans for the win- plebiscite was music to Pakistan's quickly to re-gain the initiative. On ter were finalised, namely, relief of ears and its attempts to get rid of 20 November, the CRO sent a mes- Poonch; advance on Bhimber and con- Sheikh Abdullah's emergency, provi- sage to both India and Pakistan to trol of Jhelum valley "as far West as sional administration. take the case to the International possible". Ten days later, Nehru in- As the Indian troops entered Court of Justice; a suggestion which formed his Cabinet of the decision Baramulla on 8 November, India and was rejected out of hand by both. In to lodge a formal complaint at the Pakistan engraved in stone their first his message to Attlee on 23 Novem- UN. On 22 December, India formally of the many differences with India ber, Nehru affirmed India's resolve submitted to Pakistan its complaints insisting on removal of raiders first, to repel the raiders as well as India's along the above-mentioned lines to then conduct of plebiscite under commitment "to conduct the plebi- elicit a final response before its ap- Sheikh Abdullah and Pakistan stand- scite under the auspices of the UN". proach to the UN. Pakistan's response ing its ground on a simultaneous Simultaneously, Zafrullah Khan re-af- was clear and combative. It denied withdrawal of raiders and Indian firmed the favoured Pakistani se- facilitating the raid and expressed in- troops from Kashmir followed by quence of simultaneous withdrawal- ability to control the tribes "until an plebiscite under international and neutral administration-plebiscite. impartial administration was in place" neutral eyes. Even when the next day, There was a succession of four sin- in Srinagar which would instill confi- Delhi gave a first hint of coming gularly important days now. On 25 dence among the tribes that their around to partition, Pakistan - confi- November, a raider's counter-offen- Muslim brethren in Kashmir would not dent of a favourable result in the sive saw them take Mirpur and sig- get a raw deal under India or India- event of a free and fair plebiscite - naled to the Indian army that this was appointed agents. It insisted on the rejected the approach. V. P. Menon not going to be a walk in the park conduct of plebiscite under the neu- and Mohammad Ali met and got stuck for them. Next day, even as Indian tral administration and international on a draft on three issues: simulta- troops entered Kotli, the Joint Plan- supervision. It wanted firm promises neous withdrawal; plebiscite with in- ning Staff (JPS) of Indian Army in along these lines to be made by India ternational supervision and no parti- Delhi submitted a paper contemplat- before it could appeal the tribes and tion. ing a longer affair than previously attempt to make them leave Kash- By now, the fears and desires of all expected and dashing hopes of a mir. three contending sides were out in quick and resounding victory which Slowly but surely the "what and why" the open. The British did not want early successes had raised. On 27 of invasion of Kashmir was being re- the UN to be involved for the fear of November, finally, a month to the day placed by the "when and how" of plebi- the "Slav bloc" in any neutral com- since the instrument of accession was scite in the diplomatic exchanges - mission appointed to determine the signed and India troops had engaged the cart was to be put behind the will of the people and wanted to con- the raiders outside Srinagar, the two horse at the UN and by the time In- duct plebiscite or partition on their Prime Ministers met in Delhi. It was dia would wake up, it would be too own watch; the Indians buoyed by a grim Nehru and a resolute Liaquat. late. Then Nehru would feel bitter their early military successes did not Next day, the Defence Committee that his original complaint against want any outside involvement at all met to discuss the changing contours Pakistan was over shadowed at the feeling confident of their twin abili- of the battle as outlined by the JPS' UN as the focus shifted to bringing ties - to throw the raiders out and paper and a week later urged the use ceasefire and conducting the plebi- reclaim the entire territory and to of "air action" to assist the soldiers scite but fault lay not in the UN or in conduct a plebiscite to morally and on ground. Pakistan's defence - mounted superbly democratically legitimize Sheikh Things now moved quickly. Liaquat by Sir Zafrullah Khan - or in India's Abdullah's provisional government; and Nehru met again, this time in stars but in the personalities and the Pakistanis did not want partition Lahore, on 8 December, in the meet- policies of the men who were han- and any plebiscite under Abdullah ing of the Joint-Defence Council but dling it for India, vain-glorious Louis while at the same time widening the with no forward movement. The very Mountbatten, emotional Nehru, legal- scope of international intervention by next day, Mountbatten advised Nehru istic Gopalaswami Ayengar and bom- bringing in the issues of Junagadh to take the case to UN in the form a bastic Sheikh Abdullah. But all that is and Hyderabad to be covered in any formal complaint against Pakistan. a story for another occasion. For now, settlement alongside Kashmir. Mean- What was the complain to contain? raiders re-captured Jhangar on 24 while, the Indian troops had freed Uri To begin with, as Pakistan gave raid- December and, within a week, with on 14 November, re-occupied Jhangar ers facilities so it must withdraw its army stymied in the winter; India three days later and pushed raiders them. Once that happens, India will opened another front at the UN Se- out of Naoshera the next day. pull its troops back - but not before curity Council and, arguably, exposed Liaquat spoke favourably of the UN it is satisfied that all raiders have its flanks. The rest is history!

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue,December 2010 LADAKH AFFAIRS 48 LAHDC ELECTIONS

DORJAY MOTUP

Dorjay Motup is elected to the LAHDC for the 3rd time. He is elected from Kyungyam Constitu- ency for the second time in consecutive but this on BJP ticket. In the previous LUTF run LAHDC he held the post of an Executive Councillor for Health for about three years.

GYURMET DORJAY Gyurmet Dorjay won the Korzok constituency of Changthang on Congress mandate. He was elected from the same constituency in 2000 also. He represents a constituency that constitutes of mostly nomadic population. Gyurmet is now the Executive Councillor for Tourism.

TSERING ANGCHUK Tsering Angchuk is elected for the second time in consecutive from Panamik Constituency on Congress ticket. A former government employee in the medical department, Angchuk stepped into politics with the 3rd LAHDC General Council in 2005. He is one of the councilors to have left LUTF and joined the Indian National Con- gress.

THUPSTAN ANGCHUK

Thupstan Angchuk has been elected from Nyoma constituency on Congress ticket. He is a new face in politics. Angchuk is the youngest among the all the councilors. Demchok area which had been news last year also comes under his constituency. NEW LAHDC, LEH ABDUL ALI Abdul Ali won the Turtuk Constitu- In November 2010, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill ency on Congress mandate. He has Development Council went to elections in which the experience of serving as the the Congress returned to a landslide victory. Here village Sarpanch in Bogdang for is a brief profile of all the Councillors of newly one term. On October 16th late elected Council which has taken charge under evening when polling was just over, the leadership of Rigzin Spalbar his forehead was hit with a stone pelted by an unidentified person. Subsequently he was hospitalized ALL PHOTOS BY T. Namgyal Tsaskan for a few days.

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RIGZIN WANGDUS SONAM DORJAY Sonam Dorjay won the Lingshed constituency on Congress ticket defeating the BJP candidate, renowned Rigzin Wangdus won the Tegar singer PadmaShree Morup Namgyal. Constituency on Congress Sonam Dorjay was elected to LAHDC ticket. This is his first time in from this constituency for the second active politics. Before stepping time consecutively. He is one of the into politics he had worked with councilors who left LUTF and joined TATA-LAHDC project. the Indian National Congress. It still takes days to reach some of the villages of his constituency because of lack of proper road connectivity. DR. SONAM WANGCHUK NAMGYAL PHUNTSOG Dr. Sonam Wangchuk won Namgyal Phuntsog has been Hunder Constituency on Con- elected from Chushul constitu- gress ticket. Doctor Wangchuk ency on Congress ticket. Prior is a child specialist. He retired to this he was the Nambarder from government service few of the village Chushul. He years ago. Doctor Wangchuk is represents an area that is now the Executive Councillor for situated on the Indo-Chinese Health. border. The famous Pangong Lake is in his constituency.

GYAL WANGYAL ADVOCATE SONAM DORJAY

Gyal Wangyal won Sakti con- Advocate Sonam Dorjay was stituency on BJP ticket. He won elected uncontested from this constituency for the second Tingmosgang constituency on consecutive term. He is one of Congress ticket. He was the the sons of the former Minister councilor from Lower-Leh in the late Sonam Wangyal. previous LAHDC. Sonam Dorjay is now the Executive Councillor for Agriculture.

TSERING SONAM GHULAM ABASS ABIDI Ghulam Abass Abidi is elected to Tsering Sonam was the Con- the LAHDC for the 2nd time gress candidate from Phyang consecutively from Chushot constituency who defeated the constituency on Congress ticket. former Chief Executive Coun- In the 2nd LAHDC he was a cilor, Mr. Chering Dorje by a nominated councilor and latter margin of 1039 votes. Sonam is he was inducted into the execu- a retired lecturer from the tive council. Abass Abidi is again Central Institute of Buddhist an Executive Councilor, repre- Studies Leh but he is a new senting the principal religious face in politics. minority. His portfolio is Con- sumer Affairs and Public Distri- TSEWANG RIGZIN butions. Tsewang Rigzin won the Disket seat from Nubra on Congress TSETAN NAMGYAL ticket. He won the seat for the second time consecutively. Tsetan Namgyal won the Khaltsi Rigzin was an executive coun- constituency on Congress ticket. cilor in the LUTF-run LAHDC but He is new in politics. He had been he revolted against the party an active member of the merchant and left it to join the Congress association Leh for many years party about two and half years and prior to joining politics, ago. Rigzin is also a researcher Namgyal was the general secretary and a freelance journalist. of the merchant association.

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NAMGYAL DORJAY TUNDUP SPALZANG Tundup Spalzang is the only Councilor to Namgyal Dorjay has been have won independently without having elected from Tangtse Con- affiliation to any political party. With stituency on Congress ticket. this election he has won the Thiksay He was one of the founders constituency for the 3rd time consecu- and the president of the All tively. In the previous LAHDC, Spalzang Ladakh Unemployed Youth was an LUTF Councilor. With the coming Association (ALUYA) in Leh. of the recent LAHDC elections when LUTF finally closed its door forever with most of its councilors joining BJP and some Congress, Spalzang didn't join either of the parties. VENERABLE LOBZANG Venerable Lobzang Nyantak PHUNTSOG ANGCHUK is a Buddhist monk who has been an active political Phuntsog Angchuk, the retired SSB worker of the LUTF. He won personnel, won from Martselang con- the Upper-Leh constituency stituency on BJP ticket. He is a new on BPJ ticket. Upper-Leh is face in politics but has served at the the largest constituency of village level in different capacities. all and it covers the main Leh town also.

DAWA TSERING TSERING NORBOO Tsering Norboo won the Basgo constitu- Dawa Tsering has been ency on Congress ticket. Earlier he had elected on Congress ticket been a Councillor from same constitu- from Skurbuchan constituency after Nawang Rigzin Jora got ency. He had already served a elected to the State Legislative Assem- term in the LAHDC from 2000 bly in 2002 because Rigzin Jora, who to 2005 representing the was then an Executive Councillor in the same constituency. Dha and LAHDC, represented this Constituency. Hanu villages which are a Norboo has also been the General settlement of Dards popula- Secretary at the DCC office Leh. tion that comes under his constituency. RIGZIN SPALBAR, TSERING ANGCHUK Rigzin Spalbar, the newly nominated chairman/chief executive councilor, Tsering Angchuk has been has been elected from two constituen- elected on Congress ticket cies. The District Congress Committee from Lamayuru constituency. president Mr. Rigzin Spalbar won the He is a new face in Politics. Lower-Leh seat defeating the BJP Angchuk was a government Candidate Mr. Nawang Samstan by 2092 employee in the fisheries votes. Mr. Spalbar had already won the department. He joined Sku-Markha constituency uncontested. politics after retiring from He had been the chairman/chief government service. executive councilor for a year and a half in the 3rd LAHDC also. Spalbar has been elected to the LAHDC continuously since the formation of the Hill Council RINCHEN TUNDUP in 1995. Rinchen Tundup is the new councilor of Saspol constitu- TASHI NORBOO ency. He had already served two terms in the LAHDC. Tashi Norboo won Egoo Constituency on Tundup is a retired govern- Congress ticket. He had served a term in ment employee of the animal the LAHDC from the same constituency husbandry department. He from 2000 to 2005. Besides his political has served in different experience, Norboo has worked in a NGO capacities at grassroots. for a decade.

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Grammar is made of human language, Human language not made of grammar

Khanpo Konchok Phanday

"When bombastic sentences are made simpler, it is criticised. When simple ones are made more complicated, the writer is considered a great master. Such a tradition is a sign of degradation, but what to do?"

VEN. GESHE GEDUN CHOPHEL A prominent scholar of Tibet

uman language cannot exist Ladakhi language for beginners will idea that Ladakhi spoken language is without grammar, whether it is never harm anything but will help to included in Tibetan general spoken Hwritten in the shape of a book develop knowledge as well as being language. This is not realistic: most or not. Therefore to say that the the foundation for learning Tibetan Ladakhis do not understand Tibetan. Ladakhi language has no grammar is too. However, these scholars strongly ob- not true. Language written with gram- A tree grows into several branches jected to Ladakhi language being mar that doesn't match the grammar from its root. Similarly the language written, because they thought that of speech may be misunderstood by of people living in the vast region any language written in the Tibetan the readers, whereas any language from Skardo in the west to Amdo in script must be Tibetan language. It which matches the written grammar the east developed from the root of seems that some people even con- to the spoken language will be clearly the Tibetan language. fuse the language and the script. Ac- understood. However, different words and tually, language and script are dis- Some people mistake grammar grammatical endings developed in tinct. Several languages can be writ- for religion and treat it as a precious the different regions due to time and ten in the same script. For example, holy object. Grammar is just a ves- distance, and they became so differ- English, German, French, Danish, sel for any kind of knowledge. This ent that people of different regions Italian and even African Swahili, are article is written with the intention cannot understand one another today. all written in the same Roman script to clear up this misconception. Some thinkers in Tibet in the 1990s although they are totally different If it is read, one will see different tried to choose a general spoken lan- languages. We write Ladakhi in the ideas. Whether new or old, checking guage that could be understood and Tibetan script, but it is not Tibetan well is wise. Unpopular things should used in all regions of Tibet. For this language. In Bhutan they write not be considered bad automatically purpose forty-seven scholars wrote Dzongkha in the Tibetan script but it but should be checked well. Senior and essays which were compiled and pub- is not Tibetan language. Junior scholars, who have been study- lished as a 700-page book at Beijing Newspapers, magazines, ing in Tibetan refugee monasteries by the Nationalities Publishing House children's books, advertisements, for a long time, please recall your in China in 1999. I went through it etc. should be written in Ladakhi lan- childhoods, when it took days for you and found that the scholars could not guage for beginners. The style can to learn each letter. Even if you no create any consensus for their pur- be shifted gradually from Ladakhi to longer live in your villages, it is un- pose. If even those top scholars in classical for those who want to study wise to hate newspapers written in Tibet could not find a consensus on more. Maybe those who object to mother tongue for the people who still one general spoken language within writing Ladakhi language have no reside in their own villages. Please all regions of Tibet, how could we idea about language development. remember that countless great schol- hope to find one common language That is why a few years ago, objec- ars have learnt several languages, understood in all other neighbouring tions by a few people to the Ladakhi staring from their mother tongue. regions as well? language written in Ladags Melong If people begin by reading their People cannot modify a language magazine contributed to the stopping mother tongue and then progress to much intentionally, but it changes it- of Ladakh's only locally edited print reading the Classical language, holy self in the course of time. As per my media. books and philosophy, it will facilitate knowledge there is no record in the Our students have to study En- the development of spiritual as well world where men succeeded in chang- glish, Science, Maths, Hindi, Urdu, as worldly knowledge. I don't expect ing the spoken language of a particu- Bhoti, and Social Studies in school. everyone to agree with me, I just lar region. We cannot expect everyone to be- want to show my idea that writing Some Ladakhi scholars have an come Geshes and Khanpos. The ma-

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jority of Ladakhis can sound out the grammar is incorrect. a few Tibetan endings are not think- Tibetan script but they cannot under- Saying that writing should con- ing clearly. Some people object, "If stand things written in Tibetan lan- form to Thonmi's grammar is a you want to compose a Ladakhi gram- guage. Keeping in view the standard thoughtless statement. Those who mar, which language will it be based of the readers, to write newspapers, say that they know Thonmi's gram- on? Central Ladakh, Lower, Zangskar, magazines, and children's books in mar book, but they have not under- Nubra or Changthang? You cannot Ladakhi is not harmful but highly ben- stood it well or studied it critically. choose one form." And yet these eficial for them. Not only that, but it If we examine carefully, we can same people say, "You should use is respect for our language, and some even find many sentences in the grammar that can be understood by of the readers may go on to learn the Kangyur and Tangyur that do not fol- all the people from Skardo in the west Classical Tibetan language. low the rules of Thonmi's grammar. to Amdo in the east." Is it not a Lord Buddha turned the wheel of Grammar is made of human lan- strange thought? Dharma at different levels - guage. Human language is not made Some people say that those who Hinayana, Mahayana, and Tantrayana of grammar. Similarly ornaments are want to destroy Ladakhi culture, de- - to benefit the different capacities made of Gold. Gold is not made of stroy the language first. of different sentient beings. In an- ornament. If we go round the world for many cient times it is said the Bodhisattva On one side we say that we years looking for a person who wants sailors used to create islands in the should study the phonetics of each to destroy Ladakhi culture, we will not ocean for the tired traders to take letter to produce the correct sound. find even one all over the world. Sev- rest for some time before continu- On the other side, some people say eral tousands of tourists have visited ing to their destinations. our spoken language should not be Ladakh in the last forty years from The great Nagarjuna stated, written. We have to write something all over the world and every one of "Heaven is not far away from human other than what we actually say. Does them advises us to preserve our cul- reach through right behaviour; and it make sense? When we write ture and helped with financial assis- then by advancing step by step, lib- Ladakhi language, some say Tibetan tance to preserve and protect our eration is even reachable." Similarly, grammar is distorted. This makes no culture, for example LEDeG and the the high-standard poems, philosophi- sense: we write according to Tibetan Women's Alliance, etc. Many of us cal texts and holy books are not far grammar as much as we can, but Ladakhis have spent our lives work- from Ladakhi language but we have there are words and endings of ing to promote Ladakhi language and to reach them step by step. Ladakhi language that can not be culture. In reality the destroyers of Traditionally holy books, recita- found in Tibetan grammar and dic- our culture are perhaps those who tions and religious teachings start tionaries. How can we say they are hate our own language and even try with this stanza: "I am preaching the distorted? They are simply different. to stop us from writing our own lan- Dharma in the languages of gods, When one writes in German, how can guage. nagas, dulboom (spirits), all lan- one say that the English grammar is Some people say, "Ladakhi languages of humans and every language distorted? When one writes in Hindi, guage is an inferior or common lan- of beings." can we say the Sanskrit grammar is guage, and it should not be written." When the Buddha himself gave his distorted? The best way to spread Languages cannot be divided into teachings in all languages to suit his Bhoti literacy in Ladakh is to write inferior and superior - we do not have different audiences and said that the newspapers, magazines, advertise- separate languages for kings and teachings should be given in all lan- ments and first and second class common people. However, it can be guages, then should be no problem schoolbooks in Ladakhi language. both spoken and written. The two writing newspapers, magazines, Then from the 3rd class onward the should not be so different that people children's books, etc. in Ladakhi lan- language should move towards clas- cannot understand the written language. It is not bad, and in fact the sical in higher and higher standards. guage, though the standard of the benefits are many. This method would help students written language can go higher and The great scholar saint Rdza Dpal- learn easily without confusion; oth- higher according to the subject mat- sprul Rinpoche wrote, "The holy books erwise it will take them a long time ter. That is also keeping in view the of exalted ones for the benefit of to learn, or they will find the classi- readers and the purpose. It is not readers and explaining the practices cal language so difficult that they do good to write in the same style from are not in high standard language and not even try to read it. This is what children's books to holy books. The poetry. Showing the perfect path we see happening today - students newspapers, children's' books, adver- through the common people's lan- read classical Tibetan in their Bodyig tisements etc written in Ladakhi languages is the speciality of holy per- classes at school but they don't un- guage for Ladakhi people are more sons." derstand it and never choose to read beneficial and also respect our own Some scholars say, "You can write it except for their exams. language. To write newspapers using Ladakhi language, but it should con- Some people say, "If you read and bombastic words found only in dic- form to the rules of Tibetan gram- write Ladakhi language, you will tionaries is not beneficial to anyone. mar." Yes, but even if we try to do never learn the meaning of Kangyur Ladakh was a small sovereign na- so, is it possible? The problem is, and Tangyur." This is like saying a tion until 1834, and the language was there are countless special Ladakhi person can never learn a new word in a national language. A man who says words and endings which are not his life after his first language at the the language of his own land should found in Tibetan dictionaries. age of seven. Because if he has learnt not be written - that man is ashamed How can you conform to some- to read and write Ladakhi in child- of his own language and culture. thing that you cannot find? Some hood, why can't he learn new words People all over the world wish to people try to write Ladakhi language and Tibetan grammar? If he can learn spread their own languages to other with Tibetan grammar. The style be- new words he can learn Kangyur and regions. Nobody anywhere says that comes like a gentleman in lady's Tangyur in the course of time. their national language should be hid- dress. Not only that but even when Those who cannot differentiate den from the world. But in Ladakh, a they try to write like this, the Tibetan between a few Ladakhi endings and few people say that the Ladakhi lan-

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and Ladakhi to Ladakhis. Otherwise guage should not be written, as if gious liturgy books etc. should re- they are ashamed of it. our meaning will not get across. I am Ladakhi and my mother-tongue is main in the same style as they have Recently in the assembly of been written for more than a thou- Maharashtra, a newly elected minis- Ladakhi and I am proud of it. Speak- ing and writing one's mother tongue sand years. Even different words of ter took his oath in Hindi. Some other the same meaning should not be used members got angry and slapped him is not bad. I write Ladakhi language for Ladakhis, Tibetan for Tibetans, in them, because they are mostly because they wanted him to take the read in chorus. But the books that oath in their own language, Marathi. and English for English speakers. I respect all languages. The grammar, the are meant to express knowledge and But in Ladakh we have quite the op- ideas to common people can be writ- posite. How strange! structure of the sentences, the vocabulary, are all used for the purpose ten in any language necessary for Once I told a linguistic researcher easy understanding of the reader. I from America, "Some scholars in of conveying the concept to the reader. If the reader cannot under- conclude my article here with the fol- Ladakh say that Ladakhi language lowing quote of Mr. Rekha Lobsang does not have grammar." She laughed stand clearly, what is the point? Some people say we should write differ- Tenzin, a prominent member of the and answered, "Then how can Tibetan school text book committee. Ladakhis speak to each other, if you ently from how we speak, and then study it at great length in order to He stated in 1980, "Writing with do not have grammar? I have been complicated sentences and words studying spoken Ladakhi grammar for get the meaning. But why? Children's books, newspapers and magazines found in the thesaurus, and personal years and it is very interesting and letters ornamented with euphonic complicated." for communicating with Ladakhi people are useful only in Ladakhi lan- words are not for the purpose of the We must know to whom we are readers' understanding, but only to writing or speaking. Tibetan to Ti- guage. However, the prayer books, reli- show off the writer's high knowl- betans, English to English speakers, edge." Operation New Hope: Education policy and its fate

CHOSDAN TUNDUP,

ducation has always been a key tionists worldwide including Dr. A.P.J. at state and national level. It con- concern for Ladakhis since the Abdul Kalam, the then President of forms to the national standard set by Eadvent of Independence of India, India. Though there might have been NCERT and is backed up by re- 1947. Under the aegis of His Holi- other loopholes which need to be searches from NCERT to get feed back ness Bakula Rinpoche, the highest plugged to achieve the target set in since it was a follow up action of a educated personality of Ladakh in Ladakh Model of Sarva Shiksha national strategy. classical language and Buddhists phi- Abhiyan - the second phase of ONH The textbook of E.V.S. published losophy of that period, various move- inaugurated by H.E. President of In- by J&K Board of School Education for ments were started to generate dia, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2006 at Leh. the whole state is nothing new but awareness among the illiterate One of the multipronged strategy implementation of NCF 2005 in 2010. masses of Ladakh about the impor- to uplift the quality of education was Whereas the ONH books are the tance of education. The focus then contextualization of textbook envis- implementation of NCF 2005 in the was on enrolment. Since then many aged in the national curriculum year 2005 itself.ONH books relates movements were initiated to address framework 2005 released by NCERT to the particular perspective of various facets of education. Opera- in 2005 to demarcate the broad Ladakh but the J&K Board of School tion New Hope (ONH) was one among guidelines of national curriculum Education books relates to the them. It was a tripartite partnership framework within which alternative broader perspective of whole of J&K. among the Government (the Hill textbook relating the immediate en- The ONH books were not prepared Council), Community and NGOs. In vironment of the child be written. by fringe idiots or a single man but 1996 the Ladakh Autonomous Hill De- The textbook especially the EVS for national level experts were engaged velopment Council Leh adopted ONH primary classes are neither a repli- for preparation of the said books by as its official policy on education. cation of success story elsewhere nor paying heavy fees by the Ladakh Au- The yardstick for measuring its suc- out of box imitation but implemen- tonomous Hill Development Council, cess has always been the Secondary tation of the National Curriculum Leh. Faculty from NCERT, scientists School Examination (10th class). framework of 2005 in its true spirit. of DIHAR(defense institute of high Since its inception the results have Of course, the books especially the altitude research), local physicians shown an upward trend and it has not E.V.S. for primary classes have not (Amchis), scholars of Ladakh in par- been abysmal. The program received only been lauded by the teachers in ticular and teachers in the field in appreciations from different educa- the field but also been appreciated general,were consulted. Field-testing

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 LADAKH AFFAIRS 54 EDUCATION of the textbooks, which is crucial for rospection of the educational over- incorporating feedbacks, were carried haul of Ladakh. Retrospection is not out. It was only then the books were at all altogether throwing away of A marginal section is published. There are preconceptions what has been achieved due to con- for the retrospection among some blockhead that these siderable labour put in by the stake- books might have been prepared by holders during the last two decades of the educational the local teachers deputed for the and financial investment made by the overhaul of Ladakh. same; Of course, they have also con- council but weeding out what has tributed a tremendous input. Such gone wrong .Of course, to err is hu- Retrospection is not preconceptions cannot see the real man and that can be revisited, cor- at all altogether things of the book. rected and rewritten rather than ONH books cater to the challenges throwing away of the whole throwing away of of modern ages of globalization, lib- programme. eralization and universalization Unfortunately for some unknown what has been through localization, the very essence reasons the ONH books which were achieved due to con- of NCF 2005. Scientific theories and Ladakh appropriate were replaced by dictums are made to understand by the books published by J&K Board of siderable labour put taking examples from the local envi- School Education for the whole State. in by the stakeholders ronment. Take the example of food Of course, the 'Tulip books' for En- chain or food web. Food chain of a glish are in a series from 1st to 10th during the last two Black Necked Crane eating fish, a fish will be beneficial which requires less decades and financial in turn eating insects and insects in immediate environment. However, turn eating grass have been shown. the ONH English books can be kept investment made by Food web of various animals of as supplementary reader. But the EVS the council but weed- Ladakh like the snowleopard, mag- books of ONH are indispensable to pie, redstart, rosefinch, pika, mar- match with the environment of ing out what has gone mot, bharal, kestrel, Ibex etc have Ladakh. Besides, removing the ONH wrong .Of course, to been shown to let the children know books also goes against spirit of the about these animals to make them Ladakh Vision Document- 2025 err is human and that aware of the fragile ecosystem of wherein claims for preparing region Ladakh. Children of Ladakh have wise appropriate curriculum have can be revisited, cor- been taught through these books been suggested. It has even talked rected and rewritten about various wild plants and animals of setting up of "Ladakh Board of of Ladakh. They have been prepared School Education". Then, Are we go- rather than throwing to face the challenges of life when ing forward or backward? away of the whole they grow up. They have been taught Since education has been a joint how to construct a warm house in- venture between the department and programme. stead of teaching them various types the NGOs, every facet of education, of houses as stated in the broad may it be pedagogy, curriculum, guidelines of NCF. The very principle teaching aids and ideas are well. Rise above pity selfish ends and of teaching learning process of go- interlinked & intertwined with work jointly for the common cause ing from known to unknown, going NGOs.Whenever a teacher speaks and of uplifting the quality of education from simple to complex and local to suggests about something to make and to save the education depart- periphery have been followed. In 5th things right or to bring improvement ment, one of the largest employer in class social science textbook, the in educational field, it is stated that the government sector. neighboring countries of India, and s/he has spoken in favour of NGOs The author (Senior Headmaster, then continents and countries of the and next day s/he is bound to face Government High School Domkhar, world have been incorporated to link action for having spoken in favour Leh) has been associated with Op- with the other books prepared by the of NGOs; for violating the circular eration New Hope, especially in the NCERT. Inspirational icons like late from Chief Education Officer, Leh to preparation of Ladakh relevant text- Padmashree Sonam Norboo, a re- suspend links with NGOs in Ladakh, books under ONH. He was deputed nowned engineer -turned- leader of issued in 2007. This circular has in a as a member in the textbooks fram- Ladakh of the second half of the 20th way suspended the right to freedom ing committee by the chief education century, Kacho Sikandar Khan, a fa- of Speech, the fundamental right officer Leh on the instruction of the mous scholar from Kargil, national enshrined in the Indian Constitution then executive councilor for educa- leaders like Mahatama Gandhi, Kiran for every citizen. Why don't repeal tion, LAHDC, Leh in the year 2000- Bedi to inspire the girl students and such barbaric decree?. After all NGOs 2001. He, along with the textbooks Bismillah Khan to inspire about clas- are also our Ladakhi brethren and framing committee, visited many sical music have been included. Lo- sisters working for the amelioration educational institutions in India in- calization does not means that the of the society in one way or the other. cluding Rishi Valley Education Centre, books are only about local environ- The NCF 2005 assigns the role of de- National Council for Educational Re- ment but has gradually been ex- velopment of text books, academic search & Training (NCERT) to gain tended towards the state, the coun- support and research to NGOs. broader experience and knowledge in try, the world and then the universe. It is not the time to blame one making textbooks for children up to A marginal section is for the ret- another for things that have not gone primary standard.

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 55 CHRONOLOGY MILITANCY IN 2010 Calendar of Militancy related incidents in 2010

NOVEMBER 25: Army and Police killed three Paki in the exchange of firing between the two sides, stani militants of LeT after a three day long official sources said. One militant was killed in operation at Marha in upper reaches of Sailan the same District on an unspecified date. The in Surankote tehsil (revenueunit) of Poonch Dis identity and group affiliation of the slain mili trict. Official sources said all three militants tants could not be ascertained immediately as were killed after daylong heavy exchange of fir the operation was still going on. ing with troops. The militants were being SEPTEMBER 16: Army killed seven militants in two searched since evening of November 23. The separate gun battles in Pulwama and Bandipora slain militants included Abu Ujefa, a 'divisional Districts. Five militants were killed in a fierce commander' of LeT, Abu Ali, the outfit's in- encounter with SFs in the Dudkalan forests of Tral charge for twin border Districts of Poonch and area in Pulwama District, Defence Spokesman Lt. Rajouri, who was operating for last 15 Colonel J S Brar told reporters. In addition, two years and was the longest surviving militant in more militants were shot near the LoC in the the two Districts and Abu Ikramat. All three slain Gurez sector of Bandipora District. The militants militants were Pakistanis affiliated with the LeT were killed in the operation that has been going outfit, official sources said, adding Abu Ujefa on since September 5. Although initially Army de was 'commanding' them after his predecessor, nied that it had suffered any casualty in the op Abu Osama was killed. Sources said with the eration, sources on September 16 admitted that killing of these three militants the strength two troopers were also killed on the first day of of LeT, especially in the border Districts of the gun battle. Army has shot dead 30 militants Rajouri and Poonch, has come down to 15. Only in Kashmir Valley since the beginning of Septem 25 to 30 militants were now active in the two ber, sources said, adding, "This includes 15 ter Districts. rorists killed on the Line of Control and 15 in the OCTOBER 23: Three militants were killed as Army hinterland." foiled an infiltration bid near the LoC in Uri sec SEPTEMBER 13: Three militants, believed to be part tor of Baramulla District. of a major group of infiltrators, were killed in an OCTOBER 21: The Security Forces shot dead three encounter with Army in the Bandipora District. militants of the JeM who were on a mission to SEPTEMBER 8: Army killed seven militants in the target the Army Headquarters of 15 Corps at ongoing operation in the Gurez sector of Badamibagh cantonment and another camp at Bandipora District near the LoC, taking death toll Haft Chinar in Srinagar, the summer capital of in the four-day operation to 12. Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first militant SEPTEMBER 5: Army killed seven militants in two sepa attack in Srinagar since January 6 suicide at rate operations in areas close to the LoC in tack by militants in Lal Chowk area of the City. Kupwara and Bandipora Districts. One Army OCTOBER 14: Three HM militants, including a self trooper was also killed in the operation while styled 'battalion commander' of the Pir Panjal another was injured. While four militants were regiment, were killed in an encounter with the killed in Baktoor area of Gurez sector in Bandipora SFs in the Shopian District. District, Army troops eliminated three militants OCTOBER 1: Eight militants and a Policeman were in the Hafruda forest area at Vilgam in the killed in separate encounters in the State. Handwara area of Kupwara District. Two Army Army foiled an infiltration bid at Maidan Behak troopers were injured in initial firing by the mili in the Machhil sector near the LoC in Kupwara tants in Bandipora. One of the injured troopers, District and killed five militants. Havaldar J B Thapa, later succumbed to injuries. In addition, three militants and one Special Opera According to intelligence reports, a group of over tion Group (SOG) personnel were killed in an 20 militants had sneaked into the Valley from encounter in the Chak-e-Akhal area of Kangan Gurez sector last week and SFs have launched in Ganderbal District. Two other security force massive operations in the forest area of personnel and a civilian were injured in the gun Bandipora District to track them down. fight which was going on till reports last came in. AUGUST 30: Army killed three more militants in the SEPTEMBER 29: A group of three to four LeT mili failed infiltration bid near the Line of Control tants ambushed an Army patrol at Islampura (LoC) in Uri sector of Baramulla District, raising between Dera Ki Gali (DKG) and Thanna Mandi the death toll in the ongoing operation to nine. in Rajouri District in which an Army soldier was AUGUST 29: Six militants were killed as Army foiled injured. In the resultant encounter, all three an infiltration bid near the Line of Control in Uri militants were shot dead by Army and Police. sector of Baramulla District. Sources said dead SEPTEMBER 19: Two militants and a trooper were bodies of six militants could be seen lying on the killed in an encounter at Dardpora near Paner in ground where the gun battle was in progress, the Bandipora District. A civilian was also killed adding, number of the militants in the infiltrat

www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010 CHRONOLOGY 56 MILITANCY IN 2010

ing group was around 15. MAY 7: Seven LeT militants and two Army personnel AUGUST 15: Two LeT militants and an Army trooper were killed in an over 24-hour gunfight, ending were killed while an Army Major was injured along in the evening in the Shiekhpora forested area with a SPO and a civilian in an encounter at Sheru of Rafiabad in the Baramulla District, Police said. forests in the Saran Wali area, about four APRIL 2: Four more Pakistani militants of the LeT kilometres atop Shahdara Sharief, of Rajouri Dis and an Army trooper were killed in another en trict. One or two other militants, including Abu counter with Army and Police at Sadda Darkeri Zarar alias Doctor, continued to fight till the re forests in the Kalakote area of Rajouri District ports last came in. Bodies of the two militants during day long gun battle. killed in the operation were recovered from the With this ended the nearly seven-day-long battle forests. An intercept revealed their identity as between LeT militants and SF in Rajouri District. Sajid Kashmiri and Abu Qamran. Sajid Kashmiri In all, 16 militants, militants, 15 of them Paki was believed to be a local while Qamran appeared stanis, and five SF personnel died. to be a Pakistani. Though, exact identity of both APRIL 1: The Security Forces shot dead six top LeT slain militants is yet to be ascertained, sources militants, including five Pakistanis and a local, confirmed that they were part of the LeT outfit after an exchange of fire at Khabra forests near which had attacked Army vehicles on August 11. village Raa Bagla in the Taryath area of Rajouri AUGUST 12: Three heavily armed militants were shot District. dead in an encounter with the Army in the forest MARCH 30 : Five militants, including four of LeT area of Bandipora District. Official sources said outfit, and four SF personnel were killed in two though identification of the militants would take separate encounters in the Rajouri District. some time but they were believed to be affili MARCH 27 : Army shot dead five militants, who were ated with LeT, which has a strong presence in part of the infiltrating bid, near Line of Control the area. (LoC) in Kupwara District. AUGUST 10: Militants attacked a Police post guarding MARCH 26 : A militant was killed in a gun battle with Mohammad Abdullah, a leader of Democratic Party the Army near Hanuman post along the Line of Nationalist, in the Sopore town of Baramulla Dis Control (LoC) in Keran sector of Kupwara District trict, killing all three Policemen on duty. The mili in Kashmir valley, taking death toll of the mili tants attacked the post at around 11pm (IST) by tants in the ongoing operation to three. opening indiscriminate firing on the Police per MARCH 16 : Three civilians and three SF personnel sonnel at Yaseen Colony in the Armpora area of were killed and eight others, including three SF Sopore killing all the Policemen on the spot. personnel, injured by militants in the Srinagar Though a search operation was launched soon af and Baramulla Districts . MARCH 4: Four top HM militants and an Army of ter, the militants managed to escape from the ficer, Captain Deepak Sharma, were killed dur incident site. No militant outfit has so far claimed ing an encounter that lasted over 30 hours in the responsibility for the attack. Dadsara village near Tral in Pulwama District. JULY 20: One militant each of the LeT and HuM FEBRUARY 23: Five top militants and three SF per were believed to be killed in a gun battle with sonnel, including an Army officer, were killed and the SFs at Parray-Mohalla in the Hygam area of three soldiers injured in a fierce 18-hour gun Sopore town in the Baramulla District. An Army battle between the SFs and militants in the Sopore trooper was also killed in the incident. town of Baramulla District. JULY 2-3: Four militants were killed as Army foiled FEBRUARY 4: SFs shot dead three top 'commanders' an infiltration bid along the LoC in Nowgam sec of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) militant tor of Srinagar, a defence spokesperson said on outfit, identified as Feroz Ahmed Mengnu (code July 3. Troops observed a group of heavily-armed name Dawood), a 'supreme commander' of HuJI militants along the LoC late in the night of July and his two 'deputy commanders' Nazir Ahmed 2. The intruders were challenged and in the sub (code name Abu Furqan) and Mohammad Ishaq, sequent gun battle, which continued through the in an encounter in Chichha hills in Kishtwar Dis night, four militants were killed, the spokesper trict. An Army trooper, Ravi Kant of 11 Rashtriya son added. Rifles, was also killed in the encounter while a JUNE 28: Six armed foreign militants and three Army woman, identified as Haneefa Begum alias Babli, soldiers were killed in a gun battle that broke out reportedly married to Dawood and actively work along the LoC in the Kupwara. ing for HuJI outfit, was arrested. MAY 19: Three HM militants, including self-styled JANUARY 14: Two self-styled 'commanders' of the HM 'divisional commander' and 'district commander' outfit active in Reasi, Rajouri and South Kash were killed in an encounter with SFs in the Lassi mir, and an Army trooper were killed during a 15 Daban village of Rajpora in Pulwama District. The hour long encounter in Kulgam District. The mili slain militants were identified as Latief Tedwa, tants were identified as Adil Pathan and Khalid self styled 'divisional commander' for South Kash Hussain alias Tahir Inquilabi, both residents of mir and 'district commander' of Pulwama Rajouri. Mohammad Rafiq Bhat. Both the slain militants JANUARY 6-7: Suicide attack by LeT militants at Lal were locals and residents of nearby Keller area in Chowk in Srinagar on January 6. The target was Shopian District. The identity of the third mili a CRPF camp but militants took refuge in Punjab tant was being ascertained and preliminary re hotel across the road when retaliated by SFs. Both ports said he was also a resident of Keller area the holed up militants were killed in a 22- hour and was known as Farooq Ahmad Khanday. gun battle. A Policeman and a civilian were also MAY 11: Three HM militants and a trooper were killed and at least 12 persons including three CRPF killed in a gun battle between the SFs and the personnel and a photo-journalist were injured in militants in the Ganie Mohalla area of Sanzipora the incident. While one terrorist was identified village, 20 kilometres from Handwara town in as Qari, a Pakistani national, the other one was Kupwara. named as Usman from Sopore. www.epilogue.in Vol. 4, Issue 12 Epilogue, December 2010