Revolt in Indian Held

Kashmir
Confidential Material: Not for public distribution, circulation or sale outside the BrassTacks
authorized end users.

© 2008 BrassTacks. All rights reserved.

By Farzana Shah
This document is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without the written permission of
BrassTacks.

The information in this document is furnished for informational use only. Great care has been
taken to maintain the accuracy of the information contained in this document. However,
neither BrassTacks nor the authors can be held responsible for errors or for any consequences
arising from the use of the information contained herein.

brasstacks@dsl.net.pk

© 2008 BrassTacks. All Rights Reserved

1
Confidential Material: Not for public distribution, circulation or sale outside the BrassTacks
authorized end users.

© 2008 BrassTacks. All rights reserved.

This document is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced, or transmitted, in

any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without the written permission of
BrassTacks.

The information in this document is furnished for informational use only. Great care has been
taken to maintain the accuracy of the information contained in this document. However,
neither BrassTacks nor the authors can be held responsible for errors or for any consequences
arising from the use of the information contained herein.

brasstacks@dsl.net.pk

2
 Revolt in Indian Held Kashmir
The Kashmiri struggle has turned into a new intifada recently when youth,
children and even Kashmiri women took to the streets, armed with stones—
the weapons of the oppressed civilians against tyrants—braving death.
The Indian military has used every tactic and means, ranging from bullets to
curfews to sealing off the territory, in order to restrain and silence the voice of
Kashmiris from reaching the world.

Curfews are imposed every now and then leading to starvation of the local
populace. A case in sight is the Palhallan village, where many Kashmiris died
due to starvation, as the curfew clamped on the village extendedfor 29 days.
The Palhallan village of Pattan tehsil is in Northern Kashmir district of
Varmul, where the 29-day long curfew brought life to a standstill as the village
remained out of bounds for the rest of the world.

Many people died due to starvation and the fellow villagers could not even
offer funeral prayers or perform the last rites as check posts had been set up
around the village and no movement into or out of the village was permitted.
The villagers accused the invading Indian troops of vandalism and breaking
the windows of more than 300 houses during the past month. The Indian
army reportedly damaged 35 band saw mills in the village and snapped
electricity by blasting four transformers.

Record killing of Kashmiris by the Indian army has been reported in one
month, when they killed over 50 innocent civilians in cold blood.Despite this
state terrorism by India, the Kashmiris have made it to the streets in order to
continue protests against the occupation, which has sent the Indian
government into a frenzied mode.

Failed attempt to play the religion card:

After failing to curb the growing Kashmiri uprising against the occupation,
the Indian invading minds have come up with many ideas to befool the world.
One of the most sinister moves was to play the religion card by bribing some
Deobandi mullahs to issue statements in its favour over Kashmir.

The meeting of the Congressi deobandi mullahs and their groupies Jamiat
Ulema-e-Hind, recently interfering in the affairs of the Kashmiris and
supporting the Indian stand said,

"The long pending demands of the Kashmiri people need to be addressed

within the framework of the Constitution of India."

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 Darul Uloom Deoband supports India against Pakistan and
Kashmir

This clearly shows the unauthentic nature of this meeting which fell flat on its
face, when the Kashmiri leaders rejected the interference of these Indian
mullahs into their affairs, saying Kashmir was a separate country hence any
Indian, be it a Muslim, has no right to advise the Kashmiris. Even an anti-
Islam, anti-Pakistan, Indian journalist, Mr. MJ Akbar has exposed the sinister
face of this one-sided Indian propaganda meeting.

At this point in time, Kashmir is the world's oldest unresolved issue in

modern history, despite the fact that the world community, through various
United Nations resolutions, has been promising to resolve this crisis.

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Keeping in view the strategic aspects of Kashmir for the world as well as the
future water wars that can occur between nuclear armed India and Pakistan,
the conflict will not be contained merely within the territorial parameters.
The recent revolt in Kashmir is perhaps the most vigorous as it has not only
shaken the Indian rulers but also caught the world's attention due to its
unique civilian characteristics.

The Indian army is committing unimaginable and unforgivable atrocities

against the unarmed civilian population and protestors on the streets in every
major town in the valley. Inhumanly enough, the so-called champions of
human rights around the world have turned a blind eye towards this
terrorism by India, just to fulfill their economic interests in this country, at
the cost of millions of lives.

Murders, abductions, custodial killings, shooting protestors, raping women,

robbing and torching dwellings are a routine by the Indian army and
paramilitary forces under specific laws made for the Kashmiris in order to
oppress them. This immoral,global mum over this critical issue indeed is a
conspicuous crime against humanity.

The statistics speak for themselves: 92 killings, 16 women gang rape cases,
1146 injured during protests, 364 extra judicial arrests under draconian
Public Safety Act (PSA), 11 civilian buildings destroyed and 9 custodial
killings; all this took place in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) in September,
2010 alone. This is just a glimpse of a never ending holocaust for the
Kashmiris, being carried out by the Indian occupied forces since the last 6
decades.

Painting the entire picture of crimes

against humanity in IHK is not possible
as the valley is a no go area for
independent media organizations and
journalistic communities around the
world. But even then the above incidents
and their intensity should suffice to
stretch one's imagination about what the
Indian army is doing to the unarmed
Kashmiri civilians. These heinous crimes
wielded a sheer sense of anger and
revenge in the Kashmiris, particularly
the youth, against the occupying Indian
forces.

Consequently, the protests in every

major town and city in IHK are getting
more and more violent. Though this time
the Kashmiris are unarmed and

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untrained but they are more ferocious than ever before.

There is a whole new dimension to this civilian uprising as it is an exact

replica of what the Palestinians are doing against the aggression of Israel.
Thousands of women, children, students and common men are part of this
rebellion that has unnerved New Delhi completely. This is the Kashmiri
intifada. Some news agencies and locals through the internet and other
alternate media are highlighting the happenings on the streets in IHK. These
news reports have created serious PR and diplomatic problems for India.

The traditional Indian claim, that Pakistan is responsible for harboring and
launching the “terrorists” in Kashmir to cause unrest and rebellion has blown
to tatters. With the entire population of unarmed native Kashmiris on the
streets against the Indian occupation, New Delhi is running out of ideas to
ebb the current uprising. This movement has destroyed the morale of the
Indian forces, as with every passing moment a new story of brutality is
popping up in the media.

In desperation the Indian Premier reverted to one of Chankiya's oldest

strategies in order to contain a powerful enemy: Appeasement. The Indian
government offered a proposal to the Kashmiri leaders so that the situation
could be brought under control, but failed miserably as the APHC (All Parties
Hurriyat Conference) has categorically rejected the peace proposal presented
by Manmohan Singh. The frustrated Indian cabinet was left with no other
option than to blame the ISI, yet again, for its own failure to lure the Kashmiri
leaders into a trap of peace talks. It is a clear indication that the people of the
valley will not be accepting any nonsense of Indian excuses and inducements.

The Kashmir Holocaust:

The recent violent phase of the Kashmiri revolt began with the decision of the
Indian cabinet, on 8th July 2010, to allow the Indian forces to carry out a
maximum crackdown. This decision caused a momentous protest against
extra judicial killings and human rights violations by the Indian forces. With
unchecked authority, the Indian occupying forces unleashed a new wave of
terror in the valley by killing innocent Kashmiri students after declaring them
as terrorists. Later reports confirmed that the “terrorists” killed by Indian
forces were school and college students.

Recent media coverage has revealed innocent students killed by Indian forces.

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Young Martyrs to the cause of freedom!

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 Pakistani trained terrorists or young Kashmiris?
(Images Source: Associate Press)

These protests turned into a complete war afterwards. This is a war between
brute force and human will and perseverance against oppression to maintain
independence and freedom. Despite taking many casualties daily, it is the
Kashmiris who are winning this war. The Indian Raj has been pushed back to
a defensive position on the political ,diplomatic level. Many senior Indian
political analysts and commentators are now openly advising New Delhi to
change its age old flawed stance of Kashmir being an integral part of India
because that never was the case.

As a part of their cunning policy to present India as a peaceful nation, now the
Indians have initiated a “withdrawal” of forces from Kashmiri towns. The sole
purpose of this practice is to put moral pressure on the Kashmiri leadership to
initiate peace talks. Recently the Indian government announced an 8-point
agenda as a confidence building measure, but this proposal has also been
rejected by the Kashmiris. The APHC termed it as a “short term management”
tactic rather than a commitment to resolve the substance of the dispute. This
is an old Indian ploy to use a façade of peace talks to buy more time on
Kashmir so that the Indian foreign office can think about new maneuvers in
diplomacy.

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What Kashmiris want:

This is the most critical aspect of the whole issue. Kashmir is an unfinished
agenda of the division of the subcontinent between Pakistan and India.
Kashmiris want to rid their territory of Indian occupation. The young
Kashmiri leadership has its own inspiration and is looking towards
international community to fulfill the promises that were made to the
Kashmiris some half a century ago. Recently a letter was written to the UN
secretary general, by Chairman APHC, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq:

“It is high time that the UN should adopt a proactive course of diplomatic
maneuver to compel India, while taking genuine Kashmiri leadership on
board, to initiate talks for the settlement of the conflict."

While common Kashmiris are raging against Indian oppression, puppets like
Umer Abdullah want Pakistan and India to restart the futile dialogue process
again. According to him, the situation in Kashmir improves only when
Pakistan and India rekindle their peace process.

Kashmiri Uprising, Pakistan and Strategic Blunders:

Historically, Pakistan remained the primary source of strength, support,

aspiration and encouragement for the Kashmiris' struggle for freedom and
desired to join Pakistan as Kashmiris of Azad Jammu & Kashmir did after
getting independence. The Kashmiri freedom fighters used to get their
strength and courage from the events of 1948 war between Pakistan and India
when a new born, fragile and militarily weak Pakistan decided to fight against
the Indian illicit occupation of Kashmir and liberated 37% of the valley.
Joining Pakistan has remained the ultimate dream of the Kashmiri
generations since 1947. But like everything else, 9/11 and Pakistan's policies

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afterwards made an impact on the Kashmir cause and unfortunately it was
not a very pleasant one.

Pakistan has made too many strategic blunders during the last ten years in
the realm of foreign policy and diplomacy by making some fundamental and
radical changes in matters where the nation held an uncompromising
principled stance. Afghanistan was not the only casualty of these post 9/11
policy decisions by Islamabad, Kashmir was perhaps the biggest injury to
Pakistan's long term foreign policy goals.

Pakistani forces came to an eye to eye standoff with the Indian army in 2002
when some Kashmiris were accused of carrying out an attack on the Indian
parliament. Not even once, during this standoff did Pakistan give any signal of
abandoning Kashmir. But this stance shifted shamefully after that standoff.
India and its new strategic ally, the US continued to pressurize Pakistan
regarding the fabricated cross border 'terrorism' in IHK. Unfortunately, the
previous government succumbed to this pressure and announced a unilateral
ceasefire on the LoC in 2004, which was perhaps the biggest strategic blunder
in national history. This sente xtremely wrong signals to the Kashmiris
regarding Pakistan's sincerity to them and their struggle against the Indian
oppression. Since then a great sense of betrayal has been prevailing in the
Kashmiris. Subsequently, not only Kashmir but also Pakistan had to make
compromises on other critical issues vis-à-vis India after 2004.

A façade of composite dialogue process between Pakistan and India was

initiated by Islamabad in 2005 and after 5 years of relentless efforts by
Pakistan to bring India on the table to talk about Kashmir, we are back to
square one. No progress has been made over any critical issue through these
dialogues. This cloak of peace talks proved as a blessing for the Indians,
whereas Islamabad remained elusive about the Indian policy on Pakistan and
Kashmir after becoming an ally of the US in the post 9/11 scenario. This
Indian policy revolves around following vortexes:

 In short term: to gain maximum time to get the current situation under
control by utilizing every available source at India's disposal.

 In long term: to keep this issue a bilateral one by denying any UN

resolution or third party mediation at the global level and
simultaneously to keep avoiding this issue even at the bilateral level by
not discussing it in a composite dialogue process. This duplicity by
India's diplomatic offices enables her to continue keeping the
Kashmiris under its occupation. This is the most disturbing aspect of
Indian diplomacy that on one hand India is ready to discuss all
outstanding issues with Pakistan while on the other hand she always

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 worries about a Pakistani outburst on international forums on
Kashmir.

 To conceal the atrocities of Indian forces in IHK. This is the reason why
Kashmir is not open to international media and human rights
watchdogs.

 To paint Kashmiri protestors and their movement as “terrorism” and

put the blame on Pakistan to portray it as a terrorist state.

 To threaten Pakistan's economy through water aggression, using the

geography of Pakistan's Western rivers. This is a new dimension of the
issue and takes it to a whole new level of complexity. Now Kashmir has
become a smoking gun for the Indian establishment against Pakistan.

 To use brute force and enticement together in order to suppress or lure

the Kashmiris into the Indian plans.

 To present herself as an eligible candidate for a permanent seat at the

UN Security Council. This is an old Indian political goal and due to
their newly developed strategic ties with the US, they are very hopeful
of realizing this dream.

Through these peace talks, India gained key benefits and advanced her
strategic interests, which she could not get through wars or coercive
diplomacy towards Pakistan. Apart from building dams on Pakistani rivers in
IHK, India also got ATTA (Afghan Transit Trade Agreement) passed by the
Pakistan cabinet enabling her to trade with Afghanistan using Pakistani land
routes from Wagah to Torkham. This agreement has a big security downside
with respect to Pakistan's economic and strategic interests in the region.
Indians were trying to secure this deal since the last 45 years but could not
succeed till the present government took over in 2008. On the other hand,
Pakistan also softened its principle stance of demanding a plebiscite on
Kashmir on all international forums. India, meanwhile, took full advantage of
the situation and accused Pakistan of supporting terrorism in Kashmir on
every forum.

The current Pakistani government has gone a step further in its India
appeasing policy by supporting India for getting a non-permanent seat in the
UN Security Council after 15 years, whereas the same support is pledged to
India for a permanent seat. These are not just concessions but unforgivably
treacherous compromises and a total sell out to India on this critical issue.
Traditionally, the Kashmiri youth supported the annexation of Indian
occupied Kashmir to Pakistan. However, now a new demand of 'Free

11
Kashmir' has been raised by the young Kashmiri students, who are leading
this renewed civilian movement in the streets, while confronting a strong
Indian army. This demand is an enunciation of a strong Kashmiri reaction
against Pakistan's confused, myopic and treacherous compromises over
Kashmir. It seems that Pakistan has lost or is losing the hearts and minds of
Kashmiris. It is high time for Islamabad to realize the sensitivity of the
situation.

American involvement:

The recent interest shown by the US to solve the Kashmir issue has intrigued
many in Pakistan and Kashmir. Nothing in the American foreign policy comes
without a long -term strategic plan about saving its own interests first.
Kashmir is no different, but the catch is that the US has no desire to provide a
solution for Kashmir. President Obama came up with the idea of turning the
LoC into a permanent border between Pakistan and India. Though the US
president was not so conspicuous in proposing this but the bottom line of his
proposition was very clear. In the words of president Obama, “The line of
control must be converted into a line of friendship between Pakistan and
India.” Even this solution would enable India to send a message of Pakistan
backtracking on this issue to the Kashmiri leaders. Therefore, now India
would willingly accept LoC as a permanent border, as it would dent the
Kashmiri freedom movement to a considerable level, if not eliminating it
altogether.

Does the United States have any real solution for the Kashmir dispute
according to the aspirations of millions of Kashmiris? The answer is not a very
difficult one to come by for any observer of American decade-old maneuver
diplomacy. No matter what shape the current revolt would take in the
Kashmir status quo, it will be a suitable option for the US, as it will continue
to pursue its foreign policy goal without losing either Pakistan or India as an
ally. The US needs both Pakistan and India on her side, desperately.

The Indian role in the US foreign policy is clearly to become a strong

economic and military player in the region in order to counterweight China.
This is the reason why there is a clear indication of US support for the Indian
solution of the Kashmir issue. Coming towards Pakistan, there is a complete
confusion in US administration and foreign policy planners. The role of a
client state has been articulated by the US but the US is in no position to force
Pakistan to accept this role due to the former's dependence on Pakistan in
WoT(War on Terror).

The US is also in no position to impose any solution either on Pakistan or

India. An aggressive push to the solving of Kashmir issue could aggravate
India, a country the US can't afford to lose to Russia or China for multiple
reasons. But American misery continues beyond this, as the US elections are
also around the corner. Obama was the one who, in his presidential

12
campaign, pointedly raised “Kashmir” as a potential flash point in the world
and urged to solve this crisis. The Obama administration is also desperate to
get a breakthrough on this issue by bringing both Pakistan and India on the
same page, which is an almost impossible task.

The Americans are also desperate for creating a positive image among the
Pakistani masses, which has been defaced by the American war on terror. The
US can't appease both Pakistan and India on critical issues like Kashmir.
Pakistan would have to take some corrective measure in her Kashmir policy to
control the damage that has been done in last 5 years.

Proposed Solutions:

1. Pakistan must immediately revert to its principle stance of plebiscite in

Kashmir. Any idea other than that must be categorically rejected.

2. Kashmir is as important an issue as Pakistan's nuclear program. There

must be a legal and constitutional bar on any government, civilian or
military, preventing it from initiating any back channel secret
diplomacy on issues like Kashmir, Siachen etc.

3. Any diplomatic decision on Kashmir or Pakistan- India relations must

go through a parliamentary process. A constitutional amendment must
be made to rectify this.

Kashmir belongs to the Kashmiris but it is Pakistan that must decide to whom
the Kashmiris belong? Lately, Pakistan's political elite has lost all good sense
while talking about Kashmir just like it did when dealing with India on the
diplomatic level as some useless and careless statements were made by the
Pakistani politicians, ex-military personnel and journalists. The recent
disclosure by the ex-ruler Pervez Musharraf, about training guerilla fighters to
fight against Indian forces in occupied Kashmir, is total nonsense and was an
attempt at damaging the genuine indigenous struggle of Kashmir. Even more
ironically, the chairman of the Kashmir committee in Pakistan is Fazal-ur-
Rehman, the Deobandi cleric who follows the line of pro-Congress Deoband
in India, rejects the ideology of Pakistan and does not support the freedom of
Kashmir and supports the case of the Indian government that Kashmir should
be resolved within the Indian constitution. Pakistan cannot afford to commit
another blunder on Kashmir. Period. It is time for decisive action but purging
the back stabbers from within our own ranks remains the topmost priority.

**********************************

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