27th Year of Publication

Monthly

World urged to save Victimisation of Aasiya Indian troops martyred

Kashmiris from Indian Andrabi by Modi regime 263 Kashmiris in 2020
brutalities denounced
 Pakistan to continue supporting
Kashmiris’ struggle

“New Delhi is committing human rights violations in Indian illegally occupied

Jammu and Kashmir. The international community including United Nations
Security Council should play their due role in resolving the lingering issue of
Kashmir according to aspirations of Kashmiris. Pakistan will continue its support to
the oppressed Kashmiri people in their just struggle for right to self-determination.”

(President Dr Arif Alvi in an interview to

SASSI (South Asian Strategic Stability Institute) Security Review Magazine, 15 December 2020)

“The BJP is carrying out baseless and negative propaganda against Pakistan which is
not only aimed at diverting the global attention away from the atrocities committed
by the Indian occupational forces in the occupied Kashmir but also spreading chaos
in the country. Indian media is trying to divert attention away from the illegal
measures and serious human rights violations committed in the Indian illegally
occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). The Hindu fascist agenda is resulting in
threats to the regional law and order situation.”

(Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing a meeting at Prime Minister Secretariat, to counter
India’s hybrid warfare 30 December 2020)
 Kashmir Insight
Vol: 27, No.01, January 2021 Printed & Published by All Parties Hurriyat Conference AJK
Ph: +92-51-4861457, Fax: +92-51-4861458
Editor: Muhammad Raza Malik Printers: Web Brothers,Al-Rehman Plaza,
Sub Editor: Humayun Aziz Sandeela 44-H, Haider Road, Rawalpindi
Art Editor: Muhammad Haroon Ph:051-5566348, Fax: 051-5516142

CONTENTS Human rights situation

Indian atrocities on IIOJK people during December 2020

Editorial
Raies Ahmed Mir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Indian troops killing innocent Kashmiris in fake
encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Reports

Cover Story Kashmiris observe Right to Self-Determination Day.. . . . 21

Fake encounters put spotlight on India’s state terrorism in Indian troops martyred 263 Kashmiris in 2020 . . . . . . . . 25

IIOJK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 Chronology

Report A chronological account of developments on Kashmir

World urged to save Kashmiris from Indian brutalities . . . . . 07 (173) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Victimisation of Aasiya Andrabi by Modi regime Beauty thy name is
denounced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Music of occupied Kashmir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Article Literature
Aasiya Andrabi - The Iron Lady of Kashmir The two thugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Muhammad Raza Malik. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Feedback
Pictorial
Images speak louder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Letters to Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK India and the Kashmiri people. It states that the
The people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir
Kashmir have been facing the worst kind of Indian either to India or Pakistan would be decided
state terrorism for resisting the illegal occupation of through a free and impartial plebiscite.
their soil for the past over 73 years. Unfortunately, The UN resolutions are binding for Pakistan and
the international community has not discharged its India. The two countries have an international
responsibilities regarding the settlement of the obligation to implement these resolutions and give
Kashmir dispute. Even the United Nations Security the Kashmiris the right to decide their destiny
Council, the most powerful forum of the world, has themselves. While Pakistan has always advocated
failed to implement its resolutions on Kashmir settlement of the Kashmir dispute through
passed several decades ago. implementation of these resolutions, India’s
India had illegally occupied the territory of Jammu intransigence has remained a big stumbling block
and Kashmir by landing its troops in Srinagar on 27 to achieve this objective. Narendra Modi-led
October in 1947, leading to the creation of the fascist Indian government’s action of 05 August
Kashmir dispute. The stiff resistance offered by 2019 regarding Jammu and Kashmir was also
resilient Kashmiris to its invasion, forced India to intended to make the UN resolutions on Kashmir
knock the door of the UNSC on 01 January 1948, obsolete. The demographic changes in IIOJK by
seeking its help to resolve the dispute. The World India are also designed to affect the results of the
Body in its successive resolutions called for plebiscite whenever held in the future in its favour.
settlement of the dispute in accordance with the will The UN must take cognisance of Modi regime’s
of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. A resolution nefarious designs in IIOJK. It should fulfill its
passed by the UNSC on 05 January 1949 is of obligations regarding settlement of the Kashmir
enormous importance as it acknowledges the dispute under its resolutions to mitigate the
disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir and admits sufferings of the Kashmiri people and ensure
three parties to the Kashmir dispute - Pakistan, permanent peace in South Asia.
I
ndia has been applying every brutal method to
continue its illegal hold on Jammu and Kashmir
and to suppress the Kashmiris’ struggle for
securing their inalienable right to self-determination
since 1947. Indian troops and police personnel
enjoying unbridled powers under draconian laws
like Disturbed Areas Act, Armed Forces Special
Powers Act, and Public Safety Act are committing
grave human rights violations - in fact war crimes -
in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to
intimidate the Kashmiris into submission. Killings,
extrajudicial executions, fake encounters, arrests,
abduction, torture, destruction of property, and
molestation of women by the Indian forces’
personnel have become an order of the day in IIOJK.
However, these brutalities have failed to subdue the
freedom sentiment
of the Kashmiri
people and they are
committed to take
their liberation
struggle to its logical
conclusion.
Indian troops in their
unabated acts of
state terrorism have
martyred 95,723
innocent Kashmiris
since 1989 when the people of IIOJK intensified their
freedom struggle. Of these persons, 7,155 have been
killed in custody and fake encounters. Many of these
killings were carried out by the troops for
promotions, gallantry awards and cash rewards. The
basic purpose of the killings being perpetrated by
Indian troops in IIOJK is to crush the Kashmiris’
legitimate freedom struggle and create a sense of fear
among the masses.
The killing of six innocent youth in fake encounters
in Shopian and Srinagar in the last six months once
again reminded the people of IIOJK the gory
incidents of Pathribal fake encounter of 2000 and
Machil fake encounter of 2010. The three youth killed
during a so-called cordon and search operation at
Amshipora in Shopian in July, last year, were
labourers from Rajouri area of Jammu and had come
to the Kashmir Valley in search of work. Even Indian
Army admitted that during the CASO its troops
exceeded the powers vested under AFSPA. The local
police in its charge-sheet in the incident maintained
that Indian Army Captain, Bhupinder Singh, hatched
the conspiracy to carry out the operation for reward
money of Rs 2 million.
Indian troops repeated the similar episode on
December 30 when they martyred three more
innocent youth in extrajudicial manner in Lawaypora
area of Srinagar. Indian Army’s claim that the killed
youth were militants was refuted by the police
investigation, which
revealed that there
was no FIR registered
against the victims.
Unfortunately, the
impunity given to the
Indian forces’
personnel under
draconian laws is
consuming the lives
of innocent Kashmiri
p e o p l e . T h e
deplorable aspect of the matter is that not a single
Indian soldier or policeman involved in such killings
has been punished till date. It now stands confirmed
that Indian Army as an institution is involved in
planning and executing fake encounters of Kashmiri
people.
The unabated killing of innocent Kashmiris by Indian
forces’ personnel in staged-encounters is a question
mark on the international institutions and justice
system. The world community must hold New Delhi
accountable for its state terrorism in IIOJK and initiate
measures to punish the Indian troops involved in war
crimes in the illegally occupied territory.
January 2021 02
 FAKE ENCOUNTERS PUT SPOTLIGHT
ON INDIA’S STATE TERRORISM IN IIOJK
Humayun Aziz Sandeela promotions, gallantry
awards and rewards.

I
ndian troops have been resorting to the worst kind On 18 July 2020, the Indian
of state terrorism in Indian illegally occupied Army claimed of killing
Jammu and Kashmir for the last over 73 years to three “militants” during a
punish the Kashmiris for resisting India’s illegal cordon and search
occupation of their homeland and demanding their operation in Amshipora
right to self-determination. Besides other atrocities, the troops are area of Shopian district. However,
carrying out fake encounters to create a sense of fear among the the killed youth later turned out to
people of the territory. The occurrence of fake encounters like be three labourers from Rajouri area
Pathribal, Machil, Shopian and now Srinagar, from time to time, has of Jammu region. The families of the
put a spotlight on the theatre of Indian state terrorism and the labourers, Abrar Gujjar, Imtiyaz
culture of impunity under which Indian forces’ personnel operate in Gujjar and Abrar Khan, said that
IIOJK. The troops have been committing such brutalities for they had left their homes on 16 July

January 2021 03
to find work in Kashmir Valley. The families came to
know about the killing of their kin several days later
when the pictures of the victims, released by the Indian
Army, appeared on social media. Later, the police in its
charge-sheet revealed that an Indian Army Captain
from 62 Rashtriya Rifles, Bhupinder Singh, and two of
his accomplices hatched the conspiracy to kill the youth
for grabing the cash reward of Rs 2 million. The police
statement issued on 27 December 2020 said that the
Army officer and his accomplices planted illegally
acquired weapons and material on the dead bodies of
the victims after stripping them of their identities and
tagged them as “militants in possession of war-like
stores”. The dead bodies of the slain labourers were
hurriedly buried in a remote area.
On 30 December 2020, the troops killed three more
youth in yet another fake encounter in Lawaypora area
of Srinagar. The families of the victims - Ather Mushtaq
Wani (16), Aijaz Maqbool Ganai (22) and Zubair
Ahmed Lone (25) - from Pulwama and Shopian
districts, protested in front of the police headquarters in
Srinagar, demanding justice in the brutal murder of
their sons. After public outrage, the police launched an
investigation into the incident and revealed that the
youth were innocent and there was no FIR registered
against any of them.
The human rights activists say that recurring grave
violations of human rights in IIOJK are due to the
impunity granted to Indian soldiers under draconian three cases are pending. No such figures are
law, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). They available for the cases before 2001.
also point out that incentives like cash awards, rewards
On the other hand, complete shutdown was
and promotions given to the soldiers for such acts also
observed in Shopian and Pulwama districts on 31
contribute to extrajudicial killings. Due to the AFSPA,
December against the killing of the youth by Indian
the local authorities need to seek permission from the
troops in Srinagar fake encounter. All shops and
Indian government before initiating a case against
business establishments remained closed while
Indian forces’ personnel involved in serious crimes.
traffic was off the roads in the two districts.
From 2001 to 2016, the authorities in IIOJK sought
permission from Indian goverment to prosecute Army Hurriyat leaders and organisations strongly
personnel in 50 cases. But New Delhi denied permission condemned the killing of the youth and appealed to
in 47 cases, claiming lack of evidence. The results for the the international community and human rights
organisations to take cognisance of the surge in
Indian state terrorism in IIOJK.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference spokesman in a
statement paying tributes to the Kashmiri martyrs
maintained that Modi-led fascist Indian govern-
ment will never succeed in suppressing the
Kashmiris’ ongoing freedom movement through
killings and mass arrests. He said that the Kashmiri
people were being killed and booked under false
charges to break their resolve for securing their right
to self-determination. However, he added that such
repressive measures cannot subdue Kashmiris’

January 2021 04
 said the revelations that weapons
were planted on the bodies of the
Kashmiri labourers martyred in a
staged gunbattle in IIOJK to make
it look as if they were armed
fighters are only a tip of the iceberg
of the Indian crimes against the
Kashmiri people. He pointed out
that more than 300 innocent
Kashmiris including women and
children have been martyred in
fake encounters and so-called
cordon and search operations
during the last one year.
The Spokesperson called upon the
freedom sentiment and they will continue their struggle till complete international community to take
success. He urged the international community to break its silence on India to task for its crimes against
mounting human rights violations and take action against India for the Kashmiri people and work for
blatantly violating international law in IIOJK. resolution of the Kashmir dispute
in accordance with the relevant
The Hurriyat forum led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a statement
UN Security Council resolutions
expressed deep sorrow and anguish over the killing of innocent youth.
and the wishes of the Kashmiri
It said that gruesome killings were heart-wrenching. The forum
people.
deplored that the dubious encounters, mostly involving the youth,
routinely take place in IIOJK as there is no accountability for the An anti-India protest demonstra-
perpetrators. tion was held under the auspices
of the All Parties Hurriyat
Other Hurriyat leaders and organisations including Ghulam
Conference Azad Jammu and
Muhammad Khan Sopori, Shabbir Ahmed Dar, Yasmeen Raja, Mir
Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter
Shahid Saleem, Javaid Ahmed Mir, Bilal Ahmed Siddiqui,
outside the National Press Club in
Muhammad Yousuf Naqash, Abdul Samad Inqilabi, Khawaja Firdous,
Islamabad against the killing
Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, Jammu and Kashmir
spree unleashed by Indian troops
National Front, Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-
Islami, Jammu and Kashmir Employees
Movement, and Jammu and Kashmir
Peoples Association in their statements
denounced in strong terms the cold-
blooded murder of youth in fake encoun-
ters by the Indian forces. They said that
India had turned IIOJK into a slaughter-
house where Indian troops were killing
innocent youth mercilessly for medals,
promotions and awards. They appealed to
the United Nations to take note of New
Delhi’s planned genocide in IIOJK.
Even Kolkata-based diplomat and
Chairman of Centre for Peace and Progress, O P Shah, in a letter to the in IIOJK.
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, expressed concern over the Speaking on the occasion, the
killing of three youth in Lawaypora area of Srinagar and called for an Hurriyat leaders said that India
independent inquiry into the fake encounter. was committing systematic
Meanwhile, Pakistan also reiterated its call for independent inquiry genocide of the Kashmiris to
under international scrutiny into the extrajudicial killing of innocent convert the Muslim majority of the
Kashmiri youth by Indian troops in IIOJK. territory into a minority. They
In a statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, said, India wants to change the

January 2021 05
demography of IIOJK by killing
innocent people and issuing
domicile certificates to non-
Kashmiris but the Kashmiri
people will not allow it to succeed
in its nefarious designs.
The International Forum for
Justice and Human Rights Jammu
and Kashmir held a protest
demonstration in front of press
club in Muzaffarabad to condemn
the killing of innocent youth by
Indian troops in IIOJK. The
protesters on the occasion chanted
slogans against India and in
favour of Kashmir’s freedom from
Indian occupation.
A US newspaper, ‘The Daily
Beast’, in its publication
mentioned Shopian and Srinagar
fake encounters and maintained
that there have been some fatal
missteps by Indian Army which
are just now coming to light.
Commenting on latest situation in
Indian illegally occupied Jammu
and Kashmir, the newspaper said
that ever since the BJP-led
government revoked the special
status of Kashmir, Indian authori-
ties have been trying their best to
crush the freedom movement in
the territory.
The killing of innocent Kashmiri
youth in fake encounters near the
Line of Control after arresting
them from different parts of the
illegally occupied territory has
been a decades-old practice of
Indian troops. The main aim
behind such actions has been to
malign the Kashmiris’ ongoing
freedom movement by portraying
the victims as ‘intruders’. The
Machil fake encounter, Pathribal
fake encounter and the extrajudi-
cial killings of youth leaders
including Burhan Wani and
Sabzar Ahmed Butt are glaring
examples of this wicked practice.
The troops had first arrested
Burhan Wani and Sabzar Ahmed
Butt and later killed them in
custody. Such extrajudicial
killings are also violation of
International Law and Geneva
Conventions under which even
the killing of a combatant after
taking him into custody is a
serious crime. It is the established
practice across the world that the
arrested persons are tried in court
of law and extrajudicial killings
are not justifiable under any law.
However, Indian forces are
grossly violating all such norms by
killing the dissenting Kashmiri
youth in fake and staged encoun-
ters.
The increasing incidents of fake
encounters and extrajudicial
killings in IIOJK should be a
matter of serious concern for the
world community, which must
hold India accountable for the war
crimes being committed by its
troops in the illegally occupied
territory. It must constitute a
Commission of Inquiry as
demanded by the Office of UN
High Commissioner for Human
Rights to punish the Indian troops
involved in grave human rights
violations to prevent reccurrence
of Shopian and Srinagar-like
incidents in IIOJK.
January 2021 06
 Aasif Ahmed Sheikh
Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir continued to reel under brutal (10), Aaqib Zahoor (16),
Insha Mushtaq (16),
Indian occupation even as the people observed World Human Rights Day on 10
Ulfat Hameed (17), Bilal
December 2020 across the globe.
Ahmed Butt (17), Tariq
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference and other Hurriyat leaders and organisations Ahmed Gojri (19) and
on the World Human Rights Day condemning the grave human rights violations Faizan Ashraf Tantray
by Indian troops in the territory urged the United Nations and international (19) lost their eyesight
human rights bodies to come for the rescue of the oppressed Kashmiris. completely due to the
A report released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service on the pellet injuries.
occasion said that the adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 The report pointed out
December 1948 was indeed a milestone but the Kashmiris’ human rights that 295 Kashmiris
continued to be violated with impunity. It said among 30 basic human rights including 7 women had
enlisted in the UDHR, not even one exists in IIOJK. been martyred, 27 of
them in fake encounters
or custody, since repeal
of special status of IIOJK
and imposition of
military siege by
Narendra Modi-led
fascist Indian govern-
ment on 05 August 2019
in the territory. It said
that the troops molested
94 women after barging
into the residential
houses in the period.
The report said that the
occupation authorities
did not allow people to
offer Friday prayers at
historical Jamia Masjid
in Srinagar and other
mosques, shrines and
WORLD URGED TO SAVE imambargahs of the
territory for months
KASHMIRIS FROM INDIAN together after 05 August
2019. It said that the
BRUTALITIES authorities also disal-
lowed the masses to hold
The report said that Indian occupational forces had been violating the UDHR in religious gatherings like
the occupied territory for the last over seven decades and mercilessly killing, Muharram and Eid
arresting, torturing and humiliating innocent Kashmiris of every age and gender Milad-un-Nabi (SAW)
for demanding their right to self-determination. processions during this
The report said out that Indian troops in their unabated acts of state terrorism had period.
martyred 95,728 innocent Kashmiris including 7,155 in custody since January 1989 The report said life
till 10 December 2020. It said that these killings rendered 22,924 women widowed remains badly affected
and 107,811 children orphaned. It said that the troops molested or disgraced 11,231 and economy adversely
women and damaged 110,375 residential houses and other structures. It main- hurt in IIOJK due to the
tained that Indian troops and police personnel subjected over 8,000 people to continued military siege
custodial disappearance in the period. and ban on 4G internet
The report said that thousands of young school boys and girls were also injured by service. It said Hurriyat
the pellets fired by the troops while dozens including 19-month-old Hibba Jan, leaders and activists

January 2021 07
including Muhammad Yasin
Malik, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai,
Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Masarrat
Aalam Butt, Aasiya Andrabi,
Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Fehmeeda
Sofi, Naheeda Nasreen, Altaf
Ahmed Shah, Ayaz Muhammad
Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Raja
Merajuddin Kalwal, Shahid-ul-
Islam, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Syed
Shahid Yousuf, Syed Shakeel
Yousuf, Ghulam Muhammad Butt,
and businessman, Zahoor Watali,
continue to remain in detention in
New Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail in
fake cases registered against them.
Thousands of people including
Hurriyat leaders and activists like
Jamaat-e-Islami chief, Dr Abdul
Hameed Fayaz, Advocate Zahid
Ali, Muhammad Yousuf Mir,
Muhammad Yousuf Falahi, silence of the international ment issued in Srinagar on the
Zahoor Ahmed, Muhammad Rafiq community over the continued World Human Rights Day said
Ganai, Zahoor Ahmed Butt, Mir human rights violations by Indian that Modi-led Indian government
Hafeezullah, Farooq Ahmed troops in the territory. They said had broken all records of atrocities
Tawheedi, Hayat Ahmed Butt, and that the Universal Declaration of in IIOJK. He said that the real face
journalist, Aasif Sultan, remain Human Rights adopted on 10 of India had been exposed to the
lodged in different jails of IIOJK December 1948 was meant to world and now the international
and India under black law, Public protect the rights of entire community should know that no
Safety Act, it added. humanity but the international minority is safe in India.
community was acting selectively, Expressing serious concern over
The report maintained that the
particularly in the case of Kashmir the grave human rights situation in
occupation authorities have kept
where Indian forces’ personnel IIOJK, he urged the world commu-
the veteran Hurriyat leader, Syed
had been involved in gross human nity to take cognisance of Indian
Ali Gilani, and Chairman of
rights violations, fake encounters, state terrorism in the territory.
Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz Umar
arrest of Hurriyat leaders and
Farooq, under house detention Other Hurriyat leaders and
youth under black laws and other
since long time and have not organisations including Ghulam
brutalities over the past 73 years.
allowed them to carry out their Muhammad Khan Sopori, Shabbir
political activities and even they The speakers urged the Indian Ahmed Dar, Yasmeen Raja, Javaid
have not been allowed to offer authorities to release all illegally Ahmed Mir, Bilal Siddiqui,
Friday prayers and address public detained Hurriyat leaders and Muhammad Yousuf Naqash,
meetings. activists languishing in different Jahangir Ghani Butt, Abdul Samad
jails of India and IIOJK. Inqilabi, Mir Shahid Saleem,
The report pointed out that this is
high time for the world commu- On the other hand, Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir National
nity to come forward in a big way leaders in their separate state- Front, Jammu and Kashmir
and impress upon India to stop its ments appealed to the United Employees Movement, and
state terrorism in IIOJK and give Nations and international human Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-Islami in
the Kashmiris their right to self- rights organisations to send their their statements demanded of
determination. teams to take stock of the worst India to end its military might
human rights situation in the policy and harassment in the
Meanwhile, the speakers at a
illegally occupied territory. territory. They said that during the
seminar organised by Jammu and
The APHC General Secretary, COVID-19 pandemic India
Kashmir Youth Social Forum
Molvi Bashir Ahmed, in a state- accelerated its cordon and search
(JKYSF) in Srinagar criticised the

January 2021 08
operations and continued its state
terrorism in the territory.
They said that the people of IIOJK
had been facing the worst atroci-
ties of Indian troops for the last
over seven decades in general and
since 1989 in particular. They said
that the unprecedented sacrifices
of the Kashmiri people would not
go waste but would bring positive
results soon.
Meanwhile, Hurriyat AJK leaders,
Muhammad Mustafa Khateeb,
Muhammad Farooq Rahmani and
Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, addressing
a press conference in Islamabad
said that India was committing
grave human rights violations in
IIOJK. They said that the United
Nations had unanimously
adopted the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights in 1948 in which
it was agreed that all countries in
the world, irrespective of religion,
nationality, colour and race, would
uphold human rights. However,
they said that despite the agree-
ment, India was committing
human rights abuses in IIOJK.
Meanwhile, speakers at an
International Parliamentary
Kashmir Conference organised by
Jammu and Kashmir Self-
Determination Movement
International in collaboration with
Youth Parliament Pakistan and
Institute of Regional Studies in
Islamabad deplored that human
rights violations by Indian troops
in IIOJK were increasing day-by-
day. They called upon the interna-
tional human rights bodies to
fulfill their responsibilities as the
situation in IIOJK has taken a very
serious turn, especially after 05
August 2019.
The conference was presided over
by JKSDMI Chairman Raja Najabat
Hussain while it was addressed by
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi, AJK President Sardar
Masood Khan, Parliamentary
Kashmir Committee Chairman
Shahryar Khan Afridi, Youth
Parliament Pakistan Chairman
Abrarul Haq and Executive
Director of Kashmir Media Service
Shaikh Tajammal-ul-Islam.
Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood
Qureshi, in his address urged the
world community, the United
Nations and Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation to play their
role in a just and peaceful resolu-
tion of the longstanding Kashmir
dispute. He also appealed to the
Muslim countries to use their
political influence and economic
clout to stop India from commit-
ting atrocities in IIOJK.
The Foreign Minister said that the
Kashmiris were continuously
being subjected to a brutal military
siege and inhuman restrictions.
Condemning the state-sponsored
terrorism and war crimes by
Indian occupational forces against
the people of IIOJK, he asked the
world powers to impress upon
India to adhere to its international
human rights obligations.
Counting on Pakistan’s efforts to
highlight the Kashmir dispute at
the international level, Shah
Mahmood Qureshi maintained
that through its successful foreign
January 2021 09
policy and narrative-building
efforts, Pakistan has successfully
countered Indian narrative on
terrorism and Kashmir.
Debbie Abrahams, James Daly,
Andrew Gavin, Afzal Khan, Paul
Bristow, Tony Lloyd, Sarah Owen,
Rachel Hopkins, Anthia McIntyre,
Shafiq Muhammad, Phil Bennion,
Asma Qadeer and Farhana Shafi in
their speeches said that they would
continue to raise their voice for the
basic rights of the Kashmiris at all
forums.
Minister for Information and
Broadcasting, Shibli Faraz, in a
tweet urged the world champions
of human rights to take notice of
the worst tyrannies being
committed against innocent
Kashmiris by Indian troops. impartial investigation of human Islamabad on the World Human
rights violations by its troops in Rights Day.
Foreign Office Spokesperson,
IIOJK and fully respect the human The protesters led by Abdul
Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, in a
rights and fundamental freedoms Hameed Lone and Syed Manzoor
statement said the World Human
of the Kashmiri people. Ahmed Shah chanted pro-freedom
Rights Day is an occasion to
reaffirm our resolve to respect and A protest demonstration organ- and anti-India slogans. They said
uphold human dignity and to ised by Friends of Kashmir that India had crossed all limits of
promote the human rights agenda International, Kashmir Forum human rights abuses in IIOJK by
without any distinction or France, Jammu and Kashmir resorting to frequent crackdowns,
discrimination. Ittehad-e-Islami and Jammu and raids, fake encounters and cordon
Kashmir Liberation Front and search operations in the
He said India must be asked to
(Haqeeqi) was held outside the territory. (KI Report)
accept a UN Commission of
Indian High Commission in
Inquiry for an independent and

January 2021 10

I (Kashmir Inisght Report)
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and
Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders and organisations
have strongly condemned the victimisation
of Dukhtaran-e-Millat Chairperson, Aasiya
Andrabi, for her active role in the ongoing
Kashmir freedom movement.
Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian govern-
ment has devised a plan to victimise Aasiya
Andrabi and keep her behind the bars for
whole life to punish her for opposing India’s
illegal occupation over Jammu and Kashmir.
The framing of charges against Aasiya
Andrabi and her two associates, Fehmeeda
Sofi and Naheeda Nasreen, under sedition
by a court in New Delhi is indicative of Modi
regime’s evil designs. In the court order,
Aasiya Andrabi has been charged with
waging war against India. The fact is that
India has been using its courts to punish
people like Aasiya Andrabi who have been
challenging India’s illegal occupation of their
motherland.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference
spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar
expressed serious concern over the plight of
thousands of Kashmiris, detained before and
after 05 August 2019 by Modi government
and demanded their unconditional release.
He said that bigoted Hindu jailers were
subjecting the Kashmiri prisoners including
Hurriyat leaders, activists and youth to
inhuman torture in Tihar, Jodhpur, Agra,
Haryana and other jails in India. He said that
the repressive measures against the
detainees were a serious violation of Geneva
Conventions on Prisoners Rights and urged
the United Nations and international human
rights bodies to impress upon India to
release the Kashmiri political detainees.
Other Hurriyat leaders and organisations
including Ghulam Muhammad Khan
Sopori, Shabbir Ahmed Dar, Bilal Ahmed
Siddiqui, Mir Shahid Saleem, Abdul Ahad
Parra, Yasmeen Raja, Farida Bahenji, Abdul
Samad Inqilabi, Jammu and Kashmir
National Front, Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-Islami,
Islamic Political Party, Jammu and Kashmir
Employees Movement and Jammu and
Kashmir Freedom Front in their statements
strongly denounced the continued illegal
detention of Aasiya Andrabi, and her
associates, Naheeda Nasreen and Fehmeeda
January 2021 11
Sofi, and demanded their release
from New Delhi’s Tihar Jail
without any further delay.
They said that the cases registered
against Aasiya Andrabi and her
associates were fabricated and
baseless and like other Kashmiri
Hurriyat leaders, they had been
kept in jail without a free and fair
trial. They deplored that the
Kashmiri detainees are being
subjected to physical and psycho-
logical torture and medical care is
being denied to them due to which
their health is deteriorating with
each passing day.
Meanwhile, a report released by Kashmir Media
Service said that the latest order by a Delhi-based
kangaroo court about framing of charges against
Aasiya Andrabi and her associates, Fehmeeda Sofi
and Naheeda Nasreen, under sedition reflected
Modi-led fascist Indian government’s nefarious
designs. The fact is that India has been using its
courts to punish people like Aasiya Andrabi who
have been challenging India’s illegal occupation of
their motherland, it said. “Aasiya Andrabi’s pro-
freedom activities have always unnerved Indian
authorities. Her husband Dr Muhammad Qasim
Fakhtoo has been accorded imprisonment till death
to break her will. However, being an iron lady of
Kashmir, Aasiya Andrabi has refused to submit to
India’s machinations, and she along with her
associates is bravely facing illegal detention in New
Delhi’s Tihar Jail despite suffering from multiple
ailments,” it added.
Pakistan Minister for
Human Rights, Dr
Shireen Mazari,
addressing a press
conference in
Islamabad along with
the family members of
Aasiya Andrabi
maintained that India
under the Modi
government has
increased the viola-
tions of international
human rights and
humanitarian laws.
She maintained that
under the Geneva
Convention IV, Article 49, it is
prohibited to transfer an indi-
vidual or group of protected
persons from the occupied
territory to the territory of the
occupying power… regardless of
their motive. She said India has
breached Article 49 multiple
times.
Shireen Mazari met with Aasiya’s
family upon their request. She
took note of the urgency of this
matter, which signifies serious
and continued human rights
violations by India in IIOJK.
The minister called upon the United Nations, interna-
tional human rights bodies including Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch, as well as
women organisations including the International
Women Caucuses to take action on this issue. She
pointed out that in complete violation of international
human rights and humanitarian law, India has
breached Article 49 multiple times by imprisoning Dr
Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo (the longest serving
political prisoner), Aasiya Andrabi, and other Kashmiri
leaders in different jails of IIOJK and India. This
includes the detention of Hurriyat leaders, Syed Ali
Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin
Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Ashraf
Sehrai, Masarrat Alam Butt and Dr Abdul Hameed
Fayyaz.
The press conference heard direct testimonies from
Aasiya’s family members also.
The Senate of
P a k i s t a n
unanimously
p a s s e d a
resolution in
favour of the
K a s h m i r i
l e a d e r s ,
Muhammad
Yasin Malik and
A a s i y a
Andrabi. The
Upper House of
the Parliament
s t r o n g l y
condemned the
Indian Army’s
atrocities on the
January 2021 12
Kashmiri leaders and denounced
the inhuman treatment meted out
to them in New Delhi’s infamous
Tihar Jail.
The Senate urged the international
community to take cognisance of
Indian atrocities on the incarcer-
ated Kashmiri leaders.
The resolution called for the
release of all Kashmiri detainees
and end to oppression and
violence against them, and for the
implementation of the UN
resolutions on Kashmir to give the
Kashmiris their right to self-
determination.
Pakistan also approached the UN
Secretary General in New York
and the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights in Geneva to
seek an immediate release of
Aasiya Andrabi.
According to a Foreign Office
statement, the top UN officials
have been informed that Aasiya
Andrabi’s life was in danger
owing to imminent risk of
persecutory conviction by a
kangaroo court in New Delhi.
“India’s blatant attempts to
portray the legitimate Kashmiri
struggle as “terrorism”, and to
prosecute its leaders through
concocted cases, is a clear violation
of the UN Charter, UN Security
Council and UN General
Assembly resolutions, and
international human rights and
humanitarian law,” it added.
Pakistan’s envoy to the European
Union, Belgium and Luxembourg,
Ambassador Zaheer A Janjua, in a
letter addressed to the chairs of the
political groups in the European
Parliament and EU Special
Representative for Human Rights
urged the EU to play its role to stop
imminent risk of conviction of
Aasiya Andrabi by a sham court in
India.
The Jammu and Kashmir Self-
Determination Movement
International (JKSDMI) wrote a
letter to the British government,
including UK Prime Minister,
Members of British Parliament,
and Members of European
Parliament, to draw their attention
towards the order of an Indian
court about framing of charges
against Aasiya Andrabi and other
Hurriyat leaders.
The letter, written by JKSDMI
Chairman, Raja Najabat Hussain,
asked for taking an immediate
action to prevent judicial victimi-
sation of Aasiya Andrabi.
The Independent Permanent
Human Rights Commission
(IPHRC) of the Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in a
statement issued in Jeddah
strongly condemned the illegal
detention of Aasiya Andrabi and
her two associates in an Indian jail.
The IPHRC said that the charges,
based on India’s controversial
Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act (UAPA), against Aasiya
Andrabi and her associates,
Fehmeeda Sofi and Naheeda
Nasreen, were concocted and
baseless.
The statement said, according to
media reports, Andrabi and her
associates, like other Kashmiri
political prisoners, are being held
without access to a free and fair
trial, subjected to physical and
psychological torture and denied
critical medical care, endangering
their lives in contravention of
international human rights and
humanitarian law.
President of Malaysian
Consultative Council of Islamic
Organisations, Muhammad Azmi
Abdul Hanid, in a statement
taking serious note of impending
sentencing of Aasiya Andrabi,
said since her detention in 1992
and incarceration for 15 years, the
Indian court had denied Aasiya
Andrabi a proper legal counselor.
Dubious charges under the
draconian laws on Andrabi, her
husband and her associates are an
affront to international standards
of criminal proceedings, the
Council added.
“The possibility of her being
sentenced to death by the Indian
court is imminent. The interna-
tional community must not
remain silent on the fate of the
victims of Indian ruthless oppres-
sion,” the Council said.
It said that India had no right to
abrogate Kashmir’s special status
and it must refer to the UNSC
resolutions for a plebiscite to be
conducted for the people of
Kashmir to decide their future by
themselves.
January 2021 13
 AASIYA ANDRABI - THE IRON LADY
OF KASHMIR
Muhammad Raza Malik
A
Delhi court
recently ordered
framing of
charges against
the Dukhtaran-
e-Millat chief and Iron Lady of
Indian illegally occupied
Jammu and Kashmir, Aasiya
Andrabi, and her two associates.
They have been booked under
the charges of waging war
against India, sedition and
conspiracy to commit acts of
militancy in India. Special Judge
Parveen Singh ordered putting
Aasiya Andrabi and her
associates - Fehmeeda Sofi and
Naheeda Nasreen - on trial for
different offences punishable
under various sections of Indian
Penal Code (IPC) and stringent
Unlawful Activities (Preven-
tion) Act (UAPA). The three
Kashmiri women leaders were
arrested in April 2018 and
remain lodged in New Delhi’s
infamous Tihar Jail till now. Shahid-ul-Islam. They have been
lodged in New Delhi’s infamous
It is unfortunate that after failing to
Tihar Jail without the basic facilities
suppress the Kashmiris’ just
including medical care and
struggle for securing their inalien-
hygienic food even during the
able right to self-determination
times of coronavirus pandemic,
through the worst kind of state
putting their lives at great risk.
terrorism during the last over
Most of the illegally detained
seven decades, India is now using
Hurriyat leaders were already
its investigating agencies like
suffering from various ailments
National Investigation Agency
and the continued illegal detention
(NIA) and Enforcement
has badly affected their health. It is
Directorate (ED) as well as judi-
a fact that India is using its courts to
ciary as tools to intimidate the
punish people like Aasiya Andrabi
Kashmiris into submission. During
who are challenging India’s illegal
the last four years, the NIA and ED
occupation of their motherland.
have arrested several Hurriyat
They are not presented before the
leaders and activists including
courts on the dates of hearing of
Aasiya Andrabi, Muhammad
their cases and if their cases come
Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah,
up for hearing, the courts put the
Masarrat Aalam Butt, Nayeem
next hearing on the dates falling
Ahmed Khan, Fehmeeda Sofi,
after months.
Naheeda Nasreen, Altaf Ahmed
Shah, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Aasiya Andrabi is a popular leader,
Merajuddin Kalwal, Peer Saifullah, who has been playing an important
Ayaz Muhammad Akbar and role in the ongoing Kashmir
January 2021 14
freedom movement. Her pro-
freedom activities have always
unnerved the Indian authorities,
who have resorted to political
vengeance to punish her and her
family. She has spent many years
in jails of IIOJK and India for her
stance on the Kashmir dispute.
Aasiya Andrabi was arrested by
the Indian police in 1993 for her
pro-freedom activities and was
released in 1994. She faced months
of arrest in 2007 to 2009. She was
again arrested during the 2010
mass uprising and was kept under
illegal detention for two consecu-
tive years.
Aasiya Andrabi loves Pakistan to
an optimum level and considers
Kashmir and Pakistan a single
entity. She is a strong advocate of
Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan.
Every year, she celebrated
Pakistan Day on 23 March and
Pakistan’s Independence Day on
14 August. In these events, the
proceedings used to start by
singing the national anthem of
Pakistan. She hoisted the Pakistan
flag and sang the Pakistani
national anthem in IIOJK on 23
March 2015 and for this a case was
registered against her. Last time,
Aasiya Andrabi was arrested
along with her associates
Naheeda Nasreen and Fehmeeda
Sofi by the NIA in April 2018 on
the charges of waging war against
India. On 06 July 2018, they were
shifted from a Srinagar jail to New
Delhi by the NIA.
The Indian authorities have also
kept Aasiya Andrabi’s husband,
Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo,
behind the bars for the past over
27 years and the actual objective is
to break her resolve. Dr
Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo was
first arrested in 1993 under
draconian law, Public Safety Act
(PSA). After six years of imprison-
ment, a TADA court acquitted
him of all the charges due to lack
of evidence but police arrested
him again at Delhi Airport in 2002
when he was returning from
London where he had participated
in a conference on Kashmir. In
2003, Dr Fakhtoo was sentenced to
life imprisonment by Indian
Supreme Court in a fake murder
case. He challenged his detention
and the court directed the Indian
government to review his case. A
Review Board constituted by the
authorities in 2008 and comprising
the then DGP Prisons and
Principal District and Sessions
Judge, Srinagar, Hasnain Massodi,
recommended release of Dr
Fakhtoo but the CID opposed the
recommendation. However, Dr
Fakhtoo challenged his detention
in the High Court seeking direc-
tions as per the review board’s
recommendations. The High
Court quashed the impugned
order and directed the authorities
to consider the case on the basis of
the Jammu and Kashmir Jail
Manual. However, since then, the
fate of his release continues to
hang in balance. A scholar and
author of many books and a
favourite Hurriyat leader of the
Kashmiris, Dr Fakhtoo has been
accorded imprisonment till death
to break his resolve and punish
Aasiya Andrabi.
India has planned to victimise
Aasiya Andrabi and keep her
behind the bars for her whole life.
The latest order by a Delhi-based
kangaroo court about framing of
charges against Andrabi and her
associates Fehmeeda Sofi and
Naheeda Nasreen under sedition
is indicative of Modi-led fascist
Indian government’s evil designs.
However, it is a fact that being the
Iron Lady of Kashmir, Aasiya
Andrabi has refused to submit to
India’s machinations, and she is
facing the illegal detention in
Tihar Jail with great courage
despite suffering from multiple
ailments.
The victimisation of Kashmiri
Hurriyat leaders like Aasiya
Andrabi must be a matter of
serious concern for the interna-
tional community and human
rights organisations. They must
come forward in a big way and
impress upon India to immediately
release all illegally detained
Kashmiri political prisoners.
(The writer is a Senior News Editor at
Kashmir Media Service and can be
reached at razamalik849@yahoo.com)
January 2021 15
January 2021 13
 INDIAN ATROCITIES ON KASHMIRIS

DURING DECEMBER 2020

Raies Ahmed Mir

The people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and

Kashmir, particularly the residents of Kashmir
Valley, have suffered immensely due to continued
strict military siege since 05 August 2019. The BJP-
led Indian government, which is follower of
Hindutva ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS), never ever obscured its evil designs
against the people of IIOJK and the minorities in
India, particularly Muslims. History is evident of
the fact that communal violence in India and
Indian atrocities on the Kashmiris escalated since
Narendra Modi came into power way back in 2014.
The Modi regime’s brutal actions in IIOJK have
evoked widespread criticism. Even the Members
of British Parliament recently condemned the use
of brute force by Indian troops and police in IIOJK
and urged the India government to respect the
freedom of expression and opinion and freedom to
peaceful assembly in the territory. The UK MPs
also asked New Delhi to lift all restrictions in the
illegally occupied territory and allow a team from
the British High Commission in Delhi to visit IIOJK
for a first-hand assessment of the situation.
Meanwhile, the international watchdog, Human
Rights Watch also denounced Narendra Modi-led
Indian government for intensifying repression in
IIOJK, targeting Muslims in India and harassing,
arresting and prosecuting activists, journalists, and
other critics. It said that the Indian government
continued to impose harsh and discriminatory
restrictions in IIOJK since revoking special status
of the territory in August 2019.
Following is a day-to-day account of Indian
atrocities on the people of IIOJK during December
2020.
December 02: An Indian soldier molested a 36-
year-old woman in Uri area of Baramulla
district.
December 06: A civilian, Muneer Ahmed, was
injured when Indian police personnel resorted to
indiscriminate firing after an attack on them by
unidentified gunmen in Sazgarpora area of
Srinagar .
December 07: Indian troops shot at and injured a
25-year-old civilian, Showkat Ahmed Butt, in
Narbal area on Srinagar-Baramulla-Gulmarg
Road.
Indian police arrested three youth, Reyaz Ahmed
Rathar, Shabbir Ahmed Gojri and Muhammad
Ayub Pathan, from Shakarpur area of New Delhi.
December 08: The occupation authorities placed
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President,

January 2021 18
Mehbooba Mufti, under house arrest at her
Gupkar residence in Srinagar to prevent her from
visiting Budgam district and meet the nomad
families whose sheds and other structures were
destroyed by the occupation authorities.
December 09: A vehicle carrying Indian troops of
Sashastra Seema Bal crushed a 64-year-old
civilian, Muhammad Amin Shah, to death in
Malpora area of Kulgam district.
Indian troops killed three youth, Meraaj-ud-Din
Lone, Umar Ali, Umar Farooq and critically
injured another, Zameer Sadiq Lone, during a Ahmed Mir, at Karnah Police Station in Kupwara
cordon and search operation in Tiken area of district.
Pulwama district. December 13: Indian troops killed two youth and
Indian police arrested a youth, Tariq Ahmed Butt, arrested another during a cordon and search
during checking at a check post in Budgam. operation in Poshana area of Poonch district.
December 10: The police beat up three journalists, December 14: Indian police arrested senior
Mudassir Qadri, Fayaz Lolu and Junaid Lolu, in Hurriyat leader, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, after raiding
Srigufwara area of his residence in
Islamabad district. Batamaloo area of
The police arrested Srinagar.
several people December 15: The
including Advocate police arrested two
Gowhar Ahmed Wani youth in Wavoora
and Irshad Ahmed Lolab area of Kupwara
Reshi during cordon, district.
search operations and December 16: The
house raids in Shopian, police arrested a youth,
Tral and Budgam areas. Mudassir Ahmed, at
December 11: A Malikpora in
woman, Fatima Rasool Pulwama.
Rathar, was injured December 17: Indian
after being hit by a troops shot at and
bullet fired by Indian troops from old air field in arrested a youth, Zaheer Abbas Lone, in an
Budgam district. injured condition in Gund Baba Sangam area of
An Indian policeman thrashed the principal of a Islamabad district.
government higher secondary school, Rizwan Indian police arrested an employee of
Government Animal Husbandry Department in
Rajouri.
December 18: Zaheer Abbas Lone, who was fired
upon and injured by Indian troops at Gund Baba
Sangam in Islamabad district the other day,
succumbed to his injuries at Shri Maharaja Hari
Singh Hospital in Srinagar.
December 19: An 8-year-old girl, Muddabirah,
was critically injured after she was deliberately hit
by an Indian Army vehicle at Bumhama in
Kupwara district.
December 21: Indian police arrested over 150

January 2021 19
people including Hurriyat
leaders and activists, Ghulam
Ahmed Gulzar, Molvi Bashir
Ahmed, Abdul Rasheed Lone,
Muhammad Yasin Butt, Farooq
Ahmed Khaki, Muhammad
Amin Butt, Imtiyaz Ahmed
Taploo, Sajjad Ahmed Malla,
Aasif Latief, Wajid Fayaz Sofi,
Nayeem Ahmed Hajam, Shakeel
Ahmed Bakhshi, Javaid Ahmed
Mir and PDP leaders, Sartaj
Madni, Peerzada Mansoor
Hussain, Nayeem Akhtar and
Bashir Ahmed, in Srinagar,
Islamabad, Pulwama and other
areas of the illegaly occupied
territory.
December 22: The police
arrested several youth including
Aamir Ahmed Mir and Yawar
Ahmed Wagay during cordon
and search operations in Kulgam
and Shopian areas.
December 23: Indian police
arrested several persons
including Aijaz Ahmed Butt,
Umar Jabar Dar, Suhail Ahmed
Butt, Sameer Ahmed Lone,
Muhammad Amin Khan and
Rafiq Ahmed Khan in
Awantipora area of Pulwama.
December 24: Indian troops
killed prominent footballer,
Amir Siraj, and Abrar Langoo
during a cordon and search
operation at
Wanigam Payeen
in Keeri area of
B a r a m u l l a
district.
Indian police
arrested six youth
including Yawar
Aziz Dar, Sajjad
Ahmed Parray,
Abid Majeed and
Showkat Ahmed
D a r i n
Awantipora, Dadsara and December 26: Indian troops
Larmoh areas of Pulwama killed two youth, Aasif Ahmed
district. Lone and Owais Farooq, and
December 25: Indian troops destroyed several houses during
thrashed three journalists, Suhail a cordon and search operation in
Kanigam area of Shopian district.
Over a dozen people were
injured after Indian troops and
police personnel used brute force
on protesters in Shopian district
and at Nagrota in Jammu.
December 27: Indian police
arrested nine youth including
Mustafa Iqbal Khan, Murtaza
Iqbal, Muhammad Yasin, Rayees
Ahmed, Altaf Hussain, Shabbir
Khan, Aashiq Mir and Mudassir Ahmed Butt, Jamshed Magray
Malla, and damaged their and Zahid Dar in Budgam,
equipment including cameras
Poonch and Rajouri areas.
when they were covering a December 28: The police
function organised by Indian
arrested a youth, Muhammad
Army in Baramulla town.
Ashraf, near Bagh-e-Bahu in
Indian police arrested three
Jammu.
youth,
December 29: The police
A m i r
arrested a youth, Aasif Gull, near
Ashraf
Jhelum Stadium on Baramulla-
K h a n ,
Rayees Handwara Highway.
December 30: Indian troops
Ahmed
killed three youth, Aijaz
Dar and
Sabzar Maqbool Ganai, Athar Mushtaq
Ahmed Wani and Zubair Ahmed, in a
Shaikh, in fake encounter and damaged a
Tral and house in Lawaypora area of
Jammu. Srinagar city.
January 2021 20
K
ashmiris on both sides of the Line of the grant of right to self-
Control and the world over observed the determination to the Kashmiri
Right to Self-Determination Day on 05 people like it ensured it in East
January 2021 with the pledge that they Timor and Southern Sudan. He
will continue the struggle for settlement pointed out that any illegal and
of the Kashmir dispute through a free and fair plebi- (KI Report) immoral action by India cannot
scite under the auspices of the United Nations till affect these resolutions. He said
complete success. that the silence maintained by
On 05 January in 1949, the United Nations Security the World Body over the suffer-
Council passed a resolution acknowledging the ings of the Kashmiri people was
Kashmiris’ right to decide their future by themselves deplorable.
through a UN-sponsored plebiscite. Molvi Bashir Ahmed maintained
The day was marked by various activities including that Indian atrocities were going
anti-India rallies and demonstrations in Azad on in IIOJK and Kashmiri people
Kashmir, Pakistan and across the world to remind the were sacrificing their lives but
UN to save the Kashmiris from the Indian brutalities the international community
by settling the Kashmir dispute through implementa- seemed helpless before India. He
tion of its resolutions on Kashmir. urged the UN to hold a refer-
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference and other endum in Jammu and Kashmir
Hurriyat leaders and organisations in their state- as per the resolutions of the
ments urged the UN to save South Asia from an Security Council.
impending catastrophe by settling the Kashmir Other Hurriyat leaders and
dispute as per its resolutions and aspirations of the organisations including Ghulam
Kashmiri people. Muhammad Khan Sopori,
The APHC General Secretary, Molvi Bashir Ahmed, in Shabbir Ahmed Dar, Bilal
a statement in Srinagar said that the UN must ensure Ahmed Siddiqui, Mir Shahid

January 2021 21
Saleem, Abdul Ahad Parra,
Yasmeen Raja, Farida Bahenji,
Zamruda Habib, Jammu and
Kashmir National Front, Jammu
and Kashmir Freedom Front,
T e h r e e k - e - Wa h d a t - e - I s l a m i ,
Islamic Political Party and
Jammu and Kashmir Employees
Movement in their statements
called upon the UN to fulfill its
obligations regarding settlement
of the Kashmir dispute to save the
Kashmiris from Indian state
terrorism.
Meanwhile, Pakistan President,
Dr Arif Alvi, and Prime Minister,
United Nations Security Council, of the imperative
Imran Khan, in their messages on the
of honouring its commitment in this regard.
Kashmiris’ Right to Self-Determination
He said that being a direct party to the Jammu and
Day urged the UN to grant the people of
Kashmir dispute, Pakistan would continue to
Jammu and Kashmir the right to self-
underscore the imperative of holding a free and
determination it promised in its resolu-
impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices in
tions several decades ago.
accordance with the resolutions of the United
President Dr Arif Alvi in his message
Nations Security Council.
maintained that the negation of the right
Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi,
to self-determination is the negation of
speaking in the Senate urged India to allow the UN
human freedom, Universal Declaration
to investigate the crimes against humanity being
of Human Rights, and UN Human Rights
perpetrated by Indian troops in IIOJK. He said
Covenants.
that the international community must continue
He said that since 05 August 2019
its support for the fundamental freedoms and
through continuous illegal and unilateral
basic human rights of Kashmiris.
steps, the Indian government had
The Senate of Pakistan unanimously passed a
created an environment of fear and chaos
resolution condemning the grave human rights
in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and
violations by Indian troops in IIOJK.
Kashmir. More than 500 days of military
siege and draconian restrictions on The resolution moved by opposition leader, Raja
fundamental freedoms and rights Zafarul Haq, demanded immediate release of
including the right to life and health amid Kashmiri Hurriyat leader, Aasiya Andrabi, who is
the COVID-19 pandemic have challenged illegally detained in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
the conscience of the international The APHC-AJK chapter organised an anti-India
community and India’s credentials of protest demonstration outside the UN Observer’s
being a respectable member of the comity Office in Islamabad on the occasion of the Right to
of nations, he said. Self-Determination Day. Apart from Hurriyat
The President said the Indian actions leaders, a large number of Kashmiris and
have been rejected by the international Pakistanis living in Islamabad and Rawalpindi
community, the United Nations, and participated in the protest.
international human rights organisa- The demonstrators held banners and placards
tions. with slogans like “Let the United Nations imple-
Prime Minister, Imran Khan, while ment its resolutions on Kashmir” and “Give
reiterating Pakistan’s strong and stead- Kashmiris their birthright, right to self-
fast support for the people of Indian determination”.
illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir The participants of the demonstration also
till realisation of their inalienable right to chanted anti-India slogans. At the end of the
self-deter mination, reminded the event, a memorandum was presented at the UN
international community, especially the office demanding that a referendum be held in

January 2021 22
Jammu and Kashmir as per the
UNSC resolution passed on 05
January 1949.
Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu
and Kashmir organised a rally
in Muzaffarabad. The rally was
attended by hundreds of people
belonging to different walks of
life. The protesters while
raising anti-India and pro-
freedom slogans marched from
Burhan Wani Shaheed Chowk
to the UN Observer’s Office and
presented a memorandum
demanding the right to self-
determination for the people of
Jammu and Kashmir. The rally
was led by Pasban-e-Hurriyat
Chairman, Uzair Ahmed
Ghazali.
An exhibition of rare pictures
was held in Islamabad’s mega
shopping mall to mark the
72nd anniversary of the UN
resolution on Kashmir plebi-
scite.
The exhibition contained rare
photos from the UN Library in
New York City that depicted the
early years of international
diplomacy on Kashmir. The
exhibition was organised by
Youth Forum for Kashmir (YFK)
- International Kashmir Lobby
Group and INGO working with
the international community
on conflict resolution and
human rights.
One of the rare pictures in the
exhibition showed a Kashmiri
official giving the UN Secretary
General a flag of Azad Jammu
and Kashmir, with signatures
from Kashmiris requesting
international help in liberating
the territory under Indian
military occupation.
Speakers at a seminar hosted
by Kashmir Institute of
International Relations (KIIR)
in Islamabad made a
passionate appeal to the UN
Security Council to implement
its resolutions that guaranteed
right to self-determination to
the people of Jammu and
Kashmir.
The seminar titled “Denial of
Right to Self-Determination &
BJP’s Hindu Conquest of
Kashmir” was attended and
addressed by prominent rights
activists, academicians, former
diplomats, law experts and
Kashmiri leaders hailing from
both sides of the Line of Control
(LoC). While highlighting the
dangerous dimensions of the
Kashmir dispute, the speakers
said that India’s denial to give
the Kashmiris their promised
right was not only a violation of
the UN resolutions but was
also a negation of the UN’s
decolonisation agenda that
paved a way for successful
culmination of freedom
struggles in many parts of the
world, including Asia. The
same principle, they said, was
applied for the resolution of the
Kashmir dispute when it was
brought into the notice of the
UN in 1948 by India after
occupying a major portion of
Jammu and Kashmir.
The speakers included
January 2021 23
 people of IIOJK are on
the brink of genocide.
Kashmiri representa-
tives, Barrister Abdul
Majeed Tramboo and
Professor Nazir Ahmed
Shawl, in a statement
issued from London
urged the UN to imple-
ment its resolutions on
Jammu and Kashmir.
They said the deterio-
rating situation in
IIOJK requir es an
international initiative
o n K a s h m i r. T h e y
maintained that the UN
needed to launch its
preventive diplomacy to
Chairman Parliamentary bring to an end the massive human rights violations by Indian
Kashmir Committee Shaharyar troops in the illegally occupied territory as the Kashmiris’
Khan Afridi, MNA Ms Noureen demand was the exercise of their right to self-determination.
Farooq Abrahim Khan, JI
leader Abdul Rashid Turabi,
Pakistan Peoples Party AJK
President Chaudhry Lateef
Akbar, Syed Muhammad Ali,
Prof Dr Muhammad Khan, Dr
Owais Wasi, Dr Qaisar Raja,
Syed Faiz Naqashbandi,
Mahmood Ahmed Saghar, Altaf
Hussain Wani and Advocate
Parvez Shah.
The World Kashmir Awareness
Forum (WKAF) led by Dr
Ghulam Nabi Fai in a state-
ment issued in Washington DC
maintained that on 05 January
1949, the United Nations
Commission on India and
Pakistan (UNCIP) affirmed
Kashmiris’ right to self-
determination through a free
and fair plebiscite but more
than seven decades later,
India’s brutal military occupa-
tion has continuously denied
the Kashmiris this right.
It said today, the situation in
IIOJK is existential. It said,
with around 100,000 civilian
deaths, 10,000 custodial
disappearances and civic,
political and economic life
critically suppressed, the

January 2021 24
 added.
The report pointed out that since the
military siege imposed by Narendra
Modi-led fascist Indian government
on 05 August 2019, Indian troops
martyred 305 Kashmiris. It said that
most of the victims were killed by the
troops in fake encounters, custody
and in extra-judicial manner during
cordon and search operations in the
length and breadth of the territory.
The troops damaged 985 houses and
structures and molested or disgraced
96 women and arrested 14,417
persons in the period, it added.
The report pointed out that as the

INDIAN TROOPS entire IIOJK has been turned into an

open-air prison, thousands of
Kashmiris including Hurriyat
MARTYRED 263 leaders and activists like
Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir
KASHMIRIS IN 2020 Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Ashraf
Sehrai, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Aasiya
Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen,

I
n Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, marred by Fehmeeda Sofi, Nayeem Ahmed
killings, crackdowns, arrests, anti-India demonstrations and Khan, Ayaz Muhammad Akbar,
prolonged military siege, the year 2020 happened to be the Altaf Ahmed Shah, Peer Saifullah,
most brutal and agonising for the oppressed people of the Merajuddin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmed
territory. Dar, Dr Abdul Hameed Fayyaz,
A report released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service on 31 Advocate Zahid Ali, Farooq Ahmed
December 2020 revealed that Indian troops in their unabated acts of state Tawheedi, Dr Muhammad Qasim
terrorism martyred 263 innocent Kashmiris including 5 women and 11 Fakhtoo and Dr Muhammad Shafi
teenagers during the year. It said that 28 of the martyrs were killed in fake Shariati as well as journalist, Aasif
encounters or custody. It maintained that most of
the martyrs were highly qualified youth. The
killings rendered 13 women widowed and 29
children orphaned while 58 women were
molested by the men in uniform, it added.
The report pointed out that the Indian forces’
personnel destroyed 927 residential houses and
structures during the year. It said that as many as
777 persons were injured due to the use of brute
force on protesters and 2,958 people including
Hurriyat activists, students and young boys were
arrested during house raids and crackdowns by
Indian troops and police personnel.
Sultan, remained lodged in different
The report said that the troops martyred 14 Kashmiris including 5 in fake
jails of IIOJK and India. It added that
encounters or in custody in the month of December in 2020 alone. It said
senior Hurriyat leaders, Syed Ali
that during the month, 48 people were critically injured due to the use of
Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,
brute force on peaceful demonstrators by Indian military, paramilitary
continued to remain under house
and police personnel in the territory. The report maintained that at least
arrest in Srinagar. It said that at least
198 civilians, mostly youth and political activists, were arrested. The
2,000 people had been detained
troops also molested 2 women after barging into residential houses and
under black law, Public Safety Act
damaged 9 houses during cordon and search operations in the month, it

January 2021 25
(PSA). The continued ban on high-
speed internet deprived the
Kashmiris of useful local and world
information regarding education
and business amid the coronavirus
pandemic, it added.
The report pointed out that
Narendra Modi-led fascist regime
is engaged in changing the Muslim
majority status of the illegally
occupied territory. For this
purpose, it has granted domicile
certificates to thousands of Indians,
it said. The report said that Indian
plan to change IIOJK’s demog-
raphy was aimed at affecting the
results in New Delhi’s favour if a
plebiscite was held in Jammu and
Kashmir in the future. It said the He said Pakistan reiterates its call for a UN Commission of Inquiry as
Kashmiris are committed to resist recommended by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
India’s nefarious designs to change Rights (OHCHR) in its two reports in 2018 and 2019. “The Commission
the demographic composition of should thoroughly investigate the Indian crimes against the Kashmiri people
the territory. It deplored that press during the past three decades,” he said.
freedom is under a constant threat The Spokesperson expressed Pakistan’s deep concern over the health
in IIOJK where journalists are condition and continued illegal detention of Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders
detained and harassed on a daily including Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad
basis. Ashraf Sehrai, Aasiya Andrabi and Masarrat Aalam Butt, and house arrest of
The report further said that 10,842 Syed Ali Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. He recalled that Pakistan had
people were injured due to the use written to the UN Secretary General and the UN Commissioner for Human
of pellets by Indian troops since Rights, highlighting the inhuman and illegal treatment meted out to the
July 2016 till the end of 2020 and Kashmiri detainees, particularly Aasiya Andrabi.
over 140 of them lost eyesight in Zahid Chaudhri maintained that the Indian government with its illegal and
both the eyes and 210 in one eye inhuman actions had failed and will continue to fail in breaking the will of the
while vision of over 2,500 victims Kashmiri people. He said the brutalisation of innocent Kashmiris at the hands
was damaged partially. of Indian occupational troops will only further strengthen their resolve for
It also pointed out that Indian freedom from illegal Indian occupation.
troops had martyred 95,723 I wish to reassure our Kashmiri brothers and sisters that they are not alone in
Kashmiris including 7,155 in fake their rightful struggle and Pakistan will continue to stand with them till the
encounters and custody in the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination, he said.
territory since January 1989. These
The Spokesperson said that to divert attention from its internal failures and
killings rendered 22,922 women
the situation in IIOJK, India continued to escalate tensions along the Line of
widowed and 107,807 children
Control. He said that during 2020 alone, Indian occupational troops
orphaned, it added.
committed 3,097 ceasefire violations, deliberately targeting the civilian
Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign
populated areas. In these unprovoked Indian violations, 28 innocent civilians
Office Spokesperson, Zahid Hafeez
embraced shahadat (martyrdom) while 257 sustained serious injuries.
Chaudhri, in a press briefing in
Islamabad said that the military Zahid Chaudhri said India’s nefarious designs were posing a great threat to
siege, communications blockade, regional peace and security. He mentioned that to expose India as a state
media blackout, incarceration of sponsor of terrorism, Pakistan released a dossier providing irrefutable
Kashmiri leadership, and violation evidence of Indian active planning, financing and execution of terrorist
of human rights of the Kashmiri activities in the country. He said the publication of the recent report by EU
people continued since India’s Disinfo Lab about India’s global disinformation campaign against Pakistan
illegal and inhuman actions of 05 further corroborated the latter’s position about Indian evil designs.
August 2019. (KI Report)

January 2021 26
 June 20:
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the authorities
resort to restrictions, detentions and house arrests to thwart a march
towards Municipal Park in Srinagar. Call for the march is given by
the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Chairman, Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq, to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of his party,
Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee. The march cannot

A CHRONOLOGICAL be held as the puppet authorities impose restrictions in different

areas of Srinagar, deploying Indian troops and police personnel in
strength.
ACCOUNT OF The authorities place Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other Hurriyat
leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Professor Abdul Ghani Butt,

DEVELOPMENTS Maulana Abbas Ansari, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi,

Shabbir Ahmed Shah and Nayeem Ahmed Khan under house arrest
and even disallow them to offer Juma prayers. Indian police arrest
ON KASHMIR Zafar Akbar Butt, Syed Bashir Andrabi, Hakeem Abdul Rasheed,
Ghulam Nabi Zaki and several other Hurriyat leaders and activists
from various places and lodge them in different police stations of
(173) the territory.
Indian police personnel raid the residence of the Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, in
Srinagar to arrest him but fail in their attempt as they don’t find him
at his home.
Speakers at an event titled ‘Empowering Women in Conflict Zones’
held on the sidelines of the 26th Session of the UN Human Rights

(Year 2014) Council in Geneva say that women are the worst sufferers of India’s
continued illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. The speakers
include Kashmiri representatives, Altaf Hussain Wani, Ahmed

January 2021 27
Quraishi and Mrs Shamim Shawl, as
well as Princess Machilin Makaou
Djouma, Professor Alfred de Zayas
and Ismael Bari Bari.
The authorities of IIOJK constitute a
fresh judicial commission to probe
the killings during the mass uprising
in 2010 asking it to submit its report
within three months. The authorities
approve the setting up of a one-man
commission comprising Justice
(retd), M L Koul, with a mandate to
enquire into the circumstances that
led to deaths by Indian troops and
police personnel through firing or
otherwise in different districts of the
illegally occupied territory in 2010.
June 21:
Complete shutdown is observed in
Tral, Awantipora and adjoining
areas in Pulwama district against the
killing of three youth by Indian
troops. Shops and business estab-
lishments remain closed while
traffic remains off the road.
Hurriyat leader, Muhammad
Ashraf Sehrai, addressing gather-
ings of mourners in the native
villages of the martyred youth while
paying tributes to them says that
India cannot hold Jammu and
Kashmir through its military might
for long and the Kashmiris will get
freedom from its subjugation soon.
He says that Kashmiri martyrs’
sacrifices will not be allowed to go
waste.
Indian police arrest senior APHC
leader, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, and
his associates at Pantha Chhoke in
Srinagar while they are on their way
to Tral to express solidarity with the
families of the martyred youth.
Hurriyat leaders including
Muhammad Yousuf Naqash,
Wajahat Qureshi and Muhammad
Iqbal Mir visit the area and condole
with the bereaved families.
Speakers at a
seminar in
Srinagar
e x p r e s s
concern over
gross human
r i g h t s
violations
committed by
Indian troops
and police
personnel in
the illegally occupied territory. The
seminar is organised by a Delhi-
based human rights organisation
and the speakers include
Muhammad Ahsan Untoo,
Zamruda Habib, Ghulam Nabi
Shaheen, Justice (retd) Bilal Nazki,
Parveena Ahangar, Colin
Gonsalves, Zahir-ud-Din and
Anuradha Bhasin.
The APHC Chairman Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq, in an interview in
Srinagar castigates the puppet
authorities for imposing restrictions
and arresting Hurriyat leaders, the
other day, to prevent his party
Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action
Committee from celebrating its
golden jubilee.
People stage forceful protests at
Shangus in Kulgam after the
discovery of bullet-riddled body of a
youth. Indian police personnel use
brute force to disperse the protest-
ers. Complete shutdown is observed
in Kulgam town against the killing.
In Geneva, speakers at an event held
on the sidelines of the 26th Session of
the UN Human Rights Council
deplore that India has enacted a
series of black laws, which provide
the Indian forces’ personnel the
impunity for their actions in IIOJK.
The speakers include Syed Faiz
Naqshbandi, Altaf Hussain Wani,
Dr Katherine Irene Pettus, Ms
Daniela Donges and Ms Jose
Adriaansen Smit.
Indian police in its continued
crackdown against the Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front raid the
party office in Srinagar. The police
fail to arrest any person as no JKLF
activist is present in the office at the
time of the raid.
To be continued...
January 2021 28
The music of Indian illegally
occupied Jammu and Kashmir
reflects the rich musical heritage
and cultural legacy of the
territory. Traditionally the music
composed by ethnic Kashmiris
has a wide range of musical
influences in composition. Due to
Kashmir's close proximity to
Central Asia, Eastern Asia and
Southern Asia, a unique blend of
music has evolved encompassing
the music of the three regions.
But, overall, Kashmir Valley
music is closer to Central Asian
music, while music from Jammu
is similar to that of North India
and Ladakhi music is similar to
the music of Tibet.
Chakri
Chakri is one of the most popular
types of folk music played in
occupied Kashmir. It is played
with musical instruments like the
harmonium, the rubab, the
sarangi and the nout. Chakri was
also used in telling fairy tales or
famous love stories.
Rouf or Wanwun
Rouf is a form of traditional
dance usually performed by girls
on certain important occasions
like Eid, marriage and other
functions. Rouf includes dancing
and singing simultaneously. No
musical instrument is required
for this. Four to six girls arrange
themselves in two or three rows.
Each row of girls then moves one
step forward and then back in
swaying motion while singing
the Rouf song or Wanwun.
Rouf is a very important element
of the wedding ceremonies in
Kashmiri Pandit and Kashmiri
Muslim traditions. Rouf is
usually called Wanwun when
performed at marriages.
Ladishah
Ladishah is one of the most vital
parts of the Kashmiri music
tradition. It is a sarcastic form of
singing.
The songs
are sung
resonating
the present
social and
political
conditions
and are
utterly
humorous.
The singers
move from
village to
village
performing generally during the
harvesting period. The songs are
composed on the spot on issues
relating to that village, be it
cultural, social or political. The
songs reflect the truth and that
sometimes makes the song a bit
hard to digest, but they are totally
entertaining.
Sufiana Kalam
Sufiana Kalam is the classical
music of Kashmir that uses its
own ragas (known as maqam)
and is accompanied by a
hundred-stringed instrument
called the santoor along with the
Kashmiri saz, wasool, tabala,
setar and harmonium. Sufiana
Kalam has been popular in
Kashmir since arriving from Iran
in the 15th century and has been
the music of choice for Kashmiri
Sufi mystics.
Classical
Classical music and musical
instruments find mention in the
earliest texts like the Nilmat
Purana and Rajatarangini by
Kalhana. The most popular
classical folk instrument is the
santoor (Shat-tantri-veena), a
hundred-string percussion
instrument.
The most notable santoor player
from Kashmir is Pandit Bhajan
Sopori. Bhajan Sopori has also
given santoor recitals in Iran,
from where this instrument has
originated. However, the
Kashmiri santoor looks and
sounds different from the
original Persian santoor.
Henzae and Wanwun
Henzae and Wanwun is a form of
music sung by Kashmiri Pandits
on religious and cultural festivals
and in weddings.
Music of Ladakh region
One of the main features of a
Ladakh marriage is the recitation
of lengthy narratives by singers
in unusual costumes. Traditional
music of Ladakh region includes
the instruments surna and
daman (shenai and drum). The
music of Ladakhi Buddhist
monastic festivals like Tibetan
music often involves religious
chanting in Tibetan or Sanskrit as
an integral part of the religion.
These chants are complex and
often recitations of sacred texts.
Religious mask dances are an
important part of Ladakh's
cultural life. Hemis monastery, a
leading centre of the Drukpa
tradition of Buddhism, holds an
annual masked dance festival, as
do all major Ladakhi
monasteries. The dances
typically narrate a story of the
fight between good and evil,
ending with the eventual victory
of the former.
January 2021 29
There was once a thug
The two thugs
who was a master in the
art of creating illusions -
the basis of the trade of a
thug - and he plied his
trade with reasonable
efficiency and success.
Perhaps the most paying
line of the business would
be to sell brass for gold,
but in such a transaction
people secure the advice
of a reliable goldsmith.
The thug called himself a
tradesman. If anybody
asked him, “What do you
deal in?”
“Whatever holds the
promise of a meager
profit,” he would reply,
thus reserving to himself
the right of dealing in any
commodity he liked -
from oilseeds to
‘pashmina’, from saffron
to sandalwood.
Once the thug joined the
fair at the far off shrine of
the saint of Bomai. The
thug dressed as a peasant
and carrying a medium-
sized wallet besides his blanket
had wended his way there.
Another peasant carrying a
bigger sack took his seat near
him.
“How do you do?” the latter
greeted the former.
“God's a mercy,” replied the
other.
“My good friend, where do you
come from to this holiest of the
shrines?” asked the former.
“I come from the distant maraz.”
“I could guess as much from
your talk and the look of weari-
ness from your face.”
“Yes, I had to foot a pretty long
distance. And you yourself?”
“I belong to the blessed Kamraz,
the region of droughts, poverty
and lawlessness. How much
land do you own?”
“Not much by your standards.
Actually I come from Pampur
where I own a few marlas of
saffron-growing land. I have
managed to collect a little of this
precious stuff in this wallet.
What is your sack bulging with?”
“The arid of the village where I
work yields little. So I usually go
to Rawalpindi in winter and earn
a little to spread over the whole
year round. This year I was
working with a merchant who
paid me in kind. I have earned
this sack full of peppercorns for
six months, which I shall now
exchange for cash or kind. Are
you interested?”
“I have myself to dispose of my
wallet full of saffron and I
intended to carry home in return
dried fish, dried caltrops, sesame
and other produce of your
region. But it occurs to me that if I
happen to get a suitable customer
for my saffron I may as
well settle a bargain to
relieve you of your
heavy load.”
“As you please. But why
seek another customer?
Why not exchange our
precious commodities
without getting in a
middleman?”
“It is well for you to
regard my saffron no
more precious than your
peppercorns, but I am no
fool to be taken in thus.
Let us settle a price.”
“I have not much
experience in evaluating
commodities. If you
don't fancy my heavy
sack full of peppercorns
in return for your light
wallet of saffron, you
may as well look for a
great queen to purchase
your precious commod-
ity.”
This sort of conversation
was carried on for a
pretty long time, each
one of them playing his
role perfectly and camouflaging
the intonation and uttering the
words peculiar to the region
adopted by him. There was a
good deal of haggling on the part
of the Pampur man who lifted the
sack of peppercorns to judge its
weight. The other man fumbled
the outside of the wallet of
saffron. “Do you doubt the
genuineness of what I carry?”
asked he as he put his fingers in
to draw a pinch of saffron.
“Look,” he continued, “hast ever
seen genuine saffron as this?”
And he trotted out like a prac-
ticed dealer the Persian adage
mushk aan ast ki kbud biboyad
na ki atoar bigoyed (fragrance
will out and needs no eulogies
from the perfumer).
The deal was finally closed and
the Pampur man came away
January 2021 30
with the sack
f u l l o f
peppercorn
while the
other one
was happy
with his
wallet of
saffron. The
f o r m e r
retired to a
grove of
trees and
began to
examine the
contents of
his sack.
There were
round berries of peppercorn
genuine enough at the top but
beneath that layer there was
sheep dung. The worst suspi-
cions of the thug were confirmed,
for by an irony of circumstances
he had met a fellow of the same
trade upon whom he had foisted
paddy husk - covered with a thin
layer of saffron. “I shall renew
my acquaintance with him,” he
said in the spirit of, “I shall meet
you soon.”
Before long the two tradesmen
met at another fair but spoke not
a word about their previous
transaction. They came to be
known as Toh thug and Mengan
thug after toh for paddy husk
and mengan for sheep dung that
each tried to pass on to the other.
In course of time they developed
friendship and some affection,
for they were fellow townsmen.
But being men of the same trade
they could not overcome their
mutual jealousy and spirit of
rivalry.
One day, Toh thug called on his
friend and found him in bed
down with fever. The visits were
repeated, for Toh thug saw it as
his duty to ask after the health of
his friend. There was, however,
no improvement. Every time he
touched the wrist of Mengan
thug, he found his heart beating
fast. “My end has come,” said
Mengan thug, “for I have never
been so ill, nor for such a long
time.”
“Don't worry, friend, you will
soon get well,” consoled the
other.
“I know better. The hakim has
not been able to diagnose the
malady. It is the angel of death
that has taken his seat in my
pulse. I have fallen on evil days
besides and have not a pice left
for my treatment. What can save
me then?”
“Be cheerful, friend, you should
not burden your heart with
unnecessary anxieties. If you are
really hard up why don't you ask
me to lend you a helping hand?”
The upshot was that Toh thug
passed on to his friend a sum of
about two hundred rupees as a
loan which the latter gratefully
received. But Mengan thug did
not get well. His fever continued
to rage though his face did not
indicate any remarkable trace of
emaciation. One fine morning a
message came to Toh thug that
his friend had passed away. The
former was really sorry though it
occurred to him that he (the
deceased) had met the death
deserved by all swindlers. His
own deeds appeared to him
innocuous in
comparison. It
also appeared
to him that he
had lost the
amount offered
as loan to his
ailing friend.
That Mengan
thug had not
shown any
traces of grave
illness on his
face, however,
struck him as
odd.
“For aught I
know, it may be
a trick to defraud me of my
money .... No, he could not have
been so bad, peace be to his
soul....”
He went to the house of his friend
where they were about to
dispose of the dead body. To
ensure against any tricks Toh
thug used unusually hot water to
give the body a wash but not a
muscle twitched on the naked
body of Mengan thug.
Ultimately the dead body of the
thug was buried and Toh thug
was left mourning.
In a couple of days Toh thug was
bewildered to learn that the body
of Mengan thug had disappeared
from the grave. “I know the
rascal was pretending all this to
defraud me,” he said, “He has
hurled dust into my eyes and
made away with my money. I'm
beaten, I must own. Think of it!
The feverish pulse and then the
stiff carcass.”
He learnt that Mengan thug had
developed a feverish condition
with the help of an onion to fake
death. “I am immature and raw,”
he said as he carried a note to
place in the house of his friend.
“You've beaten me outright,” the
note said.
In a week's time he got back his
money.
January 2021 31
 effectively turned state-run
seminaries into regular schools,
approving Islamic subjects to be
dropped from the curriculum,
thereby robbing the right to practice
religion in a Muslim majority area.
Unfortunately, like many of other
atrocities being committed on
Muslims in India and on the people
of IIOJK, such directives of the BJP
government are going unnoticed by
the global community.
Imran Khan
Peshawar
New tactic to colonise
IIOJK
India must acknowledge reality The Indian government’s move of
The people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have been imposing tax on lands and
facing the worst kind of Indian state terrorism in their just struggle for properties across IIOJK is another
securing freedom from India's illegal occupation of their homeland. method to colonise the territory.
New Delhi has given its troops and police personnel unbridled powers The move is aimed at compelling
under draconian laws like Disturbed Areas Act , Armed Forces Special the Kashmiris to sell their
Powers Act and Public Safety Act and to commit all kinds of atrocities properties to non-Kashmiris and
on the Kashmiris to intimidate them into submission. bring about demographic change in
It is a reality that New Delhi is suppressing the Kashmiris' ongoing the territory, for which the Indian
freedom movement through military might. However, despite using government has already taken
all brutal tactics, Indian forces’ personnel have failed to subdue the several measures. It is feared that it
freedom sentiment of the Kashmiris and they are very much would be difficult for the Kashmiri
determined to continue their struggle till they achieve their cherished people, who are already facing
goal of freedom from Indian bondage. India should acknowledge the financial crunch, to pay the taxes
fact that its brutalities have failed to suppress the Kashmiris in the past and they will be compelled to sell
and would meet the same fate in the future as well. It should address the their properties at throw away
real issue of Kashmir by fulfilling its promise of giving the people of prices. The local economy of IIOJK
Jammu and Kashmir their right to self-determination. The world is in disarray; mostly in post 05
community also must take cognisance of India’s brutal and August 2019 military siege and
undemocratic actions against the Kashmiris particularly pro-freedom COVID-19 lockdown scenarios.
leaders and initiate measures to settle the Kashmir dispute in Earlier, Indian government
accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people to save them abolished Roshni Act to compel
from the Indian cruelties. Muslims sell their properties they
Nazir Ahmed had purchased under the Act in
Lahore Jammu region. The sole purpose of
the move was to maintain Hindu
Oppression against Muslims dominance in Jammu region. Under
The Muslims in India and the people of Indian illegally occupied the Roshni Act, around 25,000
Jammu and Kashmir are facing victimisation ever since Narendra people of the Kashmir Valley had
Modi-led fascist government came into power in 2014. As part of its purchased land in Jammu region,
sinister plan to effect a demographic change in IIOJK, it repealed the while in Kashmir Valley only 5,000
special status of the illegally occupied territory in August 2019. In its people got settled under the Act. As
latest assault, it is evicting Muslim nomads from their homes to grab per media reports, of the 25,000
their land and hand that over to Indian Hindus. Nomads, the tribal people, who were given possession
people who migrate according to the seasons, constitute 12 percent of of the land in Jammu, about 90 per
the total population of IIOJK. As part of the larger government-led cent were Muslims. The purpose of
eviction campaign, this significant portion of society is being forcefully the abolition of the Act was simply
removed from their home region - a place where they should have the to empower Hindus and use them
full right to establish residences, if they wished. In the midst of bone- as vote bank for future and force the
chilling cold and freezing temperatures, countless families have been Muslims to migrate from the region.
left homeless by the Modi regime. Salman Ali
On the other hand, the BJP government in the Indian state of Assam has Islamabad

January 2021 32
 Atrocities Perpetrated
by Indian troops
(January 1989 to December 31, 2020)

Total killings 95,723

Custodial killings 7,155

Civilians arrested 161,330

Structures destroyed/damaged 110,383

Women widowed 22,922

Children orphaned 107,807

Women gangraped/molested 11,226

Including custodial killings

Source: Kashmir Media Service (www.kmsnews.org)

 Confessions, Promises,
Commitments…
Do you remember anything?

“The question of accession is to be decided finally in a free plebiscite, on this there

is no dispute. There will be no victimisation of any native of the State, whatever his
political view may be, and no Kashmiri will be deprived of the right to vote.”

(White Paper on Kashmir issued by Government of India, 1948)

All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu And Kashmir

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