I was born in Poonch (Kashmir) and now I live in Norway. I oppose war and violence and am a firm believer in the peaceful co-existence of all nations and peoples. In my academic work I have tried to espouse the cause of the weak and the oppressed in a world dominated by power politics, misleading propaganda and violations of basic human rights. I also believe that all conscious members of society have a moral duty to stand for and further the cause of peace and human rights throughout the world.
The irresponsible and dangerous Indian air strikes within Pakistan were calculated to escalate the tensions between India and Pakistan. Now, Pakistan has captured two Indian pilots after shooting down an Indian jet military jet over the Pakistani side of the Line of Control in Kashmir.
Is that what India wanted and asked for? My reply is simply this: All military confrontations are bad and suicidal. Only the innocent, poor working class people join army as soldiers to earn a living and help their large families in these poor countries.. Then when fighting starts by the orders of their rulers for whatever reason, they are thrown into the man-made hell of war to kill and be killed; they become the first victims of the war, and then many ordinary civilians, men, women, children, old and young, sick and disabled also become the victims.
To both Indian and Pakistan civil and military leaders, I ask: If war brings only death and destruction, then what do you think will happen to your people and your fighting forces? They will kill and die. But what good will that do? Do such killings of people and destruction produce any positive outcome? In my understanding of wars and deaths of innocent that take place in such wars, there are no positive resits.
The people of Kashmir do not want you to fight. They want you to find a political solution to the Kashmir Conflict as first envisaged by the U.N. in 1948 and grant the occupied people of Kashmir freedom to decide their future. That's the only good solution.
Only
a few days ago, I wrote the following short article. Now, in the wake
of India's air strikes within Pakistan show how the militaristic
actions of India can lead to dire circumstance, not only for the two
countries, but also for the whole world, simply because the two rival
countries have nuclear weapons, and in my view, they wouldn't hold back
from using them to gain the upper hand over the other country, thus
leading to mass destruction of the two countries and their populations.
India's dangerous course in Kashmir
-- Nasir Khan, February 22, 2019
Will such confrontations between the two countries, which also possess
nuclear weapons, help resolve the Kashmir issue? Even if they kill each
other on a large scale, in thousands, or even in millions by using their
nuclear weapons on the cities, the Kashmir issue will not go away, as
it has not for the last seven decades.
The sober people will have
to step in to tell the military occupiers of Kashmir that the time has
come to seek a political solution in earnest that fully involves the
people of Kashmir and allows the people to make a choice for their
future as they wish.
The people of Kashmir have seen enough
bloodshed and misery. Since 1989, the Indian army in Kashmir has killed
about one-hundred-thousand Kashmirs. Why? Because many people had
rejected the Indian rule; some militants chose to fight against the
Indian rule. Such killings and many other crimes are still being
committed by the Indian army but on a smaller scale than before.
If India does not seek a political solution with the people of Kashmir
and keeps Kashmir under its rule with the brutal power of its army, the
people will continue to resist. That means the innocent Kashmiris will
continue to die and also some Indian soldiers will lose their lives.
This is bad and ill-conceived policy. It leads to nowhere, but only to
more deaths, more destruction and more problems. If my words
reach the leaders of India and Pakistan, then they should seek the help
of some sane
people to diffuse the present dangerous situation, and take
concrete steps to find a political solution to end the conflict once
and for all. I have my best thoughts and good-will towards the people
of India, Pakistan, and Kashmir.
If this woman in the photo can still breathe and survive, then that shows the survival instinct in these women is very strong. However, what she goes through, like millions of other woman, is a result of the thousands of years of the old patriarchal system, of domination and control over women, of their bodies, minds and sexuality, by all possible means, including the help of patriarchal and partisan deities and patriarchal religions, that became the social norm which none dared to question or challenge.
Some cultures go even a step forward, and view such enslavement and oppression of women as their true protection and the safeguarding of their 'honour'. The people belonging to such cultures are profoundly earnest in their views.
Many things may appear so absurd to the people where there is gender equality and women are aware of their freedoms they have won after long political and social struggles. But the women in old patriarchal cultures live in a different world; their mindsets are tuned to different taboos and coercive codes. We need not laugh at these women and the practices they are subjected to, but rather try to locate them in their cultural settings and come forward with acceptable solutions to make changes within very conservative and tribal socialites.
It is obvious, there are no quick solutions, but a gradual awareness among men will help, who are conditioned by old customs and traditions and who think they have the proprietary rights over their women in the same way as they have such rights over their personal chattel. The empowerment of women by education and social awareness of their own condition is also important to break the fictitious aura of ‘honour and respectability’ erected around such a mode of harmful veiling.
-- Nasir Khan The Kashmir Conflict is not something new, it is as old as the two
independent states of India and Pakistan. It was a conflict that needed
some bold steps by the leaders of the two countries to find a workable
solution that met the demands of the Kashmiri people.
But there was no real intention to find such a solution, except to use
empty rhetoric to appease the populations of the two countries. The
latest killing of so many soldiers is also a tragic reminder that the
problem of Kashmir has not disappeared. Innocent people are dying in
Kashmir, both civilians and soldiers, and they will continue to face
such deaths as long as there is no solution to the conflict. I deeply deplore the death of the Indian soldiers and also the deaths of innocent Kashmiris at the hands of the Indian army. But something else is needed to pacify the people of Kashmir, not empty
words, violence or threats of more violence and intimidation. Any
military action by India over the tragic loss of lives of soldiers will
not help the situation. Even a war will not do much good to the people
of the two countries, or will be helpful to the people of Kashmir.
Kashmir suicide bomber radicalised after beating by troops, parents say
SRINAGAR
(Reuters) - A suicide bomber who killed 44 paramilitary policemen in
Indian-controlled Kashmir joined a militant group after having been
beaten by troops three years ago, his parents told Reuters on Friday.
Relatives
of Adil Ahmad Dar, who according to police carried out the suicide
attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy and killed 44
of them on Thursday, mourn inside Adil's residence in Gundbagh village
in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Danish
Ismail
Pakistan-based Islamist
militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for
Thursday’s car bomb attack on a security convoy, the worst in decades of
insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim majority state. It
comes months before a key Indian general election. Adil Ahmad
Dar, 20, from the village of Lethipora in Indian Kashmir, rammed a car
full of explosives into the convoy, escalating tension between the
nuclear-armed neighbours, which both claim the rugged Himalayan region. “We
are in pain in the same way the families of the soldiers are,” said
farmer Ghulam Hassan Dar, adding that his son had been radicalised after
police stopped him and his friends on the way home from school in 2016.
“They were stopped by the troops and beaten up and harassed,”
Dar said, adding that the students were accused of stone-pelting. “Since
then, he wanted to join the militants.” A video released by the
militant group after the attack showed his son, dressed in military
fatigues and carrying an automatic rifle, detailing his plan to carry
out the bombing. His mother, Fahmeeda, corroborated her husband’s account. “He
was beaten by Indian troops a few years back when he was returning from
school,” she said. “This led to anger in him against Indian troops.” Both parents said they were unaware of their son’s plan to attack the convoy. Dar
did not return home from his work as a labourer on March 19 last year,
Fahmeeda added. “We searched for him for three months,” she said.
Slideshow (3 Images)
“Finally we gave up efforts to bring him back home.” Reuters
could not independently verify the two accounts. A spokesman for
India’s home ministry did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. Anger over the attack is growing in India, which accuses
Pakistan of backing separatist militants in divided Kashmir. Pakistan
denies that, saying it offers only political support to the region’s
suppressed Muslim people. Jaish, one of the most deadly groups
operating in Kashmir, has been designated a terror group by the United
Nations since 2001.
44 killed in worst Kashmir attack in decades
Ghulam Hassan Dar said he blamed politicians for his son’s death. “They should have resolved the issue through dialogue,” he said, referring to the conflict over Indian-controlled Kashmir. “It
is they who are responsible for driving these youth into militancy. The
sons of the common man die here, whether they are Indian troops or our
sons.”
Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Martin Howell and Clarence Fernandez
