23rd Year of Publication

Vol: 23 No. 11
Monthly November 2017

INSIGHT
Kashmir Insight NOVEMBER 2017
Editor: M Raza Malik From The Editor's Desk
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Kashmir
Sub Editor: Benazir Khan in the UK Parliament has announced that it will conduct a
Parliamentary Enquiry on human rights violations in
Art Editor: M.Haroon
occupied Kashmir from 14th December 2017. This was
announced by the Chairman of APPG on Kashmir, Chris
C O N T E N T S Leslie, while addressing a Kashmir Conference held in
Editorial London on October 25, 2017. The conference organised by
Jammu and Kashmir Self-Determination Movement
Interlocutor: A ploy to hoodwink International (JKSDMI) in collaboration with the Pakistani
world community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 High Commission in London was attended by more than 20
parliamentarians from both the Houses and all the
Cover Story parliamentary parties. Chris Leslie said that findings of the
Kashmiris observe 27th October as Black Day . . . . 03 enquiry would be presented to the Parliament, British
Reports Government and the United Nations.
Earlier, in another development the Organisation of Islamic
OIC expresses concern over HR violations
Cooperation in a report expressed serious concern over the
in IOK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07 gross human rights violations by the Indian troops in
UN failed to implement its resolutions occupied Kashmir. The OICs Independent Permanent
Human Rights Commission in a report released after the
on Kashmir: Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 recent visit of its fact-finding delegation to Azad Jammu and
Article Kashmir urged the UN to take the cognisance of Indian
atrocities on the Kashmiri people and initiate measures to
October 27- The Black Day for Kashmiris implement its resolutions on Kashmir to mitigate the
Muhammad Raza Malik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 sufferings of the Kashmiris.
These developments are important on many counts. Firstly,
Pictorial
they are the acknowledgement of the unprecedented
Images speak louder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 sacrifices being rendered by the Kashmiri people in their just
struggle for securing their inalienable right to self-
Human rights situation determination. Secondly, they show that conscientious
people and organisations consider Jammu and Kashmir in
Indian atrocities on IOK people during October 2017
its true perspective - a disputed territory and not an integral
Raies Ahmed Mir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 part of India. Thirdly, they are a reminder to the Indian
government that it cannot continue with its policy of
Report stubbornness on the Kashmir dispute and sooner or later it
UK Parliament to probe HR abuses in IOK . . . . . . 21 will have to respect the aspirations of the people of Jammu
and Kashmir.
Plight of Kashmiris highlighted at
It is a reality that the Indian troops enjoying unbridled
Kashmir EU Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 powers under draconian law like Armed Forces Special
Kashmir conference held at Danish Parliament . . 25 Powers Act, Public Safety Act and Disturbed Areas Act are
committing grave human rights violations - in fact war
Chronology crimes - in occupied Kashmir to suppressing the Kashmiris
A chronological account of developments struggle aimed at securing freedom from Indian yoke.
However, despite killing around one hundred thousand
on Kashmir (135) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Kashmiris, subjecting over ten thousand to custodial
Beauty thy name is disappearance, torturing thousands and putting hundreds
in jails and detention centres, they have failed to suppress
Hangul the Kashmir stag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 the freedom sentiment of the Kashmiri people.

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Editorial
Interlocutor: A ploy to hoodwink world community
In yet another attempt to hood-
wink the international commu-
nity about the Kashmir dispute
and the prevailing grim situation
of occupied Kashmir, India has
appointed an interlocutor one
more time to hold so-called
dialogue on Kashmir. The move
seems to be a part of New Delhis
futile efforts to ease the interna-
tional pressure it has been facing
since the start of mass uprising,
which was triggered by the
extrajudicial killing of popular
youth leader, Burhan Muzaffar
Wani, by
Indian troops
on July 08,
2016. After
failing in
crushing the
uprising
through brute
force, India
resorted to one more ruse of
making an offer of talks.
The appointment of a former
Director of Intelligence Bureau
(IB), Dineshwar Sharma, as an
interlocutor speaks volumes
about the non-seriousness and
insincerity of Indian government
to hold dialogue with the
stakeholders and shows that it is
nothing more than a fire-fighting
exercise than resolving the
Kashmir dispute. Dineshwar
Sharma also announced before
embarking on a visit to occupied
Kashmir that his priority is to
restore peace. This shows that the
scope of his engagement is
limited to just meeting the people
from various sections of society
in occupied Kashmir and he has
no mandate to hold talks with
Pakistan - a fundamental party to
the Kashmir dispute.
The Joint Resistance Leadership
comprising Syed Ali Gilani,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and
Muhammad Yasin Malik has
described the appointment of
Dineshwar Sharma as new
interlocutor by India as an eye-
wash, a time-buying tactic
adopted under international
pressure and regional compul-
sions, and a ploy to strike a hard
bargain with the Kashmiris. New
Delhi is also intimidating the
Kashmiris through raids and
arrests by its investigating
agencies, National Investigation
Agency and Enforcement
Directorate in the occupied
territory. The resistance leaders
said that such talks would
remain futile and meaningless
until New Delhi accepted the
reality about the Kashmir
dispute. The leaders have time
and again made it clear that they
are not averse to the holding of
dialogue but the talks process
should be meaningful and result-
oriented.
It is worth mentioning here that
India had appointed Dileep
Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and
M M Ansari as interlocutors in
October 2010, following succes-
sive summer uprisings during
past three years. The then Indian
rulers had claimed that the step
was taken to start talks with the
Kashmiri leaders but actually it
KASHMIR INSIGHT NOVEMBER 2017 02
was aimed at pacifying the
situation in occupied Kashmir.
The final report of the three-
member panel had nothing to
address the main problem - the
Kashmir dispute. Instead the
team had tried to change the
nature of the Kashmir conflict
and attempted to present it as a
law and order problem besides
an issue of the relationship
between New Delhi and
Srinagar.
The Kashmiris have been
engaged for the past seven
decades
in an
i n d i g e-
n o u s
struggle
f o r
securing
t h e i r
inalien-
able right to self-determination
promised to them by the interna-
tional community and India. The
just struggle of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir since 1989
and particularly since 2008 has
attracted the world attention and
international as well as internal
pressure is mounting on India
with each passing day to come
out of the denial mode and take
steps for resolving the dispute
over Kashmir for the best
interests of the regional and
global peace.
New Delhi needs to realise the
fact that cosmetic steps would
not help in achieving durable
peace and the situation in
occupied Kashmir cannot
normalise without resolving the
Kashmir dispute in accordance
with the Kashmiris aspirations.
Cover Story
Kashmiris observe 27th October as Black Day
Reiterate resolve to continue liberation movement
Kashmiris on both sides of the
Line of Control and across the
globe observed October 27, 2017
as Black Day to convey the
message to the world that they
reject Indias illegal occupation
of their homeland and are
determined to continue their
struggle till they achieve their
inalienable right to self-
determination. The government
and people of Pakistan on the
day reiterated their commitment
to continue diplomatic, moral
and political support to the
Kashmiris just freedom strug-
gle.
It was on October 27, 1947 when
India landed its troops in
Srinagar and illegally occupied
Jammu and Kashmir against the
aspirations of the Kashmiri
people and the Partition Plan of
Indian subcontinent.
The day was marked with a
complete shutdown in occupied
Kashmir. All shops and business
establishments remained closed
while traffic was off the road.
Call for the shutdown was given
by the Joint Resistance
Leadership comprising Syed Ali
Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq
and Muhammad Yasin Malik
and supported by other pro-
freedom organisations and High
Court Bar Association of the
occupied territory.
The puppet authorities had
imposed stringent restrictions in
Srinagar and deployed Indian
troops and police personnel in
strength in the summer capital
and other major towns of the
occupied territory to prevent
people from holding anti-India
demonstrations on the occasion
of the Black Day. The authorities
had sealed Jamia Masjid,
Srinagar, disallowing Juma
prayers at the historic mosque on
the fifth consecutive week. The
occupation authorities had also
placed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq
KASHMIR INSIGHT
under house detention and
arrested Hakeem Abdur
Rasheed and Mukhtar Ahmed
Waza.
The Joint Resistance Leadership
comprising Syed Ali Gilani,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and
Muhammad Yasin Malik in a
statement issued in Srinagar
termed the 27th October 1947 as
an unfortunate and the blackest
day for the Kashmiris when they
were deprived of their freedom
and liberty. The leaders said that
since then the Kashmiri people
had been fighting to get rid of
Indian occupation. They main-
tained that the Kashmiris would
continue their struggle against
this forced control the way they
had been doing for the past 70
years.
Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq and Muhammad Yasin
Malik urged the world human
rights organisations to take
cognisance of the ill-treatment
NOVEMBER 2017 03
Cover Story
being meted out to thousands of
illegally detained Kashmiris
lodged in different jails of
occupied Kashmir and India and
to ensure that the prisoners who
have completed their term are
released.
The resistance leaders also
strongly denounced the frequent
house arrest of resistance leaders
and barring them from carrying
out their social, religious and
political obligations. They
appealed to the world commu-
nity to play its role in the resolu-
tion of the Kashmir dispute to
bring an end to the sufferings of
the people and human rights
violations at the hands of Indian
troops in occupied Kashmir.
Meanwhile, President of
Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain,
and Prime Minister, Shahid
Khaqan Abbasi, in their separate
messages on the Kashmir Black
Day reiterated Pakistans
unflinching and steadfast
diplomatic, moral and political
support for the just cause of the
Kashmiri people.
President Mamnoon Hussain in
his message urged India to
implement the relevant UN
resolutions on the Kashmir
dispute as peace and prosperity
of the entire region
is linked with the
settlement of the
longstanding
dispute.
Shahid Khaqan
Abbasi in his
message said that
India must honour
the commitments
of its founding-
fathers and ensure
implementation of the UN
resolutions on Kashmir.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan
Abbasi while chairing a meeting
of Kashmir Council in Islamabad
on October 26 reaffirmed
Pakistans continued diplomatic,
moral and political support to the
Kashmiris struggle for securing
their right to self-determination
at all international fora.
The Senate of Pakistan on the
Black Day unanimously passed a
resolution condemning the
brutalities of Indian forces
against the people of occupied
Kashmir. It also deplored the
continued silence of the interna-
tional community on the gross
human rights violations being
perpetrated by the Indian forces
in the occupied territory.
Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders held a
KASHMIR INSIGHT
demonstration outside the
Indian High Commission in
Islamabad to mark the Black
Day. A large number of people
participated in the protest and
strongly condemned the Indian
state terrorism in occupied
Kashmir. The protesters were
holding placards and banners
bearing anti-India slogans.
Addressing the demonstration,
the APHC leaders denounced in
strong terms the atrocities of
Indian forces personnel against
the innocent people of occupied
Kashmir. Youth Forum for
Kashmir (YFK), an international
Kashmir lobby group, in collabo-
ration with Early Bird Riders
(EBR), marked the 27th October
as Black Day by organising a
rally of bicycles and bikes with
more than 100 riders partici-
pating in it. The rally started
from Fatima Jinnah Park and
culminated at National Press
Club, Islamabad, where an anti-
India demonstration was held.
The participants, holding
placards and banners in support
of Kashmiris, chanted slogans
against Indian invasion and
brutalities in Kashmir.
The Youth Council of National
University of Modern Languages
(NUML), Islamabad, in collabo-
ration with the All Parties
Hurriyat Conference Azad
Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-
AJK) chapter organised a
seminar and a cultural show at
NOVEMBER 2017 04
Cover Story
the Rawalpindi Arts Council,
Rawalpindi, to highlight the
significance of observance of the
Kashmir Black Day. Leader of the
House in the Senate, Raja Zafar-
ul-Haq, the AJK Prime Minister,
Raja Farooq Haider Khan, the
Foreign Office spokesman,
Nafees Zakaria, and government
officials of Azad Jammu and
Kashmir, leaderships of APHC-
AJK and a large number of
people from different walks of
life participated in the seminar.
Sindh government organised a
rally in Karachi to express
solidarity with the people of
occupied Kashmir. Led by Chief
Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah,
the rally began from Peoples
Secretariat and culminated at
Mazar-e-Quaid.
Similar rallies and seminars were
held in Lahore, Faisalabad,
Sialkot, Daska, Pasrur,
Chawinda, Quetta, Peshawar
and other major cities and towns
of the country. Hundreds of
people from all walks of life
including social and political
workers, members of the
business community, lawyers,
journalists, students, teachers
and human rights activists joined
the protest rallies and seminars
to mark the
Kashmir Black Day.
Meanwhile, in
Azad Jammu and
Kashmir, a big
protest rally was
taken out from
Shaheed Burhan
Wani Chowk to the
UN Observer
O f f i c e i n
Muzaffarabad. The
participants raised high-pitched
slogans against India and in
favour of Kashmirs freedom
from Indian bondage.
The AJK Prime Minister, Raja
Farooq Haider Khan, Minister
for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-
Baltistan, Barjees Tahir, and
other speakers at a function
organised in Muzaffarabad by
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation
Cell said that the Kashmiris
would not rest till they achieved
freedom from Indian subjuga-
tion.
Anti-India rallies and proces-
sions were taken out in Mirpur
by various political, social and
religious organisations to protest
against the continued illegal
Indian occupation of Jammu and
Kashmir. Wearing black
armbands and holding black
KASHMIR INSIGHT
flags, the participants demanded
of the world community to play
its role in the settlement of the
Kashmir dispute. All the Black
Day processions later converged
into a mammoth protest rally at
Shaheed Chowk where speakers
urged the UN to resolve the
Kashmir dispute by imple-
menting its relevant resolutions.
The Pakistan High Commission
in London, Jammu and Kashmir
Self-Determination Movement
International (JKSDMI) and All
Party Parliamentary Group
(APPG) on Kashmir in the British
Parliament jointly organised a
conference in connection with
the Kashmir Black Day. The
conference was held at the
Portcullis House, London.
Besides a large number of British
Kashmiris, it was attended by the
UK Parliamentarians and human
rights activists who are actively
working on the resolution of the
Kashmir dispute. During the
conference, the Chairman of the
APPG on Kashmir, Chris Leslie
(MP), announced that the group
will conduct a Parliamentary
Enquiry on human rights
violations in occupied Kashmir
from 14th December 2017.
Kashmiris living in Scotland
staged an anti-India rally near
the Scottish Parliament to mark
the Black Day. They condemned
the Indian state terrorism in
occupied Kashmir. The protest
was organised by Tehreek-e-
NOVEMBER 2017 05
Cover Story
Kashmir, UK, and was led by
Senior Minister of AJK, Tariq
Farooq. Four sitting Scottish
members of the parliament,
present during the protest, also
supported the Kashmiris right to
self-determination.
Kashmir Council European
Union (KCEU) organised a
protest demonstration on Black
Day in front of the Indian
Embassy in Brussels - the capital
of Belgium. A large number of
Kashmiris and their supporters
attended the demonstration,
which was led by KCEU
Chairman, Ali Raza Syed.
Like Kashmiris and their friends
around the world, the Canadians
also observed the Kashmir Black
Day in Toronto. The Canadians
from all walks of life that also
included members of the
Kashmiri community partici-
pated in a conference to mark the
Black Day.
Zafar Bangash, Director of
Institute of Contemporary
Islamic Thought and Convener
of Friends of Kashmir
Committee, historian Alistair
Lamb, Canadian peace and
human rights activist, Barry
Weisleder, and a long time
activist for justice and peace, Dr
Ali Mallah, spoke on the occa-
sion. A video depicting Indian
troops brutalities against the
Kashmiri people was also
screened on the occasion.
Former AJK Prime Minister,
Barrister Sultan Mehmood
Choudhry, organised a protest
march in Berlin, Germany. It was
attended by a large number of
Kashmiris. Abdul Rasheed
Turabi, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai,
Fahim Kiyani, Riaz Khan and
other Kashmiri leaders from
different parts of the world
attended the rally.
Hundreds of Pakistanis and
Kashmiris gathered in the
premises of the Pakistan
Embassy in
Abu Dhabi to
e x p r e s s
solidarity with
their brethren
in occupied
Kashmir on the
Kashmir Black
Day. A photo-
g r a p h i c
exhibition
depicting the
miseries of the
K a s h m i r i
people due to Indian occupation
of Jammu and Kashmir was also
arranged for the audience.
Another public gathering was
held at the Consulate General of
Pakistan in Dubai. The event was
attended by hundreds of
Pakistanis and Kashmiris living
in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE).
KASHMIR INSIGHT
The Pakistani embassy in Cairo
held a seminar to mark the Black
Day. The seminar was attended
by Pakistani students and their
Egyptian fellows studying Urdu
at Al-Azhar University in Cairo,
senior journalists reporting on
the Kashmir conflict, Urdu
language professors and former
Egyptian ambassadors to
Pakistan. The participants were
given a brief on the history of the
Kashmir dispute, which has so
far resulted in the killing of
hundreds of thousands of
Kashmiris by Indian troops.
It is a fact that the Kashmiris have
been carrying on their just
struggle to liberate their home-
land from the illegal occupation
of India for the last over seven
decades. Every year, they hold
demonstrations and rallies on
27th October to draw attention of
the world community towards
their plight and remind them of
their obligations regarding
settlement of the Kashmir
conflict. Now it is the responsi-
bility of the UN and global
community to come forward and
ensure that one of the oldest
disputes of the world is resolved
amicably as per the aspirations of
the people of Jammu and
Kashmir.
(Humayun Aziz Sandeela)
NOVEMBER 2017 06
Report
The Organisation of Islamic
Cooperations Independent
Permanent Human Rights
Commission (OIC-IPHRC) on
October 3, 2017 expressed
serious concern over the viola-
tions of the right to life, right to
freedom of opinion and expres-
sion, freedoms of religion,
peaceful assembly and associa-
tion as well as other fundamental
OIC expresses concern
over HR violations in IOK
Urges UN to stop India from
demographic changes in J&K
human rights of the people of
occupied Kashmir guaranteed
by international human rights
law. It appealed to the United
Nations to condemn and block
the attempts of the Indian
government to change the
demographic composition of
Jammu and Kashmir.
The OIC-IPHRC released a
detailed report after the recent
visit to Azad Jammu and
Kashmir of its fact-finding
delegation from March 27-29,
2017 to assess the human rights
situation in occupied Kashmir.
The delegation was led by the
IPHRC Chairperson, Med
Kaggwa, and comprised Dr
Rashid Al-Balushi, Dr Raihanah
Bint-i-Abdullah, Ambassador
Abdul Wahab, Dr Ergin Ergul,
Prof Saleh Al-Khathlan and Dr
Oumar Abbou Abba.
The report said that while the
Government of Pakistan took the
initiative to invite the OIC-
IPHRC to visit Azad Jammu and
Kashmir (AJK) and meet with the
refugees from occupied Kashmir
and other stakeholders of the
dispute, India disallowed it to
visit the occupied territory. It
pointed out that Jammu and
Kashmir is one of the oldest
internationally recognised
disputes on the agendas of the
Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation and the UN
KASHMIR INSIGHT
Security Council. The report
maintained that the Kashmir
dispute was related to the future
of millions of people who wished
to exercise their inherent and
inalienable right to self-
determination.
The Commission expressed
serious concern over the denial of
Kashmiris fundamental right to
self-determination - well
recognised by the relevant UN
resolutions - and equating their
legitimate freedom struggle with
terrorism by India.
It said that the widespread use of
torture including rape and
molestation of women by Indian
troops and police personnel in
occupied Kashmir was condem-
nable. There are reports of
curfews and curbs on religious
congregations for fear of protests
and people have legitimate
security concerns regarding
protection of their right to life
and dignity, it added.
The Commission asked the
Government of Pakistan to
continue to provide diplomatic,
moral and political support to the
Kashmiris, highlight the
Kashmir dispute and create
awareness at all forums
including the UN about the
human rights violations by
Indian troops in occupied
Kashmir.
The report said that the use of
draconian laws like Armed
Forces Special Powers Act
(AFSPA) was contrary to the
international human rights
standards. These laws grant
sweeping powers to the Indian
forces personnel to detain,
torture and even kill suspects
without any fear of investigation
that has led to a culture of
impunity, it said.
The report quoting the data
issued by the Kashmir Media
Service said that the Indian
NOVEMBER 2017 07
Report
troops martyred 125 innocent
Kashmiris during the ongoing
mass uprising since the extraju-
dicial killing of popular youth
leader, Burhan Wani, on 8th July
2016 till March 31, 2017. It said
that 7,485 people including
women and children received
pellet injuries. It pointed out that
among those injured by the
pellets, the vision of 2,685
persons had been damaged
during the period. The report
said that since 1989 till March 31,
2017, the troops in their unabated
acts of state terrorism had
martyred 94,644 innocent
Kashmiris.
The Commission recommended
that the UN has a crucial role and
responsibility to protect and
promote the rights of the people
of Jammu and Kashmir enabling
them to exercise their right to
self-determination. Therefore, it
requested the UN to impress
upon the Government of India to
put an end to the ongoing human
rights violations in occupied
Kashmir and facilitate holding of
an independent investigation to
all human rights violations. It
urged the UN to use its good
offices to impress upon the
Government of India to repeal
draconian laws like Armed
Forces Special Powers Act
(AFSPA) and Public Safety Act
(PSA) which contravene interna-
tional human rights laws and
standards, and implement the
relevant UN resolutions on
Kashmir. It asked the UN to
consider commemorating
international solidarity day with
the Kashmiris and condemn and
block the attempts of the Indian
government to change the
demographic composition of the
Muslim majority region of
Jammu and Kashmir by
repealing state subject laws and
settling the Indian citizens in the
occupied territory. The
Commission appealed to the UN
KASHMIR INSIGHT
to encourage and facilitate both
Pakistan and India to resume the
dialogue process for peacefully
resolving all outstanding issues
particularly the Kashmir
dispute. It also recommended
that in the event of continued
non-cooperation by the
Government of India, the UNSC,
acting under its obligation to
maintain international peace and
security and with a view to
prevent further violations of
human rights of Kashmiris, must
use its influence to resolve the
Kashmir dispute through
peaceful means.
It also urged the UN Human
Rights Council (UNHRC) to
consider appointment of a
Special Rapporteur with a
specific mandate to investigate
human rights abuses perpetrated
by Indian troops and paramili-
tary personnel in occupied
Kashmir.
It recommended that the UN
High Commissioner for Human
Rights may continue to urge the
government of India to accept an
OHCHR fact finding mission to
occupied Kashmir and must
continue to monitor, document
and report the ongoing human
rights violations under his
regular briefings to the UNHRC.
It recommended that relevant
NOVEMBER 2017 08
Report
Special Procedures of the
UNHRC should also continue to
monitor, highlight and report on
human rights violations falling
under their respective mandates.
The Commission urged the
Director General of World
Health Organisation to consider
to report upon the health
conditions of the people of
occupied Kashmir in its periodic
health situation as is done in the
case of Palestinians in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories.
It stated that this will help in
highlighting the precarious
health conditions in the disputed
region.
The Commission recommended
t o t h e
Government of
Pakistan to
continue to
provide diplo-
matic, moral and
political support
to the Kashmiris
and highlight the
Kashmir dispute
at all forums
including the UN
to create aware-
ness about the
human rights
violations in
o c c u p i e d
Kashmir and
garner support to protect the
basic freedoms of the Kashmiris.
The Commission urged the
Government of India to stop the
gross and systematic human
rights abuses in occupied
Kashmir, allow free access to
international media and inde-
pendent human rights organisa-
tions to carry out investigations
into the human rights violations,
repeal all draconian laws like
AFSPA and PSA to provide the
Kashmiris appropriate access to
justice, free trial and freedom of
movement, and allow access to
the humanitarian organisations
to provide much needed medical
support to the victims of state
terrorism particularly in the
recent cases of blinding by the
pellet gun injuries.
The Commission urged the OIC
to continue to insist and
endeavour to prevail upon the
Government of India to agree to
receive the OIC and IPHRC fact
finding missions to occupied
Kashmir to investigate and
report upon the allegations of
human rights violations;
consider organising an interna-
tional conference/symposium
on the sidelines of the regular
sessions of UN Human Rights
Council in Geneva involving
academics, policy-makers from
the UN and OIC Member States
and human rights experts to
propose ways and means to
secure the human rights of the
Kashmiris; coordinate with the
OIC Contact Group on Jammu
and Kashmir to meet regularly
on the sidelines of the session of
the UN General Assembly, the
UN Human Rights Council as
well as the OIC ministerial
meetings to forge a consensus
position for presentation at the
international fora; coordinate
KASHMIR INSIGHT
and collaborate with the Islamic
Development Bank and Islamic
Solidarity Fund to initiate
development projects in the
livelihood sector, health and
education in occupied Kashmir
and the refugee camps in Azad
Jammu and Kashmir; in case the
Government of India continues
to violate the human rights of
Kashmiris, the OIC Member
States may be urged to consider
using the Boycott Divestment
and Sanctions Movement against
New Delhi to pressurise it to
meet its human rights obliga-
tions; and urge the Government
of India to remove travel restric-
tions imposed upon the
Kashmiri
Hurriyat
leadership
and facilitate
their free
movement
abroad.
The report
also recom-
mended the
IPHRC to
continue
coordination
and collabora-
tion with the
OIC General
Secretariat
and Member
States to raise awareness about
the human rights violations in
occupied Kashmir. In this regard,
it said, the IPHRC should
regularly brief the OIC Contact
Group on Jammu and Kashmir
about the latest human rights
situation in the occupied terri-
tory. The IPHRC should coordi-
nate with the OIC Missions in
New York and Geneva to
circulate the findings of this
report widely with the UN and
human rights organisations, it
added.
NOVEMBER 2017 09
Report
The United Nations, which was
established in 1945 to promote
international cooperation and
resolve world conflicts, has
miserably failed to settle the
Kashmir dispute, despite the
passing of 70 years.
A report released by the Research
Section of Kashmir Media
Service on the 72nd Founding
Day of the United Nations on
October 24, 2017 maintained that
UN failed to implement its
resolutions on Kashmir: Report
Indian troops martyred over
94,000 Kashmiris since 1989
the World Body had passed
several resolutions on Kashmir
in which it was pledged that the
people of Kashmir would be
given their inalienable right to
self-determination through an
impartial and free plebiscite
under the auspices of the World
Body. However, it added, the UN
could not implement its resolu-
tions for the past almost seven
decades. The report said that
India had accepted these resolu-
tions and promised to give the
Kashmiris an opportunity to
decide their fate by themselves
but later backed away from its
commitments.
The report said that Indian
troops in their unabated acts of
state terrorism in occupied
Kashmir had killed 94,846
innocent people including 7,099
in fake encounters or custody
since 1989 till October 24.
The report said that the troops
had so far killed 169 innocent
Kashmiris during the mass
uprising, which was triggered by
the extrajudicial killing of
popular youth leader, Burhan
Wani, on July 8, 2016 by firing
pellets, bullets and teargas shells
on peaceful protesters. It said
that 20,443 people were injured
and 8,276 of them had sustained
pellet injuries during the period.
Of the pellet victims, 73 had lost
their eyesight in both eyes and
207 in one eye while vision of
KASHMIR INSIGHT
1,841 was partially damaged.
The report said that 18,531
people including Hurriyat
leaders and activists had been
arrested during the period and
804 of them had been booked
under draconian law, Public
Safety Act. The report said that
the troops had damaged 65,548
houses and other structures,
arsoned 53 schools and molested
732 women during the uprising.
It said that Indian troops and
paramilitary personnel had
carried out 1,229 cordon and
search operations to suppress the
Kashmiris during the period.
The report pointed out that since
January this year alone, Indian
troops had killed 249 innocent
Kashmiris. It said that 22 of those
martyred were killed in custody
or fake encounters.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of All
Parties Hurriyat Conference,
Syed Ali Gilani, in a statement in
Srinagar appealed to the United
Nations to impress upon India to
stop killings and other human
rights violations in occupied
Kashmir. He paid glowing
tributes to the Bijbehara martyrs
on their martyrdom anniversary.
More than 40 people including 25
students were martyred and
hundreds were injured by the
BSF troops in Bijbehara on
October 22, 1993, when the
people of the area held a peaceful
demonstration against the siege
of Srinagars Hazratbal shrine by
Indian Army.
The blood of these martyrs will
not be allowed to go waste and
Kashmiris will never forget the
sacrifices rendered by the victims
of all such heart-wrenching
massacres, he said.
The APHC Chairman urged the
world human rights organisa-
tions including the Amnesty
International to use their good
offices for bringing to book the
NOVEMBER 2017 10
Report
perpetrators of such heinous
crimes against humanity. He
said that as long as Indian forces
were present in occupied
Kashmir such pain-giving events
would continue to occur and it
would further add to the never-
ending situation of uncertainty
in the territory.
During their freedom move-
ment, Indians witnessed one
massacre of Jallianwala Bagh
while we have witnessed several
such incidents for the last seven
decades, the APHC Chairman
said.
Indian forces have perpetrated
hundreds of such gruesome
massacres including Bijbehara,
Gaw Kadal, Sopore, Handwara,
Bandipora, Kupwara, Zakura,
Wadhama and Chattisinghpora,
he added.
Syed Ali Gilani in his appeal to
the UN said, unless the Indian
forces atrocities are checked and
Pak demands deployment of UN fact-finding mission in Kashmir
On the 72nd Founding Day of the
UN on 24th October 2017,
Pakistan reiterated its call for
deployment of international fact-
finding mission by the UN
Human Rights Council in Jammu
and Kashmir.
President Mamnoon Hussain in
his message in connection with
the UN Day reiterated Pakistans
abiding commitment to the
principles and purposes
enshrined in the UN Charter.
The Kashmir dispute is the oldest
unresolved international conflict
in the world. Pakistan considers
Kashmir as its core political
dispute with India. So does the
international community except
India.
President Mamnoon Hussain
said that Pakistan has played an
active and leading role at the UN
probe initiated against killers
and perpetrators, the human
rights violations will go
unchecked in occupied Kashmir.
The General Secretary of
Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Nahida
Nasreen, in a statement in
Srinagar urged the UN and
world human rights organisa-
tions to send fact-finding teams
in translating its
principles and
purposes into
reality.
Referring to
Jammu and
K a s h m i r
dispute, the
President called
upon the UN
S e c u r i t y
Council to
demonstrate
the necessary political will to
ensure implementation of its
resolutions on the issue in letter
and spirit. He said that the
human rights of the people of
occupied Kashmir had been
systematically violated by India,
particularly since July 2016 after
the extrajudicial killing of
popular youth leader, Burhan
KASHMIR INSIGHT
to occupied Kashmir to expose
Indian brutalities on the innocent
people of the territory. She said
that Kashmiris were being
subjected to the worst kind of
human rights violations as India
was using all brutal tactics to
suppress their just struggle for
securing their inalienable right to
self-determination.
Muzaffar Wani, by Indian
troops. Burhan Wanis cold-
blooded murder had triggered
mass uprising in the occupied
territory.
Pakistan reiterates its call for
deployment of an international
fact-finding mission by the UN
Human Rights Council in Jammu
and Kashmir, the President
said.
NOVEMBER 2017 11
Article
October 27 The Black Day for Kashmiris
Muhammad Raza Malik
Background
October 27 is the darkest day in
the history of Jammu and
Kashmir and the Kashmiris
living on both sides of the Line of
Control and across the world
observe it as Black Day. This is
the day in 1947 when India sent
its armed forces to Jammu and
Kashmir by occupying the then
Princely State in total violation of
the Indian Independence Act and
Partition Plan and against the
aspirations of the Kashmiri
people.
According to Partition Plan of
June 3, 1947, passed by the British
parliament on July 18, the same
year, the Indian British Colony
was to be divided into two
sovereign states. The Hindu-
majority areas were to constitute
India while the Muslim-majority
areas of Western provinces and
east Bengal were to be included
in Pakistan. At the end of British
suzerainty over Indian sub-
continent in 1947, more than 550
Princely States had become
independent but with a choice to
accede either to Pakistan or
India. However, India illegally
occupied Hyderabad, Junagarh
and Kashmir by military
invasion. Being a Muslim-
majority state, with 87% Muslim
population, Jammu and Kashmir
had a natural tendency to accede
to Pakistan, but the evil designs
of its Hindu ruler and the leaders
of Indian National Congress and
Britain paved way to destroy the
future of the people of the
territory.
India claims that it signed
'Instrument of Accession', which
was drafted in Delhi and
presented to the then ruler of
Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja
Hari Singh, on October 26.
However, a prominent British
historian, Alistair Lamb,
challenging the Indian invasion
in Kashmir, in his book The Birth
of Tragedy wrote that the
successive events after the
partition of the united India
strongly suggested that Indian
troops had invaded Kashmir
prior to the signing of the
Instrument of Accession. He
believed that the signed
instrument of accession did not
exist at all. He argued that due to
this reason the Indian
government never made the so-
called document public either
officially or at any international
forum.
It is also a historical fact that the
so-called Boundary
Commission, headed by British
Barrister, Cyril Radcliff, that
demarcated partition line,
played main role in the creation
of the Kashmir dispute. Had the
Commission done the
demarcation of the partition line
on the principles of justice then
India had no land route to enter
into Jammu and Kashmir. But
unfortunately, the Commission
under a conspiracy split
Gurdaspur, a Muslim majority
area, and handed it over to India,
providing it terrestrial access to
the territory. This area otherwise
had to be part of Pakistan.
Genocide of Muslims in Jammu
The Muslims of Jammu and
Kashmir particularly those living
in Jammu region in 1947 had to
pay a heavy price for their
aspirations to join Pakistan.
Indian troops, the forces of Dogra
Maharaja, and Hindu extremists
massacred over 300,000
Kashmiri Muslims within a
period of two months in Jammu
division when they were
migrating towards the newly-
formed Muslim state. The
bloodbath was also intended to
change the demographic
composition of the territory to
turn the results in favour of India
in any referendum in future.
Historians consider this
massacre as the worst example of
genocide in Jammu and
Kashmir.
Kashmir in the United Nations
The Indian occupation faced stiff
resistance from the people of
Kashmir who launched a mass
struggle against it. The resolute
movement of the Kashmiris
forced India to knock the doors of
NOVEMBER 2017 12
Article
the UN Security Council on 1st
January 1948, seeking help of the
World Body to settle the dispute.
The UNSC through its successive
resolutions nullified the Indian
invasion and called for
settlement of the dispute by
giving the Kashmiri people the
right to self-determination. It
approved an impartial plebiscite
to be conducted in Jammu and
Kashmir under the supervision
of the World Body. Despite the
promises made before the world
community by the Indian leaders
of settling the Kashmir dispute
by giving the Kashmiris an
opportunity to decide their fate
by themselves, the plebiscite has
not been held so far.
Kashmiris' revolt against Indian
rule
Disappointed at the failure of all
the efforts aimed at resolving the
Kashmir dispute through
peaceful means since 1947, the
people of occupied Kashmir
intensified their freedom
struggle in 1989 to secure their
right to self-determination. This
movement gathered momentum
with the passage of time and
pushed the Indian authorities to
the wall, forcing them to sit
around the negotiation table
with Pakistan. The dialogues
between the two countries
started in 1999 after the then
Indian Prime Minister, Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, came to
Pakistan and met the Pakistani
leadership. Both the countries
agreed to resolve the Kashmir
dispute through peaceful means
of talks. The talks process
continued till it was hampered
after Mumbai attacks on
November 26, 2008 when India
without any substantive
evidence laid the responsibility
of these attacks on Pakistan and
its intelligence agencies. An
officer of Indian home ministry
later revealed that India itself
had orchestrated the Parliament
and Mumbai attacks to
strengthen its anti-terror laws.
The dialogue process resumed in
July 2009 and continued with
hiccups and was once again
suspended after Narendra Modi-
led Indian government called off
the Foreign Secretary-level
negotiations scheduled in
Islamabad on August 25 in 2014,
on the pretext of meetings
between the then Pakistani High
Commissioner, Abdul Basit, and
Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders in
New Delhi, a few days before the
scheduled talks. Since then the
relations between the two
nuclear neighbours have been
tense and Indian troops are
continuously engaged in
ceasefire violations on the Line of
Control and Working Boundary.
India conducted over 600 such
violations since January this
year. On the other hand, the
ground situation in occupied
Kashmir remains unchanged, as
the confidence building
measures and the dialogue
process could not provide the
Kashmiri people respite from the
Indian state terrorism.
Kashmir a nuclear flashpoint
On May 11, 1998, India
conducted nuclear explosions
and started threatening Pakistan.
This left Pakistan with no option
NOVEMBER 2017 13
Article

but to reciprocate by showing its

nuclear capabilities on May 28 to
strike balance of power in the
region. The development turned
Kashmir as a flashpoint as
underlined by several world
leaders.
Million Marches
The Kashmiris' struggle to get rid
of Indian bondage took a new
turn in 2008. They started hitting
the streets in large numbers and
expressing their anti-India and
pro-liberation sentiments in a
peaceful manner. This mass
uprising continued for three
consecutive years - at times the
demanding their right to self- forward their ongoing liberation
number of peaceful protesters
determination. However, Indian movement.
thronging the streets of Srinagar
police and troops continue to use Indian state terrorism in IOK
crossing one-million mark. But
every brutal tactic against the New Delhi has exhausted all its
most of the time, Indian forces'
protesters. So far, 168 civilians resources during the past seven
personnel responded these
have been killed and 20,170 decades but has miserably failed
peaceful demonstrators with
injured in the firing of pellets, to intimidate the people of
excessive use of brute force,
bullets and teargas shells on the Jammu and Kashmir into
killing more than 200 people
demonstrators. More than 270 submission. The continued
during this period.
youth have lost their one or both Indian state terrorism,
The 2016 mass uprising
the eyes due to the pellet injuries particularly since 1989 has made
The extrajudicial murder of a
while around 1000 are at the the life of Kashmiri people
young liberation leader, Burhan
verge of losing their eyesight. miserable. The occupation forces
Muzaffar Wani, on July 8, last
Hundreds of people including enjoying unbridled powers
year, by Indian troops gave an
Hurriyet leaders have been put under the protection of
impetus to the Kashmiris'
draconian laws like Armed
Forces Special Powers Act and
Disturbed Areas Act in the
occupied territory have broken
all records of human rights
violations. During the last 28
years only, the trigger-happy
forces have martyred over
ninety-four thousand Kashmiris,
widowed nearly twenty-three
thousand women, orphaned not
less than one hundred thousand
children and molested or gang-
raped more than eleven
thousand Kashmiri women.
Thousands of innocent youth
have been subjected to
disappearance in custody and
behind the bars. However, all their whereabouts remain
freedom struggle. People in large
these brutalities could not untraced. The shocking
numbers hit the streets in every
suppress the Kashmiris' resolve discovery of thousands of mass
nook and corner of the occupied
and they are committed to carry graves across the occupied
territory on daily basis,

NOVEMBER 2017 14
Article
territory has raised concerns
about the safety of the
disappeared persons.
Indian new tactics
New Delhi is hell bent upon
changing the Muslim majority of
occupied Kashmir into minority.
On one hand, it is using its
judiciary to abrogate Article 370
and Article 35A of the Indian
Constitution to pave way for
giving the citizenship rights of
Jammu and Kashmir to the
Indian citizens. On the other, it is
using its investigating agencies
like National Investigation
Agency (NIA) and Enforcement
Directorate to implicate Hurriyat
leaders, activists and pro-
freedom people in false cases to
force the Kashmiri people into
submission. Indian designs to
change demography of Jammu
and Kashmir are intended to
influence in its favour the results
of a referendum whenever it is
held in the territory. As such, the
move is against the very purpose
of the relevant UN resolutions.
Pakistan's support to Kashmir
cause
It is an undeniable fact that
Pakistani leadership has always
supported the Kashmiris' just
liberation struggle and never
betrayed the trust reposed in it by
them. The father of the nation,
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali
Jinnah, had termed Jammu and
Kashmir as the jugular vein of
Pakistan. The incumbent
government is projecting the
sufferings of the Kashmiri people
and the gross human rights
violations by Indian troops in
occupied Kashmir forcefully at
all international forums. Prime
Minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi,
in his recent address to the UN
General Assembly and meetings
with the world leaders drew
attention of the international
community towards the Indian
atrocities on the people of
occupied Kashmir. He also called
for settlement of the Kashmir
dispute by implementing the
relevant UN resolutions that
guaranteed the Kashmiris' right
to self-determination. The Chief
of Army Staff, General Qamar
Javed Bajwa, in his speech at the
Defence Day on September 6,
2017 reaffirmed Pakistan's
continued political, moral and
diplomatic support to the
Kashmiris in their struggle for
securing their right to self-
determination.
Conclusion
These are the reasons behind the
observance of October 27 as
Black Day by the Kashmiris
across the world. The objective of
the observance of the Black Day
is to make it clear to New Delhi
that the Kashmiris reject its
illegal occupation of their soil
and that they will continue their
struggle till it gives them their
inalienable right to self-
determination as promised by
the Indian leadership. It is also
aimed at reminding the world of
its obligations of resolving the
Kashmir dispute in accordance
with the wishes of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir and the
relevant UN resolutions.
(The author is working as Senior
Editor at Kashmir Media Service
and can be reached at
razamalik849@yahoo.com)
NOVEMBER 2017 15
Human Rights Situation

Indian atrocities on IOK people during October 2017

Compiled by Raies Ahmed Mir October 1: Indian police used incessant braid chopping
India has turned occupied brute force on Muharram incidents masterminded by the
Kashmir into a military garrison mourners in Srinagar and Indian agencies to create a sense
where people have been deprived Baramulla areas. The police of insecurity and fear-psychosis
of all basic human rights since arrested dozens of mourners among the masses particularly
1947. The continued gross human after they tried to take out womenfolk. The authorities
rights violations, military Aashura processions from Lal sealed Jamia Masjid in Srinagar
operations, destruction of Chowk in Srinagar and Uri in and barred people from offering
property, killings, arrests and use
Baramulla district. Juma prayers at the historic
of brute force on peaceful
October 2: Indian troops during mosque.
demonstrators by Indian police
and troops have made the life of violent military operations killed Indian police arrested the Jammu
the people of the occupied three youth at Tangdhar in and Kashmir Liberation Front
territory a hell. Kupwara and two in Uri area of Chairman, Muhammad Yasin
The Organisation of Islamic Baramulla district. Malik, from his residence in
Cooperation's Independent October 3: The troops killed Srinagar and put the All Parties
Permanent Human Rights three youth during a siege and Hurriyat Conference Chairman,
Commission in a recent report search operation in Humhama Syed Ali Gilani, and the
expressed serious concern over area of Budgam district. Chairman of Hurriyat forum,
the gross human rights abuses by Two Kashmiri youth, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under
Indian troops in occupied
Kashmir. The All Party
Parliamentary Group on Kashmir
in the British Parliament has
announced to conduct a
Parliamentary Enquiry from 14th
December 2017 on the human
rights violations in occupied
Kashmir.
These developments are
encouraging. However, it is also a
fact that such reports have been
released and steps have been
taken in the past but they failed to
change the situation on the
ground in the occupied territory.
The international community
should come forward in a big
way and initiate practical Muhammad Shafi and Javaid house arrest to stop them from
measures for resolution of the Ahmed, were beaten in New leading the demonstrations.
Kashmir dispute. The world Delhi's Tihar Jail. Over a dozen youth and women
community particularly the UN October 4: The troops arrested were injured after Indian forces'
must impress upon New Delhi to three youth in Hajin area of personnel subjected peaceful
stop genocide in occupied Bandipore district. protesters to brute force in
Kashmir and take steps towards
October 5: The troops damaged Srinagar and Islamabad town.
settlement of the lingering
several houses during a siege October 7: The police arrested six
dispute in accordance with the
aspirations of the Kashmiri and search operation in Charar- youth from Islamabad town.
people. e-Sharief area of Budgam district. October 8: The authorities
Following are the details of October 6: The puppet imposed restrictions in Srinagar
brutalities of Indian troops and authorities imposed strict to stop people from staging
police personnel on the people of restrictions in Srinagar to protests against increasing
occupied Kashmir during the prevent people from staging incidents of braid-chopping in
month of October 2017. demonstrations against the the occupied territory.

KASHMIR INSIGHT NOVEMBER 2017 18

Human Rights Situation
October 9: Indian troops killed
three youth during a violent
crackdown operation at Gatipora
in Shopian. Six people were
injured when the troops used
brute force on the
demonstrations in the area
against the killings.
The troops killed another youth
during a siege and search
operation at Ladoora in Sopore.
October 10: The troops killed a
youth during a violent military
operation in Keran area of
Kupwara district.
The troops raided and ransacked
the residence of a religious
scholar and noted columnist,
Maulana Altaf Hussain Nadvi, at
Sallar in Pahalgam area of
Islamabad district.
October 11: The troops killed
two youth during a crackdown
operation in Hajin area of
Bandipore district.
Indian police also arrested five
youth from Shopian and Tral
areas.
October 12: The puppet
authorities placed the
Chairperson of Kashmir Centre
for Social and Developmental
Studies, Professor Hameeda
Nayeem, under house arrest
ahead of a proposed sit-in protest
by the civil society at Pratap Park
in Srinagar against unabated
incidents of braid-chopping in
the occupied territory.
October 13: Over a dozen people
were injured after Indian forces'
personnel fired pellets and
teargas shells on protesters in
Srinagar, Budgam, Hajin,
Sopore, Islamabad and Pulwama
areas.
The puppet authorities imposed
stringent restrictions in Srinagar
and disallowed Friday prayers at
historic Jamia Masjid for the
third consecutive week in
Srinagar.
The authorities put senior
resistance leaders, Syed Ali
Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar
Farooq, under house arrest while
Indian police arrested a youth,
Gulzar Ahmed Dar, from Nagbal
KASHMIR INSIGHT
in Tral.
October 14: Indian troops
destroyed a residential house by
using chemical substance and
mortar shells during a
crackdown operation at Litter in
Pulwama. Dead bodies of two
youth, Nisar Ahmed Mir and
Wasim Ahmed Shah, were
recovered from the debris of the
destroyed house.
A youth, Gulzar Ahmed Mir,
was killed after Indian forces
opened fire on protesters in the
area.
At least forty people were
injured after Indian troops fired
bullets and pellets on protesters
in Pulwama, Uri and Shopian
areas.
Indian police arrested more than
forty people during protests
against a braid chopping
incident in Boniyar area of
Baramulla district.
October 15: The police arrested
three youth from Manigam in
Ganderbal.
October 16: The troops killed
two youth during a siege and
search operation in Trenz area of
Shopian.
A photojournalist, Suhail
Hameed, was injured after he
was hit by the pellets fired by the
police during demonstrations at
Maisuma in Srinagar. Suhail
Hameed was performing his
NOVEMBER 2017 19
Human Rights Situation
professional duties when he was
hit by the pellets.
The police arrested three youth
from Qazigund area of
Islamabad district.
October 17: Over a dozen people
were injured after Indian forces'
personnel used brute force on
protesters in Kulgam, Hajin and
Kupwara.
October 18: Fifteen people
sustained injuries when Indian
troops fired bullets and pellets on
protesters in Pahalgam and
Shopian areas.
Indian police arrested ten youth
from Baramulla, Kangan and
Shopian areas.
Indian forces' personnel barged
into residential houses, beat up
the inmates and
vandalised houses
and property in
Safanagri, Baba
K h i z a r ,
Turkawangam and
Malikgund areas of
Shopian district.
October 19: Indian
troops ransacked the
house of a Hurriyat
activist, Hamaad
Khan, in Seer area of
Tral.
October 20: Several
people sustained
injuries after Indian forces'
personnel fired pellets and
teargas shells on protesters in
Hajin and Sopore areas.
The authorities put Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq under house arrest
in Srinagar ahead of his
scheduled visit to Charar-e-
Sharif shrine in Budgam.
October 21: At least eighteen
persons were injured after Indian
forces' personnel fired bullets
and pellets on protesters in
Srinagar, Budgam and Pulwama
areas.
Indian police arrested Hurriyat
leaders, Ghulam Ahmed Gulzar,
Muhammad Yasin Attai, Syed
Imtiaz Haider and Bashir
Budgami in Srinagar.
October 22: Indian troops killed
a youth in a fake encounter in
Kupwara district.
October 23: Indian forces'
personnel thrashed dozens of
civilians during anti-India
demonstrations at Wagad in
Tral.
Indian police arrested five youth
from Srinagar and Tral areas.
India's National Investigation
Agency (NIA) arrested Shahid
Yousuf Shah, the son of
prominent freedom leader, Syed
Salahuddin, after summoning
him to its headquarters in New
Delhi.
October 24: Indian police
arrested eighteen people from
Srinagar and Tral.
October 25: Several people were
injured when Indian troops used
brute force during crackdown
operations in Shopian and
Pulwama areas.
Indian police arrested two youth
one each from Tral and Chadoora
areas.
The puppet authorities slapped
black law, Public Safety Act, for
the third time on Tehreek-e-
Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir
leaders, Abdul Rasheed Rathar
and Showkat Ahmed Mir, and
KASHMIR INSIGHT
lodged them in Kot Bhalwal Jail
in Jammu.
October 27: The puppet
authorities imposed stringent
restrictions in Srinagar and
deployed Indian troops and
police personnel in strength in
the summer capital and other
major towns of occupied
Kashmir to prevent people from
holding anti-India
demonstrations on the occasion
of the Kashmir Black Day. India
had invaded Jammu and
Kashmir on 27th October in 1947
and illegally occupied it against
the aspirations of the Kashmiri
people and the Partition Plan of
subcontinent. The occupation
authorities sealed Jamia Masjid,
Srinagar, on the
fifth consecutive
week, disallowing
Juma prayers at the
historic mosque.
The authorities also
placed Hurriyat
leaders, Syed Ali
Gilani, Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq and
Muhammad Ashraf
Sehrai, under house
detention and
arrested Hakeem
Abdur Rasheed and
Mukhtar Ahmed Waza to stop
them from leading anti-India
demonstrations.
Indian police arrested nine youth
from Kakapora in Pulwama.
October 29: Indian troops killed
two youth during a siege and
search operation in Hajin area of
Bandipore district. Over a dozen
people were injured due to the
use of brute force by the troops
on peaceful protesters in the area.
October 31: Indian troops
trashed several people at Sumlar
in Bandipore district without any
reason.
NOVEMBER 2017 20
Report
Kashmir Council European
Union (KCEU) organised
Kashmir EU-Week at the
European Parliament in Brussels,
the capital of Belgium, from
October 9 to 12, 2017 to highlight
miseries of the people of occupied
Kashmir. The week-long
programme comprised an
international conference,
seminars, debates and a photo
Plight of Kashmiris
highlighted at
Kashmir EU Week
and handicraft exhibition on
Kashmir.
Speakers of a conference titled
What Can the European
Parliament Do about the
Situation in Kashmir? on
October 10 urged the interna-
tional community to help in
peaceful resolution of the
Kashmir dispute. The conference
was moderated by former
Ambassador of EU, Anthony
Crasner. Azad Jammu and
Kashmir Prime Minister, Raja
Farooq Haider; MEP Dr Sajjad
Karim; AJK Senior Minister
Chaudhry Tariq Farooq; KCEU
Chairman, Ali Raza Syed; MEP
Wajid Khan; AJK MLA, Raja
Javed Iqbal; and others addressed
the conference. MEP Sajjad Karim
has been the host of the Kashmir
EU-Week in the European
Parliament for the past many
years.
The AJK Prime Minister, Raja
Farooq Haider Khan, in his
address said, protection of rights
of the people of Jammu and
Kashmir especially the right of
self-determination is legal
obligation of international
community particularly the UN.
The international community
must stop India from committing
atrocities on the Kashmiris, he
said. He also urged the EU to pay
immediate attention to the
human rights of Kashmiris
instead of trade with India.
AJK Senior Minister for Physical
Planning and housing,
Agriculture and Live Stock,
KASHMIR INSIGHT
Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, said that
bilateralism did not work
between India and Pakistan. So,
he added, international commu-
nity must intervene and help in
an amicable resolution of the
Kashmir dispute under the UN
resolutions.
The KCEU Chairman, Ali Raza
Syed, suggested close coopera-
tion among the Kashmiri dias-
pora in order to raise the Kashmir
dispute at the international level
more effectively.
The MEP from UK, Wajid Khan,
while referring to free trade
agreement between India and the
European Union said that the EU
should give priority to human
rights instead of trade and
money. He also called upon the
international community to fulfill
its promises under the UN
resolutions about granting the
right to self-determination to the
Kashmiris.
Daniel Caron, the former member
of Brussels Parliament, suggested
enhanced exchange of delega-
tions between EU and Kashmir.
He said, frequent visits of
Kashmiri figures to the EU and
EUs officials and other important
figures to Kashmir would help in
better understanding among the
Europeans about the Kashmir
dispute.
MLA for Overseas Kashmiris in
AJKs Assembly, Raja Javed
Iqbal, also demanded of the EU to
make efforts to stop human rights
violations in occupied Kashmir.
Researcher and journalist, Syed
Sibtain Shah, Tariq Butt and Atiq-
ur-Rehman from UK also spoke
on the occasion.
On the same day a photo exhibi-
tion at the EU Parliament was also
inaugurated. The photo exhibi-
tion comprising photographs
from occupied Kashmir
produced by a noted Belgian
photographer, Cdric Gerbehaye,
continued till October 22.
NOVEMBER 2017 23
Report
Members of the European
Parliament and the Prime
Minister of Azad Jammu and
Kashmir, Raja Farooq Haider,
were present at the inaugural
ceremony. It featured a series of
photos of Kashmir entitled
Maqbooza Kashmir. The series
of black and white images
documented the harsh reality of
the lives of the Kashmiri people
and the violations of their basic
rights they suffer on a daily basis.
This work was made possible
with the support from
Photographer Festival in Baie de
Saint-Brieuc.
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Prime Minister, Raja Farooq
Haider, while addressing a
seminar titled The International
Community and Protection of
Human Rights in South Asia on
October 12 termed Kashmir as an
international issue and stressed
the need of serious attention of the
international community towards
its settlement.
The seminar was also addressed
by AJK Senior Minister,
Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, KCEU
Chairman, Ali Raza Syed, former
EU Ambassador Anthony
Crasner, Member Brussels
Parliament, Dr Zahoor Manzoor,
and lady Councilor in Brussels,
S h a z i a
Manzoor.
Raja Farooq
H a i d e r
further said
t h a t
Kashmir
w a s
l o n g-
standing
issue and
the world
community
s h o u l d
listen to the voices of Kashmiris
and must stop human rights
violations in occupied Kashmir.
Chaudhry Tariq Farooq in his
address said that the miseries of
the Kashmiri people continued
due to Indias illegal occupation of
Jammu and Kashmir.
Ali Raza Syed said, Besides
friends of Kashmiris we should
also talk to friends in Indian state
and convince them that India is
involved in severe violations of
human rights in Kashmir.
Dr Zahoor Manzoor said that a
large number of people had been
killed by the Indian troops in
occupied Kashmir and thousands
of others were missing as they
were subjected to custodial
disappearance by the Indian
forces personnel.
Human rights activist, Zafar
KASHMIR INSIGHT
Ahmed Qureshi, researcher Syed
Sibtain Shah, President EU-
Pakistan Press Club Brussels,
Chaudhry Imran Saqib, PhD
scholar Roushan Akbar and
others also spoke on the occasion.
On the same day, addressing a
gathering of Kashmiri and
Pakistani youth especially
students from different universi-
ties of Brussels, the AJK Prime
Minister, Raja Farooq Haider,
said that the EU-based Kashmiri
and Pakistani youth could play a
valuable role in the context of
Kashmir cause in the region of
Europe. He said that the youth
should create awareness about
the Kashmir dispute in Europe.
They should apprise the
European youth, intellectuals,
politicians and parliamentarians
about the Kashmir dispute, he
added.
The gathering was followed by a
dinner arranged by UK-based
Kashmiri figure and business-
man, Tariq Butt. Prominent
Kashmiri leader based in
Belgium, Sardar Sadique, also
addressed the gathering while the
programme was moderated by
Chaudhry Imran Saqib.
The AJK Prime Minister said, the
Kashmiris have to introduce
themselves without their political
party affiliation in Europe. He
said that he came to Brussels as a
Kashmiri and in this way he could
highlight the issue of Kashmir
more effectively.
NOVEMBER 2017 24
Report
A Kashmir conference titled
Kashmiris right to self-
determination and human rights
violations in Kashmir was
organised by Tehreek-e-Kashmir
Denmark and Danish Pakistani
Affairs Council at the Parliament
of Denmark in Copenhagen on
October 20, 2017.
President of Azad Jammu and
Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan,
was the chief guest of the
Kashmir conference held
at Danish Parliament
conference while Convener of
All Parties Kashmir Liaison
Council and AJK MLA, Abdur
Rasheed Turabi; President
Tehreek-e-Kashmir Europe,
Muhammad Ghalib; President of
Kashmir Movement UK, Raja
Faheem Kyani; members of
Danish Parliament, Zenia
Stampe and Charlotte Burgess;
Convener of the All Parties
Hurriyat Conference Azad
Jammu and Kashmir chapter,
Ghulam Muhammad Safi;
members of Tehreek-e-Kashmir
Denmark and Danish Pakistani
Affairs Council; and other
Kashmiri leaders from across
Europe participated in it.
Addressing the audience, the
AJK President, Sardar Masood
Khan, said that the inattention of
the international community
towards the Kashmir dispute
had resulted in the unending
sufferings of the people of
Kashmir.
He said that the people of
occupied Kashmir were facing
egregious human rights crimes
by Indian troops on daily basis
which had made their lives
unbearable. Draconian laws
like Public Safety Act and Armed
Forces Special Powers Act have
been imposed in occupied
Kashmir which are not only
discriminatory but also provide
the occupation forces unbridled
powers to commit war crimes
with impunity in the territory,
he said.
Speaking of the war crimes
committed by Indian troops and
KASHMIR INSIGHT
police personnel in occupied
Kashmir, the AJK President said,
Now we can no longer look at
this crisis only from the lens of a
political standoff between two
neighbouring countries but as a
humanitarian crisis of a global
level. This is the largest pre-
planned ethnic cleansing of
human history in modern times.
He said that India had denied the
unarmed innocent Kashmiris
their right to self-defense and
instead demonised their indige-
nous freedom struggle as an act
of terrorism and labeled them as
traitors. The Kashmiris are the
most unarmed populace on the
face of the earth and are waging a
peaceful unarmed struggle for
their right to self-determination
which has been guaranteed to
them through the resolutions of
the United Nations Security
Council, he added.
Sardar Masood Khan said that
occupied Kashmir was the most
heavily militarised territory of
the world with over 700,000
actively deployed Indian Army
personnel, leading to an absurd
and disproportionate ratio of one
soldier for every twenty
Kashmiris. He said that the
international community was
only being informed of a fraction
of the atrocities and human
rights violations due to an
information blackout by India in
the occupied territory.
The AJK President urged the
international community to take
notice of the gross human rights
violations being committed by
Indian forces personnel in
occupied Kashmir. The nations
of the world must forgo their
strategic and economic interests
with India for the sake of
humanity and impress upon
New Delhi to come to the table of
negotiations for an early and
peaceful resolution of the
NOVEMBER 2017 25
Report
dispute, he said.
Sardar Masood Khan said that it
was due to the diplomatic, moral
and political support of Pakistan
that even after seventy years this
issue was still being discussed at
international forums. He
thanked the people of Pakistan
for their unflinching support and
said that the presence of
Pakistans Ambassador to
Denmark at this conference was a
proof of their commitment
towards the peaceful resolution
of the Kashmir dispute.
The AJK President appealed to
the Danish Parliamentarians to
help in raising the profile of the
Kashmir dispute at all interna-
tional forums. He said that the
Kashmir issue must be exten-
sively and objectively debated in
the parliaments of influential
nations thus raising the matter in
international forums like the UN
Security Council and the UN
Human Rights Council.
Sardar Masood Khan expressed
his gratitude to Ms Zenia Stampe
for her pivotal role in organising
the conference and providing the
Danish Parliament as the venue
for the conference which
displays the assurance and the
commitment of the Danish
people in defending basic human
rights.
Abdur Rasheed Turabi in his
address said that if the Kashmir
dispute was not settled peace-
fully, it could trigger nuclear war
between Pakistan and India that
would affect the whole world.
He said that it was also the
responsibility of the European
countries and European Union to
put pressure on India to settle the
lingering dispute in accordance
with the Kashmiris aspirations.
Abdur Rasheed Turabi said that
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra
Modi, was planning to convert
the Muslim majority status of
Jammu and Kashmir into
KASHMIR INSIGHT
minority by permanently settling
Indian citizens in the territory.
He said that India was commit-
ting genocide in occupied
Kashmir where innocent people
were being killed due to
invoking of draconian laws like
Armed Forces Special Powers
Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety
Act (PSA). He said that the
international community should
also fulfill its responsibility
towards settlement of the
lingering dispute.
The members of Danish
Parliament, Zenia Stampe and
Charlotte Burgess, on the
occasion said that they had
supported the Kashmiris in the
past and assured that they would
continue this support in the
future as well.
Muhammad Ghalib said that
Kashmir dispute had been
projected in the entire Europe.
Raja Faheem Kyani, thanking the
government and people of
Denmark, said that they had
always sided with the Kashmiris.
Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Ansar
Manzoor Hussain, Adeel Ahmed
Aasi, Syed Zulfikar Gardezi,
Muzammil Ayub, Mian Muneer
Hussain, Zafar Ahmed and other
Kashmiri leaders also addressed
the seminar.
NOVEMBER 2017 26
Chronology
A chronological account of
developments on Kashmir (135)
KMS Research Desk
2014
January 15: The Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front holds a
protest sit-in at Pratap Park in
Srinagar to draw attention of the
world towards the plight of
political prisoners languishing in
different jails of the occupied
territory and India and demand
their immediate release. The
JKLF leader, Noor Muhammad
Kalwal, who leads the sit-in,
speaking on the occasion calls
upon the international
community and world human
rights organisations to take
notice of the miserable plight of
the illegally detained Kashmiris
including those awarded life
imprisonment.
January 20: Indian troops in their
fresh acts of state terrorism
martyr two Kashmiri youth
during siege and search
operations at Shempora in
Qazigund area of Islamabad and
Dadasara area of Tral in
Pulwama districts. The troops
also damage a residential house
in Shempora.
Indian police arrest noted
Kashmiri human rights
defender, Muhammad Ahsan
Unto, during a sit-in protest held
at Lal Chowk in Srinagar to
demand an independent probe
into Gaw Kadal massacre of 1990.
At least fifty civilians were killed
when Indian forces had resorted
to indiscriminate firing in Gaw
Kadal area of Srinagar on
January 21 in 1990 on peaceful
demonstrators who were
protesting against the
molestation of several women by
the troops during the previous
night.
Several people, including a
photojournalist, are injured after
Indian police use brute force
against protesters in Bijbehara.
Indian troops beat up a civilian,
Suhail Altaf Lone, at Arigam in
Bandipore.
The troops also arrest four youth
during house raids in Tral.
In London, the Chairman of
International Chamber for Peace
and Conciliation, Professor
Nazir Ahmed Shawl, addressing
a meeting of Kashmir Advisory
Council, UK, says that despite
Indian state terrorism, Kashmiris
are determined to take their
ongoing liberation movement to
its logical end.
January 21: Pro-freedom leaders
while paying rich tributes to the
martyrs of Gaw Kadal, Srinagar,
reaffirm the Kashmiris' resolve to
continue their freedom struggle
till it reaches its logical
conclusion.
A protest rally led by Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front
Chairman, Muhammad Yasin
Malik, is taken out from
Maisuma to Gaw Kadal.
Addressing a big gathering on
the occasion, Muhammad Yasin
Malik demands an impartial
investigation into all such
incidents of mass killings in the
territory. Hurriyet leaders,
Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Nayeem
Ahmed Khan, Muhammad
Yousuf Naqash, Farooq Ahmed
Dar, Shabbir Ahmed Dar and
Muhammad Iqbal Mir, at a
meeting while Zafar Akbar Butt,
Javaid Ahmed Mir, Syed Bashir
Andrabi, Engineer Hilal Ahmed
War and Firdous Ahmed Shah,
in their statements in Srinagar
say that the Gaw Kadal massacre
had exposed India's so-called
democratic face to the world.
January 22: Former bureaucrat
and Chairperson of the Indian
Commission on Minorities,
Wajahat Habibullah, in a media
interview in Srinagar says that
the Gaw Kadal massacre of 1990
is a blot on the Indian democracy
and a gloomy day in the history
of Kashmir. He says that he was
not present in Kashmir when the
massacre occurred but he
believes that innocent people
NOVEMBER 2017 27
Chronology
were killed and the culprits must
be punished without any further
delay.
January 23: The All Parties
Hurriyet Conference Chairman,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,
addressing through video link
from Srinagar a seminar
organised by the London
Institute of South Asia at the
House of Lords says that the
unresolved Kashmir dispute is a
constant threat to peace in the
South Asian region. He says that
the Kashmir dispute has become
a nuclear flashpoint in the region
where a small incident can
trigger a nuclear war.
The General Secretary of
Kashmir Tehreek-e-Khawateen,
Mrs Shamim Shawl, addressing a
series of meetings in London says
that Indian government's
disregard for women's rights and
all other fundamental freedoms
is a stark reality in occupied
Kashmir. She says that India on
the basis of military might is
suppressing the Kashmiris'
demand for right to self-
determination and the APHC
leadership is continuously
deprived of a democratic space.
Indian Army gives a clean chit to
its five officers involved in the
Pathribal fake encounter that
took place in
Islamabad district
in March 2000. On
March 19, 2012, the
I n d i a n
investigating
agency, CBI
(Central Bureau of
Investigation), had
told the Supreme
Court of India that
the fake encounter
at Pathribal in which seven
people were killed by army
personnel "are cold-blooded
murders and the accused
officials deserve to be meted out
exemplary punishment.
Following the CBI investigation
and the Indian Supreme Court's
order, the Indian Army had
conveyed its readiness to a
Srinagar court to try the accused
personnel in the military court
but now it closes the case.
January 24: World human rights
watchdogs, the Amnesty
International and Human Rights
Watch, say that the Indian
Army's decision to close a case of
extrajudicial executions by its
troops, despite an independent
investigation finding evidence
against them, reinforces the
culture of impunity in occupied
Kashmir.
The South Asia Director for
Amnesty International, Shashi
Kumar Vilath, in a media
interview in New Delhi says that
the Indian Army in occupied
Kashmir was using draconian
law, Armed Forces Special
Powers Act (AFSPA), as a shield
for the gross human rights
violations being inflicted by it in
the territory. He says that instead
of army, the matter should have
been investigated by some
independent agency.
Human Rights Watch in a
statement issued in New York
says that decision demonstrates
the military's continuing
impunity for serious abuses. It
says that the Indian government
should urgently act on the
recommendations of several
commissions and repeal the
AFSPA, which provides effective
immunity for military personnel
implicated in human rights
violations.
Five villagers were abducted
and murdered, yet the army has
been allowed to absolve itself,
says Meenakshi Ganguly, South
Asia Director at Human Rights
Watch. The AFSPA should be
repealed so that soldiers who
commit serious crimes against
civilians face trial in civilian
courts and can no longer be
protected from prosecution, she
adds.
Compiled by: Showkat Ali
To be continued...
NOVEMBER 2017 28
Beauty Thy Name is
Hangul - the Kashmir stag
The Kashmir stag, also called
hangul, is a subspecies of Red
Deer. It is a native of occupied
Kashmir and Indian state of
Himachal Pradesh. It is listed as
critically endangered animal by
the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
as population was counted 160
mature individuals in 2008
census.
Description
This deer has a light rump patch
without including the tail. Its
coat colour is brown with a
speckling to the hair. The inner
sides of the buttocks
are grayish white,
followed by a line on
the inner sides of the
thighs and black on the
upper side of the tail.
Each antler consists of
five tines. The beam is
strongly curved
inward, while the brow
and bez tines are
usually close together
and above the burr.
The male hangul is
known for its
magnificent antlers that can have
nine to 16 branches. It is an
extremely shy deer found either
alone or in small groups. It is
termed critically endangered
by the IUCN Red List and in
Schedule 1 of the Wildlife
Protection Act in India.
Distribution and ecology
This deer lives in groups of two
to 18 individuals in dense
riverine forests, high valleys, and
mountains of the Kashmir Valley
and in northern Chamba area of
Himachal Pradesh.
In occupied Kashmir, it is found
in Dachigam National Park at an
altitude of 3,035 meters above the
sea level.
Threats and conservation
This deer once numbered from
about 5,000 animals in the
beginning of the 20th century.
Unfortunately, they were
threatened, due to habitat
destruction, overgrazing by
domestic livestock, and
poaching and they dwindled to
as low as 150 animals by 1970.
However, the administration of
occupied Kashmir in
collaboration with the IUCN and
the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
prepared a project for the
protection of these animals. It
became known as Project
Hangul. This brought great
results and the population
increased to over 340 by 1980.
Shortly before the expedition
was mounted, Fiona Guinness
and Tim Clutton-Brock, both
noted deer experts, had visited
occupied Kashmir and had
gathered some useful field data,
which confirmed that hangul
numbers were at a dangerously
low level.
Scientifically known as Cervus
elaphus hanglu, the hangul is the
only surviving race of the Red
Deer family of Europe in South
Asia. The animal is battling for its
survival in its last bastion. The
stags are now scattered within
KASHMIR INSIGHT
141 km of the Dachigam
National Park located on
foothills of Zabarwan range in
Srinagar. Known for its
magnificent antlers with 11 to 16
points, hangul was once
distributed widely in the
mountains of Kashmir. During
1940s, their number was believed
to be about 3,000 to 5,000. As per
the latest census in 2008, only
around 160 animals existed.
The hangul moves between
upper and lower Dachigam in
search of food. It spends winter
on lower elevations below 2,000
metres in valleys and gorges
while in spring it
moves up the
mountain slopes in
search of lush green
grass that comes up
after the snow melts.
The deer spends the
summer months at
elevations between
2,700 to 3,600 metres
and again returns to
lower elevations at the
onset of winter.
The stags use lower
Dachigam between
September and April; the mating
season starts in mid-September
and ends a month later. By the
end of April, after the fawning,
they move to upper Dachigam to
their summer grazing grounds.
Currently, these same grazing
grounds are used by the Gujjars,
Bakarwals and other shepherds
who take their livestock to higher
altitudes during summer. In the
vast areas of Nageberan and
Marser, thousands of sheep,
goats, horses and cattle are
grazed by Gujjars, Bakarwals
and Banyaris. This has created
potential competitors and
persistent sources of disturbance
for hangul during summers.
NOVEMBER 2017 29
Literature
The generous king
There was once a poor man, who
used to earn a few paisas by
cutting and selling wood. It was a
hard struggle to support his
family comprising his wife and
seven daughters. Never a bit of
meat touched his lips, never a
shoe covered his feet, and only a
rag covered his back. One day,
when not feeling very well, he
lied down under a tree to rest.
The lucky-bird Huma
happened to be flying about the
place at the time, and, noticing
the man's poverty and sickness,
pitied him. So it flew down
beside him and deposited a
golden egg by his bundle of
wood. In a little while the
woodcutter awoke, and seeing
the egg, picked it up and
wrapped it in his handkerchief.
He then took up his load and
went to the worn, who generally
bought it. He also sold him the
egg for a trifle. He did not know
what a wonderful egg it was; but
the Woni knew, and asked him to
go and get the bird that laid it,
and he would give him a rupee as
a gift. The man promised, and on
the following day went to the
jungle as usual to prepare his
load of wood. On the way back
he sat down to rest under the tree
where he had found the egg, and
pretended to sleep. The bird
came again, and noticing that he
the bird being dead will not make
was still as poor and as ill-
looking as before, thought that he
had not seen the egg, and
therefore went and laid another
close by him, in such peculiar a
spot that he could not possibly
miss seeing it, but the wood-
KASHMIR INSIGHT
cutter caught the bird, and rose
up to carry it to the Woni.
"Oh! What are you going to do
with me? Do not kill me. Do not
imprison me; but set me free,"
cried the bird. "You shall not fail
of a reward. Pluck one of my
feathers, show it to the fire, and
you shall at once arrive at my
country, Koh-i-Qaf, where my
parents will reward you. They
will give you a necklace of pearls,
the price of which no king on
earth could give."
But the poor ignorant wood-
cutter would not listen to the
bird's pleadings. His mind was
too much occupied with the
thought of the rupee that he felt
certain of getting, and therefore
he fastened the bird in his wrap,
and ran off to the Woni as fast as
his load would permit. Alas!
However, the bird died on the
way from suffocation.
"What shall I do now? " thought
the woodcutter. "The Woni will
not give me a rupee for a dead
bird. Ha! Ha! I will show one of
its feathers to the fire. Perhaps
any difference."
Accordingly he did so, and
immediately found himself in
the mysterious country of the
bird, where he sought out the
parents of the bird and told them
all that had happened. The
parents and other birds wept
bitterly when they saw the dead
body of their beloved relative.
Attracted by the noise, a strange
bird that happened to be passing
at the time came in and inquired
what was the matter. This bird
carried a piece of grass in its beak,
with which it could raise the
dead.
"Why do you weep?" it said to the
sorrowful company.
"Because our relative is dead; we
NOVEMBER 2017 30
Literature
shall never speak to it again,"
they replied.
"Weep not," said the strange bird,
Your relative shall live again."
Whereupon it placed the piece of
grass in the mouth of the corpse,
and it revived. When the bird
Huma revived and saw the
woodcutter, it severely
upbraided him for his faithless-
ness and carelessness.
"I could have made you great and
happy," it said, "but now get you
back to your burden of wood and
humble home."
On this the poor man found
himself back again in the jungle,
and standing by the load of wood
that he had prepared
before he was trans-
ported to the birds
country. He sold his
wood, and then went
home in a very sad
frame of mind to his
wife and daughters. He
never saw the bird
Huma again. It has
been mentioned that
this woodcutter had
seven daughters. These
girls grew up, and had
to be married. But how
was the woodcutter to arrange
for their marriages? He barely
earned money sufficient for their
food and nobody would be allied
to such a poverty-stricken house
as his. In the hour of his difficulty
he sought the advice of a friend,
who told him to go to Hatam, the
noble-minded generous king,
and ask for help. Now in those
days Hatam had become very
poor, and was obliged to pound
rice for a living. But although he
was so reduced in circumstances,
that there was scarcely a poorer
man than he in the whole
country, yet he had the same
generous heart and was as
desirous as ever of bettering
others. When the woodcutter
reached his country and
happened to meet with him, he
had a beautiful instance of his
generous spirit. The woodcutter,
not knowing who he was, related
to him all his sad tale and begged
to be directed to King Hatam, the
Noble. The poor king advised
him to stay there for the night
and continue his journey on the
morrow; to which the wood-
cutter consented, and walked
with him to his house. That night
Hatam fasted, in order to give
something to his guest, and in the
morning he informed him of the
truth.
Friend, said he, I am he whom father for help, and how her
you seek; but behold! I am as
poor as you. Alas! I cannot help
you. I cannot even give you
another meal. But if you will
accept my only daughter, you are
welcome. You may be able to sell
her, and thus get some money to
marry your own daughters. Go,
and God be with you.
King, replied the woodcutter,
Your generosity melts my heart.
I cannot thank you sufficiently
for your kindness to me. May
God reward you. Farewell!
The woodcutter and the princess
then left. On the way they had to
pass through a very wild place,
where they met a prince, who
KASHMIR INSIGHT
was hunting. The prince chanced
to catch sight of the girl, at once
fell in love with her and begged
the woodcutter to accept him as a
son-in-law. Of course the man
agreed, and the marriage was
celebrated. Henceforth money
without stint flowed into the
woodcutter's hands so that he
was able to resign his calling, to
build for himself a beautiful
house and to marry his seven
daughters into good and respect-
able families.
Meanwhile, the prince was living
very happily with his beautiful
wife, under the idea that she was
the woodcutter's daughter. One
day, however, he discovered the
truth of the matter. He
had given alms to a
poor man in the
presence of his wife,
when she casually
remarked that he had
done a hatami, meaning
a generous act, a
Hatam-like act. The
prince asked her how
she knew anything
about Hatam, and she
told him everything --
how the woodcutter
had applied to her
father, not having anything else,
gave her to him as a slave. The
prince then sent for the woodcut-
ter, and heard from him the same
words, and all about the Humas
egg and the man's visit to Koh-i-
Qaf. He was intensely surprised
when he heard all these things.
He immediately sent for King
Hatam, begging him to come and
rule the country in his stead,
because he was too young and
inexperienced to manage it
properly. The retired woodcutter
received a large pension in land;
but the cunning Woni was
ordered to hand over the golden
egg to the king.
NOVEMBER 2017 31
Feedback
Black Day
Dear editor, 27th October is the
blackest day in the history of Jammu
and Kashmir as on this day in 1947
India landed its troops in Srinagar
and subjugated the people of Jammu
and Kashmir against their will. Since
then, the Kashmiris have been
carrying on their struggle to get rid of
this forcible occupation of their
homeland. It is unfortunate that
instead of respecting the aspirations
of the Kashmiri people, Indian
leaders from time to time claim that
Jammu and Kashmir is an integral
part of India. However, in their
stubbornness, they fail to
acknowledge the reality that
Kashmir had never been a part of
India.
On the other hand, the presence of
over seven hundred thousand Indian
troops in occupied Kashmir is the
main reason of massive human
rights violations in the territory.
The United Nations needs to fulfil its
responsibility towards settling the
Kashmir dispute in accordance with
the Kashmiris' aspirations by
implementing its relevant
resolutions. The world powers
should also come forward to
facilitate resolution of the lingering
dispute. The settlement of the
Kashmir conflict is essential not
only for saving the Kashmiris from
the Indian brutalities but also for
ensuring durable peace in South
Asia.
Thanks
Abid Raza
Rawalpindi
Kashmir gets world attention
The people of Pakistan expressed
complete solidarity with their
Kashmiri brethren on the occasion of
Kashmir Black Day observed on
October 27 to highlight the plight of
the people in occupied Kashmir and
the need for just resolution of the
Kashmir dispute as per the
Kashmiris' aspirations and the
relevant UN resolutions.
Kashmir is surely an unfinished
agenda of Partition Plan of
subcontinent and four generations of
Kashmiris have waited and fought
for their right to self-determination
pledged to them not only by the UN
but also the Indian leadership.
President Mamnoon Hussain and
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan
Abbasi have done well by reminding
the World Body of its obligations
and urging India to stop its state
terrorism against the Kashmiris and
initiating measures for peaceful
resolution of the lingering dispute.
As Kashmiris and people of Pakistan
observed Black Day, there were
some encouraging developments
elsewhere which are reflection of
growing realisation of what is
happening in occupied Kashmir
amid India's repressive policies and
the threat that the unresolved dispute
poses to regional peace. The All
Party Parliamentary Group on
Kashmir in the UK Parliament has
announced to investigate human
rights violations in the occupied
KASHMIR INSIGHT
territory in December this year,
prepare a report and submit it to the
Parliament, British Government and
the UN. The UN Human Rights
Council has already demanded of
India to allow its fact-finding
missions access to the occupied
territory as has been repeatedly
urged by the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation but New Delhi is
resisting all such moves as they
could expose its brutalities. It is
encouraging that despite curfews
and curbs, information about crimes
against humanity perpetrated by
Indian troops in occupied Kashmir
has started coming out and is finding
space in world media. We believe
that it is because of the successful
diplomatic campaign launched by
Pakistan, courageous stand adopted
by our leadership during interaction
with world leaders and the positive
role played by Pakistani media that
today there is greater realisation
about peaceful settlement of the
lingering dispute and India will
ultimately have to listen to the voice
of Kashmiris.
Thanks
Jamil Ahmed
Chakwal
Braid chopping
Dear editor, it is highly condemnable
that Indian intelligence agencies
have found yet another method of
inflicting torture on the women of
occupied Kashmir in the form of
braid chopping to punish them for
their affiliation with the ongoing
freedom movement. This new type
of violence is in addition to killing of
innocent people, blinding of youth
with pellet-firing, crackdowns, night
raids, arrests, detentions and torture.
The only objective of these
disgraceful acts is to create fear-
psychosis among the masses
particularly the womenfolk.
India must acknowledge the fact that
all its brutal tactics have failed to
suppress the Kashmiris' freedom
sentiment and they are determined to
take their ongoing liberation
movement to its logical conclusion.
Thanks
Saleem Akbar
Islamabad
NOVEMBER 2017 32
 Atrocities by Indian troops
(January 1989 to October 31, 2017)

Total killings 94,846

Custodial killings 7,099

Civilians arrested 142,745

Structures destroyed/damaged 108,408

Women widowed 22,859

Children orphaned 107,666

Women gangraped/molested 11,021

Including custodial killings

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

 Confessions, Promises, Commitments
Do you remember anything?

We have given further thought, in the light of our discussion in Lahore, to the
question of inviting UN to advise us in this matter. While we are prepared to invite UN
observers to come here and advise us as to proposed plebiscite, it is not clear in what
other capacity the UN help can be sought...
... I confess, however, that I find myself unable to suggest anything beyond what I
have offered already, namely, to ask UN to send impartial observers to advise us
regarding the plebiscite.

(Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehrus telegram to

Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan, December 12, 1947)

All Parties Hurriyet Conference Azad Jammu And Kashmir

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