The Kashmir

July 30, 2009

Hindu Temples in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir


Mirpur has a special place in sub-continent’s history. The famous battle between Alexandar and Porus was fought here in 323 BC.  A large number of Hindus lived in Mirpur once . Today Mirpur doesnt have any hindus living in there.

Please find below the state of Hindu temples in Mirpur …

Shiva Temple - Mirpur [Pakistan Occupied Kashmir ] RaghuNath (Ram ) Temple in Old Mirpur [ Pakistan Occupied Kashmir ]
Raghunath Temple in Evening – Mirpur Pakistan Occupied KashmirRaghunath [ Ram ] Temple in Evening [ Mirpur - Pakistan Occupied Kashmir ]

Pictures Courtsey : Mohsin

July 29, 2009

India Got Talent – Priya Raina


For a Change , besides usual Politics , I would be introducing the readers of this blog to the youth of Kashmiri Hindu Community , their talent and their contribution to the society.

These youth are the future of Panun Kashmir.

To start with , please find below video of Priya Raina , who now hails from Jammu at “India Got The talent Show” . This show featured on 19th July 2009.

Pls do vote for Priya Raina

July 27, 2009

Panun Kashmir Resolution by various state Goverments ?

Filed under: History Of Kashmir, India, Panun Kashmir, Politics, Protests/Events — Tags: , , — TheKashmir @ 12:47 pm

MP Assembly passes historic resolution on ‘Panun Kashmir’


The Madhya Pradesh Assembly passed a resolution unanimously today expressing support to the demand of Union Territory for Kashmiri Pandits in the valley of Kashmir. The resolution was moved by Mr. Umashankar (MLA) and supported by Mr. Deshraj Singh (MLA) and state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mr. Kailash Vijay Wargi. The resolution was passed at 6:15pm today after an hour long discussion on the subject. The resolution besides other things demanded that the Government of India should in the meanwhile establish a commission of enquiry to find reasons for the plight of Kashmiri Pandits which includes their exodus from Kashmir. It also demanded that Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) including an economic package be announced for the community. It also demands that a bill to protect temples and shrines of Kashmiri Pandits be introduced with the concurrence of Kashmiri Pandit representatives for which a dialogue should be initiated with ‘Panun Kashmir’ the representative body of the community. The resolution further demanded that the Government of the country should take all necessary measures to ameliorate the sufferings for the community.

Panun Kashmir

When the bill was introduced, discussed and passed in the Madhya Pradesh Assemby; a team of community members was present in the Speaker’s Gallery of the Assembly, besides others who were present included Dr. Agnishekhar, Convener, Panun Kashmir and Shri Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, President, Panun Kashmir.

Source : PTI , Yahoo , Hindustan Times , Zillr ,

Pls download the day actvity of Madhya Pradesh assembly MP – PK Resolution  HERE

July 18, 2009

Why Kashmir has no case for self-determination – Vivek Gumaste


Self-determination is a lyrical, mesmerising phrase that sparks the fire in a revolutionary and excites the cerebral neurons of a libertarian, galvanising both into frenzied activity. But self-determination shorn of its prerequisites and mindless of its implications can prove to be a toxic, self-mutilating instrument with deleterious consequences for its protagonists and antagonists. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of Kashmir where it holds an uncertain future for its proponents in the Valley and can be the axiom that seriously erodes the basic fabric of India’s Constitution.

Self-determination in quest of a new nation-State cannot be a whim but must be a proposition grounded in solid reason. There must be justifiable cause to advocate separation. Do Kashmiri Muslim aspirations qualify for legitimate independence or is this brouhaha nothing more than a devious design by a majority to establish its hegemony?

The recent events in Kashmir are a microcosm of the movement itself: much ado about nothing. Acutely conscious of its waning influence and sensing a general apathy towards separatist fervour, as evidenced by the successful conduct of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Hurriyat is in a tizzy, resorting to obfuscatory tactics to remain relevant. How else can you explain its tendency to impart an anti-Indian hue to each and every untoward incident that occurs in the Valley?

COURTSEY-ap

Courtesy - AP

The immediate trigger for the latest spate of protests in Srinagar  appears to be the alleged murder of Asrar Mushtaq Dar, a 20-year-old student who went missing on July 3 and whose mutilated body was found in a city graveyard on July 8. Details of the murder are still sketchy and the identity of the culprits is yet to be ascertained. But that really doesn’t matter.

“Asrar was later found to be murdered by his friends . The cause was a love traingle ..Ref : Indian Express

For in the charged and biased atmosphere of the Valley, any unnatural death becomes a cause celebre to whip up anti-India sentiments and implicate the security forces, ethics being an expendable appendage in the process.

Prior to this was the Shopian incident in which two young women, Neelofar Jan and her sister-in-law Asiya Jan, were found raped and murdered on May 30. While a judicial inquiry called for an ‘in-depth investigation’ and stated that ‘there is material on file to hold that the involvement of some agency of the J&K police cannot be completely ruled out’, it went on to give details of a possible family angle to the twin murders as the following news excerpt with verbatim quotes from the commission’s report indicates (Shopian panel even suspects victim. Majid Jahangir. Kashmir Live, July 11):

The police isn’t the only target. The report calls for a probe into the “rift” between the family of Neelofar and her in-laws. The fact that Neelofar, a woman from the upper-caste Peer family, eloped with Shakeel Ahmad Ahangar — who belongs to a family of blacksmiths — is also cited as a subject for further probe.

The report calls for a detailed investigation into the possible role of Neelofar’s estranged brother, Zeerak Shah, a police constable. “It is required that sustained questioning/interrogation of Zeerak Shah, his associates and relatives, be carried out so as to work out the possibility of their involvement in rape and murder of Neelofar and Asiya Jan”.

The commission also puts a question mark on the conduct of Shakeel Ahmad Ahangar, Neelofar’s husband and Asiya’s brother. Claiming that he is ‘known for his immoral activities’, the report says: ‘His assets are quite disproportionate to his known source of income, thus requiring in-depth investigation to work out the possibility of Shakeel and his friends/associates in the present incident’.

Then the report goes on to even suspect the victims themselves. ‘Spot inspection of the orchard reveals that the orchard is fenced with CGI sheets from three sides and there is no proper gate for entry into the orchard. There are about 35 small and big fruit trees, without any pruning/cutting and ground is full of weeds. The purpose of their regular and frequent visit to the orchard could not be established so far… It is quite possible that during these frequent visits to the orchard in last six/seven months, they (but more particularly Neelofar Jan) might have developed some relation with other persons.’

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July 4, 2009

My Mother’s 22 Rooms


KP House

Story Courtsey : Rahul Pandita

There it is. Huddled among other dolls and a few shreds of cloth. It is wearing a blue dress. I don’t remember what mine wore, for it has been sixteen years since I saw it. It might not be there anymore, but I would like to believe that it is there, invisible to the new occupants of my house. It is a dancing girl made of earth, decorating a corner of my friend’s drawing room. Touch it a little and it will start dancing, moving her neck gracefully. My dancing girl, mother bought it, when I was a child, from a potter selling his stuff on a pavement in Lal Chowk.

And sixteen years later, as I speak to you, there is no significant noise outside my room. No guttural voice and no sound of my mother’s U-shaped walker making its presence felt through the small corridor of my house. Mother fell down from her bed again this morning.

23 years ago, in Srinagar, a team of health officials was to arrive at our school. Their aim was to administer cholera vaccines to children. But for that we were supposed to take the written permission of our parents. Back home I told my father and as expected he wrote ‘No’ on my home task diary. I found it very insulting. Tomorrow all my classmates would take the vaccine and sing laurels of their bravery. And me, I would be hidden in some corner, red-faced with shame. It was not acceptable to me. So I erased father’s nay and wrote ‘Yes’ on the diary. Next morning as the needle of the syringe pierced my left arm, I did not even flinch once. I became an instant hero. But as it is with most acts of heroism, I had to pay a price for mine as well. By late afternoon, a lump had formed in my arm. By the time I reached home I was feverish and drenched in sweat. As I pulled off my shoes, mother saw me and in one instant she knew what had happened.

It was August and even by Kashmir valley’s standards, it was hot. I flung myself on the bed. Mother came and sat next to me. She gave me a glass of milk and kept her fair arm on my forehead. It felt very soothing and cold; like a spring. I went off to sleep. Next morning as I opened my eyes, the fever was gone.

Mother handled the affairs of the house like a seasoned ascetic would control his senses. She knew what was kept where. Rice, coal powder, woollen socks and gloves, soap – she kept a tab on everything. Her daily routine was more or less defined. She would wake up in the wee hours of the morning, wash clothes in the bathroom, sweep and mop the floor of every room and corridor, put burning coal dust in Kangris in winters and ultimately take stock of the kitchen. She did not believe much in spending time in worship. She was not an atheist but her belief was restricted to occasionally folding hands in front of the Shivalinga. Her God was her home and hearth.

But mother was in awe of nature. She feared its fury. Sometimes, when a storm blew, she would close all doors and windows and sit in one corner. When she no longer could face it, she would ask my father, “Will this storm stop?” Father would usually try to pacify her, but ultimately he also lost his patience. “What do you think? Would this storm last till the doom’s day?” he would snap at her. But the same meek heart turned into brave heart when any family member struggled with adversity.

It was in the mid of 1988 that my father had a mild heart attack. Actually father had a pain in the stomach and an injection prescribed by a gastroenterologist reacted, which led to the attack. Everyone in the family was too shocked to react. But not my mother. She single-handedly took my father to the hospital in an auto rickshaw. At the hospital, mother recalls, a doctor appeared like an angel. He had a black mark on his forehead, a result of praying five times a day. The moment the doctor started examining him, my father vomited. Mother says it was so intense that it went right into the doctor’s shoes. But not once did he raise his brow. He kept on treating my father.

By the end of 1989, men like that doctor somehow became rare in Kashmir. One day mother came back from office and she was crying. In the bus someone had tried to help an old Hindu lady in getting down from the bus. Another woman, who was a Muslim, criticised that man saying that the woman he helped was a Hindu and she should have been kicked out of the bus. Mother didn’t know whether what she heard was true or whether it was a nightmare. But what she had heard and seen with her naked eyes was what seemed like holding a mirror in front of Kashmir in a few months time. The time had come, once again, to leave our homeland. The migration began. Salvaging whatever little we could, essentially a few utensils and educational degrees of my college-going sister, we reached Jammu.

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