Osama is dead : Remarks by the US President on Osama Bin Laden

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

May 02, 2011

Remarks by the President on Osama Bin Laden

East Room

11:35 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory — hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda — an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.

Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.

As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.

Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.

So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.

Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.

And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

END 11:44 P.M. EDT

 

The ugly world of Kashmir’s online rebels – PRAVEEN SWAMI

“I know I’m sexy,” Srinagar resident Junaid Rafiqi proclaims on his Facebook page, below a professionally lit photograph that, among other things, shows off his possession of an expensive pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses.

He goes on with an enthusiasm unfettered by punctuation, spelling and grammar: “I got the looks that drives the girls wild I got the moves that really move them. I send chills up and down their spines” [sic., throughout and below].

Facebook users like Rafiqi have been sending chills down the spines of the police in Jammu and Kashmir for much of this summer. Much to the dismay of the authorities, social networks backing the cause of the Islamist-led protesters have proliferated on the Internet.

There is no evidence that social networks have been used to organise or fund the protests — but their content underlines concerns at the growing influence the religious right-wing has over the educated young people in Kashmir.

“We Hate Omar Abdullah,” a network Mr. Rafiqi often participates in, gives some insight into the world of Kashmir’s Facebook rebels. The network hosts a collection of political satire. There is, for example, a digitally-manipulated image of Paul, the celebrity octopus, picking a dead donkey over the Chief Minister in response to a question who has “more guts.”

But much of the satire is venomously communal. Mr. Abdullah is repeatedly referred to as “Omar Singh” — a derisory reference derived, evidently, from the rumour that his wife is Sikh. The former Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, is shown offering respects at a Hindu temple, while another image caricatures the Chief Minister and his wife as pilgrims to the Amarnath shrine. The administrators of the “We Hate Omar Abdullah,” quite clearly see politicians’ efforts to reach out to multiple religious communities as a betrayal.

“The Dalla [broker] family,” the Ray-Ban wearing Rafiqi asserts in one post on the Facebook page, “should be hanged publicly.” Elsewhere, he refers to Mr. Abdullah as a kafir, or unbeliever. In another post on the page, a member asserts that Mr. Abdullah has been denied permission for pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia because of his marriage — a canard circulated by Islamists soon after he took power.

Some networks host express calls to violence. “Everybody,” exhorts the administrator of “Times Now is Anti-Kashmiri,” “[the] next time you see any Times Now correspondent pick up a stone and throw that on their face!.” Arnab Goswami, the channel’s editor-in-chief, one user asserts, “should be killed.” Ethnic-Kashmiri anchor Mahrukh Inayet comes in for unprintable abuse targeting her gender.

Hate group created Facebook

Barkha Dutt, arguably India’s best-known English-language television journalist, also draws flak. “We hate Barkha Dutt” contains claims that her reportage on the clashes lacked balance. Much of it, though, consists of personal invective — and threats. “Hell is meant for her,” writes network member Faizan Rashid, “but she should have some kinna punishment in this world as well…‘stoned to death’…wot say?”

Facebook’s terms of use prohibit content that is hateful, threatening or incites violence. Little infrastructure, though, seems to be in place to enforce those terms.

Not all protest-linked networks promote these kinds of invective. Barring the odd comment about “Indian dogs,” “I Protest Against the Atrocities on Kashmiris” has no abusive language. Most posts on this network address questions of media bias and political grievances, not individuals.

Even networks like this, though, are remarkable for the complete absence of the very kinds of serious commentary and debate they believe is wanting in India’s mainstream print and electronic media.

There is no way of telling just who the participants on these sites are: users contacted by The Hindu, including Mr. Rafiqi, did not respond to requests to be interviewed. For the most part, though, users seem to be English-speaking and Kashmiri. Judging by their clothing and cultural idiom, are middle-class. Despite the aggressive religious chauvinism evident on the site, there is nothing to suggest substantial numbers of users support established Islamist clerics.

The police say most young people held on the charge of throwing stones do not have a high-school education, and are either unemployed or semi-employed — a class quite distinct from that of the Facebook radical.

More likely than not, official concerns at these networks is exaggerated: their scale and reach is tiny. “I Protest Against the Atrocities on Kashmiris” has 810 members — small numbers compared, for example, with the Palestine solidarity page “Palestine Freedom,” which has 101,178. “We Hate Omar Abdullah” has 675 members and “Civil Disobedience 2010-Quit Kashmir Movement” 134. “Bloody Indian Media,” set up to protest the reportage of the street violence in Srinagar, has 58.

It is possible, though, that the ideas they propagate reflect new ideological trends among some sections of young people in Jammu and Kashmir — a prospect which, if true, holds out a real reason for concern.

Source of written text : The Hindu

Hartal, freedom and future

So ,to begin with, after 20 years some saner minds have started to realize of how “Hurriyat” is bringing death to Kashmir

Strike & Violence is used by separatists to Talibanise Kashmir

Hartal*, freedom and future – Manzoor Anjum

By closing down all the schools, the leaders are pushing our next generation into an abyss of

Whatever is happening in Kashmir these days, people may have different explanations and descriptions for the same but fact of the matter is that whatever it is, it is intense. The fires that have engulfed the entire valley spread gradually. Life after life was lost and the fires of anger and pain continued intensifying.

If all the developments of the three weeks are looked at in a sequential manner, the results are shocking and surprising.

It seems there has been a pattern in whatever happened. To bring the situation to the boil, every killing took place at appropriate time; every protest was staged at appropriate time; every atrocity was committed at appropriate time and every demonstration was held at an appropriate time.

And this could have not happened without a proper planning. But how is it possible that two warring sides will have a joint strategy and planning. Then why this pattern, a question that may long for answers for times to come.

Fifteen precious lives were lost in two week’s time. Who is responsible – armed forces; government; those who instigated people or; peoples’ own anger and emotions? There are no answers and intention too is not to look for answers at this juncture. Important is to see what is happening next.

From three weeks life all over the Valley is paralysed. Sometimes it is the government curfew that cripples life, sometimes the civil curfew announced by separatists and imposed by stone pelters; Government relaxes curfew, stone pelters are again on the roads, protests are staged and thus again imposition of curfew and the deterioration continues unabated.

Both the factions of Hurriyat are eager to see the situation on boil. Both factions are in a race to take credit for protests and demonstrations. On the other hand, some angry youth are threatening leadership that if they call off strike, they (youth) would hoist Congress flag at Jama Masjid, Srinagar. Cowed down by such warnings, the leadership is trying to make it a ‘do or die’ situation. Dukhtran-e-Milat chief Asiya Andrabi threatens parents against sending their children to schools. Massrat Alam of Hurriyat (G) also tells people not to talk about education of children but to think of the children who have made sacrifices.

One wonders how could a nation, whose leaders are so averse to knowledge and education, dream of freedom. Knowledge is the power that makes humans distinguish between freedom and slavery – good and evil. Uneducated, illiterate and knowledge-less people can’t have any appreciation for freedom. They live in the abyss of ignorance where ideals like freedom, dignity and honour have no relevance.

And here are the leaders who deliberately and intentionally want to push our young generation into the abyss of ignorance and then have cheek to talk about freedom. If these leaders are barring Kashmiri children from seeking knowledge for some noble religious cause, let somebody tell them that it is the knowledge only that helps humans to recognize and accept Allah.

It is unfortunate that the leadership is listening to the voices which are too emotional, vocal and angry but fail to hear the voices of sanity and logic, which are in majority but not as vocal and loud as those of groups of emotional people.

Logic and reason fail to understand that how the unending strikes, that harm none but Kashmiris alone, would force India out of Kashmir. How long will the leadership go forcing the people to observe strikes and how long could people survive remaining confined to four walls of their homes.

Those who threaten to hoist Congress party flag on Jama Masjid (if the strike call is taken back) need to be told that it will make no difference which flag they hoist where. One can’t get freedom by hoisting flags of one colour and neither can one defeat the aspirations of people by hoisting flags of some other colour. What percentage of youth is on roads enforcing hartal and civil curfew? And are those who don’t join them not for resolution of Kashmir? No, they too are for it but the only difference is that the majority of the youth understand and appreciate that they can’t get freedom by pelting stones. They have to acquire knowledge and education so that they know what freedom means and then strive for that the way civilized people are supposed to do.

A few days back when curfew was relaxed in Srinagar areas, people thronged markets. Life seemed back on tracks with shops open and traffic plying on the roads. Suddenly groups of youth emerged on the scene. Stoned vehicles and shops and enforced strike. Does that mean whatever is happening is happening under pressure and people are not with the movement? No, that too is not true.

People have made huge sacrifices for resolution of Kashmir issue and therefore they can never be against the movement. But fact of the matter is that people are able to think more rationally and logically than the leadership. They understand that if the situation continues to be what it is today, the movement will die once for all. They know that freedom is not round the corner which could be reached out at by observing strikes for a few days. And also, the strikes can’t continue for months and years together. People know that to sustain freedom struggle it is a must that our children go to school and the situation remains normal. It is only in a normal situation that a nation evolves in a positive direction.

Unfortunately we have a crop of leadership here for whom their own relevance is more important than the broader struggle. To show that they matter and they are heard, this crop of leadership is hell bent upon breaking the back of the entire nation by imposing unabated restrictions. And interestingly this crop of leadership is helped in furthering their agenda by the government forces who too are obsessed with imposing restrictions.

On July 15, while on one hand the stone pelters were stoning vehicles in Srinagar to impose civil curfew, armed forces did the same to enforce their brand of restrictions. Armed forces are not allowing ailing people to reach hospitals and same is done by stone pelting youth. Neither government is having any sympathy for ordinary people and any respect for human rights nor these angry youth. Caught in a Catch-22 situation, the common people have become prisoners of the situation. They (people) have lost all hope in the government; in separatist leadership and also in these youth whom they, at one stage, viewed as messiahs.

The rich of the society have already send their children outside Kashmir for pursuance of education and those who hadn’t earlier are doing the same now. But the people who can’t afford to do so (and majority is of such people) are seeing themselves caught between devil and deep sea. The bleak future of their children stares right in their faces and they are watching helplessly.

When I was writing this column, Hurriyat (G) had issued a fresh calendar asking people to resume normal life on Saturday (July 17) but just till 2 p.m. For rest of the days, again programme of strikes, agitation, sit-in and protests has been given and coming Sunday has been exempted from strikes and protests and people have been asked to do shopping on that day.

It seems that those who have issued this calendar are in possession of some hidden treasure. They will protest for six days; not work and therefore not earn anything and still come out on the seventh day and do shopping. To do shopping, one needs money and to earn money, one needs to work. A worker does work for at least eight hours a day and then earns around two hundred bucks and in that money he can’t even buy sufficient vegetables for his family. Those who issue calendars seem unmindful of the armies of widows and orphans who have to struggle to earn a square-meal. And when they are forced to remain indoors for six days, wherefrom they will get money to shop on the seventh day?

I have no hesitation in saying that more than freedom it is every individual life that is important. We can have struggles, movements and revolutions only when we are alive but Hurriyat calendar seems taking the entire nation towards death. This calendar is a humiliation to the entire Kashmiri nation. This calendar can’t get freedom but just destruction.

The author is Editor of Daily Uqab and the article has been translated from Urdu.  Source : DailyKashmirImages

*Hartal : Mass protest often involving a total shutdown of workplaces, offices, shops, courts of law as a form of civil disobedience.

**More & more Kashmiris are rising against the forced strikes by Hurriyat and other separatists.

‘Hidden’ Facebook instigators ! They dont want a peaceful valley

Just check out this wall message on Facebook. Peace returning back to valley scares the separatists, and thay have employed scores of youth to instigate and doctrine more youths into the Jihadi Movement . In the first screen shot you would find Lashkar E Tayiba / JuD [ Jamat Ul Dawa ] activists distributing Jihadi videos and asking the activists to play these over the loudspeakers of the Mosques.

In the second screenshot , a separatist is worried about failing support and exploring the method of emotional blackmail.

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Fatwa Against Vande Mataram

               

 

 

 

Vande Mataram. Welcome, minorities. The helpless, disadvantaged, poor, famished, persecuted, religious minorities of India. Population-wise constituting nearly one-fifth of India, they qualify to be a minority in a country which, because of their sheer numerical strength, earns the solemn distinction of being the world’s second-largest home, after Indonesia, to a faith which knows no boundaries. And those belonging to, rather longing for, the faith zealously claim — or proclaim by firman or fatwa — to abjure violence that they perceive inherent in the Bankim Chandra Chatterjee-composed national song “Vande Mataram”. The logic: if they simply mutter it, it is tantamount to apostasy.

No wonder, the country is thankfully indebted to them for their humility not to reject the national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” as perfidious to their creed. Who knows, they may jettison it, tomorrow.

Probably, it is a matter of time before they so choose. A few years ago the same “minority clan” of India raised a hue and cry over the recitation of “Saraswati vandana” as a prologue to school prayers. And, the country’s “liberal class”, cutting across the barrier of colour and creed, lent its unqualified support to them, justifying the inclusion of such a religious intonation as repugnant to the secular spirit of the Constitution.    

The volte-face by Union home minister P Chidambaram that “he was not present” when the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind adopted a resolution at its 30th general session at Deoband a couple of days ago, asking Muslims not to recite “Vande Mataram”, betrays a sense of vacillation, nervousness and indecision on the part of the country’s talking-tough-and-acting-firm home minister.

As a party person — Congressman — his stance of “not being present that moment” may be politically correct but as India’s “internal security” minister it simply does not hold water. More so, it comes at a time when such “Jamaats” hold the world to ransom by the insidious propagation of their bigotry in belief of the divine sort and a violently virulent streak of such an extremist school of thought has been wreaking unprecedented havoc on Indian society and nationhood.

If religious belief is in conflict, even remotely, with what defines nationhood, the latter expressly supersedes the former. Any edict by a religious minority — or for that matter any religion-based dispensation — if it generates or has the potential to generate a conflict of interest between what is mandated by the state or the statute and what the edict seeks to attain has to be treated as null and void.

Such “commands” do not carry the sanction of law and no immunity can be sought under the exclusivity of a “separate” personal law. Any personal law guaranteed by the Constitution for the protection of socio-religious rights of a section of the population is by no means a carte blanche for sowing the seeds of separatism. If it brooks disaffection, which in turn may lead to the fragmentation of a secular society, it ought to be dispensed with before it runs riot with the quasi-federal notion of the Indian state.       

What assumes seriousness in the context of the turmoil the country is facing at present owing to the deviant nature and deviousness of a particular faith needs no reiteration. The flip to the fissiparous tendency by such edicts — emanating from the extremist Islamic school of thought as represented by institutions like Deoband — is of far-reaching consequences and seditious in nature.

Such tendencies, and actions that follow from them, if allowed to go unchecked by the state, will eventually reverberate — on religious fault lines — into a call for separatism from the Union of India.

Such an eventuality may seem to be far-fetched at the moment and dismissed as a figment of imagination but the Khalistan movement and Kashmiri separatism, too, germinated in a similar fashion until they near-consumed the whole nation. Better nip the evil in the bud. It is better late than never. The state must show it has the will to exercise the hard option in a similar vein as it has now woken up to the twin challenges of Naxalism and militancy

Written By : Ramesh Khazanchi

Original Source : Times Of India

Also Visit an earlier Post HERE

Temples of Kashmir – Looted & Plundered

No matter how much the media tried to hide the facts , the truth is there for everyone to see.

The Temples of Kashmir having been looted and destroyed by Islamic fanatics even in the capiltal city Srinagar . One of the temple is just a stone throw away from the ‘secure’ area near world famous Dal Lake.

And the world continues to remain silent !!!

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 …

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Raghunath Temple in Evening – Mirpur Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

Pictures Courtsey : Mohsin

Panun Kashmir Resolution by various state Goverments ?

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.

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…

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?

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.’

Kashmiri Pandits hand over memorandum to Ban Ki-Moon at United Nations Office in New York

 

On September 26th, 2008 scores of Kashmiri Hindus demonstarted outside the United Nations Office in New York [USA].

Some of the demands of Kashmiri Pandits to the UN were :

• Declare Kashmiri Hindu community as Internally Displaced People (IDP). The Human Rights Working Group on Minorities in Geneva has since recognized Kashmiri Hindus, formally, as a Reverse Minority. The use of the insulting term ‘Migrants’ for this forcibly exiled community may be removed from all records and communications relating to us hence forth.
• Direct the Government of India to set up a ‘Commission of Enquiry’ to establish the causes that led to the selective and targeted killings of Kashmiri Hindus and their subsequent forced exile, and appropriate the responsibility and punish the guilty.
•  Direct the Government of India to ensure adequate protection to the residual Kashmiri Hindu population currently living in the Kashmir valley.
• Direct the Government of India to restore Kashmiri Hindus’ political and economic rights that would give them equal status rather than a second class citizenship in their native land of Kashmir. Share of Kashmiri Hindu jobs in government bureaucracy, placement in state supported professional educational institutes and the representation in the state assembly has steadily diminished to virtually nothing in the last two decades.
•  Grant funds to Kashmiri Hindus for the preservation and documentation of relics of Kashmiri Hindu heritage and culture.
• Direct the Government of India to hand over the management of Kashmiri Hindu religious shrines, icons and cultural centers to Kashmiri Hindu leadership.

 

It is further requested that the United Nations Human Rights Commission may put on record these Human Rights Violations by Pakistan and its agents, and Pakistan be declared a terrorist state.

The complete memorandum can be downloaded by clicking here iakf-un-memo-sept262008

 

For more info , log into www.iakf.org

 

500000 Kashmiri Pandits Fled From Kashmir :Beersmans Paul [ President Belgian Association..]

 

REPORT ON THE STUDY TOUR OF BEERSMANS PAUL, PRESIDENT OF THE BELGIAN ASSOCIATION FOR SOLIDARITY WITH J&K TO INDIA AND THE INDIAN J&K STATE FROM 02 TO 30 AUGUST 2008

Syed Ali Shah Geelani started agitation against the land transfer to the Amarnath Shrine Board because he feared Hindus would settle permanently and thus change the demographic composition of the population.  This fear is completely without ground as it is impossible to settle permanently in that area: more than six months of the year this area is covered with snow, there are blizzards and it is so cold that nobody can survive there.  On the other hand, it is surprising that the same concern regarding the demographic composition of the population was not there in 1990.  In that year, the Kashmiri Pandits were hounded out of the Valley by militancy in 1990.  The Kashmiri Pandits are the original Kashmiri speaking inhabitants of the Valley.  Some 500.000 of them fled from the Valley to safer places.  This exodus changed drastically the demographic composition of the population in the Valley.  At that time, nobody cared about this: no agitation, no demonstrations, no harthals, no bandhs, no strikes, nothing.  After more than eighteen years, the return of the Kashmiri Pandits is more and more blurred.  Nevertheless, they have their emotional attachment with their birth ground, their roots.  They only can return when peace is there and when the rule of law, not the rule of majority is re-installed.

 

Pakistan has no stand in J&K.  Pakistan invaded J&K and is at the origin of the de facto partitioning of the State.  As early as 13 August 1948 the UN Commission for India and Pakistan requested Pakistan to withdraw its troops from the State as a pre-condition for organising the plebiscite.  The same Commission in its resolution of 5 January 1949 repeated this request.  Until this date, Pakistan has not withdrawn its armed forces and consequently the plebiscite has not been held. 

 

This conclusion is confirmed by the ‘Report on Kashmir: present situation and future prospects’ of Rapporteur Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Union, and almost unanimously adopted by the Committee on Foreign Affairs (March 2007) and by the European Parliament. 

‘Panun Kashmir’ Homeland – Better Sooner to save India !

A Homeland for the seven hundred thousand displaced Kashmiris in the valley will be the only logical, natural and permanent solution for the displaced Kashmiris. Homeland is where home is and home is where land is and our land is in the valley of Kashmir. Our demand for a Homeland within the valley, from where we have been driven out by armed Islamic terrorists, is an assertion of our rights as much as of our patriotism for India. In order to save Kashmir from the clutches of Pakistan which has been instigating, encouraging and perpetuating terrorism in Kashmir, the Indian nation has to shed all inhibitions and unequivocally declare its resolve of resettling tbe displaced Kashmiri Hindus in the Homeland which will serve as a bastion of secularism and democracy in an otherwise Islamic State.

 

Panun Kashmir is an expression of the innermost hopes and urges of the Kashmiris displaced from Kashmir valley, that were suppressed for centuries and lost in the nethermost corner of their subconscious. It is a natural and instinctive desire of the community to seek its roots, to preserve its identity and to assert its political, legal and historical nghts. It provides a nascent political rostrum to translate the idea and vision of an honourable and peaceful existence emanating from a sense of pride and a feeling of self- esteem which has been snatched from this community. 

 

Essentially the Homeland will contribute to the aims a ideals of democracy, secularism, free exchange of thought, trade and culture, right to work and right to live, justice and equality for all, including women. It will not be a theocracy. It will identify with the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India and exist in amity and brotherhood with all the regions and provinces of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and with the rest of India.

We have asked for the area North and East of the River Jehlum. The valley has to be divided in acceptance of our claim. River Jehlum provides a natural geographial divide and, therefore, shall represent a line of demarcation between the Homeland and the rest of the valley. The southern region of the State to the North and East of the Jehlum with the National Highway passing through it also happens to be the region with most of our holy shrines including the holiest of the holy, Sri Amarnath. Logistically and demographically, this area is most suitable for conversion into the Homeland with a Union Territory status. 

Picture courtesy : Mr R.Raina ;Mr Aditya Raj Kaul

Contents : www.panunkashmir.org

 

‘Amarnath Land’ -Protests in USA

Chicago : Demand for Amarnath Land & Justice was witnessed on Chicago roads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To check the complete album , please click HERE

And in NEW JERSEY :

 

To view the complete album : pls click HERE & HERE

And in BOSTON too :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jammu Uprising – A battle for nationalism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUPPORT SHRI AMARNATH SANGARSH SAMITI

“APPEAL FOR DONATION”

Sangarsh Samiti calls all countrymen for their fullest support and contributions for this cause & appeals for generous donations for the financial support towards the security & welfare of the bereaved families of the Martyrs.

The donations can be made in the form of Cheque/Demand Drafts favoring:
1. Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti (SAYSS) – Shaheed Fund in A/C no. 3965000100147291 
2. Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti (SAYSS) – Ongoing Agitation in A/C no. 3965000100147282

with the Punjab National Bank Ltd. in all branches of the country.

For any clarifications, please contact at Mob.Nos. 94191-88057, 94191-41408.

– (Sh. Leela Karan Sharma), Convener