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Kashmir endures University terrorism








Lets have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. Abraham Lincoln

Shiyam Vij, a veteran journalist, writes in The Express Tribune (March 07, 2014) "It is no secret that most Kashmiri Muslims don’t like India and don’t want to be called Indians. If there is a big India-Pakistan match and you are in Srinagar (Kashmir´s capital), you would think you are in Pakistan". Sixty six years of occupation has amply demonstrated through armed uprising, intifada using stones and bricks or even peaceful processions that Kashmir is not comfortable with the status-quo that India so cherishes and loves to maintain by hook or by crook.

Vij further stresses that "There is no doubt that India is holding on to Kashmir through the military jackboot, like many such places tend to be"; but seems to miss the point that Kashmiri Pandits were taken for a ride and asked to leave Kashmir temporarily to dress down Muslims killing them indiscriminately involving four corners of Kashmir. Indian governor Jagmohan Malhotra miscalculated hoping to crush uprising against India with an iron hand ended up sealing the fate of any rapprochement or understanding between Srinagar and Delhi.

Two and half decades back on October 13, 1983, politically motivated cricket match between India and West-Indies turned out even more embarrassing for India when Cricket legends Vivian Richards and Malcolm Marshall were amazed to see Kashmiris showering them with flowers and garlands for every four runs hit across the boundary or on an Indian wicket falling and Indian players like Sunil Gavaskar or Kapil Dev booed and jeered. The high profile political sports activity came to a halt when people jumped the fence and rushed to the wickets to dig the ground, though West-Indies won the match hands down by 28 runs.

Times of India reports that one hundred fifty Kashmiri students were expelled from the University in India´s UP state for supporting Pakistan on winning a cricket match against India played on March 02, 2014. This was not a match of the millennium but a usual affair of India-Pakistan cricketing history. Kashmir has always supported Pakistan in any sporting event against India and even supports a third country playing against India. It is very unfortunate that India chooses to ignore the factuality of Kashmiri resentment and the stark message of ending occupation in Kashmir.

"Angry Hindu students of the University started to thrash Kashmiri students and had the seniors not intervened, the enraged students would have lynched them to death". Students victimised informed media on phone. The news about the treatment meted out to Kashmiri students travelled to Kashmir igniting already charged up atmosphere. An undeclared curfew, hide and seek with brickbat missiles and shutdown (February 09, 2014, Afzal Guru´s death anniversary) depicted Kashmir as a ghost town, hundreds of leaders and activists arrested for violating prohibitory orders using draconian laws to deal with general public sternly. Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malik was arrested along with several of his close associates. Malik stated that unless Kashmir problem was resolved, Kashmiris would continue to suffer.

Mudasir Yaqoob, a well known Kashmiri journalist, reports that three Kashmiri students were injured in a scuffle with RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) a militant Hindu organisation as they (students) were observing the first anniversary of Muhammad Afzal Guru. Guru was hanged and buried within the precincts of Delhi´s notorious Tihar jail. The students were brutally attacked for raising slogans for ´justice´ and return of mortal remains of their murdered leader. Hurriyat leader Ali Shah Geelani is reported to have stated that "communal and sick-minded people have once again proved that Indian democracy is a big fraud and there is no democratic sense even in New Delhi".

A report published by Authintmail.com recorded that scores of parents from Kashmir staged a protest in Srinagar´s Press Enclave to highlight that the authorities of educational institutions in India were forcing their children to vacate the colleges and or universities on the pretext that India´s ministry of human resource development has rejected to bear their expenses. The students were initially with great publicity admitted in these institutions under so called "Prime Minister’s Scholarship Program".

Press Trust of India reports citing a spokesperson of Secretary General Ban Ki Moon that the United Nations is available to mediate between Pakistan and India over Kashmir if both sides were to request that. The fact remains that Kashmir is a burning political issue fraught with serious consequences and warring factions must shun aggrandisement guided by nostalgia.

The United States (March 07, 2014) reiterating its concern said that long-standing tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir are a threat to the regional stability and world peace; General Lloyd J Austin, Commander of the US Central Command said in his testimony before House Armed Services Committee. China once again officially stated that "Kashmir a clear-cut issue is a legacy from history" and brushed aside India´s concerns about the proposed Pakistan-China Economic Corridor. In order to find a lasting solution, many believe that apart from Kashmir, India and Pakistan, the fourth party China must be involved in any dialogue to settle this long standing international human problem.


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