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1] KASHMIR WATCH chro2003 The Rediff Special, March 25, 2005, Friday 1) 'Faces of the dead visit my dreams' Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar This is the story of Mohammad Maqbool Wani. The 50-year-old has been assisting autopsies in Kashmir for 15 years. The process has deadened his senses and made him almost robot-like. So much so even his children say he doesn't react like a normal parent. Wani says he has assisted on more than 18,000 autopsies. Many of them were badly mutilated bodies, which were brought to Kashmir's only police hospital in Srinagar during the 15 years of separatist violence in the Valley. He has seen victims of bomb explosions, encounters, grenade attacks and gunfire. "I have answered my gory call of duty for years. I would wait for the news of dead bodies. It was traumatic. So many human beings dying due to the sensless violence. I thought I had nerves of steel; but slowly it was getting tougher to handle," Wani told rediff.com. "I remember the first dead militant who was brought to the police hospital in 1988. I looked at the body... I saw a human being, not a militant, lying dead. "I worked on the endless stream of dead bodies like a robot. As time passed, I saw bodies of children and women killed in blasts and gunfire. That made me almost numb, almost like an emotionless statue." Wani usually spends his own money on buying surgical gloves and knives. "I couldn't ask the relatives of victims to pay for the autopsy kit. And there were not enough in the police hospital to cope with the thousands of dead bodies. "I get called to work at unearthly hours. Often a vehicle comes in the dark of the night and picks me up. No questions asked and no answers given. My family knows what I am called to do. They wait whole nights for my return." He has surrendered to his fate philosophically, but the years have taken their toll. "I have endless nightmares. The faces of the dead keep haunting my dreams. Now even the thought of sleep gives me the jitters, it is nightmarish even to think about sleeping. "When I reported these symptoms to a doctor, he prescribed sedatives and tranquilizers. I have reached a stage where I can hardly sleep." His requests for a change of duty fell on deaf ears. "My superior officers told me they would love to shift me, but they don't have a replacement." Wani is resigned to continue his grotesque duties for another six to seven years, till he retires. "I am dying a slow painful death and I think I am slowly going mad. My two daughters and son often tell me I don't play with them. It is impossible to narrate my horrible experiences to them. I must hide it within my heart... all those tragic scenes I see. It is eating me up from the inside." His appeal is universal: "Make peace. End the drama of death in Kashmir." http://www.rediff.com///news/2005/mar/25mukhtar.htm -----------------------------------------------------------------------PoK Bus Passengers Terrorised Rediff.com, April 04, 2005, Monday They are pawns in the great game Salil Kumar in Srinagar Have the Al-nasireen, Save Kashmir Movement, Al-arifeen and Farzandan-e-Millat, the four militant groups that asked the passengers to Muzaffarabad not to enter the 'coffin', achieved a psychological victory? It seems that more than the passengers it is the army and the state administration that are concerned; and if that was the goal of the militants, then they have achieved it. At the time of writing this there are reports that all the passengers scheduled to take the bus on April 7 have been brought to the Tourist Reception Centre in Jammu and Kashmir's winter capital. The passengers from Jammu are also on their way to the TRC, where they will be the state's guests till the big day. When one of the journalists went to the TRC to meet them, he was not allowed in. Needless to say the passengers themselves will not be allowed to leave the compound and venture out. Has anyone asked them what they want? The hapless passengers must be wondering what they have let themselves into. While they were frantically hoping that their name would be on the list, they certainly would not have expected this. On the one hand there are militants who do not want them to travel and on the other there is the state and central administration which is bent upon delivering them to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir come hell or high water. In the process it will also score a PR victory and show the international community that all is well. A couple of days ago in Baramulla, this writer went to the house of one of the passengers, Pir Mohammed Shafi. Shafi was not there, but his mother and wife were. They shot the breeze with me for a while, but it was clear that something was bothering them. Soon the truth came out: "He is my only son and he has three small children," the mother said. "Why have they threatened us now that the list has been put out? They should have said this when the bus link was announced." She said she would not allow her son to go because there is a threat to his life. "The government will have to kill me first if it wants to take my son on the bus," she said. Asked where her son was, she said the Station House Officer of the police station in Baramulla town, Ali Mohammed Dar, had come to their house on Friday evening and summoned him to the station. He was then kept at the Circuit House the whole night and allowed to leave in the morning. Not only Shafi, but the three other passengers going from Baramulla were also taken to the Circuit House. Shafi's relatives feared that the government would deliver their son to PoK and later leave him high and dry. Which is the truth; how long can the government provide this kind of security to the passengers? And what of those who come back? The best way to deal with the issue would have been to allow those who wanted to drop out to do so. After all, when one books a ticket, s/he is not obliged to travel. The ticket can always be cancelled. Plus there are thousands who are dying to have a seat in the bus. Of course, that the army would provide security to the bus itself is right. But for the state administration to keep them behind locked doors is silly, to say that least. Does that guarantee security? What if there is a militant attack on the building one of these nights? Where will they be taken then? There is more. If a passenger cancels his ticket, s/he will not be allowed to go to PoK again. Exactly why? In international relations there is no space for individual wants. The present case highlights this more than ever. http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/apr/04bus.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2] CHILDREN: KARNATAKA: 12-Year-Old Maid Escapes To Freedom chro2003 The Hindu, April 04, 2005, Monday 12-year-old maid escapes to freedom By Rasheed Kappan BANGALORE, APRIL 3. Sunita (12) was allegedly beaten, harassed and even poked with red-hot knives by her employers. She suffered this for months as a domestic servant before she made a dramatic escape on Saturday night from an apartment in the city's Krishnarajapuram area. The girl was rescued by the Child Helpline on Sunday, barely days after two girls escaped the clutches of their employers. Now housed at the Association for Promotion of Social Action (APSA), Sunita (name changed to protect identity) enjoys her freedom. But she earned it, risking her dear life. On Saturday night, she had climbed down from the third floor of her employer's apartment. Hanging onto the pipes at the rear of the building, she had crept down. Down below, a tea vendor, Raju, gave her refuge and food for the night. Sunday morning, Sunita's tale of woes shook the neighbourhood. The sight of her bruised body with burns all over was enough for the public to alert the Child Helpline and the Concern India Foundation. She was eventually taken to the APSA home in Annasandrapalya. "She used to be beaten even for small matters. The employers used to heat spoons and knives and poke her with them. She had burn scars on her face and arms," APSA's executive director, P. Lakshapathy, told The Hindu. He said an APSA counsellor would speak to the girl on Monday and later produce her before the Child Welfare Committee. The panel was constituted by the Department of Women and Child Development under the Juvenile Justice Act. The panel is likely to lodge a police complaint after a medical examination of the girl. Incidentally, her employers were a doctor and his software engineer wife. She was reportedly hired to look after an infant. Questioned by the Concern India Foundation volunteers, the employers branded the girl as mentally disabled. "The doctor's wife said the girl was mad and violent and that they had spent about Rs. 20,000 on her medicines. They even wanted to take her back to her hometown. But we found that she was absolutely alright and not mentally disabled," Ms. Shobha Rajan from the Foundation said. For APSA, Sunita's is the third such child labourer rescued in the past one week alone. A six-year-old girl was rescued from a house in J.P. Nagar last week. "Her employers had brought her from Nellore in the pretext of giving her education and shelter. But she used to be woken up at 5 a.m. and made to work. There were no adults to help her," said Mr. Lakshapathy. When she was brought to APSA, "she was malnourished," he recalled. "She was fed just two meals. There was no breakfast. And she had to sleep on the floor." A few days later, APSA had received another inmate, an 11-year-old child worker, a victim of torture and abuse, based in Jeevan Bima Nagar. http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/04/stories/2005040412540300.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3] "Hindus Make India Secular" chro2003 The Times of India/IANS, April 03, 2005, Sunday 'Hindus make India secular' NEW DELHI: A group of Indian Muslim leaders on Friday told former Pakistan prime minister Shujat Hussain that India was a secular country "because of Hindus". "It is because of the Hindus that India remains a secular country," a spokesman for the Jama Masjid mosque said. "This is what we told him." The spokesman said the group, including Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari, met Hussain for about 30 minutes when he came to offer Friday prayers. Later on in a speech laced with political significance, former Pakistan prime minister Shujat Hussain prayed at the historic Jama Masjid and called upon Indian Muslims to integrate themselves fully with the mainstream. Almost six decades after the sub-continent's partition, Pakistan's ruling party on Friday gave a formal burial to the two-nation theory by urging Indian Muslims to love their motherland. "You are Indians by choice. So live like Indians. Nobody forced you to stay back (and not settle in Pakistan)," Hussain told a large gathering at the 17th-century red stone mosque in the city's old quarters. He reminded the gathering in Urdu that Indian Muslims should love their motherland as they stayed back in India,... ...rejecting the offer to move over to the newly created Pakistan. "You (Indian Muslims) should do everything for the progress and development of the country," he said. Hussain, who is president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, is the highest- ranking Pakistani leader to visit the Jama Masjid, which along with the Red Fort across the street was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The Pakistan Muslim League, although now divided into more than one faction, considers itself the rightful successor to the Muslims League that led the drive for Pakistan's creation. Hussain also referred to India-Pakistan relations, saying he was optimistic that both countries would be able to resolve all their differences and soon. "I am positive India and Pakistan will resolve their differences. This is also because Indian leaders, be they in the government or the opposition, are in agreement on the issue of overcoming the differences with Pakistan. "When the attitude of the leaders is right, then there can be no hitch." He also singled out Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for the thaw in India-Pakistan ties,... ..."There are impediments in India-Pakistan relations, but Musharraf is determined to do away with them." The former prime minister, who spent about an hour at the mosque, said: "I am overwhelmed by the hospitality I received. "I bring a message of peace. I bring greetings from Musharraf and the people of Pakistan." Hussain, who was prime minister of Pakistan from June 30 to Aug 28 last year, was almost mobbed as a crowd flocked to see and shake hands with him. Hussain arrived at the mosque with Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan. He was welcomed by the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari. "We pray for peace and prosperity of all countries, be it India, Pakistan or Bangladesh," Bukhari said. During the violent days of the 1947 partition, the Jama Masjid became a refuge for hundreds of Muslims who fled their homes fearing mob attacks. While many eventually made their way to Pakistan, many more stayed on in India. With some 140 million Muslims, India is home to the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1067089.cms ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4] Arunachal A Disputed Area: Beijing chro2003 The Sentinel, Assam, April 02, 2005, Saturday Arunachal a disputed area: Beijing New Delhi, April 1 : Ahead of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao??™s four-day official visit to India from April 9, Beijing today firmly stated that Arunachal Pradesh was a "disputed area" between the two countries even as it announced its recognition of Sikkim as a part of the Indian Union. "Arunachal Pradesh is a disputed area between us," Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi said at a press conference here, adding that the two countries were working out parameters and guiding principles for resolving their vexed boundary dispute. Asked whether China had formally recognized Sikkim as a part of India, he said, "the question of Sikkim has already been completely settled...there won??™t be any problem on that. You can even check our map for that." China had in 2003 removed Sikkim from its official website of sovereign nations, thus clearing the decks for recognizing the tiny north-eastern State as a part of India. Later, it had promised to remove Sikkim from its world map. Sun said that India and China would sign nearly a dozen agreements in political, economic, cultural and aviation fields during the path-breaking visit of the Chinese Premier. He also stated that the Special Representatives of the two countries on the boundary dispute could meet during the Chinese Premier??™s visit to New Delhi or ahead of that. "We are trying to work out a meeting between the two Special Representatives in New Delhi." National Security Adviser MK Narayanan on the Indian side and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo on the Chinese side are the two Special Representatives dealing with the boundary dispute from the political perspective. Sun asserted that the question of Arunachal Pradesh had not been settled between the two countries even as he remarked that Tibet was no longer an issue between them. "Tibet is not an issue...it is already solved. India had publicly declared that Tibet is a part of China and that it will not allow any activity on its territory inimical to the sovereignty of China." However, he made it clear that the two countries were determined not to allow their relations in other fields to suffer due to the boundary dispute which was left over from the history. "The boundary issue should not come in the way of enhancing bilateral relations," he added. Sun said the efforts of the two countries would be to maintain peace and tranquillity along their border while developing border trade and promoting cultural exchanges. "The border between us should act as a bridge for trade." Replying to a question, the Chinese Envoy said the demarcation of the maps by the two countries would still take some more time. "There will be political parameters and guiding principles to be settled during the coming days," he added. The Chinese Premier would be visiting some information technology centres in Bangalore shortly after his arrival in India on April 9. He would reach New Delhi on April 10 and his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders would take place the next day. The Chinese Premier would address a public meeting at the Delhi University on April 12, before leaving here in the afternoon. http://www.sentinelassam.com/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) 3, Rams' Cottage Ambalathumukku Pettah Thiruvananthapuram-695024 Kerala South India Ph.: 0471-2476262 www.humanrightsindia.com www.humanrightskerala.com |
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