ISLAMABAD – Rebuffing the untrue picture presented by Indian officials on Kashmir situation, a renowned Indian journalist Santosh Bhartiya has shown Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the mirror on his Kashmir policy, summarising that `the land of Kashmir is with us but the people of Kashmir are not with us.’
In a letter addressed to Premier Modi, the journalist encompassed all of his findings during his travel to the valley,including the brutal killings, use of excessive force, strong anger in Kashmiri people, raising of Pakistani flags, the disturbance among the Indian army and mishandling of the Kashmir issue by the India, particularly the Modi regime.
While writing to his prime minister, Bhartiya was not much hopeful of any response from his office or even the addressee might not receive this above 3,400-word letter, so opted to publish it in the Rising Kashmir newspaper.
He said he was in a state of restlessness after returning from the Valley. Kashmiris have painful aggression in them against the Indian system; be it a man of 80-year-old or a six-year-old child and believed this situation would lead them to the disastrous “massacre” situation.
He said a dangerous misconception was growing in the minds of the officials of our military troops and security forces that if anybody who raises the voice against the prevailing system in Kashmir he or she should be killed to suppress the separatists’ movement’, but it is an entirely wrong policy to peruse.
He said what was going on in Kashmir was actually a revolution of every common man of Kashmir, where a man of 80 to a child of six raises the slogans of “Freedom and Azadi”.
Calling for correcting the past mistakes committed by India and balming the people of Kashmir, Santosh Bhartiya said regardless of creed and age, all Kashmiris believe that a blunder has been done to the Kashmiris and the system of Kashmir.
“A Kashmiri who does not hold a stone in hand keeps the stone in his heart. This revolution has taken a shape of mass-movement same as the movement of 1942 or JP Movement in which the contribution of the public was more than the leaders,” he said.
Baqr Eid was not celebrated in Kashmir this time. Neither anyone wore new clothes. Not a single home celebrated Eid. Isn’t this move of Kashmiris a slap on the faces of the people who talk aloud and swear upon democracy?
In his letter the journalist quoted Kashmiri people as saying,” The Valley is bedewed in the blood of Kashmiris as more than 10,000 Kashmiris are badly injured by pellet guns; more than 500 have lost their eyes forever. In such a gloomy atmosphere, “We don’t want to light up our homes with four bulbs, we don’t feel like and we don’t want to hurt each other by doing so. We will live by lighting up with only one bulb.”
The journalist recalled witnessing how people lived on one bulb light and how young boys piled up the stones on the roads and the same boys remove those heaps of stone in the evening at six.
He told Modi that during night Kashmiri people slept with the doubt of pathos that anytime the military and security forces would enter their homes to pick them up, and they would never ever return to their homes. Such a situation was never witnessed in our history not even during the times of British Rule.
An entire generation that was born in 1952 had not seen a single day of democracy but the army, paramilitary forces, bullets, guns, dead bodies, mass graveyards, disappeared people, torture and mass rapes.
Bhartiya told the prime minister that some people had made him believe that each person in Kashmir was a Pakistani. In fact, they say that whatever Indians promised was never respected.
On every tree, on every mobile tower, Pakistani flag swirls in Kashmir. We inquired about it and people responded by saying that, “India hates Pakistan. So in order to tease you, we swirl Pakistani flags.”
In order to hurt Indian government, when India looses a cricket match with Pakistan Kashmiris celebrate even if India loses a cricket match against New Zealand, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka Kashmiris do celebrate. They think that they are able to express their protest by this way.
“Dearest Modiji, don’t you think that we seriously need to understand their mentality. If people of Kashmir are not with us then what are we going to do with the bare land of Kashmir. There will be nothing do business with, no tourism, no love; only our government will be there followed by our army. People of Kashmir want to be self-decisive. The only thing Kashmiris say is, “Just ask us once whether we want to live with India or Pakistan; or want an independent Kashmir, where there is Pakistan-ruled Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan,” the letter said.
The present situation aroused only due to the failure of last four delegations sent to Kashmir from time to time. Their reports were never made public. No action was taken following these reports.
Bhartiya said Modi has celebrated Diwali amongst Kashmir and promised crores of money package for Kashmir, but it was never received by the common people there.
Mocking the statements from the Indian side, Bhartiya questioned Modi as amid curfew and with no people on roadshow Pakistan could give 500 rupees to each stone-pelting boy every day? And was Indian system so helpless or hopeless that it could not catch a single man who distributed these 500-500 rupees to the young boys of Kashmir. This is a sheer joke and even Kashmiris mock at us.
The senior journalist also censured Indian media for spreading and exaggerating the communalism in the country. Few of them were blinded by the ambition of becoming the Member of Parliament (MP) that they have forgotten their actual role of a journalist.
He said Modi would be remembered as a ruthless Prime Minister who didn’t bother to stop the massacres but kept Kashmir intact with India? This will be very painful and bitter history for our coming generations.
Hurriyat is so dominating and powerful in Kashmir that the people strictly abide by their protest calendars.
Santosh Bhartiya seconded Indian corp commander asking the government not to entangle him in political clashes because the army was for enemies and not for civilians.
He shared with Modi that every person in Srinagar was praising Atal Bihari Vajpyee for pursuing the policy of dialogue for friendship with Pakistan and remembered as a “masiha” who thought of giving some solution to this conflict.
“And the reason of not trusting you is that you are visiting every country and taking tours around the world; rather you are the only Prime Minister in the world who has visited so many countries in such a short span of time, but your own 60 lakh people back home in Kashmir are saddened and upset with you,” the letter said.
The journalist urged Premier Modi to go to Kashmir and meet people, apprehend the complications and talk to every stakeholder of Kashmir, even to Hurriyat.
Bhartiya, who visited the valley along with other India’s top journalists Ashoke Wankhade and Prof. Abhay Dubey said they actually wept by seeing the bleeding condition of Kashmir.
All the negativity about Kashmiris is actually spread deliberately and intentionally by a group of people in the rest of the country by labeling them as Pakistani-backed-terrorists and that every Kashmiri is a traitor and is against India.
Labelling Kashmir movement with Pakistan is a sheer made-up story and is not true at all.
Recently, there was big hue and cry over Kaveri in Karnataka and Bangalore, but not a single man died and police or army did not shot people. Why there is bloodshed in Kashmir only? Why pellets and bullets are showered in Kashmir only? Why are the pellets and bullets shot above the waist in Kashmir only? Why you need to shoot a six-year-old child? Why a six-year-old child and our own local police are against us?
Santosh Bhartiya asked Modi to free them from the treatment of prejudice and help them from freeing themselves from a fearful and merciless lives they have spend since last 70 years.
