Nitya
Ramakrishnan (Advocate) and Nandini Sundar (Sociologist)
We visited the Kashmir
Valley between 5th and 9th October 2019. We spoke to a
cross section of people in three different regions.
We visited the
journalist centre, courts, markets, and a few localities in Srinagar
Taxi driver - 2
Auto drivers – 3
Houseboat owners:
2
Lawyers: 2
School and
College teachers: 2 (1 each)
Shopkeepers: 5
Street Hawkers:
2
Hotel owner: 1
Waiters: 2
Journalists: 6
Bureaucrats: 1
Families of
minors taken by police: 2 families (approx. 10 people)
Total: 38 approx
Shopian/Pulwama
We visited 4
villages as well as the Shopian fruit mandi
Parigam village,
Pulwama: 3-4 persons (including torture victims);
Class XI female
student
Karimabad
village: 3-4 persons, including 3 women (family relatives of detenues)
SS village:
Families of children who were arrested
SB village: Families
of children arrested
One Pandit
family (2 old couples)
CRPF jawan
Apple growers: 2
men
25 approximately
Sopore/Kupwara
We visited two
villages as well as the Sopore fruit mandi
Sopore fruit
mandi: 4-5 Mandi officials
Village
Pringroo: 5-6 villagers
Village Bhandi: 5-6
people: Sarpanch and other villagers, mother and uncle of youth who died in
police custody, son of PC district president who is in jail in Agra under PSA.
15 approx.
Overall Impressions
Of the
approximately 75 plus people we spoke to in these five days, not a single
person we met was happy with the reading down of Article 370 and abolition of
Article 35A, as well as the conversion of the state into a UT. Almost every single person wanted azadi, though what they mean by this
varies between full independence, i.e not being with either India or Pakistan, to
full merger with Pakistan. The constituency for Pakistan has increased
drastically, along with those who regard Hurriyat leader Geelani as their main
leader. There are no takers for the so-called full integration that the
Government of India is promising post-370, especially given that this promise
has come with a communication blockade, heavy military presence, severe
repression, and the denial of fundamental rights which are in theory available
to every Indian citizen.
We met one old
Pandit man who had stayed back in the valley who was ambivalent about azadi,
saying “My children are in Delhi so I can’t stay apart from them”. But he
added, “the people here will never accept in their hearts being part of India.”
He too was unhappy about the abrogation of 370, though he felt “the Government
may be able to ride it out, since Pakistan is not a match for India.” One group
of NC supporters in Handwara felt ‘normalcy’ may return if Article 370 is
restored, but they also said, “who doesn’t want azadi?” A Gujjar sarpanch, who
recognized that they were a minority as STs in Kashmir said, “even animals want
azadi.” One shopkeeper in Srinagar said that 370 had been so hollowed out that
it made little difference, but “still, it was our identity.” Regardless of
their specific views, however, everyone felt they had lost their identity, and
had been humiliated by not being consulted on their own future.
People are
resisting in the only way possible – through satyagraha or non-violent civil disobedience. There is a complete
hartal across the state, despite severe economic and educational losses. Since
the entire leadership is in jail – from mainstream parties to the separatist
parties, this satyagraha is being carried out by the people themselves. There is some societal coercion, but by and
large, this is entirely voluntary. This
is not happening on the direction of militants, contrary to the advertisements
now being run by government.
People compare
the situation in 2019 to that in 2016 after the killing of Burhan Wani. The
major differences are that first, now there is no leadership and people are
acting on their own, second, the resistance is across the valley (earlier it
was mostly South Kashmir), and third, even those who were earlier with the
Indian government are now completely alienated. The Government claim that the major
difference is that there is no open resistance and no loss of life is a.)
untrue, since people have been killed even if fewer, b.) temporary – till the
people figure out new strategies. The communications blackout and the mass
arrest of mainstream leaders is new and unprecedented.
While people
hate the Indian government, they displayed enormous hospitality and
graciousness to us as ordinary Indians. They have no problem with Indians, so
long as they are not from the media. The Kashmir press is heavily censored,
with Orwellian claims that everything is normal and people are happy. The
Government runs full page advertisements every day telling people the benefits
of not having 370. The national television media is simply a disgrace since
they are collaborating with the government in the pretence that everything is
normal. The correspondents for national media report abuses and torture
faithfully but the news is not always carried. They remarked that in over two
months, there has not been a single editorial in Kashmir on Article 370. Everyone
feels that they are being pushed back to the stone age without phones and
internet.
The High Court
is hardly functioning. Lawyers told us that some 300 habeas corpus petitions had
been filed but the court gave generous time to the government by which time the
petitions became infructuous. There were hardly any private lawyers.
Even a cursory
visit to Kashmir’s villages show a level of prosperity that is much higher than
many parts of India. The Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan, Ujjwala Yojana, Housing Schemes etc. are quite un-necessary here,
since everybody already has pukka houses, toilets, gas cylinders etc.
In the long run
it appears that the Modi government’s precipitous step will result in a long
term Palestine-like occupation, with heavy costs not just to the Kashmiris but
also to the Indian economy and polity, unless there is enough international
pressure to introduce some changes.
The mainstream
leadership is by and large completely discredited. Repeatedly we heard that if the government can
jail even their favoured stooge, Farouq Abdullah, then what is a common person
to expect. They also repeatedly pointed out that the government had not even spared
Hindu religious sentiments by sending back the Amarnath yatris midway. There is
no going back from this step.
Economic Losses
People are
facing huge economic losses due to the curfew-turned-hartal. Although there are
now officially no restrictions, the uncertainty over where the government has
re-imposed restrictions continues. For instance, journalists informed us that the
government announces that they have removed restrictions from 20 police
precincts without specifying which ones, so people are never fully certain. The
heavy deployment of the military also continues so people feel unsafe.
One taxi driver
who was earlier employed at Rs 8000 pm is now earning Rs. 5000. “370 knocked
3000 of my monthly income” he said. An auto driver said he used to run a hotel
with 16 rooms but since there were no tourists he was now driving an auto.
Shops are open
only from 7-9 am. The hartal is largely voluntary but there is also some social
enforcement. For instance, we were told that a vegetable seller in Soura who
kept open all day found his shack burnt down, a milk man was given a “last
warning” for keeping his shop open half day, an apple grower who sold his fruit
found six trees cut overnight. An auto driver said he no longer drives downtown
for fear of random stones, so he parks his auto at night at his in-laws and walks
home 2 km to downtown. He plies only for a short while in the evening.
On the 9th,
we found a couple of establishments (restaurants) had started staying open all
day. It may be that people will slowly inch back to keeping open their
businesses, out of compulsion. However, one apple grower we met said he was “willing
to lose 9-10 lakhs every year by not harvesting and selling his apples, if it
gets us azadi.” (see section on apple trade)
Houseboat
owners, workers and everyone dependent on tourism have been particularly badly
hit. One houseboat owner with a five room houseboat said he lost 7 lakhs this
year. A shopkeeper who sells perfumes sourced from Gujarat to tourists on
houseboats said that due to the communications blackout, he was not able to
contact his suppliers, and anyway, what would be the point since there were no
buyers.
Weddings are
going on, but the amount of food consumed and numbers invited are much lower
than usual. The head of one NGO, Aash,
which organizes mass weddings for orphans, said that last year they had served
biryani, this year they could only serve kahwa.
Several people,
in both Srinagar and the villages, told us that Kashmiris are able to survive
the blockades and hartal because of community traditions of support and
co-operation, which get strengthened in conflict situations. Those who cannot
afford it are helped with rations. In places like Aanchar in Srinagar where
they have barricaded themselves in, many people are agriculturists and have
enough paddy stocks.
Apple Trade
We visited the
Shopian and Sopore fruit mandis. The Shopian fruit mandi was completely closed
with not even trucks parked outside. One grower we met said he was prepared to
lose lakhs if the hartal helped to get azadi.
The Sopore fruit
mandi was also closed, but the Horticulture dept office where NAFED was
purchasing fruit was open. The NAFED officials said that while normally 300
trucks leave the Sopore fruit mandi per day, they had managed to send out only
3 trucks since September 15 when the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) was announced.
However, they said that a.) those who had already signed agreements with
traders from Azadpur mandi were sending it directly, b.) that some informal
trading was taking place outside the mandi. Inside the mandi, however, it is
clear that there is complete hartal.
Last year the
mandi turnover was 1000 crore. Only 586 farmers out of 94,000 farmers in
District Baramulla had registered with NAFED to sell. Out of these 586, only 46
growers had actually sold. This came to 30 metric tonne which was sent out in 3
trucks (as mentioned above).
While MIS is
pitched as beneficial for apple growers, in practice because of the sorting
into different grades they are losing out. Earlier each crate contained a mix
of grades, which were sold at the highest grade.
In Handwara,
people are fulfilling their agreements, but those who had not made agreements
are suffering. They have to sell their apples against the challans of their
neighbours with agreements, and since there is no communication have no idea
what rates they are getting for their apples.
Religious Restrictions
This year Eid
was hardly celebrated. Around Qalamabad in Kupwara, the police went around
villages and told people not to gather in Idgahs and not to use loudspeakers.
People offered eid namaz in their local mosques. There was no namaz in the
Qalamchakla Idgah either.
Educational losses
While schools
are technically open, no children are going to school. The teachers mark
attendance for a couple of hours a day, sometimes 2-3 times a week. A six year
old girl in Soura Srinagar said she was scared to go to school because “police uncle goli marenge”. Parents
don’t want to send their children to school with such heavy militarization and
without phones. We were told that the CRPF had occupied SP Higher Secondary
school since August 5th but could not personally verify this.
Rural schools
are shut. Even if it’s within the locality, the armed forces are everywhere and
people are scared they may be some incident/shootout.
An 11th
standard girl in Parigam village, Pulwama who was studying for medical entrance
tests in a coaching college in Srinagar had now returned home to her village.
Exams have been announced for end November but she said she didn't know how
they would do it since they have not been taught the course; they could only
revise whatever had been covered, the new material was difficult to study on
their own. She didn't know how she would be able to give the entrance test.
One school
teacher in a middle class Srinagar school said they distribute assignments to
all those children whose addresses they have but don't know how to reach the
rest.
A college
teacher said that she and other colleagues have been going periodically to
college but no students come. On 9 October when colleges officially opened,
there were almost no students that we could see. There is no public transport
so it is hard to see how school or college students would get to the
educational institution.
Arrest of children/minors
Small children,
some as young as six years, are being picked up and kept for a day to several
days, or asked to report morning to evening for several days. Most often there
is no record of their detention. In most cases, their fathers or other
relatives are asked to report every day to the thana, as some kind of surety/hostage.
Children are picked up on charges of playing resistance taraanas through mosque loudspeakers or pelting stones. This has
happened even before August 5th as one of our cases showed but the
pace has intensified.
Both in Pulwama
and Srinagar, we were told that children are scared to sleep in their own homes
at night lest they are picked up. They sleep at a grandmother’s or other
relative.
For a year or
more, the army has been carrying out a census of households in villages. After
August 5th, it was thus easy for them to target families with youth.
We met the
following cases:
SS village, Shopian district
20 children
(approx.) between the ages of 12 and 20 were picked up and kept for 15-20 days.
One 12 year old child, SN, class VII, was picked up on August 10 and released
on September 25 to a juvenile justice home. There are 6 cases against him – of
stone pelting, damaging houses and vehicles. We were unable to meet his parents
and get the exact details.
Other children
detained from the village include:
1.) SAM, age
14/15; class X student
2.) ABS, age
14/15years; class X student
3.) AF, age 16
years
4.) IAP. He is
from a poor family, so was doing mazdoori.
They were picked
up from their houses on 10th and 20th August around 2 am.
They were released in batches of 2-3 from 20th to 25th September. Apart
from SN, none have been charged.
The police
charged their families Rs. 100 per day for food while the children were kept in
the thana. They were allowed to meet their families for 10-15 minutes every
day. There is huge overcrowding in jails, making it difficult for the children
to lie down and sleep.
We did not meet
the children themselves – we were told they were out plucking apples (which may
or may not have been the case), but we met members of their families and
village elders.
SB village, Shopian district
In this village,
children had been picked up in May 2019 and released. We met some of them and
their parents.
1. SF, age 12, Class V
2. AM, age 9, class IV
3. AS, Age 12, Class III
4. FF, age 14, Class VII
Two men in civil
clothes came on a scooter around 3 pm to AY house and took him. Then they came
to FF house and summoned him to the thana. He went with his mother. Then they
went to AM and AS houses and summoned them too. Police left the younger kids
off at night and they had to go back the next morning. They were kicked a
couple of times and made to do sit ups holding their ears (murga). AM had been picked
up in 2016 as well when he was only six.
FF was inside
for 5 days along with two other boys. They were quite badly beaten up. His
father also said when he went to meet him he was told to come back later and
could see he was being beaten. The boys were picked up for playing taraana on
the Hanfi mosque loudspeakers, SB village. The Police confiscated their IPad and
the mosque loud speakers. FF was sent away from SB village to his aunt’s for a
few months and had only just returned.
Srinagar
We spoke to one
child who had been picked up and released. Six year old H was picked up from
the mosque on 17th August at
3 pm, along with T, age 12, class VII, and taken to the thana. They were
released at midnight. After that T’s father and H’s grandfather had to report
in the thana from morning to evening for several days. H is now interested in
playing with guns and thinks of them all the time.
Torture Cases
Parigam Village,
Pulwama
Parigam village
has two army camps close by. The high school has been shut for two months.
Earlier while the army would pass through the village, they did not bother the
residents. However, after August 5th, they have randomly picked up
youth whose houses lie along the main road and tortured them to instill fear. On
the night of August 6th, the army picked up 9-11 youth between the
ages of 20-30 from 8 houses, getting one person to knock on the door of another
in a chain.
We met two
brothers, Shabir Ahmad Sofi, aged 25 and Muzafffar Ahmad Sofi, aged 23 years,
along with their father Sanaullah Sofi, at their home in Parigam village,
Pulwama. The family runs a nanwai
(bread) and bakery. On the night of 6th
August the army first knocked on the door of the chowkidar, Abdul Ghani, and
told him to call a man called Qayoom Ahmad Wani who runs a kirana (groceries)
shop. Qayoom was then used to show them the way to the baker’s house. When
Sanaullah opened the door, the army asked for his sons (they knew them because
of the prior census, the boys had not had any previous charges).
The 9-11 youth
(the Sofi brothers; Qayoom Ahmad Wani; Yasin Ahmad Bhatt, Muzaffar Ahmad Bhatt;
Abdul Ghani’s son) were taken to a spot outside the mosque and beaten with
cables and sticks on the road from 12.30 am to 3 am approximately. They were
also given electric shocks to revive them after falling unconscious. The boys
crawled home on all fours. They have been unable to move for the last two
months, leave alone work.
When the
families of the youth tried to intercede they were turned back. The Army
threatened to beat the youth more if anyone tried to stop them. The next
morning the youth were taken to the Government Hospital for Bone and Joint
Surgery, Barzulla, Srinagar. The families wanted to file an FIR in Pulwama
thana but the thana has been closed off with barbed wire.
Sanaullah’s
bakery has been shut for the last two months. He incurred a loss of Rs. 2 lakh
on the goods he had prepared for Id, which could not be sold, since the bakery
was shut. Now he survives on the morning nanwai. Earlier his monthly income was
about 25-30,000 per month. Now it is almost nothing.
Arrests/Preventive Detention
The number of
arrests and preventive detention cases has increased since August 5. People
with old FIRs against them are being picked up and kept in the police stations.
Sometimes they are released and some of them are charged under PSA and kept in
Srinagar central jail or taken to Agra. Families are scared that if they
protest or speak to the press, the detenues will be charged with PSA.
Parigam village, Pulwama
Five men were
arrested and taken to Pulwama PS after August 5th (date unknown).
The army hit two girls (one of them is a nursing student) for protesting while
their relatives were being taken away. We
were unable to talk to this family.
Karimabad village, Shopian
This is a known
militant village, with 11 graves in a martyrs’ graveyard. The army has twice
demolished the graveyard but people have rebuilt it and put paper flowers on
the graves. Here too, the army has
picked up youth as part of preventive detention measures and sent them to Agra
even though they have nothing to do with the militancy personally.
Those arrested
include:
1. Mamoon Ahmad Pandit, aged 17 years, 2nd year student of
the degree college, Pulwama, arrested on 7th August, and lodged in
Agra central jail under PSA. His sole crime is that he is the youngest brother
of well-known militant Nasir Ahmad Pandit who died in 2016.
We met his mother who said the army came at 2 am on the 7th
and told the families the youth were being taken into preventive detention till
August 15. However, when they went to the Pulwama PS on 16th August,
they were told he had been taken away.
2. Munirul Islam, age 20, aka Suhail, s/o Bashir Ahmad Pandit, arrested
on 8th August at 2.45 am.
We met his sister who said the army men jumped over the gate, asked
for Suhail, and dragged him out by his neck and hair. The sister and mother
were pushed inside the house; the army fired twice on the cement floor and
later took the cartridges away. We saw the holes in the floor. Munirul had been
previously taken away in July also; his hair was cut and he was beaten. At the
police station, the family was told he would be released after August 15, but
on August 14 they heard he was being taken to hospital. The family met him at
Pulwama PS, but immediately after he was taken to Srinagar central jail and
then Agra jail.
3. Bilal Ahmad Dar (father of two small children). We did not meet
anyone from his family, so have no details.
The
charges against all three appear to be stone pelting, breaking cars, helping
militants. But we have not seen any papers and the families have not yet been
to Agra or engaged lawyers.
Prongroo village, Handwara
3 men have been
arrested from this village and are still in jail. We met their families
1. Mohd Shafi Mir, s/o Mohd Maqbool Mir, age 35
2. Asgar Maqbul Bhat
3. Nadeem Mohd Sheikh
On 3rd
September the police came to their houses and told them to come to Qalmabad PS
in connection with an FIR of 2018. When Mohd Shafi Mir went with his father
they were told he was wanted for stone pelting and attending the funeral
procession of Manan Wani. His remand kept being extended.
Zahoor Ahmad,
age 25 was wanted by the police. Since he wasn't home, they picked up his 17
year old brother Danish and kept him in the thana for 3 days till Zahoor came.
Zahoor was inside for 18 days before he was released. He was accused of
sloganeering.
Srinagar
Arrest of OM,
age 18, studies in class 12 Govt High School. 2nd October. OM was released
on October 8th.
We met OM’s
family. 17 police cars came to the locality and the police jumped over the
courtyard gate and forced the door open when they need only have knocked. They
beat the women present with rifle butts and forcibly took away OM who was going
upstairs to get his ID. OM’s father was shoved to the wall and cracked his
forearm and chest. The police also used pepper gas and tear gas.
Community bond system:
Once a person is arrested, people in the community are asked to give surety. In
OM’s case, 20 elders from the area were summoned on a daily basis. Their IDs
are taken and they have to spend 1-2 hours, sometimes the whole day in the
police station.
Arrest for speaking to media
Inayat Ahmad of
Soura, shopkeeper, was arrested on 29th August for speaking to Al
Jazeera and participating in protests. After 15-16 days in the thana he was
taken to Srinagar central jail where he has been charged under PSA. The
chargesheet said that he was involved in stone throwing on 7th
August, which is not at all likely since he is the father of two kids. The
first FIR was filed on 7th August (for stone pelting); A second FIR
was filed on 30 August 2019 for participating in procession and shouting
pro-Pak slogans.
Custodial Death
3rd
September 2019: Death of Riyaz Ahmad Thickri, Nandpora Bhandi ward of Bhandi
village. Age approximately 20 years.
Bhandi is a
Gujjar village and there are many forest cases against the Gujjars here. The
villagers say the forest staff take bribes of 10-20,000, plus they have to pay
the lawyers Rs 500 per appearance. With travel etc. it comes to Rs 1000 per
appearance. One man said he has been attending court since 2005. Since 2010,
the forest department has barred Gujjar routes with barbed wire.
Riyaz Ahmad had
just returned from labour in Ladakh when the police came on 2nd
September and summoned him to the thana in connection with a year-old timber
smuggling FIR. On the 3rd the police went to his uncle, Jamaldeen
Shabangi’s house and took him to the PS. There they informed him that his
nephew had committed suicide with the drawstring of his salwar.
Jamaldeen and
others, however saw that Riyaz’s nose was broken and the right side of his body
from shoulder to hip was blue and bruised. A post mortem was conducted in
Handwara hospital but the family has not been given a copy.
Riyaz’s mother,
Shirina Begum, is blind. He has three brothers, two younger who are now doing
mazdoori. He was the main bread earner.
After Riyaz died
in police custody there was a procession from Heral to Varpura, Qalmabad, but
the police fired tear gas. They then seized the dead body and forcibly got it
buried near his home before anyone could come. His uncle Jamaldeen was hit on
the face during the protest.
Conclusion
Had the Supreme
Court intervened earlier – and it may still do so – to restore Article 370 and
revert J & K to its former status as a State of the Union, some of the
anger may have been assuaged. However, like everyone else in Kashmir and
outside, we are uncertain as to what the future will hold for Kashmir and
India.
