Mail

"Peace In Kashmir"

Sir,

This refers to the letter entitled "Peace in Kashmir" that appeared in the DE of 24th of Feb. The author is quite right in recognising ‘Kashmir issue’ as a very complex one, not in Asia only but in the whole world, particularly after the two countries in conflict have acquired nuclear status. But, unfortunately the wise author hardly knows that many a time it is the history that predicts the events to occur in future. He may be very right in considering that the future of Kashmir is known to none else except India. But to my surprise and to the surprise of the whole world why India has kept this (author’s imagination) solution inher pocket for the last 50 years. Why she is not coming forward to put this solution before the public and execute it once for all. There is no denying the fact that India has considered the State of Jammu & Kashmir as a laboratory to conduct experiments for the last more than fifty years and she is still to get a concurrent reading to conclude the experiment. And it is a reality, although hard to swallow, that the raw material for this experimentation is made out of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The author has contradicted his own opinion in firstly describing the issue as a very complex one and at the same time saying that a kind of readymade solution is very much available with India. If this is true, then is the daily blood shed for over a decade aimed at maintaining an population balance or to enjoy the music of gun and mortars. My dear author has of course a right of expression but I suggest him that before commenting on a complex and multidimensional issue like that of Kashmir, he must borrow a book embodying the chronology of the historical events in Kashmir vis-a-vis the policy of government of India on it since 1947 till date. He must know the "Sell and purchase’’ policy the govt. of India has kept in use, on so for as the question of Kashmir is concerned, for the last five decades.

Secondly, the author unmindfully relates the infrastructural potential of India with the vexed issue of Kashmir, that India has supercomputers, light combat air-crafts and submarines. I think while compiling his write-up the author is forgetting the recent year’s events in the erstwhile USSR (the mother of resource, technology and trained manpower) which was a while ago one of the world’s roaring superpowers. Instead, being a bonafide citizen the author, by virtue of his knowledge and vision, must bring such propositions before the public which can be utilized in combating the menaces which the country is suffering from at present.

I will not hesitate to opine that the author appears more sentimental than wise and knowledgeable. The author obviously dubs the visit of Hurriyat team to Pakistan as useless and thereby underestimates the policy of GOI which underlines the Hurriyat visit as a part of policy aimed at bringing the derailed bilateral dialogue back on the rails. The author pointedly asks as to what the proposed visit is aimed at. To be a bit ironical, I suggest the south block of Delhi, that if possible, the author must be made aware of the policies of GOI vis-a-vis the proposed hurriyat visit, so that he may feel at home at least for the time being.

Yours etc.
Abrar Naseem Chowdhary
Colony, RRL Jammu.
<abrar7862KI@yahoo.com>

Atrocities on women

Sir,

Once a foreigner visited Indian subcontinent. When returned to his native place, he was asked by his friends and kins as to what fascinated him most in that part of the world. He told that the very surprise to me in that place was that if at all God exists, He exists in India. This kind of the perception of the incumbent was the reflection of India’s unity in diversity (in terms of culture, religions, caste beliefs, what and whatnot). But, unfortunately, there was an exception to the perception of the foreigner i.e the age-old rampant atrocities on women. Throughout the country there is a permanent and ascending trend of committing barbaric, brutal and inhuman atrocities on the weaker sex.

Man has explored moon, reached the snow bound nascent continent Antarctica, has reached the red planet Mars and developed scientific giants like submarines to investigate the oceans thousands of miles deep, but we have still not taken out our nails from the nose of our women. Reports with headlines like gang raped, abducted, paraded naked, set ablaze for dowry are very common to encounter daily in the local and national dailies . As the era is moving fast towards societal advancement and civilizational reforms, our crime graph against women is reaching higher peaks.

Much more surprising is the state of affairs in this regard in my own home state- Jammu and Kashmir, where in the month of Feb. 2k1, in province Jammu alone (what to mention of Kashmir where the violation of human rights at every now and then is the order of the day for over a decade), 12 cases of abduction including the more famous Meenakshi episode as well, 6 cases of gang rapes and two cases of dowry related harassment are reported. It is very perturbing to know one or the other kind of atrocity on women hitting theheadlines of the newspaper on every alternate day.

Our so-called popular government, which is much popular to devour the funds from public exchequer and more popular to manage backdoor and malafide entries in govt. and PSU services beside other things, remains as a mute spectator to these inhuman atrocities on the mothers, daughters and sisters. It is a matter of shame for those at the helm of affairs that they move in AC cars, enjoy cocktails , while the daughters, mothers and sisters of the soil they live upon are paraded naked, abducted what and what not.

I think, if at all, there are still some souls alive in our society who respect the women folk-the progenitor of human race, must come on one platform to fight for restoring the sanctity and status of mothers, daughters, and sisters.

Yours etc.
Roofi Yousaf Khan
Srinagar.
<abrar7862KI@yahoo.com>