Kupwara Massacre 16 years later

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16 yrs ago, troopers shot dead 27 civilians for observing strike on R-day

Locals demand reopening of case, punishment to accused SHAHID RAFIQ Greater KashmirＪａｎｕａｒｙ　２７ Kupwara, Jan 26: Troopers, who gunned down 27 civilians in this frontier district on January 27, 1993 for observing shutdown on R-day, continue to roam freely even after 16 years. The memories of the massacre are still fresh in the minds of people and they are waiting for the day when the perpetrators would be punished. On the fateful day, troops of 15 Punjab and Gharwal regiment opened indiscriminate fire killing 27 civilians in Kupwara market. After the incident, police registered a case and assured the residents that erring troopers would be punished. “There was no headway made after the case was registered. We are waiting for the day when killers would be punished,” said one of the survivors. The Traders Federation, Kupwara, on Monday held a prayer meeting to remember those who fell prey to troopers’ bullets. “We demand that case should be reopened and killers be punished,” traders said. Recalling the incident, the survivors told Greater Kashmir the troops fired upon people only to avenge the strike observed by shopkeepers on January 26. They said that the patrolling party of Punjab regiment had warned the shopkeepers on January 25 of dire consequences if they observed strike and didn’t celebrate the R-day. “As the shopkeepers opened their establishments on January 27, troopers opened fire from all the directions killing 27 people, including traders, policemen and officials. At 11 am the firing stopped. After unleashing death, troopers asked survivors to assemble in the ground and undergo an identification parade,” recalled a survivor. He said that no one was allowed to lift the bodies and take the injured to hospital. “A boy died in front of his father, who begged the troopers of 15 Sikh Li unit to allow him to take his son to the hospital. But troopers didn’t pay any heed towards his pleas.” Another survivor said that two days before the massacre, troopers had entered into a scuffle with policemen after a head constable of Jammu and Kashmir police rescued an old man from their clutches. “After the incident troopers warned the policemen of dire consequences,” the survivor said, adding that strike observed by the people on January 26 added fuel to the fire and troopers went on the killing spree next day. “The main target of Army’s firing squad was bus stand Kupwara and a police post on the old bridge. They mistook a forest guard Ghulam Muhammad Mir wearing Khaki uniform as policeman and shot him dead,” the survivor added.

Displaced familiies, land usurped by Indian army

200 Kanal land under troops occupation since 1990

Greater Kashmir Jan 20, 2009
50 families migrated to AJK, 30 living under avalanche threat

SHAHID RAFIQ

Kupwara, Jan 19: More than 200 kanal of proprietary land at Lashdut in this frontier district, comprising maize, pulse and potato fields besides apple and walnut orchards have been under the occupation of troops since 1990.
As a consequence, nearly 50 families were forced to cross over to AJK in 1990 and 30 other families are living temporarily at Kanyan, Doga and Kamkadi near the line of control under avalanche threat.
Before 1990, Lashdut was a peaceful village. Inhabitants of the small hamlet used to earn their livelihood through cattle rearing, growing food grains and vegetables. In January 1990, Grenadier Regiment occupied the land, and over the years army units, including 14 Raj Rifles, JAK riffles, Mahar regiment and several other units took control of the land. Presently, land is under the occupation of Rajput and 7 Para regiments.
“We were living happily and the main source of our sustenance was land and cattle. But in 1990, when the armed rebellion broke out in the state, army started harassing us and finally occupied the land forcing the villagers to migrate. The occupation has rendered us homeless and made our survival difficult,” said head of a displaced family wishing not be named.
The families alleged that scores of cattle had perished in the past 18 years due to landmine explosions. They said the land had been completely fenced by the troopers and their houses razed to ground. “Troopers have been using trees and furniture as firewood. We have not received single penny as compensation till date,” the villagers said, adding, “Since the day troops occupied our land we’ve not been allowed to visit our fields.”
“Only source of income for my family was my 20 kanal of land comprising walnut trees. But for past two decades, I have been deprived of my livelihood and the troops are using my land as helipad and the walnut trees have been chopped,” said a displaced farmer.
When contacted, the PRO Defence declined to comment on land compensation issue. “I can’t comment on this,” he said.
Officials at district development commissioner’s office at Kupwara told Greater Kashmir that the file had been sent to army’s district estates office, Varmul, for approval.

After the Amarnath land grab, deportations

Now the Indian state decides that it can deport Kashmiris as "foreign nationals" for visiting their relatives in Azad Kashmir forty years ago. I wonder if anyone has statistics on the creation of a Kashmiri population-in-exile over the six decades of Indian rule.

For visiting AJK at the age of 10, 55-year-old put on deportation list

Greater Kashmir January 5, 2009
NASEER A GANAI

Srinagar, Jan 4: In October 2008, Abdul Wahid Bhat, a resident of Khanyar in old city here, was relaxing in his home when policemen conveyed to him that he is on deportation list. He was asked to leave India in 15 days.
“I was shocked at first,” Wahid says. “My family is here, my children are here, relatives here and still I am told to leave Jammu and Kashmir, my birth place in 15 days. At this age where will I go? ” He asks.
In 1965, Abdul Wahid Bhat, then ten years old, along with his aunt went to AJK on a valid document. He said his aunt had children in AJK who had left Kashmir in 1947. He stayed there for three months. And soon, on September 5, 1965 India-Pakistan war broke out and continued till September 17, 1965.
During the war he had reached Wagah border to cross to India but he was pushed back. He stayed back in other Kashmir. His aunt died there. Later, he said, his father and mother traveled to AJK and brought him back here after he obtaining Pakistani passport for traveling to Kashmir.
Back home, he surrendered Pakistani passport before the Indian authorities and started living as a bonafide citizen of Jammu and Kashmir.
But in 1980, police registered an FIR under Foreigners Act against him in the police station Khanyar. Subsequently, in 1983 a challan was presented before the Court. He pleaded in the Court that he didn’t acquire Pakistani passport voluntarily. He faced the trial and after eight years, the Court acquitted him.
Wahid says for past 29 years he has run his family business and has not violated any condition of citizenship of being permanent resident of the state. He is also enrolled by the Election Commission of India as permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir.
But still in October 2008, he was shocked when secretary Home Department Government of India through CID informed him to leave India and the Jammu and Kashmir state. “I went to Home Department but they didn’t handover the deportation order to me,” he says.
Forced by the circumstances he went to the High Court challenging the order of the Home Department through his counsel Mir Shafaqat Hussain. The Court has issued the orders to the state not to disturb the present status of Wahid. “Why I should be deported. I have my roots here and the Court has already acquitted me,” he says.

CSM article - India: Let Kashmir go

New Delhi's reluctance to let Kashmiris define their future – options include independence, division along communal lines, comanagement by both India and Pakistan, a UN trusteeship – butts against recent history demonstrating that "letting go" more than holding on benefits politically divided states. Witness the pacific and beneficial demise of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Serbia/Montenegro.

India's future rests not on maturing Cold Start but becoming a 21st century economic power house. Hanging on to Kashmir does nothing to promote that goal. Letting go not only will benefit New Delhi's modernization by reducing the heavy military burden bad relations with Pakistan engenders, it also will allow Islamabad to redirect its military resources to the tribal areas benefiting Washington's position in Afghanistan.

Read the full article here