Kashmir: Peace March For A University‏

Kashmir: Peace March For A University‏

Kashmir: Peace march for a university

YUSUF JAMEEL

Srinagar, the summer capital of restive Indian-administered-Kashmir routinely fashioned into a theatre of politically obsessed displays which often turn violent, witnessed atypical peace protest march on Monday, March 12, 2012.

That in support of the demand of setting up an Islamic university in the predominantly Muslim Himalayan state, the longstanding demand of a socio-religious organisation which appears to have gone haywire.

Hundreds of members and supporters of Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadith, which promotes Wahhabism, a religious movement or a branch within Sunni Islam, and is also involved in social work in what is officially known as Jammu and Kashmir state in extreme north of India, joined the peace march taken along the streets of uptown Srinagar to press its demand for Trans-World Muslim University (TWMU).

The idea is brainchild of Moulana Showhat Ahmed Shah, a prominent Kashmiri cleric and a familiar face in temperate camp of the separatists or pro-freedom activists, who was killed in a remotely detonated bomb outside a mosque in Srinagar in April 2011. Shah, 57, was vocal critic of stone-pelting during the pro-freedom protests and had termed it un-Islamic. He had earlier even won the wrath of hard-line separatists and religious radicals after he and some other senior Jamiat leaders met the then New-Delhi appointed Governor Lt. Gen. (retired) S.K. Sinha during the 2008 blood-spattered agitation over allowing a Hindu consortium called Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) to use forest land for creating facilities for tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims who turn up at the Amarnath cave-shrine in Kashmir hills every summer to seek his help toward establishing the university in Srinagar. 

Nevertheless, Monday’s peace march which culminated into a protest rally held at Srinagar’s Press Enclave was not fully apolitical in nature. The participants were chanting slogans against the regional National Conference and Indian National Congress party coalition government which rules the state under Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister. They were furious over the alleged “disruption” in the execution of the plan and blamed the local chief of the Congress party Prof. Saifuddin Soz and others in the party for it.

Moulana Gulam Rasool Malik, the Jamiat chief, warned that if the ordinance to establish the TWMU was not passed during the ongoing budget session of the State Assembly it would call for protests which will be a "flood".  He said, "If the ordinance is not passed during this session, then this government will be responsible for any break down in law and order." 

Without naming anybody, the Jamiat chief said that some unknown people had "ill-informed" New Delhi that the university would be a breeding ground for terrorists and hardliners. "Our organization's contribution in India's freedom struggle is known to all. We want to tell these people that the doors of this university will be open to everyone irrespective of his religion, region, caste or colour. It would only help towards furthering the standard of education in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond.”

A bills seeking setting up TWMU and Sheikh-ul-Alam Research University after Kashmir’s patron saint Sheikh Noorurddin Wali in the Valley and Guru Nanak Khalsa University after the founder of Sikhism in Jammu, the winter capital of the state, were passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly last year. But the plan hit major roadblock when ruling National Conference-Congress combine strongly opposed it in the Upper House or Legislative Council. The bills were subsequently sent to a joint select committee. Earlier the Hindu rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party members had in the Lower House strongly opposed the setting up of TWMU, citing the varsity would become a launching pad for “Islamic fundamentalism”.

It is believed the lawmakers who opposed the bill actually do not subscribe to the interpretation of Islam by the Jamiat and the school of Islamic thought it professes. They see Wahhabism as an austere, puritanical interpretation of Islam and in clash with the region’s famed Sufi traditions. The lid was lifted by Congress member Bashir Ahmed Magray who was the first to oppose the bill in the Legislative Council by saying “It involves a particular religious community.” But the Jamiat leadership rejects the apprehension as “gratuitous”. It also says deliberate attempts are being made by ‘vested interest’ to divide Muslims by advancing unconvincing arguments. “There is only one Islam there which was introduced by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and it would be naïve on anybody’s part to try to split it by placing tolerant and hard-line labels rather we see it as a deliberate attempt to divide Muslim for other reasons,” said a Jamiat activist.   

But the fact remains that due to the efforts of the Jamiat the brand of Islam it preaches is making deep inroads into Kashmir. Swelling congregations flocking to over 700 mosques it has built across the Vale of Kashmir over the years stands testimony to it. Those who wish to strictly adhere to the Sufi Islam are worried over the growth; hence try to seize every opportunity that comes in their way to run the competitor down.

However, as for establishing TWMU in Kashmir, nothing stands in its way constitutionally. “Hence legislative stalling remains inexplicable,” said columnist Javid Iqbal. He wrote in mass-circulated Greater Kashmir “Education being a fundamental right, the longstanding plea of the Jamiat for setting up the TWMU in Kashmir seems to be a valid plea gone haywire” Referring to a Hindu consortium that runs the affairs of a revered community shrine Mata Vaishnodevi successfully setting up a university, he asked “Impeding the legislative passage (of TWMU) would surely entail a comparison—undesired, unwanted and unwarranted!” He adds, “We may not be drawn into comparison between the relative sailings of the two proposals. That too would be undesirable. All said and done, it ultimately boils down to the fact that there can be no cons in educational progression of any community, only loads of pros. Besides it stands to test the projection that Kashmir is the laboratory of India’s secularism!” 

Srinagar peace march for a university

Srinagar, the summer capital of restive Jammu and Kashmir routinely fashioned into a theatre of politically obsessed displays which often turn violent, witnessed atypical peaceful protest march on Monday (March 12, 2012). That for setting up an Islamic university in the predominantly Muslim Himalayan, the longstanding demand of a socio-religious organisation which appears to have gone haywire.

Hundreds of members and supporters of Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadith, which promotes Wahhabism, a religious movement or a branch within Sunni Islam, and is also involved in social work in Jammu and Kashmir, marched along the streets of uptown Srinagar to press its demand for Trans-World Muslim University (TWMU). It was first proposed by Moulana Showhat Ahmed Shah, a prominent Kashmiri cleric and a familiar face in temperate camp of the separatists, who was killed in a remotely detonated bomb outside a mosque in Srinagar in April 2011. He had earlier even won the wrath of hard-line separatists and religious radicals after he and some other senior Jamiat leaders met the then J&K Governor Lt. Gen. (retired) S.K. Sinha during the Amarnath land row to seek his help toward establishing the university in Srinagar. 

Nevertheless, Monday’s peace march which culminated into a protest rally held at Srinagar’s Press Enclave was not fully apolitical in nature. The participants were chanting slogans against the coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah. They were furious over the alleged “disruption” in the execution of the plan and blamed J&K PCC chief Saifuddin Soz and others in the coalition partner for it. Moulana Gulam Rasool Malik, the Jamiat chief, warned that if the ordinance to establish the TWMU was not passed during the ongoing budget session of the State Assembly it would call for protests which will be a "flood".  he said, "If the ordinance is not passed during this session, then this government will be responsible for any break down in law and order." 

Without naming anybody, the Jamiat chief said that some unknown people had "ill-informed" New Delhi that the university would be a breeding ground for terrorists and hardliners. "Our organization's contribution in the country's freedom struggle to known to all. We want to tell these people that the doors of this university will be open to everyone irrespective of his religion, region, caste or colour. It would only help towards furthering the standard of education in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond.”

A bills seeking setting up TWMU and Sheikh-ul-Alam Research University after Kashmir’s patron saint Sheikh Noorurddin Wali in the Valley and Guru Nanak Khalsa University in Jammu were passed by the J&K Assembly last year. But the plan hit major roadblock when ruling National Conference-Congress combine strongly opposed it in the Upper House or Legislative Council. The bills were subsequently to a joint select committee. Earlier the BJP members had in the Lower House strongly opposed the setting up of TWMU, citing the varsity would become a launching pad for “Islamic fundamentalism”. Yusuf Jameel/Srinagar 

Full body scanning and Islamic law

Darul Uloom, Deoband, the largest Islamic seminary in India, has issued a fatwa declaring as haram (strictly prohibited) full body scanning by new 'backscatter' introduced at airports in the UK, USA and some other countries recently. “It is haram, rather severely haram…No Muslim is allowed to permit it by his own will,” the decree signed by Mufti Mahmood Hasan says.

The fatwa from the head (Mufti) of seminary’s special branch Darul Ifta, is in response to a query from a Muslim expatriate Mohammed Yaaseen Zaman who lives in the United Kingdom that he and his 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son were scanned by the new ‘backscatter’ before boarding a plane at the Manchester airport “without a prior warning or information.”  

The full-body scanner is the millimetre wave scanner and a device that creates an image of a person's nude body through his or her clothing to look for hidden objects without physically removing their clothes or making physical contact. They are increasingly being deployed at airports and train stations in many countries.

Mr. Zaman had asked if the full-body scanner violates Shariah or Islamic law, is it permissible for a Muslim to be screened by it, can the scanned image of a Muslim be viewed by a person of the same sex, should a Muslim refuse to be screened and what should a Muslim do when requested to have a full body scan.


In reply, the Mufti said that taking such pictures, seeing and showing them is “severely haram” and that one should refuse to be screened. “Try to avoid as much as can, rather influential Muslims have a duty to make every possible effort to get Muslims exempted legally for such scanning,” the fatwa adds. An official at the seminary said, “Before the media hype blows this out of proportion and casts aspersion on this honorable seat of Islamic learning, let me say the fatwa clearly emphasizes the concept of ‘against the person’s will’ and ‘avoid it as much as one can’ which is a perfectly balanced and totally understandable for the Muslim community to take up as suggested in it (fatwa).  He added, “It is not branding any Muslims who submit to the scan or putting them in any difficult situation to avoid travel at all costs, no matter what, if they are scanned after all reasonable attempts at refusal and avoidance have failed.”Yusuf Jameel 

Claims of 'apostasy' and 'persecution' of Christians in Kashmir: How false, how true?

 By Yusuf Jameel


It would be making a mountain out of a molehill. Or some people are clearly

lying through their teeth and by doing that they are behaving in an

irresponsible fashion and, undeniably, without actually giving a thought to

probable repercussions.







‘Christians are fleeing Kashmir’, as is being suggested by some, is far

from the truth or, at least, an attempt to present a situation

portentously; a depiction which betrays the ground reality.







Thousands of Kashmiri families relocate to various places in Indian planes,

mainly Jammu, the winter capital of the Himalayan state, and New Delhi,

ahead of peak winter season to escape harsh weather back home. With the

start of winter vacations at schools and other educational institutions in

December and spreading from two to three months, many more people including

students and their parents tag along. Also among the transitory émigré are

native and outsider Christians as majority of them is chiefly connected

with educational institutions. It would be naïve to call it forcible

expulsion or a step taken in distress. Surely, they would be returning to

the Vale of Kashmir in coming days as the weather is improving and the

winter vacations in schools and colleges are in closing stages.







That said, purporting the situation in the scenic region continues to be as

enjoyable for sections of Christians, precisely the evangelical Christian

activists, as before would tantamount a false statement. They may find it

difficult to work among the local Muslims after openly accused of luring

the members of the majority community, mainly the youth, into Christianity

by offering them riches, the charge vehemently denied by the Church. A news

portal supporting the cause of Gospel reported last week “The church is

still there, but at this point, it seems as if Christian activity has been

driven completely underground and has been severely curtailed.”







A Srinagar (Islamic) Shariat court had earlier this year issued a decree

seeking expulsion of a Protestant pastor and a Dutch Catholic missionaryand three other evangelical Christian activists finding

them "guilty of luring Muslims of Kashmir, especially boys and girls, to

Christianity by exploiting their financial conditions.” The move provoked

outrage within India’s religious minority and grabbed newspaper headlines

beyond the boundary walls of the country.







Back in Kashmir, the fatwa does not appear to be a major issue for locals

though. At least, the commoner is somewhat indifferent. Yet Christian

groups fear such diktats could encourage extremist elements to indulge in

violence.







Majority of Kashmiri Muslims is nonchalant, not because Church’s alleged

“repugnant” activity is not gauged by it as being ‘worrisome’ but it is the

poor standing in public of the cleric who heads the court-not the

institution inherited by him itself-which is working towards restraining

excitement. In fact, many Kashmiri Muslims are wary of his moves ostensibly

both because of his wispy religious pursuits and patchy political postures,

publicly termed by his critics as “impelled aerobatics.”







Some people also believe he has made a move haphazardly rather overreacted

on the issue in order to get his own image better. His detractors accuse

the cleric of making attempts to seize the issue also to re-launch his son

as his deputy in the run up to claim the legacy after his return to the

Valley from the Gulf where he spent nearly two decades in comfort to escape

difficult times the Valley was passing through in the aftermath of the

separatist or pro-freedom movement turning violent and India launching a

tough military campaign to suppress it towards the end of 1989. The

criticism is, however, rejected by the cleric’s supporters as being “uncalled-for”

and even “mischievous” and claim the ‘Shariat’ court had had extensive

discussions with the leaders and representatives of various religious and

social groups besides meticulously carrying out investigations into the

repugnant role played by the Christian priests before issuing the decree.

“He took a strong exception whereas many of those who could have turned the

tide preferred to remain silent or were apologetic and inactive,” said an

activist.







Notwithstanding, sections of Muslim clergy including the ‘whistleblowers’

and others who had publicly voiced concern over the reports of pastor Rev.

Chandermani Khanna, Presbyter In-charge, Anglican All Saints’ Church,

Srinagar and few others seeking to induce local Muslim youth and bring them

into the fold of Christianity by allegedly offering them riches and were

railing against what is being termed as “*irtidad*” (apostasy) appear to be

disillusioned now as the issue has been virtually hijacked by the

father-son duo. Or, at least, it is being mishandled by them.







What is more disturbing for them is; not only has the fatwa evoked sharp

reaction from across India and abroad but, as was put by one of them, the

intent behind their raising alarm seems to have been misinterpreted and the

fundamental issue lost in the “unwarranted” outcry being raised by “vested

interest” within and outside the Christian community. “Outside the Valley,

the issue being portrayed now is that of assumed persecution of Christians;

the small Christian community of Kashmir being in danger and victim of

harassment and violence by the Muslim majority than acknowledging the fact

that a few unscrupulous elements within the Christian missionaries are

involved in impelled conversions which is against the law of the land,

unconstitutional and also reportedly Biblically wrong,” he said.







The argument is not misplaced. A report ‘Missionaries bring aid,

controversy to Kashmir’ appeared in The Christian Science Monitor some time

ago had said that Christian missionary groups have been flocking to the

restive Kashmir, bringing medicine, school books, and self-help programmes

but the influx of Christian evangelists may be exacerbating a volatile

situation. It also said local Christians like Pastor Leslie Richards were

increasingly agitated by the presence of the new evangelists, who they

believed were more interested in conversions than social work. Mr. Richards

was quoted in the Indian Express as saying that Muslims receive cash if

they agree to convert and termed these as “Biblically wrong conversion’

which was not good for the local Christians, who for centuries have shared

cordial relations with the local Muslims here.







The report quoted Rev. Khanna as saying "Of course, I believe that there

are some black sheep in the fold - some evangelists who use money as a lure

- but I can tell you that I have been here in Srinagar since July 2002, and

I have only converted one person - so even if there are a few others in new

churches, it is hardly a case of mass conversion." Ironically, Rev. Khanna

today stands trial as the main accused in the case of alleged impelled

conversions. Srinagar Senior Superintendent of Police, Syed Ashiq Hussain

Bukhari said in a recent newspaper interview, “There are cases in which the

missionaries helped the destitute in lieu of their faith which is not

permitted under any law.”







Local watchers say some unscrupulous elements may have exploited the

situation seemingly in an iniquitous way but it also is a fact that the

Christian missionaries have been working hard where the Muslim headship,

the pro-freedom as well as pro-Indian political parties, social groups and

even charity organizations and numerous NGOs have failed: lending a helping

hand to the destitute including victims of violence.







The issue of alleged “*irtidad*” could have been handled differently, in a

way acceptable to all by seeking to isolate the evangelists found involved

in forced or impelled conversions from the legitimate missionaries, invoke

law and constitutional guarantees that proscribe such activity and more

importantly go in for in retrospection as to what went wrong and try to

address the issues and problems that have provided the basis for the

incidence of apostasy. In fact, the Valley’s Chief Muslim cleric and

chairman of his faction of Hurriyat Conference (an amalgam of pro-freedom

political parties) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had just embarked on this mission

whereas Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the octogenarian pro-freedom leader, had

asked for tackling the issue “with utmost care” after he and others watched

a video showing more than half a dozen persons including a woman-all but

one local Muslim youth-being baptized by Rev. Khanna at Srinagar’s All

Saints’ Church and the pastor imploring to see the Kashmir Valley turned

into a Christian-majority place soon. This video has been presented as main

piece of evidence against the pastor besides statements recorded at the

‘Shariat’ court by various people including a youth on whose mobile it was

found. As is being claimed the pastor confessed to his “guilt” before the

court and even apologised.







The Church “deeply disturbed” at the fatwa issued against pastor Khanna and

others reacted saying such decrees could encourage extremist elements to

indulge in violence. “This is totally unacceptable,” Samuel Jayakumar, a

spokesperson for the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), said. He

added, “India is a secular country and the personal law of a community

should be confined to itself.” Shariat courts have no secular legal

standing in India and one functioning in Srinagar has been termed as an

extra-constitutional authority, with no legal sanction.







Back in the Kashmiri capital, the law enforcing authorities including

police which had arrested pastor Khanna after initiating proceedings

against him on charge of disturbing communal harmony is now more or less on

back foot whereas the state government is feeling embarrassed. However, Mufti

Muhammad Nasir-ul-Islam, son of Kashmir’s Grand Mufti Bashiruddin, who

announced the Shariat court’s decision seeking expulsion of Christian

priests at a press conference, claimed that the local administration has

agreed to enforce the “verdict.”







Mufti Jr. strongly denied the decree was against Christian’s living or the

institutions they run in the Valley. “We’ve found that three priests and

some others are involved in the unethical activities in Valley. We carried

a thorough investigation into the case and found out later, all the three

were involved in the scandal. The records of their involvement are with the

court and their expulsion from the state is an apt judgment,” he said.







The government-backed Shariat court headed by Mufti Sr. claims to have

found the conversion took place through alluring the youth by means of

monetary benefits and that in order to maintain the communal harmony

between different faiths living in Kashmir it had to come up with the

“facts.” The court imposed a “complete ban” on pastor Khanna, his

accomplices Ghayoor Messiah and Chanderkanta Chandra and Dutch national,

Jim Borst “for their involvement in luring Muslims of Kashmir to

Christianity by exploiting their financial conditions and promoting

immorality.”







The court has existed in Jammu and Kashmir since the early 1960s. Mufti

Bashiruddin is the judge of the court and the appeal against this court

lies in the civil court. It, however, has no enforcing agency like police

to implement its judgments.







Earlier the Srinagar police had while keeping in view the sensitivity of

the issue, registered an FIR under sections 153-A, 295-C and 186 of the

Ranbir Penal Code, the Jammu and Kashmir equivalent of the Indian Penal

Code. The decision was taken at the highest level to avoid possible unrest

in the Valley. Unlike states like Gujarat, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, Jammu

and Kashmir does not have a law against conversions. Section 153A pertains

to “promoting enmity between different groups... and doing acts prejudicial

to maintenance of harmony.” Section 295A has to do with “deliberate and

malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by

insulting its religion or religious beliefs.” Around same time, police

detained five youth who had recently converted to Christianity and were

entering a Srinagar Church reportedly to receive financial assistance.







However, since no charges were filed against him, the state's High Court on

February 11 halted proceedings in the police complaint of "promotion of

religious enmity by conversions" against Pastor Khanna. It asked the

government to file its response by March 14, and then it will set the date

for the next hearing. He can now travel because the order binding him to

the Vale of Kashmir was lifted, as well. But reports suggest the “stress”

has silenced the pastor and he has retired officially from the All Saint's

Church in Srinagar.







The issue of Christian missionaries’ encouraging conversions in the Valley

allegedly by way of allurement surfaced a few years ago with

‘whistleblower’ Moulana Muhammad Rehmatuallh, who runs Dar-ul-Aloom

Rahimiya, the Valley’s largest seminary located in northern town of

Bandipore, raising it with various religious leaders, social activists and

select journalists of the Valley and seeking their help to “nip the evil in

the bud.” But he was almost overruled and his “disquiet” did not find any

committed takers.







The contentious issue resurfaced in October 2011 when the Moulana during a

visit to a mosque in Srinagar was introduced to a local youth who had

converted to Christianity but repented the decision and wanted to return to

Islam’s fold. The cleric took him along and during his ‘debriefing’ found a

video clipping recorded on his mobile phone which revealed more than half a

dozen persons including a woman-all but one local Muslim youth-being

baptized by Rev. Khanna at Srinagar’s All Saints’ Church near Sonawar. The

youth reportedly told the cleric that he had agreed to convert after the

Church of which Khanna is a pastor offered him money and also promised

other profits.







It is learnt that the same youth was sometime back produced before Mirwaiz

Umar Farooq by the Christian priest amidst reports purporting he and other

missionaries were using money power and offering lucrative jobs and

admissions in professional institutions outside Jammu and Kashmir in order

to encourage conversions. But at that time he had strongly denied being

lured in such a way. The Mirwaiz had a cordial relationship with Rev.

Khanna and other pastors of the All Saints’ Church as he had his schooling

at Srinagar’s Burn Hall School run by it. However, he too felt hurt as Rev.

Khanna implores at the baptism ceremony to see the Kashmir Valley turned

into a Christian-majority place. Police official Mr. Bukhari and several

ulema, imams and other religious leaders from both Sunni and Shiite Muslim

sects too were shown the video and were reported enraged at the

development.







Mufti Bashiruddin chose to issue summons to Rev. Khanna and asked him to

present himself before his ‘Dar al-Fatwa’ or Islamic Shariat court to

explain his conduct. The pastor initially denied the charge of

impelled conversions. Meanwhile, the Church issued a statement that

Kashmiri youth are showing considerable interest in their religion as it

apparently offers them a road to redemption. Rev. Khanna added, “There is

no forced conversion and there is nothing which can be called allurement.

We do not offer any job or any money. We tell them ‘If you come it is your

responsibility to contribute and support the church’.” However, when shown

the video clipping he admitted to his “guilt” and apologised before the

court.







The Christian missionaries were believed to be active in the Valley mainly

on the educational front. There are about half a dozen major schools, some

of these as old as 125 years, besides a few hospitals run by the Christian

missionaries in the Valley for decades and are equally very popular among

the local Muslims for these impart comparatively better education to its

young boys and girls. Besides head Muslim priest Mirwaiz Umar, Chief

Minister Omar Abdullah, his father and Indian federal minister Dr. Farooq

Abdullah [his wife Molly Abdullah is an English Catholic and one of his

daughters is married to a South African Christian), separatist leaders

Sajad Gani Lone and even ‘father’ of the insurgency Ashfaq Majeed Wani are alumni

of these schools. Presently, the children of almost all pro-Indian or

mainstream and pro-freedom political leaders and other prominent faces of

the Vale of Kashmir are enrolled at these schools.







However, the state government had in 2010 sealed two private English medium

schools in the frontier district of Kupwara following complaints that these

were being used as a front by Christian missionaries as part of their

conversion plan. Also in September 2010, two Christian missionary schools

in the Valley were attacked during mob violence over the reported burning

of Koran in the US.



Earlier in 2005, the Christian missionaries were openly accused of seizing

the conditions thrown up by the devastating earthquake for their conversion

drive. In April 2011, a Dutch missionary, Jaap Borst, was ordered to leave

Kashmir after the state authorities revoked his visa, accusing him of

trying to convert local Muslims to Christianity. Police had detained some

Christian missionaries also in February 2006 who were allegedly trying to

convert earthquake-affected people of Uri district in north Kashmir. The

missionaries affiliated with the Bible Society of India were forced to stop

their work in quake-hit areas of Uri following complaints from locals that

they were luring people to Christianity by offering monetary incentives.

The missionaries had reportedly distributed gas cylinders, water bottles,

audiocassettes, and a copy of the New Testament in Urdu to dozens of

quake-hit families of the village.







In November 2006, suspected militants shot dead a Power Development

Department engineer Bashir Ahmad Tantray of Mamoosa village in north

Kashmir, a practicing Roman Catholic since 1995, who was accused of

arranging conversions in his area. His two daughters and a son live in

Mumbai.



There is no denying of the fact that most of the Christian missionary

groups funded by parent groups in the West, including the United States,

Germany, Britain, South Korea and the Netherlands have stepped up their

activity in Kashmir, the focus of their efforts being on the rural poor and

areas bordering Srinagar, a city of about 1.5 million people. Among

churches and missions working in Kashmir are US-based Assemblies of God,

German Town Baptist Church, and Frontiers. Besides these, there are two

German-based missions, Call of Hope and Overseas Social Service, and the

Campus Crusade for Christ. The Good Way, a Switzerland-based mission and

two Indian missions, National Missionary Intelligencer and Cooperative

Outreach of India too have bases in the Valley.







‘History-Makers’, the official website of the youth division of AsiaLink, a

Christian mission agency connecting churches with ministry among the

unreached peoples of Asia, says that there is considerable interest among

Kashmiris and response has been good to advertisements placed in newspapers

offering correspondence courses and follow up ministries. It also says “The

four million Muslims living in Kashmir are among the most unreached and

unevangelised people groups on earth. Pray for those who have been saved.

This is a huge step for them to take. Pray for grace to persevere”







On record, the missionaries peg the population of Christians in Kashmir

Valley at around 1,000. But, Christianity Today, an Illinois-based magazine

of the Evangelists, puts the number of Kashmiri Muslims “who recently

converted to Christianity” at thousands. ‘‘There are more Christians in

Kashmir than on the record. They have faith in Jesus, but don’t come out.

They are not bold about it. Their number goes into [the] thousands in the

rural areas.” Government statistics including the 2001 Census report put

the Christian population of the Valley as 3,757 including 480 females. This

contradicts the claim of Justice Michael Saldhana, former Bombay and

Karnataka High Court judge, that ten years ago there were 40,000 Christian

families in Kashmir, but in the last 2 years, the number had come down to

around 800. Justice Saldhana had with a few other activists at a recently

held press conference in Bombay or Mumbai alleged that Christians faced

“torture, persecution, en masse massacre and violation of human rights

which forced them to flee from Kashmir Valley.”







Meanwhile, Father P. Samuel, the head of Church of North India, met Geelani

in New Delhi where he is camping for past many weeks to discuss the

controversy triggered by alleged conversions in Kashmir. “I told him the

Muslims of Kashmir are not against minorities as Islam teaches us to

safeguard interests of minorities,” he said. Geelani presented Father

Samuel with a copy of English translation of Islam’s holy book Koran. Will

that help towards building the bridges and be the beginning of an amiable

chapter in the Muslim-Christian relationship in Kashmir or ‘vested

interest’ on either side will spread their net wide and succeed? The

crucial question is wide open. Also, some analysts do not rule out the

possibility of whole issue being seized for securing political gains.

A Closer Look At Claims Of ‘Persecution’ Of Christians In Kashmir – OpEd

A Closer Look At Claims Of ‘Persecution’ Of Christians In Kashmir – OpEd

'Hypocrisy is the best policy'

‘Hypocrisy is the best policy’. This was the title of a cover story written by (Late) Shameen Ahmed Shameen and published in Sunday, several years before I joined the magazine in mid-1980s. The author had talked about the trait existing among the Indian politicians then (and now too). I think many of us, irrespective of the professions we are in or our other pursuit, family backgrounds, the gender, etc., have developed the characteristic rather we tag along the policy religiously. It would not be exaggeration if I say it has made a way into our blood now.  

It was to put across this point that I had yesterday narrated a true story (read it below) as a comment to a photograph posted by a friend on FB. It was quickly deleted after hitting only one like that from Shabir Hussain Buchh. Apparently, it was not to the liking of someone who did it. Let me say here, no offensive was intended or to show malice towards the friend or anyone else. At least, this friend had the courage to post the photograph showing him receiving ‘certificate of merit’ and refer to (then) Governor of Jammu and Kashmir who gave it away at the convocation as “His Excellency”. And now read the story of another friend and which I had recounted with the purpose explained above:     

‘A friend, now a professor at a City college, had arrived at the Kashmir University convocation to receive his ‘degree’ certificate either from then Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah or President of India who were present at the podium. This guy would always blow his own trumpet to be wedded to the azadi cause and would often curse Farooq Abdullah and all others on the other side of the fence for obvious reasons. Apparently feeling out of his depth rather mortified, he pointed to his right hand wrapped with bandage. Asked (as to) what had happed, the poor guy said, “There is nothing like that there. It is absolutely alright. I’m only pretending to have been injured so that my hand (precisely the flesh) does not touch his (Farooq Abdullah’s or that of the President). How can I shake my hand with a traitor (Farooq). I keenly watched him receiving his degree document with both his hands and then shaking his right hand (of course in dressing) with the Chief Minister and smiles on the faces of both and claps from almost everyone present.  I’m sure he would end up becoming a successful politician.’              

No Justice Done For ‘Widows & Half Widows” – Book Review

No Justice Done For ‘Widows & Half Widows” – Book Review

Widows & Half Widows

Saga of extra-judicial arrests & killings in Kashmir

Author: Afsana Rashid

Publishers: Pharos Media, New Delhi

Pages: 192 Price: Indian Rs. 200

More than two decades on, the Kashmiri campaign for separation from India, often referred to as “freedom struggle” by those who espouse it, has lost much of its violent intensity. But while the entrenched political realities may be slowly changing, recent studies have shown that ten million Kashmiris are increasingly heirs to a lineage of suffering that, after years of insurgency and tough counter-insurgency measures initiated by the Indian state, has no end in sight.

One of the most traumatic consequences of the armed conflict is Enforced Involuntary Disappearance (EID). Since 1989, when the separatist campaign burst into a major violence, more than ten thousand people have disappeared after they were seized by security forces and other official agencies as is being claimed by Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), an organisation of the relatives of the EID victims. The government disputes the number and even claims that some of those who went into missing may have joined the militants’ ranks or crossed over to the other side of Line of Control.

But the contradictory statements successive governments and various official agencies under these have come out with every now and then not only betrays reliability of such claims but also shows the triviality and silliness with which those at the helm of affairs perceive an issue which has left indelible scars on thousands of women leaving them as widows, half-widows and destitute as a majority of the victims of EID were married men. Being related to them as daughters, mothers, sisters and wives, it is mainly women who are suffering in the absence of any information about the whereabouts of the disappeared men. Their wives have acquired the title of 'half-widows' most of whom are left without any entitlement to land, homes, inheritance, social assistance and pensions and even face pestering at home and at the hands of the society.

Afsana Rashid, a young woman journalist of the Valley, has tried to mirror the miseries of these women who, she justly says, are “even after years of the disappearance of their husbands, sons and fathers still on a daily search for their loved ones while trying to discover their own identity-are they widows or not widows.” But it appears she has not been wholeheartedly involved in the important subject as it is or to the level it demanded from her; hence she has only botched to do justice with it. After reading her work, the question one is confronted with is; a successful journalist she may be was she in hurry to enrol her name as a book author as well?

It is claimed that it is a ‘book’ that compiles the tragedies of these women to give a voice to the voiceless but it would be incongruous to call it a book. Compilation, of course it is; merely an anthology of something, the most part of which had already been there in print. A recap of official handouts of the APDP, the statements its activists or others connected with the subject made or the interviews of the suffering women that appeared in local or outside newspapers from time to time. Some of these, filed by Afsana Rashid herself, seem to be not any better than wire agency copies.

Paradoxically, she has not even troubled herself by reediting the already published newspaper/ wire reports before slotting them in. That is why one comes across the phrases like “he (she) said here today.” Several APDP statements have been incorporated verbatim, rather reproduced here, and the reader finds himself but at a loss when told about APDP’s past plans such as asking people to observe ‘complete shutdown’ on August 30, 2008. As more than one newspaper reports on same or similar subject matters too have been inserted, again to the letter, the reader loses interest halfway.

While discussing the case of Tasleema Bano, a young widow, two of her statements made on two different occasions, and already appeared in newspapers, have been included which only leaves the reader bemused about her plight. Does she know her husband is dead or she doesn’t even after his corpse together with four other victims of fake encounter killings was exhumed from a cemetery near the town of Ganderbal. Like several other portions, Chapter 1 is nothing but an anthology of borrowed bits and pieces pertaining to the historical background of Kashmir conflict, nothing less or more than usual wire agency copy of a Western reporter. Likewise, Chapter III introducing APDP to the reader but then on Page 41, the author does it again. There are some factual errors there as well or, at least, some facts have been given a perverted dye before putting them in. Was APDP faction head Parveena Ahangar really a Nobel Peace prize nominee? Nominated by whom? Wasn’t it in the wish list of a home-grown organisation which the writer has failed to identify? It tantamount to misinforming the reader, to say the least. Hizb-ul-Mujahedin ‘supreme commander’ is Syed Salahuddin, not Muhammad Salahuddin, Afsana who is covering Kashmir for over a decade now should have known it.

It appears, Afsana has not bothered to learn the basics of writing a book, if she still claims, ‘Widows & Half Widows’ is one, before seeking to become an author. These may not be as complicated as some may think. Having said that, ‘Widows & Half Widows’ would have been a better piece of writing (or reading) had Afsana opted to do a self-assessment by reading her own work or even submitting it to excerpt (s) who would have gone for critique it for an honest assessment. I’m sure neither has been done. Evaluations are very important because they help towards determining where one needs to concentrate to make his or her story the best that it can be. At best, ‘Widows & Half Widows’ can be described on the whole as a collection of records which were already in print but strewn and have now been put before us as a paperback. Yusuf Jameel