Not even a fake news article had attracted so much of traffic and reaction in a single day as my open letter to Arundhati Roy did (I’m not patting my back but mere stating a fact that might be insignificant for you). While most of the reactions were on expected lines (I knew many people were hell irritated with Roy calling India “bhookha nanga”, and they would lap it up), some of the reactions amused, shocked and disgusted me.
There were comments, again on expected lines, on both the facebook page as well as here on this blog, which were abusive (towards Ms. Arundhati Roy, me, or to fellow readers); that was disgusting, but as a rule, I would ignore them and not comment upon their “merits”.
The other reaction, rather criticism, was that the language I used was unfair, unkind and uncouth (?). Hello! This article was published and categorized in “Rants” to begin with. When I shared it on twitter and facebook i.e. when I “solicited” readership, I put that “rants” and “strong language” disclaimers upfront. If you were not comfortable with “rants”, you should never have bothered to read it. If you click a link with NSFW disclaimer at your workplace, only you are to be blamed if you lose your job.
The third reaction, which was the most important for me and because of which I’m writing this follow up article, was the confusion whether the article was just on Arundhati Roy or about the wider Kashmir issue. I replied to a couple of comments, but I thought I should make that clear to each and every one, and hence this article.
Well, my open letter to Arundhati Roy was “only” about her ubiquitous claims of being a rights activist and NOT at all any commentary on the Kashmir issue. It was a “rant” against her, and not against the Kashmiris, not even against the “separatist” Kashmiris.
But why, you may ask, why this rant?
I would ask you, why does anyone rant? When one is upset, angry, irritated or hurt. I was hurt. And I was hurt by a “truth”.
Yeah, it might appear as if I’m making a U-turn, but of course, the issues that Arundhati Roy regurgitated (not “raised”, mind you) surely has tinges of truth that hurts one’s “national pride”.
And that “truth” is that there are thousands in this country, some would claim millions, living in that state called Jammu & Kashmir, who simply don’t feel like “Indians”, even as rest of us scratch our heads and feel clueless over what so horrible have we done to them to make them feel that way (I know many of you activists types are itching to recite the list of “atrocities” performed by the Indian state over Kashmiri people, but just hold on for a few minutes).
So Arundhati Roy deserved that “rant” for speaking the “truth”? Not really. As she herself wrote in her statement, “I said what I, as well as other commentators, have written and said for years.”
One is inclined to ask, why no rant against those “other commentators”, why pick on Arundhati?
Because Arundhati Roy is a charlatan. She “pretends” to be what she is not. And this is exactly why I don’t like India TV, which pretends to be a “news channel” but is not, or Arindam Chaudhuri, who pretends to be “an educator” but is not; those who had been following Faking News would know that these two have often been at the receiving ends of my “rants”.
And that’s why I don’t “dislike” Chetan Bhagat, because he doesn’t pretend to be a “literary writer”, which he is not, and calls himself an “entertainment writer”. A couple of his interviews that I have read, he has candidly admitted that he writes “for the masses”. And hence I was not being too sarcastic in my open letter, when I said, “Today I’m proud of Chetan Bhagat, seriously.” Yeah, but I hate his ToI editorials; he should stop “pretending” there.
Anyway, coming back to Arundhati, I don’t like her (and ranted against her) because she is intellectually dishonest and an attention seeker. My rant was more an attempt to show the hollowness of her “support” to a cause than the “cause” itself. Maybe if you read it ignoring the swear words, if you are not comfortable with them, you’d come to know what I mean.
e.g. when I ask her why she didn’t care to visit the house of any Kashmiri Pandit in Delhi even as her “statement” makes a claim that she was fighting for their cause, I am attempting to show her “intellectual dishonesty”, and when I say, “Absolutely, you have NEVER said or written anything NEW. You just pick up issues, after reading the morning newspapers, and join the bandwagon”, I am hinting at her “attention seeking” character. I am neither commenting on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits nor am dismissing the “bandwagons” she jumps over as being frivolous ones.
Now some of you may argue that even if she was intellectually dishonest or attention seeking, at least she “raises” some issues and makes people and the establishment take notice of them.
Seriously, you believe that?
What great help has she done to any “movement” or “cause” she has supported till date? In fact, she weakens the arguments and causes of those with whom she sides, thanks to her hyper-exaggerated and ridiculous statements.
Don’t’ believe me? Because I call myself “Pagal Patrakar” (and not “pretend” like Madam Arundhati to be sane)? Fine, I’d quote others, who are not “pagal” and make you see the point:
Roy’s early essays were written in a voice that some progressive Americans would call “prophetic,” but like many prophets she tended to overstate her case. There are no small things anymore. This stridency tended to make her writing less agreeable, too. What came next was predictable: September 11, which deranged many things, had the effect of turning her into a zealot.
This is not written by some agent of Brahminical India, this is the opinion of Isaac Chotiner, one of the executive editors of The New Republic, an American magazine of politics and the arts, which is acknowledged to be supporting “liberal social and social democratic economic policies”. Isaac makes these comments while reviewing one of her books/essays, and further notes:
But this book is not a plea for a more humane capitalism (something we urgently need). Instead, it is an attack on many of the good and democratic aspects of modern Indian life. Even worse, it is an assault on democracy itself. Roy’s status as a famous woman of the far left has obscured the fact that she is an outright reactionary.
Precisely! Arundhati Roy doesn’t attack any “capitalist” “corporate” or “Brahminical” establishment through her ridiculous statements, but she attacks “democracy” itself, and that makes her a text-book case of a “reactionary”. You can read the full article here.
That was a “liberal” and “progressive” American calling her a “zealot” and “reactionary”, and that American is not “pagal”, unless Arundhati fans choose to call him that (and they may, for they love her so much and hate America so much!). Fine, if poor Isaac is termed “pagal”, I’d now quote someone who calls himself “great” – The Greatbong.
For the religious fundamentalist the villain is anyone who does not accept his God(s) as their savior(s). For Roy, the principal evil agents are the “oppressors”—— USA, UK, Israel ,India, and corporations (not specifically in that order) with her animus being directed specifically towards upper-class so-called “Brahminical” Hindus.
That’s Arnab Ray, a famous blogger and author, who blogs with a penname Greatbong. Unfortunately he calls his blog as “Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind”, but in this article, he clearly betrays the “demented mind” of Arundhati Roy (before the guardians of good language and civilized behavior pounce on me, I’d like to clarify that I have used “demented” as a synonym for “irrational” or “unreasonable” for Ms. Roy, not “crazy”, which I have kept for myself, not sure what Arnab means for himself).
One of the sermons I received for ranting and using “bad language” against Arundhati from the pro-Arundhati gang was those famous lines by the German anti-Nazi activist, Pastor Martin Niemöller: then they came for me — and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Niemöller talks about Communists, Jews, Unionists and Catholics in his famous statement, but he doesn’t call upon people to speak up for the rights of “zealots”, “reactionaries” or “fundamentalists”.
And seriously, I’m dismayed that people think that Arundhati Roy can make any difference to the Kashmir issue. She raised a stink over the tribal/Naxal issue, and when the government asked her to be a part of the solution, she backed off. That’s her contribution to one of her pet-causes.
Here in Kashmir, more than 100 people were killed in the last couple of months, and the government was forced to appoint “interlocutors” to solve the problem. Geelani might dismiss the appointment of interlocutors as an eyewash, but when did you hear a nation appointing “interlocutors” to talk to its own citizens? This term is usually used to refer to people helping nations talk to each other. Remember Shashi Tharoor had got in some “controversy” over its use?
Was the government pushed to take that step due to the assays or essays of Arundhati Roy? In fact, once she came into the picture, poor Geelani faced the threat of being arrested over sedition charges! That’s her “Midas touch” to a problem she espouses, or “pretends” to espouse.
Nonetheless, Arundhati has EVERY right to say what she told, and NO WAY should sedition charges be initiated against her. She has been “ranting” against the Indian state for long and daring them to arrest her. She shouldn’t be arrested, for “ranting” is no crime.
And fans of Arundhati, please give me some rights to “rant” against her, especially when I don’t “pretend” to be indulging in anything else but in a rant.
And you know, fans of Arundhati, you were not hurt by my “rant” or “bad language”, you were hurt because truth hurts. The truth about your dear Arundhati hurts, I know. I’m sorry to have hurt you.
Now I wonder if I should “clarify” what my take is on the Kashmir issue, because a couple of those who commented on the article asked me to do so. I feel like putting my two cents here, but I won’t do it due to two reasons – it merits a different article in itself, and secondly, unlike Arundhati, I don’t want to poke my nose in something that is poised at a very delicate stage (as if my views would change anything, still, maybe someday later).
PS: (added at 10.40 AM on October 28, 2010) No way this follow up article should be taken as any reversal of points I earlier made in my open letter to Arundhati Roy. I stand by each and every word I wrote, including the swear words! I’d not have normally “clarified”, had some people who matter, e.g. a few good friends, not failed to see the point, and this explanation was more for them than to the fans of Arundhati.
Surprised at the level of ignorance displayed by the writer of this article and other idiots who have posted in support. Arundhati Roy is not the issue. The inhuman treatment of Kashmiris for decades by both Indian and Pakistani governments are the issue. Wonder how many of these enlightened people have even visited Kashmir. They are human beings who deserve a right to live in peace like the rest of us. Also, until the ‘politicians’ started making a noise about this, there was hardly any coverage of her comments.
Here is another idiot trying to divert attention, just like Arundhati diverted all attention from Kashmir issue to her “self”. Where the hell does Kashmir issue come here you ignorant fool? The writer has made it clear that it was ONLY about Arndhati, the publicity hungry drama queen.
How can divert attention from kashmir too herself. What does the “charlatan” do just not comment. Then the same crowd will jump on her back saying she is silent when she has written so much about the topic. She has taken a side, just like she has done in many other issues. the problem is its opposite to conventional truth.
How can she divert attention from kashmir too herself. What does the “charlatan” do just not comment. Then the same crowd will jump on her back saying she is silent when she has written so much about the topic. She has taken a side, just like she has done in many other issues. the problem is its opposite to conventional truth which many here are brainwashed to believe.
Copy Paste Not Allowed…. No… Naa… No… Baby No…. Naa…
Now I’ll have to rethink my comment on your previous post ‘The Open Letter’. If one writer has the authority over freedom of speech in “One (particular) nation” and does not need to give simultaneous explantions to her tirades, it is but natural that all the writers of that particular nation can exercise the same right, without fear of backlash and without needlessly displaying garndered knowledge (which the writer or shall I say the subject of debate didn’t do in the first place.)
We only feel free to express outselves because the nation permits it. We flout our freedom and sing anthems of release when we are not bonded nor chained here. Perhaps the lady in question could migrate to Africa or Mongolia for a few years, relearn to look at the world and recapture her lost imagination to write fiction, which she is good at and leave non-fiction to journalists who read and understand facts that a creative writer often misintreprets in an effort to create a story.
But, to be fair to her, she was never good at fiction. She wrote an autobiography of her life ten years ago and has perhaps forgotten to live again. If she did, then perhaps by the grace of the god of the little things in life, we may get to read something worthwhile from her in twenty years.
As for you, I like the way you write, but I don’t want to marry you anymore
“And seriously, I’m dismayed that people think that Arundhati Roy can make any difference to the Kashmir issue. She raised a stink over the tribal/Naxal issue, and when the government asked her to be a part of the solution, she backed off. That’s her contribution to one of her pet-causes.”
Any links to show this? i tried googling, unsuccessfully.
FYI – Can’t Mediate Between Govt, Maoists: Arundhati Roy
http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?693125 – when she chickened out of taking some responsibility.
More we discuss Arundhati Roy, more we keep her in the limelight, and that is exactly what she feeds on!
It is best to ignore her. I wish the media won’t report anything she says or does for next one year. She will either wither away or flee the country.
YOU WILL READ THIS FULLY ONLY IF YOU’RE A TRUE-BLOODED INDIAN AND A PATRIOT
What’s wrong with Arundhati Roy? Is she really naïve or is she plain dumb stupid with psychosomatic blindness? I mean, she may be a literary genius having won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and having received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002 for her work as an activist. But she is selectively blind to some historic facts and I would go so far as to say that she is quite illiterate in this regard.
Or is she looking for publicity at the cost of the nation because she is planning to publish another of her works shortly (Gawd help us all!), which she hopes will become a bestseller so that she can make millions? Or is she eyeing the Nobel Prize?
At a convention on ‘Azadi–The Only Way’ in the capital last week, the 49-year-old Arundhati Roy had said, “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this.” For that matter, none of the so-called linguistic states were a part of India. They were erstwhile princely states, provinces, kingdoms and fiefdoms, which together formed Hindustan – and that included present day Pakistan and Bangladesh. I would not be far wrong in saying that it was the British who facilitated their integration and now these states are together in the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India due to cultural and religious commonalities and a host of various other unifying factors. A former Union Minister said that Arundhati Roy “would do better to brush up her knowledge of history and know that the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir had acceded to the Union of India after its erstwhile ruler Maharaja Hari Singh duly signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947.” According to the Chambers Dictionary, accession is the act or event of acceding; a coming… as an addition or a new member; that which is added; an addition by nature or industry to existing property (law); acquisition of such an addition by the owner of the existing property (law). Therefore the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir, including the Kashmir Valley, is an integral part of India beyond doubt.
In view of the above, I would urge Arundhati Roy to carefully go through the narrative below by a Kashmiri Pandit and the Historical Chronology of Jammu & Kashmir State. (This is a serious attempt to educate Arundhati Roy). I would also urge her to visit the following websites, which will further educate her:
http://kaulonline.com/blog/2010/09/kashmir-is-too-small-for-azadi/
This website says that “Kashmir is not J&K”, because it is actually only a small part of it – 6.98% to be exact. Kashmir is the Muslim majority area and other parts of J&K are not. Kashmir is a geographically smaller portion of the larger state of Jammu & Kashmir, which comprises the provinces of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. It is this Muslim majority portion of 7% of the state that cannot see itself fitting in a non-Muslim India. It is this beautiful valley that was called Heaven on Earth and has now been turned into hell by the Islamic separatist violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_House_of_Jammu_and_Kashmir
Lists the Maharajas of Kashmir. The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir was Hari Singh. His son His Highness Dr. Karan Singh is the present titular Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir.
http://islamicdangerstill.blogspot.com/2008/12/muslim-invasion-of-india.html
Talks of how Muslim invaders used devious tactics to plunder and ravage India over several centuries.
http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/landalienrule.html
-The Intervention of Alien rule from 1194 C.E. up to 1947 C.E. By Sudheer Birodkar The Hindu Struggle to Resist Muslim Aggression
The Muslim and Hindu peoples of Kashmir have lived in relative harmony and friendliness since the 13th century when Islam first became the majority religion in Kashmir. The Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus), leading to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines.
Periodically however, there have been rulers and leaders who have had a narrow view of Islam, and have subjected Hindu minorities to great cruelties and discrimination. The current armed secessionist movement in Kashmir mostly derives its inspiration from these people.
A canard is now being spread past few years by the secessionist-terrorists and their sympathizers that in 1990 Kashmiri Pandits left Kashmir willingly, having been “tricked” by then Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact is that Kashmiri Pandits were driven from their homeland after a campaign of intimidation and harassment was launched against them by the military-wing of the secessionists. Kashmiri Pandits were forced from their hearths and homes at the point of gun. The objective of this ethnic cleansing was to create a minority free Kashmir valley where the goal of Islamization could be easily forced on the ordinary people.
However, the history of Kashmir proves beyond doubt that Kashmir belongs to Hindustan. Therefore every Hindu must raise his voice against the atrocities by the Muslims on Kashmiri Pandits. And the Government of India must take definitive steps to show Pakistan and its terrorist organizations and the sectarian forces in Kashmir their place.
Historical Chronology of Jammu and Kashmir State
App. 3000 B.C.: Kashmir clan is named in Mahabharata.
2629-2564 B.C.: Rule by King Sandiman.
2082-2041 B.C.: Rule by King Sunder Sen rules Kashmir.
1048-1008 B.C.: King Nara rules Kashmir.
250 B.C.: Shrinagari (today’s Srinagar is located about three miles from Shrinagari) near the ancient capital Pandhrenatha is founded by Ashoka the Great.
7th century: King Lalitaditya builds the famous Sun temple and formed the city of Pharihaspura.
813-850: Pampore was founded by Padma, during the rule of King Ajatapida
855-883: King Avantivarman builds the town of Avantipur and the famous Sun temple.
883-902: King Shankaravarman builds Shankarapura-pattan (now known as Pattan).
1128-1149: Reign of King Jayasim.
mid-12th: Muslim invasion of Kashmir.
1322 Turks, under ferocious Zulkadur Khan, first invade Kashmir.
1394-1416: Central Asian ruler, Sikander invades Kashmir and brings about mass conversion to Islam. After the tyranny of Sikander was over, only eleven Kashmiri Hindu families survive.
1540: Mirz Haidar, a relative of Humayun (of the Moghul invader dynasty) conquers Kashmir. Kashmir gradually absorbed into Moghul Empire.
1810-1820: Maharajah Ranjit Singh, one of the greatest rulers of India, regains Jammu and appointed his Dogra feudatory Gulab Singh to rule the State.
Mar 16, 1846: The present State is created by a treaty between the British East India Company acting on behalf of the British Government and Maharajah Gulab Singh in Amritsar.
1931: One of the worst communal riots led by Sheikh Abdullah and his Muslim Conference.
1939: Muslim Conference becomes the National Conference.
Aug 15, 1947: India gains independence. The ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh yet to make up his mind regarding accession.
Oct 22, 1947: Pakistan violates the Standstill Agreement by preventing essential supplies to the State, then hoards of armed Pakistani tribesman entered Kashmir.
Oct 26, 1947: Hari Singh signs the instrument of accession, it is no different than the one signed by over 500 other rulers. The accession of Kashmir was accepted by the Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten.
Oct 27, 1947: The first Indian forces arrived in Kashmir to defend against Pakistani troops.
Dec 31, 1947: A highly unconstitutional offer of plebiscite was made by Prime Minister Nehru in the U.N.
Jan 1, 1948: India under Nehru declares a unilateral cease-fire and under Article 35 of the U.N. Charter, India files a complaint with the U.N. Security Council. Pakistan still controls 2/5 of the State.
Jan 20, 1948: The U.N. Security Council in its resolution of establishes the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP).
Jul 1948: Mohd. Zafrulla Khan, then the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and principal Delegate of Pakistan in the U.N. admits to the U.N. Commission for India and Pakistan that the Pakistani Army had been in Kashmir.
Aug 13, 1948: UNCIP adopts a resolution on Kashmir accepted by both India and Pakistan. Pakistan is blamed for the invasion of Kashmir and is instructed to withdraw its forces from Kashmir.
Jan 1, 1949: Amidst great tension, one minute before midnight, India and Pakistan concluded a formal cease fire agreement.
Jan 5, 1949: Almost a year after Nehru’s offer of plebiscite, the UNCIP passes a resolution that states that, “The question of accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite”. However, Pakistan has yet to comply with the earlier resolution and withdraw from the State. Also, Pakistan is now busy changing the demographic composition of the State.
1949: Not withstanding the opposition by several authors of the Indian Constitution, including Dr. Ambedkar, its chief architect, Article 370 was inserted in the constitution of India. This article is meant as a temporary measure, to be in effect until the formal constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is drafted.
Jun 1948: Sheikh Abdullah declares, “We the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have thrown our lot with Indian people not in the heat of passion or a moment of despair, but by a deliberate choice. The union of our people has been fused by the community of ideals and common sufferings in the cause of freedom”.
1949: Following the cabinet decision taken by the Abdullah Government, Hari Singh steps down. Hari Singh’s son, Karan Singh is named his successor.
Apr 1950 UN Security Council appoints Sir Owen Dixon as the UN representative in place of UNCIP to find expeditious and enduring solution to the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir.
Oct 1950: General Council of the National Conference demands elections to create a Constituent Assembly.
Sep 1951: Elections for the Constituent Assembly are held The National Conference wins all 45 seats unopposed.
Oct 1951: Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is inaugurated.
Nov 5, 1951: The Constituent Assembly is given four tasks by Sheikh Abdullah which including the accession to India.
Nov-Dec 1951: Karan Singh steps down as the ruler, and is elected by the Constituent Assembly of the Jammu and Kashmir State as Sardar- i-Riyasat (Governor).
1952: Jana Sangh begins campaign called “Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan” (One Constitution, one leader) and demands that the State of Jammu and Kashmir be totally integrated into India and that the people from the other States be able to visit Jammu and Kashmir without a passport.
1952: Jana Sang leader Shyamaprasad Mukherjee dies in a Kashmiri Jail under mysterious circumstances.
Aug 9, 1953: Sheikh Abdullah is arrested. He had turned corrupt and autocrat. He tried to hold India for ransom by giving increasingly anti-India speeches and preserve his power.
Feb 1954: Under the leadership of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir ratified the State’s accession to India.
May 14, 1954: The President of India promulgates the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order placing on a final footing the applicability of the other provisions of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir.
1956: Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956, the category of Part B State was aboilished and Jammu and Kashmir was included as one of the States of India under Article I. However, Article 370 of the Indian constitution is still retained.
Jan 26, 1957: After the formal inauguration of its constitution, the Constituent Assembly dissolves itself.
1958: All-India services extended to J and K through an amendment in Article 312.
1964: Sheikh Abdullah released from the prison.
1965: Pakistan attacks India, in operation code named, Gibraltar. The defeat of Pakistan results in the Tashkent Agreement between the two countries.
Mar 30, 1965: Article 249 of Indian Constitution extended to Jammu and Kashmir whereby the center could legislate on any matter enumerated in state list (just like in any other State in the Union). Designations like Prime Minister and President of the State are replace by Chief Minister and Governor.
1971: Pakistani attack on India results in the third war between the two countries. Pakistan is completely defeated, over 90,000 of its men surrendered.
1972: India and Pakistan sign the Shimla Pact. Two agree to respect the line of control until the issue is finally resolved.
Feb 24-25, 1975: Following an accord signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah on February 24, 1975, Jammu and Kashmir is made a “Constituent Unit” of India on February 25, 1975. Through this accord Indian Parliament reaffirms its right to legislate on any matter concerning the territory of the State.
1977: National Conference wins the first post-Emergency elctions.
1982: Sheikh Abdullah nominates his son, Farooq Abdullah as his successor setting up a political rivalry between Farooq Abdullah and his brother-in-law G. M. Shah.
1986: In one of the most shameful acts of religious massacre, several ancient historical Hindu temples are destroyed and scores of Hindus were killed in the city of Anantnag. Chief Minister G. M. Shah looses power to his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah.
1990-1991: In a spate of terrorist violence, 2400 people have died so far, and 300,000 people have been driven out of their homes. Pakistan’s involvement in this carnage of violence is beyond doubt.
Does Arundhati Roy need more proof that Kashmir is an integral part of India?
The twice-married Arundhati Roy is indeed a confused individual – she is so full of controversies and contradictions.
She has raised questions about the investigation into the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the trial of the accused. She has called for the death sentence of Mohammad Afzal Guru to be stayed while a parliamentary enquiry into these questions are conducted and denounced press coverage of the trial.
Arundhati Roy has called the Partition of India as “Britain’s final, parting kick to us”. Why then is she supporting independence for Kashmir? Why has she said “Kashmir should get azadi from bhookhe-nange Hindustan”? Has she not contradicted herself? Is she looking to disintegrate India further as HER ‘parting kick’ to the rest of the patriotic Indians? Is this not sedition? According to the Chambers Dictionary, sedition is public speech or actions intended to promote disorder; vaguely, any offence against the state short of treason.
Arundhati Roy has also stated clearly that she believes “nothing can justify terrorism” and has called terrorism “a heartless ideology.” Why then had she shared the dais with pro-Pakistan hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others at the Delhi seminar? Her description of the Maoists as ‘Gandhians’ has also raised a controversy.
Indian writer Tavleen Singh once called Arundhati Roy’s comments “the latest of her series of hysterical diatribes against India and all things Indian.”
In her statement from Srinagar, Arundhati Roy said, “Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds.” She also said, “Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free”. She justified her anti-India diatribe by saying, “I said what millions of people here say every day. I said what I, as well as other commentators, have written and said for years. Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice.
“I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world; for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland; for Dalit soldiers killed in Kashmir whose graves I visited on garbage heaps in their villages in Cuddalore; for the Indian poor who pay the price of this occupation in material ways and who are now learning to live in the terror of what is becoming a police state.”
She has chosen to echo the tirade of a few million anti-national separatists in Kashmir but has completely ignored the sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandits and of several million patriotic Indians. In this context, I would urge her to read the following article by Shri Tarun Vijay:
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
While one need not fully subscribe to the views expressed in the article, one must fully agree on one issue. In India, we have a totally unacceptable approach of treating the Armed forces, para-military and police as fully expendable, be it Kashmir, North Eastern states or Naxalites. The media and particularly the so-called civil society activists only see human rights violations by the security forces irrespective of the fact they often have to act with great restrain on specific orders and were virtually forced to act by the deliberate acts of agents provocateurs. One hardly sees any condemnation when unarmed govt. employees and policemen are taken hostage and brutally killed. One would go to the extent of saying that since a large number of jawans and policemen are drawn from the poorer and less privileged segments of our society, the establishment (which includes the govt.) is least bothered by the mounting casualties amongst these personnel. Why can’t we have a national political consensus for laying down specific guidelines defining the limits of public protest and expression of dissent in a civilised democratic society? Any transgression of these democratic rights by the security forces should be dealt with deterrent punishment. Conversely, violation of the guidelines should lead to deterrent penal action with political parties and leaders responsible being dealt with severely including disenfranchisement.
&a mp;a mp;n bsp;
An extra ordinary, informative article on our soldiers fighting in Kashmir by Shri Tarun Vijay in Times of India.
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
Tarun Vijay
14 September 2010, 07:44 PM IST Times of India
India must be the only country in the world where being an antinational murderer means a person or organization getting invitations for talks with the government. Mir Waiz and Geelani should have been booked months ago and punished for their anti-India activities. They not only instigated Kashmiri youth to attack our patriotic people and soldiers but also vitiated the entire atmosphere in the valley bringing normal life to a halt and using Kashmiri youth as fodder for their Pakistani plots, resulting in so many killings of young boys. The fact of the matter is that the killers in Kashmir are these two pro-Pakistani elements, who would have been taken to task by any government with a spine much earlier than their fangs grew more poisonous. In such a situation, instead of talking tough and straight, the government is not only giving confused signals to ‘soften’ (whatever that means) the Armed Forces Special Powers Act but making gestures to terrorist supporters to come to talk. Talks, always a welcome way to find a solution, can be held or even an indication for a discussion can be sent only when the atmosphere is ripe for it and the other side, offenders in this case, show a willingness to come to terms. I must say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sounded reasonable at the Armed Forces commanders’ meet on September 13 when he said: “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed….We are willing to talk to every person or group which abjures violence, within the framework of our Constitution.” But is this the time to extend an olive branch?
Have they ever thought what effect these gestures by the government have on the morale of the soldiers?
For whom is the Indian soldier fighting the battle in Kashmir?
It pains me immensely to see how our secular media sirens show their undiluted love for the separatists on TV screens and they go to the streets of Srinagar only to interview the unpatriotic people. When they invite any of the antinational separatists on their shows, they display an utter lack of sensitivity towards those who love their country and give all the space and time to those voices of insanity and violence with a soft, affectionate anchoring you seldom witness when they put on trial any leader showing patriotic leanings. There was hardly a time, except during the Kargil war, when the voices representing the soldiers were given a chance to come to the TV studios or have their say on the editorial pages of the media empires. He is despised, hated and made responsible for all the bad happenings, in a sweeping manner. No one has tried to see the hardened daily routine a soldier is subjected to from 6am to sunset, and after that the night vigil. Anything untoward happens and rogue actors like Salman Khan say meekly to the Pakistan media: Oh, it was the fault of the Indian security personnel. Salman should have been tried for treason. But we have people who lovingly go to his house and try to ‘settle the issue’. These very people and their governors make this day possible when anyone feels free to speak against the soldiers, against the national psyche of patriotism. A soldier is not a daily wage earner like the stone pelters. He is a representative of the nation’s time-honoured traditions. He is nurtured and nourished on a family’s “khandaani izzat” – “Mera beta fauji hai”. Ask any politician acting as an apologist for the separatist murderers, has he ever thought of sending his child to the forces? A family offers mannats at the feet of their wahe guru over devatas to ensure their son gets selected in the “fauj”. He is trained by the best of the warriors at the National Defence Academy or the Indian Military Academy. Some lucky ones get selected early and go through the National Defence School route and see the pictures when they recommissioned – after a thrilling passing out parade in Dehradun. Their caps in the air and their moms and dads hugging them with moist eyes. Years of training and a life of a great Indian patriotic goes waste before the gang of rogue pro-Pakistan elements who have hardly any idea what they are demanding.
Whether he is in the Army or in CRPF, BSF or ITBP, the story is the same. He is there not because he wanted to loot and rape and maim people. He was sent by the Indian government to safeguard the interests of the nation and the Constitution. He is a uniformed gentleman. Those who blow the case of rights violation must be heard definitely. But can an individual’s fault be attributed to the olive green or the khaki fraternity of the soldier? I absolutely agree with Manmohan Singh when he says, “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed”. But this should be done through good governance and a mechanism that can win their trust and not through “Srinagar-CM-living-in-Delhi” type Omars who never find time to place a wreath on the body of a soldier martyred in Kashmir.
In fact, the killers of Kashmir are people like Mir Waiz and Geelani. The angst of Kashmir must be directed against them. The soldier would be too happy to go back to his barracks and celebrate Diwali and Eid with family.
In the secular sultanate of Delhi’s power brokers, a soldier is just another babu, another employee to be denied a justifiable demand of “one rank-one pension” by those politicians who raise their salaries 300% in a jiffy. And in the media he is a punching bag. Just read a poem an Indian soldier wrote (saw it on a blog; Ali, perhaps, was his name).
Why do I still serve you?
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made “men out of boys”
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my “civilian” friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called “college days”
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came, I’d be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition,
that when the time came to give me my due,
You’d just say, “What is so great that you do?”
Long back you promised a well-to-do life;
And when I’m away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you’ll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know…
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?
You still know I’ll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that’s just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at twenty-four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made, seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you’ll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?
I heard you tell the world “India is shining”
I told my men, that’s a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it’s the souls of your own men you betray.
Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you’ll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…
Oh India….
Why do I still serve you? ? ?
And now, a word about the great Hurriyat separatist leader Janab Syed Ali Shah Geelani Saheb…
He is the father of two sons and five daughters! So much for family planning!
He is in the view of releasing Mohammed Afzal Guru convicted for attacking Parliament on 13 December, 2001.
The income-tax department has asked Syed Ali Shah Geelani to file Rs1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns, after rejecting his appeal.
The I-T sleuths, who had swooped down on the residences of Geelani and his family members in 2002 and seized valuable items including a diamond-studded watch gifted by the Pakistan government, had raised a tax demand of over Rs1.5 crore. The department had raided Geelani’s house and other places of his kin on June 9, 2002, and seized Rs10.2 lakh and 10,000 US dollars in cash, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amount of jewellery, and a diamond-encrusted watch inscribed with ‘From Pakistan Government’, besides documents pertaining to purchase of property and vehicles.
Geelani challenged the demand and approached the commissioner of income tax (appeals) for review of his case and also sought a waiver, saying he did not earn anything other than pension from the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and income from agricultural land.
The case dragged on for nearly three years and recently his appeal was dismissed, after which he was asked to deposit Rs1.73 crore as tax liabilities by end of 2010. Geelani still has the option to go to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in India.
Geelani had shown an annual income of Rs17,100 — Rs7,100 as pension from the state assembly as a former MLA and Rs10,000 as agriculture income.
However, according to the assessment made by the income-tax department, Geelani’s monthly expenditure allegedly ranged from Rs1 lakh to Rs1.5 lakh, as he had 15 servants at his house and his wife had confirmed that she used to get Rs25,000 per month for kitchen expenses.
When asked to comment, Geelani said he had not received the notice as yet and would like to first understand the grounds of rejection before reacting.
All this while Geelani forced Kashmiri youth to forego their education and indulge in stone pelting! Interestingly, Geelani himself is a graduate from the Oriental College in Lahore and Arundhati Roy went to prestigious schools like Corpus Christi, Kottayam and the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. What then gives them the moral right to make Kashmiri youth to forego their right to education and make them indulge in anti-national activities?
Here is another fact about Syed Ali Shah Geelani…
He has been diagnosed with renal cancer, and has been recommended by (Indian) doctors to go overseas for treatment. After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened, Indian government agencies returned Geelani’s passport to his son. His passport was seized in 1981 due to accusations of ‘anti-India’ activities, and with the exception of his Hajj pilgrimage in 2006, he has not been allowed to leave India.
During a regular check-up doctors discovered that Geelani’s ‘only kidney has developed malignancy’. An infection forced doctors, four years ago, to remove his left kidney. Although the cancer was in its early stages, it was life threatening, and he needed to have surgery. Following the advice of his doctors at Apollo Hospital (in India of course), Geelani was set to travel to either the UK or the USA for specialized treatment. However, his request for a visa was turned down by the Americans, and as his health deteriorated he went to Mumbai (in India) for surgery. Doctors at the Tata Memorial Hospital (in India) successfully performed surgery on his kidney. The reason given by the US for turning down Geelani’s request for a visa was, that he has “failed to renounce violence”. This decision was declared a violation of his human rights by his supporters and family. (I wonder why the blighter didn’t insist on going to Pakistan for treatment!).
All this means that Geelani will soon become Allah ko pyaraa. Perhaps if he had gone to Pakistan for treatment, the doctors there would have made him kick the bucket much earlier! This is probably the reason why so many Pakistanis come to India for specialized treatment and complicated surgeries.
In the meanwhile, Pakistan continues with cease-fire violations. As on 27 Oct 2010, there have been three cease-fire violations in 24 hours. And the indecisive and dysfunctional UPA government is sitting and sucking its thumb!
A new word has been coined for the separatists, secessionists and the self-styled activists who support them. They are now being called ‘splitists’! Be that as it may, the likes of Geelani and Arundhati Roy and their confederates in terrorism have crossed all limits of freedom of speech and expression and are a real threat to the territory of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. As they are so displeased with the policies of the Indian government with regard to the Kashmir issue, I would urge them to do us all a great favour and exercise the other great freedom provided by the Constitution of India. The freedom to leave the country. Yes, Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, get the hell out of my country.
In the meanwhile, a case of alleged sedition has been filed in a local court in Ranchi against Arundhati Roy for her controversial remarks on Kashmir.
The complaint, lodged by one Ashish Kumar Singh in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) court of Vijay Kumar in Ranchi, was transferred to the court of Judicial Magistrate (first class) of Amit Shekhar.
The BJP has demanded that the UPA government take the strongest possible action against writer activist Arundhati Roy for her ‘seditious’ remarks on Kashmir and asked the Centre to spell out its policy vis-à-vis Kashmir and the separatists. “When there is an elected government in Kashmir as the result of free and fair elections, how can someone say the state is not an integral part of India? It’s nothing but sedition,” senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.
Demanding action against Geelani and Arundhati Roy, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The language used certainly threatens the constitutional integrity of the country and the answer given at that time by the Home Minister was that there was a recording available and he would want to see it and that he would take action, if necessary.”
However, as of October 26, 2010, CNN-IBN reported that the central government does not want to escalate the issue further based on an individual’s comments and is unlikely to take action against Arundhati Roy.
Therefore it is time for organizations like RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Hindu Janajagruthi Samiti, Shree Rama Sene and others to join hands and initiate a nation-wide movement to put pressure on the UPA government to take immediate severe action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani and their ilk. These treacherous anti-national traitors must be arrested immediately, their passports impounded and they must be tried for high treason.
For those of you who have managed to read this entire narrative and reach this point, I have this to say. It will be my endeavour to put up this entire narrative in the
facebook page of Arundhati Roy – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Arundhati-Roy/107634772598971
and on the facebook page of Syed Ali Shah Geelani – http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Syed-Ali-Shah-Geelani/108163025871965.
I will also make every effort to put it up in every blog I can find and urge you to do the same, apart from circulating this to as many people as possible. (Also, if anyone knows the e-mail IDs of Arundhati Roy and Geelani, please forward this to them). I also urge all readers to send e-mails to the following:
jaishriram@vsnl.in, writetous@manase.org, contact@rssonnet.org, info@rssonnet.org, nitingadkari@email.com, webmaster@bjp.org, ramsena@shriramsena.com, pravakta@hindujagruti.org, hinduunity@hinduunity.org, report@hinduunity.org
and urge these organizations to put pressure on the UPA government to immediately initiate action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. For no one must be allowed to get away by misusing the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India and by indulging in sedition and anti-national activities. Inaction on the part of the Indian government will only give an open licence to such traitors to provoke others into anti-national acts, with disastrous consequences. This must be nipped in the bud before it reaches alarming proportions. In fact, it already has reached alarming proportions!
If I do succeed in this, it may very well trigger a war of words with Arundhati Roy who has the power of word play by virtue of her being in the literary field, while I am but a lesser mortal. However, I dare her to such a match, for, though I am not a renowned author of literary works, I do have access to Roget’s Thesaurus and the Chambers Dictionary. I will match her imaginative fiction for fact, word for word!
VANDE MATARAM
I tell you what, sometimes an explanation makes an argument weaker. You have a solid argument in your first letter and I am all with you on it. I have often read her 30k GMAT essays with great interest for the rich vibrancy of language that made my own writing better, since I could use many of the new words she would introduce but seldom did I pay much heed to the “GIST” of what was written – to me her essays are an Oxford dictionary and that I give it to her.
Problem is one thing (see, subject predicate mixup – PP, you spoil me with your language). Arundhati takes her writing of fiction little too seriously, much like that movie (Nalla bhai ki??..haan Inception) where the female wife married to the male husband thinks she is in the real world and then thinks she is in a dream and then decides to play it bad by plunging in a real world thinking that it will get her out – her dreamy land morphed on the real world…that is what Arundhati is on. She often morphs her literary creativity (or poetic license, whichever suits you) to a real world issue and like that female wife ends up smashing her head on the pavement, sometimes splattering some pia matter on bystanders. Like with any hatke incidents on our otherwise boring roads this attracts some bystander attention, some mobile phone clicks but otherwise the honking behind forces us to move on.
Meri baat mano, trend Sherlyn Chopra, visit more of TOI picture galleries. Bliss is there where there is them. Leave Arundhati to the intellectuals, we are anyway not in that elite. I will still read Champak and Chandamama..oh and Sabu..my man strongest.
Well Arundhati Roy just wanna be Liu Xiabao, but the problem for her is ……….yuppy we are not china here.well she has digested Booker, and she wanna have Nobel at lunch of her life, or in badder scenario dinner of life, but she is hungry for a Nobel now.
Just got ur blogspot link from the comment section of greatbong’s blogspot. Man, you got one more fan in me. U r friggin special. Please be more prolific in ur writings.
I must say that i’ve read very few of ur articles.in all ur earliar articles i’d liked the humour u added to the burning issues;at the same time,in no way,diluting the importance n gravity of the issue.
but here we see a new,more serious,avatar of pagal patrakar.keep us the good work.god bless.
YOU WILL READ THIS FULLY ONLY IF YOU’RE A TRUE-BLOODED INDIAN AND A PATRIOT
What’s wrong with Arundhati Roy? Is she really naïve or is she plain dumb stupid with psychosomatic blindness? I mean, she may be a literary genius having won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and having received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002 for her work as an activist. But she is selectively blind to some historic facts and I would go so far as to say that she is quite illiterate in this regard.
Or is she looking for publicity at the cost of the nation because she is planning to publish another of her works shortly (Gawd help us all!), which she hopes will become a bestseller so that she can make millions? Or is she eyeing the Nobel Prize?
At a convention on ‘Azadi–The Only Way’ in the capital last week, the 49-year-old Arundhati Roy had said, “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this.” For that matter, none of the so-called linguistic states were a part of India. They were erstwhile princely states, provinces, kingdoms and fiefdoms, which together formed Hindustan – and that included present day Pakistan and Bangladesh. I would not be far wrong in saying that it was the British who facilitated their integration and now these states are together in the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India due to cultural and religious commonalities and a host of various other unifying factors. A former Union Minister said that Arundhati Roy “would do better to brush up her knowledge of history and know that the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir had acceded to the Union of India after its erstwhile ruler Maharaja Hari Singh duly signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947.” According to the Chambers Dictionary, accession is the act or event of acceding; a coming… as an addition or a new member; that which is added; an addition by nature or industry to existing property (law); acquisition of such an addition by the owner of the existing property (law). Therefore the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir, including the Kashmir Valley, is an integral part of India beyond doubt.
In view of the above, I would urge Arundhati Roy to carefully go through the narrative below by a Kashmiri Pandit and the Historical Chronology of Jammu & Kashmir State. (This is a serious attempt to educate Arundhati Roy). I would also urge her to visit the following websites, which will further educate her:
http://kaulonline.com/blog/2010/09/kashmir-is-too-small-for-azadi/
This website says that “Kashmir is not J&K”, because it is actually only a small part of it – 6.98% to be exact. Kashmir is the Muslim majority area and other parts of J&K are not. Kashmir is a geographically smaller portion of the larger state of Jammu & Kashmir, which comprises the provinces of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. It is this Muslim majority portion of 7% of the state that cannot see itself fitting in a non-Muslim India. It is this beautiful valley that was called Heaven on Earth and has now been turned into hell by the Islamic separatist violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_House_of_Jammu_and_Kashmir
Lists the Maharajas of Kashmir. The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir was Hari Singh. His son His Highness Dr. Karan Singh is the present titular Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir.
http://islamicdangerstill.blogspot.com/2008/12/muslim-invasion-of-india.html
Talks of how Muslim invaders used devious tactics to plunder and ravage India over several centuries.
http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/landalienrule.html
-The Intervention of Alien rule from 1194 C.E. up to 1947 C.E. By Sudheer Birodkar The Hindu Struggle to Resist Muslim Aggression
The Muslim and Hindu peoples of Kashmir have lived in relative harmony and friendliness since the 13th century when Islam first became the majority religion in Kashmir. The Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus), leading to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines.
Periodically however, there have been rulers and leaders who have had a narrow view of Islam, and have subjected Hindu minorities to great cruelties and discrimination. The current armed secessionist movement in Kashmir mostly derives its inspiration from these people.
A canard is now being spread past few years by the secessionist-terrorists and their sympathizers that in 1990 Kashmiri Pandits left Kashmir willingly, having been “tricked” by then Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact is that Kashmiri Pandits were driven from their homeland after a campaign of intimidation and harassment was launched against them by the military-wing of the secessionists. Kashmiri Pandits were forced from their hearths and homes at the point of gun. The objective of this ethnic cleansing was to create a minority free Kashmir valley where the goal of Islamization could be easily forced on the ordinary people.
However, the history of Kashmir proves beyond doubt that Kashmir belongs to Hindustan. Therefore every Hindu must raise his voice against the atrocities by the Muslims on Kashmiri Pandits. And the Government of India must take definitive steps to show Pakistan and its terrorist organizations and the sectarian forces in Kashmir their place.
Historical Chronology of Jammu and Kashmir State
App. 3000 B.C.:
Kashmir clan is named in Mahabharata.
2629-2564 B.C.:
Rule by King Sandiman.
2082-2041 B.C.:
Rule by King Sunder Sen rules Kashmir.
1048-1008 B.C.:
King Nara rules Kashmir.
250 B.C.:
Shrinagari (today’s Srinagar is located about three miles from Shrinagari) near the ancient capital Pandhrenatha is founded by Ashoka the Great.
7th century:
King Lalitaditya builds the famous Sun temple and formed the city of Pharihaspura.
813-850:
Pampore was founded by Padma, during the rule of King Ajatapida
855-883:
King Avantivarman builds the town of Avantipur and the famous Sun temple.
883-902:
King Shankaravarman builds Shankarapura-pattan (now known as Pattan).
1128-1149:
Reign of King Jayasim.
mid-12th:
Muslim invasion of Kashmir.
1322
Turks, under ferocious Zulkadur Khan, first invade Kashmir.
1394-1416:
Central Asian ruler, Sikander invades Kashmir and brings about mass conversion to Islam. After the tyranny of Sikander was over, only eleven Kashmiri Hindu families survive.
1540:
Mirz Haidar, a relative of Humayun (of the Moghul invader dynasty) conquers Kashmir. Kashmir gradually absorbed into Moghul Empire.
1810-1820:
Maharajah Ranjit Singh, one of the greatest rulers of India, regains Jammu and appointed his Dogra feudatory Gulab Singh to rule the State.
Mar 16, 1846:
The present State is created by a treaty between the British East India Company acting on behalf of the British Government and Maharajah Gulab Singh in Amritsar.
1931:
One of the worst communal riots led by Sheikh Abdullah and his Muslim Conference.
1939:
Muslim Conference becomes the National Conference.
Aug 15, 1947:
India gains independence. The ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh yet to make up his mind regarding accession.
Oct 22, 1947:
Pakistan violates the Standstill Agreement by preventing essential supplies to the State, then hoards of armed Pakistani tribesman entered Kashmir.
Oct 26, 1947:
Hari Singh signs the instrument of accession, it is no different than the one signed by over 500 other rulers. The accession of Kashmir was accepted by the Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten.
Oct 27, 1947:
The first Indian forces arrived in Kashmir to defend against Pakistani troops.
Dec 31, 1947:
A highly unconstitutional offer of plebiscite was made by Prime Minister Nehru in the U.N.
Jan 1, 1948:
India under Nehru declares a unilateral cease-fire and under Article 35 of the U.N. Charter, India files a complaint with the U.N. Security Council. Pakistan still controls 2/5 of the State.
Jan 20, 1948:
The U.N. Security Council in its resolution of establishes the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP).
Jul 1948:
Mohd. Zafrulla Khan, then the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and principal Delegate of Pakistan in the U.N. admits to the U.N. Commission for India and Pakistan that the Pakistani Army had been in Kashmir.
Aug 13, 1948:
UNCIP adopts a resolution on Kashmir accepted by both India and Pakistan. Pakistan is blamed for the invasion of Kashmir and is instructed to withdraw its forces from Kashmir.
Jan 1, 1949:
Amidst great tension, one minute before midnight, India and Pakistan concluded a formal cease fire agreement.
Jan 5, 1949:
Almost a year after Nehru’s offer of plebiscite, the UNCIP passes a resolution that states that, “The question of accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite”. However, Pakistan has yet to comply with the earlier resolution and withdraw from the State. Also, Pakistan is now busy changing the demographic composition of the State.
1949:
Not withstanding the opposition by several authors of the Indian Constitution, including Dr. Ambedkar, its chief architect, Article 370 was inserted in the constitution of India. This article is meant as a temporary measure, to be in effect until the formal constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is drafted.
Jun 1948:
Sheikh Abdullah declares, “We the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have thrown our lot with Indian people not in the heat of passion or a moment of despair, but by a deliberate choice. The union of our people has been fused by the community of ideals and common sufferings in the cause of freedom”.
1949:
Following the cabinet decision taken by the Abdullah Government, Hari Singh steps down. Hari Singh’s son, Karan Singh is named his successor.
Apr 1950
UN Security Council appoints Sir Owen Dixon as the UN representative in place of UNCIP to find expeditious and enduring solution to the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir.
Oct 1950:
General Council of the National Conference demands elections to create a Constituent Assembly.
Sep 1951:
Elections for the Constituent Assembly are held The National Conference wins all 45 seats unopposed.
Oct 1951:
Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is inaugurated.
Nov 5, 1951:
The Constituent Assembly is given four tasks by Sheikh Abdullah which including the accession to India.
Nov-Dec 1951:
Karan Singh steps down as the ruler, and is elected by the Constituent Assembly of the Jammu and Kashmir State as Sardar- i-Riyasat (Governor).
1952:
Jana Sangh begins campaign called “Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan” (One Constitution, one leader) and demands that the State of Jammu and Kashmir be totally integrated into India and that the people from the other States be able to visit Jammu and Kashmir without a passport.
1952:
Jana Sang leader Shyamaprasad Mukherjee dies in a Kashmiri Jail under mysterious circumstances.
Aug 9, 1953:
Sheikh Abdullah is arrested. He had turned corrupt and autocrat. He tried to hold India for ransom by giving increasingly anti-India speeches and preserve his power.
Feb 1954:
Under the leadership of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir ratified the State’s accession to India.
May 14, 1954:
The President of India promulgates the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order placing on a final footing the applicability of the other provisions of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir.
1956:
Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956, the category of Part B State was aboilished and Jammu and Kashmir was included as one of the States of India under Article I. However, Article 370 of the Indian constitution is still retained.
Jan 26, 1957:
After the formal inauguration of its constitution, the Constituent Assembly dissolves itself.
1958:
All-India services extended to J and K through an amendment in Article 312.
1964:
Sheikh Abdullah released from the prison.
1965:
Pakistan attacks India, in operation code named, Gibraltar. The defeat of Pakistan results in the Tashkent Agreement between the two countries.
Mar 30, 1965:
Article 249 of Indian Constitution extended to Jammu and Kashmir whereby the center could legislate on any matter enumerated in state list (just like in any other State in the Union). Designations like Prime Minister and President of the State are replace by Chief Minister and Governor.
1971:
Pakistani attack on India results in the third war between the two countries. Pakistan is completely defeated, over 90,000 of its men surrendered.
1972:
India and Pakistan sign the Shimla Pact. Two agree to respect the line of control until the issue is finally resolved.
Feb 24-25, 1975:
Following an accord signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah on February 24, 1975, Jammu and Kashmir is made a “Constituent Unit” of India on February 25, 1975. Through this accord Indian Parliament reaffirms its right to legislate on any matter concerning the territory of the State.
1977:
National Conference wins the first post-Emergency elctions.
1982:
Sheikh Abdullah nominates his son, Farooq Abdullah as his successor setting up a political rivalry between Farooq Abdullah and his brother-in-law G. M. Shah.
1986:
In one of the most shameful acts of religious massacre, several ancient historical Hindu temples are destroyed and scores of Hindus were killed in the city of Anantnag. Chief Minister G. M. Shah looses power to his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah.
1990-1991:
In a spate of terrorist violence, 2400 people have died so far, and 300,000 people have been driven out of their homes. Pakistan’s involvement in this carnage of violence is beyond doubt.
Does Arundhati Roy need more proof that Kashmir is an integral part of India?
The twice-married Arundhati Roy is indeed a confused individual – she is so full of controversies and contradictions.
She has raised questions about the investigation into the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the trial of the accused. She has called for the death sentence of Mohammad Afzal Guru to be stayed while a parliamentary enquiry into these questions are conducted and denounced press coverage of the trial.
Arundhati Roy has called the Partition of India as “Britain’s final, parting kick to us”. Why then is she supporting independence for Kashmir? Why has she said “Kashmir should get azadi from bhookhe-nange Hindustan”? Has she not contradicted herself? Is she looking to disintegrate India further as HER ‘parting kick’ to the rest of the patriotic Indians? Is this not sedition? According to the Chambers Dictionary, sedition is public speech or actions intended to promote disorder; vaguely, any offence against the state short of treason.
Arundhati Roy has also stated clearly that she believes “nothing can justify terrorism” and has called terrorism “a heartless ideology.” Why then had she shared the dais with pro-Pakistan hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others at the Delhi seminar? Her description of the Maoists as ‘Gandhians’ has also raised a controversy.
Indian writer Tavleen Singh once called Arundhati Roy’s comments “the latest of her series of hysterical diatribes against India and all things Indian.”
In her statement from Srinagar, Arundhati Roy said, “Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds.” She also said, “Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free”. She justified her anti-India diatribe by saying, “I said what millions of people here say every day. I said what I, as well as other commentators, have written and said for years. Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice.
“I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world; for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland; for Dalit soldiers killed in Kashmir whose graves I visited on garbage heaps in their villages in Cuddalore; for the Indian poor who pay the price of this occupation in material ways and who are now learning to live in the terror of what is becoming a police state.”
She has chosen to echo the tirade of a few million anti-national separatists in Kashmir but has completely ignored the sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandits and of several million patriotic Indians. In this context, I would urge her to read the following article by Shri Tarun Vijay:
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
While one need not fully subscribe to the views expressed in the article, one must fully agree on one issue. In India, we have a totally unacceptable approach of treating the Armed forces, para-military and police as fully expendable, be it Kashmir, North Eastern states or Naxalites. The media and particularly the so-called civil society activists only see human rights violations by the security forces irrespective of the fact they often have to act with great restrain on specific orders and were virtually forced to act by the deliberate acts of agents provocateurs. One hardly sees any condemnation when unarmed govt. employees and policemen are taken hostage and brutally killed. One would go to the extent of saying that since a large number of jawans and policemen are drawn from the poorer and less privileged segments of our society, the establishment (which includes the govt.) is least bothered by the mounting casualties amongst these personnel. Why can’t we have a national political consensus for laying down specific guidelines defining the limits of public protest and expression of dissent in a civilised democratic society? Any transgression of these democratic rights by the security forces should be dealt with deterrent punishment. Conversely, violation of the guidelines should lead to deterrent penal action with political parties and leaders responsible being dealt with severely including disenfranchisement.
&a mp;a mp;n bsp;
An extra ordinary, informative article on our soldiers fighting in Kashmir by Shri Tarun Vijay in Times of India.
[]
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
Tarun Vijay
14 September 2010, 07:44 PM IST Times of India
India must be the only country in the world where being an antinational murderer means a person or organization getting invitations for talks with the government. Mir Waiz and Geelani should have been booked months ago and punished for their anti-India activities. They not only instigated Kashmiri youth to attack our patriotic people and soldiers but also vitiated the entire atmosphere in the valley bringing normal life to a halt and using Kashmiri youth as fodder for their Pakistani plots, resulting in so many killings of young boys. The fact of the matter is that the killers in Kashmir are these two pro-Pakistani elements, who would have been taken to task by any government with a spine much earlier than their fangs grew more poisonous. In such a situation, instead of talking tough and straight, the government is not only giving confused signals to ‘soften’ (whatever that means) the Armed Forces Special Powers Act but making gestures to terrorist supporters to come to talk. Talks, always a welcome way to find a solution, can be held or even an indication for a discussion can be sent only when the atmosphere is ripe for it and the other side, offenders in this case, show a willingness to come to terms. I must say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sounded reasonable at the Armed Forces commanders’ meet on September 13 when he said: “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed….We are willing to talk to every person or group which abjures violence, within the framework of our Constitution.” But is this the time to extend an olive branch?
Have they ever thought what effect these gestures by the government have on the morale of the soldiers?
For whom is the Indian soldier fighting the battle in Kashmir?
It pains me immensely to see how our secular media sirens show their undiluted love for the separatists on TV screens and they go to the streets of Srinagar only to interview the unpatriotic people. When they invite any of the antinational separatists on their shows, they display an utter lack of sensitivity towards those who love their country and give all the space and time to those voices of insanity and violence with a soft, affectionate anchoring you seldom witness when they put on trial any leader showing patriotic leanings. There was hardly a time, except during the Kargil war, when the voices representing the soldiers were given a chance to come to the TV studios or have their say on the editorial pages of the media empires. He is despised, hated and made responsible for all the bad happenings, in a sweeping manner. No one has tried to see the hardened daily routine a soldier is subjected to from 6am to sunset, and after that the night vigil. Anything untoward happens and rogue actors like Salman Khan say meekly to the Pakistan media: Oh, it was the fault of the Indian security personnel. Salman should have been tried for treason. But we have people who lovingly go to his house and try to ‘settle the issue’. These very people and their governors make this day possible when anyone feels free to speak against the soldiers, against the national psyche of patriotism. A soldier is not a daily wage earner like the stone pelters. He is a representative of the nation’s time-honoured traditions. He is nurtured and nourished on a family’s “khandaani izzat” – “Mera beta fauji hai”. Ask any politician acting as an apologist for the separatist murderers, has he ever thought of sending his child to the forces? A family offers mannats at the feet of their wahe guru over devatas to ensure their son gets selected in the “fauj”. He is trained by the best of the warriors at the National Defence Academy or the Indian Military Academy. Some lucky ones get selected early and go through the National Defence School route and see the pictures when they recommissioned – after a thrilling passing out parade in Dehradun. Their caps in the air and their moms and dads hugging them with moist eyes. Years of training and a life of a great Indian patriotic goes waste before the gang of rogue pro-Pakistan elements who have hardly any idea what they are demanding.
Whether he is in the Army or in CRPF, BSF or ITBP, the story is the same. He is there not because he wanted to loot and rape and maim people. He was sent by the Indian government to safeguard the interests of the nation and the Constitution. He is a uniformed gentleman. Those who blow the case of rights violation must be heard definitely. But can an individual’s fault be attributed to the olive green or the khaki fraternity of the soldier? I absolutely agree with Manmohan Singh when he says, “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed”. But this should be done through good governance and a mechanism that can win their trust and not through “Srinagar-CM-living-in-Delhi” type Omars who never find time to place a wreath on the body of a soldier martyred in Kashmir.
In fact, the killers of Kashmir are people like Mir Waiz and Geelani. The angst of Kashmir must be directed against them. The soldier would be too happy to go back to his barracks and celebrate Diwali and Eid with family.
In the secular sultanate of Delhi’s power brokers, a soldier is just another babu, another employee to be denied a justifiable demand of “one rank-one pension” by those politicians who raise their salaries 300% in a jiffy. And in the media he is a punching bag. Just read a poem an Indian soldier wrote (saw it on a blog; Ali, perhaps, was his name).
Why do I still serve you?
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made “men out of boys”
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my “civilian” friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called “college days”
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came, I’d be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition,
that when the time came to give me my due,
You’d just say, “What is so great that you do?”
Long back you promised a well-to-do life;
And when I’m away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you’ll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know…
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?
You still know I’ll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that’s just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at twenty-four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made, seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you’ll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?
I heard you tell the world “India is shining”
I told my men, that’s a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it’s the souls of your own men you betray.
Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you’ll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…
Oh India….
Why do I still serve you? ? ?
And now, a word about the great Hurriyat separatist leader Janab Syed Ali Shah Geelani Saheb…
He is the father of two sons and five daughters! So much for family planning!
He is in the view of releasing Mohammed Afzal Guru convicted for attacking Parliament on 13 December, 2001.
The income-tax department has asked Syed Ali Shah Geelani to file Rs1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns, after rejecting his appeal.
The I-T sleuths, who had swooped down on the residences of Geelani and his family members in 2002 and seized valuable items including a diamond-studded watch gifted by the Pakistan government, had raised a tax demand of over Rs1.5 crore. The department had raided Geelani’s house and other places of his kin on June 9, 2002, and seized Rs10.2 lakh and 10,000 US dollars in cash, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amount of jewellery, and a diamond-encrusted watch inscribed with ‘From Pakistan Government’, besides documents pertaining to purchase of property and vehicles.
Geelani challenged the demand and approached the commissioner of income tax (appeals) for review of his case and also sought a waiver, saying he did not earn anything other than pension from the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and income from agricultural land.
The case dragged on for nearly three years and recently his appeal was dismissed, after which he was asked to deposit Rs1.73 crore as tax liabilities by end of 2010. Geelani still has the option to go to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in India.
Geelani had shown an annual income of Rs17,100 — Rs7,100 as pension from the state assembly as a former MLA and Rs10,000 as agriculture income.
However, according to the assessment made by the income-tax department, Geelani’s monthly expenditure allegedly ranged from Rs1 lakh to Rs1.5 lakh, as he had 15 servants at his house and his wife had confirmed that she used to get Rs25,000 per month for kitchen expenses.
When asked to comment, Geelani said he had not received the notice as yet and would like to first understand the grounds of rejection before reacting.
All this while Geelani forced Kashmiri youth to forego their education and indulge in stone pelting! Interestingly, Geelani himself is a graduate from the Oriental College in Lahore and Arundhati Roy went to prestigious schools like Corpus Christi, Kottayam and the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. What then gives them the moral right to make Kashmiri youth to forego their right to education and make them indulge in anti-national activities?
Here is another fact about Syed Ali Shah Geelani…
He has been diagnosed with renal cancer, and has been recommended by (Indian) doctors to go overseas for treatment. After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened, Indian government agencies returned Geelani’s passport to his son. His passport was seized in 1981 due to accusations of ‘anti-India’ activities, and with the exception of his Hajj pilgrimage in 2006, he has not been allowed to leave India.
During a regular check-up doctors discovered that Geelani’s ‘only kidney has developed malignancy’. An infection forced doctors, four years ago, to remove his left kidney. Although the cancer was in its early stages, it was life threatening, and he needed to have surgery. Following the advice of his doctors at Apollo Hospital (in India of course), Geelani was set to travel to either the UK or the USA for specialized treatment. However, his request for a visa was turned down by the Americans, and as his health deteriorated he went to Mumbai (in India) for surgery. Doctors at the Tata Memorial Hospital (in India) successfully performed surgery on his kidney. The reason given by the US for turning down Geelani’s request for a visa was, that he has “failed to renounce violence”. This decision was declared a violation of his human rights by his supporters and family. (I wonder why the blighter didn’t insist on going to Pakistan for treatment!).
All this means that Geelani will soon become Allah ko pyaraa. Perhaps if he had gone to Pakistan for treatment, the doctors there would have made him kick the bucket much earlier! This is probably the reason why so many Pakistanis come to India for specialized treatment and complicated surgeries.
In the meanwhile, Pakistan continues with cease-fire violations. As on 27 Oct 2010, there have been three cease-fire violations in 24 hours. And the indecisive and dysfunctional UPA government is sitting and sucking its thumb!
A new word has been coined for the separatists, secessionists and the self-styled activists who support them. They are now being called ‘splitists’! Be that as it may, the likes of Geelani and Arundhati Roy and their confederates in terrorism have crossed all limits of freedom of speech and expression and are a real threat to the territory of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. As they are so displeased with the policies of the Indian government with regard to the Kashmir issue, I would urge them to do us all a great favour and exercise the other great freedom provided by the Constitution of India. The freedom to leave the country. Yes, Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, get the hell out of my country.
In the meanwhile, a case of alleged sedition has been filed in a local court in Ranchi against Arundhati Roy for her controversial remarks on Kashmir
.
The complaint, lodged by one Ashish Kumar Singh in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) court of Vijay Kumar in Ranchi, was transferred to the court of Judicial Magistrate (first class
) of Amit Shekhar.
The BJP has demanded that the UPA government take the strongest possible action against writer activist Arundhati Roy for her ‘seditious’ remarks on Kashmir and asked the Centre to spell out its policy vis-à-vis Kashmir and the separatists. “When there is an elected government in Kashmir as the result of free and fair elections, how can someone say the state is not an integral part of India? It’s nothing but sedition,” senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.
Demanding action against Geelani and Arundhati Roy, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The language used certainly threatens the constitutional integrity of the country and the answer given at that time by the Home Minister was that there was a recording available and he would want to see it and that he would take action, if necessary.”
However, as of October 26, 2010, CNN-IBN reported that the central government does not want to escalate the issue further based on an individual’s comments and is unlikely to take action against Arundhati Roy.
Therefore it is time for organizations like RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Hindu Janajagruthi Samiti, Shree Rama Sene and others to join hands and initiate a nation-wide movement to put pressure on the UPA government to take immediate severe action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani and their ilk. These treacherous anti-national traitors must be arrested immediately, their passports impounded and they must be tried for high treason.
For those of you who have managed to read this entire narrative and reach this point, I have this to say. It will be my endeavour to put up this entire narrative in the
facebook page of Arundhati Roy – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Arundhati-Roy/107634772598971
and on the facebook page of Syed Ali Shah Geelani – http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Syed-Ali-Shah-Geelani/108163025871965.
I will also make every effort to put it up in every blog I can find and urge you to do the same, apart from circulating this to as many people as possible. (Also, if anyone knows the e-mail IDs of Arundhati Roy and Geelani, please forward this to them). I also urge all readers to send e-mails to the following:
jaishriram@vsnl.in, writetous@manase.org, contact@rssonnet.org, info@rssonnet.org, nitingadkari@email.com, webmaster@bjp.org, ramsena@shriramsena.com, pravakta@hindujagruti.org, hinduunity@hinduunity.org, report@hinduunity.org
and urge these organizations to put pressure on the UPA government to immediately initiate action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. For no one must be allowed to get away by misusing the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India and by indulging in sedition and anti-national activities. Inaction on the part of the Indian government will only give an open licence to such traitors to provoke others into anti-national acts, with disastrous consequences. This must be nipped in the bud before it reaches alarming proportions. In fact, it already has reached alarming proportions!
If I do succeed in this, it may very well trigger a war of words with Arundhati Roy who has the power of word play by virtue of her being in the literary field, while I am but a lesser mortal. However, I dare her to such a match, for, though I am not a renowned author of literary works, I do have access to Roget’s Thesaurus and the Chambers Dictionary. I will match her imaginative fiction for fact, word for word!
VANDE MATARAM
Discussing about Ms.Roy on the blogosphere is just a waste of few precious electrons!!
YOU WILL READ THIS FULLY ONLY IF YOU’RE A TRUE-BLOODED INDIAN AND A PATRIOT
What’s wrong with Arundhati Roy? Is she really naïve or is she plain dumb stupid with psychosomatic blindness? I mean, she may be a literary genius having won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and having received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002 for her work as an activist. But she is selectively blind to some historic facts and I would go so far as to say that she is quite illiterate in this regard.
Or is she looking for publicity at the cost of the nation because she is planning to publish another of her works shortly (Gawd help us all!), which she hopes will become a bestseller so that she can make millions? Or is she eyeing the Nobel Prize?
At a convention on ‘Azadi–The Only Way’ in the capital last week, the 49-year-old Arundhati Roy had said, “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this.” For that matter, none of the so-called linguistic states were a part of India. They were erstwhile princely states, provinces, kingdoms and fiefdoms, which together formed Hindustan – and that included present day Pakistan and Bangladesh. I would not be far wrong in saying that it was the British who facilitated their integration and now these states are together in the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India due to cultural and religious commonalities and a host of various other unifying factors. A former Union Minister said that Arundhati Roy “would do better to brush up her knowledge of history and know that the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir had acceded to the Union of India after its erstwhile ruler Maharaja Hari Singh duly signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947.” According to the Chambers Dictionary, accession is the act or event of acceding; a coming… as an addition or a new member; that which is added; an addition by nature or industry to existing property (law); acquisition of such an addition by the owner of the existing property (law). Therefore the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir, including the Kashmir Valley, is an integral part of India beyond doubt.
In view of the above, I would urge Arundhati Roy to carefully go through the narrative below by a Kashmiri Pandit and the Historical Chronology of Jammu & Kashmir State. (This is a serious attempt to educate Arundhati Roy). I would also urge her to visit the following websites, which will further educate her:
http://kaulonline.com/blog/2010/09/kashmir-is-too-small-for-azadi/
This website says that “Kashmir is not J&K”, because it is actually only a small part of it – 6.98% to be exact. Kashmir is the Muslim majority area and other parts of J&K are not. Kashmir is a geographically smaller portion of the larger state of Jammu & Kashmir, which comprises the provinces of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. It is this Muslim majority portion of 7% of the state that cannot see itself fitting in a non-Muslim India. It is this beautiful valley that was called Heaven on Earth and has now been turned into hell by the Islamic separatist violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_House_of_Jammu_and_Kashmir
Lists the Maharajas of Kashmir. The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir was Hari Singh. His son His Highness Dr. Karan Singh is the present titular Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir.
http://islamicdangerstill.blogspot.com/2008/12/muslim-invasion-of-india.html
Talks of how Muslim invaders used devious tactics to plunder and ravage India over several centuries.
http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/landalienrule.html
-The Intervention of Alien rule from 1194 C.E. up to 1947 C.E. By Sudheer Birodkar The Hindu Struggle to Resist Muslim Aggression
The Muslim and Hindu peoples of Kashmir have lived in relative harmony and friendliness since the 13th century when Islam first became the majority religion in Kashmir. The Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus), leading to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines.
Periodically however, there have been rulers and leaders who have had a narrow view of Islam, and have subjected Hindu minorities to great cruelties and discrimination. The current armed secessionist movement in Kashmir mostly derives its inspiration from these people.
A canard is now being spread past few years by the secessionist-terrorists and their sympathizers that in 1990 Kashmiri Pandits left Kashmir willingly, having been “tricked” by then Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact is that Kashmiri Pandits were driven from their homeland after a campaign of intimidation and harassment was launched against them by the military-wing of the secessionists. Kashmiri Pandits were forced from their hearths and homes at the point of gun. The objective of this ethnic cleansing was to create a minority free Kashmir valley where the goal of Islamization could be easily forced on the ordinary people.
However, the history of Kashmir proves beyond doubt that Kashmir belongs to Hindustan. Therefore every Hindu must raise his voice against the atrocities by the Muslims on Kashmiri Pandits. And the Government of India must take definitive steps to show Pakistan and its terrorist organizations and the sectarian forces in Kashmir their place.
Historical Chronology of Jammu and Kashmir State
App. 3000 B.C.:
Kashmir clan is named in Mahabharata.
2629-2564 B.C.:
Rule by King Sandiman.
2082-2041 B.C.:
Rule by King Sunder Sen rules Kashmir.
1048-1008 B.C.:
King Nara rules Kashmir.
250 B.C.:
Shrinagari (today’s Srinagar is located about three miles from Shrinagari) near the ancient capital Pandhrenatha is founded by Ashoka the Great.
7th century:
King Lalitaditya builds the famous Sun temple and formed the city of Pharihaspura.
813-850:
Pampore was founded by Padma, during the rule of King Ajatapida
855-883:
King Avantivarman builds the town of Avantipur and the famous Sun temple.
883-902:
King Shankaravarman builds Shankarapura-pattan (now known as Pattan).
1128-1149:
Reign of King Jayasim.
mid-12th:
Muslim invasion of Kashmir.
1322
Turks, under ferocious Zulkadur Khan, first invade Kashmir.
1394-1416:
Central Asian ruler, Sikander invades Kashmir and brings about mass conversion to Islam. After the tyranny of Sikander was over, only eleven Kashmiri Hindu families survive.
1540:
Mirz Haidar, a relative of Humayun (of the Moghul invader dynasty) conquers Kashmir. Kashmir gradually absorbed into Moghul Empire.
1810-1820:
Maharajah Ranjit Singh, one of the greatest rulers of India, regains Jammu and appointed his Dogra feudatory Gulab Singh to rule the State.
Mar 16, 1846:
The present State is created by a treaty between the British East India Company acting on behalf of the British Government and Maharajah Gulab Singh in Amritsar.
1931:
One of the worst communal riots led by Sheikh Abdullah and his Muslim Conference.
1939:
Muslim Conference becomes the National Conference.
Aug 15, 1947:
India gains independence. The ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh yet to make up his mind regarding accession.
Oct 22, 1947:
Pakistan violates the Standstill Agreement by preventing essential supplies to the State, then hoards of armed Pakistani tribesman entered Kashmir.
Oct 26, 1947:
Hari Singh signs the instrument of accession, it is no different than the one signed by over 500 other rulers. The accession of Kashmir was accepted by the Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten.
Oct 27, 1947:
The first Indian forces arrived in Kashmir to defend against Pakistani troops.
Dec 31, 1947:
A highly unconstitutional offer of plebiscite was made by Prime Minister Nehru in the U.N.
Jan 1, 1948:
India under Nehru declares a unilateral cease-fire and under Article 35 of the U.N. Charter, India files a complaint with the U.N. Security Council. Pakistan still controls 2/5 of the State.
Jan 20, 1948:
The U.N. Security Council in its resolution of establishes the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP).
Jul 1948:
Mohd. Zafrulla Khan, then the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and principal Delegate of Pakistan in the U.N. admits to the U.N. Commission for India and Pakistan that the Pakistani Army had been in Kashmir.
Aug 13, 1948:
UNCIP adopts a resolution on Kashmir accepted by both India and Pakistan. Pakistan is blamed for the invasion of Kashmir and is instructed to withdraw its forces from Kashmir.
Jan 1, 1949:
Amidst great tension, one minute before midnight, India and Pakistan concluded a formal cease fire agreement.
Jan 5, 1949:
Almost a year after Nehru’s offer of plebiscite, the UNCIP passes a resolution that states that, “The question of accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite”. However, Pakistan has yet to comply with the earlier resolution and withdraw from the State. Also, Pakistan is now busy changing the demographic composition of the State.
1949:
Not withstanding the opposition by several authors of the Indian Constitution, including Dr. Ambedkar, its chief architect, Article 370 was inserted in the constitution of India. This article is meant as a temporary measure, to be in effect until the formal constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is drafted.
Jun 1948:
Sheikh Abdullah declares, “We the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have thrown our lot with Indian people not in the heat of passion or a moment of despair, but by a deliberate choice. The union of our people has been fused by the community of ideals and common sufferings in the cause of freedom”.
1949:
Following the cabinet decision taken by the Abdullah Government, Hari Singh steps down. Hari Singh’s son, Karan Singh is named his successor.
Apr 1950
UN Security Council appoints Sir Owen Dixon as the UN representative in place of UNCIP to find expeditious and enduring solution to the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir.
Oct 1950:
General Council of the National Conference demands elections to create a Constituent Assembly.
Sep 1951:
Elections for the Constituent Assembly are held The National Conference wins all 45 seats unopposed.
Oct 1951:
Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is inaugurated.
Nov 5, 1951:
The Constituent Assembly is given four tasks by Sheikh Abdullah which including the accession to India.
Nov-Dec 1951:
Karan Singh steps down as the ruler, and is elected by the Constituent Assembly of the Jammu and Kashmir State as Sardar- i-Riyasat (Governor).
1952:
Jana Sangh begins campaign called “Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan” (One Constitution, one leader) and demands that the State of Jammu and Kashmir be totally integrated into India and that the people from the other States be able to visit Jammu and Kashmir without a passport.
1952:
Jana Sang leader Shyamaprasad Mukherjee dies in a Kashmiri Jail under mysterious circumstances.
Aug 9, 1953:
Sheikh Abdullah is arrested. He had turned corrupt and autocrat. He tried to hold India for ransom by giving increasingly anti-India speeches and preserve his power.
Feb 1954:
Under the leadership of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir ratified the State’s accession to India.
May 14, 1954:
The President of India promulgates the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order placing on a final footing the applicability of the other provisions of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir.
1956:
Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956, the category of Part B State was aboilished and Jammu and Kashmir was included as one of the States of India under Article I. However, Article 370 of the Indian constitution is still retained.
Jan 26, 1957:
After the formal inauguration of its constitution, the Constituent Assembly dissolves itself.
1958:
All-India services extended to J and K through an amendment in Article 312.
1964:
Sheikh Abdullah released from the prison.
1965:
Pakistan attacks India, in operation code named, Gibraltar. The defeat of Pakistan results in the Tashkent Agreement between the two countries.
Mar 30, 1965:
Article 249 of Indian Constitution extended to Jammu and Kashmir whereby the center could legislate on any matter enumerated in state list (just like in any other State in the Union). Designations like Prime Minister and President of the State are replace by Chief Minister and Governor.
1971:
Pakistani attack on India results in the third war between the two countries. Pakistan is completely defeated, over 90,000 of its men surrendered.
1972:
India and Pakistan sign the Shimla Pact. Two agree to respect the line of control until the issue is finally resolved.
Feb 24-25, 1975:
Following an accord signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah on February 24, 1975, Jammu and Kashmir is made a “Constituent Unit” of India on February 25, 1975. Through this accord Indian Parliament reaffirms its right to legislate on any matter concerning the territory of the State.
1977:
National Conference wins the first post-Emergency elctions.
1982:
Sheikh Abdullah nominates his son, Farooq Abdullah as his successor setting up a political rivalry between Farooq Abdullah and his brother-in-law G. M. Shah.
1986:
In one of the most shameful acts of religious massacre, several ancient historical Hindu temples are destroyed and scores of Hindus were killed in the city of Anantnag. Chief Minister G. M. Shah looses power to his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah.
1990-1991:
In a spate of terrorist violence, 2400 people have died so far, and 300,000 people have been driven out of their homes. Pakistan’s involvement in this carnage of violence is beyond doubt.
Does Arundhati Roy need more proof that Kashmir is an integral part of India?
The twice-married Arundhati Roy is indeed a confused individual – she is so full of controversies and contradictions.
She has raised questions about the investigation into the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the trial of the accused. She has called for the death sentence of Mohammad Afzal Guru to be stayed while a parliamentary enquiry into these questions are conducted and denounced press coverage of the trial.
Arundhati Roy has called the Partition of India as “Britain’s final, parting kick to us”. Why then is she supporting independence for Kashmir? Why has she said “Kashmir should get azadi from bhookhe-nange Hindustan”? Has she not contradicted herself? Is she looking to disintegrate India further as HER ‘parting kick’ to the rest of the patriotic Indians? Is this not sedition? According to the Chambers Dictionary, sedition is public speech or actions intended to promote disorder; vaguely, any offence against the state short of treason.
Arundhati Roy has also stated clearly that she believes “nothing can justify terrorism” and has called terrorism “a heartless ideology.” Why then had she shared the dais with pro-Pakistan hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others at the Delhi seminar? Her description of the Maoists as ‘Gandhians’ has also raised a controversy.
Indian writer Tavleen Singh once called Arundhati Roy’s comments “the latest of her series of hysterical diatribes against India and all things Indian.”
In her statement from Srinagar, Arundhati Roy said, “Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds.” She also said, “Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free”. She justified her anti-India diatribe by saying, “I said what millions of people here say every day. I said what I, as well as other commentators, have written and said for years. Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice.
“I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world; for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland; for Dalit soldiers killed in Kashmir whose graves I visited on garbage heaps in their villages in Cuddalore; for the Indian poor who pay the price of this occupation in material ways and who are now learning to live in the terror of what is becoming a police state.”
She has chosen to echo the tirade of a few million anti-national separatists in Kashmir but has completely ignored the sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandits and of several million patriotic Indians. In this context, I would urge her to read the following article by Shri Tarun Vijay:
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
While one need not fully subscribe to the views expressed in the article, one must fully agree on one issue. In India, we have a totally unacceptable approach of treating the Armed forces, para-military and police as fully expendable, be it Kashmir, North Eastern states or Naxalites. The media and particularly the so-called civil society activists only see human rights violations by the security forces irrespective of the fact they often have to act with great restrain on specific orders and were virtually forced to act by the deliberate acts of agents provocateurs. One hardly sees any condemnation when unarmed govt. employees and policemen are taken hostage and brutally killed. One would go to the extent of saying that since a large number of jawans and policemen are drawn from the poorer and less privileged segments of our society, the establishment (which includes the govt.) is least bothered by the mounting casualties amongst these personnel. Why can’t we have a national political consensus for laying down specific guidelines defining the limits of public protest and expression of dissent in a civilised democratic society? Any transgression of these democratic rights by the security forces should be dealt with deterrent punishment. Conversely, violation of the guidelines should lead to deterrent penal action with political parties and leaders responsible being dealt with severely including disenfranchisement.
&a mp;a mp;n bsp;
An extra ordinary, informative article on our soldiers fighting in Kashmir by Shri Tarun Vijay in Times of India.
[]
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
Tarun Vijay
14 September 2010, 07:44 PM IST Times of India
India must be the only country in the world where being an antinational murderer means a person or organization getting invitations for talks with the government. Mir Waiz and Geelani should have been booked months ago and punished for their anti-India activities. They not only instigated Kashmiri youth to attack our patriotic people and soldiers but also vitiated the entire atmosphere in the valley bringing normal life to a halt and using Kashmiri youth as fodder for their Pakistani plots, resulting in so many killings of young boys. The fact of the matter is that the killers in Kashmir are these two pro-Pakistani elements, who would have been taken to task by any government with a spine much earlier than their fangs grew more poisonous. In such a situation, instead of talking tough and straight, the government is not only giving confused signals to ‘soften’ (whatever that means) the Armed Forces Special Powers Act but making gestures to terrorist supporters to come to talk. Talks, always a welcome way to find a solution, can be held or even an indication for a discussion can be sent only when the atmosphere is ripe for it and the other side, offenders in this case, show a willingness to come to terms. I must say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sounded reasonable at the Armed Forces commanders’ meet on September 13 when he said: “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed….We are willing to talk to every person or group which abjures violence, within the framework of our Constitution.” But is this the time to extend an olive branch?
Have they ever thought what effect these gestures by the government have on the morale of the soldiers?
For whom is the Indian soldier fighting the battle in Kashmir?
It pains me immensely to see how our secular media sirens show their undiluted love for the separatists on TV screens and they go to the streets of Srinagar only to interview the unpatriotic people. When they invite any of the antinational separatists on their shows, they display an utter lack of sensitivity towards those who love their country and give all the space and time to those voices of insanity and violence with a soft, affectionate anchoring you seldom witness when they put on trial any leader showing patriotic leanings. There was hardly a time, except during the Kargil war, when the voices representing the soldiers were given a chance to come to the TV studios or have their say on the editorial pages of the media empires. He is despised, hated and made responsible for all the bad happenings, in a sweeping manner. No one has tried to see the hardened daily routine a soldier is subjected to from 6am to sunset, and after that the night vigil. Anything untoward happens and rogue actors like Salman Khan say meekly to the Pakistan media: Oh, it was the fault of the Indian security personnel. Salman should have been tried for treason. But we have people who lovingly go to his house and try to ‘settle the issue’. These very people and their governors make this day possible when anyone feels free to speak against the soldiers, against the national psyche of patriotism. A soldier is not a daily wage earner like the stone pelters. He is a representative of the nation’s time-honoured traditions. He is nurtured and nourished on a family’s “khandaani izzat” – “Mera beta fauji hai”. Ask any politician acting as an apologist for the separatist murderers, has he ever thought of sending his child to the forces? A family offers mannats at the feet of their wahe guru over devatas to ensure their son gets selected in the “fauj”. He is trained by the best of the warriors at the National Defence Academy or the Indian Military Academy. Some lucky ones get selected early and go through the National Defence School route and see the pictures when they recommissioned – after a thrilling passing out parade in Dehradun. Their caps in the air and their moms and dads hugging them with moist eyes. Years of training and a life of a great Indian patriotic goes waste before the gang of rogue pro-Pakistan elements who have hardly any idea what they are demanding.
Whether he is in the Army or in CRPF, BSF or ITBP, the story is the same. He is there not because he wanted to loot and rape and maim people. He was sent by the Indian government to safeguard the interests of the nation and the Constitution. He is a uniformed gentleman. Those who blow the case of rights violation must be heard definitely. But can an individual’s fault be attributed to the olive green or the khaki fraternity of the soldier? I absolutely agree with Manmohan Singh when he says, “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed”. But this should be done through good governance and a mechanism that can win their trust and not through “Srinagar-CM-living-in-Delhi” type Omars who never find time to place a wreath on the body of a soldier martyred in Kashmir.
In fact, the killers of Kashmir are people like Mir Waiz and Geelani. The angst of Kashmir must be directed against them. The soldier would be too happy to go back to his barracks and celebrate Diwali and Eid with family.
In the secular sultanate of Delhi’s power brokers, a soldier is just another babu, another employee to be denied a justifiable demand of “one rank-one pension” by those politicians who raise their salaries 300% in a jiffy. And in the media he is a punching bag. Just read a poem an Indian soldier wrote (saw it on a blog; Ali, perhaps, was his name).
Why do I still serve you?
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made “men out of boys”
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my “civilian” friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called “college days”
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came, I’d be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition,
that when the time came to give me my due,
You’d just say, “What is so great that you do?”
Long back you promised a well-to-do life;
And when I’m away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you’ll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know…
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?
You still know I’ll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that’s just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at twenty-four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made, seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you’ll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?
I heard you tell the world “India is shining”
I told my men, that’s a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it’s the souls of your own men you betray.
Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you’ll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…
Oh India….
Why do I still serve you? ? ?
And now, a word about the great Hurriyat separatist leader Janab Syed Ali Shah Geelani Saheb…
He is the father of two sons and five daughters! So much for family planning!
He is in the view of releasing Mohammed Afzal Guru convicted for attacking Parliament on 13 December, 2001.
The income-tax department has asked Syed Ali Shah Geelani to file Rs1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns, after rejecting his appeal.
The I-T sleuths, who had swooped down on the residences of Geelani and his family members in 2002 and seized valuable items including a diamond-studded watch gifted by the Pakistan government, had raised a tax demand of over Rs1.5 crore. The department had raided Geelani’s house and other places of his kin on June 9, 2002, and seized Rs10.2 lakh and 10,000 US dollars in cash, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amount of jewellery, and a diamond-encrusted watch inscribed with ‘From Pakistan Government’, besides documents pertaining to purchase of property and vehicles.
Geelani challenged the demand and approached the commissioner of income tax (appeals) for review of his case and also sought a waiver, saying he did not earn anything other than pension from the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and income from agricultural land.
The case dragged on for nearly three years and recently his appeal was dismissed, after which he was asked to deposit Rs1.73 crore as tax liabilities by end of 2010. Geelani still has the option to go to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in India.
Geelani had shown an annual income of Rs17,100 — Rs7,100 as pension from the state assembly as a former MLA and Rs10,000 as agriculture income.
However, according to the assessment made by the income-tax department, Geelani’s monthly expenditure allegedly ranged from Rs1 lakh to Rs1.5 lakh, as he had 15 servants at his house and his wife had confirmed that she used to get Rs25,000 per month for kitchen expenses.
When asked to comment, Geelani said he had not received the notice as yet and would like to first understand the grounds of rejection before reacting.
All this while Geelani forced Kashmiri youth to forego their education and indulge in stone pelting! Interestingly, Geelani himself is a graduate from the Oriental College in Lahore and Arundhati Roy went to prestigious schools like Corpus Christi, Kottayam and the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. What then gives them the moral right to make Kashmiri youth to forego their right to education and make them indulge in anti-national activities?
Here is another fact about Syed Ali Shah Geelani…
He has been diagnosed with renal cancer, and has been recommended by (Indian) doctors to go overseas for treatment. After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened, Indian government agencies returned Geelani’s passport to his son. His passport was seized in 1981 due to accusations of ‘anti-India’ activities, and with the exception of his Hajj pilgrimage in 2006, he has not been allowed to leave India.
During a regular check-up doctors discovered that Geelani’s ‘only kidney has developed malignancy’. An infection forced doctors, four years ago, to remove his left kidney. Although the cancer was in its early stages, it was life threatening, and he needed to have surgery. Following the advice of his doctors at Apollo Hospital (in India of course), Geelani was set to travel to either the UK or the USA for specialized treatment. However, his request for a visa was turned down by the Americans, and as his health deteriorated he went to Mumbai (in India) for surgery. Doctors at the Tata Memorial Hospital (in India) successfully performed surgery on his kidney. The reason given by the US for turning down Geelani’s request for a visa was, that he has “failed to renounce violence”. This decision was declared a violation of his human rights by his supporters and family. (I wonder why the blighter didn’t insist on going to Pakistan for treatment!).
All this means that Geelani will soon become Allah ko pyaraa. Perhaps if he had gone to Pakistan for treatment, the doctors there would have made him kick the bucket much earlier! This is probably the reason why so many Pakistanis come to India for specialized treatment and complicated surgeries.
In the meanwhile, Pakistan continues with cease-fire violations. As on 27 Oct 2010, there have been three cease-fire violations in 24 hours. And the indecisive and dysfunctional UPA government is sitting and sucking its thumb!
A new word has been coined for the separatists, secessionists and the self-styled activists who support them. They are now being called ‘splitists’! Be that as it may, the likes of Geelani and Arundhati Roy and their confederates in terrorism have crossed all limits of freedom of speech and expression and are a real threat to the territory of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. As they are so displeased with the policies of the Indian government with regard to the Kashmir issue, I would urge them to do us all a great favour and exercise the other great freedom provided by the Constitution of India. The freedom to leave the country. Yes, Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, get the hell out of my country.
In the meanwhile, a case of alleged sedition has been filed in a local court in Ranchi against Arundhati Roy for her controversial remarks on Kashmir
.
The complaint, lodged by one Ashish Kumar Singh in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) court of Vijay Kumar in Ranchi, was transferred to the court of Judicial Magistrate (first class
) of Amit Shekhar.
The BJP has demanded that the UPA government take the strongest possible action against writer activist Arundhati Roy for her ‘seditious’ remarks on Kashmir and asked the Centre to spell out its policy vis-à-vis Kashmir and the separatists. “When there is an elected government in Kashmir as the result of free and fair elections, how can someone say the state is not an integral part of India? It’s nothing but sedition,” senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.
Demanding action against Geelani and Arundhati Roy, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The language used certainly threatens the constitutional integrity of the country and the answer given at that time by the Home Minister was that there was a recording available and he would want to see it and that he would take action, if necessary.”
However, as of October 26, 2010, CNN-IBN reported that the central government does not want to escalate the issue further based on an individual’s comments and is unlikely to take action against Arundhati Roy.
Therefore it is time for organizations like RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Hindu Janajagruthi Samiti, Shree Rama Sene and others to join hands and initiate a nation-wide movement to put pressure on the UPA government to take immediate severe action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani and their ilk. These treacherous anti-national traitors must be arrested immediately, their passports impounded and they must be tried for high treason.
For those of you who have managed to read this entire narrative and reach this point, I have this to say. It will be my endeavour to put up this entire narrative in the
facebook page of Arundhati Roy – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Arundhati-Roy/107634772598971
and on the facebook page of Syed Ali Shah Geelani – http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Syed-Ali-Shah-Geelani/108163025871965.
I will also make every effort to put it up in every blog I can find and urge you to do the same, apart from circulating this to as many people as possible. (Also, if anyone knows the e-mail IDs of Arundhati Roy and Geelani, please forward this to them). I also urge all readers to send e-mails to the following:
jaishriram@vsnl.in, writetous@manase.org, contact@rssonnet.org, info@rssonnet.org, nitingadkari@email.com, webmaster@bjp.org, ramsena@shriramsena.com, pravakta@hindujagruti.org, hinduunity@hinduunity.org, report@hinduunity.org
and urge these organizations to put pressure on the UPA government to immediately initiate action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. For no one must be allowed to get away by misusing the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India and by indulging in sedition and anti-national activities. Inaction on the part of the Indian government will only give an open licence to such traitors to provoke others into anti-national acts, with disastrous consequences. This must be nipped in the bud before it reaches alarming proportions. In fact, it already has reached alarming proportions!
If I do succeed in this, it may very well trigger a war of words with Arundhati Roy who has the power of word play by virtue of her being in the literary field, while I am but a lesser mortal. However, I dare her to such a match, for, though I am not a renowned author of literary works, I do have access to Roget’s Thesaurus and the Chambers Dictionary. I will match her imaginative fiction for fact, word for word!
VANDE MATARAM
Ok, Pagal we can agree to disagree whether her support for kashmir is genuine or not. I give you my reason why i think it is.
Her essays and books always supports the underdogs. She doesnt feel part of India (something which isnt that uncommon a lot of people feel no affinity to a particular race, religion or nationailty)but is more concerned about people. Does that make her a more moral person is open for debate. What is more important in todays world the people or the nation they represent ????
Our country is full of people who have been left out by the system and she seems to be one of the people carrying the torch for them. The means she is using are letters, essays and holding occasional rally all of which are rather non voilent. She was speaking about kashmir ever since 2000, she hasnt joined the bandwagon now and her stand has consistently been the same. Now the media seems to joined the cause now and sees the plight of kashmiri now when the valley has had previous calls for azadi have largely been ignored by the mainstream media. The media seems hell bent of portaying her the villian when they are ones giving her the coverage. She hasnt said anything orginal in that particular rally that she hasnt mentioned before. So why call her publicity artist now.
The problem with Ms roy is her views is very left (almost militant) and there are very few people who would support her on those issues. And many of these people in various other country who have similar viewpoint to Ms roy are hated with vengence they are always against all popular conventions. (that what i think i atleast for eg naom chomsky, howard zinc, george golloway, george carlin). But read her books, essays and she very eloquently destroys credentials of people and organisation who we dare not talk about. (the supreme court, the delhi police). Surely it is more courageous than just being a “charlatan”.
Her aim in life to get some award and recognition by doing all this bullshit.. i think people should ignore her and let her bark..
YOU WILL READ THIS FULLY ONLY IF YOU’RE A TRUE-BLOODED INDIAN AND A PATRIOT
What’s wrong with Arundhati Roy? Is she really naïve or is she plain dumb stupid with psychosomatic blindness? I mean, she may be a literary genius having won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and having received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002 for her work as an activist. But she is selectively blind to some historic facts and I would go so far as to say that she is quite illiterate in this regard.
Or is she looking for publicity at the cost of the nation because she is planning to publish another of her works shortly (Gawd help us all!), which she hopes will become a bestseller so that she can make millions? Or is she eyeing the Nobel Prize?
At a convention on ‘Azadi–The Only Way’ in the capital last week, the 49-year-old Arundhati Roy had said, “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this.” For that matter, none of the so-called linguistic states were a part of India. They were erstwhile princely states, provinces, kingdoms and fiefdoms, which together formed Hindustan – and that included present day Pakistan and Bangladesh. I would not be far wrong in saying that it was the British who facilitated their integration and now these states are together in the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India due to cultural and religious commonalities and a host of various other unifying factors. A former Union Minister said that Arundhati Roy “would do better to brush up her knowledge of history and know that the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir had acceded to the Union of India after its erstwhile ruler Maharaja Hari Singh duly signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947.” According to the Chambers Dictionary, accession is the act or event of acceding; a coming… as an addition or a new member; that which is added; an addition by nature or industry to existing property (law); acquisition of such an addition by the owner of the existing property (law). Therefore the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir, including the Kashmir Valley, is an integral part of India beyond doubt.
In view of the above, I would urge Arundhati Roy to carefully go through the narrative below by a Kashmiri Pandit and the Historical Chronology of Jammu & Kashmir State. (This is a serious attempt to educate Arundhati Roy). I would also urge her to visit the following websites, which will further educate her:
http://kaulonline.com/blog/2010/09/kashmir-is-too-small-for-azadi/
This website says that “Kashmir is not J&K”, because it is actually only a small part of it – 6.98% to be exact. Kashmir is the Muslim majority area and other parts of J&K are not. Kashmir is a geographically smaller portion of the larger state of Jammu & Kashmir, which comprises the provinces of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. It is this Muslim majority portion of 7% of the state that cannot see itself fitting in a non-Muslim India. It is this beautiful valley that was called Heaven on Earth and has now been turned into hell by the Islamic separatist violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_House_of_Jammu_and_Kashmir
Lists the Maharajas of Kashmir. The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir was Hari Singh. His son His Highness Dr. Karan Singh is the present titular Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir.
http://islamicdangerstill.blogspot.com/2008/12/muslim-invasion-of-india.html
Talks of how Muslim invaders used devious tactics to plunder and ravage India over several centuries.
http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/landalienrule.html
-The Intervention of Alien rule from 1194 C.E. up to 1947 C.E. By Sudheer Birodkar The Hindu Struggle to Resist Muslim Aggression
The Muslim and Hindu peoples of Kashmir have lived in relative harmony and friendliness since the 13th century when Islam first became the majority religion in Kashmir. The Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus), leading to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines.
Periodically however, there have been rulers and leaders who have had a narrow view of Islam, and have subjected Hindu minorities to great cruelties and discrimination. The current armed secessionist movement in Kashmir mostly derives its inspiration from these people.
A canard is now being spread past few years by the secessionist-terrorists and their sympathizers that in 1990 Kashmiri Pandits left Kashmir willingly, having been “tricked” by then Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact is that Kashmiri Pandits were driven from their homeland after a campaign of intimidation and harassment was launched against them by the military-wing of the secessionists. Kashmiri Pandits were forced from their hearths and homes at the point of gun. The objective of this ethnic cleansing was to create a minority free Kashmir valley where the goal of Islamization could be easily forced on the ordinary people.
However, the history of Kashmir proves beyond doubt that Kashmir belongs to Hindustan. Therefore every Hindu must raise his voice against the atrocities by the Muslims on Kashmiri Pandits. And the Government of India must take definitive steps to show Pakistan and its terrorist organizations and the sectarian forces in Kashmir their place.
Historical Chronology of Jammu and Kashmir State
App. 3000 B.C.: Kashmir clan is named in Mahabharata.
2629-2564 B.C.: Rule by King Sandiman.
2082-2041 B.C.: Rule by King Sunder Sen rules Kashmir.
1048-1008 B.C.: King Nara rules Kashmir.
250 B.C.: Shrinagari (today’s Srinagar is located about three miles from Shrinagari) near the ancient capital Pandhrenatha is founded by Ashoka the Great.
7th century: King Lalitaditya builds the famous Sun temple and formed the city of Pharihaspura.
813-850: Pampore was founded by Padma, during the rule of King Ajatapida
855-883: King Avantivarman builds the town of Avantipur and the famous Sun temple.
883-902: King Shankaravarman builds Shankarapura-pattan (now known as Pattan).
1128-1149: Reign of King Jayasim.
mid-12th: Muslim invasion of Kashmir.
1322 Turks, under ferocious Zulkadur Khan, first invade Kashmir.
1394-1416: Central Asian ruler, Sikander invades Kashmir and brings about mass conversion to Islam. After the tyranny of Sikander was over, only eleven Kashmiri Hindu families survive.
1540: Mirz Haidar, a relative of Humayun (of the Moghul invader dynasty) conquers Kashmir. Kashmir gradually absorbed into Moghul Empire.
1810-1820: Maharajah Ranjit Singh, one of the greatest rulers of India, regains Jammu and appointed his Dogra feudatory Gulab Singh to rule the State.
Mar 16, 1846: The present State is created by a treaty between the British East India Company acting on behalf of the British Government and Maharajah Gulab Singh in Amritsar.
1931: One of the worst communal riots led by Sheikh Abdullah and his Muslim Conference.
1939: Muslim Conference becomes the National Conference.
Aug 15, 1947: India gains independence. The ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh yet to make up his mind regarding accession.
Oct 22, 1947: Pakistan violates the Standstill Agreement by preventing essential supplies to the State, then hoards of armed Pakistani tribesman entered Kashmir.
Oct 26, 1947: Hari Singh signs the instrument of accession, it is no different than the one signed by over 500 other rulers. The accession of Kashmir was accepted by the Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten.
Oct 27, 1947: The first Indian forces arrived in Kashmir to defend against Pakistani troops.
Dec 31, 1947: A highly unconstitutional offer of plebiscite was made by Prime Minister Nehru in the U.N.
Jan 1, 1948: India under Nehru declares a unilateral cease-fire and under Article 35 of the U.N. Charter, India files a complaint with the U.N. Security Council. Pakistan still controls 2/5 of the State.
Jan 20, 1948: The U.N. Security Council in its resolution of establishes the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP).
Jul 1948: Mohd. Zafrulla Khan, then the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and principal Delegate of Pakistan in the U.N. admits to the U.N. Commission for India and Pakistan that the Pakistani Army had been in Kashmir.
Aug 13, 1948: UNCIP adopts a resolution on Kashmir accepted by both India and Pakistan. Pakistan is blamed for the invasion of Kashmir and is instructed to withdraw its forces from Kashmir.
Jan 1, 1949: Amidst great tension, one minute before midnight, India and Pakistan concluded a formal cease fire agreement.
Jan 5, 1949: Almost a year after Nehru’s offer of plebiscite, the UNCIP passes a resolution that states that, “The question of accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite”. However, Pakistan has yet to comply with the earlier resolution and withdraw from the State. Also, Pakistan is now busy changing the demographic composition of the State.
1949: Not withstanding the opposition by several authors of the Indian Constitution, including Dr. Ambedkar, its chief architect, Article 370 was inserted in the constitution of India. This article is meant as a temporary measure, to be in effect until the formal constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is drafted.
Jun 1948: Sheikh Abdullah declares, “We the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have thrown our lot with Indian people not in the heat of passion or a moment of despair, but by a deliberate choice. The union of our people has been fused by the community of ideals and common sufferings in the cause of freedom”.
1949: Following the cabinet decision taken by the Abdullah Government, Hari Singh steps down. Hari Singh’s son, Karan Singh is named his successor.
Apr 1950 UN Security Council appoints Sir Owen Dixon as the UN representative in place of UNCIP to find expeditious and enduring solution to the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir.
Oct 1950: General Council of the National Conference demands elections to create a Constituent Assembly.
Sep 1951: Elections for the Constituent Assembly are held The National Conference wins all 45 seats unopposed.
Oct 1951: Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is inaugurated.
Nov 5, 1951: The Constituent Assembly is given four tasks by Sheikh Abdullah which including the accession to India.
Nov-Dec 1951: Karan Singh steps down as the ruler, and is elected by the Constituent Assembly of the Jammu and Kashmir State as Sardar- i-Riyasat (Governor).
1952: Jana Sangh begins campaign called “Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan” (One Constitution, one leader) and demands that the State of Jammu and Kashmir be totally integrated into India and that the people from the other States be able to visit Jammu and Kashmir without a passport.
1952: Jana Sang leader Shyamaprasad Mukherjee dies in a Kashmiri Jail under mysterious circumstances.
Aug 9, 1953: Sheikh Abdullah is arrested. He had turned corrupt and autocrat. He tried to hold India for ransom by giving increasingly anti-India speeches and preserve his power.
Feb 1954: Under the leadership of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir ratified the State’s accession to India.
May 14, 1954: The President of India promulgates the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order placing on a final footing the applicability of the other provisions of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir.
1956: Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956, the category of Part B State was aboilished and Jammu and Kashmir was included as one of the States of India under Article I. However, Article 370 of the Indian constitution is still retained.
Jan 26, 1957: After the formal inauguration of its constitution, the Constituent Assembly dissolves itself.
1958: All-India services extended to J and K through an amendment in Article 312.
1964: Sheikh Abdullah released from the prison.
1965: Pakistan attacks India, in operation code named, Gibraltar. The defeat of Pakistan results in the Tashkent Agreement between the two countries.
Mar 30, 1965: Article 249 of Indian Constitution extended to Jammu and Kashmir whereby the center could legislate on any matter enumerated in state list (just like in any other State in the Union). Designations like Prime Minister and President of the State are replace by Chief Minister and Governor.
1971: Pakistani attack on India results in the third war between the two countries. Pakistan is completely defeated, over 90,000 of its men surrendered.
1972: India and Pakistan sign the Shimla Pact. Two agree to respect the line of control until the issue is finally resolved.
Feb 24-25, 1975: Following an accord signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah on February 24, 1975, Jammu and Kashmir is made a “Constituent Unit” of India on February 25, 1975. Through this accord Indian Parliament reaffirms its right to legislate on any matter concerning the territory of the State.
1977: National Conference wins the first post-Emergency elctions.
1982: Sheikh Abdullah nominates his son, Farooq Abdullah as his successor setting up a political rivalry between Farooq Abdullah and his brother-in-law G. M. Shah.
1986: In one of the most shameful acts of religious massacre, several ancient historical Hindu temples are destroyed and scores of Hindus were killed in the city of Anantnag. Chief Minister G. M. Shah looses power to his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah.
1990-1991: In a spate of terrorist violence, 2400 people have died so far, and 300,000 people have been driven out of their homes. Pakistan’s involvement in this carnage of violence is beyond doubt.
Does Arundhati Roy need more proof that Kashmir is an integral part of India?
The twice-married Arundhati Roy is indeed a confused individual – she is so full of controversies and contradictions.
She has raised questions about the investigation into the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the trial of the accused. She has called for the death sentence of Mohammad Afzal Guru to be stayed while a parliamentary enquiry into these questions are conducted and denounced press coverage of the trial.
Arundhati Roy has called the Partition of India as “Britain’s final, parting kick to us”. Why then is she supporting independence for Kashmir? Why has she said “Kashmir should get azadi from bhookhe-nange Hindustan”? Has she not contradicted herself? Is she looking to disintegrate India further as HER ‘parting kick’ to the rest of the patriotic Indians? Is this not sedition? According to the Chambers Dictionary, sedition is public speech or actions intended to promote disorder; vaguely, any offence against the state short of treason.
Arundhati Roy has also stated clearly that she believes “nothing can justify terrorism” and has called terrorism “a heartless ideology.” Why then had she shared the dais with pro-Pakistan hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others at the Delhi seminar? Her description of the Maoists as ‘Gandhians’ has also raised a controversy.
Indian writer Tavleen Singh once called Arundhati Roy’s comments “the latest of her series of hysterical diatribes against India and all things Indian.”
In her statement from Srinagar, Arundhati Roy said, “Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds.” She also said, “Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free”. She justified her anti-India diatribe by saying, “I said what millions of people here say every day. I said what I, as well as other commentators, have written and said for years. Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice.
“I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world; for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland; for Dalit soldiers killed in Kashmir whose graves I visited on garbage heaps in their villages in Cuddalore; for the Indian poor who pay the price of this occupation in material ways and who are now learning to live in the terror of what is becoming a police state.”
She has chosen to echo the tirade of a few million anti-national separatists in Kashmir but has completely ignored the sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandits and of several million patriotic Indians. In this context, I would urge her to read the following article by Shri Tarun Vijay:
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
While one need not fully subscribe to the views expressed in the article, one must fully agree on one issue. In India, we have a totally unacceptable approach of treating the Armed forces, para-military and police as fully expendable, be it Kashmir, North Eastern states or Naxalites. The media and particularly the so-called civil society activists only see human rights violations by the security forces irrespective of the fact they often have to act with great restrain on specific orders and were virtually forced to act by the deliberate acts of agents provocateurs. One hardly sees any condemnation when unarmed govt. employees and policemen are taken hostage and brutally killed. One would go to the extent of saying that since a large number of jawans and policemen are drawn from the poorer and less privileged segments of our society, the establishment (which includes the govt.) is least bothered by the mounting casualties amongst these personnel. Why can’t we have a national political consensus for laying down specific guidelines defining the limits of public protest and expression of dissent in a civilised democratic society? Any transgression of these democratic rights by the security forces should be dealt with deterrent punishment. Conversely, violation of the guidelines should lead to deterrent penal action with political parties and leaders responsible being dealt with severely including disenfranchisement.
&a mp;a mp;n bsp;
An extra ordinary, informative article on our soldiers fighting in Kashmir by Shri Tarun Vijay in Times of India.
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
Tarun Vijay
14 September 2010, 07:44 PM IST Times of India
India must be the only country in the world where being an antinational murderer means a person or organization getting invitations for talks with the government. Mir Waiz and Geelani should have been booked months ago and punished for their anti-India activities. They not only instigated Kashmiri youth to attack our patriotic people and soldiers but also vitiated the entire atmosphere in the valley bringing normal life to a halt and using Kashmiri youth as fodder for their Pakistani plots, resulting in so many killings of young boys. The fact of the matter is that the killers in Kashmir are these two pro-Pakistani elements, who would have been taken to task by any government with a spine much earlier than their fangs grew more poisonous. In such a situation, instead of talking tough and straight, the government is not only giving confused signals to ‘soften’ (whatever that means) the Armed Forces Special Powers Act but making gestures to terrorist supporters to come to talk. Talks, always a welcome way to find a solution, can be held or even an indication for a discussion can be sent only when the atmosphere is ripe for it and the other side, offenders in this case, show a willingness to come to terms. I must say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sounded reasonable at the Armed Forces commanders’ meet on September 13 when he said: “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed….We are willing to talk to every person or group which abjures violence, within the framework of our Constitution.” But is this the time to extend an olive branch?
Have they ever thought what effect these gestures by the government have on the morale of the soldiers?
For whom is the Indian soldier fighting the battle in Kashmir?
It pains me immensely to see how our secular media sirens show their undiluted love for the separatists on TV screens and they go to the streets of Srinagar only to interview the unpatriotic people. When they invite any of the antinational separatists on their shows, they display an utter lack of sensitivity towards those who love their country and give all the space and time to those voices of insanity and violence with a soft, affectionate anchoring you seldom witness when they put on trial any leader showing patriotic leanings. There was hardly a time, except during the Kargil war, when the voices representing the soldiers were given a chance to come to the TV studios or have their say on the editorial pages of the media empires. He is despised, hated and made responsible for all the bad happenings, in a sweeping manner. No one has tried to see the hardened daily routine a soldier is subjected to from 6am to sunset, and after that the night vigil. Anything untoward happens and rogue actors like Salman Khan say meekly to the Pakistan media: Oh, it was the fault of the Indian security personnel. Salman should have been tried for treason. But we have people who lovingly go to his house and try to ‘settle the issue’. These very people and their governors make this day possible when anyone feels free to speak against the soldiers, against the national psyche of patriotism. A soldier is not a daily wage earner like the stone pelters. He is a representative of the nation’s time-honoured traditions. He is nurtured and nourished on a family’s “khandaani izzat” – “Mera beta fauji hai”. Ask any politician acting as an apologist for the separatist murderers, has he ever thought of sending his child to the forces? A family offers mannats at the feet of their wahe guru over devatas to ensure their son gets selected in the “fauj”. He is trained by the best of the warriors at the National Defence Academy or the Indian Military Academy. Some lucky ones get selected early and go through the National Defence School route and see the pictures when they recommissioned – after a thrilling passing out parade in Dehradun. Their caps in the air and their moms and dads hugging them with moist eyes. Years of training and a life of a great Indian patriotic goes waste before the gang of rogue pro-Pakistan elements who have hardly any idea what they are demanding.
Whether he is in the Army or in CRPF, BSF or ITBP, the story is the same. He is there not because he wanted to loot and rape and maim people. He was sent by the Indian government to safeguard the interests of the nation and the Constitution. He is a uniformed gentleman. Those who blow the case of rights violation must be heard definitely. But can an individual’s fault be attributed to the olive green or the khaki fraternity of the soldier? I absolutely agree with Manmohan Singh when he says, “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed”. But this should be done through good governance and a mechanism that can win their trust and not through “Srinagar-CM-living-in-Delhi” type Omars who never find time to place a wreath on the body of a soldier martyred in Kashmir.
In fact, the killers of Kashmir are people like Mir Waiz and Geelani. The angst of Kashmir must be directed against them. The soldier would be too happy to go back to his barracks and celebrate Diwali and Eid with family.
In the secular sultanate of Delhi’s power brokers, a soldier is just another babu, another employee to be denied a justifiable demand of “one rank-one pension” by those politicians who raise their salaries 300% in a jiffy. And in the media he is a punching bag. Just read a poem an Indian soldier wrote (saw it on a blog; Ali, perhaps, was his name).
Why do I still serve you?
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made “men out of boys”
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my “civilian” friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called “college days”
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came, I’d be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition,
that when the time came to give me my due,
You’d just say, “What is so great that you do?”
Long back you promised a well-to-do life;
And when I’m away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you’ll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know…
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?
You still know I’ll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that’s just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at twenty-four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made, seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you’ll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?
I heard you tell the world “India is shining”
I told my men, that’s a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it’s the souls of your own men you betray.
Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you’ll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…
Oh India….
Why do I still serve you? ? ?
And now, a word about the great Hurriyat separatist leader Janab Syed Ali Shah Geelani Saheb…
He is the father of two sons and five daughters! So much for family planning!
He is in the view of releasing Mohammed Afzal Guru convicted for attacking Parliament on 13 December, 2001.
The income-tax department has asked Syed Ali Shah Geelani to file Rs1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns, after rejecting his appeal.
The I-T sleuths, who had swooped down on the residences of Geelani and his family members in 2002 and seized valuable items including a diamond-studded watch gifted by the Pakistan government, had raised a tax demand of over Rs1.5 crore. The department had raided Geelani’s house and other places of his kin on June 9, 2002, and seized Rs10.2 lakh and 10,000 US dollars in cash, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amount of jewellery, and a diamond-encrusted watch inscribed with ‘From Pakistan Government’, besides documents pertaining to purchase of property and vehicles.
Geelani challenged the demand and approached the commissioner of income tax (appeals) for review of his case and also sought a waiver, saying he did not earn anything other than pension from the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and income from agricultural land.
The case dragged on for nearly three years and recently his appeal was dismissed, after which he was asked to deposit Rs1.73 crore as tax liabilities by end of 2010. Geelani still has the option to go to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in India.
Geelani had shown an annual income of Rs17,100 — Rs7,100 as pension from the state assembly as a former MLA and Rs10,000 as agriculture income.
However, according to the assessment made by the income-tax department, Geelani’s monthly expenditure allegedly ranged from Rs1 lakh to Rs1.5 lakh, as he had 15 servants at his house and his wife had confirmed that she used to get Rs25,000 per month for kitchen expenses.
When asked to comment, Geelani said he had not received the notice as yet and would like to first understand the grounds of rejection before reacting.
All this while Geelani forced Kashmiri youth to forego their education and indulge in stone pelting! Interestingly, Geelani himself is a graduate from the Oriental College in Lahore and Arundhati Roy went to prestigious schools like Corpus Christi, Kottayam and the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. What then gives them the moral right to make Kashmiri youth to forego their right to education and make them indulge in anti-national activities?
Here is another fact about Syed Ali Shah Geelani…
He has been diagnosed with renal cancer, and has been recommended by (Indian) doctors to go overseas for treatment. After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened, Indian government agencies returned Geelani’s passport to his son. His passport was seized in 1981 due to accusations of ‘anti-India’ activities, and with the exception of his Hajj pilgrimage in 2006, he has not been allowed to leave India.
During a regular check-up doctors discovered that Geelani’s ‘only kidney has developed malignancy’. An infection forced doctors, four years ago, to remove his left kidney. Although the cancer was in its early stages, it was life threatening, and he needed to have surgery. Following the advice of his doctors at Apollo Hospital (in India of course), Geelani was set to travel to either the UK or the USA for specialized treatment. However, his request for a visa was turned down by the Americans, and as his health deteriorated he went to Mumbai (in India) for surgery. Doctors at the Tata Memorial Hospital (in India) successfully performed surgery on his kidney. The reason given by the US for turning down Geelani’s request for a visa was, that he has “failed to renounce violence”. This decision was declared a violation of his human rights by his supporters and family. (I wonder why the blighter didn’t insist on going to Pakistan for treatment!).
All this means that Geelani will soon become Allah ko pyaraa. Perhaps if he had gone to Pakistan for treatment, the doctors there would have made him kick the bucket much earlier! This is probably the reason why so many Pakistanis come to India for specialized treatment and complicated surgeries.
In the meanwhile, Pakistan continues with cease-fire violations. As on 27 Oct 2010, there have been three cease-fire violations in 24 hours. And the indecisive and dysfunctional UPA government is sitting and sucking its thumb!
A new word has been coined for the separatists, secessionists and the self-styled activists who support them. They are now being called ‘splitists’! Be that as it may, the likes of Geelani and Arundhati Roy and their confederates in terrorism have crossed all limits of freedom of speech and expression and are a real threat to the territory of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. As they are so displeased with the policies of the Indian government with regard to the Kashmir issue, I would urge them to do us all a great favour and exercise the other great freedom provided by the Constitution of India. The freedom to leave the country. Yes, Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, get the hell out of my country.
In the meanwhile, a case of alleged sedition has been filed in a local court in Ranchi against Arundhati Roy for her controversial remarks on Kashmir.
The complaint, lodged by one Ashish Kumar Singh in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) court of Vijay Kumar in Ranchi, was transferred to the court of Judicial Magistrate (first class) of Amit Shekhar.
The BJP has demanded that the UPA government take the strongest possible action against writer activist Arundhati Roy for her ‘seditious’ remarks on Kashmir and asked the Centre to spell out its policy vis-à-vis Kashmir and the separatists. “When there is an elected government in Kashmir as the result of free and fair elections, how can someone say the state is not an integral part of India? It’s nothing but sedition,” senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.
Demanding action against Geelani and Arundhati Roy, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The language used certainly threatens the constitutional integrity of the country and the answer given at that time by the Home Minister was that there was a recording available and he would want to see it and that he would take action, if necessary.”
However, as of October 26, 2010, CNN-IBN reported that the central government does not want to escalate the issue further based on an individual’s comments and is unlikely to take action against Arundhati Roy.
Therefore it is time for organizations like RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Hindu Janajagruthi Samiti, Shree Rama Sene and others to join hands and initiate a nation-wide movement to put pressure on the UPA government to take immediate severe action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani and their ilk. These treacherous anti-national traitors must be arrested immediately, their passports impounded and they must be tried for high treason.
For those of you who have managed to read this entire narrative and reach this point, I have this to say. It will be my endeavour to put up this entire narrative in the
facebook page of Arundhati Roy – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Arundhati-Roy/107634772598971
and on the facebook page of Syed Ali Shah Geelani – http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Syed-Ali-Shah-Geelani/108163025871965.
I will also make every effort to put it up in every blog I can find and urge you to do the same, apart from circulating this to as many people as possible. (Also, if anyone knows the e-mail IDs of Arundhati Roy and Geelani, please forward this to them). I also urge all readers to send e-mails to the following:
jaishriram@vsnl.in, writetous@manase.org, contact@rssonnet.org, info@rssonnet.org, nitingadkari@email.com, webmaster@bjp.org, ramsena@shriramsena.com, pravakta@hindujagruti.org, hinduunity@hinduunity.org, report@hinduunity.org
and urge these organizations to put pressure on the UPA government to immediately initiate action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. For no one must be allowed to get away by misusing the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India and by indulging in sedition and anti-national activities. Inaction on the part of the Indian government will only give an open licence to such traitors to provoke others into anti-national acts, with disastrous consequences. This must be nipped in the bud before it reaches alarming proportions. In fact, it already has reached alarming proportions!
If I do succeed in this, it may very well trigger a war of words with Arundhati Roy who has the power of word play by virtue of her being in the literary field, while I am but a lesser mortal. However, I dare her to such a match, for, though I am not a renowned author of literary works, I do have access to Roget’s Thesaurus and the Chambers Dictionary. I will match her imaginative fiction for fact, word for word!
VANDE MATARAM
YOU WILL READ THIS FULLY ONLY IF YOU’RE A TRUE-BLOODED INDIAN AND A PATRIOT
What’s wrong with Arundhati Roy? Is she really naïve or is she plain dumb stupid with psychosomatic blindness? I mean, she may be a literary genius having won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and having received the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002 for her work as an activist. But she is selectively blind to some historic facts and I would go so far as to say that she is quite illiterate in this regard.
Or is she looking for publicity at the cost of the nation because she is planning to publish another of her works shortly (Gawd help us all!), which she hopes will become a bestseller so that she can make millions? Or is she eyeing the Nobel Prize?
At a convention on ‘Azadi–The Only Way’ in the capital last week, the 49-year-old Arundhati Roy had said, “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this.” For that matter, none of the so-called linguistic states were a part of India. They were erstwhile princely states, provinces, kingdoms and fiefdoms, which together formed Hindustan – and that included present day Pakistan and Bangladesh. I would not be far wrong in saying that it was the British who facilitated their integration and now these states are together in the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India due to cultural and religious commonalities and a host of various other unifying factors. A former Union Minister said that Arundhati Roy “would do better to brush up her knowledge of history and know that the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir had acceded to the Union of India after its erstwhile ruler Maharaja Hari Singh duly signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947.” According to the Chambers Dictionary, accession is the act or event of acceding; a coming… as an addition or a new member; that which is added; an addition by nature or industry to existing property (law); acquisition of such an addition by the owner of the existing property (law). Therefore the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir, including the Kashmir Valley, is an integral part of India beyond doubt.
In view of the above, I would urge Arundhati Roy to carefully go through the narrative below by a Kashmiri Pandit and the Historical Chronology of Jammu & Kashmir State. (This is a serious attempt to educate Arundhati Roy). I would also urge her to visit the following websites, which will further educate her:
http://kaulonline.com/blog/2010/09/kashmir-is-too-small-for-azadi/
This website says that “Kashmir is not J&K”, because it is actually only a small part of it – 6.98% to be exact. Kashmir is the Muslim majority area and other parts of J&K are not. Kashmir is a geographically smaller portion of the larger state of Jammu & Kashmir, which comprises the provinces of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. It is this Muslim majority portion of 7% of the state that cannot see itself fitting in a non-Muslim India. It is this beautiful valley that was called Heaven on Earth and has now been turned into hell by the Islamic separatist violence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_House_of_Jammu_and_Kashmir
Lists the Maharajas of Kashmir. The last ruling Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir was Hari Singh. His son His Highness Dr. Karan Singh is the present titular Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir.
http://islamicdangerstill.blogspot.com/2008/12/muslim-invasion-of-india.html
Talks of how Muslim invaders used devious tactics to plunder and ravage India over several centuries.
http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/landalienrule.html
-The Intervention of Alien rule from 1194 C.E. up to 1947 C.E. By Sudheer Birodkar The Hindu Struggle to Resist Muslim Aggression
The Muslim and Hindu peoples of Kashmir have lived in relative harmony and friendliness since the 13th century when Islam first became the majority religion in Kashmir. The Sufi-Islamic way of life that ordinary Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus), leading to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines.
Periodically however, there have been rulers and leaders who have had a narrow view of Islam, and have subjected Hindu minorities to great cruelties and discrimination. The current armed secessionist movement in Kashmir mostly derives its inspiration from these people.
A canard is now being spread past few years by the secessionist-terrorists and their sympathizers that in 1990 Kashmiri Pandits left Kashmir willingly, having been “tricked” by then Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact is that Kashmiri Pandits were driven from their homeland after a campaign of intimidation and harassment was launched against them by the military-wing of the secessionists. Kashmiri Pandits were forced from their hearths and homes at the point of gun. The objective of this ethnic cleansing was to create a minority free Kashmir valley where the goal of Islamization could be easily forced on the ordinary people.
However, the history of Kashmir proves beyond doubt that Kashmir belongs to Hindustan. Therefore every Hindu must raise his voice against the atrocities by the Muslims on Kashmiri Pandits. And the Government of India must take definitive steps to show Pakistan and its terrorist organizations and the sectarian forces in Kashmir their place.
Historical Chronology of Jammu and Kashmir State
App. 3000 B.C.: Kashmir clan is named in Mahabharata.
2629-2564 B.C.: Rule by King Sandiman.
2082-2041 B.C.: Rule by King Sunder Sen rules Kashmir.
1048-1008 B.C.: King Nara rules Kashmir.
250 B.C.: Shrinagari (today’s Srinagar is located about three miles from Shrinagari) near the ancient capital Pandhrenatha is founded by Ashoka the Great.
7th century: King Lalitaditya builds the famous Sun temple and formed the city of Pharihaspura.
813-850: Pampore was founded by Padma, during the rule of King Ajatapida
855-883: King Avantivarman builds the town of Avantipur and the famous Sun temple.
883-902: King Shankaravarman builds Shankarapura-pattan (now known as Pattan).
1128-1149: Reign of King Jayasim.
mid-12th: Muslim invasion of Kashmir.
1322 Turks, under ferocious Zulkadur Khan, first invade Kashmir.
1394-1416: Central Asian ruler, Sikander invades Kashmir and brings about mass conversion to Islam. After the tyranny of Sikander was over, only eleven Kashmiri Hindu families survive.
1540: Mirz Haidar, a relative of Humayun (of the Moghul invader dynasty) conquers Kashmir. Kashmir gradually absorbed into Moghul Empire.
1810-1820: Maharajah Ranjit Singh, one of the greatest rulers of India, regains Jammu and appointed his Dogra feudatory Gulab Singh to rule the State.
Mar 16, 1846: The present State is created by a treaty between the British East India Company acting on behalf of the British Government and Maharajah Gulab Singh in Amritsar.
1931: One of the worst communal riots led by Sheikh Abdullah and his Muslim Conference.
1939: Muslim Conference becomes the National Conference.
Aug 15, 1947: India gains independence. The ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh yet to make up his mind regarding accession.
Oct 22, 1947: Pakistan violates the Standstill Agreement by preventing essential supplies to the State, then hoards of armed Pakistani tribesman entered Kashmir.
Oct 26, 1947: Hari Singh signs the instrument of accession, it is no different than the one signed by over 500 other rulers. The accession of Kashmir was accepted by the Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten.
Oct 27, 1947: The first Indian forces arrived in Kashmir to defend against Pakistani troops.
Dec 31, 1947: A highly unconstitutional offer of plebiscite was made by Prime Minister Nehru in the U.N.
Jan 1, 1948: India under Nehru declares a unilateral cease-fire and under Article 35 of the U.N. Charter, India files a complaint with the U.N. Security Council. Pakistan still controls 2/5 of the State.
Jan 20, 1948: The U.N. Security Council in its resolution of establishes the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP).
Jul 1948: Mohd. Zafrulla Khan, then the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and principal Delegate of Pakistan in the U.N. admits to the U.N. Commission for India and Pakistan that the Pakistani Army had been in Kashmir.
Aug 13, 1948: UNCIP adopts a resolution on Kashmir accepted by both India and Pakistan. Pakistan is blamed for the invasion of Kashmir and is instructed to withdraw its forces from Kashmir.
Jan 1, 1949: Amidst great tension, one minute before midnight, India and Pakistan concluded a formal cease fire agreement.
Jan 5, 1949: Almost a year after Nehru’s offer of plebiscite, the UNCIP passes a resolution that states that, “The question of accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite”. However, Pakistan has yet to comply with the earlier resolution and withdraw from the State. Also, Pakistan is now busy changing the demographic composition of the State.
1949: Not withstanding the opposition by several authors of the Indian Constitution, including Dr. Ambedkar, its chief architect, Article 370 was inserted in the constitution of India. This article is meant as a temporary measure, to be in effect until the formal constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is drafted.
Jun 1948: Sheikh Abdullah declares, “We the people of Jammu and Kashmir, have thrown our lot with Indian people not in the heat of passion or a moment of despair, but by a deliberate choice. The union of our people has been fused by the community of ideals and common sufferings in the cause of freedom”.
1949: Following the cabinet decision taken by the Abdullah Government, Hari Singh steps down. Hari Singh’s son, Karan Singh is named his successor.
Apr 1950 UN Security Council appoints Sir Owen Dixon as the UN representative in place of UNCIP to find expeditious and enduring solution to the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir.
Oct 1950: General Council of the National Conference demands elections to create a Constituent Assembly.
Sep 1951: Elections for the Constituent Assembly are held The National Conference wins all 45 seats unopposed.
Oct 1951: Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is inaugurated.
Nov 5, 1951: The Constituent Assembly is given four tasks by Sheikh Abdullah which including the accession to India.
Nov-Dec 1951: Karan Singh steps down as the ruler, and is elected by the Constituent Assembly of the Jammu and Kashmir State as Sardar- i-Riyasat (Governor).
1952: Jana Sangh begins campaign called “Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan” (One Constitution, one leader) and demands that the State of Jammu and Kashmir be totally integrated into India and that the people from the other States be able to visit Jammu and Kashmir without a passport.
1952: Jana Sang leader Shyamaprasad Mukherjee dies in a Kashmiri Jail under mysterious circumstances.
Aug 9, 1953: Sheikh Abdullah is arrested. He had turned corrupt and autocrat. He tried to hold India for ransom by giving increasingly anti-India speeches and preserve his power.
Feb 1954: Under the leadership of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED Constituent Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir ratified the State’s accession to India.
May 14, 1954: The President of India promulgates the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order placing on a final footing the applicability of the other provisions of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir.
1956: Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956, the category of Part B State was aboilished and Jammu and Kashmir was included as one of the States of India under Article I. However, Article 370 of the Indian constitution is still retained.
Jan 26, 1957: After the formal inauguration of its constitution, the Constituent Assembly dissolves itself.
1958: All-India services extended to J and K through an amendment in Article 312.
1964: Sheikh Abdullah released from the prison.
1965: Pakistan attacks India, in operation code named, Gibraltar. The defeat of Pakistan results in the Tashkent Agreement between the two countries.
Mar 30, 1965: Article 249 of Indian Constitution extended to Jammu and Kashmir whereby the center could legislate on any matter enumerated in state list (just like in any other State in the Union). Designations like Prime Minister and President of the State are replace by Chief Minister and Governor.
1971: Pakistani attack on India results in the third war between the two countries. Pakistan is completely defeated, over 90,000 of its men surrendered.
1972: India and Pakistan sign the Shimla Pact. Two agree to respect the line of control until the issue is finally resolved.
Feb 24-25, 1975: Following an accord signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah on February 24, 1975, Jammu and Kashmir is made a “Constituent Unit” of India on February 25, 1975. Through this accord Indian Parliament reaffirms its right to legislate on any matter concerning the territory of the State.
1977: National Conference wins the first post-Emergency elctions.
1982: Sheikh Abdullah nominates his son, Farooq Abdullah as his successor setting up a political rivalry between Farooq Abdullah and his brother-in-law G. M. Shah.
1986: In one of the most shameful acts of religious massacre, several ancient historical Hindu temples are destroyed and scores of Hindus were killed in the city of Anantnag. Chief Minister G. M. Shah looses power to his brother-in-law Farooq Abdullah.
1990-1991: In a spate of terrorist violence, 2400 people have died so far, and 300,000 people have been driven out of their homes. Pakistan’s involvement in this carnage of violence is beyond doubt.
Does Arundhati Roy need more proof that Kashmir is an integral part of India?
The twice-married Arundhati Roy is indeed a confused individual – she is so full of controversies and contradictions.
She has raised questions about the investigation into the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the trial of the accused. She has called for the death sentence of Mohammad Afzal Guru to be stayed while a parliamentary enquiry into these questions are conducted and denounced press coverage of the trial.
Arundhati Roy has called the Partition of India as “Britain’s final, parting kick to us”. Why then is she supporting independence for Kashmir? Why has she said “Kashmir should get azadi from bhookhe-nange Hindustan”? Has she not contradicted herself? Is she looking to disintegrate India further as HER ‘parting kick’ to the rest of the patriotic Indians? Is this not sedition? According to the Chambers Dictionary, sedition is public speech or actions intended to promote disorder; vaguely, any offence against the state short of treason.
Arundhati Roy has also stated clearly that she believes “nothing can justify terrorism” and has called terrorism “a heartless ideology.” Why then had she shared the dais with pro-Pakistan hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others at the Delhi seminar? Her description of the Maoists as ‘Gandhians’ has also raised a controversy.
Indian writer Tavleen Singh once called Arundhati Roy’s comments “the latest of her series of hysterical diatribes against India and all things Indian.”
In her statement from Srinagar, Arundhati Roy said, “Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds.” She also said, “Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free”. She justified her anti-India diatribe by saying, “I said what millions of people here say every day. I said what I, as well as other commentators, have written and said for years. Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice.
“I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world; for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland; for Dalit soldiers killed in Kashmir whose graves I visited on garbage heaps in their villages in Cuddalore; for the Indian poor who pay the price of this occupation in material ways and who are now learning to live in the terror of what is becoming a police state.”
She has chosen to echo the tirade of a few million anti-national separatists in Kashmir but has completely ignored the sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandits and of several million patriotic Indians. In this context, I would urge her to read the following article by Shri Tarun Vijay:
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
While one need not fully subscribe to the views expressed in the article, one must fully agree on one issue. In India, we have a totally unacceptable approach of treating the Armed forces, para-military and police as fully expendable, be it Kashmir, North Eastern states or Naxalites. The media and particularly the so-called civil society activists only see human rights violations by the security forces irrespective of the fact they often have to act with great restrain on specific orders and were virtually forced to act by the deliberate acts of agents provocateurs. One hardly sees any condemnation when unarmed govt. employees and policemen are taken hostage and brutally killed. One would go to the extent of saying that since a large number of jawans and policemen are drawn from the poorer and less privileged segments of our society, the establishment (which includes the govt.) is least bothered by the mounting casualties amongst these personnel. Why can’t we have a national political consensus for laying down specific guidelines defining the limits of public protest and expression of dissent in a civilised democratic society? Any transgression of these democratic rights by the security forces should be dealt with deterrent punishment. Conversely, violation of the guidelines should lead to deterrent penal action with political parties and leaders responsible being dealt with severely including disenfranchisement.
&a mp;a mp;n bsp;
An extra ordinary, informative article on our soldiers fighting in Kashmir by Shri Tarun Vijay in Times of India.
Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir?
Tarun Vijay
14 September 2010, 07:44 PM IST Times of India
India must be the only country in the world where being an antinational murderer means a person or organization getting invitations for talks with the government. Mir Waiz and Geelani should have been booked months ago and punished for their anti-India activities. They not only instigated Kashmiri youth to attack our patriotic people and soldiers but also vitiated the entire atmosphere in the valley bringing normal life to a halt and using Kashmiri youth as fodder for their Pakistani plots, resulting in so many killings of young boys. The fact of the matter is that the killers in Kashmir are these two pro-Pakistani elements, who would have been taken to task by any government with a spine much earlier than their fangs grew more poisonous. In such a situation, instead of talking tough and straight, the government is not only giving confused signals to ‘soften’ (whatever that means) the Armed Forces Special Powers Act but making gestures to terrorist supporters to come to talk. Talks, always a welcome way to find a solution, can be held or even an indication for a discussion can be sent only when the atmosphere is ripe for it and the other side, offenders in this case, show a willingness to come to terms. I must say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sounded reasonable at the Armed Forces commanders’ meet on September 13 when he said: “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed….We are willing to talk to every person or group which abjures violence, within the framework of our Constitution.” But is this the time to extend an olive branch?
Have they ever thought what effect these gestures by the government have on the morale of the soldiers?
For whom is the Indian soldier fighting the battle in Kashmir?
It pains me immensely to see how our secular media sirens show their undiluted love for the separatists on TV screens and they go to the streets of Srinagar only to interview the unpatriotic people. When they invite any of the antinational separatists on their shows, they display an utter lack of sensitivity towards those who love their country and give all the space and time to those voices of insanity and violence with a soft, affectionate anchoring you seldom witness when they put on trial any leader showing patriotic leanings. There was hardly a time, except during the Kargil war, when the voices representing the soldiers were given a chance to come to the TV studios or have their say on the editorial pages of the media empires. He is despised, hated and made responsible for all the bad happenings, in a sweeping manner. No one has tried to see the hardened daily routine a soldier is subjected to from 6am to sunset, and after that the night vigil. Anything untoward happens and rogue actors like Salman Khan say meekly to the Pakistan media: Oh, it was the fault of the Indian security personnel. Salman should have been tried for treason. But we have people who lovingly go to his house and try to ‘settle the issue’. These very people and their governors make this day possible when anyone feels free to speak against the soldiers, against the national psyche of patriotism. A soldier is not a daily wage earner like the stone pelters. He is a representative of the nation’s time-honoured traditions. He is nurtured and nourished on a family’s “khandaani izzat” – “Mera beta fauji hai”. Ask any politician acting as an apologist for the separatist murderers, has he ever thought of sending his child to the forces? A family offers mannats at the feet of their wahe guru over devatas to ensure their son gets selected in the “fauj”. He is trained by the best of the warriors at the National Defence Academy or the Indian Military Academy. Some lucky ones get selected early and go through the National Defence School route and see the pictures when they recommissioned – after a thrilling passing out parade in Dehradun. Their caps in the air and their moms and dads hugging them with moist eyes. Years of training and a life of a great Indian patriotic goes waste before the gang of rogue pro-Pakistan elements who have hardly any idea what they are demanding.
Whether he is in the Army or in CRPF, BSF or ITBP, the story is the same. He is there not because he wanted to loot and rape and maim people. He was sent by the Indian government to safeguard the interests of the nation and the Constitution. He is a uniformed gentleman. Those who blow the case of rights violation must be heard definitely. But can an individual’s fault be attributed to the olive green or the khaki fraternity of the soldier? I absolutely agree with Manmohan Singh when he says, “The youth of Kashmir are our citizens and their grievances have to be addressed”. But this should be done through good governance and a mechanism that can win their trust and not through “Srinagar-CM-living-in-Delhi” type Omars who never find time to place a wreath on the body of a soldier martyred in Kashmir.
In fact, the killers of Kashmir are people like Mir Waiz and Geelani. The angst of Kashmir must be directed against them. The soldier would be too happy to go back to his barracks and celebrate Diwali and Eid with family.
In the secular sultanate of Delhi’s power brokers, a soldier is just another babu, another employee to be denied a justifiable demand of “one rank-one pension” by those politicians who raise their salaries 300% in a jiffy. And in the media he is a punching bag. Just read a poem an Indian soldier wrote (saw it on a blog; Ali, perhaps, was his name).
Why do I still serve you?
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made “men out of boys”
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my “civilian” friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called “college days”
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came, I’d be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition,
that when the time came to give me my due,
You’d just say, “What is so great that you do?”
Long back you promised a well-to-do life;
And when I’m away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you’ll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know…
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?
You still know I’ll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that’s just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at twenty-four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made, seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you’ll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?
I heard you tell the world “India is shining”
I told my men, that’s a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it’s the souls of your own men you betray.
Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you’ll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…
Oh India….
Why do I still serve you? ? ?
And now, a word about the great Hurriyat separatist leader Janab Syed Ali Shah Geelani Saheb…
He is the father of two sons and five daughters! So much for family planning!
He is in the view of releasing Mohammed Afzal Guru convicted for attacking Parliament on 13 December, 2001.
The income-tax department has asked Syed Ali Shah Geelani to file Rs1.73 crore in tax dues over a period when he had not filed his returns, after rejecting his appeal.
The I-T sleuths, who had swooped down on the residences of Geelani and his family members in 2002 and seized valuable items including a diamond-studded watch gifted by the Pakistan government, had raised a tax demand of over Rs1.5 crore. The department had raided Geelani’s house and other places of his kin on June 9, 2002, and seized Rs10.2 lakh and 10,000 US dollars in cash, vouchers showing purchase of substantial amount of jewellery, and a diamond-encrusted watch inscribed with ‘From Pakistan Government’, besides documents pertaining to purchase of property and vehicles.
Geelani challenged the demand and approached the commissioner of income tax (appeals) for review of his case and also sought a waiver, saying he did not earn anything other than pension from the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and income from agricultural land.
The case dragged on for nearly three years and recently his appeal was dismissed, after which he was asked to deposit Rs1.73 crore as tax liabilities by end of 2010. Geelani still has the option to go to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in India.
Geelani had shown an annual income of Rs17,100 — Rs7,100 as pension from the state assembly as a former MLA and Rs10,000 as agriculture income.
However, according to the assessment made by the income-tax department, Geelani’s monthly expenditure allegedly ranged from Rs1 lakh to Rs1.5 lakh, as he had 15 servants at his house and his wife had confirmed that she used to get Rs25,000 per month for kitchen expenses.
When asked to comment, Geelani said he had not received the notice as yet and would like to first understand the grounds of rejection before reacting.
All this while Geelani forced Kashmiri youth to forego their education and indulge in stone pelting! Interestingly, Geelani himself is a graduate from the Oriental College in Lahore and Arundhati Roy went to prestigious schools like Corpus Christi, Kottayam and the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. What then gives them the moral right to make Kashmiri youth to forego their right to education and make them indulge in anti-national activities?
Here is another fact about Syed Ali Shah Geelani…
He has been diagnosed with renal cancer, and has been recommended by (Indian) doctors to go overseas for treatment. After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened, Indian government agencies returned Geelani’s passport to his son. His passport was seized in 1981 due to accusations of ‘anti-India’ activities, and with the exception of his Hajj pilgrimage in 2006, he has not been allowed to leave India.
During a regular check-up doctors discovered that Geelani’s ‘only kidney has developed malignancy’. An infection forced doctors, four years ago, to remove his left kidney. Although the cancer was in its early stages, it was life threatening, and he needed to have surgery. Following the advice of his doctors at Apollo Hospital (in India of course), Geelani was set to travel to either the UK or the USA for specialized treatment. However, his request for a visa was turned down by the Americans, and as his health deteriorated he went to Mumbai (in India) for surgery. Doctors at the Tata Memorial Hospital (in India) successfully performed surgery on his kidney. The reason given by the US for turning down Geelani’s request for a visa was, that he has “failed to renounce violence”. This decision was declared a violation of his human rights by his supporters and family. (I wonder why the blighter didn’t insist on going to Pakistan for treatment!).
All this means that Geelani will soon become Allah ko pyaraa. Perhaps if he had gone to Pakistan for treatment, the doctors there would have made him kick the bucket much earlier! This is probably the reason why so many Pakistanis come to India for specialized treatment and complicated surgeries.
In the meanwhile, Pakistan continues with cease-fire violations. As on 27 Oct 2010, there have been three cease-fire violations in 24 hours. And the indecisive and dysfunctional UPA government is sitting and sucking its thumb!
A new word has been coined for the separatists, secessionists and the self-styled activists who support them. They are now being called ‘splitists’! Be that as it may, the likes of Geelani and Arundhati Roy and their confederates in terrorism have crossed all limits of freedom of speech and expression and are a real threat to the territory of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. As they are so displeased with the policies of the Indian government with regard to the Kashmir issue, I would urge them to do us all a great favour and exercise the other great freedom provided by the Constitution of India. The freedom to leave the country. Yes, Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, get the hell out of my country.
In the meanwhile, a case of alleged sedition has been filed in a local court in Ranchi against Arundhati Roy for her controversial remarks on Kashmir.
The complaint, lodged by one Ashish Kumar Singh in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s (CJM) court of Vijay Kumar in Ranchi, was transferred to the court of Judicial Magistrate (first class) of Amit Shekhar.
The BJP has demanded that the UPA government take the strongest possible action against writer activist Arundhati Roy for her ‘seditious’ remarks on Kashmir and asked the Centre to spell out its policy vis-à-vis Kashmir and the separatists. “When there is an elected government in Kashmir as the result of free and fair elections, how can someone say the state is not an integral part of India? It’s nothing but sedition,” senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.
Demanding action against Geelani and Arundhati Roy, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “The language used certainly threatens the constitutional integrity of the country and the answer given at that time by the Home Minister was that there was a recording available and he would want to see it and that he would take action, if necessary.”
However, as of October 26, 2010, CNN-IBN reported that the central government does not want to escalate the issue further based on an individual’s comments and is unlikely to take action against Arundhati Roy.
Therefore it is time for organizations like RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Hindu Janajagruthi Samiti, Shree Rama Sene and others to join hands and initiate a nation-wide movement to put pressure on the UPA government to take immediate severe action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani and their ilk. These treacherous anti-national traitors must be arrested immediately, their passports impounded and they must be tried for high treason.
For those of you who have managed to read this entire narrative and reach this point, I have this to say. It will be my endeavour to put up this entire narrative in the
facebook page of Arundhati Roy – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Arundhati-Roy/107634772598971
and on the facebook page of Syed Ali Shah Geelani – http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Syed-Ali-Shah-Geelani/108163025871965.
I will also make every effort to put it up in every blog I can find and urge you to do the same, apart from circulating this to as many people as possible. (Also, if anyone knows the e-mail IDs of Arundhati Roy and Geelani, please forward this to them). I also urge all readers to send e-mails to the following:
jaishriram@vsnl.in, writetous@manase.org, contact@rssonnet.org, info@rssonnet.org, nitingadkari@email.com, webmaster@bjp.org, ramsena@shriramsena.com, pravakta@hindujagruti.org, hinduunity@hinduunity.org, report@hinduunity.org
and urge these organizations to put pressure on the UPA government to immediately initiate action against Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Shah Geelani. For no one must be allowed to get away by misusing the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India and by indulging in sedition and anti-national activities. Inaction on the part of the Indian government will only give an open licence to such traitors to provoke others into anti-national acts, with disastrous consequences. This must be nipped in the bud before it reaches alarming proportions. In fact, it already has reached alarming proportions!
If I do succeed in this, it may very well trigger a war of words with Arundhati Roy who has the power of word play by virtue of her being in the literary field, while I am but a lesser mortal. However, I dare her to such a match, for, though I am not a renowned author of literary works, I do have access to Roget’s Thesaurus and the Chambers Dictionary. I will match her imaginative fiction for fact, word for word!
VANDE MATARAM
Fantastik open letter which opened up the hollow mind of ppl who follow another “great!!!?” hollow mind…UR follow up is not an ans to them (they dont deserve) but another slap on back of their head to wake up from the trans they are in…lol
Strange. The opinion of the only people who matter in this case, the kashmiris themselves, seems to figure nowhere in our arguments and counter-arguments. We’ve made this issue about us, and how much WE are offended by the words of one woman. As always, the people have been forgotten in thsi debate. Why doesn’t someone ask THEM what they want ? And if they say they do want to be free, would it matter if we kept calling Kashmir an “integral” part of India, if its inhabitants don’t feel so ?
Thanks to PP for this article. Had the chance to read 10 other articles made by A Roy over the years. Here is a woman difficult to comprehend who bluntly accuses indian army, govt for issues e.g. Kashmir, 26/11, Gujarat 02, Naxal ! Never have i come across such vehement slurs against own country without proof/knowledge/investigation. Seems
she has been just programmed for anti-national views. There is a thin line between courage and craziness. Ignore simply
Nicely said. One needs to study the subject in great detail before they give opinion on sensitive topics.
I agree 100 % with Pagal… this lady needs to be taught a lesson…
Stephen Covey has said ” When you are climbing the lader of success, make sure it is leaning against the correct Wall”….
i think Arundhati shud take a note of this statement….the lady has balls of steel… but is totally misguided..
Lets hope she will start taking serious issues and stick with the same till it reaches its logical conclusion… with or without any media attention…
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i have read your rant on arundhati roy and thought it was childish.
i have read the comments on your rant on arundhati roy and was disgusted.
how can someone who uses words that condemn ‘misuse of power’ be attacked in such cheap manner?
i have two points to say to this:
1)
i come from east germany. when the wall fell i was part of a young group of people that you could consider more alternative, “left wing” if you’d wanna label it. 50 of those in an area that had at least 5000 skinheads and holligans of “right wing” notions.
part of our group was sometimes trying to chase skinheads and beat them up. they even spoke about how they should be “cooked alive”, etc etc.
i was shocked about such behaviour, since we were “the good guys”, the ones who were “for the people” and not “against them” as these skinheads were, always going after foreigners..
part of our group also constantly missued demonstrations on for riots, to plunder stores, etc etc.
and what did i have to realize? these guys in our group were no different to any of the skinheads they were fighting against pro-actively.
mate, your swearing and the reactions of your fellow supporters are representing nothing else than what supposedly you try to condemn. nice little psychological revealing trap of ones own hate, ha
2)
coming from east germany, having gone through the reality of living in two different political and social systems i can tell you that it was arundhati roy that opened my eyes for india, your beautiful country, and it is arundhati roy that tries to save your beautiful india from following the steps of other big nations that have failed for reasons she is tackling with her what i so far would have considered wisdom – a wisdom on the balance of things, the wisdom on how to use words for the better, including political rants since no one else is doing it.
has she in the meantime become an attention seeker, are her arguments flawed or ridiculous in times? well, maybe, i dont know enough about indian policies to for example speak on the kashmir issue…
but i can tell you that someone in this world, me, is inspired to do better, to speak peace and to keep awareness for myself alive because of her, your indian fellow countrywoman. because it is people who speak up and speak of peace and love that maybe help creating it. what one does with such words is everyones personal problem, but to condemn someone in childish ways will not inspire the world to change for the better in the truest sense and you havent inspired me.
be happy she is there, because it also needs people like her for awareness to rise and for discussions (on matters as the ones she is speaking about) to stay alive. sometimes it is not about the right answer, but about the right questions that come up, about the right controversy to support a topic being discussed.
if you want to make your country and the world a better place, you and your fellow supporters should use their words at least in considered ways and stick to the topic you are discussing. “hard on the topic, but soft on the people”…at least if you would like to reach anything substantial with your words, ever.
our world is going down in incredible and surprisingly bad ways…and sometimes there is hope through a social worker, sometimes through an NGO, a school class here or a peace initiative there. and sometimes there are words from a writer – a writer that could have stayed being a writer, earning further millions, but a writer who chose to use her language abilities to raise awareness on matters that are connected to millions of “normal” people. well, that also means hope, since her words are dedicated against the misuse of power, and that is all that matters.
her task is not to always say the right thing from a political stand point. her task is not to really help a specific NGO. her task is living up to her own path, which is using her words to raise awareness.
khalil gibran wrote the most balanced book in the world with his “prophet” and yet he was the most unbalanced person you can imagine. do i care, no? since it is his words that stay behind and inspire and wake hope.
yours so far wouldnt. i am open to listen, but please give substance and not words that cause an online mob to speak about the worst of their animalistic and sadistic fantasies.
alex
from east berlin
I suppose its because she’s been ageing pretty fast during the recent years which has resulted in the deterioration of her once pretty looks that is driving her to get back into limelight once again. I firmly believe that Arundathie Roy is a Classic example of a person thriving on conflicts of the world just to get a little attention and cheap publicity. And she seems to go to any extent to get it – including supporting terrorism – because her survival depends on it. Elements like her are nothing but the “cud” of Freedom of Expression that should be “vomited” instead of being swallowed again!
Hey Pagal… plz do add a +1 button now that g+ is here
… there is a dearth of good content there 