A first-hand report by Tanveer
Ahmed, an Independent British/Kashmiri Researcher/Activist working on his own
initiative in the region, un-interrupted since April 2005
Background
Having
spent over 28 years of my life in Britain from the age of 4 as a 3rd generation
immigrant, I decided to venture out to my roots at the age of 33 to
Pakistani-administered Kashmir (Azad Jammu & Kashmir or AJK for short –
described in English as the free part of the State of Jammu & Kashmir) for
what I thought would be a month’s break from my role as chief correspondent/editorial
writer for a weekly newspaper in Britain and an increasing role conducting
features for the BBC. My work had covered the British Prime Minister’s press
conferences as well as stints as an embedded journalist with British troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
My
purpose for visiting the region in April 2005 was solely and simply to re-unite
my naani (maternal grandmother) in
Pakistani-administered Kashmir with her siblings about 60 kilometres away in
Indian-administered Kashmir, cruelly separated since October 1947.
The
Indian High Commission in London had earlier refused to grant a visa to me before
my arrival here stating emphatically that, “When it comes to Kashmir, we don’t
deal in humanity”. Subsequent refusal by the Indian High Commission in
Islamabad to grant me a visa, the Pakistani State’s blunt indifference to my 20
year old quest for family reunion and understanding that the cross-LOC travel
initiated by the two countries between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar earlier that
month - was a long-winded process typically taking years to process – invoked
an unrelenting passion in me to maintain my presence in the region and independently
research the region’s history and how it had come to rely on an inhumane
structure of governance for its existence. Furthermore, my naani here and her
siblings across the LOC were in the latter stages of their life. I didn’t want
to regret not doing enough to re-unite them before they departed from this
world. I persisted and they eventually met after 62 years and 8 months in June
2009. Two of the three separated siblings died the following year.
When I
had arrived in the region, my knowledge of Indo-Pak relations and the
associated ‘Kashmir Issue’ was relatively modest and thus I had no specific
viewpoint to articulate. My professional work in journalism had revolved mainly
around the troubled relationship between the Western and Muslim Worlds, notably
since the horrific events of September the 11th 2001.
The first 2 years here were spent mainly in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad with a particular focus on back-door diplomacy between the two nuclear neighbours, then subsequently from 2007 to date, I’ve been concentrating on helping to create an indigenous road-map (sans external interference and avec democratic means) to solve the seemingly perpetual dilemma otherwise described as the ‘Kashmir Issue’.
The first 2 years here were spent mainly in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad with a particular focus on back-door diplomacy between the two nuclear neighbours, then subsequently from 2007 to date, I’ve been concentrating on helping to create an indigenous road-map (sans external interference and avec democratic means) to solve the seemingly perpetual dilemma otherwise described as the ‘Kashmir Issue’.
Overview
It is
in light of my neutral (I have no affiliation with any party, organisation,
movement, agency or institution) and independent stance (I am not answerable to
anybody but the citizens of the territory of AJK who after 8 years of personal
followed by family support - now for the past 2.5 years or so - fund my
research endeavours) that I’ve finally come close to maturity in my research
viz. I am barely a couple of months away from making public a proposal that
will lay out a road-map for an indigenously created political process, which as
its first hurdle will seek to obtain consensus from all sections of society in
AJK.
This
proposal is contingent on me completing a ‘National Survey’ of AJK begun in
2011 which randomly samples 10,000 citizens with a 10 question public policy pro
forma, proportionately distributed according to the estimated population of
each of the 32 sub-divisions of AJK. My work has evolved slowly but markedly
over the past 10 years and 4 months, where the overall public interest capacity
of our citizens has always been factored in while utilising their collective
wisdom. This as suspected has proven to be anathema for Pakistan’s clandestine
agencies whose existence in AJK depends on their ability to control public
opinion here. There is no coincidence in our children from primary age to
adulthood and beyond being introduced to the politically loaded slogan of
‘Kashmir Banega Pakistan’ (Kashmir will become Pakistan). In other words, that
Kashmir’s identity will be submerged into Pakistani identity once the ‘unfinished
agenda’ of partition is realised.
My
incarceration in Leepa police station last month on the 10th of July
for 6 days, apparently by the local AJK police but certainly under the
instructions of Pakistan’s clandestine agencies, has been the 3rd such attempt
to disrupt my work in public interest since beginning the survey in 2011. A
link to the report written on the first incident where I was kidnapped by
Pakistan’s agencies in district Bhimber can be found below:
The
second incident was in the winter of 2012 in Muzaffarabad, when a couple of
Pakistani agency operatives disrupted my survey in a restaurant and
aggressively attempted to question its legitimacy with respect to Pakistani
state interest. A local citizen of the same agency intervened an hour later by
recognising the survey’s significance in light of our denied basic right to
determine our future since 1947.
As my work has been lengthy and pain-staking since April 2005, even a summary of my research work may be inappropriate here. Suffice to say that I have generated over 2000 GB of public interest data including photos, videos, audio and text to date. A certain percentage of that output is publicly available through links on my blog at sahaafi.net while the latest annual public document that I publish and distribute to the citizens of AJK - at home and abroad - is directly available to read at Kashmir One Secretariat.
Whenever
I introspect on how and why I’ve managed to remain consistent and focused on my
self-initiated task, my thoughts always conclude into a web of local citizen’s
paralysis in navigating out of this imposed occupation of their souls, minds,
conscience and physical space combined with the sheer abundance of beauty in
our natural environment. If the Swiss could exist and fabulously prosper as a
neutral entity locked between powers much mightier than them in the heart of
Europe for over 200 years, that precedent should facilitate a similar procedure
in the heart of Asia. That much aspired for stability in Europe and civilisational
advance should be emulated in Asia through transforming Kashmir from a rigidly
structured conflict zone - prone to infinite intrigue at every layer of society
- to simply a territory where its inhabitants determine a neutral future immune
from regional and global conflict. Civilisational dividends for Kashmir and the
rest of the world would follow. I strongly suspect that any alternative to this
aforementioned scenario spells doom for humanity, whether it resides in Kashmir
or not.
A Diary of
Events
The
immediate background to Pakistan’s agencies third and most recent attempt to
stall my public opinion survey can be found below:
Link: http://www.tanveerandkashmir.blogspot.com/2015/07/chakothi-at-inter-section-of-patriotism.html
Source:
Planning and Development Department AJK
Friday 10th of July
Having
arrived in Leepa the previous evening from Chinari, as planned and customary in
every subdivision that I visit on this survey tour, I proceeded to the local
Government College to interview students and teachers alike. After the survey, the
teachers and I were mutually complimentary in accolades with one gentleman
considering this representative public opinion exercise to be no less than a
nuclear bomb in significance for the rights of the hapless citizens of J &
K.
After
Jum’a (Congregational prayers on a Friday) I took my wife and two children to
the outskirts of Leepa, rich in rice paddy fields set below snow-capped
mountains in Naukaut. Incidentally, this particular tour has been the first
time in a decade that I’ve been able to take my wife and children on a holiday
of sorts whereby I could continue completing my sample target while my family
could enjoy what they had hitherto only seen in photos or videos.
Little
did I sense the trauma that was looming for them……
As my
children and I walked towards Channian, I remembered a place where on my
previous visit to this region in 2012, I imagined bringing my family here to
sample its delights. Gradually I sensed tension in the air. There was now an
army barrier leading to this place, namely Kaiser Kot. I came across a
plain-clothed man who described himself as a Pakistani soldier originally from
Okara in the Punjab. “You can’t go beyond that barrier”, he said in stern Urdu.
In response, I exclaimed how ironic it was that a citizen of this territory is
prevented from movement within it by someone from a neighbouring country. I
talked myself out of going through the barrier for the sake of my children. If
I was alone, I would most certainly have ventured through the barrier on
account of being a stakeholder to ownership of this territory. A claim India,
Pakistan or anyone else cannot make without attaining consent through the free
will of the citizens here.
As I
walked my children on an alternative scenic route to a summit at Naukaut
village, I remembered a piece of advice given to me a day earlier by an old
friend in Chinari. “The (Pakistani) army in Leepa is applying a lot of
restrictions on the movement of civilians these days and I think you should
postpone your trip there for a while”, he advised. I had explained that I was
keen to complete this national survey in the next couple of months and may not
get the opportunity to complete Leepa subdivision’s quota in time. Judging from
my decade-long experience of working on or near the LOC, there were always only
two reasons to restrict civilian movement in these areas: When cross-LOC
militant infiltration was being conducted or when firing between the two
nuclear adversaries got out of hand. The latter was not the case in this
instance.
As
iftaar (evening breaking of fast in Ramadhan) approached, my children and I
descended back to the beginning of Naukaut village where my wife had stayed
behind (to wash our clothes) in a house belonging to a co-citizen whom I had
met on my last trip here in 2012 (He was in Lahore but his family were equally
welcoming). I noticed a couple of armed local policemen waiting for me by my
vehicle. They politely explained that they’d been ordered to escort me and my
family out of Leepa subdivision and back to district headquarters in Hattian.
Upon enquiry I understood the ‘orders’ to have come from higher up, which is
local parlance for Pakistan’s clandestine agencies. I decided to accompany the
two armed members of AJK police in my vehicle to Leepa police station where I
would be able to get a better grasp of the underlying circumstances from the
Station House Officer (SHO), while my family would firmly stay put in Naukaut.
Upon
meeting the SHO Rizwaan Daar of Muzaffarabad stationed in Leepa, I quickly
understood his strategy of evacuating me and my family from what he called
‘unseen but sure danger’. The other side of the story is that I’ve been working
in my motherland for the past decade - precisely to increase civil space and
work for public interest - irrespective of the conditions imposed on us. If I
were to compromise on my personal but basic right to research and ‘escape’ like
a criminal; that would be setting a very bad example for my co-citizens who
have been living in a state of paralysis for the past seven decades.
Returning
to the limitations of the police, who on one hand are compelled to follow orders
given by any Pakistani civil or military institution; to the extent that AJK
Police’s Inspector General (IG) is always a ‘lent officer’ from Pakistan. On
the other hand, when they are given such orders to arrest civil rights
activists, their normal routine of dealing with ‘small-time’ criminals is
disrupted to the extent of frustration. The longer they have to detain, the
deeper their frustration. Thus, the local police are always keen on winding up
matters as swiftly as possible. The problem is, they compromise public interest
for personal economic security but expect all citizens to act likewise.
That I
couldn’t do and thus I was detained, albeit in the retiring room of the second
officer-in-charge of the police station. In my overall experience, the police have
always been courteous to me and understood the ‘genuineness’ (I dare say) of
the cause that I’m working on. That is except for one incident in April 2013
which I’ll not delve into on this occasion.
As the
moon’s radiance descended on the room I was detained in, my thoughts shifted to
my family. These 6 days would prove extremely traumatic for my wife and
children who, having sampled for the first time in their lives - the northern
version of AJK’s breathtaking nature with each waterfall and scenic vista
invoking shrieks of delight from them – the desperate action of Pakistan’s
agencies to halt my work would leave a horrid indelible mark on their otherwise
exhilarating experience.
The
date of my arrest also coincided with the death of Sardar Qayoom earlier in the
day. There was perhaps no AJK politician as loyal as he to the political slogan
of Kashmir becoming Pakistan. More importantly, the octogenarian’s death meant
a few public holidays ensued. This was a factor delaying my release as I was to
learn.
Later
in the evening, the Assistant Commissioner for Leepa (Also originating from
Muzaffarabad) accompanied by an ISI Subedar (rank below Major) came to
interview me. I remonstrated that I couldn’t possibly answer any questions put
to me by Pakistan’s clandestine agencies, due in part to their illegal and
un-accountable status here and the harm that it would cause to public interest
in AJK. In his place, another gentleman was introduced to me as a member of
local civil intelligence in Muzaffarabad.
The
gist of the questioning was why I wasn’t faithful to Pakistan and perhaps more
crucially, queried as to whether I could bring a halt to the survey that I was
conducting throughout AJK. The latter point ‘let the cat out of the bag’ as far
as I’m concerned, by exposing Pakistan’s false and misleading stance on
Kashmir: that it has never made a claim on Kashmir (unlike India), rather that
it morally and diplomatically supported Kashmiri’s right to self-determination.
Furthermore, that it tirelessly advocates UN resolutions on a plebiscite to
determine Kashmir’s future according to the unfettered will of Kashmir’s
inhabitants. Then why the fuss over an independent survey conducted in AJK to
ascertain public opinion?
Saturday 11th of
July
Worse
was to follow as Pakistan’s agencies forcefully entered the house where my
family was staying in Naukaut and insisted on my wife answering personal
questions about her family. They also ensured that her trauma was intensified
by spreading a rumour that I had married 15 times! For my children, their
despair was equally chilling. Their father captive 5 kilometres away in a
police station for collecting public opinion, while they waited in an
unfamiliar house a couple of dozen mountain ranges away from home.
By the afternoon, I decided that if I am not
released by iftaar in the evening, I would maintain my fast until release. I
felt it diabolical to waste time undergoing a few public holidays and then
putting myself through a tortuous bail procedure, which could subsequently be
used as an instrument against me by Pakistan’s agencies. They not only
controlled the police but every institution in AJK, including the judiciary.
About
an hour after iftaar, the police gathered from the untouched food on my table
that I was serious in carrying out my threat. They tried for an hour to
politely but firmly talk me into eating but when this tactic failed; they
called in a few notable citizens of Leepa. Who in turn, engaged in a long discussion
with me and convinced me to break my fast. Their reasoning was that they would
fulfill all the necessary legal conditions to ensure my bail, that no time or
resources of mine would be needed or utilised. Furthermore, that I should relax
and plan for the future with ease and clarity. “The journey to freedom was full
of thorns and that I shouldn’t let this issue sap my energy”, they advised.
I was
informed late in the evening that an FIR (First Information Report) had been
lodged against me and that all my possessions would be confiscated.
FIR dated
11/07/15
Charges:
123A, PC 419/420, 3 Foreign Act
In a
nutshell, I'm being accused of waging war against Pakistan!
Of the
many counter arguments to these allegations I’ll just provide one for the
moment:
In a
telling verdict by Pakistan’s Supreme Court, Justice Hamoodur Rehman opined, “That
Azad Kashmir territory which does not constitute a part of the Republic of
Pakistan as defined in the Constitution of Pakistan is a foreign territory”.
Ref. PLD
1966 SC88
Sunday 12th of July
My
wife and children came to visit me at the police station. She informed me that
she had tried contacting the British government but in light of all
communications being tapped, through the same phone line she was warned by the
Pakistani army manning the local exchange not to call the British High
Commission’s number in Islamabad. Prior to the warning, the call had been cut
each time she tried dialing. My own requests to contact the British government
were always politely turned down.
Hence,
I wrote a hand-written letter which I passed to my wife who in turn faxed it to
the British High Commission. A typed copy can be read below:
Wording of Scanned Letter
written to British Government in confinement at Leepa police station
Statement
to the British Government on 11/07/15
Also visit sahaafi.net
During the past few weeks I have been conducting a
national public opinion survey in the Northern districts of AJK, namely Neelam,
Muzaffarabad and Hattian Bala.
On this tour, I have been accompanied by my wife and two children. On the 7th of July in Chakothi, we and our hosts received our first bout of harassment and intimidation from Pakistan's notoriously un-accountable ISI, who treats the territory of AJK as its own despite this legally not being the case. Since the early 1950s they have assumed responsibility for controlling public opinion in AJK. Therefore, my activity is intolerable from their point of view. Despite seeing our local citizenship credentials which trace our history back 700 years, they repeatedly threatened to kidnap and/or evict us from Chakothi. However, we left on our own terms.
Since beginning the survey in 2011, this was the
3rd attempt by Pakistan's agencies to prevent me from collecting public
opinion. Soon after, on the 10th of July in Leepa, I had collected public opinion
from the local Government Degree College for Boys. Late in the afternoon I was
apprehended by armed police in Naukaut and asked to leave Leepa forthwith! I
decided to come to the police station and find out who is actually behind this
drama (of ordering a citizen to leave his own territory!). It became clear from
the SHO's frustration that Pakistan's ISI put him up for this task. In
principle, I refused to leave and have been confined to a room in the police
station for the past 22 hours without due process.
An ISI Subedar tried to interview me last night
and I flatly refused to answer any questions put to me by an organisation
belonging to a country with no legal basis in AJK. These intimidating tactics
by the ISI are causing great distress to my wife and children, testing my
resolve and most certainly making a mockery of Pakistan's claim to support
Kashmiri's right to self-determination. Their agencies are doing exactly the
opposite.
end (of hand-written Letter)...
It is
important to note that there are no mobile networks in Leepa (Another
deliberate ploy by occupying forces). It is a secluded valley adjacent to the
LOC that can only be reached via Reshian, after which the road ascends to a
summit at Birthwar Pass which is roughly 11,500 ft above sea level, before
descending into Leepa valley at roughly 6,000 ft. In winter this valley is
totally cut off from the rest of AJK as snow accumulates to more than 10 feet.
For over 40 years the local people have consistently been demanding the
construction of a tunnel but alas.
Meanwhile,
in my meeting on this day with the SHO, he insisted that I give him the
completed survey forms from those that I completed at Government College Leepa
on Friday. I calmly explained that the integrity of my research was based on me
maintaining confidentiality of data, otherwise the whole exercise of
interviewing 10,000 citizens throughout AJK could be compromised. Further, that
I haven’t endured this extremely pain-staking exercise over the past few years
to ultimately submit it to Pakistan’s clandestine agencies. After much haggling
on his part and balancing the economic security of a citizen who happens to be
a police officer with his limitations, damage limitation was exercised by
handing him 10 completed survey forms of students from amongst the many that
were surveyed that day.
Monday 13th of July
Another
public holiday but warranted in this instance as this date commemorates the 21
martyrs shot dead outside Srinagar Central Jail in 1931. The agitation that
followed proved to be a watershed in the constitutional development of the
State of J & K as the Glancy Commission set up in its aftermath, ushered in
the State’s Legislative Assembly (Praja Sabha) in 1934. Not perfect by any
means but a start it was.
The
ample time on my hands is distributed between soul-searching, strategy
revision, book reading and extra sleep. In the afternoon, much like on other
days, many local citizens visit me, most bring food and fruit for iftaar, some
ruminate on the idea of freedom, others offer to sacrifice everything they have
if a clear road-map to freedom materialises (which is precisely what I’m trying
to prepare). Another citizen came in the evening to offer 3 lakh rupees (close
to 1900 British pounds) to secure my release. I explain that not a single rupee
is required as I am hardly a criminal seeking to negotiate my release. Rather
I’m a public activist who is merely going through a traditional phase of
detention, my release would transpire sooner or later as the grounds for
detaining me were flimsy to say the least. His alternative offer was to provide
my iftaar the following day. I promptly agreed.
Tuesday 14th of July
Numerous
reports filter in that many of my co-citizens throughout AJK as well as those
residing abroad (particularly in the UK) have given an ultimatum to Pakistan’s
agencies for my release. Much of the AJK administration has received a barrage
of calls enquiring about the reasoning behind my detention. The plainest answer
they received was that I was conducting a survey which was against the state
interests of Pakistan.
While contemplating in captivity, I repeatedly question the notion of how a non-state agency that is neither accountable to the people here nor was it created in consultation with the people here, impose orders on local state institutions like the police. Effectively, infringing the basic rights of citizens here who - constitutionally speaking – are not citizens of Pakistan? In particular, of such a citizen who is working on his own initiative in exercising the right to self-determination of the people of this territory, deprived of this right since 1947.
Two
points have invariably emerged during the survey throughout AJK:
- The system
of governance in AJK has been imposed without consultation and certainly not
created indigenously.
- The citizens
here do not enjoy equal suffrage. You can only engage in political activity,
become part of the judiciary or administration by pledging to be loyal to
Pakistan.
Meanwhile,
though my bail was due today, the case has been transferred from the
subdivision courts in Leepa to the district courts in Hattian Bala.
Wednesday 15th of
July
Caption:
Citizens of Leepa converge en masse to Leepa police station to secure my
release - 15/07/15
Intimation
of my bail order arrived in the afternoon. Now, the police wanted me to leave
Leepa immediately, which brings me back full circle to square one on
fundamental rights. I remonstrate that I can’t leave without my laptop, phone
and working documents. The police painstakingly tried to convince me that I’m
on a ‘weak wicket’. That Pakistan’s agencies were lurking everywhere and hence
they might find some other pretext to order them (the local police) to
re-arrest me. Eid (Festival after Ramadhan) was now only a couple of days away
(Friday) and my wife along with my children were keen to go home. The reason I
was adamant on retrieving my possessions (initially they had wanted to
confiscate my vehicle as well but local citizen intervention pre-empted that
move) is because through experience I understood how difficult a process it was.
While I tried engaging various avenues in the bazaar including phone calls to
my lawyer in Muzaffarabad to retrieve my laptop etc. I was re-arrested!
Nevertheless,
about 20 minutes later, a large crowd of over a 100 local citizens converged on
the police station to demand my immediate release. I wasn’t on a weak wicket
after all!
As I
complete writing this report today (Sunday the 23rd of August) I am
still without my laptop and other possessions confiscated at Leepa). Hence, one
can perhaps understand my thinking that day.
It
wasn’t until close to iftaar (corresponding with sunset) that we (My wife,
children and I) departed from Leepa but not before thanking the large crowd of
local citizens for everything they had done in public support. I promised that
I’ll be back very soon.
Thursday 16th of
July
Torrential
rain had accompanied us on our 10,000 ft ascent and it wasn’t until close to
midnight that we reached the (Pakistani) army check post at Reshian. They in
turn kept us waiting for over an hour while they thoroughly checked our
luggage. They made little sense of the paperwork but unfathomably rummaged
through my wife's clothes repeatedly.
Further
down towards Hattian, I was constantly phoned by the police there to check my
progress (mobile signals work from Reshian downwards). The SHO in Hattian even
wanted me to stop by at the police station. However, with my wife and kids aboard,
while passing through Hattian towards Muzaffarabad at 3am, the last thing I was
going to do was just that. We reached Muzaffarabad at 4am for my first rest out
of detention.
As
this was the last day before Eid, I wanted to confer with a few co-citizens in
Muzaffarabad including my lawyer Mahmood Baig, before I left for another 6 hour
journey towards home in Sehnsa district Kotli. Meanwhile, my wife wanted to
complete her shopping duties for Eid.
In
some of the conversations conducted with co-citizens, the suggestion of
compromising with Pakistani authorities was put to me. Though I thank all
suggestions from co-citizens, this is an option that I’ve stayed well clear of
since April 2005. While I understand the limitations and paralysis of local
citizens, I’ve sacrificed everything in the UK and elsewhere precisely so that
I can arrive at a genuine conclusion with respect to ownership of the hapless
territory we reside in.
Hiatus for Eid ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday 12th of
August
After
a few days in Muzaffarabad and consultation with my lawyer Mahmood Baig, I proceeded
to Hattian District Courts. The latter had referred me to a local advocate Asad
Chugtai who had been involved in my bail application last month. Upon meeting him
he promptly wrote an application to the court and obtained directions in
reference to reclaiming my confiscated possessions at Leepa. Coincidentally, the
SHO of Leepa was there in Hattian too. However, despite the fact that I already
had a document itemising my possessions from Leepa police station signed,
stamped and dated by the admin at Leepa when I was released on bail, the SHO of
Leepa wrote on the application that I should get written confirmation for the
same from Leepa police station. In other words, he was telling me to do
something that was already done.
In any
case, at 3pm I parked my vehicle at Naili check post and proceeded to trek with
my rucksack uphill towards Leepa via Lumnian and Reshian. I had no money on me,
the diesel in my jeep would not get me to Leepa and not for the first time was
I relying on the goodwill of the public to surge my work forward. Earlier, Advocate
Chugtai done whatever legal task he did pro bono. Indeed, after a couple of
kilometres, a local taxi driver plying uphill insisted that I travel free with
him up to Lumnian! From there I resumed walking uphill briskly till I arrived
at Reshian at about 7.30pm. One cannot describe in words the sensation felt on
cupping one’s hands in front of a roadside fountain gushing straight out from
the mountain above, having climbed uphill for a couple of hours or so!
Upon
reaching the Pakistani army check post at Reshian, I was informed that I
couldn’t proceed to Leepa. I reasoned that I was merely following court
procedure to retrieve my possessions which my work heavily depended on.
Ignoring my stance, they began frantically checking my rucksack and on this occasion
paid particular attention to my paperwork. This made be livid! I demanded an
explanation as to what possible interest or concern can a military/agency have
with paperwork that is concerned with ascertaining the opinion of local
citizens about their future. They retorted that this very check post was
severely reprimanded for allowing me to pass through on the 9th of July. That I
had committed a serious 'offence in Leepa last month and that, they couldn't
let me proceed without permission from their Brigade in Muzaffarabad.
While
they were conducting their ‘interview’, I was busy making notes in my daily
diary. When they asked to see it, I decided enough was enough! A heated
exchange of words followed. “We’ve been tolerating you for almost 69 years
because your country initially professed to act in the best interests of
Muslims in the sub-continent, but your cover has been blown so many times that
if you don’t relocate your energies away from Kashmir, you may soon not even
have a country to protect. Your country has escaped international criticism and
condemnation for far too long. What on earth do you think you’re doing
preventing the people of Kashmir from deciding their future, on their own
terms. This cloak and dagger approach must stop!” I demanded.
Subsequently,
they backed down from their wish to see my diary and inexplicably mellowed
their tone drastically.
Thursday 13th of
August
The
conversation overlapped beyond midnight before they began itemising all that
was in my rucksack. An old Sony Ericcson phone was missing. These military
representatives of Pakistan displayed embarrassment at this loss and repeatedly
asked me to re-check my rucksack. There’s obviously a limit to how many times I
can confirm that my phone is missing. To ease the headache growing on me due to
their repeated manifestations of innocence, I insisted that they forget about
it.
At
around 2am they finally hand me over to a local policeman linked to Hattian
police station, who took me to his quarters in Reshian bazaar to retire.
In the
morning, I phoned the emergency consular desk of the British government in
London and explained my situation. They responded by informing me that a
representative at their embassy in Islamabad will contact me in due course. An
hour or so later, a gentleman by the name of Hanuk phoned me from the British
High Commission in Islamabad and took detailed information on my current
status. He explained that he would discuss the matter with senior members of
the political and consular sections of the embassy and get back to me with an
update.
About
four hours later, I received another call from Hanuk at the British High
Commission, who explained that after
much discussion, they decided that they cannot intervene or play any sort of
role in resolving this matter. However, they invited me to the Embassy for
further discussion (upon my release) at which I cited my problem encountered in
August 2011 in Bhimber (Cited above in Overview section on page 2) and duly apologised
for not being able to do so. He then suggested that I write a letter in
reference to my plight and send it to them at the embassy. This was an
interesting juncture whereupon I felt the sense of immunity enjoyed by Pakistan's
military and agencies in Kashmir was indeed perhaps more than they would enjoy
in fighting a war with a foreign force.
By
4.30pm Hattian police had arrived with a vehicle to take custody of me and my
rucksack – a handover in effect – and I was duly driven down back to Hattian.
Upon arrival at the police station a couple of hours later, the public
prosecutor was waiting to interview me upon perusing my paperwork. After he was
done questioning me critically though presumptively about my work, I was taken
to SP Hattian. Hailing from an area not too far from mine in AJK, the
superintendent explained that he totally understood my line of work but matters
had gone way beyond their frontier. His advice was that I should return to the
UK. Anyhow, I was kept in a room at Hattian police station overnight and
informed that I would be taken to DIG (Deputy Inspector General) Muzaffarabad
in the morning.
Friday 14th of
August
Eventually
at 11.30am, I was taken to DIG Raashid
Naeem's office in Muzaffarabad but wasn't actually presented before him. Not
surprisingly, Pakistan’s agencies were lurking there too. Much cross
examination of me by a number of policemen of varying ranks engaged me for the
next few hours, which I quite enjoyed frankly. I went to great lengths to explain
the motivation behind what I’m doing, as after all it is my duty to ensure that
as many citizens of this territory are acquainted with my work as possible. I
also clarified that much difficulty in terms of technology, transport, diet,
living and weather are endured in this pursuit of rights but I didn’t want to
delve in detail until the work was complete, less I alarm anybody or be
considered an opportunist.
Meanwhile,
though the lurking Pakistani agency operatives didn’t attempt to question me
directly, they did remain busy in taking mobile snaps of my personal documents!
By 6pm I was informed that I’m ‘clear’, upon which Hattian police brought me back to Hattian police station where they returned all my possessions that were in the rucksack. Meanwhile, my confiscated possessions at Leepa police station had also arrived at Hattian! However, the latter were not returned to me as a court order was necessary for doing so. The additional SHO Mr. Azaad at this station took the court application - in reference to retrieving the possessions in question - from me and assured that in the next few days, I would be able to recover them too. In any case, as it was too late to go anywhere, the police offered to put me up again for the night.
Saturday 15th of
August
In the
morning, the police drove me to Naili check post where I had parked my vehicle a
couple of days ago and explained that I must leave Hattian and not conduct any
surveys here, as Pakistani agencies were on the prowl. I was re-assured that my
possessions that had arrived from Leepa, would be returned to me through a
court order and that they, the police would do all the necessary paperwork.
Further, that I would be informed by the following Tuesday or Wednesday.
Irrespective
of what the police advised me (due to their limitations as already discussed above),
I continued to conduct surveys on the Jhelum Valley Road back to Muzaffarabad.
En route at the police check post at Dhanni Bakaala, the staff stationed there also nervously re-iterated
that I should rapidly proceed towards any direction away from the jurisdiction
of District Hattian!
When I
reached Muzaffarabad in the evening, the dilemma over my confiscated laptop and
phone dawned on me. How could I write up what's been happening in this past
month or so without my laptop? Despite my long list of citizen acquaintances,
it took me a further 48 hrs to locate a laptop that I could use.
Monday 17th of
August
After
a short break at almost 10,000 feet in Pir Chinasi yesterday, I continued with
my survey work at various government departments, while waiting for my laptop
of course.
Tuesday 18th of
August
I
continued conducting surveys in various departments including the Prime
Minister’s Secretariat.
At
around 4.45pm I encountered my third interference since my arrest in Leepa on
the 10th of July. I received a call while still interviewing a
senior government officer in one of the departments adjacent to the Prime
Minister’s Secretariat. A local policeman enquired of my location and when I
came out to meet him, about half a dozen members of AJK Police including an SHO
asked me to accompany them to SSP Syed Riaz Haider Bukhari's office in the Old
Secretariat Muzaffarabad.
Upon
meeting the SSP and after some small talk, he wanted to confirm whether my wife
was a Hindu. I explained that he was terribly misinformed with faulty
intelligence, though that can’t surely be an offence, I queried.
Shortly
afterwards, he explained that the reason I was asked to see him was to verbally
‘order’ me to discontinue seeking public opinion. He refused to put it in
writing despite my stress on the need to avoid subsequent confusion. As I
pressed him on the issue while in my mind wondering how desperate Pakistan’s
agencies can get in their effort to control public opinion in AJK, he tried to
qualify his ‘order’ by suggesting that I should seek the permission of the
District Magistrate in each district that I want to conduct the survey in. I responded
by stating that I cannot conduct a public opinion survey related to critical
un-answered questions since 1947 in such a controlled manner, especially when
our citizens have been denied that very right. It would compromise my whole
effort and subject me to the whims of Pakistan's agencies, not to mention
compel citizens to answer questions in a manner sanctifying Pakistan’s presence
here.
SSP
Bukhari even confiscated a book on AJK's Planned Budget for 2015-16 from me,
saying that it was not for public consumption!
Action
I only
want to do what is democratically sensible and the craving collective need of
our citizens since a whole series of rapidly occurring events overwhelmed them
in October 1947, turning their world upside down by causing widespread death,
destruction and displacement.
Initially,
I was waiting to reclaim my laptop before I filed this detailed report but I've
been prompted into action by the above mentioned SSP’s ‘Order’ that I stop
conducting this national survey. The simple motive behind which is to establish
for the first time in 69 years, a representative sample of public opinion in
AJK: A necessary pre-condition to presenting an implementable road-map for an
indigenously created political process in my opinion. This could assist in
navigating us out of the constitutional ambiguity that we find ourselves in and
perhaps eventually create a reference model for resolving the Kashmir dispute
as a whole.
As
indicated earlier in this report, the amount of information generated in the
past decade and more is way too much to summarise and I am also conscious of
publicly sharing certain findings, for want of compromising my activity before
completion of the national survey. I work by myself for the very simple reason
that Pakistan's agencies threaten and disrupt the lives of anybody who works
with me.
I can
state with clarity thus far, that our citizens abhor violence and conflict as
it has damaged our society almost irreparably. The institutional problems
related to governance here are vast and too long to list. The citizens here
want to take ownership of their public affairs and be accountable to their own
institutions. They want to live with dignity, livelihood, justice, security and
to fulfill their potential as human beings in a positive environment.
I’m
going to end with some relevant observations of parliamentary debates in the UK, which I analyse to have evolved (or even mutated) gradually towards recognising
the central role that Kashmiris need to be allowed to play in conflict
resolution.
Before
that, I want to provide a final link (or two) to my concept of ‘ownership’ or
OBMs (as opposed to CBMs) as I described them in my article. This concept was
quoted by a noted British academic in a roundtable meeting in the House of
Lords, chaired by Lord Qurban Hussain on May the 11th 2011.
Though
the original article was published in April that year in Srinagar’s English
daily 'Rising Kashmir', my articles are no longer accessible there for some
inexplicable reason. I’m glad somebody, somewhere pasted the article at the
following link:
Observations of
UK Parliamentary Debates
I
begin with an example of the consistent British Government Stance on Kashmir,
which perhaps - not incidentally - is similar to the line taken by the UN and USA.
Hugo
Swire
“The long standing position of the UK is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to act as a mediator”.
Ref. Written Answers — Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Kashmir (13 Jul 2015)
My
observation and experience would suggest that the above stance would almost
certainly ensure that the conflict remains eternal. Some space, somewhere,
somehow has to be created and that initiative is highly unlikely to come from
India or Pakistan. In my opinion, the wishes of the Kashmiri people should not
be dependent on India and Pakistan finding a lasting resolution. 69 years of
hindsight show that stakes of certain quarters in both countries view the status
quo in Kashmir as existential. UN resolution 47 of the 21st of April
1948 was, I would suggest totally in line with the UN’s charter but subsequent
resolutions gradually digressed from giving paramount importance to the
subjects cum citizens of Jammu & Kashmir.
Having
read through and analysed much of what has been said in the British parliament,
I acknowledge some of the reservations about Britain involving itself but on
the other hand taking into account that Britain drew these lines on the map in
1947, the consequent powerlessness of the citizens of J & K to change their
fortunes peacefully (all routes closed as amply described above), I feel
requires Britain to be pro-active in a solution and restore hope in Kashmiris
which after 69 years of experience is close to zero. Becoming part of a global
ideological conflict is the last thing Kashmiris want or need to be embroiled
in. A neutral Kashmir has a historic precedent in the shape of Switzerland,
which shares an abundance of similarities with Kashmir.
Other
points noted shall be presented as bullets for brevity:
- - The
frustration of Kashmiri constituents has been much cited in parliamentary
debates which David Ward, Lib Dem - former Bradford East MP described as, “An
anguish that burns within and never leaves”. Ref. Westminster Hall 11/09/2014
- - British
MPs recognise that human rights violations occur on both sides of the LOC and
crucially that the citizens within do not enjoy basic rights.
- - Debates on
Kashmir in 1999, 2011 and 2014 had the parliamentary galleries packed, perhaps
testament to the level of interest and concern by constituents.
- - Bob
Blackman, Conservative - Harrow East also confirms knowledge of Pakistan’s role
in infiltrating people, arms and resources across the LOC. Ref. Westminster
Hall 11/09/2014
- - That
peaceful elements in civil society should be supported. The Kashmiri people
acknowledge the support of British taxpayers in funding rehabilitation of
earthquake affectees, other humanitarian efforts in education, health and
infrastructure just as much as the British government acknowledges the
socio-economic contribution of the Kashmiri community to British society.
- - Jason
McCartney, Conservative – Colne Valley as much as recognised the distinction
between AJK and Pakistan while describing his visit to the region thus,”We
crossed the border into AJK” (from Pakistan). Ref. House of Commons 15/09/2011
Before
I end this report with a few relevant quotes (of British MPs) that strike a
chord in relation to my work, I want to borrow a few words of President Obama
from an interview he gave to the BBC, broadcasted on the 25th of
July: Although talking in the context of Africa, his words are just as
indicative of the aspirations of Kashmiri citizens, thus representing universal
ideals viz. That people seek opportunity rather than charity, want control over
their own destiny and require an opening up of civil space.
Gerald
Kaufman (Labour)
“…We should
take the side of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who have the right to decide
their own future”.
Ref.
Parliamentary Debate – ‘Britain in the World’ - 1st June 2015
Simon
Danczuk Labour, Rochdale
“I was reminded that the rights and freedoms
that we now enjoy here were not given to us by chance. They were fought for and
won by people who campaigned for what is right and did not give up—people like
Parveena”. (He was referring to Parveena Ahangar –a female civil rights
activist in Srinagar who deserves a far more comprehensive introduction than
this)
Ref. Back
Bench Business — Kashmir – in Westminster Hall on 11th September 2014
Steven
Baker Conservative, Wycombe
“…..Ghosts of empire have left us with an
inescapable paradox”.
“I
accept that the situation in Kashmir can only, and must, be resolved by
Kashmiris, India and Pakistan, but we must acknowledge in this place the
absolute moral, legal and political equality of the Kashmiri people and take
whatever steps are appropriate to secure demilitarisation, democratic
self-determination and a prosperous and secure future for Kashmir”.
Shabana
Mahmood Labour, Birmingham Ladywood (Shadow Minister - Home Affairs)
“A
resolution is needed, desperately and urgently. The world, and especially the
people of Kashmir, cannot afford for India and Pakistan to be engaged in
perpetual dispute over the region. The human cost is too great”.
“….too
often the rest of the world sees only India and Pakistan as the main
contestants in the dispute. It is my contention, however, that the Kashmiri
people themselves are the central party and should be treated as such, as it is
their future that is at the heart of the dispute”.
Ref. Back
Bench Business - Human Rights on the Indian Subcontinent – in the House of
Commons on 15th September 2011
End…..
Written
by Tanveer Ahmed
Contact:
0092 (0) 345 50 44252
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