‘It Is Never Over, Never Escaped’

The second paragraph of Aarti Tikoo???s piece, recounting her childhood days in Kashmir, would read so much like my own story ( too many to recount here; if only NEWSWEEK gives space to that, too)---except that ???militants??? would replace the ???Indian soldiers???, and ???religious terror??? would replace ???state terror??? in my story. So my sentence would read like:??????the sound of Indian Soldiers screaming for blood descends from the house.??? And the line, ???For those who have lived through religious terror, it is never over, never escaped???, in my piece will read: ???For those who have lived through STATE TERROR, it is never over???. And the last paragraph of Aarti???s piece will need small, but some necessary changes in my story: ???I continue to have nightmares. Now that I am in my home, I thought it is only Kashmir that brought the constant reminder of Indian state terror???s presence in my life. Aarti???s piece changed that.??? For Aarti, who now lives in US, ???It was only a nightmare???, but for me and thousands of Muslim youth of Kashmir, who grew up and still live in Kashmir, there???s only one nightmare that has become an everyday reality for us: Indian occupation. That???s the only truth in Kashmir. And it never seems to end, and it is very cruel.

I live in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Amazing. The writer didn't denigrate or deny the suffering of Kashmir Muslims. she only told her own tale. and yet all these kashmir muslims are incensed at the idea that kashmiri hindu would dare to relate a tale of suffering at the hands of muslims.

Why should anyone give a damn about the suffering of muslims if muslims cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the sufferings of others?

Unbelievable.

Your Pandit centric write-up was a nice one-sided read. Aarti firstly you must be thankful to God for having saved u from all guns, bombs, snakes and centipedes you had been living with.
well coming to ur write up, you have always been a good writer. but also try to be a good jurist of your work. How many Pandits died in Kashmir? Well figures never crossed 300 mark in 20 years. If 295 pandits make a genocide, what about over 70 thousand Kashmiris killed for sure. what about the over 10 thousand custodial disappsearances? Waht about a smiliar number of Kashmir Muslim women raped? and im m sure u being a noted journalist must be knowing that Indian security forces have been the accused in not all but 99.999 percent cases.
i hope that u someday woke from a nightmare which reminds you of the tale of Kashmiri Muslims and you come up with an article on that...
Allah Hafiz
One Hyderi from Kashmir

Aarti, your story has got a familiar theme that has outlived many of our preceding generations and that is pain, suffering and naked terror. i completely emp[athise with you in the experience of your trauma even if it may contain some elements of bruised pride and beloved prejudice. however your story is just a spillover of my long and bloody narrative scripted by the unjust and unbridled power for many centuries now. you are the thread of my cultural tapestry. Even though your story is a speck in the grand narrative of my pain but one thing is for sure. Your healing lies in my cure...that is the bottomline.

yes dear aarti.it is agonizing.but do'nt let the wound dry up in comfortable, serene environs of new country.again & again,freshen up the wound[if not otherwise done by like of mumbai] so that kashmir lives in your mind not as a
nightmare but a lost paradise to be reclaimed.all of us share the same agony,that be our strength.have you forgotten that
only few families were left behind in kashmirsome century back?we goonna be back there! just wait.tathastu!

burt

I have similar feelings as written by you and as childhood experience can never be erased, even to this date I can't forget that. I was going through all the comments and Mr. javed's comment caught my attention. Of course it should as it is downplaying somebody's suffering.
May be whatever Mr.Javed has written is true, I don???t want to debate all his comments but except one point. Pain can't be compared, it can't be measured.
I just want to tell him that he may be angry because of cruelty on people belonging to his religion but he should not forget that it was they who started whole scenario in 1989. May be it was started before that but my eyes witnessed it from 1989. ya, before that also I witnessed black outs in Srinagar when Zia-Ul Haq died. I could never understand why they want black out in Srinagar. I don't know who Mr. Bazz was, even if that guy wanted freedom from India but in 1989 situation was different. It started with terrorizing KP's, brutally killing them in their houses or offices. I don't know how many KP's were supporting you in killing KP's. And if you feel there were many KP's supporting you to kill other KP's then those KP's are just mere surnames not humans.
Mr. Javed please don't count numbers, check the ratio with your community. Even don???t check ratio but see the rationale, you wanted to start some freedom movement then you are mentally prepared for that. Right? And if you are mentally prepared you know consequences. You are saying that it was freedom, my ears were pierced with' yaha kya chalegha Nizame Mustafa'and similar 'naree Bazzi' from mosques. I don???t have proof to provide you but really that time was horrific.
Wasn???t terrorizing Kp???s first milestone of your freedom? Wasn???t all Islamic Naree Bazzi a means to show KP???s that they are left out high and dry?
Also please don???t write Hindu India, it is a fact in front of you, me and world that India is secular. And another thing I felt looks odd from your mail when you write Hindu India, do you despise it?
So, how can you allow Hindus in Kashmir!! Of course that must have boiled blood of people who started terrorizing us.

It is also interesting that Kashmir muslims never complain about any of the civilian killings carried out by the terrorists in Kashmir. Those are always blamed on Indian forces. Indeed, it is probable that the Indian forces have killed civilians then blamed the terrorists, but for Kashmiri muslims and pakistanis it is standard in any event of killings of civilians (of any ethnicity or religion) by terrorists to blame the Indian forces.

They'd have us believe that the terrorists are really good men who only engage soldiers and have never killed an innocent man woman or child. Anyway, it is the "freedom fighters" and their Pakistani backers who declared war on India over kashmir with the start of their violent campaign in 1989. What made them believe that India's response would be anything except what it has been and that the consequences of war for civilians would be anything different from what they have been?

The suffering of the Kashmir muslims at the hands of the Indian forces is undeniable. However, it is sad that Kashmiri muslims are so vicious in their attitudes towards the Kashmiri Hindus. Perhaps its not surprising since sympathy with the Kashmiri Hindus would require the Muslims to admit that their beloved "freedom fighters" did terrorise a religious minority.

It is easier to deny the suffering of the kashmiri hindus and to concoct conspiracies about their exodus than to acknowledge that ethnic cleansing was one of the early goals of the "freedom struggle" of kashmir.

The fact is, kashmiri pandits are very inconconvenient for kashmiri muslims. The latter would like the story to be only about the Kashmiri struggle against India. Having the story expanded to included the Kashmiri hindus and their terrorisation by muslims does not suit the Kashmiris and they react very badly to the Kashmiri Hindu narrative.

If Newsweek is not influenced by the pupils by Leo Strauss and still believes in fairness and some semblance of objectivity in journalism, please hear a few cries from the families of 60000 kashmiri muslims killed by indian army, 7000 families of men who were subjected to enforced custodial disappearance, 70000 youths subjected to third degree torture, hundreds of thousands suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (after torture, searches, arrests, beatings, humiliation by Indian army). Ask some Kashmiri what he suffered at the hands of Indian state in the past 20 years of struggle for right of self-determination (promised by Indian in the United Nations 60 years ago), you might then find her experience as a tango compared with the horror of the stories of Kashmiri muslims at the hands of Hindu India

In the country of "New Journalism" Aarti Tikoo has picked up the art of exaggerating a narrative to the point of realistic fiction thus evoking a comment from somelike like Valarie "Those of us raised in the United States will never understand the terror of those who have lived through something like this." What happened to Kashmiri Hindus was unfortunate and unjustifiable. But, like thousands of her community members, Aarti has been blinded by a one-sided version of the picture (and that was reflected in her "journalism" she did with the "largest newspaper of India"). The members of her community call the killing of 209 Kashmiri Hindus (figures stated by Indian news channel NDTV) as Holocaust (with apologies to Jews who would be, like me, appaled at this dimunition of Shoah). While as according to the traffic department of Kashmir Valley, 500 Kashmiri muslims have been run over by Indian army trucks (traffic department calls them accidents, and most of the dead are children). Such is the scale of Indian occupation. Valarie 1 should read reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres (or better come to Kashmir) to find holes in Aarti's account. After understanding what Indian army has done to Kashmiris, it would be appropriate to call it as diffuse genocide of Kashmiri Muslims fighting for their rights since 1947 and for the promises made by India in United Nations. Aarti makes a passing reference of what has happened to Kashmiri muslims "in addition to the jihadist terror, there were now murders and rapes committed by the Indian security forces, too." As if the exodus of her community engineered by Indian governor Jagmohan was THE story and what army did to Kashmiris was a footnote. And if the struggle of 6 million people is "Jihadist terror", then the first terrorist of that struggle was Prem Nath Bazaz, the Kashmiri Hindu who laid the foudnation for struggle for an independent Kashmir. Aarti don't mislead the world about Kashmir, at least. We have suffered enough

Every morning I wake up and read the newspapers I realize how lucky I am to be born in Bombay to be safe and remain untouched with the mindless violence of religious fanatics wrecking havoc everywhere in the name of their imaginary gods and prophets and illusively stupid concept of heavenly bliss. But recent attacks everywhere in India and Bombay make me shudder now. I can understand your trouble who has to go through such events rather than just watching them on TV.
Pakistan must be banned as a terrorist state. If you let weeds grows in your garden it will take over everything in time and I feel it???s high time that we uproot this weed of religious jihadi???s mercilessly and as quickly as possible. I can???t imagine how ???progressive Muslims??? who claim that their religion is of peace, let fanatics like Taliban, Al-qaeda and hundreds of Jamat ???e- blah blah blah???. hijack it and use it to transgress freedom and lives of other people.

Bholenath V

Dear Aarti,
Thank you for telling the world our story. Alas, the world remains silent, ignorant and oblivious to what we have gone through. One life lost or displaced is far too many. The whole world knows about Kosovo, Dafur and now Mumbai. Almost half a million Kashmiri Hindus who lost their home and roots are suffering. We have lived like refugees world wide, yet nobody knows about our plight. You article shall provide a glimpse of what happened. Thank you once again.
Kuldip Thusu

Those of us raised in the United States will never understand the terror of those who have lived through something like this.

Expressing about the nightmare is the silver line for the community for reversing the the genocidal process. Discussing the experiences of 1990 or earlier keeps the community of displaced alive to search for a honorable and peaceful living of next generations.
Let us live to Indian ethos that World is one Family and remove the obstacles which come inthe way.

Dear Aarti,
Thanks for a great writeup, every Kashmiri Hindu has these nightmares. Almost half a million Kashmiri Hindus who lost their home and roots are suffering. It is a shame for a civilized world. Terror supporting nations like Pakistan should be condemned, under UN umbrella their activities should be monitored if found guilty, invaded by UN.
Raman

India needs to control Kashmir and it needs to toughen it's security against Pakistan which happens to be replete with terrorist organizations. Pakistan and Iran are the two biggest sponsors of terrorism.