India has lost hearts of Kashmiris: Indian journalist Santosh Bhartiya
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ISLAMABAD, Oct 23 (APP): Rebuffing the untrue picture presented by Indian officials on Kashmir situation, a renowned Indian journalist Santosh Bhartiya has shown Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the mirror on his Kashmir policy, summarising that`the land of Kashmir is with us but the people of Kashmir are not with us.'
In a letter addressed to Premier Modi, the journalist
encompassed all of his findings during his travel to the valley,
including the brutal killings, use of excessive force, strong anger
in Kashmiri people, raising of Pakistani flags, the disturbance
among the Indian army and mishandling of the Kashmir issue by the
India, particularly the Modi regime.
While writing to his prime minister, Bhartiya was not much
hopeful of any response from his office or even the addressee might
not receive this above 3,400-word letter, so opted to publish it in
the Rising Kashmir newspaper.
He said he was in a state of restlessness after returning from
the Valley. Kashmiris have painful aggression in them against the
Indian system; be it a man of 80 year old or a six-year-old child
and believed this situation would lead them to the disastrous
"massacre" situation.
He said a dangerous misconception was growing in the minds of
the officials of our military troops and security forces that if
anybody who raises the voice against the prevailing system in
Kashmir he or she should be killed to suppress the separatists
movement', but it is an entirely wrong policy to peruse.
He said what was going on in Kashmir was actually a revolution
of every common man of Kashmir, where a man of 80 to a child of six
raises the slogans of "Freedom and Azadi".
Calling for correcting the past mistakes committed by India
and balming the people of Kashmir, Santosh Bhartiya said regardless
of creed and age, all Kashmiris believe that a blunder has been done
to the Kashmiris and the system of Kashmir.
"A Kashmiri who does not hold a stone in hand, keeps the stone
in his heart. This revolution has taken a shape of mass-movement
same as the movement of 1942 or JP Movement in which the
contribution of public was more than the leaders," he said.
Baqr Eid was not celebrated in Kashmir this time. Neither
anyone wore new clothes. Not a single home celebrated Eid. Isn't
this move of Kashmiris a slap on the faces of the people who talk
aloud and swear upon democracy?
In his letter the journalist quoted Kashmiri people as saying,
" The Valley is bedewed in blood of Kashmiris as more than 10,000
Kashmiris are badly injured by pellet guns; more than 500 have lost
their eyes forever. In such a gloomy atmosphere, "We don't want to
light up our homes with four bulbs, we don't feel like and we don't
want to hurt each other by doing so. We will live by lighting up
with only one bulb."
The journalist recalled witnessing how people lived on one
bulb light and how young boys piled up the stones on the roads and
the same boys remove those heaps of stone in the evening at six.
He told Modi that during night Kashmiri people slept with the
doubt of pathos that anytime the military and security forces would
enter their homes to pick them up, and they would never ever return
to their homes. Such a situation was never witnessed in our history
not even during the times of British Rule.
Entire generation that was born in 1952 had not seen a single
day of democracy but army, paramilitary forces, bullets, guns, dead
bodies, mass graveyards, disappeared people, torture and mass rapes.
Bhartiya told the prime minister that some people had made him
believe that each person in Kashmir was a Pakistani. In fact, they
say that whatever Indians promised was never respected.
On every tree, on every mobile tower, Pakistani flag swirls in
Kashmir. We inquired about it and people responded by saying that,
"India hates Pakistan. So in order to tease you we swirl Pakistani
flags."
In order to hurt Indian government, when India looses a
cricket match with Pakistan Kashmiris celebrate even if India loses
a cricket match against New Zealand, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka
Kashmiris do celebrate. They think that they are able to express
their protest by this way.
"Dearest Modiji, don't you think that we seriously need to
understand their mentality. If people of Kashmir are not with us
then what are we going to do with bare land of Kashmir. There will
be nothing do business with, no tourism, no love; only our
government will be there followed by our army. People of Kashmir
want to be self-decisive. The only thing Kashmiris say is, "Just ask
us once whether we want to live with India or Pakistan; or want an
independent Kashmir, where there is Pakistan ruled Kashmir, and
Gilgit-Baltistan," the letter said.
