Kashmir News Weekly Roundup: 11/7-11/11
Indian Army ransacks civilian homes in Kulgam
According to reports, the Indian military ransacked residences belonging to civilians in Kulgam. Late in the night, military men broke into three homes and damaged civilian property, including appliances and food storage. Residents said the army poured kerosene over their stored food grains, rendering them unfit for consumption.
Relevantly, one of the three houses belongs to the family of a resistance fighter who was killed by the Indian military in June this year. The sibling of the deceased combatant remains presently incarcerated after being arrested on false charges.
Torture victim loses potency
11 months after being brutally tortured inside a military facility in Shopian, Shafeeq Ahmad (name changed) has been rendered impotent. Shafeeq’s genital injuries from torture have prevented him from having children, according to doctors.
“They electrocuted my genitals for three days. I thought it was over after that, but another individual demanded that I urinate on a live-wire,” Shafeeq says.
Shafeeq was detained after a gunfight in his neighboring village. He maintains that he had no information to share with the forces and didn’t know anything about the gunfight.
Israel’s farm drive in Kashmir: India opens the door for ‘Dirty Operations’
Israeli agents now have formal access to the disputed territory of Jammu & Kashmir, thanks to the Indian government. As part of the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project, Israel is getting ready to build two Centers of Excellence (CoE) for agriculture in Indian-occupied Kashmir as part of the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project (IIAP).
Human rights organizations and credible news sources have reported that Israel is actively bolstering India’s military presence in the area, which is used to suppress local resistance to the Indian occupation.
“During my five-year imprisonment, I was interrogated by Israeli officers multiple times. The Israeli teams would often visit to train Indian officers about different interrogation methods and techniques,” said an activist. He added, “now this proclamation is only formalizing the link between the two colonizing powers.”
Yair Eshel, Israel’s agriculture attaché at Mashav, the agency for international development corporation in Israel’s foreign affairs ministry, recently held a series of meetings in Jammu and Kashmir. On Friday, Eshel also visited the agricultural farms near the Indo-Pakistan border in Jammu.
Indian Army to launch Film Festival pushing fabricated narratives
The Indian army, under one of its projects, has conceptualized a theme-based Short Film Festival as part of its propaganda campaign to construct the story of “change following the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A” in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. An initiative of the Indian Army’s Northern Command called “Ye Dil Maange More” (This Heart Desires More), the campaign has various Bollywood celebrities and directors lined up.
Indian directors and film producers have used Indian cinema as a platform to disseminate storylines that glorify the war criminals in the Indian army and demonize the leaders of the Kashmiri resistance movement.
“The festival is based on three themes, Nation Building (Rashtra Nirmaan), Change (Badlav) and Distinguished India (Shreshth Bharat),” the official statement maintained.
Two more Muslim teachers fired
Following its ongoing pattern, more Government employees have been suspended by the administration at a government school in the Kralpora area of the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. Two instructors, Shaukat Ahmad Lone and Naseer Ahmad Lone, were the subject of an allegation, as per the government.
Since August 5th, 2019, the central administration of India has repeatedly issued suspension orders to Muslim staff of government departments in J&K on the grounds of alleged participation in anti-national actions, sympathies for militants, and pro-Pakistan sentiments.
Another unidentified dead body found in Kashmir
On Monday, a corpse was found in the Pampore neighborhood of south Kashmir. According to eyewitnesses, some people noticed the body lying in the Kadlabal neighborhood of Pampore and called the police.
After August 5th, 2019, these murders—in which bodies with gunshot wounds are put into the open—has become the new norm in Kashmir. The Indian government has put the responsibility for the deaths on the armed resistance organizations, while the locals refer to it as a “change in pattern” intended to discredit the resistance movement. The death patterns are eerily similar to that of the 1990s. In addition to the extrajudicial executions committed by the Indian military, renegade groups supported by India would also “kill and dump” in this method.
Six people detained in North Kashmir on suspicion of recruiting militants
On Thursday, Jammu and Kashmir police said they had dismantled an armed resistance finance and recruiting operation in the Kupwara area of north Kashmir. The police arrested six individuals alleging that they were actively involved in organizing funds for militant operations and were assisting in setting up gatherings in various villages where NGO members would try to entice young people into ‘anti-National’ actions.
The detainee’ family disputes the assertion and maintains that they are unfairly singled out for community service. Political commentators accuse the Indian government of targeting community-based NGOs, religious groups, and Bait-ul-maals in Kashmir, on the pretext of “breaking terrorist finance and recruiting methods.” These organizations primarily support orphans, widows, and relatives of fallen resistance fighters.
Nine properties of members of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeL) seized in South Kashmir
The Indian government has continued its campaign of repression against Jamaat-e-Islami (JeL) in Kashmir by seizing nine properties belonging to members of the organization in the Shopian area of South Kashmir. The seized properties include two schools.
India has been targeting members of JeL by filing severe charges against them under the PSA and UAPA after outlawing the organization. Indian agencies, including the NIA, SIA, CBI, and the Indian army, have also conducted raids on the houses of those connected to the organization.
JeL is a religious and political organization that has been at the forefront of the struggle for Kashmir’s independence, self reliance and education, and has significantly influenced the Kashmir resistance movement and literacy.
