Untold Stories Of Kashmir
Some key problems in the Kashmir area are Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, hate against non-muslims and Muslims who don’t comply with the terrorists and the merciless killing of civilians by terrorists. Unfortunately, these incidents are often ignored in the media. As a result, the unwary public is misled because a complete picture is not provided.
There have been multiple episodes of violence culminating in the ethnic cleansing of minorities (Sikhs and Hindus); these stories are often absent or watered down in most of the articles in western media.
A young girl, Usma Jan, along with four other family members, was shot by terrorists in her own home to punish the community of fruit traders from conducting usual business in September of 2019. She and the other victims were transferred to the district hospital despite the lockdown, and doctors saved her life. She was provided emergency air transport to Delhi by the government of India (GOI) for further treatment.
Why did the terrorists shoot a five-year-old Muslim girl?
The terrorists had given threats to the general public not to open shops, conduct routine business, or indulge in fruit trading, the major source of revenue for the locals.
The poor girl's father was a prominent merchant who defied the threats from the terrorists and subsequently suffered a barbaric attack on his entire family in his own house.
In several other instances where terrorists have killed civilians (mostly Muslim brothers and sisters) to threaten and coerce the public to follow their commands.
Six Muslim laborers were killed by the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists while sleeping in the house they were building. Why? They were from other states of India.
A few truck drivers were killed (Muslims and Hindus) in separate incidents for helping the locals with fruit trading, one of the most important sources of revenue for the Kashmiri people.
Our Muslim friends suffered multiple injuries because of Jihadists and terrorists who threw grenades on the market filled with people on two different occasions in 2019.
The video footage of these grenade attacks and newspaper articles on many such terrorist attacks are available on Twitter- humanity against terrorism, @Hterrorism. You can read more stories in Economic times, Opindia and Swarajmag, Times of India, Republic TV, Zee news, etc.
The list is endless. These are just a few examples from the last few months. Why are such instances of barbaric merciless killings done by terrorists usually absent from the western media?
Pakistan and Jihadists radicalize the youth with hatred towards others and India. They train them in Pakistani terrorist camps. As a result, Pakistan is under severe scrutiny for terror financing. Moreover, Pakistan indulges in cross-border artillery firing and shelling to facilitate terrorists crossing the border. This further leads to the loss of innocent lives.
Three civilians, including a young girl, were killed because of cross-border artillery firing by the Pakistani army in April 2020. Many civilians die every year because of cross-border artillery firing. Who has the motive to indulge in artillery firing? Who is sending terrorists to another country?
Five Indian army commandos were killed in April 2020 while fighting terrorists crossing the Indian Pakistani border. A few Indian security personal die every month fighting the well-armed terrorists. The terrorists use sophisticated assault rifles, grenades, and rocket launchers. The Indian army is trying its best to engage the terrorists while minimizing injuries to local civilians.
More than 10,000 Indian soldiers have died in the past few decades to save the world from another Syria or ISIS stronghold.
Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) faced multiple massacres and merciless killings, leading to multiple exoduses in the 1980s and 1990. Approximately half a million Hindus had to flee Kashmir in January 1990 when the local newspapers published threatening ads and the loudspeakers from mosques were threatening, “Convert to Islam, leave or die.” More than 300 were killed in those few weeks, and some of their leaders were tortured and mutilated in ISIS-style to inflict fear and terror in the minds of remaining Sikhs and Hindus. They had to leave their home and live in tents in a different city for many years.
Dalit Hindus (backward classes), women, and the transgender population suffered discrimination in Kashmir due to article 370 of the Indian Constitution. Dalits were denied many affirmative action benefits in Kashmir because of article 370. These benefits are readily available to them in other states of India.
Why has the diversity, pluralism, and minority population of Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians disappeared from Kashmir? Why is the media coverage of massacres and atrocities on non-Muslims consistently absent in most articles on Kashmir? Are they not equal human beings?
Why doesn’t it surface in western media stories that the GOI spends a lot more money per person for subsidies and social upliftment on our Kashmiri brothers and sisters than the remaining Indians? The Indian army is conducting a door-to-door campaign to inform the public about coronavirus precautions. Did you know that the Indian Government conducted elections for a block development council in Kashmir and the electoral participation was 98%? This was a great step for local governance.
How often does the media mention that terrorists have burnt down many schools and placed locks on their doors to threaten the local community?
All citizens, including Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus, live in peace and tolerance in Ladakh and Jammu, which were part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir are two parts of the new union territory. Ladakh is the second new union territory. These two adjacent regions have 30–40% Muslims in their population, and the entire community enjoys terror-free life. Why? Because there is no Pakistani-sponsored terrorism.
The population of Hindus and Sikhs in Kashmir has been reduced from 7–10% in 1947 to almost 0% today.
Agenda-driven distorted narratives and willful omissions of pertinent facts by the media (without giving the complete picture) are providing recruitment materials for Jihadists and would be used by ISIS and other terrorist organizations for spreading more hatred towards Indians.
I want to request you to ponder on the following questions:
Why did minorities (Sikhs and Hindus) disappear from Kashmir?
Are people suffering in Kashmir due to actions perpetrated by terrorism and Jihad or deliberate misdeeds by the Indian Government?
If the Indian Government is so bad, then how come living conditions are so peaceful for all Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Hindus in Kashmir neighboring Ladakh and Jammu?
Who is providing arms, ammunition, training, and money to terrorists?
