India plotting to change demography of J&K

In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik, has said that India is trying to change the demography of Jammu and Kashmir by issuing domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindu refugees.

Muhammad Yasin Malik in a media interview in Srinagar said that he would not hesitate to spill his blood to sabotage the PDP-BJP regime’s move. He said that in Jammu and Kashmir, the State Subject Law has been in vogue since Maharaja Hari Singh’s time. It is because Jammu and Kashmir is rich in water resources and has a vast forestland that the State Subject Law was enacted to ensure no outsider buys property here to settle down, he said.

Yasin Malik said that unfortunately the ruling PDP-BJP regime was hell-bent upon changing demography of Jammu and Kashmir by allowing non-state residents like refugees to settle in the territory. He said that ever since the inception PDP-BJP administration in occupied Kashmir, one or the other issue was being raked up to create confusion and push the Muslims to the wall. “First the government triggered controversy by raking up issues like separate colonies for Kashmiri Pandits, then exclusive colonies for retired Indian soldiers and now (is) again issuing domicile certificates to refugees,” he pointed out.

The JKLF Chairman said that he would not hesitate to spill his blood to protect the State Subject Law. “We will not allow any move aimed at changing the demography of Jammu and Kashmir. We will oppose all such moves tooth and nail,” he said, adding, “Kashmiri people can never be mute spectators on such moves. There will always be a tough resistance to defeat such designs.” He said that such conspiracies were hatched to harm the disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir and its Muslim majority character too.

Yasin Malik also denounced the recent remarks of BJP Chief in occupied Kashmir, Sat Sharma, wherein he had stated that issuing domicile certificates was a first step towards “settlement of West Pakistan refugees and that they will be given citizenship rights and later the voting rights too”. “This is purely RSS plan and now with the help of BJP and PDP, they are trying to implement their plans in Jammu and Kashmir. But this time, people will defeat all such moves,” he added.

The JKLF Chairman termed the recent verdict of court wherein sovereignty of Jammu and Kashmir was challenged as a well planned conspiracy against the Kashmiri people.

Pakistan awaits Uzbekistan to join CPEC:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that Pakistan awaits to see Uzbekistan joining China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and taking benefits from Gawadar port. He was talking to Ulugbek Rozikulov, deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan who called on him at the PM House in Islamabad. Welcoming the visiting delegation to Pakistan, the prime minister expressed the confidence that the visit will contribute towards enhancing the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The PM conveyed his heartiest felicitations to Shavkat Mirziyoyev on his election as the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said, “Pakistan cherishes its close, friendly and fraternal relations with Uzbekistan as both the countries are bound by strong commonalities of history, faith and culture.” “We wish to take our bilateral relations to new heights based on mutually beneficial cooperation. Pakistan is keen to further expand ties in all fields, particularly economic and energy cooperation, connectivity and human resource development,” said the PM. He emphasized that, “Both the countries need to make efforts to enhance cooperation in the economic and commercial fields and fully exploit the huge potential for mutual trade.' The PM said, “Uzbekistan's impressive annual economic growth and rich energy resources, and Pakistan's large industrial and agricultural base provide an ideal environment for expansion of trade and commercial cooperation between the two countries.” He proposed that, “Both countries work together for making appropriate reforms in trade policies to facilitate trade, investment and free flow of goods and services between Pakistan and Uzbekistan.” “Both countries need to formulate a joint integrated strategy to exploit the potential of trade in the region, especially in view of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. We need to establish Pakistan-Uzbekistan Joint Business Council and revive the Joint Commission,” he said. He welcomed the concrete proposals from Uzbekistan for collaboration in the field of agricultural machinery, which are presently under consideration at the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of National Food Security. “On behalf of the people, Government and on my own behalf, I express our sincere condolence on the sad demise of late president Islam Karimov,” he said. “The visionary leadership of President Islam Karimov had been a source of continuity, stability and strength for Uzbekistan,” concluded the prime minister.

Ulugbek Rozikulov thanked the PM for the warm welcome extended to the visiting delegation in Pakistan. He said, “All necessary steps would be taken to explore and exploit the huge business and trade opportunities between the two countries.” The deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan extended an invitation to PM Nawaz on behalf of Uzbek president to visit Uzbekistan, which he accepted.

Kashmir in crimson

There are times, when in conflicts, established hierarchy betrays, reverses or inverts itself and the place or the binary distinction breaks down, in moments of rupture of blunt torture and oppression. When the seemingly dependent entity (pro-India political parties in Kashmir) turn out to be the foundations for the dominant entity (India), the subservient installation becomes the ground on which the dominant entity stands. With the passage of time, India’s political and bureaucratic class has, at will, exploited this dependent entity to distort the history of Kashmir, expanding territorial occupation, cultural aggression and deceiving the international community by terming ‘Kashmir’ as its integral part on the confounding basis of the “instrument of accession” and so-called elections held at the barrel of a gun. When the international community offers a helping hand to resolve the conflict, India shrewdly manages the Kashmir conflict by referring to Kashmir as a bilateral dispute between India and Pakistan. When Pakistanis approaches them, they say it’s as an internal matter of India, and incriminate Pakistan over sponsoring terrorism and fueling tensions in the valley. When the people of Kashmir rise against illegal occupation they are managed through bullets, pellets and a jingoistic Indian media. The Indian media constructs narratives and manufactures consent. Since nationalism debates have taken new heights under the BJP lead India, with a footing in neo-liberal economic policies and growing ambitions for membership in the Nuclear Supplier’s Group, the Indian media follows a strict, systemic and conniving pattern of total blackout on the current unrest in Kashmir while the government’s official maxim remains an ‘iron hand in a velvet glove’. When the Uri attack happened, suddenly OB vans with entire crews appeared on the spot and did live reporting. Nothing wrong in reporting that but then one would like to ask them where were they before and after Uri attack, when live ammunition was fired at young and old, boys and girls alike? Where was the Indian media when Insha was blinded, ATM guard Riyaz was killed, and Freedom Chacha was arrested? Where was the media when 115 innocents were murdered, 15,000 injured, 1100 blinded, 25,000 arrested? Amidst curfews, encounters and stone pelting, the task becomes even more difficult for local Kashmiri journalists to the extent that Indian forces hurl the choicest abuses to female journalists and intimidate them while male journalists are put behind the bars. The ugly face of the press-gag came in the form of banning a well-respected daily, the Kashmir Reader. This newspaper was challenging every distorted fact and narrative presented by government pressers, hypocrites and opportunists. The paper was clearly following the foundational adage of journalism “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”. Since it never bowed down to the whims of the establishment, the price was in the offing and on October 3, 2016 an official ban came from the government on the premise that “KR tends to incite acts of violence and disrupt public peace and tranquility”. This ban has been termed by journalists as a “return to the dark ages, martial law, death of freedom of press”. The Kashmir conflict is murky and baleful. Once considered an area of heavenly serenity it has now turned into a war-zone. In this sanguinary conflict, metaphors of pain and resistance have manifested in such meaningful and lively forms that it’s driving India and its Kashmiri coterie mad. Kashmir has been the worst victim of state terrorism, violence and always been at the receiving end from India ever since Indian soldiers landed in the valley, be it in the form of massacres at places like Gawkadal, Khanyar, Tengpora, Zakura, kishtwar, Bijbehara, Doda, Wandhama, Hawal, Sopore, Aloosa, Kupwara, etc., or extra-judicial killings. Since it’s quotidian of Indian soldiers carrying out such acts in a conflict zone, it includes all those methods deemed by international conventions as war crimes, but such draconian laws have been put in place that provides immunity to these soldiers and justice is raped in broad day-light. This keeps continuing under the garb of the farcical Counter Insurgency (COIN). There is a second less noticed facet attached to state terrorism which, although latent. It is the manifold increase in purchasing and manufacturing of arms and ammunition by India. Since these technologically advanced weapons rapidly become obsolete, the Indian defense system can’t hold back for long and needs to be put into service. This lethal ammunition is unleashed on Maoists, Naxalites or Kashmiris (readers can properly identify the disturbed areas by an insightful text “Blood on my Hands: Confessions of Staged Encounters” by Kishalay Bhattacharjee can add to the understanding). However, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) (the brainchild of Indian security corridors created to annihilate Hurriyat Conference (HC)) was initially posited as “soft separatist” and took every issue which HC has been propagating and disseminating for years. It managed to create political goodwill and forged an alliance with the RSS backed BJP to form the government in the state. As events unfolded, PDP did what every dependent entity has been doing in Kashmir i.e. obey the masters in New Delhi. The dependent entities have started their politics on the killings and are hellbent to take political mileage out of it, to assure their credibility for next elections and to prepare ground for next phase in the Kashmir genocide.

Although “elections” in Kashmir continue to be held and client regimes kept on changing but what never changed was the longing for freedom (Azaadi) and the iron will of Kashmiris to die for it. Armed rebellion never crossed the Styx in Kashmir, despite the fact that India kept on dispatching its new armed contingencies to valley, approximately figuring 7 lakhs. Trunk headed Indian security cohorts have again unleashed the reign of terror on Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir (JIK) activists. Many have been detained under draconian laws or held incommunicado, hence becoming primary and worst victims of state repression and essentially facing an existential threat. The trajectory of state repression is similar to that of the 1990s when the popular armed uprising was almost cut to size brutishly and ruthlessly by Indian armed and paramilitary forces, which involved the sadistic and austere murder of singular, resolute, prodigious and unarmed 1800 JIK activists. As the Indian legal luminary, AG Noorani says “it’s not a revolt but a revolution”. The present generation has shouldered the responsibility of carrying the charge of light brigade in a new direction. These young boys and girls were raised and nourished under the shade of crackdowns, curfews, mass rapes, disappearances, custodial killings, judicial murders, intimidation, humiliation, subjugation, oppression and worst of all, under “occupation”. With the advent of social media, online newsletters, tabloids and other platforms, the simmering outrage of Kashmiri’s is visible on these platforms and has helped them to destroy the façade. With security establishments continuously stifling dissent through crackdowns on student activists, ex-rebels, abusing folklore and intimidating them, to make them succumb to their authority and occupational rule, there is a blatant shift in the sentiments i.e. from Anti-India to hate-India. The psi-ops and warfare methods used by India has pushed young Kashmiri’s to the wall and new indigenous brigade of well learned armed rebels sprouted, and allied with the residue of the 90’s. A dawn of new guerrillas filled the crimsoned canvas. These valorous rebels are loved, respected, cherished, sheltered and prayed for by the natives. Burhan Wani embarked on a noble and sublime mission with new sense of intent and purpose, striking a chord of harmony, honour and self-esteem and inspiring many in the valley through his videos. Navigating through the valley of hearts and minds, he welcomed Kashmiri pundits to the valley, assured the safety of Hindu pilgrims to Amaranth cave. He got what he aspired for- his martyrdom became the catalyst which broke the shackles of fear and replaced it with bravery.

Jinnah and Ruttie: When love is not enough

Jinnah and Ruttie's story is a classic example to demonstrate that love is often not enough to keep two people together; for there can be no doubt that neither of them stopped loving each other Going by official records December 25 is the 140th birthday of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, also known as the Quaid-a-Azam (The Great Leader). While we can call Jinnah controversial, there is no denying his immense popularity and the impact he had on the history of Indian sub-continent, if not the world. While a lot is known about his abilities as a lawyer and his politics, very little is known about his personal life. And as regards his romantic side our knowledge is almost negligible. The popular belief is that Jinnah was a cold and aloof man incapable of romance and love. However, is that really the truth? Let us try to find out. We know that he was first married as arranged by his family when he was 15 or 16 to Emibai, who was 14. From his school records it is seen that he took a month of leave for this marriage which took place sometimes in February 1892. Jinnah spent almost one year in India after that studying at school and getting involved with his father's business, before he went to England in January 1893 where he stayed till August 1896. What were his relations with Emibai before he went abroad? Did they correspond while he was away? Was there any love or even affection between them? We do not know. Also it is not clear if he ever saw Emibai again; for according to some accounts she died while he was still away. But some authors claim that when Jinnah returned he settled in Bombay and his father, sister and wife were also living in Bombay. And it was here that Emibai contracted cholera and died. What impact this had on Jinnah is not known, except that when his father suggested he should get married again Jinnah, who was barely 20 years old, refused and declared that he will never again get married.

After a few years of struggle by the turn of the century Jinnah established himself as a successful lawyer in Bombay. The dashing, immaculately dressed and sophisticated 25-year-old was now without doubt the most eligible bachelor in Bombay; and yet there are no accounts of any romances or scandals associated with his name. Is this because he played very safe and did not let anyone find out when he chased women – or allowed women who no doubt chased him to catch him – or because he just did not play the field? We do not know but the later looks more likely. A few years later Jinnah started to take an active part in Indian politics. He was a leading member of the Home Rule League, which demanded autonomy for India and in this way he was far ahead of Gandhi or Nehru in advocating India's freedom. During this time Jinnah became friends with Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, another member of home rule league and a well renowned poetess. A couple of years younger than Jinnah, Mrs Naidu who was called the ‘Nightingale of Bombay’ became a great admirer and named him, the leading ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. And here we find a possible romantic association between Mrs Naidu and Jinnah. Mrs Naidu was not that candid about her feelings. During the Congress session of 1915 which both she and Jinnah were attending, she read a poem in public dedicated to Jinnah:

'In the non-tide hours, O love, secure and strong

I need thee not...

But in the desolate hours of midnight when

An ecstasy of starry silence sleeps

On the still mountains and the soundless deeps,

And my soul hungers for thy voice...'

Just what exactly was Mrs Naido looking for is not clear; for she was married and had several children. One thing is clear that it was one-sided and Jinnah remained cold and aloof to any romantic overtures from Mrs Naido, or form any other suitors, till the day he met his nemesis, a very young Parsi girl. Rutten Bai Petit was the only daughter of one of the richest men in Bombay. As a personal friend of her parents Jinnah was a frequent visitor to their Palatial House. Ruttie, as she was known, was a precocious child who did not play with dolls and did not have much to do with friends her own age. Instead she read books and preferred company of her parents' guests with whom she would talk on all subjects under the sun, including Indian politics about which she had her own well formed opinion. Besides her intelligence, knowledge and immaculate manners, she was incredibly beautiful. Anyone who ever met her was captivated by her beauty, and as she entered into adulthood she was named the ‘Flower of Bombay’. In 1916 Jinnah spent two months of the summer vacations at the Petit Summer Residence in Darjeeling. It was here that the romance between Ruttie and Jinnah blossomed.

Just what Ruttie saw in Jinnah – or Jay as she called him – is not hard to guess. With her extensive interest in romantic poetry and prose it is not difficult to see how Jinnah appeared to her as a character right out of those stories. But it was more than that. For Ruttie, who was used to getting her own way and could have had any other man on his knees by just fluttering her eyelids, Jinnah posed a challenge. And finally with her love of adventure, and fondness to shock others, this romance presented her with an opportunity to create some real waves.

Why Jinnah fell for Ruttie is a bit more difficult to understand. Was it the intoxicating concoction of beauty, youth, intelligence and charm that made him succumb? Or was it that getting into his forties he decided it was time to settle down as they say? Maybe it was all of this; but why someone less than half your age – almost a child? I don't know why. Perhaps his emotional development was stunted at the age of 16/20 when he lost his first wife or maybe it was simply a case of – as one of my friends who was contemplating marriage to a much younger beautiful woman once said to me – ''I know it may not be the right decision. But the problem is when given this chance how can I say no?'' While we will never know why we know for sure that Jinnah fell and he fell hard for Ruttie.

On return from the vacations Jinnah asked Ruttie's father Sir Dinshaw permission to marry Ruttie who point blank refused. Ruttie would have nothing of this and continued her liaisons with Jinnah and Sir Dinshaw got a court order which forbade Jinnah to have any contact with Ruttie who was still legally a minor. Ruttie had no respect for this and wanted to continue meeting Jinnah who, however, refused to break the law and for a period of 18 months he severed all contacts with her.

On February 20, 1918 Ruttie turned 18 and the court order became invalid. Right away Ruttie and Jinnah started to meet again and plan their future. On April 18 Ruttie left her parents house with nothing and went with Jinnah to Jamia Masjid where, in front of Maulana MH Najafi, she converted to Islam. The very next day she was married to Jinnah by Maulana MH Najavi, who wrote the nikah-nama in Persian. Her haq-maher was set at Rs1,001, but Jinnah presented her with what was then a princely sum of Rs. 125,000 as a wedding gift.

Ruttie's conversion to Islam is controversial. Some Muslim ulema who were against Jinnah later denied she ever converted, while liberal anti-Jinnah intellectuals give this as an example of Jinnah's Islamic tendencies. Both are wrong. Her conversion to Islam is well recorded and witnessed by Maulana Najafi; and as for the reasons these were practical rather than religious. The only way Jinnah and Ruttie could have wed was in the civil court, and here according to the law of that time both parties entering a civil marriage needed to declare under oath that they do not have any religion. Now we know that Jinnah never claimed he was anything other than a Muslim, even if he did not follow Islamic rituals, but at this stage he may well have gone ahead and given the required declaration in court. The problem was that he was a member of the Imperial Legislative Council on a seat reserved for a Muslim and declaring himself to have no religion would have cost him a set back to his political career. It is very likely that Ruttie, who was very much interested in Jinnah's political future, would have offered to pay the sacrifice and convert so that the marriage can take place under Islamic laws.

By all accounts, Ruttie and Jinnah's married life at that time was a fairy tale. Everyone who knew the couple has commented how much they loved each other. Jinnah gave up the membership of his club where he spent evening playing chess and billiards and would come straight home spending the whole evening in the garden talking to his wife. Otherwise not wasteful with money, Jinnah happily paid the vast sums Ruttie spent on decorating their residence or buying the expensive clothes she was fond of. There can be no doubt the Ruttie was the only woman for whom Jinnah ever felt romantic love. As Mrs. Naido commented on Ruttie's decision to leave her parents and community, ''Jinnah is worth it all – he loves her: the only really human and genuine emotion of his reserved and self-cantered nature.''

Ruttie was with him wherever he went, and was fully involved with his politics. In fact it looks as the fire of fierce nationalism she had in her turned Jinnah into a little bit of a revolutionary. This was demonstrated when in June 1918 under his leadership the citizens of Bombay blocked a farewell party in honour of the racist governor of Bombay Lord Willingdon. Here for the first time Jinnah put himself in physical danger and was assaulted by the police who were trying to clear the protestors. Ruttie was drenched when the police turned a water hose at full power on her, but the tiny slip of a girl did not move from her position.

Jinnah and Ruttie's love became cemented by the birth of their daughter Dina at midnight on the night between 14 and 15 August, curiously the same time as the birth of Pakistan 28 years later.

Alas like all fairytales this one did not last.

It looks as the earliest problems in the marriage came about in early part of 1921; however they had nothing to do with Jinnah and Ruttie's relationship. In January 1921, All India Congress and Muslim League held the annual joint session in Nagpur. It was largely through Jinnah's efforts that the two parties had been holding joint sessions for a few years. In this session, very cleverly, Mohandas Gandhi managed to isolate Jinnah.

Since his arrival from South Africa, Gandhi had introduced communalism into Indian politics. At that time he had allied himself to the Muslims of the Caliphate movement in support of the fossilised Ottoman Empire. These Muslims wanted to launch a global jihad against the western powers, much on the same lines as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have done in recent times.

Jinnah was opposed to such movements and wanted Indian Muslims to concentrate on their own betterment. He was also against the dharna politics that Gandhi was proposing based on strikes and boycotts. For Jinnah, such tactics which affected the lives and livelihood of ordinary citizens were wrong and counterproductive. And at Nagpur, egged on by Gandhi and the Johar brothers, both the Hindu and Muslim audience heckled and hooted Jinnah.

Ruttie, who was there, saw the humiliation of her husband and for the next few years Jinnah became isolated in Indian politics, shunned by both Hindus and Muslims. It is very likely that Jinnah became angry, disappointed and bitter and it is possible, as happens to us all, some of this spilled out as anger at home, resulting in arguments with Ruttie.

It looks as though the dream was ending for Ruttie as well. She was fond of socializing, and Jinnah was not. As time went on, the age and temperamental differences between them became more and more apparent, Ruttie became unhappier and more unsettled. She became an insomniac and an anxious person.

However, the marriage was still intact. It was now much more of a normal marriage we see around us. Ruttie still accompanied Jinnah everywhere in his social and political activities inside India or abroad.

In December 1927, she accompanied him to the Calcutta session of Muslim League; but when they returned in January she moved into the Taj Hotel!

Just what caused this split no one knows. A friend who tried to reconcile them was told by Jinnah, ''It is my fault, we both need some sort of understanding we cannot give.''

Another friend who asked Ruttie to move back with Jinnah was told by her that she would do so if she could be assured of being welcome back, but when he tried to bring up this topic with Jinnah, he refused to discuss this as a personal matter.

The stalemate continued with Jinnah extremely busy with his political life and Ruttie's health deteriorating day by day. In April 1928 she travelled to Paris for treatment with her mother. There she went into a coma. Jinnah who was visiting Dublin at that time left everything and rushed to Paris where he took over her care. For one month he looked after her, spending all his time with her, and got many doctors to treat her. However, a firm diagnosis was never established and opinions ranged from nervous breakdown to colitis.

Personally I think she had Tuberculosis, for which the only treatment at that time was rest and recuperation allowing the immune system to fight the infection. It is possible that Jinnah himself acquired the infection during this time, but certainly Ruttie got better. Everyone who saw her said how much better she looked. With the return of her health her fiery spirit also returned and as their common friend Chimanlal says that he left them in Paris happy that they have reconciled to visit Canada. But when he returned he found Jinnah alone in Paris who told him dead pan, ''We had a quarrel, she left for Bombay''

On arriving back in Bombay Ruttie, who lived in Taj Hotel, fell ill again. Jinnah returned a few days later and although they did not live together, he visited her every evening while he was in Bombay. On January 28, 1929 Jinnah left for Delhi to attend the budget session of assembly. On February 18, Ruttie fell into a coma from which she never recovered. She died on February 20, which would have been her 29th birthday.

Jinnah was given the news by his father-in-law on telephone – the first time he spoke to him since his marriage. Chimanlal was with him when Jinnah put the phone down and recalls that Jinnah was very calm and said that Ruttie is very ill and he has to leave for Bombay immediately.

Jinnah arrived in Bombay on the morning of February 22 and was picked up from the station by Colonel Sokhey and his wife. He looked sad but calm and was silent during the journey to the graveyard. The burial rites took many hours to be performed and while many present wept and wailed Jinnah sat silently, his face as if cast in stone staring straight ahead. Then when Ruttie's body was lowered into the grave he was asked to be the first to throw earth into the grave. He did that and as he straightened up he started to cry – not just silent tears but with hands over his face he sobbed like a child for many minutes. He did not seek anyone's hand or anyone's shoulder; but in tune with his personality he cried alone. And having finished he wiped his tears and with his face returning to stone walked back to his car.

Next day Dawarkadas who was Ruttie's closest friend and only constant visitor during the last days visited Jinnah and found him to be shouting his heart out. He felt that Jinnah blamed himself for Ruttie's death and considered it a great personal failure, something from which he never ever recovered.

Jinnah and Ruttie's story is a classic example to demonstrate that love is often not enough to keep two people together; for there can be no doubt that neither of them stopped loving each other at anytime. Yet no matter how wealthy, intelligent or successful they are, humans are just minor actors in the grand scheme of things. They may look as all powerful but their destinies are never in their own hands.

No one describes this dilemma any better than Ruttie who in her last letter to Jinnah written during the voyage back from Paris wrote,

''Darling I love you--I love you--and had I loved you just a little less I might have remained with you--only after one has created a very beautiful blossom one does not drag it through the mire. The higher you set your ideal the lower it falls.

I have loved you my darling as it is given to few men to be loved. I only beseech you that the tragedy which commenced in love should also end with it.

Darling Goodnight and Goodbye.''   

Unfortunately none of Jinnah's letters to Ruttie were allowed to be made public by the Petit family, thus denying us a glimpse into the soul of this man.