South Asia Citizens Web

The sequence of events relating to this “forced relocation” demonstrates a very high degree of extreme intolerance and hatred by the Ravana Balaya and the perceived collaboration of the Buddha Sasana ministry in the sordid exercise. Although the beleaguered Muslim community had tried very hard to be flexible and accommodating on this issue by suggesting reasonable alternatives the ethno religious fascists had demanded nothing less than a total relocation.

This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror — the honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and "disappeared" by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself.

CPA-led Civil Society teams have also had a closer look at some of the events and incidents which continue to agitate the valley. One such incident is the alleged gang rape of women in the twin villages of Kunan-Poshpura in Kupwara district about 120 km outside Srinagar. CPA facilitated a team of senior civil society activists to visit Kunan-Poshpura between June 14-16, 2013 to assess the progress of the justice process and the grievances of the village more than 22 years after the incident.

The SHRC has mostly limited itself to awarding compensation, usually an ex-gratia payment of one lakh rupees or an appointment to a government job. However, each case must be cleared by a district-level screening committee to ensure that the dead/disappeared person was not a militant and only about 30 per cent of the compensation reac­hes the victim’s family after all the bribes are paid. Had Rahul Gandhi talked to ordinary Kashmiris, he would have realised that while there may be a need for the army to man the frontier with Pakistan, the militarisation of Kashmir has led to citizens being viewed as enemies. He would have then judged the progress in Kashmir not by the growth in tourism or connectivity but by the rights enjoyed by the local citizens.

We as a nation have developed an unhealthy relationship with blasphemy and the laws used to prosecute it. There is no other crime that produces so much hatred or desire for vengeance. Our minorities live in fear of it being even whispered that they have committed blasphemy because they know that anyone accused of this crime walks with a bullseye on his forehead.