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IF NOT THEY, THEN WHO?

IF NOT THEY, THEN WHO?
A Rejoinder to Geelani Sahib

Picture by Raman Raina

*- Prof. Gopi Kishen Muju

Talking to Hindustan Times on phone a couple of days back (See H.T. Feb. 26, 2008) Mr Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani has said that �militants never harmed Kashmiri Pandits nor would they ever do� and accused vested interests of hatching �conspiracy to make Pandits flee the Valley�. He has also pleaded �Kashmiri Pandits are our neighbours, our brothers. They must come back to their villages, towns and cities and live with us as neighbours as they used to live earlier�. .One should not be surprised to hear Mr. S.A Geelani asking Kashmitri Pandits, the worst victims of fundamentalism and terrorism in the Valley, to return to Kashmir. Earlier also he, and some other separatist leaders too, had made similar statements at times but with a condition and rider that the returning Kashmiri Pandits must join the on going �freedom� struggle and support the cause for �self-determination� etc. Such utterances are heard quite often. However while these political non-serious and superficial rhetoric is expected of such unclear confused minds and can be just ignored keeping the ground realities in view , one is shocked and disappointed to hear Mr. Geelani say that the militants did not harm Kashmiri Pandits. ( and at times some other elements express similar views though in a low and subdued tone and voice). Can there be any other lie, falsehood, distortion and fabrication of facts ,and misperception of events which can go beyond this self deception of Mr. Geelani. Perhaps he has become too old to think rationally and even reasonably.

Reacting to his casual asking Kashmiri Pandits to return needs no response as the displaced K.Ps have never given up their claim over Kashmir or expressed that they will not return. How can a Kashmir Pandit give up his claim over Kashmir , his place of origin and birth. He will return at his own will and whenever he feels that conditions are conducive for such a return. A displaced K.P. will not return at the behest of Geelani�s call or even any assurance from the Government.. A displaced Kashmiri Pandit will return on his own, when he sees the road is clear before him and a well drawn roadmap is available. Let not Mr. Geelani bother his brain over the return of Kashmiri Pandits, who have a clear vision and picture about their return. Meanwhile , let him work to make conditions conducive for such a return One can only wish that Mr. Geelani and people of his class stop living at the bloodshed of innocent people.

Regarding Mr Geelani�s clean chit to terrorists that ��militants did not harm any Kashmiri Pandits nor would they now harm them� one would like to ask him a simple question. If it was not a terrorist (militant) then who was it who killed hundreds of innocent Kashmiri Pandits on selective basis in the late 1989 and early 1990 till the entire community fled the Valley in panic like frightened pigeons, and then turned the guns upon those very elements who had given them necessary support. It is very difficult to mention names of all the Kashmiri Pandits murdered by these terrorists and the nature of savage brutalities inflicted upon them during the period but then can Mr. Geelani make it clear to the people of Kashmir as to who killed Tika lal Taplooo, Nilakanth Ganjoo, who tied the old Professor Nila Kanth Lalla to a rope and dragged him behind wheels and killed him, who Killed Sarwanand Premi and his teenaged son by gogging their eyes, breaking their limbs , cutting their bodies into pieces in the most inhuman and savage manner and who killed the telecom engineer Bushan Lal in the rice drum and asked his wife to stay alive to weep for him, Who sawed the innocent nurse Sarla., who kidnapped the Choudhry couple in Sopore and killed them; it is just to mention a few names only If these were not �militants� who had the support of people like Geelani at the brehest of Pakistan and Jamat-Islami then who were they ? If Mr Geelani is not sure about the culprits he can still ask the surviving terrorists like Yasin Malik, Mr Javed Ahmad alias �Nalka� (now both having turned to peace process) and even Bitta Karate who has confessed to have killed more that forty innocent Kashmiri Pandits and would have even killed his own mother if ordered by his top brass. Bitta Karatte�s first victim was his own Kashmiri Pandit friend , one Satish Kumar. Will Mr Geelani please take this much trouble and refresh his memory, which seems to be getting weaker with age. History can neither be destroyed nor denied.

It appears that Mr Geelani holds a brief for the terrorists (�militants�) on the basis of which he is assuring that they will not harm the Kashmiri Pandits on their return. This only exposes the nexus he has with terrorists which makes him be their spokesman. Perhaps Mr. Geelani has forgotten the mass killings of Hindus, who had not left the Valley ,at Sangrampora, Wandahama, Chhatisingpora and so on even years after the exodus. Who killed these innocent people. Were not they killed by Geelani�s �militants�. Let Mr. Geelani at least get stopped the killings of innocent Muslims in the Valley by terrorists before asking Kashmiri Pandits to return and stay without any harm to them.

Then will Mr Geelani see the other side of the same picture when good Muslim neighbours and friends advised some Kashmiri Pandits to leave valley for safety and even took charge of their houses and properties to keep these safe and secured. Mr Geelani can contact some such good Muslims too to clear his mind.

And, if it was not a terrorist, then at whose behest, besides Pakistan and Jamat-I-Islami did Kasshmir valley resound with echoes of obnoxious and abusive slogans against Kashmiri Pandits and asking them to leave Kashmir, and leave their lady folk behind ? or threatening the �Kafiro Bagho, Jihad Aaw Raha Hai�, �Yahan kya chalega Nizami Mustafa�, �Kashmir mein Rehna hai to Allah-Akbar Kahna Hoga� and so on Then, if it was a terrorist then who circulated the posters and issued threatening warnings and pasted these on the doors of Kashmiri Pandits?

Again if it was not a terrorist who killed hundreds of innocent Kashmiri Pandits, then who wrere responsible for the assassination of Mohd Yusuf Halwai, Maulvi Farrooq, Maulana Massoodi Abdul Gani Lone, brother of Maulvi Farooq, Mohd. Shaban (journalist), Maulvi Qazi Nissar ( who killed an animal on a sacred day of Hindus to provoke a communal flare-up when slaughtering of animals was banned on this day) and hundreds of other prominent Muslims and thousands of innocent common Muslim men women and even children ? Who have committed rapes , resorted to illegal abductions and forced marriages of kidnapped girls? Will Mr. Geelani Sahib please ask some saner and rational elements in his own Muslim community about their own sufferings and exodus, as there are hundreds of Muslims who too were forced to send their families especially ladies outside the Valley for safety ,and those living as migrants like Kashmiri Pandits in secured accommodation provided by the government.

Yes, perhaps Geelani Sahib may be correct in defending these terrorists, as those who have killed these innocent Kashmiris , raped women looted properties cannot be militants ( who are supposed to fight for a cause) and not even true Muslims but simply murderers, rapists, and criminals who have the blessings of Mr. Geelani and the people of his class. After all Geelani Sahib�s survival depends upon the mercy of these terrorists. He has to oblige them

Of course Geelani Sahib because of his jaundiced vision will blame Government Of India (whose pension and hospitality, whenever needed, he is enjoying so lavishly) and its Security forces (who are protecting him round the clock against these very terrorists whom he is defending) for everything bad happening in the Valley. But if Geelani Sahib is a true Muslim and believes in Truth and the Day of Ultimate Judgment he must change his perception and think with a sound mind. Let him not justify the killings by terrorists and betray his own conscience at this advanced age

Mr Geelani has touched a very sensitive and delicate wound by stating that �militants� did not harm Kashmiri Pandits. Kashmiri Pandits are trying to heal up these wounds with patience, understanding, sympathy and love. It is very unfortunate that Mr Geelani and his ilk are so insensitive to humanitarian issues that they see every thing with a motivated political vision. Such elements have to change their perceptions and biased thinking. Mr Geelani please restrain yourself. Mr. Geelani! talking politics is o.k. but do not irritate the open wounds by your irresponsible utterances.

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