Neelum Valley women up in arms about anti-peace moves in their area

 Concerned at the escalating tensions along the Line of Control (LoC), a group of women staged a demonstration in Neelum valley on Tuesday for continuity of peace in their area, which had long borne the brunt of cross border shelling before the rival troops struck a truce agreement in 2003.

Official sources told this scribe that over three dozen women, led by Ms Sarwar Jan, Chaand Bibi and Arifa Bibi, took out a rally from Athmuqam, district headquarters of Neelum Valley, and ended it at a nearby Pakistan army installation.

Earlier, according to some witnesses, the police tried to stop them within the town, but later gave in to their insistence to see the local military commander. 

“Indian shelling, unacceptable. We want peace,” read one of the several placards, the women were carrying on the occasion.

“UNO play your role in revival of peace along the LoC,” read another placard.

Speaking to the local army commander, representatives of demonstrators recalled that Neelum valley people had fought Indian aggression for over a decade and offered innumerable physical and material sacrifices.

“Even today we stand shoulder to shoulder with our armed forces, but we are not able to offer more sacrifices, and want revival of complete peace in our valley,” they told the military official.

They stressed that Islamabad should forcefully call upon the United Nations to take stock of recent ceasefire violations by Indian troops and play its role for revival of peace.

They also expressed serious concern at alleged movement of the activists of some outlawed militant groups in their area and called for “reining them in for the sake of peace.”

Witnesses and official sources told Dawn that the military commander assured the demonstrators that he would convey their concerns and demands to the authorities concerned.

Arifa Bibi later told local journalists that tensions along the LoC were a great conspiracy against the democracy in Pakistan and asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take its immediate notice.

“The government should strictly ban the movement of extremists in our area so that the much cherished peace remains intact,” she said.  

It may be recalled that it’s not the first time when Neelum valley residents have voiced their concern in the face of threat to the peace in their area.

In August last year, residents of Neelum valley staged a shutter down strike for maintenance of peace along the LoC and suppression of the alleged activities of some outlawed militant groups in their area.

In 2011, when three Pakistani soldiers were killed in unprovoked Indian shelling, the valley residents, fearful of the pre-ceasefire nightmarish conditions, had taken out a big rally in Athmuqam on the day of Eidul Fitr, calling upon Islamabad and New Delhi to exercise restraint and maintain truce along the dividing line.

Prior to that, in July 2008 around four dozen women, led by Chaand Bibi, had staged a barefoot march and a symbolic sit-in in Athmuqam against the “growing activities of some militant groups” which they feared could harm the truce along the LoC.

FEAR OF DISPLACEMENTS

The demonstration in Athmuqam coincided with unprovoked shelling by Indian troops in Nakial sector of Kotli district, triggering panic and fears of displacements after a decade long gap.

“They (Indian troops) started shelling at 8:45 am in the morning, yet again without any provocation, targeting various villages of Nakial sector with small weapons and mortars,” deputy commissioner Kotli Masoodur Rehman told this blogger.

However, fortunately there were no casualties, he said. 

He regretted that the Indian troops were “brazenly targeting civilian populations” which had compelled the administration to consider relocation of affected people, where unavoidable.

He said the administration had re-activated “Village Coordination Committees” (VCC), comprising notables of border areas, to take decisions regarding relocation of affected people in consultation with them.  

Nakial sector has seen 11 persons, including a soldier, wounded over the past one week. According to Pakistani military sources, Indian troops had pounded 800 shells in this sector alone on Thursday.

“This indicates that Indians seem to be in no mood to let the peace prevail along the dividing line,” Mr Rehman said.

At least 20 houses and 3 vehicles were completely or partially damaged, and over 10 buffaloes, each costing 100 to 150 thousand rupees, killed and several other cattle injured in Nakial sector in one week, meaning thereby the people had started suffering economically as well, he added.

It may be recalled that prior to the November 2003 ceasefire along the LoC, displacements and relocations of affected populations were a regular occurrence. The truce however had brought an end to this painful activity.... Tariq Naqash

AJK civil society protests against killing of Kashmiris by India

Civil society activists held a candle-light protest in Muzaffarabad on Friday evening against the killing of four residents of Neelum valley by the Indian army, and urged Islamabad to use its offices for the recovery of their bodies.

Four Neelum valley residents — Zaafran, son of Ghulam Sarwar, Shahzaman, son of Mohammad Younas, Wajid Akbar, son of Ali Akbar, and Faisal Iqbal, son of Sher Zaman — went missing on July 29.

It turned out later that they had been killed by the Indian army on the other side of the Line of Control (LoC).

According to their relatives, the victims were collecting a medicinal plant — Tripatra or Barseem (Red Clove) — along the unmarked dividing line when the Indian army “arrested and took them across”.

An Indian magazine, Firstpost, quoting an FIR registered in a police station in the India-held territory on July 30 on behalf of the 56-Rashtriya Rifles, disclosed that the four were killed by the army near Katwar Post late on the preceding night as “unidentified Pakistani intruders”.

The FIR recorded the army’s statement that it recovered one AK-56 assault rifle, three pistols and a 12-bore shotgun from the group.

However, even some Indian officials were skeptical about the claim. The FirstPost also quoted a senior Indian army officer, based in occupied Kashmir, as pointing out that "it was unusual for an infiltrating group of four terrorists to possess only one assault rifle, and no grenades or communication equipment."

The protest in Muzaffarabad was organised through the social networking site, Facebook, by members of a group, namely AJK Civil Society Forum.

It began at the Central Press Club and culminated on the main road outside, where the demonstrators lined up at the pavement and lighted candles.

They were holding placards seeking an end to killing of innocent Kashmiris by India.

"Stop genocide of Kashmiris," read one placard. 

“They were innocent citizens, but the Indian army arrested them from Pakistani territory and killed them in cold blood,” said Mir Adnan Rehman, one of the organisers of the protest.

He regretted that Islamabad was yet to highlight this violation of the LoC in a forceful manner.

Pakistan should take effective steps to get back the bodies of the victims to be buried by their relatives in their ancestral areas, he said.

Lawyer Raza Ali Khan said the Indian government and the media were launching an unending offensive against Pakistan on flimsy grounds, while Pakistan government was unable to highlight the excesses by the Indian army within the held territory as well as in areas along the LoC.

The demonstrators also vented anger at mainstream Pakistani media for not "properly focusing attention on unrelenting ceasefire violations by the Indian army and its adverse effects on the lives of border area residents.” 

"Why Pakistani media is silent over the killings of Kashmiris," questioned another placard. 

It may be mentioned here that residents of border areas in AJK allege that Indian military often whisks away civilians as they herd cattle, cut fodder or pick fuel wood or medicinal plants along the LoC.

In June 2009, deputy commissioner Neelum Ahmed Attaullah had confirmed that a Valley resident, identified as Manzoor Ahmed, was “picked up and taken across by the Indian troops near Tejian village."

Prior to that, in September 2007, three men went missing from Dhakki and Chaknar hamlets of Neelum Valley and their relatives alleged they were kidnapped by the Indian troops from this side of the LoC... Tariq Naqash