intra Kashmir travel from Chakothi-Uri to resume from Sept 29

Intra-Kashmir travel from Chakothi-Uri crossing point towards the south of Muzaffarabad will resume on September 29, after remaining suspended for three consecutive weeks.

However, of the 161 AJK residents stranded across the Line of Control (LoC), repatriation of eleven members of a Karachi based Kashmiri family took place on Tuesday on emergency basis due to death of their kinsman here, sources told this scribe.

Sources said that the AJK and India-held Kashmir officials were scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday at Kaman Bridge, which marks the divide between the two parts of Kashmir, to settle issues for formal resumption of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service from Monday (Sept 29). 

 The travel and trade from Chakothi-Uri point in Muzaffarabad division and Tetrinote-Chakan da Bagh point in Poonch division had been suspended on September 8, after floods and landslides wrecked havoc in both parts of the disputed Himalayan region.

However, while trade and travel resumed from Tetrinote-Chakan da Bagh point from September 15, it could not recommence from Chakothi-Uri point due to enormous infrastructure losses in Kashmir Valley in general and its capital Srinagar in particular.

Following the repatriation of 11 persons on Tuesday, the number of AJK residents, stranded across the LoC, scaled down to 150. On the other hand, 14 residents of held Kashmir are stuck up in AJK. 

All these people had crossed the LoC through Chakothi-Uri point.

Separately, from the Chilyana-Titwal crossing point in Neelum valley, crossing of 2 AJK and 5 held Kashmir residents would take place on Thursday next, sources said.

Intra-Kashmir travel via Chilyana-Titwal takes place once in a fortnight on Thursdays.

Also on Tuesday, 14 trucks from AJK and 9 trucks from India-held Kashmir had lined up along the Kaman Bridge to ferry intra-Kashmir trade items to the opposite sides.

However, they could not ply across the bridge reportedly due to some internal problem on the Indian side, sources said.

The crossing of trucks would now take place on Wednesday.

It may be recalled that on Monday (Sept 22), 33 passengers - 24 returning residents of AJK and 9 fresh travellers from AJK – had travelled across the LoC from the Tetrinote crossing point.

……. Tariq Naqash

Hizbul Mujahideen supremo slams Islamabad's 'criminal silence' over Kashmir floods

   The top leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, Kashmir’s largest militant group, has cautioned Islamabad that its “criminal silence” over losses in the century’s worst floods in India-held Kashmir could reverse the “pro-Pakistan sentiments” among the marooned Kashmiris.

 Syed Salahuddin, who also heads the United Jihad Council (UJC), an alliance of over a dozen Kashmiri fighter groups, said there was no doubt that India had left the flood affected Kashmiris in the lurch, but at the same time Pakistan had also avoided talking about their plight at the official level.

“Kashmiris have been raising ‘long live Pakistan’ slogans for the past 68 years, but if they reshape their views owing to your cowardice attitude and criminal silent, do you have any right to object to it?” he questioned the Pakistani rulers at a press conference in Muzaffarabad on Tuesday.

Salahuddin said people of Kashmir were less saddened by the impact of the devastating flood and more by the silence of those from whom they expected empathy and support.

“We know that Narendra Modi shed crocodile tears (on losses in held territory) because in effect he has no sympathy for the Kashmiris, but Pakistan’s indifference was more painful.”

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif twice flew into Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in the aftermath of torrential rains and flash floods to assess the losses and express solidarity with the affected people.

Though he did briefly mention that India held Kashmir had also suffered enormous losses, he however stopped short of categorically offering sympathies or any support to the victims across the divide.

“Who stopped him from speaking in favour of Kashmiris? What is the reason for this criminal negligence,” Salahuddin questioned, while mentioning Sharif’s visit to Haveli. 

He was also critical of Parliament’s “failure” to adopt a unanimous resolution to express solidarity with the victims of worst ever floods in held Kashmir in general and Srinagar in particular.

On Friday, Pakistan’s both houses of Parliament concluded their longest joint session during which the perceived threat to democracy from the sit-ins of PAT and PIT was the focus of political discourse.

The parliamentarians unanimously passed a resolution emphatically reiterating their unequivocal and unwavering resolve to uphold the supremacy of the Parliament, the constitution, democracy and state institutions.

However, even though the Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah passionately spoke about the marooned Kashmiris, a resolution was not passed to express solidarity and support to them, something which was also criticised by JI Pakistan ameer Sirajul Haq some two days ago after meeting APHC representatives in Islamabad.

“They have been saying that Kashmir is their jugular vein. But today I am dubious about the veracity of this claim. Mr Nawaz Sharif, its mere lip service,” Salahuddin said.

He claimed that a resolution to be passed by the Parliament was at hand, but it was withheld at the last moment lest it might not annoy the Indian premier.

Salahuddin recalled that soon after the floods, Mr Modi not only announced a package for the flood hit Kashmiris but also offered help for flood victims in AJK.

“While thanking Mr Modi, Prime Minister Sharif should have seized the opportunity to ask him to let Pakistan help the Kashmiris who have suffered colossal losses,” he said.

“We know he (Modi) would not have accepted the request, but that would have exposed him besides sending a good message across the divide… Alas that chance was missed,” he added.

Salahuddin also shared sector wise details of losses in held Kashmir, and warned that if international organisations did not pay immediate attention to the landlocked Himalayan region, hundreds of thousands of deaths could hardly be prevented.

“Since cholera and famine are gripping the Valley, fears of more deaths loom large.”

The UJC chief said that soon after the floods, the mujahideen groups had asked their cadres in held Kashmir to halt offensive operations against the Indian army and instead focus on relief and rescue efforts.

Salahuddin demanded of Pakistan to officially ask India to allow transportation of relief goods from the Line of Control (LoC).

On Monday, the AJK Legislative Assembly had made an almost had also made an almost similar demand to India to allow aid to the marooned population of held Valley through the LoC.

To a question about the help offer by the AJK government, Salahuddin maintained that he was yet to see any practical step on the ground in this regard.

…… Tariq Naqash

marches planned in London, Brussels to highlight Kashmir issue

Tens of thousands of Kashmiris will stage a peaceful march in London on October 26 under the initiative of a top political leader from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to draw the attention of the international community towards the longstanding Kashmir dispute on the one hand and express solidarity with their struggling brethren in the Indian held territory on the other.

 An almost identical demonstration will be staged in Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union, on October 27, which marks the 67th anniversary of Kashmir’s invasion by the Indian army.

“The march is aimed at reminding the international community of its pledge to the natives of Jammu and Kashmir, a nuclear flashpoint in South Asia, who have been dauntlessly struggling and offering unparalleled sacrifices for its implementation,” said AJK’s former Prime Minister Barrister Sultan Mahmood at a press conference here.

“It is also aimed at expressing solidarity with those struggling people who have not compromised their cause in the face of worst ever atrocities by the so-called largest democracy (India),” he added.

Mr Mahmood, who has been on his toes for the past couple of months to motivate people and make arrangements for the proposed event, said he firmly believed that it was high time, in view of the prevailing international scenario, to draw global attention towards the festering Kashmir issue.

“An unresolved Kashmir issue poses severe threat not only to the regional peace but also to the interests of some important world powers, which warrants its amicable settlement without further loss of time,” he said.

He said even though the international community had pinned hopes that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would adopt a realistic stance on Kashmir issue, he had however proved himself other way round “exactly according to apprehensions of the Kashmiris.”

“There has no let up in India’s traditional intransigence and in fact the persecution of Kashmiris has multiplied under Mr Modi. We also want to expose him before the world,” he said.  

Mr Mahmood maintained that irrespective of its outcome, the referendum in Scotland had also strengthened the case of Kashmiris.

“If it could be held in Scotland on the basis of a bill in the Scottish parliament, why not in Jammu and Kashmir where it is backed by United Nations Security Council resolutions, apart from the commitments of international community, including India,” he questioned.

He told that permission for the march in London had almost been obtained, while it was under process for Brussels.

In London, the march would begin from the Trafalgar Square and conclude outside 10 Downing Street, the official residence of British Prime Minister, he said.

“In Brussels, we plan to hold it from the European Parliament to the Indian High Commission,” he added.

To a question, Mr Mahmood said, since it was a national programme, he had made contacts with “everyone who was someone” in the Kashmiri and Pakistani diasporas in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

He called upon all political and religious parties to leave aside their difference and prove as a Kashmiri nation that “we are one on our common national cause.”  

He said he wished that the pro-freedom leaders from Indian held Kashmir were also able to attend the march in London or Brussels.

“As far as AJK based heads of political and religious parties are concerned, I would love to see them among the participants of the march,” he said.

“However, I am not in favour of the (participation of the) governments because I want to keep it purely a peoples’ initiative,” he added.

“If people of held Kashmir are offering their lives, we have to rise above paying mere lip service to them…With participation in this march, we have to prove to them that they are not alone in their struggle but we all are on their back.”

….. Tariq Naqash

'Neglect, poor telecom and road networks' add to the miseries of victims in Haveli

Situated on the rugged mountains of Pir Panjal range along the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC), Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) tiny Haveli district still reels from the horrendous effects of flash floods and torrential rains, even as apparently Mother Nature’s fury seems to have subsided over the past 48 hours.

According to official figures, a total of 64 people lost their lives across AJK after heavy rains lashed the region after September 1. Of them, 29 casualties took place in Haveli district alone, which is spread over 856 sq. kilometres with a population of 165,000 people.

These deaths were caused by house collapsing, landslides and incidents of drowning in the ragging torrents, most of which had to be crossed without proper bridges.

“Indeed, the situation we are going through for the past 7-8 days is nightmarish. The weather became unkind beyond our imagination, rendering us virtually helpless before its wrath,” said Raja Mohammad Irshad, Haveli’s deputy commissioner (DC).

He spoke to this scribe on Tuesday afternoon in his office in Forward Kahuta, the sleepy district headquarters of Haveli, amid a meeting to review relief and rescue work as well as arrangements for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s scheduled visit to the area on Wednesday.

“Rains are continuing intermittently, and so are the landslides, aggravating the plight of affected people,” he said.

In Muzaffarabad, Saeed Qureshi, an official at the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) told that the onslaught of monsoon rains was severest than their spadework.

“We had identified vulnerable populations along the banks of rivers and torrents and issued timely warning to them, but unusually intense rains played havoc with everything, particularly in the mountain villages,” he said. 

The mud houses could not survive unrelenting rains due to which there were many incidents of house collapsing, he added. 

In Haveli district, the amount of rainfall was a staggering 400 millimetres in a single day, which had no parallel in the past 50 years, he said.

Residents of Haveli castigated the government functionaries for the “unending apathy and neglect” of their problems that they said had multiplied losses in the wake of weather’s fury.

What adds to their anger is the poor telecom network, run by the Special Communications Organisation (SCO), a subsidiary of Pakistan army.

It may be mentioned here that Haveli and Neelum are the two AJK districts where multi national mobile phone companies have not been allowed to launch their operations due to the so-called security reasons.

Resultantly, the residents there are left with no choice but to use SCO’s mobile phone facility, which has limited as well as pathetic coverage.

In Haveli, this facility is the worse for wear.

“Had there been mobile phone facility the affected persons could have conveyed their plight to the officials concerned instantly and subsequently the rescue operations could have begun without further loss of time,” said local resident Aziz Dar.

Similarly, the poorly maintained road network had also contributed to the suffering of people. Many roads ran through water channels for want of bridges and that was why several casualties had occurred by drowning, he added.

DC Irshad agreed that the “poor telecommunication and road communication” had contributed to this number of casualties.

“The (poor) telecommunications and road communications have been two major hurdles in efficient, effective and timely relief and rescue services,” he said.  

Rahat Shaikh, one of the affected residents of Haveli, said mobile phone facility could have helped residents warn each other of the looming threats.

“We had no means to contact fellow villagers, relatives in other areas and government officials due to bad telecom and road networks,” he said, as he carried his family to some relatives in a pickup.

Mr Qureshi also agreed that poor telecom network and lack of early warning dissemination system had led to excessive losses in Haveli.

“Even if one resident knew wanted to warn others of any threat or needed any help, he was unable to communicate with others,” he said.

DC Irshad said that at the moment the only road link between Forward Kahuta and the rest of AJK was the one through Bagh and that was for small vehicles only.

Heavy traffic would ply through Abbaspur-Hajira-Rawalakot road, which was still blocked.

“Its due to the blockade of this road that we are unable to transport tents from Rawalpindi. And if it did not open within 3-4 days we may also face food shortage,” he said.

Even the inter district roads were also blocked. Vehicles could not go beyond five kilometres radius of the district headquarters, due to the huge landslides.

“Towards my north, road to sub-division Khurshidabad has been wiped out at about 18 spots,” Mr Irshad said, adding, two dozers were working to create a track for small vehicles.

According to him, so far 380 families had been rendered homeless. However, the number was bound to swell, as many affected persons had no means to move out of their vulnerable areas.

Masood Rathore, a former MLA from Haveli, said 60 per cent of the district was still inaccessible as roads had either been wiped out or blocked by landslides.

“People have become hostage in their vulnerable areas. The government should send more earth removing machines to clear roads or else more casualties may occur,” he said, adding, tents were also badly required for the homeless affectees.

According to Shaikh Arif, an official of a local body here, there was only one civilian health facility for the whole district, but with only one doctor. “A Military Dressing Facility (MDS) in the town is a blessing,” he said.

Mohammad Asadullah, an elderly resident of Haveli, recalled that his area used to enjoy all facilities prior to 1947.

“We would study and shop in occupied Poonch city which is hardly 10 kilometres from here. From there, we could quite comfortably travel to Srinagar or Muzaffarabad or Rawalpindi via Uri,” he said.

However, after 1947 that portion of road was captured by India and over the next 20 years we didn’t see any vehicle coming to our area, he added.

Like Neelum valley, Haveli has also seen huge casualties in cross-LoC bombardment that was a regular happening before 2003.

“From natural to man made calamities, we have suffered a lot. We hope that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will offer us some preferential treatment on Wednesday in view of our sacrifices and sufferings,” he said.

…….Tariq Naqash