SACW #2 | 29 Dec 2004 | ON THE OTHER SIDE OF LoC

[sacw]

South Asia Citizens Wire  - Dispatch #2  | 29 Dec.,  2004
via:  www.sacw.net

[1] Kashmir-India-Pakistan:  On the Other Side of 
Line of Control (Bashir Manzar)

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Kashmir Images
(Srinagar, Kashmir)

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF LoC
Bashir Manzar

Besides food, dress and lingo, people on both 
sides of LoC [Line of Control] and border share 
their miseries and sufferings as much as India 
and Pakistan share other facets of history and 
culture. Neither airs, nor water, soil or the 
children of the soil are different on either 
side. Why then this 'us' and 'them'? Take a trip 
across the boundaries and borders and LoC with 
Bashir Manzar and evolve your own answers. The 
author recently visited Pakistan and Pakistan 
Administered Kashmir as part of a South Asian 
Free Media Association (SAFMA) delegation:

I have not watched Sunny Deol's Gadhar but have 
heard the song 'Rab Jane, Kab Guzra, Amritsar, 
Lahore Aaya; Main Uthe Dil Chod Aaya' umpteenth 
times while moving on Srinagar streets. Have 
never had any interest in the song but while 
driving from Wagah to Lahore, trust me, this was 
the song that kept ringing in my mind; don't know 
why, but couldn't help but think about it.
Amritsar and Lahore are so close - 
geographically, socially, linguistically and 
culturally that Rab Jane Kab Guzra Amritsar, 
Lahore AayaŠ, I too didn't know!
When you visit some other country, the first 
thing you encounter is sort of culture shock. But 
on November 19, 2003, when I as a member of South 
Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) delegation, 
crossed over to that side of divide at Wagah, 
there was no shock.
On this side near Wagah, I had seen an old Sikh 
in Payjama-Kameez grazing his buffaloes and just 
minutes after crossing the Bab-e-Azadi (door of 
freedom), I saw a young bearded person in 
Shalwar-Kameez grazing his buffaloes on the other 
side. Same ambience, same sunlight, same 
fragrance in the air - everything similar, so 
shockingly similar! And after some one hour's 
drive, I was in Lahore.
Our delegation was warmly received by SAFMA 
friends at Wagah and the secretary general of the 
Association, Imtiyaz Alam was there at Hotel 
Avari with open arms to welcome us.

After checking in and freshening up, I, with some 
other friends, decided to go out to get local SIM 
cards for our mobile phones as BSNL was not 
working there. In the nearby market, it was 
Indian film music being played all over by the 
shopkeepers. Kuck Kuch Hota HaiŠ, Didi Tera Devar 
DewanaŠ, Doli Saja Ke RakhnaŠ - and all such 
songs. Had most of the people roaming around not 
been in Shalwar-Kameez, I would never believe 
that I am in another country - Pakistan.
Lahore is a warm city - full of life. People are 
extremely hospitable and loving. They are 
Punjabis, typical Punjabis, ready to lay down 
their lives for friends but at the same moment 
would not spare the enemies. And who are the 
enemies - given the 57 year old history of 
hostility and enmity - India; who else? And here 
were the Lahoris hugging Delhites. What is this? 
I questioned myself. And answers followed during 
my stay in this beautiful country.

I had never thought of language being a strong 
cementing force but within hours in Lahore, I 
realized that language unites people more than 
any other aspect of life. Punjabi speaking people 
from our side of the divide, including Jammuites, 
mingled with the people from Lahore so naturally 
and comfortably that after some time they were 
laughing together, sharing jokes, making frequent 
use of Punjabi slang. This Bale Bale atmosphere 
reached its peak during dinner. And those among 
us who couldn't speak Punjabi were feeling a 
little bit 'left-out'.
At dinner, while SAFMA officials were busy 
discussing organizational matters and the tour 
itinerary, most of the Pakistani journalists 
present there were keen to know about Kashmir. 
The chats, discussions, arguments continued till 
late in the night and finally the organizers 
called it a day as next morning they had the 
regional conference and a person no less than the 
President of Pakistan had agreed to inaugurate it.
In the morning we all were asked to be on our 
seats in the conference hall by 0900 hours. Every 
entrant was frisked thoroughly - no match boxes, 
no lighters, no mobiles, even ballpoint pens 
became an issue which finally were allowed to be 
taken in. Security arrangements too were 
identical to the ones back home.
We're told that General Musharraf would be coming 
anytime but this 'anytime' got stretched to 
around 01100 hours. Here was the man, seen in 
India as the architect of Kargil war, backed by 
US as the trusted ally in its "war against 
terror", ridiculed by domestic Mullahs for 
snubbing Jehadis and loved by media for being a 
good newsmaker.
With a broad smile, General saluted the 
participants in his typical style and moved 
towards the dice. He was accompanied by Governor 
and Chief Minister of Punjab. As soon as he sat 
down on his chair, secretary general SAFMA 
requested him to come to the other side to cut 
the ribbon and formally inaugurate the conference 
Media and Reconciliation in South Asia.
"President sir, you have come from the wrong 
side. You had to come from left side to cut the 
ribbon," Alam said and somebody from the audience 
quipped: "He has come from wrong side in Pakistan 
politics too!" I am sure General didn't hear the 
comment.
Imtiyaz Alam spoke at length about SAFMA 
activities and SAFMA's opposition to no-go zones 
and support for go-go zones. He talked about 
Pakistani journalists' visit to India and Indian 
Kashmir, about Sri Lanka's decision of easing 
visa regime for journalists of South Asia. Sri 
Lankan government has started on arrival visa for 
journalists. Alam wanted similar gesture from 
India and Pakistan.
While Alam was talking about SAFMA, most of the 
participants were eagerly waiting for Musharraf's 
address. And finally it was President Musharraf 
addressing the conference.
[Box]
When students raised anti-Pak slogans
Muzaffarabad: A few dozen students resorted to 
slogan-shouting at the University campus alleging 
that they were not being allowed to interact with 
visiting journalists.
Most of them were the activists of National 
Students Federation (NSF). The visiting 
journalists were shocked and surprised to hear 
slogans like "Pakistan Murdabad", "ISI agents 
Murdabad", "Ilhak Ka Jo Yaar Hai, Gaddar Hai 
Gaddar Hai."
Although a heavy contingent of police was rushed 
to the campus but they decided not to intervene 
as the students were spitting fire against 
Pakistan, its intelligence agencies and what they 
said "puppet government" of Azad Kashmir.
The students were displaying banners which read: 
"Indo Pak Go Back; Kashmir Kashmiriun Ke Hai; Na 
Manzoor, Na Manzoor, Taqseem Kashmir Na Manzoor."
While these students were busy chanting slogans, 
another group, a smaller one, assembled near the 
venue raising pro-Pak slogans. "Pakistan Se 
Rishta Kya, La Ilaha Ilal Lah, Jeevay Jeevay 
Pakistan, Khudmukhtari Hai Gadaree, RAW agents 
Murdabad, Hindustan Murdabad" - were the slogans 
the NSF students were countered with. And in this 
mayhem, journalists were driven back to the hotel.
  [Box ends]

After welcoming the delegates, Musharraf opened 
Pakistan for SAFMA journalists. "You can visit 
any city, any area you want," said Musharraf to a 
thundering applause. And then he came to the real 
business - Indo-Pak relations and Kashmir.
Musharraf sounded bitter, nay hurt, nay 
disappointed (as Khurshid Kasuri put it next 
day). He was upset as Indian Prime Minister, 
Manmohan Singh, during his Kashmir visit, had 
reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir was an 
"intesgral part" of India.
"How can one expect a forward movement in the 
wake of such statements? If you say this, I say 
'we stand by UN resolutions and demand plebiscite 
in Jammu and Kashmir'."

Musharraf said that he and Manmohan Singh in a 
joint-statement at New York had talked about 
discussing and exploring all options. "If I 
understand English, all options mean all options. 
Why should people feel upset?" he said.
Coming straight to his 7-point formula, General 
said: "This is neither a formula nor a solution. 
These are options to be discussed by my people. 
Let there be a debate and that was my intention 
when I discussed these points with some editors."
During his around 40-minute speech, Musharraf 
made it a point to address journalists from Jammu 
and Kashmir separately several times and also 
invited them to a lunch at Governor's House same 
day. Musharraf spoke about Indo-Pak relations and 
"war on terrorism" and vowed that "every 
terrorist would be killed."
"We've to adopt a two-pronged strategy to deal 
with the menace (terrorism). Eliminate the 
terrorists and terrorism with full might and at 
the same time take care of peoples' aspirations."
Musharraf's speech, between the lines, conveyed 
one thing very strongly: 'Hey guys! For God's 
sake tell India that I am a nice chap. I am 
moving extra miles, don't make things difficult 
for me.'
The same day, the atmosphere at Governor's house 
was relaxed and more informal. All the 
journalists from Jammu and Kashmir besides a few 
from Delhi attended the luncheon meeting. Before 
lunch, Musharraf had some 40-minute session (sort 
of press conference) with the journalists. He 
repeated what he had said during his speech at 
Avari Hotel in the morning. He didn't hide his 
bitterness but said he was not bitter.
"I am for peace process but it should be 
resolution oriented. Mere CBMs will not do," he 
stressed but clarified quickly: "Please don't 
write that I am against CBMs. I am for it but 
these CBMs should go in tandem with composite 
dialogue aimed at resolving the core issue of 
Kashmir."
General denied his country's involvement in the 
split of Hurriyat Conference. "We (Pakistan) 
don't manipulate the differences within 
Hurriyat," he said hoping that the two factions 
would do something for unity.
"We feel Hurriyat is the representative of Jammu 
and Kashmir and therefore should be involved in 
the dialogue process," Musharraf said. When some 
journalist pointed out that there were other 
parties, even with stronger constituencies than 
Hurriyat, General said: "Yes people from all 
shades of opinion should be part of dialogue but 
Hurriyat participation is a must."
The lunch was delicious. I, along with some other 
journalist friends shared the table with General 
Shoukat Sultan. A typical Fauji, tough talking 
guy! There was an interesting nok jhonk between 
him and our fellow journalist Sushant Sareen. It 
continued as we gulped down delicious food served 
by uniformed butlers.
There was a photo session with the General in the 
lawns of Governor House and then he left 
declaring that the group of journalists is free 
to visit any place including Northern Areas.
Back at Hotel Avari the conference continued with 
people coming forward with several 
recommendations and suggestions for making SAFMA 
more effective.
Evening was with famous singer Saira Naseem. She 
is as beautiful as her voice and would have 
looked more graceful had she not overdone her 
make-up. But still she mesmerized people present 
in the hall.
One Pakistani sitting in the audience even 
started dancing in front of the audience (next 
day a Pakistani newspaper published the dancing 
man's photograph with a caption: "An Indian 
journalist dances as Saira sings at Hotel 
Avari"). I too went to the stage and had a lovely 
chat with this Pakistani sparrow and realized 
that she is as good an orator as a singer.
Next day the conference started at 0930 hours. 
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood 
Kasoori was the chief guest. He too talked about 
General's proposals, CBMs, composite dialogue and 
more strongly on the issue of 
Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service.
Kasuri tried to brush away the impression that 
General Musharraf was bitter. "He is not bitter. 
I will say he is disappointed by the attitude of 
New Delhi. He is ready to move ahead and Indian 
attitude indicates otherwise," said Kasuri but in 
the same breath made it clear that he was 
optimistic about the peace process and despite 
some hiccups was sure that it would move ahead.
Kasuri hosted lunch for the delegates in the same 
hotel. In the post-lunch session, Imtiyaz Alam 
was unanimously re-elected secretary general of 
the SAFMA. Next day we had to leave for Islamabad 
on our way to Mirpur in Pakistan administered 
Kashmir (PaK).
Before leaving for Islamabad, we were invited to 
a gala lunch hosted by Mayor of Lahore (though 
the Mayor Sahib couldn't attend the function 
himself as he was busy because General was in the 
town). The lunch was hosted at Baradari of 
Bagh-e-Jinnah, (Lawrence Garden).
At two in the afternoon, around 22 of us were 
seen off by Imtiyaz Alam for our 
much-sought-after PaK visit. While Pakistanis 
call Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir as "Maqboza 
Kashmir", for Indians the area under Pak control 
is "Pakistan Occupied Kashmir". As the intention 
of the visit was reconciliation, it was decided 
that both the parts, during our stay there, would 
be referred to as LoC Ke Iss Paar Walla Ilaka and 
LoC Ke Uss Paar Wala Ilaka. Our group leader, 
Vinod Sharma (a wonderful person indeed) made it 
a point that only these new names are used during 
speeches or deliberations.
We reached Islamabad by the evening and drove 
straight to the Hotel Holiday Inn. This is the 
hotel where Hizbul Mujahideen Chief, Syed 
Sallahudin addressed media a few years back and 
called off the ceasefire declared by Abdul Majid 
Dar. Zee TV ran an 'exclusive' item showing a 
"Brigadier adjusting a chair for Sallahudin" to 
sit. That poor "Brigadier" still serves in that 
hotel as a waiter!
The first thing I did while checking in the hotel 
was to call Mohammed Shehzad, a local journalist 
who works for Kashmir Images. He was thrilled to 
know that finally I had reached his city 
(actually he was waiting for me in January during 
SAARC conference when I was supposed to visit 
Islamabad but along with two other Kashmiri 
journalists, was denied visa by Pakistan High 
Commission). He was there in the hotel within 
minutes. I couldn't give him much time as the 
schedule was very tight and we had to leave for 
Mirpur early in the morning. But I promised him 
that on my return I will visit his family.
Reached Mirpur in the evening to a warm reception 
by local Press Club! Unlike Srinagar, LoC Ke Uss 
Paar (on the other side of LoC) you have press 
clubs in all big and small cities. We would 
fumble when the journalists there would ask why 
we didn't have one in Srinagar. The only face 
saving was Jammu Press Club and its president 
Manu Srivastav, who too was in the delegation.
"Kashmir Ki Takseem Na Manzoor (division of 
Kashmir is unacceptable)" was one of the banners 
that were displayed on the walls of the hall 
where the media people had arranged the 
reception. They were very warm and hospitable.
Next day in Mirpur was very hectic with a lot of 
meetings with people cutting across ideological 
divides - people from Muslim Conference, Bar 
Association, Liberation League, JKLF, writers, 
poets and even the people on the streets.
We were supposed to visit Mangla before returning 
to Islamabad but it was canceled at the last 
moment. Reason: some Chinese delegation was 
visiting the dam, we're told.We met some old 
stalwarts of JKLF in Mirpur. Some of them have 
done a lot of work on Maqbool Bhat's life. Both 
JKLFs (Yasin's and Khan's) have their presence in 
Mirpur besides Justice Majid Malik's Liberation 
League that too advocates Independent Kashmir.
Justice Malik is the person who while in service, 
had given a landmark decision saying Northern 
Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan) were parts of "Azad 
Jammu and Kashmir" and not Pakistan. However, the 
decision was then reversed by the higher court.
Over all the Mirpur visit was an eye-opener. I 
had never thought that 'independence' sentiment 
could be so strong in this area. But it was!

[Box]
Mirpur stands for independence
Mirpur: Overwhelming majority of Mirpuris stand 
for an Independent Jammu and Kashmir. They are 
not happy with Pakistan. Wherever we went, we saw 
'Khudmukhtari' (pro-independence) banners.
This part of PaK is inhabited by Paharis and 
Gujjars. There is some sort of tension between 
the two communities. Although the tension is not 
much visible but one can smell it in the air 
while chatting with people here.
People have a lot of grievances against Pakistan. 
Mangla Dam displacement is one among those 
grievances.
"We produce power and Pakistan reaps the fruits," 
is a common grievance. People want bigger share 
in power production which seems not coming, at 
least in near future.
Another crisis: Mirpuris are rich. They have 
money, lots of money. But they have no means to 
invest the same. "The money is blocked in banks 
and Pakistan earns on our money. Had we some 
scope of industrialization, we would invest and 
the rotation of money would take the area towards 
prosperity," feel people.
Most of the people we encountered advocated 
reunification and complete independence of Jammu 
and Kashmir (as it existed before 1947). Although 
there are some voices for accession to Pakistan 
too, these are very feeble.

"If you say integral part, then we go back to UN resolutions and plebescite.
It takes two to tango. "
[Box ends]
Next day we reached back Islamabad in the 
evening. Checked in in the same Holiday Inn 
hotel. I called Shehzad. He was there within an 
hour and we chatted till late. We're invited by 
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for dinner. Shehzad 
had his car with him and thus I and Zaffar Meraj 
stayed back with Shehzad in the hotel for a while 
with the promise that he would then drop us at 
the dinner venue.
The venue was a beautiful place. A hill station 
within Islamabad - Daman-e-Koh. While we were 
driving up the Koh (mountain), it resembled a 
drive from Tangmarg to Gulmarg. The slope is 
steeper. At the top of the hillock is a beautiful 
restaurant owned by a beautiful lady, Farzana 
Raja, the spokesperson of PPP. She was our host.
Dinner was in the open and as there was some 
chill in the air, the hosts had lit small iron 
stoves all over. From the venue, we could look at 
Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It was a lovely dinner 
indeed. All of us enjoyed and relaxed as it was 
something worth after such a tight schedule. It 
was for the first time that I saw Tahir Mohiudin 
relaxed and happy as he was engrossed in some 
interaction with Farzana. Otherwise Tahir was too 
tired of the hectic schedule!
First person I met in the morning next day was Dr 
Walid. I knew him from the days he was in 
Srinagar associated with Shiekh Aziz's Peoples 
League. It took me few moments to recognize him. 
It was a lovely reunion. We chatted for sometime. 
He is presently in Geelani's Hurriyat in Pakistan
Next day we went to Parliament House and had a 
detailed meeting and then lunch with members and 
head of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir. The 
head, Hamid Nasir Chatta briefed about the 
Committee's stance over Kashmir - implementation 
of UN resolutions, plebiscite, etc. He also 
stressed inclusion of Kashmiri leaders in the 
dialogue process.
The attraction in the meeting was grand daughter 
of Mohammad Din Fauq, renowned Kashmiri 
historian. She too is a parliamentarian and loves 
Kashmir. She wants to visit Kashmir but is not 
sure whether she will be allowed at some stage.
I, Zaffar and Tahir ducked the lunch half way, 
rushed out and hired a cab for Rawalpindi. Roamed 
for few hours in Rawalpindi markets; Zaffar and 
Tahir did some shopping and we hired another cab 
to our Islamabad hotel.
Dinner was with Mushahid Hussain of PML(Q). I had 
promised Shehzad that I will have dinner with his 
family and therefore skipped Mushahid's dinner 
(skipping was not so easy as our group leader 
Vinod Sharma had sharp eyes like seasoned 
shepherd who could find a sheep missing in the 
flock of hundreds; however, I too proved an 
intelligent sheep!).
Shehzad drove me to his home. There I met his 
wife and two lovely kids. I honestly felt at home 
there. They had decided to go out for the dinner. 
We went to a lovely place, Pearl (I was told that 
this restaurant used to be favourite of General 
Musharraf and he would frequently visit it before 
the attack). Shehzad also showed me the spot, 
near a filling station, where Musharraf was 
attacked.
It was the first apolitical dinner. We talked 
about ourselves. How desperate sometimes one is 
to talk very simple things! And that is what we 
did.

[Box]
We're ready to fight
Gilgit: While roaming around in Gilgit market, I 
along with Zaffar and Tahir visited a cosmetic 
shop (I had to buy shampoo). A young stout man 
behind the counter was thrilled to know that we 
were from "Maqbooza Kashmir".
He introduced himself as launching chief of 
Hizbul Mujahideen. Prior to General Musharraf's 
crackdown on militant groups, this young man had 
been sending boys to Indian Kashmir for Jehad.
"The activities have been suspended for the time 
being. Once we get a green signal, we will be 
launching the operation," he said. He is very 
keen to visit Kashmir himself - not as a tourist 
but as a Mujahid.
"Indian Fouj is killing our people there and 
raping our sisters. Jehad will continue till 
these cruel forces are dragged out of the Pak 
Sarzameen of Kashmir," he said.
He disclosed that Hizb chief Syed Sallahudin had 
been visiting the area earlier and he himself had 
several meetings with him.
This young man is a fan of Syed Ali Shah Geelani. 
"Do you know him; have you ever met him; how is 
his health now?" where some of his curious 
questions.
In Chilas, where we stopped on our way back to 
Rawalpindi for lunch, we met another young man. 
He too was a militant and eager to cross over to 
our Kashmir for Jehad.

[Box ends]

After dropping family at his place, Shahzad drove 
me to the hotel and accompanied me upstairs to my 
room. We're surprised to see Hizbul Mujahideen 
spokesman Salim Hashmi with another guy standing 
outside my room (I had seen him in the morning 
alongwith Dr Walid). He told me that he had been 
waiting for me and was now ready to leave.
Shehzad rested for a while in my room and then 
left. I chatted with Hashmi for some one hour. 
Although I was feeling too sleepy but courtesy 
demanded to be as friendly as possible and I 
think I did so. Our discussion revolved around an 
email war between us some years back when he sent 
me an email accusing that my newspaper was 
"anti-movement" as it accommodated views and news 
that, he thought, were not in accordance with the 
"spirit of freedom".
In a very cordial manner, I tried to convey to 
him that I need not a certificate from anyone and 
that I was answerable to my own conscience alone. 
Once I feel ashamed before my conscience for 
anything that appears in my newspaper, I will 
shut down the whole affair.
Hashmi wanted to tell me that I should have not 
felt upset over his remarks. "I heard something 
and I straightaway conveyed it to you. Had I been 
a hypocrite, I would have never shared it with 
you," he said and sounded logical in his argument.
While we were discussing Kashmir and the 
situation, I got a phone call from Tahir. "Here 
is someone, who wants to talk to you," Tahir said 
and handed over the phone to that someone. It was 
Yousuf Naseem of Hurriyat Conference (Mirwaiz). 
He too wanted to have a chat with me. Hashmi left 
and Nasim was in.
Nasim was accompanied by another person 
(representative of Maulana Abbas Ansari). We 
talked for some time and I could find out that 
this faction of Hurriyat is no more untouchable 
in Pakistan now.
Although the duo was very cautious while 
discussing the issue, I could make out that 
Mirwaiz's meeting with President Musharraf at 
Amsterdam has got this faction back in good books 
of Pak establishment and Geelani was no more the 
sole darling.
Next morning, we left for Muzaffarabad. Although 
the entire team was too tired but the very 
excitement of visiting Muzaffarabad refreshed us. 
We left Islamabad in two mini-buses and halted at 
famous hill station Murrie for a while. It looked 
like our Patni Top. We roamed around but just in 
the market and had some tea.
The road was good but the zig-zag made several 
colleagues fall ill. But over all we enjoyed the 
drive and with the driver's record player putting 
into the air Indian film music, we would 
sometimes feel that we were traveling on 
Srinagar-Jammu road (to be honest, this road was 
better).
When we reached Kohala Bridge (here Pakistan ends 
and the territory of Pakistan part of Kashmir 
begins), the excitement was at its peak. We 
stopped for a while to take some pictures and to 
make the moment a memorable one. Our delay 
enraged one of our Pakistani hosts who came 
running and snubbed the driver: "Follow our 
vehicle and don't stop."
As we crossed the bridge and entered what 
Pakistan calls "Azad Jammu and Kashmir" and India 
describes as "Pak Occupied Kashmir", first thing 
we encountered was a group of JKLF (Yasin) 
supporters with banners in their hands advocating 
independence and saluting Yasin Malik.
The group, headed by Mir Dawood, showered flower 
petals on us and offered sweets (Dawood 
interestingly turned out to be a neighbour of 
mine. I recognized him within a second but he 
took some time).

[Box:]
When a Kotli youth created furor
Mirpur: It was a media interaction. Local 
journalists were talking about the freedom of 
media and expression in that part of Kashmir and 
comparing it with that of Indian part of Kashmir.
The hall was jam-packed. Some visiting journalist 
raised the issue that how free was the media in 
Pakistan part of Kashmir. A Mirpuri journalist 
said it was free and there was no pressure from 
any government, local or federal.
A tall young boy, standing at the end of the hall 
yelled: "Who says press is free here. It is not. 
If you support the ideology of independence, you 
are not even given the registration for a 
newspaper."
He went on: "Yahan Azadi Ki Baat Karne Waloun Ko 
Tolerate Nahin Kiya Jata Ab Agar Koi India Ki 
Baat Kare, Usse Tu Mar He Daingay (those talking 
of independence are not being tolerated here and 
if someone talks of India, he would be simply 
killed)".
His remarks created furor in the hall. Some 
people tried to snub him; he reacted and to avoid 
a scuffle he was literally dragged out of the 
hall. But he had done it - become the media 
attraction. Visiting journalists followed him and 
recorded him.
The boy is from Kotli, actively involved with 
JKLF (Amanullah Khan). He wants to bring out a 
newspaper but was denied the registration because 
he doesn't subscribe to the idea of acceding to 
Pakistan.
"You are more free than we are," he told me, 
adding: "Geelani Danke Ki Chout Pe Kehta Hai Ki 
Woh Pakistani Hai Aur Hindustan Na Sirf Usko 
Bardasht Karta Hai Balki Uss Ke Elaj Par Bhi 
Sarkari Raqoomat Kharach Ki Jate Hain. Yahan Tu 
Azadi Ki Baat Karna Tak Jurm Hai."
[Box ends]
Historic Shahi Masjid of Lahore and a Gurdwara 
stand close to each other near Lahore Qilla, 
giving a message of communal harmony and 
universal oneness.
Amid slogan-shouting by JKLF cadres, I and Dawood 
hugged and he asked unending questions about his 
family, friends, area, etc.
The visible change in atmosphere was noticed by 
Tahir Mohiuddin who had been to this side in 
1999. He said those days all the walls around 
were painted with slogans of different militant 
outfits and one could see militants roaming 
around all over with arms. But now, it was 
different. We found only a few slogans like 
"Khudmukhtari Jaan Se Pyari" or its 
counter-slogan "Khudmukhtari Hai Gaddari".
No militant is seen roaming on roads. Although 
some camps still exist, we're told, but these are 
away from the city and the militants are not 
allowed to leave their camps.
Three days in Muzaffarabad were memorable - a 
life-time experience. We met almost everyone who 
happens to be someone in that Kashmir.
Muzaffarabad is the capital of Pakistan 
administered Kashmir (PaK). Spread over an area 
of 6117 Sq. Kms, district Muzaffarabad has a 
population of 0.724 million. PaK has seven 
districts, Muzaffarabad being the biggest both 
population- as well as area-wise. Population-wise 
Kotli is the second with 0.558 million followed 
by Poonch (0.403), Bagh (0.395), Mirpur (0.323), 
Bhimber (0.297) and Sudhanti (0.214).
In Muzaffarabad anti-India sentiments are very 
strong but at the same moment most of the people 
are looking toward Indo-Pak peace process with 
certain degree of hope and optimism.
During our three-day stay in Muzaffarabad, we had 
meetings with Bar Association, citizens, 
journalists, politicians, social activists, 
migrants, students and people from al shades of 
opinion. JKLF groups, both Malik's and Khan's, 
made it a point to make there presence felt 
everywhere.
Except the people in government and a few local 
politicians, nobody talked of Kashmir's accession 
with Pakistan. That doesn't mean there are no 
supporters of this theory. Unlike Mirpur, 
Muzaffarabad has a strong constituency for 
Pakistan and unlike Mirpur, which feels closer to 
Jammu, Muzaffarabad feels more close to Kashmir 
Valley.
Overall people favour Indo-Pak friendship but at 
the same time they want a solution to Kashmir 
tangle that satisfies the aspirations of the 
people. Musharraf is being viewed as a man with 
will and people think that he has the capacity to 
strike a deal with India. But President of "Azad 
Jammu and Kashmir" Sardar Anwar Khan doesn't see 
any point in friendship with India. "India is a 
neighbour. It can't be a friend," he says.
Amongst the politicians, Sardar Qayoom Khan 
sounded more reconciliatory. He supports General 
Musharaf's proposal as a right step to generate a 
debate so that something acceptable to all is 
evolved. Sardar Qayoom is convinced that a 
lasting solution to Kashmir can't be reached at 
so quickly and suggests some interim solution 
with a condition that people are told that this 
is the interim solution and not the final one.
Besides opening of routes between two parts of 
Kashmir, Qayoom advocates creation of a 'no 
military zone' along LoC where people from either 
side can come and meet their relatives without 
any hassles.
Meeting with students at University campus was 
interesting but was marred by the demonstrations 
by some students who alleged they were not 
allowed to participate in the debate.
Students were very vocal about alleged human 
rights violations in Indian side of Kashmir and 
were critical of Indian media. They were of the 
view that media in Kashmir was not free and thus 
couldn't report the "ugly face" of India.
The argument was countered by Vinod Sharma, Salim 
Pandit and Shujat Bukhari. While Vinod said that 
when Pakistan talks of human rights violations in 
Kashmir, it uses the data that it gets from 
Indian newspapers; Shujat and Salim asked the 
students that how would they have known about 
Handwara rape case had Kashmir media not reported 
it.
The interaction had to be cut short as some 
students created furor by shouting slogans and a 
student yelled that 50 percent people in the 
auditorium were not students or teachers but "ISI 
agents".

[Box]

Celebrating ceasefire
Chakothi: Our visit to LoC coincided with the 
anniversary of ceasefire along LoC and borders 
and the people of Chakoti and Chinari were 
celebrating the event.
"It is for that first time that we have seen 
peace. We have been able to grow our crops and 
our children could go to schools," said an 
elderly person, Khadim Hussain at Chakothi.
He said that had ceasefire not been in operation, 
the visiting journalists would not have seen 
people doing routine business and children 
playing and studying.
"When there was no ceasefire, these areas would 
look like ghost places with no humans or animals 
visible. Most of the people would shift to safer 
places and those who had no place to go would 
die," said a young man of the area, Farooq.
Recalling the nightmarish experiences people said 
that shells from Indian side would continue 
raining over these areas unabated.
The High School at Chakothi is the live example 
of the devastation. Although it has now been made 
operational, but it still has hundreds of scars 
of Indo-Pak hostility written on its walls and 
the roof-top.
It was in this backdrop that people were 
distributing sweets on the anniversary of the 
ceasefire and were praying for its continuance 
and permanence.
[Box ends]

Muzaffarabad looks beautiful during night. Our 
hotel was located at Dumail. It is the place 
where river Jehlum and river Neelam (Kishan 
Ganga) meet. Although my room had the boring view 
of the market, I would go to Sushant's room from 
where the Sangam of the rivers looked as if 'out 
of this world'.
Roads are good and power supply too is better by 
all standards. The much talked about 
Srina-gar-Muzaffarabad road is perfectly fine 
except a small patch of some five kilom-etres. 
That too is mortorable and all sorts of vehicles 
can move on it but it has not yet been 
black-topped. The work on the road is going on to 
make it wider. Though the authorities say this is 
the routine work, people connect it with the hope 
of opening of the road.
We drove till last point under Pakistan's control 
- Chakothi. General Shoukat Sultan joined us 
there and briefed about the ceasefire and other 
related issues. We could see Indian soldiers, who 
waved vigorously (we thought they were knowing 
about our visit). The waving from both sides 
continued for some time as General spoke at 
length.
Road from that side is in perfect usable 
condition except the bridge that has not seen any 
human feet touching it from last almost 50 years. 
This bridge, which we could see from a distance, 
connects two Kashmirs and is in a dilapidated 
condition.
"If the road is to be opened, it will not take 
more than 24 hours to make the bridge," disclosed 
the General.
The mile stone at Chakothi reading: Uri 10 KM; 
Baramula 51 KM; Srinagar 121 KM did something to 
all the Kashmiri journalists from within. How 
crude are the realities - you have just a 
ten-minute drive to reach your side of Kashmir 
but you can't. Instead, you have to travel 
hundreds of miles back to Lahore and then cross 
Wagah, and then travel another hundreds of miles 
to reach your part of Kashmir. Injustice! Isn't 
it?
I noticed a very strange thing in that part of 
Kashmir - the desire for opening of the roads 
between two Kashmirs is stronger there than it is 
in my part of Kashmir. As the talk of opening of 
roads has started making rounds, people in 
Pakistani Kashmir, especially elders have started 
feeling nostalgic.
Yousuf Jameel visited a Kashmiri family in 
Muzaffarabad. He said that the head of the family 
has turned virtually mad. Every morning he tells 
his wife to pack his clothes as he will leave for 
Kashmir through Muzaffarabad-Srinagar road.
On our last day in Muzaffarabad, a cultural 
programme was organized by the Information 
Department there. An interesting 15-minute play 
was staged with three characters. It was an old 
father and a young daughter with their luggage 
waiting for the bus. They waited from morning 
till evening and no bus turned up. Another young 
man who was watching the duo sitting impatiently 
there asks them which bus they were waiting for. 
"Bus to Srinagar," replied the old man. And the 
young man laughs at him. "It is not coming. But 
some journalists from India and Indian Kashmir 
are in the town. You can send your message to 
Srinagar through their group leader Vinod 
Sharma!" the young man said.
The play was so touching that it brought tears to 
all the eyes and Vinod Sharma went to the stage 
promising that he will carry their message!
Early next morning (around 0530 hours) we left 
Muzaffarabad for Islamabad airport. As the 
weather was kind enough, an old Folker took us to 
Gilgit. It was a wonderful flying - very 
identical to the air travel to Ladakh in our 
part. We flew over gorgeous mountains - K2 and 
others.
Around 1300 hours we landed at sunny Gilgat 
airport. Besides the breathtaking beauty of the 
area, first thing that we encountered was a group 
of JKLF activists with banners in hands, shouting 
slogans in favour of Independent Kashmir. They 
were standing outside airport building. All of 
them were from Amanullah Khan's JKLF.
We were straightaway driven to a PTDC (Pakistan 
Tourism Development) hotel, very near to the 
airport. There we checked in and had our lunch. 
And in the meantime people from all walks of life 
started flooding the hotel.
Redefined as Northern Areas, Gilgit is presently 
under the direct control of Islamabad but still 
it has not been given the status of a 
full-fledged province. It is ruled directly by 
Pakistan through its Chief Executive, who is 
stationed at Islamabad. Although, on paper, the 
Deputy Chief Executive, who stays in Gilgit is 
the ruling authority, but practically orders flow 
from federal government.
Northern Areas are spread over 72,496 Kilometers 
with a population of some 869,997. It is divided 
into six districts (earlier only five; Astoor 
district has been created recently).

[Box]
Please take us back!
Muzaffarabad: Some 700 odd youth are roaming 
around in Muzaffarabad with nothing to do. Their 
condition is pathetic. They are all from Kashmir 
Valley. They want to come back. But how?
These are the youth who crossed over to this part 
to seek arms training and go back to wage Jihad 
against India. "But our visit to this part was an 
eye-opener. It is no Jihad but a commercial game 
where leaders cash in on the sufferings of 
Kashmi-ris," said a young boy from Rafiabad.
These boys disassociated from their respective 
groups (Tanzeems) and decided not to be part of 
militancy and for that they are paying the price.
"Those who are in Tanze-ems are enjoying life. 
They get everything - food, money, places to 
live. And also those who migrated to this part 
fr-om border area are comfortable. They get Rs 
750 per head per month. Govt. has construc ted 
hutments for them. They have been provided 
electricity and water and have separate schools. 
But we are the worst lot. We're neither Mujah ids 
nor Migrants and therefore nobody cares for us," 
said another person who hails fr om a Bandipore 
village. His ap ple orchards in Kashmir wou ld 
give him a minimum of Rs 3 lakhs per year and in 
Muzaffa rabad he is selling fruit on a raidee 
(wheel cart) on streets.
"I have to play hide and seek with police. Though 
I pay my Hafta regularly but still they are after 
my life," he said.
These youth, they alleged were being hounded by 
ISI and local intelligence people. "They did 
everything that we should not get in touch with 
you but we managed and we know what we have to 
face once you leave," said a 47-year-old person 
from Hand-wara. He too had crossed over in 1998, 
but has now decided to say good bye to arms.
"More than 400 boys are locked up in Qilla 
interrogation centre. They are amongst us who 
want to go back but not with arms. Life has 
become hell for us. We have turned into Dhobi Ke 
Kuttay. Please help us," said another boy from 
Khanyar area.
"When we tell these things to our Tanzeem people, 
they say they will allow us to cross but with 
arms only. And that is what we don't want," said 
this boy.
"Tell India to allow us to come back. We're even 
ready to face the interrogation but can't 
tolerate the humiliation here anymore," said one 
of the boys.
He said that even the local people are not 
friendly toward them. But the locals have their 
own stories to tell.
"They came here as Muja hids. Hum Ne Inhain Aank 
hon Pe Bithaya. And now they wander here and 
there troubling us," said an STD booth owner, in 
the vicinity of the Hotel Sangam, where we're 
staying. The STD man accused these Kashmiri boys 
of indulging in eve-teasing, pick-pocketing and 
other such evils, the allegations refuted by the 
boys.

[Box ends]

Sgr-M'bad road only
Why?
Mirpur: In Mirpur there is a strong desire for 
opening of roads between two Kashmirs. But 
Mirpuris are upset as they see people talking 
about Srinagar-Muza-ffarabad road only.
Majority of the divided families live in Mirpur, 
they argue and advocate opening of 
Mirpur-Naushehra and Rawlakote-Poonch roads too.
"People have to rise above Srinagar-centric 
attitude. Jammu and Kashmir is not Srinagar 
alone. You have to think about the aspirations of 
the people living in other areas too," we were 
told.
Mirpuris feel much closer to Jammu on the other 
side of LoC both linguistically and culturally. 
Although they don't say it very candidly, they 
don't like Srinagar's hegemony.

[Box]

APNA fights with police
Muzaffarabad: The leaders of All Parties National 
Alliance had a tough time at our hotel as they 
wanted to meet the visiting journalists but 
police would not allow them.
They were not allowed inside the hotel but after 
a few hours of verbal brawl with the police; they 
managed to reach the hotel lobby but where not 
allowed to go into the rooms. Finally the 
journalists themselves got down to the lobby to 
interact with them.
They were upset and angry that their meeting, 
which they claimed was in the earlier itinerary, 
was dropped. They accused that the tour was 
conducted by Pakistan agencies and therefore 
nationalists were being dropped out. However, it 
was made clear to them that as the delegation was 
visiting Gilgit too, so there programme has been 
fixed there.
APNA is a forum of almost all national and 
pro-unification and pro-independence groups. This 
group counters Pakistan claim over Northern Areas.

[Box ends]

Although the sentiments of independence are 
strong here too, but people seem more realistic. 
They think independence is not achievable and 
therefore want to live as part of Pakistan. But 
their strong demand is that Pakistan recognizes 
these areas as one of its provinces and gives all 
the democratic and economic rights to them as it 
has given to its own people. There is a strong 
urge for self-rule and people don't like to be 
governed from Islamabad.
Sectarian divide is sharp but both Shias and 
Sunnis are of the opinion that this divide is 
being created by Pakistani agencies. "Pakistan 
knows that once we are united, we will fight for 
our rights and therefore uses some so-called 
leaders from both the communities to instigate 
hatred," said most of the people.
The worst worry these people have is that of 
State Subject. While in Indian Kashmir and 
Pakistani Kashmir, the State Subject law is 
intact and no outsiders can buy properties, it is 
not the same in Northern Areas.
"Rich people of Pakistan are buying land here and 
a time will come when we'll be in minority," said 
a Balwaristan movement activist. A huge market in 
Gilgit is owned by the Pakistan Army. It was 
closed on that day as it was a Sunday, but people 
said that it was a beautiful market.
We had a series of meetings in Gilgit and met the 
Councilors too who had got elected in a recent 
election (most of the people in Northern Areas 
doesn't recognize these councilors as genuine 
representatives). People think of reunification 
of Jammu and Kashmir too but at the same time are 
very apprehensive about Srinagar's domination. 
Pertinent to mention that prior to 1947, Gilgit 
was under direct control of Srinagar and the 
people don't have pleasant memories of the days. 
The sentiments of the people regarding 'Srinagar 
monopoly' are identical with those in our part of 
Ladakh.
Next morning was disappointing. We're told that 
due to bad weather, the flight couldn't come and 
therefore we had to travel all the way by bus. 
All the journalists were upset. We're so tired 
that none of us would appreciate a road travel. 
Nidhi Razdan was ill but all including her had no 
other option.
Deciding to accept the fate as it comes, we 
resolved to enjoy the drive. And it was worth it. 
The landscape was breathtakingly beautiful. 
Colour of mountains and height and depth of the 
terrain too was heavenly. We halted at a view 
point, a few Kilometres from Gilgit. Here River 
Gilgit and Indus meet and the spot also provides 
a wonderful feast to ones eyes as three gigantic 
mountain ranges - Hindukush, Karakoram, Himalaya 
meet here.
We had our lunch at Chilas. The hotel was really 
good and food wonderful. We had to rest there for 
some two hours as the bus we were traveling in 
had some problem. During our stay we came to know 
that this area is virtually controlled by fanatic 
Muslim groups. Girls are not allowed to go to 
schools and the only cinema hall there was burnt 
down by some group a few years back. We saw some 
kids playing on the roadside and the poverty was 
visible on their faces.
Chilas is a small place and our two-hour stay 
came as a boon to some shopkeepers selling 
Salajeet. Salajeet is some sort of drug which 
people say cures arthritis and other orthopedic 
ailments. A myth about the drug having 
aphrodisiac properties is also very popular as a 
Pakistani journalist put it: "It is the desi 
version of Viagra." Everybody from our group was 
purchasing Salajeet but at the same time giving 
very stupid kind of explanations. While some said 
they were getting the drug for wife's back 
problems, some suggested their ailing uncles as 
the reciepients of the 'wonder drug'. It became a 
kind of joke and we laughed all the way.
Another joke was about Hunza water. Hunza is an 
area in Gilgit and Hunza water meant all types of 
alcoholic drinks. Whenever somebody would be 
offered mineral water, he would ask: "Is it plain 
water or Hunza water?"

[Box]

Hurriyat factions are not representative
Muzaffarabad/Mirpur: Both in Muzaffarabad and 
Mir-pur people in general challenged the 
representative character of both factions of the 
All Parties Hurriyat Conference, two 
conglomerates of various separatists forums.
"These Hurriyat's are not representative. They 
are Valley-specific and don't give a damn to 
people of Jammu, Rajouri, Poo-nch, Ladakh or the 
area under Pakistan's control." This statement 
was made by several people.
A retired professor (female) in Muzaffarabad went 
to the extent of saying about the people 
Hurriyats have in Pakistani part of Kashmir: 
"Unka Kirdaar Dagdaar Hai."

[Box ends]

Our bus came to a halt so me 200 Kms from Gilgit. 
It was raining and already dark. A rock had 
fallen in the middle of the road and the traffic 
had come to a halt. We were told that no road 
clearance party would come and if we cou ldn't do 
anything, we would have to stay there for the wh 
ole night. All our people and the drivers of 
other vehicles tried to do something. It was 
difficult. There were no pro per tools to handle 
the rock. But people continued trying. Sant Kumar 
was the one from our group who really worked hard 
and finally when the rock was removed after some 
one-and-a-half hour's toil, Sant was received 
back in the bus amid clapping.
We reached Rawalpindi around 0630 next morning. 
Tired like dogs, we fell in our rooms like logs; 
but had to be ready again by 0900 hours. It was 
tough but we did it with the excitement that we 
would be leaving for Lahore and could relax there.
In the morning Prof Ash raf Saraf had come to see 
us. Saraf was bitter about Geel ani's 
confrontational attitude. Other people who 
visited us were Rafiq Dar and Altaf Qadri of 
JKLF. Unlike the JKLF boys in Muzaffarabad, who 
really seem living a tough life, these two were 
much relaxed and neatly dressed. Their very 
appearance was enough to convey that they are 
living comfortable lives.
Our departure got delayed as Mustanzar Javed who 
was to see us off to Lahore, was stuck somewhere. 
We finally left around 1330 hours. We took the 
famous motorway, the one laid during Nawaz 
Sharief's tenure. It is really beautiful and 
perfectly maintained. It has good and comfortable 
junk-food restaurants and hotels all over the 
way. While driving to Lahore from Islamabad, you 
pass through Salt Mountains too. It is really a 
wonderful drive.
We reached Lahore by the evening and as the Hotel 
Avari was already full, we're taken to two guest 
houses in Liberty area. We decided to go out for 
a while to do some shopping but were told by the 
hosts to be back by 10.30 o' clock. I and Zaffar 
Meraj went to Liberty market. It is one of the 
posh markets of Lahore. Most of the shoppers you 
find during nights are women. Lahore is an open 
city and you find the women on streets 
fashionably fashionable.
We did some shopping, had some juice, ate some 
snacks and by 11:00 in the night were back in our 
guest house. Imtiyaz Alam and others were there. 
The party had already started and the only thing 
missing was that the dancer who had to perform 
was yet to come. After sometime she reached there 
with her crew and it was dancing almost all the 
night. The music played was - guess - Indian, 
what else.
She was a wonderful dancer. Although my 
colleagues were seeing her dance for the first 
time, I had already enjoyed her dance before 
leaving for Pakistani Kashmir. During our earlier 
three-day stay in Lahore, a friend took me to 
another friend's farm-house, where we watched her 
dance.
It was a memorable night. I too tried my steps 
after I think some 20 years. Hold your breath, I 
did well. Tahir really enjoyed the party and all 
his fatigue of travel and hectic schedule 
vanished.
Around 3:00 in the morning, we called it a day 
and went to sleep. Next day Lahore Press Club had 
organized a see-off party. After eating our 
lunch, we left for Wagah and by 5:00 in the 
evening were back in Amritsar.
A memorable visit it was. Thanks to SAFMA that it 
provided us a chance to visit Pakistan and 
Kashmir there. We are back with lots of sweet 
memories and with fresh hopes and optimism.
People of Pakistan are no longer hostage to the 
bitter memories of 1947, '65 or '71. Yes, some 
sections may be, but majority wants to move 
ahead. They see no reason in remaining hostile to 
India. Their message is what Anupam Kher says in 
the last scene of Veer-Zara: "We long er need to 
scratch the woun ds of history. Our new gener 
ation wants to rise above the se things. They 
want peace, love and reconciliation, and tomorrow 
belong to them."
Free movement of people is something that would 
help India and Pakistan come closer. Let people 
from either side be allowed to visit each other, 
explore by themselves and feel the difference. 
This trend will undoubtedly change the whole 
politics of the sub-continent.


_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Buzz on the perils of fundamentalist politics, on 
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