The movement for the independence of Jammu Kashmir pioneered by the JKLF in 1988-89 was the biggest people’s revolution in the history of the state of Jammu Kashmir
Srinagar:The newly released story of the film “The Kashmir Files” is biased, one sided, contrary to reality and a poisonous propaganda of the Indian government against Muslims of Jammu Kashmir, Say the JKLF.
Destroying the centuries old brotherhood between the Muslim majority and the Non-Muslim minorities of the State of Jammu and Kashmir has always been the goal of the Indian government and the people working at its payroll. Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) especially the imprisoned Quaid-e-Kashmir Muhammad Yasin Malik personally, and while performing his national and organizational duties have been striving rigorously for the return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits.
The role played by JKLF and Muhammad Yasin Malik in this regard is not only commendable but undeniable too. Yasin Malik’s cordial relations with Kashmiri Pandit community and his numerous efforts for their rehabilitation at their ancestral and native land are a part of history that cannot be ignored. This was stated by the special representative of Muhammad Yasin Malik and chief spokesman of the JKLF, Muhammad Rafiq Dar while reacting to the ongoing debate against the freedom movement within a certain section of India under the guise of the migration of Kashmiri Pandits.
According to a press release issued from the JKLF Central Information Office, the independence movement that started in 1988 under the banner of the JKLF was the biggest people’s revolution of 500 years of Kashmir history. This movement was aimed to achieve independence, sovereignty and unification of the divided State of Jammu Kashmir through attainment of the internationally recognized fundamental right to self-determination for all its inhabitants without prejudices of color, caste, creed, region and religion.
According to the statement, the spokesperson said that in order to achieve this basic goal, the people of the State from both sides of the ceasefire line along with the top leadership like Quaid-e-Kashmir Yasin Malik are making unprecedented sacrifices that includes more than 125000 were martyred, hundreds and thousands got injuries, molestation on women, destruction of billions worth properties, migration of hundreds and thousands of families, and arrests of young, old and juvenile Kashmiris, thousands of them are still languishing in different jails of Indian cities thousands of kilometers away from their native State of Jammu Kashmir.
The JKLF spokesman said that the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley was in fact a plan of the Indian rulers and its agencies, which was implemented immediately after the appointment of Jagmohan as the governor of the State in early January 1990. JKLF does not hesitate to admit that the wrongdoings of some blacksheep in the freedom movement camp made it easier for India to put blame on the freedom fighters. But JKLF as a party and the Kashmiri people as a nation have always been depressed and regretful for the unfortunate circumstances and difficulties that have befallen Kashmiri Pandit community. He said that today RSS backed handful of inimical elements especially the Pandit elite residing in Delhi and other metropolitan cities of India, who are actually the product of intelligence agencies, are hell bent upon to further erode the already strained relations of the two communities. On the behest of Indian establishment efforts are being made to strengthen the walls of hatred between Pandits and Muslims, and to widen the gulf between them. These elements are the ones who have in the past conspired against the efforts of JKLF, Kashmiri freedom camp and especially of Muhammad Yasin Malik for the rehabilitation and repatriation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits.
According to the JKLF spokesperson, distorting the image of Kashmiri freedom camp at the behest of the Indian government has been a long failed effort of the Indian media. They have been reporting biasedly on Jammu Kashmir and unfortunately toeing the government line. Thus committing journalistic dishonesty by denying the Indian people their right to know about the realities. The spokesman said that our religion interprets the killing of any innocent human being as killing the whole of humanity and our Kashmiri culture is also based on the same principles of tolerance and humanitarianism. However, to put the record straight, according to police records, about 90 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in the year 1990 which is termed by Indian media, and these few elite pandits as genocide and holocaust.
But when it comes to Kashmiri Muslims, only in the first few months of 1990 the Indian Army and trigger happy Indian forces massacred more than 500 unarmed Kashmiri Muslims during the massacres of Gawkdal, Handwara, Kupwara, Sopore, Tengpura bypass and Zakura and most unfortunate part of it is that these hypocrites have remained silent about this. With the increase in massacres the number of killings at the hands of Indian forces in Jammu Kashmir has by now risen to more than 125000 but the world has witnessed that still the slogan of freedom remains alive. Have these ‘The Kashmir files’ film makers and the Indian media lost every sight of humanity, decency, and did not they feel any shame on their hypocrisy and ignorance, asked the Spokesman.
JKLF spokesman further said that the story of Vivek Agnihotri’s newly directed film “The Kashmir Files”, which was believed to highlight and portray the miseries of displaced Kashmiri Pandits living in the migrant camps, has termed to be one sided, biased and far from the ground realities. The film in no way achieved the said goal instead it created more wedge between the two communities as the story turned to be fabricated and a poisonous propaganda against Kashmiri Muslims in general and the freedom camp in particular. He said that the Kashmiri people think that the script of the film is based on the false material provided to the director by the Indian intelligence agencies as it is politically motivated suiting the polity of RSS and therefore it has no locus standi.
According to the spokesperson, JKLF did not start the armed struggle in 1989 as a matter of choice but it was imposed on us by State repression and continued denial of rights. The aim of this movement was not to kill humanity but to draw the attention of the international community, including India, Pakistan, and the United Nations, for the immediate resolution of the Kashmir issue. This is why after the removal of dust from the files of the Kashmir dispute at the international arena especially the UN, JKLF changed the mode and modus operandi of its struggle and started a peaceful resistance movement to find a just solution to the Kashmir issue through dialogue and also did whatever possible to promote a non-violent, peaceful freedom movement in Jammu Kashmir.
The spokesman said that the widely known and appreciated political programs launched by JKLF under the leadership of Yasin Malik such as the signature campaign, Safer I Azadi, etc. were programs aimed to achieve this very goal. He said that the Indian political leadership, prominent human rights activists and many important and influential members of Indian civil society, including the international community, appreciated such efforts of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front.
Mohammad Rafiq Dar lauded those Kashmiri Pandit brethren and sisters, and also those humanitarians in Indian civil society who opposed the said film on the grounds that it was filmed for political purposes to achieve.