SHEIKH ABDULLAH’S INTERVIEW WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE ON 7TH FEBURARY 1948.
[This telegram is of particular secrecy and should be retained by the authorized recipient and not passed on]
Cypher/OTP
DIPLOMATIC (SECRET)
FROM NEW YORK TO FOREIGN OFFICE
(From United Kingdom Delegation to United Nations)
No. 390 D. 2.25 p.m. 9th February, 1948
9th February, 1948 P. 8.18 p.m. 9th February, 1948
Repeated to High Commissioner New Delhi,
; High Commissioner Karachi
Washington Saving,
MOST IMMEDIATE

TOP SECRET
Addressed to For eign Office telegram No. 390 of 9th February repeated for information to High Commissioner New Delhi and High Commissioner Karachi and Saving to Washington.
Following for C.R.O. from Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations.
My immediately preceding telegram. Following is account of interview. [Begins]
At the request of Gopalaswami Ayyengar the Secretary of State interviewed Sheikh Abdullah on February 7th.
2. Secretary of State started by making it clear that Kashmir situation was one in which he was quite impartial and that his only concern was to stop the fighting and to introduce measures whereby the people would be given opportunity to express their views as to their future in a free and fair manner. Secretary of State pointed out that the importance of a settlement was matter of world interest since war on sub-continent of India would involve some 400 million people and would not only be disastrous for the people of India and Pakistan but to the world in general and to Asia in particular. World interest in the matter was therefore very considerable and opinions were being formed as a result of debates in the Security Council.
3. Sheikh Abdullah by producing all the arguments he had used in his speech of 5th February to the Security Council. He laid particular stress on his own position in Kashmir as the chosen leader of the people in their fight for freedom and said that local insurgents and his party were all fighting with the same object. He denied hotly that there had been any killings in Kashmir before October and laid whole blame for events on action of Pakistan Government. He invited neutral observers to go to Kashmir and to report whether his contentions regarding Pakistan Government were correct or not. His only solution to the problem was that Pakistan Government should be called upon to remove tribesmen. Thereafter Indian forces in Kashmir would suppress the local insurgents (he actually used the word ‘suppress’) and would organize elections for a new representative Government which would then organize and run a plebiscite. He ridiculed and suggestion that an impartial administration might be necessary to carry out a plebiscite.
4. In course of further discussion it was pointed out to Sheikh Abdullah that his solution to the problem involved further fighting in Kashmir to “suppress” the revolt of the local insurgents and that it would probably provoke war with the tribes of the North West Frontier and perhaps between India and Pakistan. His retort was “let there be war”. He evaded answering the direct question “against whom are the local insurgents fighting”?
5. On returning again to the question of how fighting could be stopped Sheikh Abdullah gave the unconstructive answer “give Kashmir to Pakistan now”. The Secretary of State replied “even that would be better for India and more advantageous for her than that she should enter on a war the consequences and result of which are unforeseeable”. Sheikh Abdullah quickly twisted his own answer as being the answer of the Secretary of State to the problem and said “you think this would be a nice solution”. The Secretary of State corrected him and pointed out exactly what he said in reply to Sheikh Abdullah’s statement. Sheikh Abdullah however again returned to this allegation in further conversation.
6. Since further discussion was producing nothing constructive the interview was ended by the Secretary of State restating his position as given paragraph 2 above. Sheikh Abdullah’s attitude throughout was completely uncomprising and his parting words, announced in a somewhat hostile manner were “we shall hold a plebiscite under conditions laid down by ourselves”. [Ends]
Foreign Office please repeats to United Kingdom High Commissioner New Delhi and Pakistan as my telegrams Nos. 58 and 42 respectively.
[Advance copies sent to Duty Officer C.R.O. and Cypher Section C.R.O. for repetition to United Kingdom High Commissioners New Delhi and Pakistan].

&n bsp; COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
* Date of initiation of this message is February 1948, i.e. initial stages of war in the former disputed State, consisting areas of Gilgit, Baltistan, Laddakh, Muzaffarabad, Vale of Kashmir, Riyasi, Poonch, Jammu, Kathua. Sheikh is stressing rightly on removal of tribesmen but has given confused statements on suppression and purpose of “Local Insurgents”. Local insurgents are most probably the freedom fighters in Gilgit-Baltistan Laddakh and so called Azad Jammu Kashmir. The Shiekh has displayed a confused mind in 1947-48, lacking originality. * The flatterers of the group of Sardar Qayyum say, “Kashmir will become (Banaiga) Pakistan”. But, they do not explain as to how? Similarly, the Nationalists say, former State of BJK will become independent. But, they do not adequately explain as to how, short of militancy? Can they give out the basics of the dispute in terms of political geographical boundaries, political administrative units at the time of dispute and in future, the ongoing South Asian / international status of the disputed regions, interim administrations responsible to work till final resolution of the dispute and what all is relevant and discarded in the UN concerned documents?
* UNCIP and UN Resolutions, connected correspondence and treaties on the former disputed State concluded under UN charter, ought to be wholesomely read and understood thoroughly by the intellectual and nationalists of BJK to turn the tables against the occupational, enslaving and criminal presence of the Govts of Pakistan and India. India, Pakistan and the World agreed once upon a time on it in 1948 and now both the Govts are running away from it, especially Govt of Pakistan on Gilgit-Baltistan issue. Only few additions are required in UNCIP Resolutions for the freedom and dignity of the oppressed people of BJK.
* Mr Javed Inayat’s demand of restoration of BJK Army is a very heartening and welcome sign. Offcourse, this is given out in UNCIP correspondence. It should be BJK Army, because J&K Army in Bolor should not be an occupational army. It will take time to arrive at a mutually agreed single identity. In the meantime BJK identity should work for the people of divided and disputed former State.
* It is being authentically heard that the Prime Minister of Pakistan is in the very near future going to Gilgit-Baltistan to announce a political package there. It is said to be envisaging upgrading so called Northern Area Legislative Council (not a single legislation carried so far) to Northern Area Legislative Assembly. Besides, it is said that the advisors of the non-local Chief Executive will be enjoying the status of provincial ministers. This is all fraud, another lollypop and an anesthesia. The Govt of Pakistan should know that it is high time that they must setup a complete and genuine local Authority Govt in Gilgit, as accepted by themselves and the UN. The Chief Executive should be a local elected member and army rule must finish from there. Everybody concerned should minutely monitor the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s forthcoming visit to Gilgit-Baltistan.

LOOK AT THE SUBSTANDARD.

Genocide in Kashmir

• 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits, constituting 99% of the total population of Hindus living in Muslim majority area of the Kashmir Valley, were forcibly pushed out of the Valley by Muslim terrorists, trained in Pakistan, since the end of 1989. They have been forced to live the life of exiles in their own country, outside their homeland, by unleashing a systematic campaign of terror, murder, loot and arson.
• Genocide of Kashmiri Pandits has reached its climax with Muslim terrorism succeeding in ‘CLEANSING’ the valley of this ancient ethno-religious community.
• With the completion of 11th year of their forced exile, this peace loving, culturally rich community with a history of more than 5000 years, is fighting a grim battle to save itself from becoming extinct as a distinct race and culture.

Main Camp Sites in Jammu

• Muthi Camp, Jammu
• Transport Nagar, Jammu
• Purkhoo Camp, Jammu
• Stadium Camp, Jammu
• Jhiri Camp, Jammu
• Nagrota Camp, Jammu
• Mishriwala Camp, Jammu
• Battalbalian Camp, Udhampur

Main Camp Sites in Delhi

• Nandnagri
• Sultanpuri, Kailash Colony
• Maviya Nagar
• South Extension
• Palika Dham
• Lajpat Nagar
• Aliganj
• Bapu Dham
• Amar Colony
• Mangol Puri
• Patel Nagar
• Sultanpuri
• Moti Nagar
• Begampura

Kashmiri Pandits in Exile

Terrorist Violence against Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir - Role of Pakistan

• Terrorism in Kashmir is an ideological struggle with specified political commitments which are fundamentalist and communal in character.

• Terrorist violence is aimed at achieving the disengagement of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from India and its annexation to Pakistan. It is, the continuation of the Islamic fundamentalist struggle for the homeland of Pakistan which claims Jammu and Kashmir state on account of its Muslim majority character. 

• The major dimension of the terrorist violence in Kashmir is the terrorists’ commitment to the extermination and subjugation of the Hindus in the state because Hindus do not subscribe to the idea of separation from India, nor do they expect to be governed by the authority of the state which derives its sanction from the law and precedent of Islam. Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) have always been in the forefront of the struggle against secessionism, communalism and fundamentalism. Hence this peace loving minority with a modern outlook became the main victim of terrorist violence. The strategies involved in the terrorists’ operation against the Hindus in Kashmir include:

  • The extermination of Hindus

  • Subjecting Hindus to brutal torture to instill fear among them in order to achieve their submission.

  • To engineer a forced mass exodus of Hindus from the land of their ancestors and birth by way of issuing threatening letters, kidnappings and torture deaths on non-compllance of the terrorists’ dictates and ensure the destruction of the secular and pluralistic character of the socio-political fabric of the Kashmiri Society.

  • Attacks, molestations, kidnappings, gang rapes of the women folk of the Hindus in order to instil fear and humiliation in them.

  • Destruction and burning of the residential houses of the Hindus who leave their homes in look out for safety. Looting of their properties and appropriation of their business establishments to ensure that they do not return.

  • Attachment of their landed property.

  • Destruction of the social base of the Hindus by the desecration and destruction of their places of worship.

  • Appropriation of the property of the Hindu shrines and its attachment to Muslim religious endowments.

Fact sheet Of Atrocities On Kashmiri Pandits

Educational Institutions burnt, damaged forcefully occupied : 105 

Religious & Cultural Institutions Destroyed/burnt, damaged : 103 

Shops, Factories looted/burnt/occupied : 14,430 

Agriculture dependent families deprived of their land and source of income : 20,000 

Horticulture dependent families deprived of their resource : 12,500 

Houses Burnt : more than 20,000

Houses looted : 95%

Torture killings of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley : more than 1,100

Religious Sadism At Its Peak

• Killing of Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists clearly depicts extreme sadism. All victims have been subjected to extreme torture and terror.

• Torture deaths have been brought about by such inhuman practices as:

  • Strangulation by using steel wires

  • Hanging

  • Impailing

  • Branding with hot irons

  • Burning alive

  • Lynching

  • Bleeding to death

  • Gouging out of vital organs

  • Dismemberment of Human bodies

  • Drowning alive.

• Terrorists have frequently indulged in barbaric acts like performing ‘death dances’ after killing their target.

• Many a time, dead bodies were not even allowed to be properly cremated.

Universal Apathy

Failure of Government of India:

• The Jammu and Kashmir Government and Government of India have failed squarely to protect the Kashmiri Pandits against Islamic terrorism.

• Jammu and Kashmir being the only Muslim majority state in whole of India, the protection of minorities and their living peacefully, in their homeland, is crucial for India to remain as a Secular Democratic State.

• Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) from Kashmir valley is the crucial failure of Indian state to uphold its commitments to people of India as enshrined in Indian constitution which provides right to live with dignity and honour to every citizen irrespective of caste, creed, religion or colour.

Failure of Human Rights Organisations:

• Leading International Human Rights Organisations like Amnesty International, Asia Watch and others have yet to take proper cognisance of the genocide perpetrated on Kashmiri Pandits.

• Their representatives have so far failed to visit the camps in Jammu, Delhi and other parts of India were thousands of families are puting up for the last five years.

• Gradual extinction of a civilised community with an ancient culture is yet to shake the conscience of the world.

After The Exodus

• More than 5000 persons have died in camps and elsewhere after their forced exodus from the valley. They died of sunstrokes (more than 1000) as most of them were used to cold climate of Kashmir and could not acclimitize to extremely hot temperatures in rest of India.

• Heart attacks and accidents which have been mainly attributed to extreme psychological trau ma and mental pressures by the doctors.

• Gastroentritis and typhoid epidemics, snake bites etc. 

• The cohesiveness of the displaced families has broken as they were to undergo diaspora for finding livelihood in various parts of country.

• Cultural Dilution – The whole displaced community with a distinct culture is facing the threat of extinction after loosing its natural habitat.

Kashmiri Pandits

- Representatives of Glorious Heritage And Legacy of Kashmir

- Symbols of Brotherhood and Peace

• Kashmiri Pandits have always been devoted to spritual and academic pursuits. 

• They have during their history of more than 5000 years nurtured values of peace, co-existence and tolerance.

• They are the original inhabitants of Kashmir. 

• Kashmiri Pandits are progenitors of Kashmir Shaivism the philosophy of oneness of mankind.

• Hinyan and Sarvastivadin sects of Budhism found highest expression in Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits spread their message to China and Central Asia. 

• Kashmiri Pandits have contributed immensely to the evolution of human thought by contributing to almost all fields of creative human endeavour like literature (mainly Sanskrit), language, science and philosophy from times immemorial.

• Since the advent of Islam in 14th century, Kashmiri Hindus have been subjected to extreme persecution. To escape religious fanaticism in the form of forced conversions to Islam they had either to embrace death or leave Kashmir more than once during the last six hundred years.

• Present exodus of Kashmiri Pandits is fourth mass exodus in the history of Kashmir since the advent of Islam in this part.

Kashmiri Pandit: A Rare Pocket Of Tolerance

• Inspite of repeated rejection of co-existence and pluralism by Muslim society for the last six hundred years, Kashmiri Pandit has not given up his faith in these values.

• He has not reciprocated fanaticism with fanaticism and violence with violence.

• In a world threatened with ethnic and religious strifes where various parties have invariably resorted to violence and force, to further their claims, Kashmiri Pandit isthe only example who has totally rejected the violence as a means to fulfill socio-political aspirations.

World therefore has a stake in protecting this culturally rich, educated and peace loving community, from becoming extinct, if it has to move towards a Modern World Order of Peace and Universal brotherhood. 

Terrorist violence cannot be justified on the ground of its political and ideological motivations or value basis. Terrorist violence in the valley is not a Freedom Struggle at all. Cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir is a clear testimony of this fact. There is no freedom which impringes upon freedom. There can be no equality which leads to inequality.

Killings of Kashmiri Pandits

Mrs. Ganju – Banamohalla, Srinagar

Prem Nath Bhat – Anantnag

Sushil Kotru – Rainawari, Srinagar

Mrs. Roopawati – Pulwama

The Pandits: Dole and despair

Kashmiri Pandits — who were hounded out of their ancestral land by jihadis as part of the Islamist agenda of creating a ‘Muslim only’ Kashmir valley, as the first step towards setting up ‘Nizam-e-Mustafa’ — have been living on dole and hope for the last 18 years.
The first exodus saw 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits leaving their homes in Kashmir valley for sanctuary in Jammu and Delhi.

Subsequent targeted killing of Pandits forced the remaining to also flee and take refuge in shanty camps; those who could afford it, moved into rented accommodation. The final number of Pandits reduced to living as refugees in their own country would be as high as 400,000.

When Kashmiri Pandits fled Islamic terror

According to official statistics, notorious for being inaccurate if they are provided by the apology of a state government in Jammu & Kashmir and unreliable if they emanate from the Union home ministry, some 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits continue to camp in Jammu; another 100,000 are in Delhi. A large number of families have moved to other cities, some have migrated to the US or European countries.

Those who live in refugee camps — some 4,600 families — have to make do with one-room tenements. So, we have thousands of families who for 15 years have been condemned to live in 10 by 12 feet rooms, one room for each family. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images], following his visit to a camp last year, has sanctioned funds for two-room tenements.

The pawns without a vote

Then there are those Pandit families that do not have the wherewithal to live in rented accommodation, having left behind all their assets in the ‘Muslim only’ Kashmir valley, and have not been able to secure a one-room tenement. They live in tattered tents.

Every time the issue of the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits has been raised, the Union and state governments have been quick to point out the ‘assistance’ provided to the ‘migrants.’

The assistance is all of Rs 600 per head up to a maximum of Rs 2,400 per family. And inedible, PDS surplus food grains, what the Union home ministry’s annual report eloquently describes as ‘dry ration @ 9 kgs of rice and 2 kgs of atta per person and one kg of sugar per family per month to needy migrants.’

This did not happen in my Kashmir

The ‘non-needy migrants’ are Kashmiri Pandits who were government employees. They continue to receive their salaries or pensions. But they have been deprived of benefits like promotion. Most of them are barely able to keep body and soul together.

Kashmiri Pandit children have suffered the most. According to state government officials, ‘10 primary schools and three high schools have been built for migrant children.’ Who is to tell them that 10 primary schools and three high schools cannot meet the needs of 250,000 people?

Will the Pandits ever find a home?

As for health care, the Kashmiri Pandits have been left to fend for themselves. Officials claim there are 28 doctors in the camps. Show us the doctors, say the Pandits. Local residents of Jammu are entitled to free medicines and health care in government dispensaries and hospitals, but not the ‘migrants’ who must pay.

Meanwhile, depression and other stress-related health problems plague the exiled community. Studies have shown that Kashmiri Pandits have begun to age rapidly, much earlier than before. Fertility rate among them has registered a sharp decline while mortality rate has increased.

Who cares for the Pandits?

The humiliation of living on dole apart, there is this added slight of being labelled ‘migrants’ — as if the Kashmiri Pandits migrated of their own volition from the land of their forefathers. Implicit in this labelling is the shameful failure of India’s political class and its self-serving bureaucracy to recognise the truth behind the violence in Jammu & Kashmir.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has the gumption to tell Parliament ‘they (terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir) are our brothers and sisters.’ Therefore, the Government of India must embrace them.

What, then, are the Kashmiri Pandits chased out of their home and hearth by Mr Patil’s ‘brothers and sisters’?

The current dispensation in Delhi, however, is only echoing the callous indifference towards the plight of Kashmiri Pandits that has been the official policy of at least five different Union governments in these 18 years of their forced exile.

Kashmir is not okay, Mr Sayeed

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has recently set up an inter-ministerial group to prepare a report on the welfare of the Kashmiri Pandits. But that is small consolation for the thousands of hapless men, women and children who are convinced that nothing ever will be done to restore their lost lives.

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has on and off talked about enabling the Kashmiri Pandits to return to the valley. Three residential colonies are being set up for those willing to return. But Kashmiri Pandits believe this is an elaborate and devious political ploy meant to fool the Union government. Bearing in mind the Mufti’s track record, they have a point.

Interview: Panun Kashmir leader Kamal Hak

In any event, it makes little sense for the Kashmiri Pandits to live in ghettos: they will be sitting ducks during a terrorist strike. Moreover, the self-appointed spokesmen of the ‘Muslim only’ Kashmir valley have shown little interest in the return of the Kashmiri Pandits. Pro-Pakistani secessionists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani have openly opposed any talk of the Kashmiri Pandits returning to their own land.

‘Where do we return to?’ is a common refrain among the exiles. Their homes, which they had left behind, have been forcibly occupied. The ownership of their agricultural land has been surreptitiously transferred. Their shops and businesses have been either destroyed or illegally taken over. Government measures meant to protect Kashmiri Pandit property have been followed more in the breach than in practice. Politicians and officials have been complicit partners in this robbery.

In the months after the exodus of 1990, most Kashmiri Pandits were hopeful that they would soon be able to return to their homes with full dignity and honour. The months stretched into years. The years have stretched into a decade-and-a-half of exile whose end is nowhere in sight.

Today, they live on dole and in despair, not on hope.

Courtsy:Kanchan Gupta

Report on Pandit killings rekindles communal fissures in Valley

Kashmiri Pandit groups have reacted sharply to media reports that the Jammu and Kashmiri Police has prepared a report saying that ‘only’ 209 Kashmiri Pandits have been killed in the Valley since 1989. The police, however, deny having prepared or published any such report.

Some recent media reports had claimed that the first such report by the J&K police said that 209 Kashmiri Pandits had been killed by militants since 1989. In only 24 of these cases had chargesheets been filed whereas in 115 cases the killers remain unknown. The 24 chargesheets resulted in 31 local militants being booked but the only conviction that has taken place is of three militants for gunning down rights activist HN Wanchoo on 5 December 1995.

“We have not prepared any such report and don’t know what these media reports are alluding to,” Kashmir IGP SM Sahay told Sakaal Times. The six pages long report is said to list more names of more than 1500 minorities, but most of them Sikhs and non-Pandit Hindus from Jammu.

“This is a grossly under-reported figure,” said Agnishekhar of Panun Kashmir. “I have myself made a presentation before Amnesty International in 1993 about 450 killings and AsiaWatch NGO has recorded 1,200,” he told Sakaal Times from Jammu. He demaded that this list of 209 be published so that families of those who have not been named can make there representations before the police.

“That it took them 18 years to even make such a report speaks of their callousness,” said Agnishekhar of Panun Kashmir. “It shows they never wanted to do it in the first place as they want to hide the truth about the ethnic cleansing and Islamic communalism.” He alleged that this comes at a time when the government is trying to force the Pandits to return to the Valley without a guarantee of peace. “It is part of an effort to hoodwink the nation and the world,” he told Sakaal Times.

Ajay Churjoo of another faction of Panun Kashmir said that the Relief Commissioner recognizes 750 killings and even in the 90’s the J&K government recognized 450 and granted ex-gratia compensation to more than 350. “Many killings were not even recorded. Instead of investigating them they are busy reducing the figure,” he said.

“Even if one goes by a layman’s account of Pandits killed in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989 the number would be higher than 1000 but it isn’t about mere numbers,”  said one of Kashmiri Pandit organization.

“The Panun Kashmir website itself lists around 300 names. I don’t know how they claim 1,200″ said Zahiruddin, editor of the Kashmiri paper Etalaat. “Even if one Pandit was killed it is bad enough. It is not about numbers,” he said, adding, “but some groups want to exaggerate the numbers and then compare it with the Holocaust. That does not make sense.” The website http://www.kashmiri-pandit.org/projectr3/ lists names and details of 363 Pandits killed between 1990 and 2003.

Khurram Parvez of the Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society said that while the killing of even one Pandit was condemnable, his organization is investigation how many of the known Pandit killings were due to the religious identity of the victims and how many due to their political identities. “If a Kashmiri Pandit politician or intelligence agent was killed he is not killed because he was a Pandit,” said Parvez, adding, “And many are listed as unknown. If you don’t know their identity how do you know they were Pandits?” He alleged that the police was denying making such a report as the elections are approaching and the ruling Congress party does not want to alienate the small but powerful voting block of Pandits in the Valley who have traditionally been Congress voters.

The alleged report has rekindled communal fissures in the valley. Khurram’s colleague Parvez Imroz said, “A lot of people in the majority community (Muslims) who have sympathy for the plight of the Pandits are discomfited when Pandits get national media attention but not the killing of innocent Muslims. The recent discovery of a mass anonymous grave of over 900 Muslims has been largely ignored by the Delhi media,” he said.

Amongst the accused for Pandit killings are Yasin Malik and his organization, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. JKLF member Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karatay, called “Butcher of Pandits” by Pandit groups, was released in 2006 for want of evidence. He had already spent 16 years in jail. JKLF president Yasin Malik refused to comment. “There are no charges against me and I have nothing to say,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition in the J&K Assembly, Abdul Rahim Rather of the National Conference said the the reason for almost no conviction was a practical problem: “When militancy was at its peak in the valley nobody would dare to come out and be a wwitness. Militants would often be masked and kill in the night. You couldn’t identify them,” he said.

Agreeing with him, People’s Democratic Party spokesperson Mehbooba Mufti told Sakaal Times: “Conviction rates are low even for killings of Muslims as well. We can’t see violence against Pandits in isolation. And why forget the Sikhs of Chattisinghpora or the Hindus of Jammu who have been killed?”

She refused to comment on the Pandit groups’ demand for an enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation or by a committee heahed by a Supreme Court judge. However, Mukul Sharma of Amnesty International supported such a demand, adding that one good option for an inquiry are the UN agencies who have been banned from doing so in Kashmir by the Indian government.