[Quite contrary to the widespread belief, both within India and internationally, the latest move of the incumbent Indian regime on Kashmir is not *primarily* concerned about Kashmir.
Never mind how ridiculous it sounds, given how hugely the Kashmiris have been impacted as a consequence. It's, nevertheless, aimed, essentially, at turning Kashmir into a hub of militant resistance and use that to generate some extra, and critical, propulsion, by mobilising Indian Hindus as "Hindus" - in response, for its project to turn "India" into a "Hindu Rashtra" (Hindu nation state) - denuded of any vestige of pluralism and substantive democracy. That's the *primary* goal - the metamorphosis of "India". In that framework, even the risk of losing Kashmir, as a consequence, is worth taking. To illustrate, the detention of all the known "moderate" voices has no rational explanation - just none, other than as a deliberate attempt to let "extremism" grow unhindered, as the sole alternative to massive state repression. On the last October 22, the US House Subcommittee on Asia held a hearing on Human Rights in Asia. Here's (at sl. no. I. A. below) a very forceful and, rather, crisp presentation by an expatriate woman Kashmiri Pandit scholar-cum-creative writer on the obtaining situation in Kashmir and its implications. Another, related, face of the internationaisation of "Kashmir", on account of the subect moves: 《The US has asked India to come up with a "roadmap" for the restoration of political and economic normalcy in Kashmir following the imposition of restrictions in the region after New Delhi revoked a provision in its constitution that conferred special status on Kashmir. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells sought the release of all politicians detained in Kashmir but added that it had seen "progress" in easing of restrictions in place since August. She also urged Pakistan to take "sustained and irreversible" steps against terrorists operating from its territory, a PTI report from Washington said.》 (Excerpted from sl. no I. B. below.) And a glimpse into the tragedy of Kashmir, rather Kashmiris, at sl. no. III, below. 《Kashmiris are falling sick with young people reporting blood pressure, panic attacks and deep anxiety. "We do not sleep at nights as we do not know who will enter our house, the soldiers or the militants. We are not safe inside, and definitely not outside" said a young man who was perfectly healthy but is now suffering from anxiety and heightened blood pressure. 80 days of the lockdown has been tough, with the militants also now exercising influence over the ordinary Kashmiri's movements and activities along with the troops who have been positioned ---one to every 11 Kashmiris are the figures being quoted---since early August.》] I. A. Dr Nitasha Kaul, expert testimony on Kashmir, US Congressional Hearing, 22 October 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-S8xyn1cgY&fbclid=IwAR0g0xZ0aZ7RfncBm_EvwfJJI0q356OV8M0_iuCkJg4PMizgne0ktm6r8LI B. https://www.livemint.com/politics/news/us-asks-india-for-roadmap-on-restoring-normalcy-in-kashmir-11571983811819.html US asks India for roadmap on restoring normalcy in Kashmir 2 min read . Updated: 25 Oct 2019, 11:47 AM IST Elizabeth Roche Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells sought the release of politicians detained in Kashmir She also urged Pakistan to take "sustained and irreversible" steps against terrorists operating from its territory, according to reports New Delhi: The US has asked India to come up with a "roadmap" for the restoration of political and economic normalcy in Kashmir following the imposition of restrictions in the region after New Delhi revoked a provision in its constitution that conferred special status on Kashmir. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells sought the release of all politicians detained in Kashmir but added that it had seen "progress" in easing of restrictions in place since August. She also urged Pakistan to take "sustained and irreversible" steps against terrorists operating from its territory, a PTI report from Washington said. The comments seem to indicate the State Department in Washington trying to do a balancing act among India, Pakistan and members of the US Congress. India has said revocation of article 370 is an internal matter given that it was a temporary provision of its constitution that was revoked. Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar was in Washington on a three-day visit in september during which he met many members of the US Congress, opinion makers and spoke at thinktanks to put forth India’s views on the matter. Pakistan has slammed the Indian move as well as its actions in detaining political leaders and imposing curbs on communications including phones and internet access. Members of a US congressional group this week expressed concern over the detention of mainstream politicians who had been taken into preventive custody after New Delhi implemented its decision to revoke special status to Jammu and Kashmir and splitting the state into two Union Territories. "We continue to press for the release of detainees for the full restoration of everyday services, but most importantly, for roadmap to the restoration of political and economic normalcy," Alice Wells told reporters in Washington, the PTI report said. The US remains "deeply concerned" about the situation in the Valley where daily life of nearly eight million residents has been severely impacted since the decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status and to "detain without charge" political leaders and restrict communications, Wells said in an interaction with reporters. "We've seen progress, for example, four million postpaid mobile phone users have had service restored, but SMS and internet is restricted," she said. Noting that journalists have extensively covered developments in Kashmir, Wells however said the role of some of the international reporters have been particularly important, but journalists continued to face challenges in access while reporting due to the security restrictions. Wells said terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen "obviously are the problem". "In this vein, we welcome (Pakistan) Prime Minister (Imran) Khan's unambiguous statement in September that anyone who crosses from Pakistan to carry out violence in Kashmir are enemies of both Pakistan and the Kashmiri people," she was quoted as saying. "The constructive dialogue that we'd like to see between India and Pakistan must be based on Pakistan taking sustained and irreversible steps against militants and terrorists in its territory," Wells said. II. Unforgettable Kashmir - Your Next Travel Destination! | MangoBaaz <Oct 25, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=198xdfR_1Xo&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0HEygZ_mKqasJV-WzHuvi-LysUi3aTqrDm-s5okRoHIhY_XTLjaXnESEg III. https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/newsdetail/index/9/17767/kashmir----in-a--very-hard-place?fbclid=IwAR0jvbqCF-gqAoctITFDbrOE1QFX7JEh1lXxD9BO2etRGhqCeGhRvErM4qg THE CITIZEN BUREAU | 25 OCTOBER, 2019 Kashmir -- In a Very Hard Place 2 killed in Shopian SRINAGAR: Kashmiris are falling sick with young people reporting blood pressure, panic attacks and deep anxiety. "We do not sleep at nights as we do not know who will enter our house, the soldiers or the militants. We are not safe inside, and definitely not outside" said a young man who was perfectly healthy but is now suffering from anxiety and heightened blood pressure. 80 days of the lockdown has been tough, with the militants also now exercising influence over the ordinary Kashmiri's movements and activities along with the troops who have been positioned ---one to every 11 Kashmiris are the figures being quoted---since early August. The government first ignored the apple harvests, with Kashmiri orchards overhanging with ripened and rotting fruit. But now shortly after it moved to collect some of the produce, a truck driver and a helper were shot dead by gunmen in the Shopian district of south Kashmir. A trader was also critically injured. This comes amidst reports that there is pressure on the apple growers not to sell their stock to government agencies. The Citizen Photographer BASIT ZARGAR sends the following photographs of the apple harvest and the attack on the truckers at Shopian today: [***17 Photographs***] -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenyouth/CACEsOZj2mdvNFg2bwYK%2BGGoG9SU8sN%3DRSSxTwumTqGb33D8fjQ%40mail.gmail.com.
