Monday, May 01, 2006

The Carnage Resumes in Kashmir

Victim of Islamist attack in Kashmir

The Religion of Peace has struck again. According to Reuters,

Suspected Islamic militants shot dead at least 22 Hindus in two small villages in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday, officials said.

The massacre, one of the biggest in recent months, took place just days before Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holds talks with Kashmiri separatists in New Delhi and later travels to the violent region for a “roundtable” conference with Kashmiris.


“They [the villagers] were asked to assemble outside the house of the village head and later shot dead by the militants,” Gulzar Ahmed Qureshi, a top Doda official, told Reuters.

“Yes, they are all Hindus,” he added. “This is an unfortunate incident when things were looking up for peaceful days ahead.”

The Islamists are denying responsibility.

The Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest Kashmiri militant group, denied any role in the attack.

“We strongly condemn these killings which seem to be a conspiracy of Indian security agencies to malign the ongoing freedom struggle and mujahideens (holy warriors),” a spokesman of Hizbul Mujahideen said in a telephone call to local newspaper offices in Srinagar, the state’s summer capital.

You mean it wasn’t the Mossad??

CNN provides additional details:

The villagers were herded out of their homes early Sunday morning, where the gunmen started firing indiscriminately at them, S.P. Vaid, inspector-general of police in Jammu, said.

Among those gunned down was a nine-year-old girl, according to the Press Trust of India.

The massacre took place in the remote village of Kulhand, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from Doda in southern Jammu and Kashmir.

Both stories agree that the attack is designed to put a spanner into the works for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is scheduled to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday.

It’s the tried-and-true technique that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have perfected in the Palestinian territories: whenever leaders get anywhere close to real negotiations, start killing people and blowing things up to make sure that nothing significant can be agreed upon.

The only thing I don’t understand is why CNN and Reuters — two charter members of Friends of Terrorists International — use the I-word in their stories. Why did they acknowledge the role of Islam in these atrocities?

The usual circumlocutions were readily available — “Kashmiri separatists”, “militants”, “insurgents”, etc., etc. — so why drop the I-bomb?

Is it because no Jews or Americans were involved? Does that make it safe to acknowledge an Islamic component in a terrorist attack?

Commenter Vikrant points out:

This massacre didnt happen in Kashmir it happened in Jammu which is ethnically and culturally different than Kashmir and most importantly it has a Hindu majority. This peace process is largely one-sided and is only to placate Indian muslims and UN.

This is all quite true. I should have said "Jammu and Kashmir" or "Jammu e Kashmir". What is commonly known as "Kashmir" is actually the Indian state Jammu and Kashmir, which is composed of two distinct entities. This particular incident occurred in Jammu.

If I understand it correctly, Kashmir itself has already been pretty much ethnically cleansed of Hindus by the Islamists.


Dan M said...

Maybe the I word was used because the writers and editors were simply disgusted by the story and the photos.

Maybe the sheer human drama of these poor and suffering people resonated in their souls.

Vikrant said...

Baron when did the carnage stop? Since June last year over 400 Hindus have been murdered by these "separatists". Secondly this story is a bit misleading, this massacre didnt happen in Kashmir it happened in Jammu which is ethnically and culturally different than Kashmir and most importantly it has a Hindu majority. This peace process is largely one-sided and is only to placate Indian muslims and UN.

Anonymous said...

I'm waiting for some right wing headline writers to turn up.

"Muslims cause carnage, again" would be suitable.

Baron Bodissey said...

Vikrant --

What I really meant was that the carnage has resumed the way work has resumed -- i.e., taken up today where yesterday's left off.

But I will post a correction about the Jammu/Kashmir distinction. I am well aware of it, as you may know from my previous postings on the topic. But I was using the same shorthand that CNN and all the other news sources use.

I should have said "Jammu e Kashmir".

Vikrant said...

I think correct Hindi/Urdu/Kashmiri/Dogra term for the region is simply "Jammu Kashmir" . Though not many people know it there are over six differnt people who live in this area. Jammu is largely populated by Hindu Dogras and Punjabi Sikhs (and since 1990 Kashmiri Pundits). Vale of Kashmir most of which is contolled by Pakistan consists mostly of Kashmiri Shias,Baltistanis & Kashmiri Pundits (i.e Hindus) while Ladakh is populated by Buddhist Ladakhis of Tibetan origins.

People of Jammu and Ladakh have been demanding a separate federal status but the dhimmis in Delhi wont have any of it. To make matters worse Article 370 of Indian constitution prohibits any non-Kashmiri India from settling in the area thereby by ensuring Muslim majority of the state. Once the migrants from Central India are allowed in, Kashmir's demography would change withing months. Afterall its population is only about 7 million and it makes little sense to prevent migrants from densely populated peninsula.