By Mohammed Sirajuddeen for TwoCircles.net
‘A man is not aware of the future and does not know as and when things can go awry. But still then he plans for the future, despite the fact that Almighty alone knows what will happen in times to come’ puts Sahil Maqbool (also known as Mohd. Maqbool Khokhar) in his masterpiece ‘Shabistan-e-Wajood’ (The Ordeal of a Journalist) which is adopted as reference book on Kashmiri jails by International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC). Reporters sans Frontiers (RSF) praised it as the second best book in 2009. His ‘Parchhawan’ was endowed with the ‘Best Book Award’ in 2015 by then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during an award distribution ceremony organised by Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL). Currently, Sahil is the Associate Editor of ‘Buland Kashmir’, a publication of ‘Rising Kashmir’ group.
Earlier, his fate as an investigative journalist with Urdu newspaper ‘Chattan’ was overshadowed when he was tossed into a jeep by five army men in civilian-dress in September 2004. Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) enables army men to pick any one under suspicion with full legal impunity in Kashmir. Charged as an ‘ISI agent’, Sahil was tortured in ‘Hari Niwas’ Interrogation Center and faced maltreatment at the hands of security forces. Between 2004 and 2008 he was kept in Srinagar Central Jail, Kote Bhalwal Jammu Central Jail and Amphalla District Jail. Slapped with ‘Official Secrets Act’ and ‘Enemy Agents Ordinance’, Sahil was held responsible for transgressions under the Public Safety Act at different junctures. On the pretext of his visit to Pakistan earlier in 2001, he was framed in cases pertaining to espionage. Authorities alleged him of colluding with militants, possessing ‘secret documents’, sharing sensitive ‘photographs’ with the Pakistan intelligence network, and attacking jail officials in prison. While he admitted his ‘professional’ contacts with a journalist from Pakistan, he categorically denied the accusations of spying.
Lodged along with prominent Kashmiri ‘tahreek’ figures like Dr Mohammad Qasim and others in prison, Sahil says ‘I spent 40 months and more in jail’. In the first chapter of ‘Shabistan-e-Wajood’, he notes ‘I had never dreamt that I would be beaten to a pulp after being tied with ropes. I was not that I would be pushed to the hilt in the torture cell of a jail and would have to pass days together in jail. I also did not know that I would be presented in court and I would have to seek a remand for my release from the judge.’ In early 2016, speaking in a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival, he asserted that Muslims of Kashmir Valley would welcome Pandits if they return.
Following are the excerpts of an interview by Mohammed Sirajuddeen of Sahil Maqbool on issues pertaining to contemporary Kashmir.
Q: ‘Shabistan-e-Wajood’ elucidates your days in Prison….How would you recall your arrest and torture now?
A: My arrest was a clear case of revenge by some officers in security forces, who were exposed in my articles and write-ups. As a journalist, I spoke about human rights violations and killing of innocent people by security forces and their ‘want of ransom’. Now when I look back, it seems like a nightmare, which lasted for nearly four years. I lost all my job contacts and also my hold as a reputed senior journalist in conflict hit Kashmir got affected. Nine years has gone-bye since my release…but still, I am struggling to regain my work and rebuild my areas which were badly damaged due to my arrest and false propaganda by the state agents.
Q: You were charged with being an ISI agent? Comments, please.
A: Such charges provide a strong base to the police and other agencies of security establishment as they enjoy extraordinary powers under the draconian laws such as AFSPA and Disturbed Areas Act. Actually… they wanted to teach a lesson to the journalist fraternity of Kashmir, which they believed was favouring ‘separatists’ and ‘ultras’, so I was like a sitting duck for them. Finally, they could not prove anything.
Q: What happens when a person is arrested and later proved innocent? Is there any provision for compensations in Jammu and Kashmir?
A: In a state like J&K, it makes hardly any difference whether you are proven innocent or not. He or She becomes paralysed for life time as they don’t issue any passport or travel documents to the jailed persons, even their kith and kin are subjected to suffer because of it and they can hardly get any government jobs.
Q: Do you think that State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has become a toothless tiger?
A: Of course yes, State or Centre doesn’t take SHRC seriously and its decisions are just formalities. There might be dozens of such decisions, which went against police and armed force but none of them was implemented or executed. The latest example is that of an army officer, Major Gogoi, who tied a Kashmiri boy with his vehicle and subjected him to torture in the month of April this year. Instead of punishing for wanton human rights violations, the Major was rewarded and honoured by the senior Army authorities. SHRC, in a recent decision, said that State must pay compensation to the affected boy…but unfortunately…. it was rightly rejected by New Delhi.
Q: What are the difficulties a journalist face in Kashmir under the conditions of militarisation?
A: Numerous difficulties……He or she becomes a sandwich between the armed forces and their rivals i.e. militants or resistance leadership. Sometimes even common people are not satisfied with the reporting which mainstream journalists do. Many reporters and editors lost their lives, became handicapped or faced long jail terms like me. Working in an isolated, tensed and the disturbed place is always not so easy but people learn by the passage of time and try to fit into the situation, just for the sake of survival.
Q: Could you find any difference after Narendra Modi led BJP assumed power?
A: Of course, the situation in Kashmir is more tensed now, suffocated and caused more loss of life.
Q: With the coming of technological revolution, the ‘state of things’ in Kashmir are more open to outside world, how do you see this change?
A: Technological revolution may be in other parts of India or in rest of the world…..our Internet, social media and all other mediums of communication are heavily monitored, censored and blocked. We have been observing long mobile phone, the internet and social media ‘crackdowns’ as well as ‘blockages’, I think it is gonna be worse in Kashmir.
Q: Would you please throw light on the role of Human Rights Organisations in Kashmir?
A: Human Rights organisations in Kashmir are not freely allowed to do their duties, they are considered to be either ‘separatists’ or ‘Pakistani agents’. Neither they are allowed to make their reports public without restrictions nor are they allowed to travel abroad. Baring few groups, many of the foreign rights bodies are not allowed to enter Kashmir and collect or expose the truth.
Q: What are the qualitative changes that happened in ‘resistance politics’ (led by Hurriyat)?
A: Soon after the killing of HM Militant Burhan Wani, all three factions of Kashmir resistance leadership (Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Mohammad Umar Farooq and M Yaseen Malik) got united and formed a coordination committee called ‘Joint Resistance Leadership’ which issued all the ‘protest programs’ under a ‘single banner’. Earlier all of them used to go to common people separately with separate programs but now they are in ‘one platform’. Their political division was earlier badly felt by the common public but their unity provided relief to their supporters, their calls are now followed more effectively.
Q: Is there any change in public perception with regard to Pakistan’s role in Kashmir?
A: Yes, in last few years, the new generation has badly felt the ‘intervention’ as well as the ‘tagging of Pakistan’. In fact, there is a feeling among the people that Pakistani support to Kashmir issue is rather a minus point on the international front. Here demand for ‘freedom’ is taken much seriously than that of the accession to Pakistan.
Q: What is that inducing the young generation to glorify militancy? Do you think that the militancy of the early 1990s is different from the current wave?
A: Yes, today’s militancy is entirely different from that of the 1990’s one. Today, they are more trained, effective, committed and hidden, less in number but strong in strikes. The reason behind today’s emerging militancy is a ‘total denial’ of dialogue and reconciliation from New Delhi. The fact that New Delhi never listens to political or democratic questions has forced ‘well read’ and ‘well off’ Kashmiri youth to take up arms. Today, they are well protected and served by common people. Each and every army cordon faces heavy public protest, just to save the militants hiding inside the sieges.
Q: There are other conflicts in Indian sub-continent, especially what we see in Central India. How would you compare the state actions in Kashmir with respect to State-Maoist conflict?
A: Maoist or Naxal rebellions have their own history and relevance but there is a visible difference between them and Kashmir problem. Kashmiris were promised to provide a chance of ‘Plebiscite’ by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru…..the accord or accession of J&K State with India was temporary. UN is a ‘witness’ and a ‘guardian’ to the Kashmir issue. Moreover, Kashmir is an internationally accepted dispute with a promise to resolve it according to the will of people. The Indian state has a limited ‘legal legitimacy’ in our land, while other conflicts in India are not for a separate territory.
Q: Do you think that international community is becoming more sensitive to ‘Kashmir Question’ since the 2016 unrest?
A:Yes , and that is quite visible, along with United Nations, Veto powers like the US and China have been frequently talking about Kashmir. They suggested that both India and Pakistan should resolve their differences mutually.
Q: How would you see the future trajectory of Kashmir Conflict?
A: Basically….this is not something sponsored by a company or a country. Kashmir Conflict is the name of a ‘strong sentiment’ stemming out of peoples’ conscience in Kashmir. Imagine a 7-year-old or a 10-year-old boy holding a stone in his hands and fighting against a fully-equipped Indian soldier. They would grow up with ‘negative sentiment’ against the Indian State. These fearless boys transform themselves into ‘mighty rebels’ and one can hardly change their mentality. May be there are ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ in their rebellion but until the concerns are resolved according to ‘will of the people’, it will never die.
Mohammed Sirajuddeen is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University.