Kashmir observes shutdown to mark ‘Black Day’

DELHI: Kashmir observed complete shutdown on Saturday to mark the Black Day — the day when the Indian forces entered Srinagar on Oct. 27, 1947.
“Joint Resistance Leadership,” a conglomeration of separatist groups, called for a strike and reports suggest that it was not only at commercial establishments. Educational institutions and transport services also remained off the road.
Gulam Rasool Pandit of Pulwama, a district 40 km south of Srinagar, said: “The way the situation is developing in Kashmir, everyone will pick up guns.”
Talking to Arab News, Pandit, whose elder son became militant after quitting as a policeman in 2015, said: “The governance has become a torture machine, and in utter helplessness people join militancy.
“Kashmir was an independent nation long before India got independence and Pakistan came into existence. It is our misfortune that the English played mischief with us and our fate turned around.”
Zahid Rasul Mir, Pandit’s neighbor, said: “There are so many atrocities taking place here that in desperation people are picking up guns. There is no way out. If we tell the truth and ask for our rights, the Indian Government tags us as terrorists.
“We want our rights so that we can make our future bright. The matter should be settled peacefully,” adds Mir, whose one son lost his eyesight when a pellet gun was fired by security forces last year.
Seventy-five-year old Muhammad Abdullah of Karimnagar village in the Pulwama district, told Arab News: “The situation has come to such a pass today that we feel more secure with the resistance groups than with Indian troops.
We are pushed into a corner today and there is no scope for peaceful protest in Kashmir.”
Local journalist Javid Sofi said: “Very few politicians enjoy the goodwill of the people and that’s one of the reasons for the rise of militancy.”
Sofi stressed to Arab News that the “lack of dialogue between India and Pakistan, and the lack of a serious attempt to build trust with people fuel violent resistance in the valley.”
But Dr. Hina Bhat of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party does not agree with this narrative.
“The problem in the Kashmir today is the legacy of history and the result of wrong leadership provided by the separatist groups, called Hurriyat,” she said.
“The kind of brainwashing the separatist leadership has been doing has created a situation where stone pelting has become a norm.”
Talking to Arab News, she stressed: “Kashmiris have become sandwiched between India and Pakistan and between the separatists and armed forces. The forces put a curfew and the Hurriyat give a call for shutdown. Cars are broken and shops are destroyed if you don’t listen to the separatists. Similarly, if you don’t follow the curfew, armed forces will kill you for violating the law.”
She added: “Black Day does not hold relevance today and people are not aware of what happened in 1947. If you ask anyone why he is on strike today he will tell you that he is protesting against what happened yesterday. Separatist leadership is not concerned about the larger interests of society and people are trapped in their vested political campaign.
“We know the dialogue is the only way out but Pakistan has backstabbed India whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started to resume dialogue.”
Umar Mir, 43, a cloth merchant in downtown Srinagar, said he shuts down his shop every year.
Mir has two brothers who lost one eye because of pellets.
“This is one way of registering our protest with India, and we are not happy with the situation in the valley,” Mir told Arab News.