A Reply To Pakistani Critics, By Dr.Shabir Choudhry

Source  Dr.Shabir Choudhry
Friday, June 18, 2010

(PHOTO : Dr Shabir Choudhry at Jammu and Kashmir Conference in U.K.)

London, U.K. : I got a lot of response for my last article “Gilgit Baltistan and Shafqat Inquilabi”. As always some people have appreciated it and some have criticised it. It is not possible to reply to all the points raised by the respondents, but I would like to make the following submission, which I hope will help some people to understand some issues on the Pakistani side of the LOC.

1.I wholeheartedly condemn all human rights violations committed in Kashmir; and I demand that culprits must be punished for their crimes. I have condemned the wrong doings on the Indian side of the divide, but those who criticise human rights abuses on the Indian side of the divide only, do they have courage to condemn the following:

2.Can they condemn killing of innocent Kashmiris during the Tribal Invasion sponsored by Pakistan in 1947. Also can they condemn rapes, kidnapping of Kashmiri women and girls, and looting of my homeland - Kashmir, which was done in name of Jihad in 1947/8?

3.Can they also condemn Killings and imprisonment of people of Azad Kashmir at the hands of Pakistan during the Poonch rebellion in mid 1950s? Unlike militants in the Valley, these people did not have training, arms or money from secret agency of enemy country, they were simply asking for their democratic rights.

4.Can they also condemn arrest and inhuman torture inflicted upon people of Azad Kashmir by Pakistan during Ganga Hijacking investigations? Even reading of those atrocities could put Nazi cruelties to shame.

5.Can they condemn rapes and other human rights violations which still take place along the LOC on the Pakistani side of the divide, which people do not report due to social stigma and fear of repercussions; and no human rights organisation on the Pakistani side of the divide has courage to speak about them?

6.Can they condemn denial of fundamental rights to people of Pakistani Administered Kashmir for decades; and looting and plunder of our resources?

7.Can they condemn denial of fundamental rights to people of Gilgit-Baltistan - they were ruled by draconian laws with no accountability for decades?

8.Can they condemn annexation of Gilgit Baltistan by Pakistan, while pretending to be Muslim brother and friend of people of Jammu and Kashmir? Pakistani establishment has hidden their colonial designs under the cover of Islam, which is shameful.

9.Can they condemn demolition of seven mosques on Murree Road in Rawalpindi, where unlike the Babri Mosque, were used by Muslims for daily prayers and teaching of Quran? It was done by the Musharaf government in order to make this route safe for the Americans travelling to Islamabad.

10.Can they condemn killing of 83 innocent madrassa children in Wana, which Pakistan claimed to have bombed; and which resulted in more than 300 people taking oath Quran that they will take revenge of this unjustified massacre of innocent children; and commit suicide bombing if necessary? The suicide bombing in Pakistan started after this event.

11.Can they condemn killing of hundreds of innocent children in the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa, in which illegal chemical called White Phosphorous was also used by Pakistani commandos?

12.Can they condemn killing of innocent people by Pakistani regular forces and jet fighters in SWAT, parts of Pakhtoon Khawa and in FATA?

13. People rightly demand that India should allow international human rights organisations to go to Kashmir to investigate the abuses; but they you made a similar demand for the areas of SWAT, parts of Pakhtoon Khawa and FATA, where even Pakistani civilians and media people are not allowed to see what Pakistani army is doing there? Or they want to turn a blind eye to allthis because the culprits are fellow Muslims?

14.And if your conscience allows you, also do condemn killing and rapes committed by Pakistan army, (which now many Pakistanis have acknowledged and some officials apologised for) in East Pakistan during 1970/71.

15.Let me correct information with regard to Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq. Mir Jafar betrayed Nawab Sirajuldaula in war of Plasi in Bengal; and Mir Sadiq betrayed Tipu Sultan in war of Sarnagapatem in Mysore.

16.Perhaps some of these critics are not aware of Pakistani history, and that is why they think there are no Mir Jaffers and Mir Sadiqs in Pakistan.

17.No my friends, your country Pakistan has thousands of Mir Jafars and Mir Sadiqs; and irony is that each one gets VIP treatment and buried in the Pakistani flag; or gets full honour when he leaves his post. That explains how many Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiqs are in your country, especially in the corridors of power and in the Pakistani establishment. Of course there aresome honest and loyal Pakistanis as well, and many of them support us and I salute them; but they have been marginalised and have no voice making.

18.Pakistani President (Musharaf) allowed America to recruit as many people as they required for CIA operations and for operations of other secret agencies. So no one knows exactly how many Mir Jafars you have even in the ranks of armed services and secret agencies. So Habib Yousafzai Sahib, be rest assured, your country has plenty of traitors and hypocrites, and you can proudly claim self sufficiency, at least in this field of generating terrorism, hatred and treachery.

19.Those who claim that we people of Jammu and Kashmir wanted to get independence from India only are totally wrong - we wanted to be independent of both countries whether they are according to you ‘Hindu Brahmins’ or they are Muslim extremists and colonialists.

20.And for information of those Pakistanis who wrongly think that people of Jammu and Kashmir are very eager to join Pakistan need to know that a recent survey conducted by a British Think Tank confirmed our contention that overwhelming majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir DO NOT want to join Pakistan. According to the survey only 2% were brave enough to take therisk of joining Pakistan.

21.I know for sure that some people will always spread lies and live in fantasy world, as they don’t want to face reality. They will discard what I have written as propaganda, but I have written it for some sane souls who might benefit from the information provided.