The Rajasthan government has on May 19 re- included five castes, including Gujjars, in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. This decision has been taken on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the first agitation of the Gujjars for inclusion in reservation that took place on May 23, 2008.  This is after the state High Court had struck down the Special Backward Class (SBC) Reservation Act, 2015, which provided special backward class status to Gujjar and four other castes, in December just last year.
The states Social Justice and Empowerment Department on Friday issued a notification declaring that the five castes -? Banjara/Baldia/Labana, Gadia-Lohar/Gadalia, Gujjar/Gurjar, Raika/Rebari and Gadaria (Gaadri) — have again been included in the OCB list.

There is a background to this entire affair, these castes were first included in the OBC list in 1994. A law was enacted in 2008 to grant five per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutions under the SBC category to four castes/communities. It was implemented in 2009 and a separate government notification was issued in 2012 to include Gadaria (Gaadri) in the SBC list. However, this government decision ran into legal issues and the high court stayed the reservation in 2009 as it had exceeded the legal ceiling of 50 per cent.
Finally six years later, in September 2015, the state assembly passed the Rajasthan Special Backward Classes (reservation of seats in educational institutions in the state and of appointments and posts in services under the state) Bill to give 5 per cent reservation to the five castes and issued a notification on October 16, 2015 to bring the act into effect. Following the notification, the overall reservation in the state had reached 54 per cent.

However, the high court had scrapped the Act last year, saying there were no extraordinary circumstances to allow that overall reservation in government jobs and education institutes in various states should be allowed to go beyond the 50 per cent cap set by the Supreme Court.
"The Act was struck down by the high court on December 9, 2016. As a result, all five castes have again been included in the OBC list," the notification issued by ACS, Social Justice and Empowerment, Ashok Jain said. The notification is effective from December 9, 2016.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Gujjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti spokesperson Himmat Singh Gujjar has said the community will protest against the decision. The decision to protest has always a threat to turn violent given the recent history of Gujjar protests.

Background of Protests: Violent
The Gurjar agitation in Rajasthan had seen a series of protests in the state of Rajastan, India, beginning 2008 and then most significantly in 2015.

Nine years ago, violence erupted in the state of Rajasthan on May 23, 2008 when police fired on protesters belonging to the Gurjar caste who were demanding a higher scheduled tribe status, instead of their current OBC (Other Backward Class) status. The agitation turned violent and in retaliation, the protesters lynched a policeman in the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. The spiral continued and in response, police shot at protesters as they tried to damage railway lines and government property. At least 15 were killed on the spot.

It was on May 24 of 2008 that the Indian army was called in to help calm the violence as another 15 people were killed when police shot at a mob of protesters trying to torch a police station in Sikandra. Many thousands of protesters blocked a rail route between Delhi and Mumbai. Highways had also been blocked, and state authorities cancelled many buses. Getting almost nothing from the government for their demand of a 5% quota for government jobs, Gurjars again went on to agitate, this time in 2010. This time there was an Ashok-Gehlot run Congress government in the state. They jammed trains on the Jaipur-Delhi and Mumbai-Delhi routes. Unlike the unrest in 2008, there was no violence in 2010. In May 2015, a similar protest was organized and over thousands of Gujjars blocked railway tracks halting train traffic.

The state government, however, has so far declined to change their status. Instead, it has announced that Rs. 2.82 billion ($ 67 million)will be spent to improve schools, clinics, roads and other infrastructure in Gurjar-dominated areas. However, Gurjar leaders have said that they "do not want money". Kirori Singh Bhainsla, the head of the main Gurjar protest organisation issued a statement — "We do not accept the economic package."

In 2007, Gurjars in Rajasthan fought police and members of the Meena tribe that had already qualified for Scheduled Tribe benefits and is opposed to Gurjars sharing the benefits it has cornered for itself. At least 26 people were killed in that violence. In the wake of the ongoing Gurjar agitation in neighbouring Rajasthan, high alert had been sounded in the border districts of Madhya Pradesh to check any spread of violence. The agitation finally ended after Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasnundhara Raje agreed on a 5% reservation under a new special category.

Violence

Soon after the Modi government assumed power in Delhi in May 2014, Gujjars demonstrated their caste might. In 2015, in an agitation that saw the widespread destruction of public property and also the utter paralysis of roads and communciations that led to the national capital, Gujjars mainly targeted the Jaipur-Delhi, Jaipur-Agra, and the Mumbai-Delhi transport routes as they believed it would capture the attention of the government and media altogether and resorted to violence when security forces tried to clear the roads and railways.

Some Gujjars alleged that the role of home minister and chief minister as provocative and oppressive. They blamed the government for giving the agitation a violent turn by firing at people gathering around patoli village whose bodies were then preserved using salt and ice for the duration of the entire period of agitation. The demand for punishment for those responsible for killing the villagers was added to that of gaining the reservation. The news of dead bodies lying without cremation attracted many gurjars from far off areas and even other states which added to the numbers of agitators who were now beyond the control of the police or the rapid action force and thus the Indian Army was called in.
However, the violence only stopped after some assurances from the government. Police in Sikandra town fired at protesters who torched a police station and two buses and shot and wounded a policeman, said Amanjit Singh Gill, Rajasthan's director-general of police. Protesters also burned down a police station in the nearby village of Chandra Guddaji, Gill said. Fifteen demonstrators died Friday when police fired live ammunition and tear gas to halt rioting, said Singh. A police officer was also beaten to death. At least 70 injured people were hospitalized in Jaipur, the state capital, and the town of Dosa.

Demonstrators blocked a major highway linking Jaipur to Agra — site of the world famous Taj Mahal monument — stranding thousands of people. Thousands of army, police, and paramilitary forces patrolled villages to control the violence.

Sporadic violence began again on 26 May when more than 36 towns observed a bandh to protest the police firing into the crowds. Six wagons of a goods train on its way to Agra derailed near Bandikui station in Dausa district due to tampering of rail tracks, allegedly by the Gurjars. Northern railway cancelled nine trains passing through Rajasthan and diverted several others to different routes.

Home Page Image Courtesy: Indian Express

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Breaking his 32-day long silence on Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a statement which is full of empty political rhetoric, lacking substance to address the real issue concerning political aspiration of Kashmiris.

“It is said that boys who should be holding laptops, cricket bats have been handed stones in their hands,” Modi said while addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Alirajpur district. This irresponsible and juvenile statement stereotyped Kashmiris as gullible and naïve who are ready to pick up a stone at someone’s behest.

“Every Indian loves Kashmir. The freedom that every Indian has also belongs to every Kashmiri. We want the same bright future for every youth in Kashmir,” he said. Bright future after blinding them forever with pellets! In which place other than Kashmir have the government forces killed 60 civilians, injured 6,000 and made over 300 blind in a span of 30 days, he wouldn’t bother to explain.

“Whatever Kashmiris want for betterment of their livelihood, the Centre will help. We want development for Jammu and Kashmir. Be it the J&K government under Mehbooba Mufti or the central government, we are finding solution to all problems through development,” he added. The development of pellet guns and bullets, perhaps!

For rhetorical purpose alone, Modi again invoked Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous words to end up saying nothing concrete how to address the Kashmir dispute politically: “There are ways, including dialogue, to resolve issues in a democracy. My government believes in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's mantra of "insaniyat, jamhuriyat and Kashmiriyat (humanity, democracy and Kashmiriyat)."

Modi’s silence over killings of 60 unarmed Kashmiris, grave pellet-and-bullet injuries to over 6,000 civilians and blinding of over 300 youths in the Kashmir Valley since July 9 is least surprising to most Kashmiris.

Modi’s silence over killings of 60 unarmed Kashmiris, grave pellet-and-bullet injuries to over 6,000 civilians and blinding of over 300 youths in the Kashmir Valley since July 9 is least surprising to most Kashmiris.

After all, it has been India’s ‘standard operating procedure’ (SOP) to speak to Kashmiris in a language of power since 1947 with a sole aim of criminalising their political struggle. In this endeavour of delegitimising Kashmiris’ struggle for the right to self-determination, understanding the language of India’s corporate-owned media and the armed forces operating in Kashmir becomes very critical.

For instance if 50,000 common Kashmiris, including women and children, will gather at a place to demonstrate peacefully for their political rights, the Indian media will use the word “miscreants” for such a huge assembly of people. Mind you, this is being done deliberately to mislead the common Indians that people in such colossal numbers have assembled at the behest of Pakistan, and, therefore, any amount of force used by government forces against them stands ‘justified’.

If everything in Kashmir is happening at Pakistan’s behest it is a telling remark on India’s own standing in Kashmir.

For the sake of an argument, if everything in Kashmir is happening at Pakistan’s behest it is a telling remark on India’s own standing in Kashmir. That is, however, another story.

Not only this, when the trigger-happy Indian paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and accountable-to-none armed forces open direct fire on peaceful and unarmed protesters, the injured are described as “stone pelters”, “miscreants”, “agitational terrorists” and “terrorist sympathisers”. This colonial language is employed by vast sections of the Indian media, especially television channels, and government forces to justify India’s colonial practices in Kashmir.

Here is an example. A statement issued by the J&K police media centre on August 8 reads: “….It is clarified that a mob of more than 2,000 miscreants assembled at main chowk Langate (north Kashmir) and started heavy stone pelting on deployment and police post Langate, due to which 38 police/security personnel were injured. While dispersing the mob, 11 miscreants were injured, most of them due to stampede out of which three of them were referred to Srinagar. The condition of all of them is stable…”

Now look at this statement carefully and focus on the choice of words. First, the police use the term “mob” for common people. Secondly, they are described as “miscreants”. Thirdly, they are then accused of “stone pelting” on deployment and police post, Langate in north Kashmir.

These are all blatant lies. The number of people participating in a demonstration is reduced by design. The people are shown as “perpetrators” and police as “victim”. Then derogatory terms are used to describe people and their actions or lack thereof. Police never comes up with solid evidence to prove that their men are indeed injured. If they are injured, they should be in the hospitals undergoing treatment. But that is not the case.

The question that arises is this: from where do the government forces gather such courage to peddle lies after lies in public domain? State’s shameless backing to violence against common people and a draconian law, which acts as a shield against persecution, are the two major factors behind this audaciousness.

When Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and working president of the pro-autonomy National Conference (NC), was running a coalition government with the Congress from 2009 to 2014, more than 117 persons, mostly boys in their teens, were mercilessly killed by government forces during the summer mass agitation. Not a single guilty armed forces person was punished till date.

This became possible because the armed forces enjoy impunity and a license to kill in Kashmir under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, AFSPA, which is in force in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990. The fact that hardly any perpetrator is punished only emboldens the armed forces to go berserk and enjoy a free run.

Even in 2008, when Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress were running a coalition government, more than 60 Kashmiri civilians, most of them in their teens, were killed when they were protesting against sanctioning of 99 acres of land to Amarnath Shrine Board.

Having said that, it may well be very convenient and politically very smart for the junior Abdullah to ask New Delhi whether “it has declared a war on the people in Kashmir*” at a juncture when the PDP is heading a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, but the fact remains that he too could not prevent civilians killings when he was at the helm of affairs in 2010.

"To blame Pakistan for the unrest or to delude ourselves into thinking this is a law and order situation is criminal. There is an extreme sense of resentment and disenchantment among the youth of the Valley and that is the basis of this unrest.” (Omar Abdullah)

On August 6, Omar Abdullah told this to India Today: “Has New Delhi declared a war on the people in Kashmir? Hundreds of young boys and girls have potentially life-changing injuries, most of them caused by pellet guns. Thousands of youngsters have sustained injuries in this unrest. To blame Pakistan for the unrest or to delude ourselves into thinking this is a law and order situation is criminal. There is an extreme sense of resentment and disenchantment among the youth of the Valley and that is the basis of this unrest.”

Indian media is at liberty to dub Omar Abdullah as “Pakistan sympathiser” for making a statement that he has made as an Opposition leader.

Look at another statement made the same day by yet another pro-India legislator Hakim Yasin, Peoples Democratic Forum (PDF) chief and MLA Khansahib Budgam, who said that the Indian forces were repeating Jallianwala Bagh massacre* in Kashmir on a daily basis.

“The way British used brute force on unarmed protesters at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919, forces in Kashmir are repeating the same in Kashmir every day. Why are unarmed protesters targeted by the forces in every nook and corner of Kashmir,” Hakim Yasin told the local media.

The Kashmir story that the corporate-owned Indian media won’t tell the ordinary Indian audiences is precisely this: Since July 9, 2016, at least 60 unarmed Kashmiris have been killed in cold blood by Indian armed forces; inflicting pellet and bullet injuries on 6,000 unarmed Kashmiris. Besides, more than 1,500 Kashmiri youth have been arrested, some in nocturnal raids for participating in demonstrations. At least 1,030 FIRs have been registered by the police for further persecution and harassment of the youth. And, the fact that Kashmiris are suffering under strict curfew and unprecedented restrictions enforced by the PDP-BJP government since July 9 along with a ban on mobile and data internet on all cellular services except the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and with no outgoing call facility available to pre-paid mobile phone customers!

Last Friday, August 5, was Kashmir’s Bloody Friday. More than 400 Kashmiris received serious pellet-and-bullet injuries after government forces acted violently to stop people from demonstrating against the state violence across the length and breadth of Kashmir. Doctors at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital told me that at least 324 youth, hit with the pellet guns, are on the verge of losing their eyesight permanently. Doctors said that most boys have been hit in the eye which has damaged their retina beyond repair. “We have performed as many as 65 surgeries until Monday morning,” Dr Raashid Maqbool said.

Dr Ruveda Salam, a lady IAS officer from north Kashmir working as assistant commissioner at ministry of finance, government of India, could not stop herself from speaking against the state violence.

On August 3, Dr Salam took a dig at chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and her PDP by writing this on her Facebook timeline: “From wooing voters while wearing colour #green to painting #red the same valley streets, and then they question the credentials of the same religion whose symbols they used to mask their evil deeds” #hypocrisy couldn't get worse than this !”

In response to her post, she was harassed by a senior police officer who also made a misogynist remark by dubbing Dr Salam as “ignorant lady”. Police officer Harmeet Singh Mehta threatened Dr Salam of government action as if he was the PDP’s spokesperson. “Government (PDP-BJP coalition government) must take action against you (Dr Ruveda Salam) as a civil servant spreading so much venum (venom) against state. Better resign and join some separatist group.”

Following the assassination of popular tech-savvy Hizb commander Burhan Wani on July 8 under mysterious circumstances in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, the massive Azadi rallies are being organised on a daily basis across the Kashmir Valley since. According to moderate estimates, at least 3,00,000 people had gathered in south Kashmir’s Tral, hometown of Burhan, to participate in his funeral. Such a huge assembly had already made a statement that India was losing a battle for narratives in Kashmir.

There are many in Kashmir feeling scared of India as a Hindutva project, this time led by a right-wing prime minister. Kashmiris feel under severe attack as they are victims of politics of invasion aimed at crushing their identity as Kashmiris and Kashmiri Muslims under a PDP-BJP coalition government.

There are many in Kashmir feeling scared of India as a Hindutva project, this time led by a right-wing prime minister. Kashmiris feel under severe attack as they are victims of politics of invasion aimed at crushing their identity as Kashmiris and Kashmiri Muslims under a PDP-BJP coalition government.

Even after 60 civilian killings and injuries to 6,000 Kashmiris in last 30 days, the state unit of the Hindu nationalist BJP has asked the government to deal with the current situation in the Kashmir Valley decisively and with an “iron hand”. State BJP spokesperson Virender Gupta said that there was no option for the government other than meeting the challenge posed by the “separatists and terrorists supported by Pakistan decisively and with an iron hand otherwise the situation will deteriorate further and it may not be possible to bring back normalcy in the Valley.”

At present the morale of the state police, CRPF and other security forces have gone down because of the recent happenings where lot of restrictions have been imposed on them,” Gupta told a news agency.

This is Kashmir’s story. And this Karbala is Kashmir’s ‘normalcy’ for which the Indian media obviously has no time. It will relentlessly debate cows, cow protection and cow vigilantism and how Modi beats the drums in Kenya, but will not gather moral courage to narrate Kashmir’s story with a human heart and an unbiased journalistic approach, shedding jingoistic spectacles and hyper-nationalistic binoculars. After all, India is a democracy and its image can’t be tarnished for the sake of 7.5 million Kashmiris!
 

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श्रीनगर। जम्मू-कश्मीर के दो बड़े अखबारों ने कहा है कि पिछले शनिवार की रात जम्मू-कश्मीर पुलिस ने उनके दफ्तरों पर छापे मारे। छपी हुई प्रतियों को जब्त कर लिया और कर्मचारियों को गिरफ्तार कर ले गई।  साफ तौर पर यह घाटी में मीडिया का गला घोंटने की कार्रवाई है।

कश्मीर टाइम्स के मुताबिक शनिवार को आधी रात के वक्त 20 से  ज्यादा पुलिस वालों ने श्रीनगर के बाहरी इलाके रंगरथ में स्थित इसके प्रिंटिंग प्रेस पर छापा मारा और फोरमैन फयाज अहमद और दस कर्मचारियों को पकड़ पर ले गए। अखबार ने कहा है – पुलिसकर्मियों ने कश्मीर टाइम्स की मेटेलिक प्रिंटिंग प्लेटों और इसकी 70000 प्रतियों को जब्त कर लिया। पुलिस ने केटी प्रेस प्राइवेट लिमिटेड प्रिंटिंग प्रेस को भी बंद करवा दिया। अखबार का कहना है कि पुलिसवालों ने वहां मौजूद कर्मचारियों से बदतमीजी की और उनके मोबाइल फोन छीन लिए। जिन कर्मचारियों ने उनकी इस हरकत का विरोध किया उनकी पिटाई की गई।

एक और बड़े अखबार का कहना है कि पुलिस ने इसके प्रिंटिंग प्रेस पर रात दो बजेे छापे मारकर छपी हुई प्रतियों को जब्त कर लिया और वहां मौजूद कर्मचारियों को हिरासत में ले लिया।

पुलिस ने अल-सुबह अंग्रेजी अखबार राइजिंग कश्मीर की प्रतियां भी जब्त कर ली और शेखपोरा (बडगाम) स्थित इसके प्रिंटिंग प्रेस पर छापा मारा।

अखबार का कहना है कि बडगाम से एक पुलिस दल ने आकर प्रेस पर छापा मारा और राइजिंग कश्मीर और अन्य प्रकाशनों की प्रतियों को जब्त कर लिया। प्रिटिंग का काम खत्म कर जाते वक्त फोरमैन मोहम्मद युसूफ समेत सभी कर्मचारियों को हिरासत में ले लिया गया। युसूफ से अखबार के वितरण स्थलों के बारे में बताने के लिए कहा गया। बाद में पुलिस वाले प्रेस इनक्लेव पहुंचे और  ड्राइवर समेत अखबार की गाड़ी जब्त कर ली। ड्राइवर इरशाद खान ने कहा- उन्होंने मुझे प्रेस इनक्लेव में पकड़ लिया और पुलिस स्टेशन चलने को कहा। अखबार का कहना है कि स्टाफ को हमहमा पुलिस चौकी ले जाया गया और वहां इसकी सारी प्रतियां जब्त कर ली गई। इस दौरान सडक़ों पर वाहन नहीं चल रहे थे और सुरक्षा बल कफ्र्यू की वजह से लोगों को निकलने नहीं दे रहे थे। इस वजह से कर्मचारियों को पैदल ही दफ्तर पहुंचना पड़ा। सरकार घाटी में पहले ही इंटरनेट और टेलीफोन कनेक्शन बंद कर चुकी है। 9 जुलाई को टॉप आतंकी कमांडर बुरहान वानी के मारे जाने के बाद से छिड़े संघर्ष में अब तक 41 लोग मारे जा चुके हैं। 

यहां यह याद करना जरूरी है कि 2010 और 2013 में भी सरकार ने अखबारों के वितरण और उनके वाहनों को रोक  कर अखबारों को प्रकाशित होने से रोक दिया था। अखबारों की प्रतियां जब्त कर ली जाती थीं और उनका सर्कुलेशन रोक दिया जाता था। मीडियाकर्मियों को कफ्र्यू पास देना बंद कर दिया गया था।

सरकार और इसकी सुरक्षा एजेंसियां घाटी में प्रेस को रोकने औैर इसका गला घोंटने के लिए पिछले ढाई दशक से इसी तरह के हथकंडे अपना रही है।

केंद्र सरकार के गृह मंत्रालय ने 2010 ने डीएवीपी को एक पत्र जदारीर किया था। इसके बाद मनमाने ढंग से कश्मीर टाइम्स और छह अन्य प्रकाशनों के डीएवीपी विज्ञापन रोक दिए गए थे। कश्मीर टाइम्स एक मात्र अखबार है जिसे इसके बाद डीएवीपी का कोई विज्ञापन नहीं मिल रहा है। जबकि डीएवीपी के विज्ञापन अखबारों की आमदनी के प्रमुख  होते हैं। 

(अनुराधा भसीन जामवाल कश्मीर टाइम्स की एक्जीक्यूटिव एडीटर और पीस एक्टिविस्ट हैं। यह जानकारी कश्मीर प्रेस एसोसिएशन की ओर से जारी की गई है।)

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According to Kashmir Times, over 20 policemen raided its office at Rangreth area in Srinagar outskirts at midnight and arrested its printing press foreman, Fayaz Ahmed and ten other employees.

“The policemen seized the metallic printing plates of Kashmir Times and more than 70,000 printed copies of Kashmir Times and closed down the KT Press Pvt Ltd printing press,” the newspaper said.

“Cops misbehaved with the employees present there and snatched their cell phones. The employees who tried to resist were beaten up by the policemen,” the newspaper said.

Another leading newspaper also said that police raided its printing press at 2 am, seized its printed copies at midnight and detained persons.

Police also seized copies of another leader English daily Rising Kashmir early this morning and raided its press at Sheikhpora (Budgam).

“A police party from Budgam police raided the press to seize the copies of  Rising Kashmir and other publications,” the newspaper claimed. “As the staff had left after printing the copies, police took into custody all the employees including its foreman, Mohammad Yousuf and asked him to identify the distribution site.”

They later reached Press Enclave and seized the vehicle along with the driver. “They caught hold of me in Press Enclave and asked me to follow them to police station” said Irshad Khan, the driver.

The staff was later taken to police post Humhama where they seized all the copies of the newspaper. “The staff of the press was let off later on but only after being harassed and intimidated,” the newspaper said.
The employees were to go on their own to their offices and press on foot when no transport was plying operating on the road and security personnel were not allowing people to move in view of severe curfew restrictions.
The government has already suspended mobile internet and telephony services across Kashmir valley.

At least 41 persons have died in Kashmir valley since July 9 when widespread protests and clashes which erupted after the killing of top militant commander Burhan Wani.

It is pertinent to point that in 2010 and 2013, valley based newspapers were not allowed to be published by placing severe restrictions on their movement and movement of their vehicles. The newspapers were seized and not allowed to be circulated and media persons were not issued curfew passes.

Similar methods of intimidating and gagging the press have been employed by the government and its security agencies in the last two and a half decades.

In 2010, the central government arbitrarily stopped the release of DAVP advertisements of Kashmir Times and six other publications, following a letter circulated by the Union home ministry to the department. Till date, Kashmir Times is the only newspaper which continues to be denied advertisements, the main source of revenue for newspapers.  

(Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal is Executive Editor Kashmir Times and a peace activoist abd this information is being made available on behalf of the Kashmir Press Association)
 
 

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