Ahmed Shah Abdali invaded India eight times between 1748 and 1767, following the collapse of the Mughal Empire. To maintain his huge army created by Nadir Shah for invasions, Ahmed Shah Abdali also plundered wealth from many temples in India including Vrindavan, Mathura, Varanasi, and Golden Temple.

Apart from Marathas, the Sikhs also gave the toughest fight and resistance to Afghans in many battles and plunder campaigns. The valour of Baba Deep Singh, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Hari Singh Nalwa and many more are well recorded. In 1757, Jat prince Jawahar Singh with 5000 men also offered tough resistance against Ahmad Shah Abdali’s forces near Mathura.

Balaji Bajirao alias Nanasaheb was the Peshwa of Maratha Empire when Abdali attacked India in 1761. Bajirao was a very capable leader who rather than depending on the old leadership of Marathas promoted young and aggressive military commanders like Holkar, Shinde, Dabhade, Gaikwad under his rule.

Bajiro was a heavenly-born cavalry leader and perhaps the best-ever cavalry general in the history of the Indian subcontinent followed by Rajput legend Bappa Rawal, his cavalry was as effective as that of Mongols. Every 2 riders would have 3 horses and would change their horse after the respective horse was exhausted. Marathas were a cavalry-heavy force under Bajirao.

In the battle fought by the Maratha army against the invader Ahmed Shah Abdali in 1761 at Panipat, the Marathas were defeated due to the superiority of the Afghan armory. However, the Marathas gave a tough fight, and 40,000 Marathas lost their lives. The Afghans lost about 30,000 soldiers.

Before the war, there was an explicit instruction from Maratha ruler to his forces to return with victory news only. Consequently, after the defeat of 1761, many Maratha soldiers moved to the hilly principalities of Punjab and Jammu and lived there for the remaining part of their lives. Many Brahmin soldiers became Sanyasin or priests for livelihood. One can trace many such people with Maratha ancestry in these places.

Probing further, I found some truth in the link between Marathas and Jammu. In Jammu and Himachal Pradesh, some people with surnames like Sathe, Ranade, Agnihotri, Padhye (Padha), Pant, and Pawar could be from this lineage. The background of Dogri short story writer Bhagwat Prasad Sathe confirms my belief.

Bhaskar Rao Sathe, the ancestor of Bhagwat Prasad Sathe, fought Abdali’s forces at Panipat as a member of the Maratha army. After the defeat of Maratha troops, he moved to Ramnagar (Jammu) and settled there. The Dogra Rajput Raja appointed him as priest and Kathavachak.

One day, during a religious congregation at Purmandal, Bhaskar Rao Sathe met his son who along with other members of his family was at Varanasi, where Sathe had left them before joining the war. It was in Varanasi that the son learned about his father’s presence in the hills of Jammu. A Sadhu had advised him to go to Purmandal and try his luck to trace his father as Sadhus from the length and breadth of the country would be present over there on a particular auspicious day. And there the son met his father.

A male member from this Sathe clan married a Brahmin girl from Bijbehara and the family was entrusted the priesthood duties of the Shiva temple built on the main highway by Dogra rulers in Bijbehara. Bhagwat Prasad Sathe, the doyen of Dogri prose is from this Sathe clan of Marathas.

Similar could be the story of some Upadhya or Pant or Ranade or Pawar families of Jammu. I happened to know one Ranade family in Basholi during the period I headed the Basholi branch of Punjab National Bank. I am also informed that the Baru Brahmins of Jammu are from Assam.

Bhagwat Prasad Sathe was born in December 1910 at Ramnagar, a small town in the lower Siwaliks, about 30 miles to the east of Jammu. Situated on a plateau 2700 ft above sea level, it has a salubrious climate and a beautiful setting among hills and streams.

Ramnagar had been the capital of Bandral Rajput rulers till the beginning of the 19th century. As typical of Kshatriyas, the Dogra Rajput rulers of Jammu welcomed all essentially, traders, priests, artists, artisans and people who could contribute towards prosperity and development.

The scholarship of Jammu Dogras was Hindu Sanatana Dharma-oriented. The Rajas of Jammu were deeply religious people believing in the doctrine of “Atithi Devo Bhavah” and they and their queens had numerous temples built, making Jammu a city of temples.

There is a Dogri folk song that gives a hint about the desire of every young man to serve the Dogra Rajput Rajas of Jammu for their “benevolent conduct”. It describes a conversation between a man and his wife and goes like this:

“Kuthaan di karni adiya chakri

Kuthaan di hai muhim

Jammu dhi karni adiye chakri.. “

(Where do you want to serve, my love

where do you plan to go?

I want to serve Jammu Kingdom, my love)

*Avtar Mota is an author, writer and poet. He is a blogger at Chinar Shade

Courtesy: The Kashmir Times

The post When The Marathas Came To Jammu? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

However, two days following the initial announcements and widespread alarm voiced by independent media, the VHP had stated that they would not be involving Dharma Yodhas in the event. The VHP has an aggressive track record that lists out intimidation, hate speeches, anti-minority rhetoric at its programmes.

To pay tribute to the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country and to celebrate the completion of Ayodhya Ram Mandir, VHP starts Shaurya Jagran Yatra from historic Gupt Ganga temple in JK’s Bhaderwah.

@DistrictDoda @diprjk @vishesh_jk pic.twitter.com/N9pSeozK5e

— DD NEWS JAMMU | डीडी न्यूज़ जम्मू (@ddnews_jammu) October 1, 2023

VHP’s Shaurya Jagran Yatra in Jammu

Thus, in a bid to reach out to marginalised sections within the Indian society, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) is also actively involved in a range of campaigns that are targeted at the scheduled tribes and castes. Devji Bhai Rawat, the national secretary of the VHP, recently disclosed that committees are to be established in every village to oversee various programs, including skill development training, aimed at uplifting Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe people residing in slums and forests in Jammu, according to Deccan Herald.

Addressing reporters following a meeting with organisation office bearers to finalise the programme, Rawat talked about holding programmes on skill development training for uneducated youth, enabling them to secure livelihoods for their families. “The skill development training is being conducted for uneducated youngsters to enable them to earn a living for their families,” Rawat stated. Rawat also went on to talk about VHP’s supposed efforts to eradicate untouchability among Hindus, asserting that the organisation plans to commemorate the birthdays of social reformers, including Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Sant Ravidas, Maharishi Valmiki, Sant Kabir, and Ramanujacharya, among others, with ]marginalised sections of society. The RSS and its offshoots are often criticised for appropriating marginalised people’s icons to further encourage these groups to buy their propaganda and be supporters. In a piece by SabrangIndia, there is an in depth analysis of how the very history and claims of indigeneity are being challenged, changed and disrupted by the RSS’ groups that operate schools and NGOs in tribal-populated areas.

Thereby, in Jammu, as part of VHP’s larger outreach which seems an effort to consolidate the Hindu community in Jammu, Rawat also invited the Hindus of Jammu and Kashmir, urging their participation in the ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya scheduled for January 22.

Apart from this, the VHP has been quite active in Jamsmu this year. Other than skill-enhancing workshops, they seem to also be involved in activities that have a communal turn. For instance, in July, 2023, the Durga Vahini, the VHP’s female wing, organised a week-long training camp in Jammu and Kashmir for young women aged around 18 from 12 districts of the Union Territory. The camp, which started on July 3, focused on imparting self-defence techniques and educating the participants about handling themselves in the event of a “terror attack.” In addition to the self-defence aspect, the programme also aimed to hold discussions about the right-wing bogey of ‘love jihad,’ according to a member of the VHP.

Shabnam Khajuria, the leader of Durga Vahini, informed PTI that the main objective of this programme was to boost the self-confidence of young women and teach them skills to protect themselves from “terrorism” and natural disasters in the region. Khajuria also mentioned that along with fighting skills, the participating women also receive training in how to use rifles and swords. A total of 82 girls, all aged 18 and above, from 12 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, including border areas, took part in the camp. Shakti Dhar Sharma, vice president of J&K VHP, mentioned that their focus was also on educating women about issues like love jihad and other challenges faced by Hindus.

Similarly, earlier this year in May, the VHP and Durga Vahini had hosted a special screening of the movie, that is popularly known as being anti-Muslim propaganda, The Kerala Story at Palm Island Mall on Canal Road in Jammu. The screening, which primarily attracted young women from various educational institutions, aimed to shed light on what the organisers described as the propaganda surrounding “love jihad.”

Related:

Hate speeches, stone pelting, brandishing of weapons – what VHP’s Shaurya Yatras have achieved till date

Hate speeches by VHP, BJP leaders continue as India slated to host world leaders

VHP launches plans to conduct yatra 2,281 Yatras, cover “all Indian” villages

Supreme Court: Authorities must ensure that no violence or hate speeches takes place during VHP rally in Delhi-NCR

The post As the campaign for the Ram Temple’s inauguration continues, the VHP makes inroads in Jammu appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu, two terrorists, a security officer were killed in a shoot-out on April 22, 2022 early morning near an army installation, reported NDTV.

According to the report, security forces launched a pre-dawn operation at the Sunjwan cantonment area after receiving information of a planned terrorist attack. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said terrorists targeted their bus carrying 15 officers and killed an Assistant Sub-Inspector. As many as four people were injured in the firing.

Meanwhile, Modi is to visit the area for the first time since the former state’s special status was revoked in August 2019. Modi is to address a major rally which will be attended by panchayat members at Palli village. The area has been put on high alert and round the clock patrolling is being carried out by security forces to prevent any terrorist attack across the region.

“We cordoned off the area during the night after we received an input that terrorists are hiding here and planning some action. In the morning, there was firing on the cordon, in which one security forces personnel was killed, and four others were injured. The encounter is going on,” Jammu’s Additional Director General of police Mukesh Singh told NDTV.

Around February 2018, several people were killed during a terroritst attak at the Sunjwan army cantonment. There has been a spurt in terrorist incidents in Kashmir Valley since last month. Four Panchayat members were killed and several migrant workers have been injured in targeted attacks, reported NDTV.

As per the Kashmir Zone Police twitter updates, a total of four terrorists were killed by evening in the Baramulla encounter.

According to The Hindu, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) ‘commander’ Yousuf Kantroo, believed to be the mastermind of several targeted killings in the Valley, is also said to be shot in this encounter.

Related:

Evolution of Bulldozer Injustice
Umar Khalid’s speech prima facie not acceptable, obnoxious: Delhi HC
Kashmir Hindu dies allegedly at the hands of terrorist gunmen
J&K journalists allege soldiers assaulted them during a show

The post Two terrorists killed in Jammu shoot-out appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to reports, two local tribals: Mushtaq Ahmad Chowdary and Mohammad Ashraf Chowdary were on the way to their destination when an RSS mob caught hold of them in Vijaypur area of Samba and forced them to chant “nationalist slogans”.

A video of the two being thrashed and being forced to chant slogans in favour of “Bharat Mata” and against Pakistan went viral on social media with netizens demanding authorities to take strict action against the culprits.

Anger is brewing among the local Muslim community of the area against the hooliganism of the right-wing activists with locals calling for a peaceful protest against the harassment after Friday prayers this week.
 

He said the RSS workers were celebrating the airstrikes by Indian Air forces against Pakistan when they caught hold of the duo and thrashed them.

“We raised the issue with the concerned Police station; you can’t force anyone to chat Bharat Mata ki Jai. Although we have been assured that strict action will be taken against the culprits but we have decided to hold a peaceful protest march after Friday prayers this week”, Khatana says.

He said ever since the Pulwama attack the Muslims in the area are being provoked deliberately by the Hindu-right wing parties.
When TwoCircles.net raised the issue with Dr Koshal Sharma, Senior Superintendent of Police, Samba said the police have taken cognizance of the video and have started an investigation. “We are verifying the video…strict action will be taken against the culprits after the investigation,” he added.

Courtesy: Two Circle
 

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Image Courtesy: PTI
 
Jammu: Tensions are soaring in Jammu and Kashmir as the region was rocked by a terror attack in Pulwama, South Kashmir where close 40 security personnel from CRPF were killed. A curfew was imposed in parts of Jammu city on Friday after mobs attacked some people and burnt vehicles following the incident.
 
Jammu city was rocked by massive anti-Pakistan protests with people taking to the streets in dozens of places, including Jewel Chowk, Purani Mundi, Rehari, Shaktinagar, Pacca Danga, Janipur, Gandhinagar and Bakshinagar.
 
The Army has been called in to help maintain law and order and conduct flag marches, officials said. Curfew was imposed as authorities feared a communal backlash.
 
“Raising anti-Pakistan, anti-terrorist slogans, protesters burnt tyres on many roads. The agitators, mostly youth, put up barricades on roads demanding revenge. Led by the Bajrang Dal, the Shiv Sena and the Dogra front, people took out candlelight marches in the city and held anti-Pakistan protests. The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI) had on Thursday called for shut down in Jammu protesting terror attack. Protesting the Pulwama attack, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Jammu, suspended work in all the courts in Jammu, including the high court and tribunals,” News18 reported.
 
According to officials, there was complete bandh in Jammu city and there was no traffic on roads and all shops and markets were closed.
 
In a report by Hindustan Times, a local resident said, “The mob set ablaze around 30 vehicles and damaged scores of other vehicles in the area. Consequently, there was a stone pelting in the area. While protestors shouted slogans of ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ and ‘Hindustan Zindabad’, stone-pelters in the locality from other end shouted slogans ‘Naar-e-Taqbir Allah-Hu-Akbar’. He informed that sensing trouble policemen resorted to tear-gas and lathi-charge to disperse the protestors and avoid a clash between the two groups. “The protesters also smashed windowpanes of some houses,” he added.
 
Kashmiri employees at Jammu’s Tourist Reception Centre have sent SOS messages to police seeking protection after mobs burnt vehicles outside TRC and pelted stones.
 
37 CRPF Jawans were killed and five injured after a militant drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday.
 
“Regret to inform that 37 Personnel of CRPF attained martyrdom,” the CRPF confirmed in a late-night statement, adding that 5 injured personnel were being treated at 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar.
 
Many of the soldiers were returning from leave and rejoining duty in the Valley. The bus that was attacked belonged to the 54th battalion of the CRPF and had 44 personnel on board, unidentified officials said.

The post Pulwama Attack: Curfew in Jammu amid violent protests appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In several localities of Jammu, where sewerage works have been carried out, sewer pipes were already broken, and untreated sewage flowed into open nullahs.

The state’s winter capital generates over 22,000 tanker loads (157 million litres daily or mld) of untreated sewage (94% of the 167 mld sewage produced by the city), which flows into open drains and contaminates the city’s water bodies and sources of drinking water, threatening its population of over 550,000 and its large floating population of over 110,000 with water-borne diseases, based on information from project documents and government officials.

Jammu’s sewage problem represents urban India’s sewage problems–63% of India’s sewage is not treated contaminating rivers, seas and lakes, and polluting 351 stretches of India’s rivers, according to the latest available Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, as FactChecker reported in October 2018. India has the capacity to treat only 37% of the sewage generated in urban areas.

India’s class-I cities (with a population over 100,000) and class-II towns (with a population between 50,000 and 100,000) together generate an estimated 33,212 mld of sewage, equivalent to 5.4 million tanker-loads (a tanker carries 7,000 litres)–if lined up, they would circle the equator 1.3 times. But these cities have the capacity to process only 24% of the sewage, according to the CPCB website.

The central government’s Swachh Bharat Mission has concentrated on building toilets but the mere construction of toilets is meaningless, unless these are connected with proper sewerage, FactChecker reported in its October 2018 assessment of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

About 167 mld of sewage flows out of Jammu, and the city has an installed capacity to treat 67 mld sewage (40%) in three sewage treatment plants (STPs). But only 10 mld sewage, i.e. about 15% of the STP installed capacity, and 6% of the sewage produced, is treated, according to Rakesh Gupta, executive engineer (sewerage) with the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA), set up to implement the Jammu and Kashmir Urban Sector Development Investment Program.

“During the monsoon, we have to wade through a mix of untreated sewage and solid waste. Water-borne diseases are also common,” said S Handoo, a 42-year-old resident of Paloura area in Jammu.

By the end of 2018, several ongoing sewerage projects will be completed, which will increase the city’s capacity to treat sewage to 15-20 mld, more than the current 10 mld but still lower than the city’s total sewage production, according to Gupta.

The situation in Jammu reflects the problem in the entire state. Urban areas of J&K generate 547 mld sewage, but can theoretically treat 48%, as per March 2017 data. The actual amount of sewage getting treated daily may be much lower, as is the case in Jammu, which has been selected as a Smart City under the central government’s Smart City Mission which aims to transform “Jammu into a sustainable and economically vibrant city focusing on tourism, quality of life and trade by leveraging its heritage and location”.

Through various sewerage projects, agencies are providing free household sewerage connections to households and trying to divert sewage away from open drains in Jammu

Winter capital sans sewerage
The city of Jammu, the capital of J&K from November to April, is located on the banks of Tawi River, a major tributary of the river Chenab. The city’s older parts are spread on the right bank of the Tawi, and newer parts on the left.  

The first master plan of the city was approved four decades ago, in 1978, for a plan period of 20 years from 1974 to 1994, but, even though sewage was part of the document, the city expanded without any provision for sewage collection and treatment. After seven years of a planning vacuum, when the city “was essentially let loose to the vicious urban forces”, according to the Jammu Master Plan-2032, the second master plan from 2001-2021 was approved only in 2004.

Even after these plans, only 3% of the city’s population was connected to a sewerage system in 2011, according to the master plan.  

In February 2017, the state cabinet, headed by the then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, approved the Jammu Master Plan-2032.

“The city does not have a planned and a full-fledged sewerage system. Presently conservancy system of using bucket latrines which necessitates carriage of night soil from latrines by sweepers to cart trucks and then to the disposal site is practiced in few parts of the city. In most parts of the old city, night soil is flushed into roadside drains and natural water channels, causing fly nuisance and unhygienic conditions,” according to the master plan.

“The sullage waters in these areas are directly disposed into River Tawi or other water bodies without any treatment…Septic tanks are being used by the middle and higher income groups but safe disposal of the effluent is still lacking.”  

Further, “12% of the city population is without any sanitation and therefore resorting to open defecation”, the plan document said. Jammu’s self-declared ODF status was factually incorrect, a state government official said, on the condition of anonymity.  

“In spite of master plans, no comprehensive planning has been done for the balanced development of the city. Till 2003-04, there was no sewerage in the city at all,” said the official. Some sewage projects were floated after 2004, which are currently being built, but the condition is still pitiable as the projects cover only a small portion of the city and will impact 20-25% of the city’s area, he added.

Drinking water pipelines run along open drains which carry untreated sewage in Jammu. Residents complain this is a major reason for water-borne diseases.

A saga of incomplete, inadequate sewage projects
Currently two STPs in Jammu city, as we’ve described above, with capacities of 27 mld and 10 mld each, are nothing but white elephants. Several other sewage projects have also been unsuccessful.

In 2014-15, a sewerage project worth Rs 1,498 crore, proposed to be funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was forwarded to the Central government. A pre-feasibility report was prepared, which covered the entire city through sewer network and STPs. “But, the state administration was not serious and didn’t pursue the project properly. The status of this project remains unknown,” the official, who wished to remain anonymous said.  

Meanwhile, there are several other ongoing sewage projects in the city.

For sewerage, Jammu is divided into three divisions–A, B and C, according to the Jammu Municipal Corporation. At present, sewage works are in progress in division A, on the right bank of Tawi, and cover parts of the old city. Under these sewerage projects, free household sewerage connections from kitchens, bathrooms and toilets are being provided.

For division B on the right bank of the Tawi and division C on the left bank, detailed project reports are being prepared, and the project is proposed to be funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. A STP for division-B is proposed at Udheywala, and another for division-C is proposed at Gadigarh.

Three agencies together are responsible for the projects in division A: The ERA, the Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED), and the National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), which works under the UEED.

The NBCC’s project area is from Jewel Chowk to Peerkho bifurcating BC Road. Its sewerage project, sanctioned in 2006 under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, costs Rs 130.75 crore and consists of 32 kilometre (km) of trunk, or main, sewer lines, 90.74 km lateral sewer lines, 30,400 household sewage connections, and a 27 mld STP.

When work began to lay the sewer lines, the agency realised that some sewage pipe networks were omitted in the main project. In order to cover the missing links, another detailed project report was made and sanctioned by the Indian government in 2012. This included laying of an additional 1.05 km trunk sewer line and 36.2 km of lateral sewer line at an additional cost of Rs 20.32 crore.

In several parts of the old city, such as Jewel Chowk, Raghunath Bazar, Karan Nagar, Amphala, etc, main trunk sewer lines were laid, but household connections were not provided. If provided, household sewage from these areas could have been transported to the 27 mld STP, which is currently lying idle. State officials claimed that funds were not provided at the right time to carry out the sewerage project in totality.

According to Rakesh Sharma, a city-based advocate, in several localities of Jammu where sewerage works have been carried out, either the main trunk sewer is missing, or household connections have not been provided.

“The (27mld) STP has already been constructed at Bhagwati Nagar and inaugurated about four years ago. But, since then it is lying idle and non-functional because pipelines to carry household sewage to the STP are not fully laid,” according to the government official. This was in spite of removing slum areas of Krishna Nagar from the project, where there was a lack of space to install sewer pipes, he said.

Similar complaints are pouring in from other areas as well. Sewerage works have been sublet to contractors but there is no accountability, according to Rajesh Sharma, a city-based advocate. In some areas, household connections have been provided, but main trunk sewer line is missing.

Under the UEED project, the UP Jal Nigam executed the sewerage scheme of Talab Tillo area. The project, with a total project cost of Rs 34.77 crore, consisted of 1.63 km of trunk sewer, 31.812 km of laterals and 5,704 house connections. It had a 10 mld STP, which was constructed in mid 2000, but the STP is now non-functional.

Now, the UEED is executing another project worth Rs 8.17 crore to provide sewerage to some new settlements in Talab Tillo, which were not part of the earlier project.

The ERA, the third agency, is executing sewage projects worth Rs 188 crore  in Janipur, Bhawani Nagar, Bakshi Nagar, Shakti Nagar and Paloura. The first package of the project–officially known as WW05–is 98% complete, and 17 nullahs have been tapped and sewage flowing into them has been diverted to the main sewage trunk line, informed Gupta of the ERA.

“There are 35 nullahs in Jammu city, of which about 15-16 directly dump untreated sewage into the Tawi river. The rest throw sewage in other water bodies and low-lying areas. All these nullahs must be tapped and untreated sewage diverted away from the river to the STPs,” he added.
The second part of the ERA’s project–WW03A–aims to provide 10,300 households with a sewerage connection, of which 7,200 have been provided a connection. The third package–WW07–also to provide household connections is “almost nearing completion”. All these projects of the ERA will be transferred to UEED by December 2018, as the UEED is responsible for the operation and maintenance of sewerage.

“Apart from laying sewer lines and providing household sewage connections, we have also built a 30 mld STP, which is functional and treats 10 mld sewage. By this year end, it should be able to receive a total of 15-20 mld sewage and treat the same,” said Gupta.

But, even after ERA and NBCC projects are complete, barely 25% of Jammu city’s area would be connected to sewerage.

(Nidhi Jamwal is an independent journalist based in Mumbai. Support for this story was provided through a fellowship under the DFID-funded Informing Change in the Indus Basin Project, led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The views expressed are solely those of the author and in no way reflect those of IWMI or DFID.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

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Image Courtesy: http://zeenews.india.com

Jammu: Only a few days after a mob murdered cattle traders in Alwar, Rajasthan, the lynching wave has raised its head in Jammu & Kashmir too. An elderly man, whose age is believed to be 65 years, was attacked and beaten up by ‘Gau rakshaks’ in Ramban, Jammu & Kashmir. Abdul Hamid Shaikh was returning home in Makarkoot village after buying a buffalo from the Batru market and was attacked midway.
 
According to sources, Shaikh had bought a buffalo for his house when three men with a motive to steal money approached him. When Shaikh raised his voice against the thief who snatched his money, they called him a cattle smuggler and a crowd gathered. Men and allegedly even women ‘gau rakshaks’ attacked him. He was beaten but survived and is being currently treated in a hospital in Banihal district. He is said to be safe.
 
The police have arrested 3 people in relation to this case. The names of the arrested people are Parbat Singh, Sandeep Singh and Dharam Singh.
 
SSP Mohan Lal said that this incident had nothing to do with cattle smuggling and urged people to not pay attention to rumour mongering and maintain peace. The investigation is ongoing.

Ramban SSP Mohan Lal claimed that attack was the fallout of a tiff between Abdul Hamid and Parbat Singh’s family. “Neither the victim was carrying a cow, nor was there any mob, which could be described as cow vigilantes,” he said.

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Meet the ‘Intellectuals’
The GIA comprises Meera Khadakkar (Retired District Judge, Nagpur), Monika Arora (Supreme Court Advocate), Sarjana Sharma (Journalist), Sonali Chitalkar (Professor) and Monica Aggarwal (Social activist). The group that submitted its report to Union Minister Jitendra Singh and demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI. The GIA claims they met more than 25 people including the victim’s family, the accused family members, the influential people from the Bakarwal community and others. 

Argument-1: Presence of Kashmiris in Crime Branch Team  

“Three investigating teams rapidly changed one after another within a span of 10 days from January 12 to January 23. The crime branch team consists of two ethnic Kashmiris apart from the SSP Crime Branch Jammu who is also Kashmiri. In a sensitive case like this one and interstate like Jammu and Kashmir, this matters,” notes the report. This clearly shows their communal bias given how while Jammu is Hindu majority region, Kashmir is predominantly Muslim.

The allusion to the incompetence and/or collusion of Muslim investigators in purposely tanking the case should ring enough alarm bells across civil society groups. This is also disturbing given how the charge-sheet clearly mentions that the little girl was raped and murdered because the accused wanted to scare and drive away the nomadic Muslim Bakarwal tribe from the region. The insidious communal colour becomes deeper when the report alleges that harassment by the Crime Branch is forcing Hindus to leave the Kathua region. With the scars of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus of the 90s still deep, such communally inflammatory allegations can cause further destabilisation in one of the most conflict ridden regions in the world.

Argument-2: Post Mortem does not mention Rape
The brutality of the crime had shaken people across the country forcing many to take to the streets. But the GIA report says that the post-mortem does not categorically state that the child was raped. “The charge sheet mentions gangrape by at least three persons over many days. This is not corroborated by the injuries described in the postmortem report. No such injuries are reported on the victim in the Kathua incident which according to the chargesheet is a gangrape. Postmortem report only mentions abrasions but no injuries,” states the report. This is especially ridiculous given how the J&K Police had issued a press release shooting down fake news and categorically stating that the girl had indeed been raped. 

This reeks of the popular conspiracy theory that involves two post-mortems! The theory claimed that the little girl was never raped as the first post-mortem report does not mention it. The conspiracy theory further alleges that rape was added in the second post mortem report to sensationalise the case.

Argument-3: Rape not possible at the Dev Sthan
Meanwhile, Arora maintains that rape would be impossible in a prayer hall that had multiple doors and windows and the keys of which were in possession of four village elders. “There is neither any basement nor any floor. There is only a 20×35 feet room where there is no furniture except a three feet table. There are three windows and three doors. The windows have only grills and they are not covered. You can see from outside what is going on inside. There are four keys to the Dev Sthan which are with four elders of the village. People come and go there frequently,” she said.

But this has also been debunked by The Quint in a piece that takes down multiple conspiracy theories. It says, “The Quint has visited the temple/prayer hall where the police states the girl was held captive and can certify that it is not a crowded temple. The temple is located in the middle of nowhere, with no houses adjacent to it for kilometres.” The Quint adds, “It is situated on a hilltop and is isolated from the Rasanna village which lies about a kilometre away from the hall. The walk, which leads to the village, is a lonely one. It opens up to a number of houses including the home of Sanji Ram. It is on this same path that the body of the victim was found on 17 January. The chargesheet states that that the Devisthan was exclusively manned by the main accused, Sanji Ram, to exclude any other person in the area.”

Last-ditch effort to derail Justice?
Is this yet another move to derail justice after the spectacularly juvenile attempt by lawyers to prevent the police from filing a chargesheet? Or is this a last ditch attempt by right wing sympathisers to protect the accused whose goose has virtually been cooked? Either way, these repeated endeavours to spread ridiculous and often outright incorrect information, are part of the wider conspiracy to sow the weeds of doubt in a case that has been brilliantly investigated by a team of skilled investigators… and a case that will be fought with equal elan and grace by a dedicated lawyer in the court. 

Related:

How Hate for Muslims sells and spreads on Social Media

Is a Police Press Release countering Fake News India’s ‘New Normal’?

Growing Communalism in Jammu

Report on Kathua Rape

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( Photo Courtesy : https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org)

Cow vigilantes attacked six people, including a 9-year-old girl in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday and fled away with their flock. The vigilantes beat up the nomad community blue and black and the minor girl has suffered multiple fractures when the community was en route to Talwara area…
(Times Now).

In yet another chilling instance of self-styled gau rakshaks targeting cattle traders — and mob mentality thriving undeterred — three men transporting buffaloes were attacked by “cow vigilantes” in south Delhi’s Kalkaji late Saturday
(Hindustan Times).

“Cow protectionism was the spirit behind India’s freedom movement”. The innocuous looking statement by Ms Nirmala Sitharaman on the floor of the House when she defended the shutting of illegal slaughter houses in UP had not raised any debate then.

Now the real import of this statement is coming to the fore when the alleged killers of Pehlu Khan – a farmer from Haryana – are being compared with martyrs of freedom struggle. The video of the whole incident – where a lady, who heads  a ‘cow protection group’ – who recently came into news when she allegedly forced Jaipur administration to close down a hotel owned by a Muslim under some flimsy pretext, has gone viral where she is comparing one of the accused in the case — who is part of a self-proclaimed band of cow vigilantes – as “Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad of today".

For close watchers of the incidents of cow vigilantism, which are increasingly coming under scanner everywhere, there was nothing surprising about this glorification. People had watched with horror when body of one of the accused in the Dadri lynching case was covered with tricolour. It is now history how the lynching took place when the crowd had been mobilised by giving open calls using loudspeaker placed on the local temple and the frenzied mob had killed Akhlaq in front of his house supposedly for storing beef.

When a senior minister of the central cabinet can even deny the happening of such an incident on the floor of the house and where the first FIR filed in this case is not against the violence unleashed upon the victims but the victims themselves on fraudulent charges, it is obvious that anything can happen in all such cases. Perhaps people in this part of South Asia have now to come to terms with this ‘new India’ which was promised to us post UP elections.

As plans are now afoot to organise a three-day national dharna outside the Rajasthan State Assembly from 24-26 April 2017 under the joint initiative of many political, social and human rights organisations, to protest killing of Pehlu Khan and demand justice for him, the sanitisation of the image of the murderers should worry us all.

Reports have appeared in a section of newspapers which tell that the murder accused are being projected as social activists. What is more disturbing is the manner in which freedom fighters are being openly humiliated by comparing them with fanatic murderers and historic struggle of Indian people for liberation is being trivialised. In fact, this has been an established practice of the saffrons now.

As every law abiding individual is watching with trepidation how “cow terror” is spreading throughout the country – from Dadri to Latehar, from Una to Alwar and from Jammu to now the national capital – with custodians of law and order turning mute spectators and “.. [h]uman slaughter in the name of the bovine” becoming “tragically the new normal in India. There are reports that the apex court of the country is also seized of the matter. In fact it intervened in the issue few days back and has sought responses not only from the Centre and but also six states within three weeks. The six states are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Except for Congress-ruled Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in the remaining states. A three judge bench of the apex court is hearing public interest litigation petition filed by activists and an alleged victim of similar vigilantism.

According to reports focus of the petition is on “Animal protection laws such as the Maharashtra Animal Protection Act, 1956, which prohibit any legal action against persons for actions done in good faith under the law.” In fact, some states also grant the power of search-and-seize to officials under such laws. The petition also referred to a 2011 ruling of the apex court in which it had directed the government to disband vigilante groups.

Whether the honourable judges would give a direction on the issue and ban such groups and come forward to defend rule of law remains to be seen.
 

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