Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo Presentation By: Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo ON J&K State Its Geographical – Historical Context and Human Rights & Political Situation

NAMASKAR

GEOGRAPHY Extreme North of India Jammu & Kashmir State (As it existed on 1st August, 1947) GEOGRAPHY Extreme North of India

The most strategic part of India On its Eastern side is Tibet On its Northern side is China On its Western side is Afghanistan and Pakistan On its Southern side is Himachal Pradesh and Punjab (India) The most strategic part of India

Districts of J&K State As on 1st August 1947 1. Ladakh 2. Gilgat 3.  Chilas 4.  Gilgat Wazarat 5.  Muzaffarbad 6.  Poonch 7.  Mirpur 8. Reasi 9. Jammu 10. Kathua 11. Udhampur 12. Anantnag 13. Baramulla ***

Area of the State Total Area = 2,22,236 Sq. Kms. Area under Chinese Occupation = 37,555 Sq. Kms. Area under Pakistan occupation = 78, 114 Sq. Kms. Area ceded by Pakistan to China = 5,180 Sq. Kms Area under our control = 1,01,387 Sq. Kms Total Area which is under foreign occupation = 54% Total Area under our control = 46%

Area Occupied By Pakistan   Gilgat Chilas Gilgat Wazarat Full Districts Parts of Ladakh Baltistan Parts of Poonch. A major part of the districts of Muzaffarbad and Mirpur.

Area Occupied By China Aksai Chin (Ladakh) Damchok Desert   Aksai Chin (Ladakh) Karakaram Valley Damchok Desert

Area (under our control) J&K State Area (under our control) Kashmir Valley = 15,948 Sq. Kms. Jammu Province = 26,293 Sq. Kms. Ladakh Division = 59, 146 Sq. Kms.   Total = 1,01,387 Sq. Kms.

Districts of J&K State (As on date) Kashmir Valley Jammu Province Srinagar Ganderbal Budgam Baramula Kupwara Anantnag Pulwama Shopian Kulgam Bandipur Doda Ramban Kishtwar Udhampur Reasi Rajouri Poonch Jammu Samba Kathua Ladakh Division Leh Kargil

Chandrabhaga (Chinab) Main Rivers Sindhu (Indus) Vitasta (Jehlum) Chandrabhaga (Chinab) Ravi

MAIN LAKES Wular Lake in Baramulla District Dal Lake in Srinagar District Pongong, Tso Moriri & Salt Lake in Ladakh Mangla Dam (Artificial Lake) in Mirpur District (Under POK) Mansar Lake in Jammu

Mountains and Hills HIMALAYAS Pirpanchal Range Karakoram Range Trikuta Hills Shivallik Hills

Peaks K2 (Karakoram) – 8,611 m Nanga Parbat in Chilas – 8,126 m Rakaposhi Peak in Gilgat – 7,788 m Kamapiri Diwar in Gilgat– 7,143 m Nunkun in Ladakh – 7,135 m Ishkuman Peak in Gilgat – 5,629 m Kolahai in Srinagar – 5,425 m

Linguistic Distribution… Kashmiri Kashmir Valley and contiguous areas in Doda, Poonch and Rajouri Dogri Jammu Province (Districts of Kathua, Jammu, Udhampur and areas of Doda, Poonch and Rajouri Bodhi Leh District and parts of Kargil District (Zanskar etc.) Dardi Kargil District Punjabi Districts of Mirpur and Muzaffarabad

Linguistic Distribution Shina Gilgit and parts of Kargil (Dah-Hanu) Pahari On both sides of LOC (Areas of Karnah, Keran and Titwal Balti Baltistan Gojri Gujars living on higher reaches Poshto Small pockets – living on hills (especially in the Tehsils of Gandherbal and Kangan in Srinagar

Main Sources of History Vishnudharamutar Puran Nilmat Puran 600 AD Vasuki Puran 1100 AD Vishnudharamutar Puran 400 to 500 AD

Main Sources of History… Rajtarangini By: Kalhan Jonaraja Shrivara Shuk Pragya Bhat

Anandvardhan’s Works: Khemendra’s Works: Deshaupadesh Samayamatrika Bilhan’s Works: Vikramankdevcharit Jayanak’s Works: Prithvirajvijay Anandvardhan’s Works: Dhawani Alok

JaisinghabhudyayaBy Kalhan Not Available Sompalvilas By Jalhan JaisinghabhudyayaBy Kalhan Bhuvanabhdyaya By Shankunk

Appalling Human Rights Situation Due to the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Kashmir at the hands of the fundamentalists and terrorists, the Pandit community of Kashmir has suffered enormously. The tip of the iceberg is presented here……

Killings due to organized massacres -More than 1000 members * Vendalization, loot, arson and burning of cultural symbols and shrines - 250 to 300 * Burning of residential and commercial properties - 25,000 * Deaths due to snake bites, accidents and other diseases- More than 3000 (after exodus from Kashmir) members * Number of members of the Pandit community - 5,00,000 who were forced to live in exile * Diseases that have overtaken the members - Renal failure, of the community Heart disease, Cancer, Diabetes and hypertension

After undergoing a series of discussions with the Panun Kashmir Movement(PKM) and the Government representatives on the REPORT submitted by the PKM, the National Human Rights Commission of India referred the case to its court that made the following important findings in the order dated 11.6.1999: i) The crimes committed against the Kashmiri Pandits are, by any yard stick, deserving of the strongest condemnation; ii)                   Whether the Commission looks to the data provided by the complainants, or to that provided by the State Government or the Union of India, the facts are, beyond question, stark and tragic; iii)                 There can be no gainsaying the acute suffering and deprivation of the community; iv) Commission is constrained to observe that acts akin to genocide have occurred in respect of the Kashmiri Pandits;

v) In the minds of and utterances of some of the militants a “genocide type design” may exist; vi) The community of the Pandits has felt that it has not been given the understanding and the reliefs it deserved and to which it is entitled The Commission has empathy for their feelings .There is no doubt as to the immense suffering caused to the Kashmiri Pandit community by the acts of terrorists and militants active in the Valley of Kashmir, particularly in the period starting in the later part of 1989; viii)              There is a general view that some 3,00,000 Kashmiri Pandits have had to leave the Valley for reasons of terror unleashed in their home state and conditions of insecurity that they experienced as a result;

Hiram Ruiz, a policy analyst at the US Committee for Refugees reports (PTI-Washington Aug. 12,1998) “ The fundamentalist terrorists had driven the Pandits out by systematic ethnic cleansing….. There were 250,000 displaced Pandits in camps at the peak” The J&K High Court Verdict (Jammu. Apr 6, 2000- report published in Daily Excelsior) “The conditions which forced Kashmiri Pandits to migrate from the Valley in 1990 cannot be equated with any other situation”. The court observed -“the entire valley had been declared as disturbed by an Act and nearly two and a half lakh people had to leave the permanent place of abode. The migration has no comparison.”

Frank Pallone, Demoratic Congressman in US: (UNI, Washington, July 15, 1999) “I along with fellow law makers plead for describing the treatment meted out to the Pandits in the trouble-torn State as genocide …. I hope that the attention of the United States and the world community will finally focus on the long-ignored plight of the Pandits.” Amnesty International report (London-AI Report, Aug. 1997) “Among the civilian population, Hindus have been frequently targeted by the armed opposition groups (in Kashmir). Estimated 2,50,000 to 3,00,000 have fled the Kashmir valley since armed opposition groups’ activities manifested in late 1989 and taken refugee in Hindu majority area- Jammu or in camps in and around New Delhi. Those that have stayed behind in Kashmir have been subjected to frequent abuse by armed opposition groups (Islamic terrorists). Dozens of killings have been reported over the last few years.”

ALL HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL. FIGHT AGAINST INJUSTICE AND CRUELITY FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS AND ACHIEVE THEM. STRUGGLE IS THE REWARD