India – Kashmir
Valley of Tears
27’55
Kashmir was once a Mecca for tourists. They were drawn by snow-capped peaks and beautiful lakes.
HAMID KHANKASHI, HOUSEBOAT OWNER: With this lake, it was like paradise, you know, like a jewel in the crown, we used to call it. Sometimes, you could watch fishes going past you and you can take up, you can look up and you could see blue sky. You could look far, as far as you can, round you can see mountains, all the houseboats. How nice is this? And then you are all alone there and think about around you, it's just lake and quietness.
Hamid Khankashi was born and bred here. The lakes have been his inspiration and his livelihood. Tourists queued up to rent his houseboats, but not any more. The threat of war with Pakistan and India's battle with militants in this contested territory has turned Kashmir into an armed camp. Now, the only visitors wear helmets and carry automatic weapons, and Hamid is facing financial ruin.
(01’34:) HAMID KHANKASHI: It's very bad happening here. It makes me sometimes really cry. The most you can see around the lake here is about 1,000 houseboats around this lake - they're all empty. Even the hotels are empty. All the shopkeepers are crying. Everybody's crying. There is no help from the government. There is no help from any bloody person. Only our ministers - today they say this, tomorrow they say this but no help. No help at all.
(02’13:) Like the Middle East, Kashmir remains one of the world's most intractable problems. In the 1947 partition of India into India and Pakistan, Kashmir was a majority Muslim state which stayed with India. Pakistan immediately attacked to win back what they believed was rightfully theirs and India fought back. 55 years and three wars later, a line on the map called the Line of Control now marks the unofficial boundary between the two nations. Kashmir remains bitterly contested by both sides.
(02’54:) KANTI BAJPAI, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY: Both India and Pakistan think that Kashmir, in a sense, completes their nationhood, that it's vital to their sense of nationalism and identity.
If there was to be a trigger for all-out war between these nuclear-armed neighbours, it could have been this. (December 13, 2001) - A suicide squad is inside the grounds of India's parliament in Delhi. With MPs sheltering in fear of their lives, the attackers are eventually killed. India blames Pakistan-based militants. Delhi responds quickly, by sending an estimated 250,000 troops and 2,000 tanks to the Line of Control, and the message is clear.
(03’42:) OMAR ABDULLAH, MINISTER OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS: Put pressure on Pakistan. Send out a clear message to Pakistan, and I suppose to the international community as well, that 13 December was a turning point for India and no longer will we tolerate the sort of attacks against India and Indians that we have over the last 20 years, starting with Punjab and then Jammu and Kashmir. I think it is because of this that you have seen the speech of General Musharraf on 12 January, so I don't think we should automatically assume that General Musharraf has, has done what he's done for Pakistan because he wanted to. I think he pretty much was forced in that direction.
(04’19:) GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT (Translation): Kashmir runs in our blood. No Pakistani can break links with Kashmir.
General Musharraf reiterated Pakistan's position on Kashmir to his national audience. He also said that the Kashmir cause would not be used as a cover for terrorism. But what followed next created headlines around the world.
(04’48:) GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF (January 12, 2002) (Translation): Religious extremism has been going on for years. We're all fed up with it. It can't be tolerated any more. If any new religious school engages in extremist or subversive activity, or is found to be involved in armed militant activity we will close them down.
(05’19:) The General's pledge to crack down on Pakistan-based militant networks was hailed by Western leaders, but Delhi is far more sceptical.
(05’30:) OMAR ABDULLAH: Yes, he's very glamorous on TV and the international media, particularly the television media, seems to love the way he comes across, but that's not enough to run a country.
REPORTER: It doesn't sound like you're prepared to be too generous towards him.
(05’45:) OMAR ABDULLAH: I've, I've had too much, too many bitter experiences with what Pakistan has done in Jammu and Kashmir for me to be generous with anything that comes from Pakistan, unfortunately.
Omar Abdullah is India's Minister of State for External Affairs and part of a Kashmiri political dynasty. Both his grandfather and father, as chief ministers of Kashmir, have pursued autonomy for the state at various stages of their political careers. But, as an Indian Government minister, Omar Abdullah's focus is Pakistan.
(06’21:) OMAR ABDULLAH: Our primary concern with Pakistan is the export of terrorism into Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India. So, what we would really like to see is that commitment from General Musharraf being acted on, that Pakistan will no longer be used as a source to export terror to any other place and if, if that is true, then what is happening in Jammu and Kashmir really should see a marked decline.
REPORTER: Are you seeing anything of any indication of that?
(06’50:) OMAR ABDULLAH: Too early to tell for the simple reason that Jammu and Kashmir has had the worst winter for the last 10 years and, with the passes snowed in, it would have been impossible for these people to move across anyway. So I think by about the middle of March, towards April, once the snows start melting, we'll have a very clear idea about what is happening with the people crossing the border in the Line of Control.
(07’18:) Fighting militants in Kashmir is a difficult and very dangerous task. A bomb blast at the state legislature in the capital, Srinagar, killed 40 people late last year. Srinagar's narrow, winding alleys provide ideal cover for militants and many buildings have been torched. We were told that police feared to enter this area. A policeman from this station was killed the day before we filmed. At the army museum for captured weapons in Srinagar, the magnitude of the problem becomes apparent.
(08’02:) MAJOR SANDHU, INDIAN ARMY: Then, this is the most popular weapon of Afghans and the Islamic militants, the RPG, you must have seen it in the clippings in Afghanistan, each - even the young boys are carrying these along with them. Yeah, we've got quite a few number of these Pakistan-made weapons with us. This is a 7.62mm pistol. It's got the 'PAK' markings on it, "PAK-made 0.30 bore". This is not an isolated example. We've captured approximately 4,738 pistols.
REPORTER: What, all from Pakistan?
MAJOR SANDHU: All with Pakistan markings.
REPORTER: But General Musharraf has said he intends to cut down on cross-border terrorism.
MAJOR AJAYPAL, INDIAN ARMY: These things, he'll not be able to answer, these sort of questions, yeah? Just stick to the weapons, that's all.
REPORTER: But, I'm talking about the level of infiltration.
MAJOR AJAYPAL: No, no, he can't.
(08’58:) The guided tour is revealing in more ways than one. The army is hypersensitive about security matters. On several occasions, Major Ajaypal intervened, saying my questions about Islamic suicide squads and levels of infiltration by militants could only be answered by politicians in Delhi.
(09’21:) MAJOR AJAYPAL: OK, show them those training pamphlets, those printed ones, yeah, printed ones.
REPORTER: So we can't say that you have to face a suicide squad? What is wrong with that?
MAJOR AJAYPAL: No, no, you know.
(09’34:) And these are what the army calls 'extortion slips' - receipt books for donations to militant groups. They show that Kashmir has become a battleground for fundamentalist Islam's holy warriors, who've crossed into Kashmir from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
MAJOR SANDHU: A whole plethora of organisations. You've got the Hezbollah, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front...
REPORTER: So this is the Hezbollah here?
MAJOR SANDHU: Yes, this is the Hezbollah here.
(10’01) But, long before fundamentalists arrived in Kashmir, there was and remains a popular independence movement. Its militant wing, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, or JKLF, took up arms in the late 1980s. The JKLF is led by Yassin Malik. He's currently recovering from a heart operation.
(10’28) YASSIN MALIK, JAMMU AND KASHMIR LIBERATION FRONT: So there was no funds and the government of India did not provide a space for the non-violent struggle. So there was no funds, so that was the only reason that we started the armed struggle, just to convey to the international conscience and the Indian conscience in particular, that we want to be heard.
(10’50) While the JKLF fought for independence, other groups in Kashmir want to unite with Pakistan. The JKLF and the pro-Pakistani forces even fought each other in the early 1990s. Whatever their goal, the Indian Army's response to militants has been brutally simple - wipe them out.
(11’17) PARVEZ IMROZ, PUBLIC COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: Because, after all, the 500,000 security forces are not here for sightseeing. I mean, they're here to kill people, to neutralise militancy and so, in that prospect, we fear that it will continue. And the army's campaign comes at enormous cost to ordinary Kashmiris. As this forthcoming documentary shows, it seems as if almost every family has lost a loved one.
(11’43) KASHMIRI MAN WHO HAS LOST HIS SON (Translation): Don't we have the right to know where our children are? We don't know who has picked up our children. We are asking the government to tell us where our children are. If the army kills somebody, they return the corpse. Tell us if our children are dead. Don't we have the right to see their corpses at least? My friend and I are all alone. Who will perform our last rites? We Kashmiris have been ruined. I am not the only victim.
(12’58) PARVEZ IMROZ: During their campaign, they have indulged in unprecedented human rights violations here. I mean, all sorts of human rights violations, extrajudicial executions, custodial deaths, torture, then disappearances, we have 4,000 to 5,000 people who have been arrested by the law enforcement agencies since 1989. (Pointing to scale model of Memorial for Disappeared Persons) These are the name plates where the names of the disappeared persons will be written.
Parvez Imroz, a human rights activist, and others, sought to erect this memorial in Srinagar to the disappeared. They even laid the foundations before the army came and ripped them out. And this is footage the Indian Government doesn't want you to see. Shot by a freelance documentary maker, it backs many of the claims by Imroz. Under current restrictions, the finished film would never be shown in India. This village was put to the torch by the army during an operation, and not for the first time. (Woman weeping) This woman's son was taken away by the army and has never been seen again.
(14’00) WOMAN - DOCUMENTARY "PAPA 2" (Translation): I have three other children. But how can I ever forget Javed? Day and night, I think of him. Yesterday evening, when I was sleeping, I dreamt he was sitting near me. In spite of my poverty, I provided good education for my son with the hope that he will have a comfortable life. How could I know that some animal would take him away? I don't even know if he is dead or alive.
OMAR ABDULLAH: Are there occasions when the security forces step out of line? Unfortunately, yes, it does happen. But, in a fight against terrorism, in a campaign of this nature, it is unfortunate, but there will be innocent civilians caught in what happens. We have seen it in Afghanistan as well. It does happen. It's unfortunate. It's...everything has to be done to avoid it, but you will never have a clear 100% clean record.
REPORTER: Because it's been put to me by human rights monitoring groups up there that there are as many as 5,000 people disappeared and they ascribe that to disappeared by the military. I mean that's a major...
OMAR ABDULLAH: It's easy, it's easy to say that. I would tell you that all 5,000 went across and didn't come back. Who is to say who is right and who is not?
TAPAN BOSE, SECRETARY-GENERAL, SOUTH ASIAN FORUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: It's very cynical to say that these kind of things can happen or, you know, "Who knows where they have gone?" is, is very sad. And I wish my country does not really actually behave like that always and I hope that you would not go back thinking that's what most Indians are like. I'm very sorry for that.
Tapan Bose is not a Kashmiri but, as a leading human rights activist, he has an important role in this complex issue.
TAPAN BOSE: Once you start going down the path of killing and legitimising that killing and covering up that killing, then it takes an enormous courage for someone to stand up and say, "Hey, we just can't do this any more. Stop."
Bose has just been nominated as one of four people's election commissioners by a Kashmiri coalition of groups called the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference. They want Kashmiris to vote on who should represent them, if and when India and Pakistan restart talks over the future of the troubled state. Last month, a conference in Kathmandu organised by Bose to bring Kashmiris from both sides of the Line of Control together to discuss these matters was cancelled by Nepal, according to Bose, after pressure from India.
TAPAN BOSE: A representative or an officer of the Home Ministry of the Government of Nepal called my office in Kathmandu and said that, "in response to India's support to Nepal in its struggle against the Maoist terrorists, Nepal must respond to India's request that its territory cannot be allowed to be used for anti-India activity and it is in that regard that they have decided to disallow the holding of this meeting." So we don't - didn't have a choice.
REPORTER: Anti-India activity?
TAPAN BOSE: Yes.
REPORTER: That means having a discussion about the future of Kashmir? And the role of people in that?
TAPAN BOSE: Yes. Obviously, talking peace is anti, anti-state.
This is the road to Yassin Malik's house, the chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. Despite a deep scepticism about dealing with India, he has renounced the gun and is prepared to talk peace. Malik has become a key member of the Hurriyat. In his front yard, goats are being slaughtered as part of the Muslim festival of Eid. Upstairs, Malik is meeting with his supporters. Currently facing murder and kidnapping charges from his days of armed struggle, he's about to leave for Delhi for further court hearings. The case has dragged on for 10 years. He says the Hurriyat is firmly committed to democracy and any talks between India and Pakistan must include Kashmiris.
YASSIN MALIK: Our constitution is that people should be given free choice to decide their future. We will accept the democratic decision of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Because, Kashmiri people are the principal party to the Kashmir dispute so, whenever the dialogue will take place, it must be a tripartite dialogue between India, Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Back in Delhi, Abdullah Omar says the Hurriyat is nothing more than a front for Pakistan and its aspirations for Kashmir.
OMAR ABDULLAH: At the end of the day, the Hurriyat conference has been put here to create trouble for us in India. Yeah, you can't talk to 21 people who have absolutely no claim to representing the people except for the violence and the gun that they rely on. I mean, at the end of the day, take the gun away from the Hurriyat conference and they really don't have a leg to stand on.
TAPAN BOSE: Well if that is what he says is correct, so why doesn't he let them go and conduct this poll? Where is the problem? I would rather have a Hurriyat without the gun than a Hurriyat with the gun and, since he and I agree that the Hurriyat should not have a gun, and the Hurriyat has come and told me that they want to move away from the gun. They want to go to the people and participate in this democratic politics. Why is the Government of India feeling, you know, shy about it? Why don't they let them have it?
Srinagar is under curfew each night and nothing moves. When the next day comes, Kashmiris go about their business, closely watched by the army. Even taking a bus ride means being searched.
HAMID KHANKASHI, HOUSEBOAT OWNER: Army, army can say - I can tell you it's more than a population here. Army means that they're saying one time, they saying that we are helping the Kashmiri people from this terrorism, or whatever you call this, but I don't think they are helping us. They are killing us in one way because we are their pawns. I mean, we have no future, you know? We are like, power for them - they can take us, they can put us anywhere. It's like this because they have the guns, they have the power. They are the rulers. They can do anything. But we cannot say them anything. If we say them, then we know we are to die.
At the end of winter, Indian-controlled Kashmir is a cold, damp and very unhappy place. Beyond these mountains, the tense stand-off between India and Pakistan continues along the Line of Control. Two hostile armies, each with nuclear weapons.
KANTI BAJPAI: I don't think either side wants wittingly, knowingly, to use nuclear weapons, almost in any circumstance that I can think of but, you know, in the fog of war, things can go wrong.
PETER PRESTON, FORMER EDITOR, THE "GUARDIAN" NEWSPAPER: These things happen by miscalculation. Both sides, sort of, do the drum-rolling and up the ante and then something happens, as it happened in 1965, which pushes them into conflict until they think better of it and draw back. This time, though, of course, both sides have got nuclear weapons, so it's particularly frightening.
The prospect of war and the massive investment in weapons in the region is good news for arms manufacturers. Like bees to the honey pot, they flocked to this arms expo in Delhi last month, offering everything from fighter jets to the latest high-tech camouflage suits. This missile, the Brahmos, is part of India's arsenal. It's not nuclear-armed but, with a range of 290km, it could easily rain down on large cities in Pakistan.
DR A. SIVATHANU PILLAI, CEO BRAHMOS PROJECT: Because it's supersonic, it has got tremendous advantage. Not only the speed and reaching the target faster. It has got a high-kill energy, nine times compared to the subsonic missiles.
India is the giant of the subcontinent and spending on defence has increased by more than 17% in its last two budgets. Pakistan also spends vast sums on weapons. Amongst many, the Israelis are enthusiastic about market potential.
DORON SUSLIK, ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES LTD: Hundreds of millions of dollars - we cannot mention names of customers, because the policy of the company is not to give...to mention names of customers. But I can...
REPORTER: Big, it's big business for you here?
DORON SUSLIK: Very big business. One of the main areas of business and technology in Israel, Aircraft Industries are guarding unmanned aerial vehicles.
REPORTER: But, big business for you on the subcontinent?
DORON SUSLIK: That's correct, in many countries, many, many countries.
PETER PRESTON: It impoverishes both sides, when you're looking at poverty, or hunger, or all of the problems that India and Pakistan have by the bucket-load.
Peter Preston is a former editor of the 'Guardian' newspaper in Britain. He's been reporting on India and Pakistan for more than 30 years and sometimes ponders a subcontinent free from conflict.
PETER PRESTON: Golly, if these two countries weren't in a hostile posture, always shouting or growling at each other, always misunderstanding each other, what on earth would the subcontinent look like? It would look a much more prosperous place. It would look a much more united place. And I know from contacts on both sides that these are families who were slit apart. These are friends from school who were split apart in the 1940s. People want to go to India from Pakistan and vice versa. They want them at an ordinary level to be understanding.
Those who wield power in Delhi have heard this type of talk before and aren't concerned. Omar Abdullah, it seems, is firmly focused on the present.
OMAR ABDULLAH: Until we see something on the ground that will convince us that General Musharraf means what he says, it is very difficult to, to retrieve anything from this situation.
With his business failing and a family to provide for, Hamid Khankashi has no illusions about what all this means for ordinary Kashmiris.
HAMID KHANKASHI: The big fight for us at this time to make living, which we don't have. The most important thing we have survival for our family, our kids, ourselves. When we have no business, what we do? I cannot carry this boat all the way from here to the America or to Germany - "Please, I have houseboat, come and stay in my houseboat." It is impossible for me. And there is no people who are going to buy this houseboat from me. So what are we can do? We want one Kashmir. We don't want a Pakistan or India because, if we go with Pakistan, India will never like it. If we go with India, Pakistan will never like it. So the people of Kashmir, especially, I don't think the most of people want Pakistan or India. The most of people, they just want Kashmir and they want to live. That's all they want.