Would The Kashmiri Muslims Be heard , Would They Get The Answer?
By Sareer Khalid
13 November, 2007
Countercurrents.orgSrinagar, Nov 10:As the intending Kashmiri Hajj pilgrims are busy
packing bag and baggage and seeking blessings of their nears and dears, Abdul Rahman(name changed)is a disappointed lot. Abdul Rahman is one among the 300 Kashmiri Muslims who feel the most unfortunate on the earth as they have been denied the police clearance necessary ,for Kashmiris, to go out side India even for performing Hajj. Abdul Rahman and other 300 "unfortunate" Muslims were informed last week when they have already completed the arrangements and were waiting for the announcement of departure date."A couple of days back I was informed that I have not been cleared by the Criminal Investigation Department(CID)of state police" disappointed Abdul Rahman said and added that "my dreams are shattered". Some 300 people have been denied clearance by the C I D for undertaking this year's Hajj pilgrimage. Abdul Rahman said that he was made to complete all the arrangements and now has been asked to
stay back."I am not only surprised but shocked too. How can they stop a Muslim from performing Hajj which is among the basics of Islam" he said .Tears rolled down of his cheeks when Abdul rahman said that "It is my dream to reach Kaba and Madina so that I can seek apology and die with peace but they are stopping me for unknown reason".This is not for the first time when the intending Kashmiri pilgrims
are facing problem on account of the CID clearance. Three years back in 2004, the intending pilgrims were brought down from the (air)plane for want of the CID clearance. The episode was strongly protested by the Muslims which forced the then Minister for Hajj and Auqaf Sarfaraz Khan to promise that" in future things would be set right and no one would be brought down from the plane."State that the intending pilgrims ,who have been denied the permission ,are involved in the separatist movement going on in Kashmir against the Indian rule. However, sources said ,nobody among the lot is directly involved in the militancy however some of them are said to be associated with Jamati Islami or have relations with militants .legal experts say that the permission can not be denied for any body having any relation with a militant or having association with any political organisation."They have stopped many such people whose relatives were active in the movement and were martyred, this is not legal "an advocate said while pleading anonymity "It is pertinent to mention here that prominent lawyer of the state and the then J&K High Court Bar
Association president Miyan Abdul Qayoom was denied the clearance ,by the CID, to perform Hajj in 2004 after which he filed a case in the High Court, won and was allowed to go on the holy pilgrimage.Sources in the Hajj committee said that most of the people ,who have been denied the permission, are above 60(years old)and have no direct links with the Islamic militants or the separatist organisations."Most of them are old age and illiterate and have no direct links with the militants or the separatist organisations but are believed to be the sympathisers of the movement "a senior official told this correspondent wishing his name not to be mentioned for security reasons. When contacted the Minister for Hajj and Auqaf Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed said the government will deliberate upon the issue after Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad commissions the Hajj House. "Yes, it is fact that some 300 intending pilgrims have failed to clear the CID
investigation. The issue would be discussed and deliberated upon tomorrow with the Chief Minister," Sayeed said. The state of art Hajj House was inaugurated Thursday evening in the out skirts of Srinagar at Bemina. The minister said that we want to take a "humane view" of the issue. "I personally believe that who are not directly involved in the militancy should be allowed to undertake the holy pilgrimage," Sayeed said.Divisional Commissioner Kashmir who is also convenor of the State Hajj Committee said the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has stated that those intending pilgrims who are not directly involved in the militancy would not be stopped from performing the pilgrimage. People who have their relatives active in the separatist politics or in the armed struggle face such problems not only in seeking permission to go for Hajj but in getting Govt. jobs and every thing which requires a clearance from the police and other security agencies.
It is worthwhile to mention here that As many as 10,000 passport
applications are pending with the passport authorities in Srinagar
while 8,500 of these applications are lying with the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) of Police for clearance since 2003. Does it make a meaning that one disqualify for having the basic rights for being a relative of a militant? even some mainstream politicians in Kashmir say a big No. Opposition National Conference Leader and ex Chief Minister of the state Dr.farooq Abdullah,at the inaugural function of hajj House and in Presence of CM Azad and state police chief ,said "I read in the newspapers that some 300 people have been left out from the list of intending Hajjis this year. There is a problem that we Kashmiris are suspected as Pakistanis. No doubt some people crossed the Line of Control and picked up gun believing they could get Azadi (freedom). This was like a wave then," Farooq further said that "Now if their (militants) fathers and other relatives have got Hajj
tickets, why they are not given clearance. If my son picks up gun,
what can I do? I will be helpless, whom will I blame?," he asked. This is not the question by Farooq only but Abdul Rahman and thousands of such people in the state of J&K are with dozens of such questions running from pillar to post. Would they have a patient hearing, would they be able to get what they actually deserve but are denied, would this injustice stop or at least would they be given an answer to their questions?
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