Sailan Massacre
By Abdul Majid Zargar
07 August, 2014
Countercurrents.org
The Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society has released the massive heart wrenching report of Sailan Massacre titled “The anatomy of massacre-The Mass Killings at Sailan, August 3-4, 1998”.Sailan is a small village in Surankot Tehsil of border District Poonch. The report lists a graphic account of the most inhuman killing of Nineteen people by the deep State. The martyred comprised 11 children ranging in age from about 4 years to 15 years, and five women including one in an advanced stage of pregnancy.
We live in a time of barbarism and the barbarians employ a variety of means, tools & assets to justify & perpetuate their existence. In this particular case, the assets employed to kill were four counterinsurgents, produced & directed by 9 paratroopers of Indian Army with all logistic support provided by local political surrogates. Killing of innocent natives has become an entertaining sport for the security apparatus put in place in our land by the deep State.
It is In the face of this barbarism that a renaissance & resistance is born. Revelations of crimes are made through journalistic investigations, disclosures by human rights defenders, plays and songs. And while the great crimes of the megalomaniac power and their local clients continue unabated, they cannot silence or deafen a new generation of critical intellectuals, human rights activists, poets and artists who speak truth to the people.
For the deep State these investigations & revelations are the most embarrassing documents. Through a well oiled propaganda machinery, these defenders of human rights are maligned & demonized by being called with different names like sympathizers, over-ground workers or accomplices of terrorists’ but there is no choice for them but to remain steadfast. And it has to be realized that the job on hand is not a hundred meter race but a Marathon and a long hurdle rally.
Regarding the character of these defenders of human rights, It is appropriate to Quote here noted author & human rights defender Iveta Cherneva “A human rights activist is the worst type of person to mess with. If I can choose an enemy between the worst finance CEO, or the worst human rights violating dictator, and a human rights activist, I would choose the former. A human rights activist doesn't let go; doesn't have a peace of mind till responsibility for a wrongful act is finally reached. That's the uncomfortable type of person that cannot stand injustice, the type of person that doesn't fear "social desirability" sanctions for confronting wrongdoers directly, upsetting the silence and the status quo, and for screaming loud. That's the person that dares to stand up -- for themselves, for others. That's the type of person who doesn't lay low, doesn't fear being perceived as uncomfortable, the type of person that doesn't just "go along". I do not want as an enemy a person who cannot let go and forget injustice, but who instead will plug away till the very end, till justice is reached. I do not want that man or woman as an enemy.”
And finally a word about Mumbai based lawyer and researcher Shrimoyee Nandini Ghosh who researched & wrote the report. Like other Indians, though very few in number, we remain indebted for raising their voice for and on behalf of oppressed & suppressed people of Kashmir at a great risk to their own life & property.
(The author is a practicing chartered Accountant. E mail: [email protected])
Comments are moderated