Kashmir - The ground reality part 2

5th September 2019

The media is undoubtedly the biggest weapon of mass destruction. Whilst Indian news channels continue to fool the public by spreading false propagandist information with regards to Kashmir, the ground reality is in actual fact catastrophic. Alhamdulilla with Gods grace, we managed to speak to a very close family friend this morning who is originally from Srinagar. Our relationship with this family goes back to the sixties when dads brother resided in India to complete his studies. Whilst at university he got very ill and was diagnosed with jaundice. Of course he wanted to return to South Africa but my dadaji instructed him to go to Kashmir to this family. He spent a few months in Kashmir and of course recovered from his illness there.This timid, middle aged gentleman and his family have managed to leave Srinagar for another city. They simply locked their home and left saying that Allah will protect their belongings.When i heard about the hardships and oppression meted out to the Kashmiri people i couldn't hold back my tears. There are army personnel every 100m. Many of these so called military personnel are in actual fact members of the RSS who were just given army uniforms. They have carte blanche to do as they please. Kashmiri people can not step out of their houses as a family. So if your family and friends are walking together, maybe 4 or 5 people you will be stopped and arrested. The army or should i rather say these goons are not there to protect civilians from so called terrorists attacks. They are there to harass and humiliate the locals. The locals are taunted by words like, " This is our land now. Your houses are ours." There has been protests down town Srinagar more towards the old city. Reports of the army raiding homes and kidnapping young boys during the night is all true. The exact same oppression carried out in Gaza by the Zionist jews is being carried out in Kashmir under a fascist barbaric inhumane regime. Perhaps the biggest violation of human rights in Kashmir is the fact that ordinary Kashmiris are unable to access life saving health care. Medical supplies are running critically low. The uncle told me that his sister is a diabetic and due to stress and anxiety she became very ill. She started developing blisters on her hands.There was no ambulance or transport available to take her to the hospital. The uncle risked his own life to get to another suburb where his sister resides. He then took her to the hospital himself after enduring much difficulty. He was repeatedly harassed at the checkpoints. He witnessed many other Kashmiris being harassed as well. Food supplies are running low too and most grocery stores are only open between 6pm and 9pm. This is when most people rush out of their homes scampering quickly down the road to see what they can buy. The economic situation is critical. The area relies on tourism and since all the tourists have left thousands of people are not earning any income. The "Gujurat butcher" is not interested in the people of Kashmir. He is only interested in their land. The atmosphere in Kashmir is dull and gloomy. The Kashmiris are happy at the fact that PM Imran Khan is highlighting the plight of the Kashmiri people to the international community. However the vast majority of Kashmiris do not wish to be a part of India or Pakistan. They want to be able to exercise their right of self determination as was promised decades ago. All they want is to be able to reside in peace on their land . All they want is freedom and independence. We are not living in the stone age. Its 2019, how can you keep millions of people under siege in an open jail cutting off all forms of commumication. Put yourself in these peoples shoes. These draconian laws undoubtedly highlights the pathetic mentality of those in power. They are oppressing Kashmiris simply because they are Muslim. They are oppressing Kashmiris to make true their dream of a full fledged purist Hindu India. They are oppressing Kashmiris because there is no place for minority groups in Modi's India. The ripple effect of the Kashmiri situation is spreading to other parts of India as well. My "brother" a devout Hindu who resides in Delhi has landed up in a deep financial crisis. He too works in the travel and tourism industry as a driver and tour guide. The mere fact that all the tourists left means that he is now left without a job temporarily as he has no one to drive to Kashmir or other parts of India. His boss can not afford to pay staff salaries as many tourists have cancelled their trips. No tourists means no revenue. Many poets and writers have described Kashmir as heaven on earth. In my eyes, it is such a magical place that words can not describe the beauty of the place. Kashmir is beautiful because of the warmth and hospitality of the Kashmiri people. I can not forget the tranquility and serenity i felt whilst walking through the valley of the shepherds. It is a place where strangers accept you as their own. Their culture and way of life is so simple yet so unique. And whilst you are greeted with big smiles and hugs, there is deep hurt and pain that dwells inside the hearts of all Kashmiris. Their heaven on earth, their paradise has always been a hell to reside in being the most militarized area in the entire world.To those Indians who worship Mr Modi as though he is a God, to those Indians who believe the propagandist crap they see on television day in and day out, wake up. Stop watching television and start reading books. Start educating yourself. Stop seeing the world through blinkers. Feel the plight and suffering of others. Today, they are suffering, tomorrow it could be you.

Kashmir - The ground reality part 1

30th August 2019

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Years of treachery will come over people in which liars are believed and the truthful are denied, the deceitful are trusted and the trustworthy are considered traitors, and the disgraceful will deliver speeches.” It was said, “Who are the disgraceful?” The Prophet (saw) said, “Petty men with authority over the common people.”  What we seeing now is exactly as the Prophet Muhammed (saw) prophesized. We have lunatic Trump in the USA, we have blood thirsty MBS in Saudi (killing Yemenis) , we have Sisi the dictator in Egypt, we have a loony Kim Jong-un North Korean leader, psychopath Netanyahu in Israel, tyrannical Assad in Syria and now we have the Hitler of our time, India’s Narendra Modi  who has annexed Kashmir making it his own whilst oppressing millions under his fascist Hindutva regime. Speaking  to a close Kashmiri friend of ours now in Delhi, I am extremely hurt and saddened of their plight. As a businessman involved in the travel and tourism industry, his company has experienced massive losses. Tour groups from Malaysia, South Africa and Europe that should have already arrived in India have all cancelled their travel arrangements. Many tourists have vowed to never visit India in the future unless and until the dignity of the Kashmiri people are restored. His company has a reasonable staff compliment of mainly Indian nationals and due to the excessive losses the company has incurred almost half the staff compliment will be retrenched by month end. This is an individual who has always given back to the community and now his own businesses are in jeopardy.  The gentleman left behind his wife and kids in Kashmir.  Their landline was only connected for 2 days. When he left home, his son had a bit of a cold and some of his close friends were on their way to their villages outside of Srinagar. Now he has absolutely no contact with anyone at his place of birth. He stated that over the years they have been through curfews and they have been oppressed but they managed. But what is unfolding now is the worst ever. In the past despite the curfews in place there were no communication barriers. People could still get their work done and online based businesses could still service the needs of their clientele. However, the situation now is catastrophic. There is no food in many homes and gas supplies used for cooking are running low as well. Kashmiri youth located in other parts of India are being taunted and harassed on a daily basis. These are the kind of remarks passed at them, “Kashmir is now ours. Go to Pakistan.” It’s been almost 3 weeks since I’ve heard from my other friends and family in Kashmir. These are people I was in contact with on a daily basis and so I really miss them immensely. Can you imagine the agony of living life through hundreds of check points being stopped by heavily armed military personnel  just to get your child to school  and having your entire suburb barricaded with barbed wire. Can you imagine how traumatized the kids must be seeing heavily armed military personnel day in and day out? It’s definitely not a normal way of life and upbringing.  These same security strategies have been put into place in Palestine and I’m one hundred percent sure that either an American or an Israeli company had a hand in implementing these methods of control in Kashmir. It breaks my heart knowing that people who are close to me are going through so much of hardship and difficulty. I wish there was more I could do to ease their pain and suffering.  Many Kashmiris who have bonds or taken loans are in great difficulty as they are unable to make payment to the banks. Many are unable to pay their rentals. Despite everything that is happening in that part of the world, the middle aged gentleman said, “This is a test from God Almighty. He is testing our faith and one day His help will come to alleviate our people’s hardship. God willing everything will be fine in the future. Allah tests us in many ways. He puts us through hardship to make us pray more and bring us closer to Him.” Whenever I’m having lunch or dinner with my family, I always think about my Kashmiri friends and family. Do they have food? Did they eat a decent meal? I can never ever forget the love, kindness and hospitality they showered on my family and I when we visited that part of the world a few years ago. They went out of their way to make us comfortable.  I find it appalling and disgusting that there are celebrities and people out there who support war and enjoy seeing the suffering of other people. In our quest for materialistic gain, our hearts have become so hard that we find joy and pleasure at seeing innocent kids being blinded, butchered and murdered. We have lost our moral conscience. I find it so strange and difficult to comprehend that people who love their own kids and want their own families to be protected are raving and happy at seeing families in Kashmir lose their loved ones . They are rejoicing at seeing the family unit disintegrating.  For many it’s a feeling of happiness out of revenge or a deeply ingrained hate for Muslims. But then I wonder, how can you take revenge on a people for atrocities committed decades ago? Why should an innocent two year old be blinded over a decade’s long conflict?
The revocation of article 370 & 35a has brought to the fore religious bigots, islamaphobes and racists both locally and abroad. Take away politics and religion, people are just people. In the same way that you want a secure, happy and bright future for your own kids and family, people in all other countries wish the same. The biggest issue with the kashmir situation i find is the deeply ingrained hate that is instilled even in young kids born today.Hindus hating Muslims, Muslims hating Hindus, indians hating pakistanis, pakistanis hating indians. This needs to end. Both sides should advocate for peace and peace must be brought about through love, dialogue and understanding. You can’t achieve peace by force. You can’t achieve peace by enforcing draconian rules and regulations on a nation. The majority of Kashmiris are timid, kind, and peace loving people. They are warm and hospitable ( Muslims, Jains, Pandits and Sikhs).For me, humanity is the mother of all religions. Love, live and let live. Always put yourself in the shoes of those who are oppressed and ask yourself, will i be happy being in this situation. Will i want my own kids and family to be barricaded and surrounded by armed troops and barbed wire.If your answer is no, then you cannot wish harm on others. You need to be sympathetic and empathetic to their plight.

Today, being a Juma, I ask from all of you to please make a special dua and prayer for the oppressed people of Kashmir and for all people residing in war torn countries. May Allah ease their pain and suffering and may He liberate them from tyrannical leadership. To those who oppress others, may God Almighty guide them on the straight path, the path of those whom God has favoured and not the path of those on whom God Almighty’s wrath will befall 

Let us Coexist

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South Africa is a melting pot of cultural diversity. There are people from all over the world residing here and despite our past, in general most South Africans do get along well with each other. Over the past few days though, I am quite disheartened to hear that there are Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi families residing in our suburb who have stopped talking to each other in light of the current happenings in the Asian subcontinent. These are people who have been friends with each other for years, their kids play with each other, they go to school together and now suddenly they have stopped talking to each other. Please do not let the issues in that part of the world spill over here. What example are you setting for your children? How can kids born here in South Africa hate their Pakistani or Indian neighbours due to the political situation in another part of the world? Teach your kids how to respect and be good to everyone around you irrespective of caste, creed or race group. Don’t make it a religious issue either. No religion in the world teaches hate and intolerance. This is all about a fascist government trying to indoctrinate a nation with a supremacist ideology. It is the same concept that was propagated in Nazi Germany in the past and it is the same concept propagated now in Zionist Israel. Judaism does not teach hate and supremacy and hence there are Orthodox Jewish communities globally that are totally against Zionism and Zionist Jews in particular. You cannot break ties with your neighbours and friends just because you are of a different faith. However, if you have friends and acquaintances that are in favour of war, in favour of killing and oppressing people, in favour of murdering and butchering innocent kids then yes by all means you have every right to stay away from such people and you should break off ties with them. We are not residing in the Stone Age where people should be colonized and annexed. We are living in a progressive world where people have every right to live happily with dignity wherever they wish to live without any fear of being oppressed due to their faith or belief systems.