Freedom
(Marium Iftikhar, Karachi)
Recently comments by Arundhati
Roy that “Kashmir has never been an integral part of India”, and that “the
Indian military deployed in Kashmir is the most oppressive force in the world”
have created a great hue and backlash in India. The Indian government seems to
be disturbed on this remark at a time when Obama is arriving; as the Indian
opposition and law minister called this remark a studious and unfortunate. This
response seems to be very harsh. Arundhati haven’t said anything new, it is a
historical fact and since many years millions of people from Kashmir, Pakistan
and various countries are saying that Kashmir is not a part of India and
Kashmiris never wanted to live with India. Even people from India admit this
fact very well and Arundhati has expressed the same sentiment.
Arundhati Roy, who is a good writer and activist for poor and human rights
issues, is being treated in a very unkind way in her own country due to her
remarks on Kashmir. Yet the govt has indicated in a recent seminar on Aazadi for
Kashmir that it does not have intentions to charge Arundhati in case of
sedition. While commenting upon these reactions Arundhati recently said that
government is showing a degree of maturity, and BJP’s Mahila is using me to
distract attention from the senior RSS activist Indresh Kumar who has recently
been named in the CBI charge-sheet for the bomb blast in Ajmer Sharif in which
several people were killed and many injured. Arundhati also claimed that some TV
channels and newspapers were in the process of openly stirring mob anger against
her and have joined hands with RSS and Hindu terrorists. She said why are
sections of the mainstream media doing the same? Is a writer with unpopular
views more dangerous than a suspect in a bomb blast? Such news seems to be very
awful in a country; how India claims to be democratic if the freedom of speech
in a state is total catastrophe, when a respected intellectual woman is paying
for speaking the truth. It is understood that Arundhati’s concern for HR issues
in Kashmir is based upon reality. How Kashmiris can be integral part of India
when Indian army have to pull their finger-nails out in order to force them to
say they are Indians.