Partial relief for 480 Pakistani Hindu refugees in New Delhi - Times Now

Aditya Raj Kaul, Times Now

Watch it here - http://www.timesnow.tv/videoshow/4425125.cms (Click link, wait for advt. to play)

What comes as some relief to the Pakistani Hindus staying in India, the Ministry of external Affairs has granted a one-month visa extension to all those who failed to return after expiry of their visas on April 8. But, the rufugees do not want to go back to Pakistan, say they would rather die in India than go back.

Fanatics and hypocrites

 From The Sunday Indian Magazine

Afzal Guru's hanging showcases phony drama, crocodile tears and genuine grief. 

Aditya Raj Kaul paints an evocative picture.

“We all are Afzal”, read a poster held tightly by a JNU Kashmiri Muslim student at a hurriedly-organised protest march by pro-separatist and ultra-leftist groups in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, hours after Mohammad Afzal Guru, key conspirator of the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, was secretly executed at Tihar Jail on February 9.

The air was full of anger, betrayal and fury. ``We won’t forget our martyr”, proclaimed a poster held high by a Kashmiri girl in a veil. By the time the protest was dispersed by the Delhi Police personnel, Guru’s last rites had been carried out inside Delhi's high-security Tihar central prison and the Kashmir valley was clamped down under a curfew not seen since the tense summer months of 2010.

Naturally, it was a busy day for all who have a stake in the omnipresent Kashmir story, especially in the Indian republic's capital – and there are many. While TV anchors tried to grab brownie points by determining the timing of when Guru had been informed about the hanging, a speed post was silently booked by the government at the New Delhi GPO in the name of Tabassum, wife of Afzal Guru, telling her what the world already knew. Shockingly but not surprisingly, in this age of online mobility, the speed post reached Baramulla in Kashmir precisely three days after Guru’s death.

There is little doubt that the action on Afzal Guru has been carefully crafted in the run up to the 2014 General Elections. To stave off immediate repercussions in the valley, the government ensured that the three key vocal separatist voices in Kashmir were sent on guided vacations.

JKLF chief Yasin Malik, a self-confessed terrorist claiming Gandhian lineage, was allowed to visit Pakistan to pay his in-laws a courtesy visit; eventually he sat on a hunger strike at the Islamabad Press Club against the hanging, in tandem with who else, but India's most-wanted terrorist Hafiz Sayeed, himself on a courtesy call to Malik.

Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, never happy with Kashmir's harsh winters, decided to stay put at his daughter’s Malviya Nagar home in New Delhi, as did chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, at his apartment in south Delhi's Kalkaji area. Both of them were under house arrest by the Delhi Police and all efforts to reach them by TSI have so far remained fruitless.

While India’s liberal elite mourned the death of a man who they called victim of a “flawed judicial process”, the right-wing swung into action as only they can - by a liberal distribution of sweets and an even more liberal thumping of chests. The BJP, woken up from its slumber and rounds of internecine warfare, stood with the government, but added a caveat saying the hanging was `12 years too late'.

The National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – both in direct line of fire -  decided to act outraged, accusing New Delhi of acting in haste without realising the negativity it would generate amongst the Kashmiris. The PDP national spokesperson was seen empathising with the family of Afzal Guru and warning New Delhi of further `alienation' of Kashmiris from the Indian mainstream.

As for the oratory skills of Kashmiri analysts and politicians of all shades, their opinions were most difficult to comprehend. Any TV debate, ended inevitably in a fish-market brawl, lacking logic and facts, high on decibel quotient and wholly suited to the demands of light and sound entertainment.

According to insiders, when much crocodile tears had been shed in the day time, a few among the moist-eyed separatists decided to hit a posh south Delhi restaurant known for its Kashmiri delicacies - listening to the famous Kashmiri singer Rashid Hafiz, who belted out one popular number after the other.

Exactly 29 years after Maqbool Bhat was hanged at the same place and about the same time of the year, it seems the central government has learnt no lessons. Bureaucrats at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seem to have simply copy-pasted the Maqbool Bhat hanging formula, denying the basic right for the family to even meet Afzal Guru.

While there may be wide-ranging similarities between Bhat and Guru, who amongst other commonalities, were recruits of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and were trained in arms across the border in Pakistan, the UPA government has left no stone unturned to make Guru a martyr for the separatist plank of azadi. The babus of MHA, generally known to engage separatists cleverly, have provided fodder to the virtually dead spectacle of the separatists. Separatists cheerleaders are now crying hoarse from their comfortable bungalows in New Delhi. Afzal Guru, they believe, will be the new Che Guevara - if not in spirit then on on t-shirts.

Among other things in question is the legal representation given to Afzal Guru by the state, even though the two-man Supreme Court bench of P. Venkatarama Reddi and P.P. Naolekar found “no substance in this contention”. The same apex court had earlier acquitted Delhi University professor S.A.R. Gilani of all charges in the same case citing technical grounds.

“Those who are intervening in the campaign to save Afzal but have no commitment to Indian nationalism are not doing any service to his cause”, wrote Supreme Court advocate and human rights activist Nandita Haksar in her book ‘Framing Geelani, Hanging Afzal’. Her conclusions: “We must never underestimate the appeal of nationalism”. Even though she poignantly remembered and wrote about the sufferings of a prisoner accused of ‘waging war against the state’, the reflections were convoluted with anger, raw emotions and a discourse which few could identify with.

A pusillanimous campaign now underway, instead of demanding reform in criminal laws, continues to question the Indian state’s position on Kashmir. Those postulating over the Kashmir issue may do some good by asking local Muslims to internalise on who they strive to be with – a crumbling nation crippled by internal strife or a country which stands for secularism and diversity.

A debate within the stakeholders on Kashmir is need of the hour. Not necessarily the Aman Ki Asha model, neither the misnomer of Kashmiriyat, nor even meetings like those organised annually by Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai in the Capitol Hill, United States, where he invented reasons to abuse India till he was arrested by FBI on charges of being a Pakistani spy. Interestingly, his list of invitees included reputed names from the Indian media, think-tanks, analysts and of course the separatists.

In the wake of a threatening attack on the first-ever girls rock-band from Kashmir, Pragaash, and an acid attack on a Kashmiri girl which went almost unnoticed and unreported, the debate becomes vital. “I do realize and regret that due to us (Kashmiri Muslim terrorists), Muslims in the rest of India get a bad name”, said Afzal Guru in a confession aired on TV channels soon after he was apprehended in 2001.

The tragedy of intolerance developing in the Kashmiri society, fashioned no doubt by some excesses of the Indian state, is best understood by a Kashmiri axiom ‘anyem soi, wavem soi, lagem soi panesei’, or ‘as you sow, so shall you reap’.

Thanks to the government's mishandling of Guru's hanging, it may become an issue of debate and in his death, he may well emerge as the new poster boy of jehad. As Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah put it, the new generation of Kashmiris "who may not have identified with Maqbool Bhat will identify with Afzal Guru”.

Aiding and abetting this sense of alienation are celebrity fiction writers like Arundhati Roy, who remarked famously at an event to discuss Freedom in October 2010 at New Delhi, ``bhooka nanga Hindustan, jaan se pyaara Pakistan’ (hunger-stricken and naked India, Pakistan more beloved than life). To prepare such a dangerous cocktail for her Kashmiri brethren in the garb of liberal discourse only does disservice to the idea of human rights and justice. The hollowness of the leftist diatribe, if not put under introspection, may end up aping right-wing fanatical rhetoric and that is not good news.

The Indian government may now not just have to open its arms but ears as well by listening to the genuine voices of estrangement coming from various sections of Jammu and Kashmir. The farce of a round-table dialogue which will decide the date of next meeting, does not demonstrate serious engagement.

In the days ahead it would be a challenge for the Indian government to contain terror groups from expanding and operating through sleeper cells, as happened months and years after the hanging of Maqbool Bhat in 1984. The judge who delivered the verdict, Justice Neelkanth Ganjoo, was mercilessly killed by suspected JKLF terrorists soon after.

Bhat, who was one of the first from the JKLF to cross the Radcliffe Line for training, could well inspire others to do the same; attempt a violent uprising in the name of religion and ensure a recipe for disaster. After all, terrorism, which spread like gangrene, did not mrerely dent Kashmir, it expanded its base  to all corners of India, most notably the attack on Parliament in 2001.

Afzal Guru, a bright, educated and fresh-faced Kashmiri, with a family to look after, was emboldened to carry out an attack in which the chances of success were indeed very little. As one observer put it, ``the hanging has, perhaps, put a question mark over the failure and unwillingness of the political system to bring long-lasting peace in Kashmir.''

The apex court in its decision on Afzal Guru was very clear. ``The present case, which has no parallel in the history of Indian Republic, presents us in crystal clear terms, a spectacle of rarest of rare cases”, it said, adding, ``the very idea of attacking and overpowering a sovereign democratic institution by using powerful arms and explosives and imperiling the safety of a multitude of peoples' representatives, constitutional functionaries and officials of Government of India and engaging into a combat with security forces is a terrorist act of gravest severity.'' Point is how do you explain it to the bleeding hearts industry?

Exclusive Interview: Syed Salahuddin, Chief Commander, Hizbul Mujahideen

"Dialogue is useless, armed struggle will continue"

Originally published in The Sunday Indian magazine

Peace will elude Kashmir until separatists are involved in the dialogue process, says Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. He spoke to Aditya Raj Kaul on phone from Muzaffarabad a day ahead of the Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks in Delhi.

Syed Salahuddin, Chief Commander, Hizbul Mujahideen

The Pakistan foreign secretary is in India for talks and he would be meeting all separatist groups. How do you see this meeting?
I think meeting with Hurriyat leaders before Indo-Pak secretary-level talks is good, but the basic issue is that the Kashmir dispute is tripartite. No effort will yield results until all three parties concerned are involved. It is not a border dispute between India and Pakistan that two foreign secretaries or heads of state can resolve it. Nor is it an internal security issue. There has to be a realistic approach to the problem. Has this dialogue process been of any help?
You say tripartite talks are necessary. The government says you should give up arms and surrender.
These are talks only for the purpose of talks or to just keep the stakeholders engaged. It has brought no result in the past nor will it do so in the future. During the past 65 years, hundreds of such exercises have been undertaken. But what is the result? The issue has to be resolved in a realistic way. India and Pakistan both have to agree that Kashmiris are the principle party to the dispute. Till they carry on bilateral dialogue, there will be no result just like it has happened in the past. There will be no breakthrough.

Is Hizbul ready for talks with India?
That is of no importance. India should first agree in principle that Kashmir is a disputed territory which has to be resolved as per the United Nations resolution. It is immaterial whether it is Mirwaiz, Geelani or Syed Salahauddin. It does not matter who represents Kashmiris in these talks. The core issue has to be resolved in a practical direction and that is our demand. Hizbul or any other group coming to the table is not of specific importance. In the process of dialogue, everybody (separatists) should be supported.

Hasn't this 23-year-long bloodshed and its high human cost gone against your cause?
I don't agree. Unless and until the democratic approach is respected and honoured, the armed struggle will remain relevant. The people of Jammu & Kashmir, during the last 65 years, have never compromised on their basic demand for right to self-determination. India, by using force, has tried to crush the sentiments of Kashmiris but it has been an absolute failure. Until India respects the aspirations of the people in Kashmir as per the commitment of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and others which were made in the presence of the international community, armed struggle will continue. It will be a statewide political armed movement in India till Kashmir remains a territory under the control of the military. Indian authorities are not serious about resolving the issue but are only buying time. How can we nullify the validity and relevance of the armed struggle? It remains important. The international community too has come to know of India’s militarisation in Kashmir. The military cannot be eliminated without our armed struggle. We have seen the successful role of armed struggles in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are well-wishers of our Indian brethren. If India accepts the reality of the Kashmir issue there will be no need for an armed struggle. But if India continues to use its military against the people of Kashmir, there will be no alternative to the gun.

Lashkar-e-Toiba and Indian Mujahideen have been in the news lately because of their violent activities. Have they taken over Hizbul Mujahideen?
We have tried our best and given everything to the movement. Hizbul Mujahideen is a militant organisation of local cadres. There was a time when Pakistani elements were in it. There are thousands of families who refused to stay under suppression on the Indian side of Kashmir and migrated to the Pakistani side in the last 40 to 45 years. We are half a billion people of Kashmiri origin. We are living in Pakistan Administered Kashmir and other parts of Pakistan. They are as much Kashmiris as any other Kashmiri living in the Valley. There is just physical distance. We are indigenous. The foreign elements in our group are negligible in number now. At the present time, I don’t think any non-local person has a role in insurgency in Kashmir.

The J&K government has said that infiltration has drastically reduced in the last many months, and only a few hundred militants are left in the Valley. Is it true?
If militancy has come to an end, tell me why are more than 7,50,000 Indian troops deployed in Kashmir. What is the purpose of them being there? More and more troops are being created in the name of Rashtriya Rifles, Indian Army and Task Force. More civilians are being targetted. There are so many innocents who have lost their lives in prisons in Kashmir. What is the need of this huge army deployment if peace has returned to Kashmir?

You have alleged that the 1987 J&K elections were rigged by the National Conference, which resulted in this brutal cycle of violence. Had there been no such episode, would Kashmir have been different today?
In the 1987 elections there was mass rigging when I contested as part of the Muslim United Front. Farooq Abdullah, the Congress government and others cornered us illegally. People lost trust in them. For overall change we had to go in for armed struggle. We had no option left.  The struggle, which has been going on for 23 years, is a result of the ways in which the confidence of the Kashmiri youth in the democratic process was shaken by the leaders of the National Conference and the Congress. But this was certainly not the only reason why things turned out the way they are today. There were many other crucial factors that led to the armed struggle in Kashmir. 

Celebration or mockery of freedom in Kashmir?

Published in Daily News & Analysis (DNA), Mumbai

It was August 24, 2007. Independence Day was still fresh in the memory.A group of politically aware girls pursuing journalism from the prestigious Kamla Nehru College in New Delhi, in association with a youth forum, Roots In Kashmir, were about to screen a documentary, ...And the World Remained Silent, by filmmaker Ashoke Pandit to question the state’s silence on the ethnic cleansing of exiled Kashmiri Pandits. On the eve of the screening, the organisers called it off. At Roots In Kashmir, the activists, mostly Pandits, were distraught. Again their voice had been silenced.

The organisers, however, quietly invited another filmmaker, Sanjay Kak, to screen his controversial film, Jashn-e-Azadi, which had been denied a public screening certificate by the censor board. It became clear within hours how some powers had changed the schedule. It didn’t need a political analyst to guess who had silenced the voice of the Pandits in exile. Though, as expected, the Delhi police asked Kak not to break the law and the screening was cancelled.

Yet another screening of Kak’s film has now been withdrawn by Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce in Pune after the special branch of the police wrote to it asking it to refrain from showing the film during its three-day seminar, Voices Of Kashmir. 

Activists from the local ABVP unit also objected to the film’s provocative content. The college has organised the event in association with the University Grants Commission, which also received complaints against the director.

Kak, who has raised an alarm in the media over this apparent scuttling of his ‘freedom of expression’, was, however, singing a different tune a few months ago against the first literary festival planned in the Kashmir valley. The organisers of the Jaipur Literature Festival had planned a similar exchange — Harud Literature Festival — last September. While news agency AFP described it as “another sign at easing tensions in the revolt-hit Himalayan territory”, London’s The Independent described it as the “cultural rebirth” of Kashmir and “an attempt to aid the area’s cultural renaissance.” The Times of India wrote that the “valley had turned a page” and related the event to the fact that Germany had lifted its travel advisory against visiting Kashmir.

But normalcy wasn’t acceptable to a few fringe groups, who took it upon themselves to confront the free flow of ideas among writers from across the globe who would have assembled in Kashmir. Fundamentalist groups told the media that stones would be thrown at the venue. Kak and a group of cheerleaders became part of this campaign asking the organisers to cancel the event.

Before amnesia sets in, it is important to narrate how dangerous half-truths on Kashmir came into being. It all began on the evening of March 13, 2007, at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi where Kak invited the cream of cultural and social activists who were regulars on the Page 3 circuit for the premiere of his much talked about documentary on Kashmir — Jashn-e-Azadi (Celebration of Freedom). On the front seat of the jam-packed auditorium was a frail man in his early forties. He was the centre of attention of the organiser all through the evening.

Yasin Malik had never been a film buff or social crusader. He had never been seen behind the camera either. Often, cameras were directed at him for all the wrong reasons. In 1989 he was part of a large group of Kashmiri Muslims who were brainwashed and sent to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for training on Kalashnikovs that would later that year and the following decade be used against the minority Kashmiri Pandits, who were seen as Indian agents.

Malik’s Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which was banned till 2000 as a terrorist outfit, had the main role in orchestrating the forced exodus of Pandits after their selective killings in the valley increased. And here was the revolutionary of freedom among an elite audience to witness a film revolving around the separatist movement. Kak, main organiser for the evening, had already ensured that Pandits were denied entry into the auditorium. As a result, several young and old Pandit scholars, professionals, journalists and activists stood outside the closed main gate.

Malik, one of the lead characters in the film, says India wants to impose Brahminical imperialism in Kashmir. Does he even know the meaning of the term ‘Brahman’? The most significant mischief played by the film is with the portrayal of statistics. It says 200 Kashmiri Pandits were killed and 1,60,000 exiled. It goes on to support the Kashmiri separatist claim that 1,00,000 Muslims were killed since 1990.

Rashneek Kher of Roots In Kashmir, who was among those asked by Kak to remain outside the auditorium, says in his account published in Greater Kashmir: “When I asked Sanjay Kak the source of these figures, he said he had obtained these from some joint secretary in the MHA, New Delhi. The movie director being a respected man, I had no doubt that he had got them from the Government of India (GoI). When I asked him what’s the source of his figures, 1,00,000 killed in Kashmir since 1990, he strangely had no GoI statistics to support his figures. Who believes GoI anyway? I have received a reply to an RTI saying only 16,455 civilians have been killed in Kashmir since 1990. Now who would believe that? If GoI would have been sacred as Kak wants us to selectively believe, we wouldn’t have the movie in the first place.”

One of the flashes in the film says “Kashmir is the most militarised region”. Maybe it is. What then explains the presence of army and paramilitary forces when, till 1989, it hadn’t even seen an armed policeman? The forced exodus of Pandits also took place in 1990. The film does not mention why the army had to be placed there after 1989. Isn’t it imperative for a filmmaker to show the complete picture and not half-truths?

Jashn-e-Azadi didn’t face protests only at its premiere. In August 2007, Mumbai’s anti-terrorism squad received inputs about a secret screening being planned at Prithvi theatre. The police raided the premises and sealed DVDs of the film. The senior officer who ordered the raid was martyred by bullets of terrorists from Pakistan in the 26/11 attack. Kak faced similar police action in Gujarat, New Delhi, and other places.

“It wasn’t a film on Kashmiri Pandits,” remarked an angry Kak when challenged by an equally angry audience at a screening at Stanford University in the US last year. There can be no disagreement on this. But why then did he use Pandits for a minute or two in the 138-minute documentary? The film gives a falsified account on the Pandits, not just by statistics but by showing images of abandoned houses for a few seconds to rub salt into their wounds.

“A good documentary does not take sides, it simply documents and presents facts as they are, the director is never seen to be endorsing or negating what he shows. When Sanjay Kak explains the meaning and essence of the term shahadat, the swell of adrenalin is clearly audible in his voice, that’s when he moves from being a director to an invisible but strong spokesperson of his concept of what constitutes the celebration of azadi. To prove his point of view he has even borrowed footage that makes it look exactly like the sexed-up PowerPoint presentation that the USA made to the UN as its premise for attacking Iraq. History is replete with neo-converts going that extra mile to prove which side of their bread is buttered, but I believe the director wants to walk all through the Safar-e-Azadi to prove his loyaltyto the only leader of Kashmir, Yasin Malik,” writes Kher.

In 2010, on Independence Day, Mumbai’s Free Press Journal carried a feature on young Kashmiris and what they felt about India. A bright girl, a budding artist from Srinagar, spoke frankly about the concerns of ordinary Kashmiris and praised chief minister Omar Abdullah. Soon, all hell broke loose. Through a Facebook group called BekaarJamaath (Idle Group), and on e-mail and phone, she was threatened and abused by fellow Kashmiris. She was so scared that she went into hiding and sought help from security agencies.

Kak wouldn’t know of such stories. He couldn’t care less. Terrorists who have changed colours to suit their careers are important for his screen space. Kak won’t ask for their conviction under the law for killings against humanity in Kashmir; he would rather showcase them as ‘Gandhian activists’.

Ordinary Kashmiris have always been overshadowed by separatists who are given space by New Delhi-based intellectual mercenaries, making it a mockery of freedom. The spin doctors have made business out of Kashmir just as self-styled activists have worked for an ‘agenda’ unknown to the common man searching for peace in the valley.Is there any spring of hope for this intolerance to end?

Aditya Raj Kaul is India editor of the monthly The Indian published from Australia.

From the diary of an exile

This piece was also published at NEWSGRAM

The fear of turning old has been recurring all through these last few months. Not that the grey hair would bother my ego, not even the flab of dry whitish-brown skin protruding out from the calcium-less bones. I for once haven’t tried being conscious of my looks or even the ever growing beard lately. Most of my life has been without any particular fear. In more liberal fashioned tone, it has been ‘fearless’.

As I’m driving away in the dark to seek solitude, the fear develops stronger. It brings some quick sweat on my face and the deep forehead, added along is some rattling effect on my nerves. With my right foot pressed hard against the accelerator on this empty city road far away from the city of my thoughts. The racing heart is faster than the car at this point. I wish to stop and run away to my ‘home’. Though I know I can’t.

There seems no ‘bring to an end’ to this journey. The farther I travel, more I seek to return. The time dissolves into memory. In this thorny path ahead of me, I see an identity-less non-stop journey into darkness. The journey itself begins in darkness of hope. An ironic life of a wandering soul!

Most nights are spent in the ‘white and black’ of the unseen past. Past being a predicament as much as the future.

I stare at the photograph of a rare sparrow sitting on the gate of a mausoleum with her back turned towards me; on the front is a ‘hazy green’. One of the many photographs pasted above my work desk. The haziness of this forced journey is unpredictable. In this concrete jungle, I do not long for another machine. All I yell for is my lost abode.

Is it the fear of turning old? Or, perhaps of being a ‘homeless’ at the fag-end of life; an ordeal haunting an exile. ‘Freedom is a prison for the exiles’, says an author friend.  I remain confined in that prison lark.

Just as the withered dislocated leaf of ‘Chinar’ which narrates the agony in its fire brown tint before being crumbled, the fear in me shall pass. The silent journey alone to my homeland shall never end. I shall remain young forever to recount the ‘untold story’ of a forgotten tribe. The tribe that existed in their homeland, not so far long ago!

In the words of Gulzar,

ज़िन्दगी यूं ना हुई बसर तनहा, काफिला साथ और सफ़र तनहा!

हमने दरवाजे तक तो देखा था, फिर ना जाने गए किधर तनहा!

Jamia : Life after Encounter

Spirit willing

Life is slowly limping back to normal,

Aditya Raj Kaul, Jamia Nagar - (complete column for The Times of India's - South Delhi Plus)

Saturday, October 4th, 2008
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“Jamia Millia Islamia stands for Peace, Communal Harmony and Tolerance”; posters with messages such as these welcome us inside the Jamia campus bordering South Delhi. Moving along the University, the road narrows down ahead at the chowk. An elevated cemetery to our left marks the entrance to the famous Batla House.

An uneasy calm prevails through the lanes of the market inside Batla House and Zakir Nagar; days after an encounter took place at the neighboring Jamia Nagar killing an inspector and two terrorists. Life in and around the locality has come a long way since then. Fear psychosis runs deep here. 

While some shopkeepers lament a decline in footfall, there are some who find no difference in the number of people thronging the markets before and after the blasts. Tahir Aalam, a shopkeeper, says “There is a constant fear in our mind. Bomb Blasts have become so common; and after the encounter it’s not easy to carry on. Compared to last year the sales have come down to 60%."

However, Akram, his younger brother, pipes up, “We were even open on the day of the encounter; when the entire market was shut.”

The days of Ramzan seem to have brought back the lost festive spirit. As we hop inside the busy lane towards the centre of the main market on a rickety rickshaw; our eyes come across the crowd and the activity along the market-side. There is hardly space to move. Chicken Kurta and Salwar shops; along side the eateries are full abuzz. Outside shops, banners, wish “Ramzan Mubarak” to one and all. Ladies clad in black burqa can be seen enjoying the shopping season with their children. The pushcart peddlers, hawkers and sweetmeat stalls are a common sight due to the festive season.

Shafiq, owner of a Duppatta store, feels, “It was difficult for a few days. But, Things seem back to normal. Markets have regained strength. It’s festive all over”. 

The policemen can still be seen standing guard on the various corners with barricades on the middle of the road. 

On the pavement, just besides the door-mat shop on the road, my eyes freeze on an old man, perhaps talking to him-self; selling white skullcaps. Luckily, he is happy to converse and speak his mind out. As I ask him, “Chacha, kaisa mahol hai?” (Uncle, how is the atmosphere out here?); a distinct sparkle reflects through his smile.

He replies, “Aman hai. (There is Peace)”.

The 70 year old, with a wrinkled face; is fearless in his words. Mohammad Rahat Khan lives near the Khalilullah mosque lane, meters away from the place of the encounter. “Violence and non-violence; death and birth, peace and war, good and bad; its all a continuous cycle. It doesn’t stop at any turn. We shouldn’t bother much towards the negative.” 

As the journey ends, its evening, and slowly getting dark. The call of aazaan breaks the eerie calm. It is time to break fast, commonly known as Iftaar. Batla House is left behind at a distance. Walking down the road, an unknown security officer at one of the gates of the campus offers a few dates to eat. Happily accepting the treat we move on.

There surely is much more to Jamia Nagar; apart from the narrow lanes, the white skull caps and the black burqa. Thoughts of Mohammad Rahat Khan remain simple, basic yet so intense. 

(All photographs by Aditya Raj Kaul)