By Gazi Muzamil
Gazi Muzamil is a student activist with J&K Students Movement who has shared his testimony in the form of an open letter to Kannan Gopinathan who was an officer with the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) and he resigned from his post, in protest against the Indian state’s suspension of all civil liberties in Kashmir.
Gopinathan, 33, once lauded for his work during the 2018 Kerala floods, resigned from government job while stating that he was disturbed over the curbs imposed in Jammu and Kashmir (read as Indian Occupied Kashmir) since August 5. He was a 2012-batch AGMUT cadre officer from Kerala.
We are sharing some parts of letter written by Gazi Muzamil to Kannan Gopinathan.
Letter is hereunder:
“Sir, being under one of the Kashmir’s worst lockdown after August 05, I never came through the news that you had resigned courtesy to the inhumane communication clampdown by the Indian state and it came to my notice only after I saw multiple posts on social media.”
If Kashmiri Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers would have resigned in unison to protest against the abrogation of Article 370 that was guaranteed to us under the constitution of India. What impact it would have made and what could have been its consequences? I kept thinking. But as you had said somewhere post your resignation “one has one’s own conscience to answer to”. And I got the answer. Dead and degraded, ignominy. Responded my mind and soul.”
“In the end it is about standing for what you believe. You have truly set an example that when government is corrupt and arrogant in its nature a public servant can’t carry like everything is normal. When freedom of expression is chocked, public servants committed to protecting the very basis of constitution, can’t sit back and relax”.
Meanwhile, some students who had contacts in IoK claim that Holocaust in Indian Occupied Kashmir has already taken place but people would know when Kashmir will open to the world.
Concentration Camps are setup for torture within Valley while Kashmiris are also being sent out of Kashmir to other concentration camps being operated in other parts of India. Extreme psychological and physical torture is making men impotent and then they are thrown back to their areas
Muhammad Sarwar Lohar known as Kashmiri Lohar in JNU claims that over 6 million population of Indian Occupied Kashmir has no access to jobs, businesses, daily wages because everything is still at halt and there is no regular means of earnings for Kashmiris. He also claims that change in rules now helping Indians to buy houses, fruit orchards, shops and agriculture holdings because Kashmiris have only properties to sell to get money to live and properties are being bought by non-Kashmiri Indians.
Young boys are raped and their videos are made by Indian soldiers while raping them.
It is pertinent to mention that the lockdown of Kashmir has been in effect over 260 days with world standing silent.
Sajjad Aslam, another student of JNU said:
“There are fears that Kashmir Holocaust has already been done but world does not know it because Kashmir (read as Indian Occupied Kashmir) is closed for independent observers, journalists and Human Rights and Civil Rights organisations”.
Aslam claimed there are Concentration Camps in Kashmir while Kashmiris are also being sent out of Kashmir to other concentration camps being operated in other parts of India.
“Concentration Camps are setup for torture within Valley while Kashmiris are also being sent out of Kashmir to other concentration camps being operated in other parts of India. Extreme psychological and physical torture is making men impotent and then they are thrown back to their areas,” claimed Aslam.
It has been 241 days since Kannan Gopinathan, an officer with the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) resigned from his post, in protest against the Indian state’s suspension of all civil liberties in Kashmir. While this act of protest created some noise in mainland India, it has been late in reaching the people of the valley due to the communication blockade. As if the time dimensions are different between India and Kashmir. Probably because India has gone into a black hole.
