Table Of Content138mm back cover 19mm spine
138 mm front cover
confirmed
PBK
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politics | south asian studies | biography
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An ignored but serious global flashpoint, Kashmir is at the root
of tensions between India and Pakistan, the two nuclear states of P
South Asia, who have fought three wars over it. The heart of the
A Abdul Hakeem
problem is the right of self-determination of Kashmir’s fifteen
million people, a right denied to them since 1947. Since 1989,
90,000 people have been killed, over 100,000 have been injured, and R
over 10,000 are missing, and mass graves continue to be unearthed.
Paradise on Fire is the story A m2
1
of the struggle for national m6
(
liberation of the people 3
D m
of Jammu and Kashmir, m
spearheaded by Syed Ali Shah b
I le
Geelani. This political biography e
d
of Kashmir’s leading freedom S )
Syed Ali Geelani and the Struggle
fighter reveals the true horror
E
of the Kashmir dispute, the for Freedom in Kashmir
dynamics of this historical struggle for self-determination, and
Geelani’s huge contribution in leading this search for liberation. O
ABDUL HAKEEM writes under a pseudonym and is a research N
scholar with special interest In international politics. He has known
Syed Ali Geelani for more than 20 years. He studied in various
institutions in North America, Europe and South East Asia. With a
F
foreword by the human rights activist, Lauren Booth.
I
R
ISBN 978-0-95367-684-2
E
DESIGN © Fatima Jamadar | IMAGES © Abid Bhat
Front cover: Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol Sri-
nagar, 2010. © Associated Press; Syed Ali Shah Geelani
stands atop a vehicle during rally in Srinagar, 2008. ©
Abid Bhat. Back cover: Jammu and Kashmir, 2012. ©
Abid Bhat.
Hakeem PBK.indd 1 04/02/2014 12:46
19mm spine
preface |i
Paradise
on fire
ii| paradise on fire
in a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George orwell
preface |iii
Paradise
on fire
Syed Ali Geelani and the Struggle
for Freedom in Kashmir
abdul Hakeem
iv| paradise on fire
Paradise on Fire: Syed Ali Geelani and the Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir
Published in england by
revival Publications
Markfield Conference Centre
ratby Lane, Markfield
Leicestershire Le67 9sY
United Kingdom
distributed by
Kube Publishing Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)1530 249230
fax: +44 (0)1530 249656
email: [email protected]
© abdul Hakeem, 2014/1435aH
all rights reserved
The right of abdul Hakeem to be identified
as the author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright,
designs and Patents act, 1988.
Cataloguing-in-Publication data
is available from the British Library
isBn 978-0-95367-684-2 paperback
isBn 978-0-95367-685-9 casebound
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design: fatima Jamadar
Book design: naiem Qaddoura
Typesetting: abu abida
Printed by iMaK ofset, Turkey
preface |v
ConTenTs
List of images vi
foreword (by Lauren Booth) vii
Preface ix
1. The dispute 1
2. a Lifeline of resistance 20
3. neighboring Lands and Peoples 39
4. imprisonment and Writing 76
5. Kashmir’s Pandits and its integrity 85
6. Human Wrongs 96
7. Terrorists or freedom fighters 118
8. insurgency and Counter-insurgency 129
9. elections and the Peace Process 151
10. The Kargil fiasco 169
11. Ceasefire 177
12. The Hurriyat split and efforts towards Unity 182
13. ailing but not Caving in 190
14. a Bilateral or international issue? 193
15. The Bottom Line 210
16. not the end 218
appendix 240
endnotes 243
references 255
image Credits 258
index 259
vi| paradise on fire
LisT of iMaGes
1.1 Map of Jammu and Kashmir 1
2.1 Geelani leading march to Un in srinagar, 2008 33
3.1 Musharraf meeting Geelani in new delhi, 2004 54
3.2 Musharraf meeting Bush in islamabad, 2006 56
3.3 Muslims killed in anti-Muslim genocide, 2002 65
3.4 Mochi at sahapur, ahmedabad, 2002 67
3.5 Qur’an burning in new delhi, early 1990s 71
4.1 Geelani leaving his residence for detention, 2010 78
4.2 Geelani meeting Kashmiri victims 84
6.1 CrPf personnel smashing cars, 2011 99
6.2 sikh leaders meeting Geelani 110
6.3 frisking in Kashmir 111
8.1 funeral of militant in Kashmir 137
8.2 Masses carrying body of militant for funeral 140
9.1 Kashmiri leaders meeting advani, 2004 164
13.1 Geelani addressing a public rally 191
14.1 Geelani welcoming a Japanese diplomat 208
16.1 indian parliamentarians meeting Geelani, 2010 223
preface |vii
foreWord
When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has
no choice but to become an outlaw. — nelson Mandela
Peace is a universal human yearning. every society and every people
need peace in order to flourish and to develop their resources, both
individually and nationally. nor is peace the mere absence of war.
for peace of heart, mind and society can only exist when accompan-
ied by the weighty presence of justice.
More than fifteen million people of the state of Jammu and
Kashmir (J&K) have been denied justice for the past six decades.
Kashmiris exist in a permanent state of violent occupation by
indian forces. an occupation that, at this time, has 800,000 troops,
controlling a region of breathtaking natural beauty. The violence
of these troops has turned a place of mountains, valleys and rivers,
once known as ‘Paradise on earth’, into the largest open air prison
in the world. a civilian pressure cooker that would be instantly rec-
ognizable to the people of the Gaza strip. in Kashmir, non-violent
protests for water, electricity and the freedom to travel, are met
with the bullets of the occupying troops. and accompanied by the
threat of imprisonment. Meanwhile, the international community
looks on, shakes its head, expressing ‘concern’, issuing ‘reports’ and
effectively doing nothing.
viii| paradise on fire
The indian research scholar abdul Hakim has produced a
comprehensive study of the nature of the Kashmir struggle for
freedom in providing a biography of its most vibrant voice, syed
ali shah Geelani, showing his vision and determination. for the
past two decades, syed Geelani has been the primary symbol of the
Kashmiri people’s efforts towards self-determination. Like other
great figures of our age, men who have committed themselves to
fighting apartheid and occupation, nelson Mandela and shaykh
raed salah of Palestine (to name but two), Geelani is no stranger
to incarceration. His galvanising calls for a widespread non-violent
resistance, including strikes, have seen him imprisoned for sixteen
years in a variety of regional gulags.
This book, then, is the story of one man’s self-sacrifice told
through the struggle of an entire people. Paradise on Fire is a call to
the conscience of humanity. i pray that people from every part of
the world will respond to this call and join the Kashmiri people in
their non-violent resistance to oppression and occupation.
free Kashmir, free Palestine!
Lauren Booth
London
october 2013
preface |ix
PrefaCe
Walter Sisulu, the long-time comrade of nelson Mandela, and for
twenty years his prison mate, urged Mandela on his 57th birthday
(18 July 1975) to write his memoirs: ‘such a story, told truly and
fairly, would serve to remind people of what we had fought and
were still fighting for’ and be ‘a source of inspiration for young
freedom fighters.’1 That prompt explains my motivation for nar-
rating syed ali Geelani’s contribution to the Kashmiri freedom
struggle. The Economist (29 december 2010) referred to Geelani as
the ‘highest-profile’ Kashmiri leader and ‘elderly icon’, and doubted
‘that anyone among a handful of potential successors could com-
mand as much local respect’.
The Arab News (17 august 2010) declared him ‘the undisputed
leader of the insurgency’ and confirmed that ‘india has consistently
tried to court him but he has refused to take the bait.’ Geelani has
spent over sixteen of his eighty-three years of life in prison, and
written (in Urdu) about thirty books. The second edition of his au-
tobiography Wular Kinaray (On the bank of Lake Wular) was released
in July 2012. ‘its first edition was completely sold out within a week.
Those who were keen to read it included […] civil and military elites
of every shade of opinion’ (review in Greater Kashmir, 30 July 2011).
However, the story of his self-sacrificing contributions to freedom
and justice in Kashmir has not been communicated plainly to the
wider audience that can be reached by writing in english.
