Friday, December 26, 2003

Now here's an honest appraisal

Over the past two months, at least 100 youths from Kashmir have been captured crossing the Line of Control (LoC) into the Pakistani-administered have been captured crossing the Line of Control (LoC) into the Pakistani-administered side.

New Delhi claims their aim was to claims their aim was to receive weapons training on Pakistan-administered side of Kashmir and then return home as "terrorists", its word for people who have taken up and then return home as "terrorists", its word for people who have taken up arms against Indian control.
(emphasis mine)  article

Which is pretty much how the word is used anywhere.

“Whatever the number, apart from ideological and economic reasons, it is India's repressive policies in Kashmir that are pushing more young people into the embrace of armed Islamic groups,” said Pervez Imroz, a noted attorney and human rights activist who heads the Jammu and Kashmir Public Commission on Human Rights.

Indian officials deny the charge, but admit that some "aberrations" do take place in the effort to crush what it calls Pakistan-sponsored "terrorism".

Analysts point out that the Kashmir dispute, which has dragged on for more than half a century, serves only to harden the attitudes of young people.

“The boys who have been through the bloody conflict at a very young age seem to be taking up arms consciously unlike the earlier recruits who were competing to take up the gun out of curiosity and in fun," said Imroz.


Curiosity and fun. Okay.

I would like to make the point, however, that there really is no other outcome for an ongoing repression than that people will rebel. Palestinians are going to lay down arms and accept Israel's control? Iraqis are going to lay down arms and accept American control? What else can we expect from children raised under these circumstances? Get used to it.

There will be no global peace. Not until humans become something else.

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