Recently in Kashmir Category

Where do these police think they are? Great Britain? "Indian Kashmir, two Christians arrested on false charges of forced conversions," by Nirmala Carvalho for Asia News, April 12 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Srinagar (AsiaNews) - "The anti-Christian intolerance in Jammu and Kashmir is reaching alarming proportions" is the complaint of Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), after the arrest of two Christians in Srinagar, the capital of Indian state, on false charges of forced conversions. The arrest took place on April 10 last, after a Muslim mob attacked two men, five women and two children, all of British origin.

The foreigners had been living for about four years [in] Shivpora, a district of Srinagar. According to local residents one of them, James Thomas, was engaged in conversion activities. So, two days ago a large group of people attacked the Christians, threw stones at their vehicles and tried to destroy their house. The intervention of the police prevented the demolition and the wounding of those present, but officials arrested James and Alora Milli to clarify the charges against them.

The police have impounded the building and evacuated the foreigners. The local imam told police that he had repeatedly asked the foreigners not to convert Muslims, but to no avail. "Now - he added - they can no longer access the area. And even if they try to convert anyone, I will prevent it at all costs."

"The false and defamatory accusations of the Imam - says Sajan George - and the complicity of the police in arresting these Christians are a serious threat to religious freedom, a right guaranteed by the Constitution of India."...

One would almost get the idea that jihad terrorists enjoy broad popular support among Muslims in India. Naah, that couldn't be!

"Protests erupt as Afzal Guru executed for 2001 parliament attack," by Matthias Williams for Reuters, February 9 (thanks to Lookmann):

(Reuters) - India hanged Mohammad Afzal Guru on Saturday for the attack on parliament in 2001, sparking clashes in Kashmir between protesters and police who wielded batons and fired teargas. Dozens of people were injured.

President Pranab Mukherjee rejected a mercy petition from the Kashmiri and he was hanged at 8 a.m. (0230 GMT) in Tihar jail in the capital. Security forces anticipating unrest had imposed a curfew in parts of insurgency-torn Kashmir and ordered people off the streets.

Guru was convicted of helping organise arms for the gunmen who made the attack and a place for them to stay. He always maintained his innocence.

India blamed the attack on the parliament of the world's largest democracy on militants backed by Pakistan, targeting the prime minister, interior minister and legislators in one of the country's worst ever militant attacks.

Pakistan denied any involvement and condemned the attack but tension rose sharply and brought the nuclear-armed rivals dangerously close to their fourth war. Nearly a million soldiers were mobilised on both sides of the border and fears of war only dissipated months later, in June 2002.

The hanging was ordered less than three months after India executed Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of a 2008 attack in the city of Mumbai in which 166 people were killed.

Saturday's execution could help the ruling Congress party deflect opposition criticism of being soft on militancy as it gears up for a series of state elections this year and a general election due by 2014, while grappling with an economic slowdown....

In major towns of Indian Kashmir, where security forces have battled a Muslim separatist insurgency for decades, barricades were erected and hundreds of police and paramilitary force members were deployed.

"The hanging of Afzal Guru is a declaration of war by India," said Hilal Ahmad War, leader of a separatist faction.

Thirty-six people including 23 policemen were injured in protests, said police spokesman Manoj Sheeri, with most of the violence in Guru's home district.

Authorities shut down internet services to try to stop news of the hanging and unrest spreading. The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, Omar Abdullah, made a televised appeal for calm.

Scuffles also broke out in New Delhi between Hindu activists and demonstrators who gathered at a city-centre protest site to condemn the execution, a Reuters witness said.

WARNING

Five militants stormed the parliament complex in New Delhi on December 13, 2001, armed with grenades, guns and explosives, but security forces killed them before they could enter the main chamber. Ten other people, most of them security officers, were killed....

India said the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group was responsible for the parliament attack. The group fights Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

"Jaish-e-Mohammad" = "The Army of Muhammad."

The hanging last year of Kasab after a long lull in executions, prompted speculation that India would move quickly to execute Guru.

But unlike Kasab's execution, which sparked celebrations in the streets, Guru's case was seen as more divisive.

Some Kashmiri leaders warned that hanging Afzal would fuel the revolt in India's part of the Himalayan region in which tens of thousands of people have been killed since 1989.

Curfews were imposed in Srinagar, the region's summer capital in the Kashmir valley, and major towns including Baramulla, Guru's home town.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, both of which claim the region in full and rule it in part. They have fought two of their three wars over the region.

In Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, more than 250 people took to the streets to protest against the hanging, shouting "Down with India" and burning an Indian flag.

India has long accused Muslim Pakistan of arming and funding militants to fight Indian forces in Kashmir. Pakistan says it only provides moral support to the fellow-Muslim people of Kashmir, who, Pakistan says, face harsh Indian rule....

"If we just stay fit despite our busy schedules, everything will be OK"

Syed Salahuddin says that only jihad, by which he clearly means armed struggle, can settle the Kashmir issue. I wonder which one of my books Salahuddin has been reading? After all, I am now responsible for Muslims who believe that jihad involves violence, as you can see from this tweet I received yesterday from Muslim writer Davi Barker, the husband of Hamas-linked CAIR's truth-challenged Zahra Billoo:

Yes indeed, Davi, I taught Syed Salahuddin everything he knows. Bin Laden and Awlaki and Anjem Chaudary and Abu Bakar Bashir and Ajmal Kasab, too. And Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Omar Abdel Rahman. And Faisal Shahzad and Mohamed Mohamud. And Nidal Hasan and Naser Abdo. And Jihad Jane and Richard Reid, John Walker Lindh, Adam Gadahn -- you name the Muslim inclined to violent jihad, and you'll find one or more of my books on his shelf, yessiree. No Muslim would have gotten the idea that jihad had anything to do with violence were it not for my fiendish and extraordinarily powerful Zionist black arts. Why, just look at this:

Proof positive! I am the mastermind of the global jihad! And Davi Barker is an Islamic supremacist dissembler with a comic talent that rivals Reza Aslan's. Islamic supremacists' attempts to cover up and whitewash the bloody reality of jihad grow more risible by the day, but mainstream media, law enforcement and government officials steadfastly refuse to laugh. Once they finally get the joke, it could be too late.

"‘Jihad can resolve Kashmir issue,’" by Tariq Naqash for Dawn, January 6:

MUZAFFARABAD: United Jihad Council chairman and Hizbul Mujahideen ‘supreme commander’ Syed Salahuddin said on Saturday that those calling for settlement of the Kashmir issue through peaceful means were in fact deceiving the innocent Kashmiris, adding that an armed struggle was the only way to resolve the dispute.

Addressing a press conference, he said that experience of the past 65 years should convince any one that only a strong and target-oriented armed struggle across held Kashmir could win freedom from Indian occupation.

“The Kashmiri people, leadership and the state of Pakistan should prepare themselves for it. Otherwise freedom will remain a distant dream,” he said.

The press conference was held at the end of a procession staged by the supporters of Hizbul Mujahideen to mark the ‘right to self-determination day’.

The UJC leader said he supported political movement but was opposed to what he called a fragmented and fractured political struggle. He claimed that about 150 rounds of talks with India had failed to produce anything.

He said it was the armed struggle that had forced foreign troops to leave Vietnam, Algeria, Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq and once again it was compelling the US and allies to withdraw from Afghanistan....

While the jihad rages hot in Gaza, it isn't as if the jihadis have forgotten other fronts. Selling liquor: haram. Murdering those who sell liquor: pleasing to Allah. Sharia Alert from Kashmir: "One killed in Srinagar liquor shop firing," from the Indo Asian News Service, November 15 (thanks to Lookmann):

Srinagar, Nov 15 (IANS) One person was killed and four others were injured when unidentified militants Thursday fired at the salesmen of a liquor shop in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir Police said.

A police officer told IANS: "Unidentified militants fired at the salesmen of a liquor shop in Boulevard Road area of the city this evening."

"Five people were injured in the firing. One of the injured, identified as Mushtaq Ahmad of Aluchibagh locality of Srinagar city, has succumbed to injuries while four others injured are being treated in the hospital," he said....

Following diktats of some separatist groups in the early 1990s all the wine shops, cinema halls and beauty parlours were closed in the valley.

As normalcy gradually returns to Kashmir, some wine shops have reopened in the city, along with some beauty parlours.

But, the owners of cinema halls in the city have been converting their establishments into hospitals and shopping malls instead of restarting their movie theatres.

The threat is clear. "Unless Kashmir issue is solved, Mumbai-like attacks always a possibility: Imran Khan," from the Press Trust of India, November 7 (thanks to S.B.):

Gurgaon: Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Wednesday said time was up for trying to solve India-Pakistan issues through "militancy and militarily" but asserted that unless Kashmir issue was resolved, there was "always a possibility" of Mumbai-like attacks. Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, also said if his party comes to power, he will not allow terrorism against India to originate from his country's soil.

Addressing a World Economic Forum meeting, he said while improvement in bilateral trade was welcome, the issue of Jammu and Kashmir must also progress on a parallel line. Terming a solution to the Kashmir issue as "vital", he said "trade, connections, along with cricket matches will help. At the same time, we should develop some sort of a roadmap to resolve Kashmir issue, which is vital".

"Because unless we operate on both plains, there is always a possibility, as it happened, relationships were improving, confidence building measures, cricket matches, people-to-people contacts, and then came Mumbai." Stressing the need for a "new relationship", he said "no more trying to resolve our problems through militancy and military but through politics. It should be two-pronged. One to normalise, open up relationships with trade on one side and then start a dialogue on Kashmir."

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief assured if his party would come to power, he would not allow terrorism against India to originate....

Yeah, sure.

It isn't as if she did it just once.

Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. A manual of Islamic law certified as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy by Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, says that "retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right." However, "not subject to retaliation" is "a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring's offspring." ('Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2). In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law.

The Palestinian Authority gives pardons or suspended sentences for honor murders. Iraqi women have asked for tougher sentences for Islamic honor murderers, who get off lightly now. Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but "the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour 'provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.'" And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that "Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values."

In light of all this, until authorities get the courage to tell the truth about honor killing, there will be many more such murders.

More on this honor murder story. "Pakistan acid attack parents 'feared dishonour,'" from the BBC, November 5:

A couple arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of killing their 15-year-old daughter with acid say they carried out the attack because she looked at a boy.

The girl's father told the BBC that they feared she would bring dishonour on their family. Her mother said it was her "destiny" to die that way.

The couple were arrested in Pakistani-administered Kashmir last week.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported 943 women were killed in honour killings last year.

That represented an increase of more than 100 from 2010.

Police say that the incident took place in a remote village in the southern district of Kotli. They say that the case was brought to their attention by the couple's eldest daughter.

The girl, known only as Anusha, was found to have burns over 60% of her body. Her father Muhammad Zafar told the BBC what happened:

"There was a boy who came by on a motorcycle. She (Anusha) turned to look at him twice. I told her before not to do that, it's wrong. People talk about us because our older daughter was the same way," he said.

Her mother Zaheen described the aftermath: "She said 'I didn't do it on purpose. I won't look again.' By then I had already thrown the acid. It was her destiny to die this way."

Anusha's father is reported to have taken his daughter inside, beaten her and then acid was poured over her with the help of his wife. Officials say that the couple did not take their daughter to hospital until the following morning.

The couple say that an older daughter had already disgraced the family and they did not want to be dishonoured again....

Then clearly the proper response was to stock up on acid.

And again. "Parents kill teenage daughter in acid attack in Kashmir," from AFP, November 1 (thanks to David):

Mother and father in Pakistan doused 15-year-old In acid after catching her talking to a man, police say.

A mother and father in Pakistan-administered Kashmir killed their 15-year-old daughter by dousing her with acid after seeing her talking to a young man, police say.

Local police officer Tahir Ayub told AFP the father, Mohammad Zafar, was already suspicions about his daughter Anvu Sha and became enraged when he saw her with a boy outside their home on Monday.

"Zafar beat her up and then poured acid over her with the help of his wife. She was badly burnt but they did not take her to hospital until the next morning, and she died on Wednesday," Mr Ayub said.

Doctor Mohammad Jahangir of the state-run Kotli hospital said the girl was brought to hospital in a "very critical condition" with almost 70 per cent burns.

Police were alerted by Anvu Sha's married elder sister who demanded they investigate the incident in Khoi Ratta district, 87 miles north of the state capital, Muzaffarabad.

"The parents have confessed, saying that they suspected the girl had illicit relations with a boy," Mr Ayub said. "We have registered a murder case against the girl's father and mother."...

Will the Islamophobia never end? "J&K women told to keep veil, not to use mobile," by Zulfikar Majid for the Deccan Herald, August 12 (thanks to Lachlan):

Taking a cue from Taliban extremists, militants in Kashmir have threatened to throw acid on the faces of women who use mobile phones and don’t keep veil.

They have also warned members and heads of panchayats to quit the panchayats within a week.

Handwritten posters, bearing the stamp of hitherto unknown terror organisation “Al-Qaeda Mujahideen,” appearing in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, have warned women and girls to wear hijab and abstain from wearing provocative dresses “failing which they have to face acid attacks.”

“We appeal to the people to ensure purdah of their girls. They should not allow their girls to go out of their homes without purdah. If we spot any woman without purdah we will sprinkle acid on her face,” read the posters in Urdu.

The terror outfit also warned the girls to desist from using mobile phones. “If we spot any girl using mobile phone she will be shot dead instantly,” the posters read.Reports said the acid attack threats have sparked panic and fear among women in Shopian....

Apparently you're never too young to go on jihad. "Caught on CCTV cameras: Children used to carry out Sopore attacks," by Sheikh Zaffar Iqbal for NDTV, August 5 (thanks to JW Watcher):

Jammu: Shocking visuals from CCTV cameras have brought to light a matter of grave concern for the Jammu and Kashmir administration. The footage, which has been accessed by NDTV, shows minors throwing grenades on a police post in Sopore last week. Three people were injured in the blast.

The footage shows two boys pushing a handcart and later taking cover while throwing a grenade at a police post and then escaping into a narrow lane.

The boys, aged 12 and 13, were picked up by the police after the CCTV footage captured their act. But, since they both are minors, they cannot be arrested; they can only be detained and questioned.

Police believes that there was one more young man involved in the act and are trying to find him as well.

According to sources, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is banking upon children now to carry out attacks on security forces. The children, sources say, are being paid just a few thousand rupees to carry out such acts.

Don't get all exercised over this, you greasy Islamophobes. After all, priests and ministers and rabbis throw acid in the faces of women who get out of line all the time, don't they? Don't they?

"Kashmiri acid attack victim let down by law," from India Today, July 23 (thanks to Lachlan):

She waited for justice for seven years but it was all in vain. Gul Naaz came to know earlier this week that a court has exonerated the men accused of throwing acid on her and leaving her disfigured for life.

Her fault: She had dared to open a beauty parlour in Kishtwar district of Jammu.

"Two men who threw acid on me were arrested. They were kept in the police station for a night and released the next day. The case went to the sessions court. I was called once to record my statement. I was told that I'll be called again, but it never happened," Naaz, 34, said.

"The police informed me on Tuesday that the case has been closed and the accused exonerated by the court," she said, adding that she plans to file an appeal against the decision.

In 2006, Naaz, who has three children, opened a beauty parlour in Kishtwar to earn her livelihood as her husband had suffered serious injuries in a traffic accident.

She said two men - Sajjad Ahmad and Liyqat Ali - told her to close down the beauty parlour or she would have to face serious consequences.

"I just laughed at Sajjad, who was also the imam of a local mosque. I thought they were joking. But one day they executed the threat," Naaz said.

The attack damaged one eye completely. "Whatever money I had, I spent that on my treatment. All these years I have gone through hell for nothing and those who did it are roaming freely," she said....

These paranoid fantasies would be amusing if they weren't lethal for Jews the world over. "Kashmir separatist: All Muslims have problem with Israel," by Imi Ginsburg for Ynet News, July 12 (thanks to Lachlan):

The leader of Muslim separatists in Kashmir has called on the government to prevent Israelis from entering the region due to the Jewish state's "aggressive policy against the Palestinians," Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.

In response to the Kashmir Tourism Department's decision to send a delegation to Tel Aviv in a bid to woo Israeli tourists to the region, the leader of the separatist Hurriyat party, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said Friday that "although we welcome guests and visitors, we cannot accept agents of the Israeli intelligence agencies visiting Kashmir in the garb of tourists."

The leader claimed the flow of Israeli tourists and the road show in Tel Aviv are part of a plot to occupy Kashmir.

During a sermon at the Grand Mosque of Srinagar, he said, "How can the government invite Israelis, when they are expressly anti-Muslim and anti-Islam?"

"The government should explain why it's encouraging Israelis to visit Kashmir. Muslims all over the world have problem with Israel due to its aggressive policy towards Palestine," Farooq said, adding that there "definitely is some ulterior motive behind encouraging Israelis to visit the Valley."

According to the Southeast Asian News Agency, Farooq asked the state government to "come clean" on why the mission was sent to Israel.

He also said Israeli is bringing Jews from all over the world not only to settle them in “Palestinian territory” but also to occupy Jammu-Kashmir tourist areas.

Another Muslim separatist group made headlines recently when it demanded that tourists visiting Kashmir dress modestly so as not to offend local Muslims.

About a year ago the Foreign Ministry advised Israelis not to visit Kashmir due to the violence involving separatists and security forces, but the region has experienced a tourism boom since the beginning of the year after the fighting appeared to have subsided.

Do Pakistani authorities really need this encouragement to back jihad? "Pak faces threat if stopped backing Jihadis," from PTI, June 8:

Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin has vowed to turn the guns on Pakistan if it stops backing jihadis in Jammu and Kashmir who, he claimed, were fighting "Pakistan's war".

"We are fighting Pakistan's war in Kashmir and if it withdraws its support, the war would be fought inside Pakistan," said Salahuddin, who also heads the Muttahida Jihad Council, a grouping of terrorist organisations based in Pakistan.

Salahuddin made the remarks during an interview with Arab News while referring to a reduction of tensions in Jammu and Kashmir following several rounds of talks between India and Pakistan.

He said he was "desperate and agitated" with the new approach adopted by Pakistan in the peace process with India.

The report said the Pakistani political leadership's new approach for normalising relations with India had "stunned" Kashmiri leaders.

"Kashmir has been the key issue but now it has become peripheral as all claims of supporting our struggle politically, diplomatically and morally are nothing but lip service," Salahuddin claimed.

He said he believed that militancy alone is the solution to the Kashmir issues.

"All those who were involved in the so-called peace talks eventually admitted that India is not serious and that it gained more and more time to implement its own design for the region," he claimed....

These are the same claims that jihadis make about Israel: that it is not serious about negotiating peace. By "serious," they mean "ready to surrender unconditionally."

"Pakistan is doing all this without keeping its own interest as prime due to foreign and Western pressures without analyzing its disastrous consequences," he claimed.

Will the Islamophobia never end? "Indian Kashmir, Muslims set fire to a Catholic church," by Nirmala Carvalho for Asia News, May 25 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Srinagar (AsiaNews) - An [sic] "planned" attack, with the clear goal of "scaring to death the Christian community. The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir must act to ensure security for the faithful and places of worship", says Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), reacting to AsiaNews to the arson attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Srinagar, two days ago. The main entrance was completely destroyed, but the timely intervention of a security guard prevented the fire from degenerating. Cameras captured two attacker who targeted the Church in the evening (20.30 hours the local, ed) their names are still unknown. All Christian communities in the valley of Kashmir have expressed solidarity with the Catholic Church.

The films show two men taking advantage of the temporary absence of the security guard. In those moments, the attackers threw petrol and other flammable material at the front door, then set it on fire. Fortunately, the guard came back in time to stop the fire to spreading: the entire building structure is made of wood.

Fr. Mathew Thomas, pastor of Holy Family, told AsiaNews: "What happened to us is very worrying. Watching the video, you understand that it is a premeditated attack, and that the two attackers were well aware of what happens in church. At the end of January, my bike was burnt, we have not found out why, nor who the culprits were. It was clear that even then, the goal was the church. On two other occasions, the Virgin has interceded for us. May She protect us and save us forever. "

"What happened - said the president of the GCIC - is not an isolated case. I think the persecution suffered by Rev. CM Khanna over baptising young Muslims, or the couple arrested while at the market. With these gestures, the Muslim community is trying to intimidate the Christian minority. But there are not even 400 Christians in Srinagar: I appeal to Omar Abdullah, chief minister, a Muslim who studied in Christian institutions. He must protect the entire population of Srinagar, including minorities. "

The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir (the only Indian state with a Muslim majority, ed) attended Burn Hall School, a prestigious Catholic institution directed by Fr. Jim Borst, Dutch missionary, for years accused of proselytizing.

The case against Rev. Khanna for daring to baptize seven converts from Islam continues to grind on, and the question remains: whose law is supreme in Kashmir? Indian law, or the local Sharia courts?

They have also tried to get rid of Fr. Borst before. They have had it in for him for a long time. He is "credited with initiating the translation of the Bible into the Kashmiri language." "3 Christian priests told to leave J&K," by M. Saleem Pandit for the Times of India, January 20 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

SRINAGAR: A self-styled Sharia court in Srinagar on Thursday issued a fatwa asking three Christian priests to leave Jammu & Kashmir for "luring the Valley's Muslims to Christianity". The fatwa also directed the state government to take over the management of Christian schools in J&K, besides monitoring church activities.

The outrageous edict follows last November's arrest of pastor M C Khanna of All Saints Church in Srinagar.

According to Nasir-ul-Islam, deputy to grand Mufti Bashiruddin, four Christian priests are involved in luring Kashmiri Muslim youth to convert to Christianity. "Punjabi MC Khanna, Dutch national, Jim Borst, and Gayoor Messah were told to leave the Valley for their involvement in conversions. Case against the principal of Tyndale Biscoe School, Parvez Samuel Koul, is under investigation. A judgment will announced in due course," said Naib Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam. Besides the decree, Sharia court asked the government to involve itself with the management of missionary schools.

Proselytizing is forbidden. It could get Christians killed. In this case, it could get Christians who had nothing to do with it killed. Good thing an appeals court struck down Oklahoma's anti-Sharia law, eh? Islamic Tolerance Alert from Kashmir: "Indian Christians fear backlash due to Sharia ruling," by M Saleem Pandit for TNN, January 13 (thanks to Twostellas):

SRINAGAR: All India Christian Council in New Delhi on Friday feared backlash against Christians in the country due to incrimination of pastors Jim Borst and CM Khanna by Srinagar's self-styled Islamic Shariat court.

The self-proclaimed Supreme Court of Islamic Sharia headed by Mufti Bashir-ud-din on Wednesday indicted Pastor C M Khanna and Dutch national, Jim Borst for their alleged involvement in luring Kashmiri Muslims to convert to Christianity.

The Deputy Mufti-Azam Jammu and Kashmir and son of grand Mufti Bashir-ud-din, Mufti Muhammad Nasir-ul-Islam in a statement on January 11 said that "it was proved beyond doubt that the accused" pastor Khanna "along with other accomplices was luring Muslim people to change their religion."

"The Kashmir situation is going through a critical phase and if such elements are not brought to book it will have a serious and negative impact on the (Kashmiri Muslim) society. It is shocking and surprising that the state government was allowing such activities. Kashmir society will not tolerate such activities at all and we stand united against such elements," Mufti Nasir said. The deputy Mufti added that a detailed verdict against the accused would be made public soon.

The two pastors have already quit the valley. They left soon after Pastor C M Khanna (who lived in Kashmir for past several years) was released on bail on December 1, 2011. The J&K police had arrested him on November 19, 2011 on charges of fomenting communal trouble in the state.

All India Christian Council in a statement on Friday feared that the Sharia court's threatening that it would issue a sentence soon could "encourage extremist elements to indulge in violence."...

The court allowed Rev. Khanna to be released on bail, but not before lawyers twice stormed the courtroom, and the bar association warned its members not to defend him. An update on this story. "Kashmir: Anglican pastor who baptised seven Muslims to be released," by Nirmala Carvalho for Asia News, November 30:

Srinagar (AsiaNews) – Chander Mani Khanna, the Anglican clergyman from All Saints Church arrested for baptised seven Muslims, will be released on bail, a court in Sranigar, Kashmir, ruled this morning. The pastor’s son, Nathan, said, “We are waiting for his arrival in Jammu. He is in custody but safe.” Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), pleaded with the Kashmir government to guarantee the pastor’s safety after his release. Rev Khanna has been in prison since 19 November.

Twice (on 27 and 28 November), a gaggle of lawyers stormed the courtroom where the pastor’s case was being heard. The presiding judge was forced to postpone the bail hearing. The Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association has called on its members not to provide Rev Khanna with legal counsel.

A threatening poster was hanged in the courtroom promising any transgressor of possible consequence, such as expulsion from the association and ban from practicing law in the State of Kashmir.

Whose law is in effect in Indian Kashmir?

Sajan George warns that Anglican clergyman’s life “is in serious danger. Six years ago, Bashir Tantray, GCIC coordinator in the Kashmir, was gunned down in broad daylight, in front of his father’s home. The government has to guarantee Rev Khanna’s safety when he is released.”....

The fundamental question in this case is one of Indian sovereignty: is Indian law the supreme law of the land in Indian Kashmir, or is Sharia? Local authorities and Muslim clergy are acting as though the latter were.

They have sought to prosecute Rev. Khanna for promoting "disharmony, enmity or hatred" due to religion, and for offending "religious feelings" by welcoming Muslim converts to Christianity. Someone ought to ask them how that logic would apply when some other Kashmiri converted to Islam. Of course, under Sharia's supremacist rule, that concept of reciprocity would not apply at all, and that is exactly the idea.

An update on this story. "Christian leaders for the release of Kashmiri pastor arrested for forced conversions," by Nirmala Carvalho for AsiaNews, November 22:

Srinagal (AsiaNews) - "The Rev. CM Khanna and seven Muslim converts to Christianity were exercising their constitutional rights to religious freedom and freedom of choice, they have done nothing illegal. " So says Sajan K George, President of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), commenting on the arrest of Channa Mani Khanna, Anglican pastor of All Saints Church in Kashmir, accused by the Grand Mufti of the region of having forced the conversion of young Muslims in exchange for money. For the Anglican bishop P.K. Samantha Roy, of the Diocese of Amritsar, "the way the police have arrested the pastor is humiliating. Rev. Khanna has never acted in secret. We ask the government of Kashmir for justice. The Anglican Church will seek a legal redress for our innocent pastor. "

A few days before his arrest, on 19 November, the Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-Din had called the Rev. Khanna before a sharia court, to answer charges of forced conversion. On 17 November, the Grand Mufti had then written a letter to the pastor, in which he stated: "Having failed in what I had asked, we will be forced to take action under Shari'a." In addition to Rev. Khanna, the police also arrested the seven Muslim that he baptized, beating them to obtain a confession against the pastor.

The Anglican bishop who oversees Rev. Khanna's diocese has upheld the baptisms as valid:

Msgr. Roy said he had discussed what happened in the Islamic court with the pastor: "The interrogation went on for four hours. When we spoke, the Reverend was serene and calm, not afraid because he was sure of his innocence and that he had not committed any violation of canon law or civil law. The baptisms he officiated are valid. "

"The request to appear before a Shariah court - said Sajan George - is alarming. We must stop the Talibanisation of the only Indian state with a Muslim majority. India is a secular country with a secular constitution, which states without exception, and demands respect for the principles of equality among citizens of the republic."

The state of Kashmir has no anti-conversion laws: the police arrested the pastor according to art. 153A (people who promote disharmony, enmity or hatred based on religion, race, residence, language or caste) and 295A (people who offend the religious feelings of any class, with deliberate and malicious acts).

The same could be said in many places, and especially with regard to U.S. foreign policy in Muslim countries. In Kashmir, the Grand Mufti and the courts are being allowed to act with impunity against other Kashmiris' freedom of conscience, now stretching laws that are either abusive or prone to abuse to accuse the pastor in this case of "insulting" Muslims and upsetting religious "harmony." An update on this story. "Kashmir pastor arrested for baptising seven Muslims," from Asia News, November 21:

Srinagar (AsiaNews) – Police in Kashmir arrested Rev Chander Mani Khanna of the All Saints Church after the head of the Kashmir Shariat Court accused the Christian clergyman of converting Muslims in exchange of money. The case began on 8 November when Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-Din summoned him to appear before the court to explain the alleged conversions.

To back his accusation, the Grand Mufti used a video that appeared on YouTube that shows Rev Khanna baptising seven young Muslim men and women. The same video was then linked by other online platforms provoking an avalanche of verbal attacks against the clergyman.

“Rev Khanna’s arrest is an attack against religious freedom,” said Predhuman K Joseph Dhar, a scholar who translated the Bible in Kashmiri. “The situation is tense and there is great concern that someone might threaten his life.”

“Having failed to do what we asked you to do, we are forced to take measures based on the Sharia,” the Grand Mufti said in a letter to the clergyman.

Afterwards, “police arrested seven people, the seven men and women who are baptised by rev Khanna in the video. According to witnesses, police beat the seven in order to testify against the pastor.”

The Jammu Christian Federation called on the government “to release the pastor since administering the baptism on consenting adults is his prerogative.”

“The rights of Christians are being sacrificed on the altar of political expediency and convenience,” said Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). “Christians too are entitled to minority rights. Allowing a Sharia Court to enforce its laws on Christians represents an end to the rule of law and equality of Indian citizens.”

Kashmir does not have any anti-conversion law. In fact, police arrested the clergyman under Articles 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (1860). (NC)

As far as Mufti Azaam Bashir-ud-din is concerned, CM Khanna has some 'splainin' to do. He has allegedly been converting young Muslims to Christianity, and you know what the prophet of the Religion of Peace said about that: "If anybody changes his religion, kill him." Can you imagine the outcry if a Christian priest or minister in Europe or the U.S. summoned a Muslim cleric and demanded that he explain why Christians were converting to Islam?

Islamic Tolerance Alert: "Kashmir’s 'mufti azam' summons Christian priest to explain alleged conversions," by M Saleem Pandit for the Times of India, October 28 (thanks to PM):

SRINAGAR: Mufti Bashir-ud-din - J&K's official " mufti azam", or head Muslim clergyman - issued fresh summons to a leading Christian priest, CM Khanna, on Friday, asking him to appear before his court to explain his activities of reported conversions of young local boys and girls at his church in Srinagar. Khanna said the mufti was annoyed with him because he had expressed his inability to help the mufti in the admission of a boy to a Christian missionary school.

Talking to TOI, Mufti Azaam Bashir-ud-din said: "Our shariat court had summoned the Christian priest, CM Khanna, to appear personally today at 11am but he failed to appear. Now we have issued fresh summons to him for personal appearance on November 12."

A shariat court has existed in J&K since the early 1960s; Mufti Bashir-ud-din is the judge of the court and the appeal against this court lies in the civil court. Mufti Bashir said that the court was recognized by the state government because of the majority Muslim character of the state. The shariat court, however, has no enforcing agency like police to implement its judgments, he said

Mufti Bashir-ud-din said: "I have received the complaint that the said priest, CM Khanna, is involved in converting young Muslim boys and girls to Christianity. This warrants action as per Islamic law. So we summoned him to appear before the shariat court to explain his position."

The mufti claimed to possess a video cassette purportedly showing Reverend Khanna urging young Kashmiri Muslims to embrace Christianity and asking them to take a dip in a pond inside the church near the cricket stadium in Srinagar.

"I will take all necessary measures in exercise of the powers vested in me by Islamic shariat," the mufti said when asked what course he would take if the priest failed to appear in his court.

Threat noted.

"It is a matter of grave concern that Christian missionaries active here should be running an organized and integrated campaign to convert young Kashmiri Muslims to Christianity," he said....

Lashkar-e-Taiba was created by Pakistan and is still owned and operated by the ISI. LeT was also blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, and Indian officials believe them to be behind July's bombings there.

Here, India has dealt them a major setback. "Two LeT commanders killed in Kashmir: Indian police," from Agence France-Presse, August 7:

Indian troops Sunday shot dead two senior commanders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group in Kashmir during two separate gunbattles, police said.

Fahadullah, a Pakistani national, was killed during a fierce clash in northern Kupwara district, bordering Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Fahadullah was serving as LeT's "divisional commander" for north Kashmir and his death is a "big setback" to the group, senior police officer Muneer Khan told reporters.

Police said government forces also shot dead another "senior commander" of LeT in southern Poonch district during a clash on Sunday.

The slain commander was identified as Abu Usman, police said.

The Pakistan-based LeT has been blamed by India for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. It has denied any role in the attacks.

More than 47,000 people have been killed, according to an official count, since an insurgency erupted in 1989 against Indian rule in the region.

Violence dropped after India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004 but rebel attacks have escalated over the past fortnight.