Wikileaks on India Kashmir Torture, Radical Hindu Threat

Delhi-based US diplomats have reported concerns about the growing Hindtuva threat to India and torture of Kashmiri prisoners by Indian security forces, according to the Guardian newspaper which has been given access to over 250,000 US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks.



These revelations come barely a week after the Pakistani media came under withering attack by the Guardian for publishing similar reports dubbed as "fake WikiLeaks" alleged to have come from Pakistani intelligence sources.

In a leaked cable posted by WikiLeaks, Rahul Gandhi, the "heir apparent" to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told the US ambassador Tim Roemer at a lunch last year that Hindu extremist groups could pose a greater threat to India than Muslim militants.

According to the leaked cable of August 3, 2009, "Gandhi said there was evidence of some support for the group (LeT) among certain elements in India's indigenous Muslim community. However, Gandhi warned, the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalized Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community".

In another leaked document dated April 6, 2005, an American diplomat describes being briefed by the ICRC on the routine use of torture to interrogate Kashmiri detainees. Close to 1,500 prisoners were interviewed by the organization during 177 visits to various detention centers between 2002 and 2004, according to the cable. The ICRC said they were subjected to beatings, electrocution, and other abuses. “The ICRC is forced to conclude that [the government of India] condones torture,” the cable said.

In another Kashmir related cable dated June 4, 2007 the embassy recommended that the US should deny visa application of Kashmiri Ikhwani leader and the then MLA Usman Abdul Majid "in the interest of remaining balanced in" their approach to the Kashmir issue following their denial of pro-Pakistan Kashmiri separatist leader Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani's visa request.

"Kashmiri paramilitary leader and J&K state MLA Usman Abdul Majid applied for a U.S. visa on May 22nd in order to attend functions held by the United States Institute of Peace starting on June 7th in Washington, DC. Majid is a leader of the pro-GOI (Government of India) Ikhawan-ul-Musilmeen paramilitary group, which was formed by India's security forces to combat terrorism in the Kashmir Valley. The group is made up of terrorists who have surrendered to the Indian government and agreed to fight against their former brethren," the cable mentioned.

Ikhawan, the cable said, "has a reputation in the Valley for committing brutal human rights abuses -- including extra-judicial killings of suspected terrorists and their family members, as well as torturing, killing, raping, and extorting Kashmiri civilians suspected of harboring or facilitating terrorists."

"Majid won election easily in his Baramullah district of Kashmir, but this is likely only because the district has had a minute voter turnout as terrorist groups continue to enforce a boycott there of Indian-held elections. This boycott continued in Baramullah even in 2002, when turnout was much higher in other areas.

However, the cable pointed out, "Similar to many of the instances of torture and violence surrounding the Kashmir dispute, Post is unable to verify with evidence the claims against Majid."

"Majid's reputation in the Kashmir Valley is one of the worst among those associated with the GOI. In light of our rejection of the Geelani visa, we will not be able to maintain our record of neutrality in the Kashmir dispute if we grant this visa. Nonetheless, denying his application may have some repercussions with GOI officials, especially those from India's Intelligence Bureau who have been close to his case. As with the Geelani case, this will be a very delicate matter, but in light of Ikhawan's history, Post recommends that the U.S. government deny the visa."

These latest cables finally reveal a semblance of US diplomats' humanity in the midst of growing violence against the Muslim miniority that characterizes life in India, and Indian occupied Kashmir. It is encouraging to see the breaking of their defeaning silence on Indian security forces' human rights abuses and Hindutva violence.

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Wikileaks Disclosures Expose Pakistani Leaders' Disdain for Democracy

The latest batch of revelations by wikileaks website about Pakistan paints a picture of a country where the self-serving political and military elites heavily rely on foreign governments for support, and confide their most private thoughts more to the American ambassador in Islamabad than their own colleagues and the people to whom they supposedly owe their allegiance. This harsh reality shows in many diplomatic cables about Pakistan leaked by wikileaks to date, and it brings a great deal of despair and frustration to a people in dire need of good leadership to effectively lead the nation as it faces multiple national crises of economy, energy and security.

The leaked cables from the US embassy show that Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari thanked the United States government for forcing former President Musharraf to pardon him and his colleagues, thus enabling them to gain power. Another leaked document reveals that the JUI President Maulana Fazlur Rehman sought US help to become prime minister of Pakistan. The Pakistani Army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani is reported to have confided in US officials that he seriously considered replacing Zardari as president with ANP leader Asfandyar Wali, and Zardari reportedly talked with the US officials about his fears of assassination, and his wish for his sister Faryal Talpur to succeed him as Pakistan's president.

In one of the leaked documents, Saudi King Abdullah is quoted as saying about Zardari that "when the head is rotten, it affects the whole body". The King goes on to describe Mr. Zardari as the "greatest obstacle" to Pakistan's progress.

Not only do I fully agree with the Saudi king's characterization of Zardari as the "greatest obstacle" to Pakistan's progress, I would extend it to include Pakistan's entire political class, including Zardari's coalition partners and Nawaz Sharif's PML reportedly favored by the Saudi king.

Noam Chomsky has recently reacted to the latest disclosures by wikileaks website by describing the ruling elite's penchant for secrecy as follows:

"One of the major reasons for government secrecy is to protect the government from its own population...[The WikiLeaks cables reveal a] profound hatred for democracy on the part of our political leadership."

I think Chomsky's assessment has much greater applicability to democracy in Pakistan than many democratic governments elsewhere in South Asia and the rest of the world.

The fresh wikileaks revelations about Pakistani leaders' duplicity will further add to the widespread conspiracy theories and breed greater cynicism about politics among Pakistanis. As the current crop of politicians are thoroughly discredited, my hope is that a new generation of leaders will emerge from the current chaos to lead Pakistan out of the prevailing depths of despair.

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