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| Kak's "Away from Homeland" sheds light on plight of border people and crossborder prisoners | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, July 31: Compared to the border states, including Punjab and Rajasthan, people living in the border village on this side of the LOC and the IB in Jammu and Kashmir have been facing severe hardships since 1947. It has happened during the four wars that Pakistan thrust on India, including the Kargil conflict and during the time Pakistani troops and the Rangers resort to ceasefire violations.
A detailed account on this issue has been given by veteran journalist, M.L. Kak, in his book "Away from Homeland" which has hit the stand in various states recently. Book is also available at Oberoi book store and Bharatiya Pustakalaya.
In the book Kak has cited series of instances which confirm that machinations by the Pakistani troops on the LOC and the IB in Jammu and Kashmir result in enormous difficulties of people who are forced to migrate to safer places where they are compelled to live a life of refugees.
Those affected by ceasefire violations include farmers who fail to carry out farming practices. Kak has claimed that produce from crop fields has declined because vast stretches of land lie on other side of the fence which India had to raise to check infiltration.
The plight of crossborder prisoners has found space in the book. Kak has started with the killing of Sarabjit by fellow prisoners in the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. The author has given a detailed account of torture Indian prisoners had been subjected from time to time in various jails in Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan have been banking on manual espionage in the sense both sides assist a few individual in crossing over to Pakistan and occupied Kashmir and the vice versa for collecting information about the military installations and on the activities and plans of the armies on both sides of the LOC and the IB.
What is painful and unfortunate, Kak claims, is the way the agencies in India and Pakistan, that had sponsored espionage activities, disown their agents or sources soon after they are caught and arrested. These agencies, whether in India or in Pakistan, stop fulfilling their promise of providing financial assistance to the families of these spies.
What adds to the Book's credibility is Kak's emphasis on details. If he talks about the difficulties and problems being suffered by the border villages owing to ceasefire violations or because of Indo-Pak conflict he cites instances, based on interviews with a number of villagers. What he talks about the tales of torture and trauma suffered by those engaged for espionage he names a number of people, including Swaran Lal, Bhogal Ram, Vinod Sahani. Kak talks about the plight of family members of those held in prisons in Pakistan.
An interesting chapter in the book "Away from Homeland" is on changing patterns indicating that old order has "changeth" leaving space for the new order. Even when the mountain locked Kashmir valley could have resisted flow of new trends in fashion and dresses people have remained prone to such influences. The result is that the "Pheran" (a long robe worn by both men and women in Kashmir) is on its way out. Similarly men and women, belonging to the Pandit community and living in the plains for the last 25 years, have shed their traditional garments. They have developed taste for Pizzas and pastas without giving up love for Kashmiri cuisines. |
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