Payanam

Concept, Direction & Editing: Balaji Sanyasi

Cinematography: David Raj, Prakash Bhaskar & Balaji Sanyasi

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Cheap Liquor, Costly Education

The government which profligately spending money to erect statues and conducting melas has found hesitant to allocate funds for the fulcrum of social and economic mobilisation. On the top of that, NITI Aayog, the government think tank has recommended a 6% of the GDP spending on education and the State is peddling in the exact opposite direction of what it’s own intellectual cohort has advocated.

Protest infront of  the Admin Block, Pondicherry University

The higher education in India is becoming an exclusive right of the financially sound class. In Pondicherry, a union territory, the liquor could buy cheap, but higher education sells dear. The fee of various courses in Pondicherry University skyrocketed in the current academic year. Computer Science and MBA courses have faced 225 and 120 per cent increase respectively in fee structure compared to last year. Almost all streams have experienced the hike in educational fee which would be a blow for the students from economically deprived class.

Notably, good quality higher education institutions in India are finger countable. Even now, the best minds in India find it hard to secure a seat in a quality educational institution. This is one of the cardinal reason for the brain drain from this country. The excessive elevation in fee structure in Academies like Pondicherry University would make the social and economic marginalisation more firm. The weaker section, won’t be able to cross the barrier of the educational divide and the dominance of the educational and economically higher class would remain perpetual.

Significantly, the hike in tutelage cost in the Pondicherry University is the aftermath of the General Financial Rules (GRF) of the government which urges the varsities in India to attain financial self-reliance.  According to the Office Memorandum (OM) send to the university authorities, only 70% of the expenses would be furnished by the State, rest 30% has to be raised by the institutions itself through their own means. Obviously, the most plausible method for universities is to increase the fee of the students to meet their financial requirements. However, this is an ironical move from the government which was eager to provide reservation for the financially deprived upper class. The fun part is they could secure a seat because they are economically backward, but they couldn’t pursue education because it is impossible for them to bear such towering educational expenses. The centres of excellence which are obliged to run on the revenue-generating model would steer away from its crux principle of providing a platform for unleashing thoughts and new ideas to mere lucrative coaching centres. The compromise on the quality of the higher education system would wane the holistic and sustainable development of the country.

Interestingly, public spending on higher education is plummeting continuously.  In the last budget itself, Public spending on education has fallen to 3.71% of the total union budget in the fiscal year 2017–18, compared to 4.68% in 2016–17 and during the last budget the funding for Higher Education Funding Agency(HEFA) has been reduced by 25 per cent. The government which profligately spending money to erect statues and conducting Melas has found hesitant to allocate funds for the fulcrum of social and economic mobilisation. On the top of that, NITI Aayog, the government think tank has recommended a 6% of the GDP spending on education and the State is peddling in the exact opposite direction of what it’s own intellectual cohort has advocated.

The Pondicherry University fee raise is not an exclusive event. The IIMs collectively witnessed a 5-17% increase, and other higher tutelage centres are soon to follow the trend.  Much of the Central Universities haven’t published their fee structure in its prospectus which gave them the ability to increase the cost of teaching willy-nilly during mid semesters. Such shifting of the financial burden to the shoulders of students is an unacceptable and indefensible act. The Universities in London follows the same pattern of raising their own funds and acquire little financial support from the State. Hence, the fee structure over there could be highly expensive even for an above average family. However, the economic, as well as academic conditions of that country, provide the opportunities for part-time employment and a higher possibility of placements after the courses. In India, the best brains are already channelised into professional courses which can guarantee a higher income. The increase in the educational expenses would further impede the flow of intelligent persons into social sciences and other streams which could not assure readily job after the education.  

The protests in the Pondicherry with the collective participation of almost all students union was a landmark event. The authorities have requested the students union to a discussion regarding the fee structure and other demands raised by the protestors. The head of students union claimed that they would call on the strike again if authorities are not ready to lower the fee structure. Such actions are required throughout India to tame the government and universities from acting like a tuition centre.

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Shrine of Mrithyu

Editing & Direction: Devanarayanan Prasad 
Script: Mayukh Devadas
Cinematography: Aravind Sidharth S 
Associate Director & Sound Design: Deivendra Kumar A

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Every house of worship has spellbinding fables and myths related to the god developed around its surroundings. Each temple and deity was bound to offer something new, something special for their devotees, which the other god couldn’t deliver.  When the prime sanctum failed to provide the uniqueness, some nuance subsidiary gods evolved to hold the saddle. The parables and folklores beautifully assimilated into the mainstream ideology and it meandered along new paths and cultivated new cultures. Art, architecture, and literature have also nurtured as a corollary.

Chance

"I'm just light turning mortal, and

So are you. Circle and circle. Move

Is the verb we count on, even if it is

To the bottom of an absence, to the

Unlovable time, because all soft things 

Have things to save."

Courtesy: mojarto

    Gowri Suresh

For the cat asleep at my feet, I've got

Twelve names. This morning, we find 

Another, and I'm calling it Lucky.

We're mostly missing, we have to 

Be. Translate. Translate. Grieve. 

All the old towers have old air 

Around old words that keep us young

And dying. Read back and forth, they

Smell of blood, like wings do of coccoons.

I'm just light turning mortal, and

So are you. Circle and circle. Move

Is the verb we count on, even if it is

To the bottom of an absence, to the

Unlovable time, because all soft things 

Have things to save. Having broken 

Means having to keep breaking open 

And rearranging your bones to fit

Whatever ghosts you may come across.

To remember this means to gather

Colours off old paintings and feel them 

Grow heavy in your arms till you know 

You've carried them enough. Maybe

It's enough to taste your mother's

Sweat in the last drop of tea,

To crawl into a burnt building,

To fill the rooms with music and lay

Everything to sleep in a photograph.

Devanarayanan Diaries #2 | Phoneography Series | Triund | Dharamshala | 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHC30IkEym8

Lethal Misjudgements

The judges in Indian court should also be held accountable for misinterpreting the facts and heedlessly pushing innocents towards the gallows. The power without responsibility and accountability is absolute power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Mayukh Devadas

The apex court of India acquitted six convicts in Ankush Maruthi Shinde V State of Maharashtra case due to lack of evidence and facts to prove the guilt. It includes the three persons who were awaiting the death penalty. Obviously, on a quick glance, this is a laudable moment for the justice system in India which has shown the maturity to correct its errors and refine its decisions. However, while reading further, the details of the incident are known, and it throws some light upon the trauma that these people have gone through. The incident occurred in 2009, and these young men were arrested and sealed as criminals due to their association to a particular tribe which practised criminality in earlier days. For ten years they were doused into the harsh conditions of the prisons with the tag of rapists and murderers. The lower courts and High Court which has a proclivity towards the popular public opinion hammered a nail on the coffin of this Nasik dacoity case accused.

Notably, the court has ordered a probe into the erroneous investigation conducted by the Maharashtra police and compensation for the acquitted. Ironically, there is no mechanism to validate the judgemental flaw of the lower court judges. These judgements which shoved three people into the ebb of the death needs a proper investigation as well. If the Supreme Court was unable to interlink the convicts with the circumstances of the case, then how the lower court judges were able to reach a diametrically opposite conclusion?. It is evident that the Judges in India are not following a uniform procedure. The consciousness, the culture and educational backgrounds and even the mood of a Judge could impact the Judgement. Hence, the life of people is lurching on the personal thoughts and mentality of another individual and not on a universal procedure. The lower court needs to be questioned by the Higher court in such cases. While Judges play their interpretation game, the life of innocent people is getting languished on the dark holes of Indian prisons. They are isolated and marginalised from mainstream society for the rest of their lives.

Carefully following the data of NLU, Delhi makes it palpable that the number of death penalty awarded by the trial courts have skyrocketed in the recent past. Even if the Supreme Court commutes these death sentences, in India the trial itself could be a plight for the accused.

Indeed the international practices of different levels of jury trials could be accommodated to the Indian judicial system to curb the predicament of the lengthy court processes in India. A court should verify whether there is enough evidence available to go for a full flung trial in prior.  The practice of grand jury exercised in the USA in which a selected group of common men could give verdict is also an excellent method. Then the judiciary which is currently the monopoly of legal luminaries would be accessible to common man as well. The judges in Indian court should also be held accountable for misinterpreting the facts and heedlessly pushing innocents towards the gallows. The power without responsibility and accountability is absolute power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The Realpolitik of War

A war also provides a scapegoat for the people of a country to blame upon for all their problems. The battle of Agincourt by, Henry V of England, Franco-Prussian war by Otto Von Bismarck and even the recent Gulf wars were considered as the political gimmicks of the then rulers to consolidate their autonomy. The possibility of a war with Pakistan is actually reaping benefits for the incumbent Prime Minister of India.

"War is the continuation of politics by other means"

- Carl Von Clausewitz

Mayukh Devadas

The Election Commission of India has recently proclaimed the date for the elections to the Parliament. While the polls are within the hailing distance, hassles on the border have altered the dimensions of the votes significantly. The failure of the ruling party in four states in the federal elections conducted in November 2018 was an impetus for the opposition party and provided a glimpse of hope for numerous other parties who were ready to join hands with opposition for a plausible coalition. However, the explosion in Pulwama and the followed air strike and capture and the return of Indian fighter pilot dropped a bomb on their dream castle. The ruling party BJP is back on the full throttle, to fight the election and they will hurl the thunderbolt of nationalism upon anyone who tries to be in their way back to Parliament.

Notably, diversionary war is a political tactic used by the leaders of the countries from time immemorial. It is the instigation of war to divert the attention of the population of a particular country from its domestic strife. According to Simmel and  Lewis A. Coser, diversionary foreign policy is exercised by a ruler if there are poor economic conditions and social conditions looming over the nation and as a result, his popularity grows thinner. During such situations, the ruler would push a contemporary or traditional enemy of the state with considerable military capabilities to warfare.  Such war would automatically elevate the support for the domestic regime and the government could buy time to solve the internal issues. Also, the tensed situation manufactured from the international conflicts justifies the use of force to suppress the dissent inside the country. Also, the tensed situation manufactured from the international conflicts justifies the use of force to suppress the dissent inside the country. More importantly, an external war could unify the population of a country, also known as  ‘Rally Round the Flag Syndrome’. A war also provides a scapegoat for the people of a country to blame upon for all their problems. The battle of Agincourt by Henry V of England, Franco-Prussian war by Otto Von Bismarck and even the recent Gulf wars were considered as the political gimmicks of the then rulers to consolidate their autonomy. The possibility of a war with Pakistan is actually reaping benefits for the incumbent Prime Minister of India.

If the two countries are at daggers drawn, the situation is mainly affecting the people of both countries. The deterrence policy followed by the countries, building their arsenal to match that of the enemy is not viable. Firstly, the investment in military weapons is a dead investment. There won’t be any further income or development from the weapon investment. Secondly, if both the countries are nuclear powers, then the additional building up of the arsenal won't create much impact. Thirdly, if the threshold is crossed and both nations are dragged to war, then it would result in the devastation of one part of the globe. Interestingly, if two neighbouring countries are increasing trade relations, then it would lead to the development of the entire region. Also, people from both sides would be benefitted. Also, there would be cultural exchanges and higher people-to-people contacts as well. Hence, if a war breaks out the trade would be deflated and the people of both countries would pressurize their respective governments to stop the war and to maintain the status quo of peace and harmony. So, it is now the people’s turn to roll the dice.

The Alter Ego of Internet

The devilish twin of the internet is named as ‘Darknet’. It is a hellish platform where all the illicit activities are conducted. Drug sales, child abuse videos and pictures, assassin hiring, stolen merchandise, hacking services etc.. Think about any illegitimate activity that comes to mind, Darknet would render that service.

Parvathy Prasad

Sometimes exaggerations will turn out to be true. The postulates of the social scientists that the world would shrink into the fingertips is not anymore a jaw-dropping idea. Exactly 30 years ago, the genius of Tim Berners  Lee unravelled the World Wide Web towards the world which reconfigured the possibilities of connecting. However, the two more developments which came later made it an inexplicable factor in human life. The first was the graphical browsers which could be navigated through using a mouse and second was the meticulously arranged search engines. Now colossal of the internet is the invisible hand that interconnects the world. It is ubiquitous, used for agriculture to aerospace, communication in cancer treatment. Industries from salt to software exploits the possibilities of cyberspace. The contribution of the internet for the leapfrog advancements in governance and economy in the 21st century is incomparable. Notably, people across the globe irrespective of age, gender, geography and ethnicity surf in information highway. If any community or person is not using the possibilities of this service then indeed the light of modern civilization is yet to fall on them.

However, like the London city of the Victorian era, the internet has also a filthy, dark and a notorious rear end, which is proliferating at an exorbitant pace while the opulent, convenient and ravishing frontage is shown to the public. The devilish twin of the internet is named as ‘Darknet’. It is a hellish platform where all the illicit activities are conducted. Drug sales, child abuse videos and pictures, assassin hiring, stolen merchandise, hacking services etc.. Think about any illegitimate activity that comes to mind, Darknet would render that service. This is the virtual underworld where AlCapones and Corleones sit to talk business. The book titled ‘The Darkest Web’ written by Eileen Ormsby has thrown some light upon the shadowy corners of the cyberspace.

The predecessor of Darknet was the Silk Road, an illicit digital marketplace for the sale of drugs. Through Operation Onymous, FBI nabbed Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road and tore down the first dark web. But the successor of the Silk Road is more malicious and resilient.

Particularly, the introduction and wide acceptance of the Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum has corroborated the proliferation of Darknet. The transactions which are beyond the surveillance of the authorities had provided a carte blanche for the users of the dark web. Interestingly, the Darknet is not an open courtyard where anyone with internet connectivity could access. The users have to pass through a series of virtual checkpoints to reach this deep trench. To reach beyond this layer of the internet, users need to use Tor or similar technology. Tor, which stands for “The Onion Router”, is how the majority of people anonymously access the Dark Web. Tor directs internet traffic through complex layers of relays to conceal a user’s location and identity. More importantly, now terrorist organisations are using Darknet as a safe haven to hunt new recruits, raising funds and planning the future attacks. Researchers for the Henry Jackson Society a Foreign policy think tank of UK claims that Darknet has become the reservoir of extremist propaganda.

Even after furious investigations and surveillance, the dark Amazons and Alibaba's are continuously expanding their businesses with more offerings in a sophisticated manner, while their black coffers are getting piled up. According to the London School of Economics, $1.5 million worth drug sales are conducted in Darknet and the overall turnover in this space is almost $1.4 trillion.

Much of the information regarding the Darknet is horrendous and worrying. The children who have unbridled access to the internet through their cell phones and laptops are easy prey to this digital cobwebs. A better understanding of what they surf through could rescue them from falling into such dangerous mesh.

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A Moment of Silence

I am not greeted by militants on my way to school. Neither have I walked through the streets of Kerala carrying three identity cards which are frequently subjected to scrutiny, or questioned about my nationalism from my birth.

I remember reading Basharat Peer’s  “Curfewed Night” six years ago, but the teenager within me couldn’t very well relate to the cry for freedom in the lives of the Kashmiri population or their demand of justice in any manner. My privileged self convincingly ignored the book without giving it any afterthoughts.  Years after, when the sedition cases bloom across the Universities in India, I happened to talk to a student from Kashmir, sharing my pain being a victim of anti-national narratives. Of course, his life has been worse and nowhere near mine! I am not greeted by militants on my way to school. Neither have I walked through the streets of Kerala carrying three identity cards which are frequently subjected to scrutiny, or questioned about my nationalism from my birth. Without even uttering a word, he listened to everything that I had to say and never replied. I remember, earlier when asked about the beauty of his land, he replied to me in bits and pieces. Maybe he doesn't remember when was the last time his Kashmir seemed beautiful to him. Now I understand why the old man in the movie which I saw in school sings "O my God, please return my Kashmir again".
I remained still for the longest five minutes of my life, unable to utter a word.

Mihirgulla

The 6th century Hun of Kashmir

was so known for his cruelty

that “people could tell of

the approach of his armies by

the vultures and crows that flew ahead of them.”

Kalhana wrote in his Rajatarangini

that the Hun was “a terrible enemy of mankind

who had no pity for children

no compassion for women

no respect for the aged.”

Mihirgulla’s reign,

all Kashmiris remember,

was a long night of massacre

that they thought would never end.

Does India know

as one more spring sharpened Jhelum’s air

the Hun took his own life?

(Thanks to Prem Nath Bazaz)

The snow girls

The battle lines were drawn up.

The snow girls with books in backpacks.

The olive green troopers with guns.

An eagle perched on a white cloud

relayed the proceedings to Times Now.

A snow leopard in distant mountains

stopped its hunt and waited.

Even a Yak in Tibet stopped its grazing 

and looked towards the west.

A Bollywood film crew shooting a song 

packed up and left.

The world grew still. The Dal lake grew still.

The waters in Jhelum paused. 

In far away Kerala, people waited for the 

channel debates to begin.

A hail of bullets mowed down the white harvest.

The olive green troopers advanced. They saw.

Each fallen girl held a red flower soaked in blood.

And a handkerchief on which was embroidered,

With Love from Kashmir.

( Disclaimer: This battle is entirely imaginary and has no resemblance to any event anywhere on this globe.)

A Dale of Tumult

The events which occur in Kashmir against the armed forces is the cumulative result of the actions of the latter against the civilians. The authorities should take note when tens of thousands of Indians throngs to moan at the cremation of Burhan Wani and searching for stones when the army trucks arrive. 

Kashmir is a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since its inception period. The valley is never conflict-free and it is always under the smog of tension, ruckus and revolt. The geographical location of Kashmir, which is sandwiched between two archfoes, India and Pakistan made it strategically imperative for both the nations. The issue of Kashmir and the argument for ownership started brewing from the period of the partition itself. After the anatomy of Radcliff on Indian subcontinent to bifurcate it into two nations, Kashmir was one among the three states which refused to board the train to either two countries. The later decision of Raja Harisingh of Kashmir to ink the Instrument of Accession and to be a part of India was the triggering of a series of explosions that shoved Kashmir to constant turmoils.  Pakistan never accepted the Muslim dominated border region as a part of India. They always considered Kashmir as a part of their country, which emanated in the name of the Islamic religion. For India, Kashmir legitimately belongs to India as per the document signed by the then ruler of Kashmir. Also, even the Constitutional demands of the Kashmiri leaders were accepted by the Indian Constitutional makers and it posses exclusive privileges which none other states in the country enjoy. 

The news of explosions, attacks and revolts in Kashmir always hijack the headlines of the national dailies. The picture portrayed by the mainstream media regarding the revolts in Kashmir is always focussed upon the terrorist presence in the valley, the sleeper cells among the Kashmiris, the infiltrators from the neighbouring Islamic nations and the strong root holds of Islamic fundamentalism in the Himalayas. Islamic bigotry and terrorism in Kashmir valley are synonymous words for the media and the non-Kashmiri Indians. Notably, the extremist activity in Kashmir has nothing to do with Islamic fundamentalism and to any other religious belief for that matter. Interestingly, the recruitment of the Islamic State was mainly from the southern states of India and not from Kashmir. If the natives of Kashmir are easy targets of Islamic terrorism then the hub of IS recruitment has to be the Valley of Kashmir. The researcher Robert Pape who meticulously studied almost all the suicide attacks between 1980 and 2005, states that there is little connection between terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism. The specific strategic goal of the suicide bombers is to compel the modern democracies to withdraw forces from where the terrorists considered as their homeland. As by deciphering the dynamics of the terrorist organisation in the Northern borders of India, it is evident that extremism present in the valley has only regionalist goals and not any sort of religious or another fundamentalist strategies. The media manufactured trepidation and the remorseless anti- Kashmiri rhetoric by the politicians are adding fuel to the fire. 

Notably, the attacks in Kashmir against the armed forces have a different perspective. Albeit, there are heartfelt sympathies for the martyred soldiers at the Pulwama and various other parts of Kashmir, it is an undeniable fact that military is not a group of pacifists who brought peace and harmony to the valley. The atrocities of the military against its own civilians are surprisingly high. After the implementation of AFSPA in Kashmir, the ill-treatment and inhumane actions of the army against Kashmiris have numbed the human mind. Even though it is considered as the foolhardy determination of the government of India to maintain peace in the valley, the Act has fetched counterproductive results. The extremism in Kashmir is higher than ever. According to the UN Human Commission Report, the military refused to inquire about 2000 unmarked graves in Kashmir. Almost 6000 people were attacked by pellet guns between 2016 and 2018, a weapon which was asked to decommission by various human rights groups. Almost 3000 people have lost their eyesight in such attacks. These quantifications are just the tip of the iceberg. The incidents of Kunan Pushpora and Farooqi Ahmed case still awaits even a proper trial. The tortures inflicted by the army upon the civilians are hellishly real. Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah, the duo who stood together to bring Kashmir to the Indian basket might be screaming in their graves. When the military agencies are unleashing atrocities against people in order to hold or contain them, after a threshold, it will burst out.

The reluctance of the Indian government to curb custodial torture is no secret. The UN Convention Against Torture which actually took 13 years for the government to sign the document and still need ratification is astonishing, anti-democratic and highly dismaying. Ironically, the Prevention of Torture Bill is still procrastinating in the Parliament of the world’s largest democracy.   

The events which occur in Kashmir against the armed forces is the cumulative result of the actions of the latter against the civilians. The authorities should take note when tens of thousands of Indians throngs to moan at the cremation of Burhan Wani and searching for stones when the army trucks arrive.

Anatomy of an atrocious Act

AFSPA gives powers to the army, the state, and the central police forces to shoot to kill, search houses and destroy any property. Security forces can arrest any person without warrant who has committed an offense and also on reasonable suspicion of committing an offence.

AFSPA has been a subject of intense debate in the country for the past few decades. It is an Act of the Parliament that provides legal immunity to armed forces for their actions in disturbed areas in the country. This Act has invited the harsh criticism of human rights activists who claim that it unleashes the violent nature of the army without any hurdles. 

Under AFSPA, prosecution of armed force personnel by a civilian court can only take place after the central govt. gives the sanction. Political disputes incidents of stone pelting and terrorist attacks are not new in Jammu & Kashmir. In such conditions, the army believes that AFSPA is an imperative tool which helps it to contain the situation. Whereas, human rights activists tend to showcase the flip side of the coin. They argue that AFSPA gives excessive power to the army, makes it authoritarian, uncontrollable and lethal and also diminishes the responsibility of the army towards civilians. In a dilemmatic situation of preserving both national security and civilian rights, arguments on AFSPA have always been a tight spot for the government and Judiciary to decide upon. 

The Parliament passed The Armed Forces Special Power Act on 11th September 1958, giving the government the authority to impose it in any area as it identifies as disturbed. AFSPA gives many privileges to the army including legal immunity for their actions. It was introduced to check violence in the northeastern states, but in the 80s and 90s due to the untrammelled insurgency, it was extended to Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir also. The act gives special power to the Armed Forces to deal with the crisis. AFSPA acquires its certain powers under the provisions of the emergency under Article 352 of the Indian Constitution. According to the disturbed areas special courts act of 1976, the Central or State government have the right to declare any area in India as disturbed. Once declared, the area will be tagged as disturbed for a minimum of three months from the date of declaration.

AFSPA gives powers to the army, the state, and the central police forces to shoot to kill, search houses and destroy any property. Security forces can arrest any person without warrant who has committed an offence and also on reasonable suspicion of committing an offence. The Act provides immunity for the soldiers from legal proceeding for any action taken under the gamut of the Act. Notably, authorized officers can be only prosecuted with prior permission from the Central government and the Act also protects witnesses from prosecution. A prolonged clamour from the human rights groups and NGOs have been raised for repealing this undemocratic Act passed by the largest democracy in the world. Human Rights groups argue by displaying incriminating evidence and facts that, military without any sort of check system could be devilish in action. In 2012, the United Nations asks India to repeal the Act pointing out that AFSPA has no role to play in a democracy. Human Rights Watch claims that AFSPA contains the elements of abuse, discrimination, and suppression.   

Controversial killings in Kashmir are widespread, where the Indian military seems to operate with a free hand. AFSPA is always facing harsh criticism from civil society. Parvez Inmroz, a human rights lawyer said that “The legislation called as AFSPA wherein the army personal whatever they do – the rape, they disappear, they murder, they torture people there randomly and they cannot be prosecuted” he also points out that, not a single Indian soldier has been jailed for human rights violation or extrajudicial killings in Jammu & Kashmir. Ordinary Kashmiris and Human rights activists have made a desperate call for the law to be revoked, but India refuses the call till today and advocates that the soldiers are acting in ‘good faith’.

In 2000, five civilians in the Pathribal area of Kashmir were killed by the Indian military who said they were terrorists and later the investigation results proved that the people killed were innocent villagers. Similar killings were carried out in 2010 in North Kashmir’s Machil sector, where the army gunned down three civilians in a staged shootout, the incident triggered a mass uprising in Kashmir. The officers involved were first sentenced to life imprisonment by a civilian court but later bailed out by a military court. Kashmiris says that they have lost all hope in the Indian legal system. 

AFSPA which was passed to suppress and eliminate the insurgent groups in the country. But it is palpable that after the implementation of AFSPA insurgent groups have mushroomed more than ever. So, it is high time to decide whether a failed and erroneous ACT like AFSPA is required in a democratic country like India.