Pebble-pelting Muslims a rocky issue
By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE - Stone-pelting, a popular form of protest across South Asia and in
the Middle East, is at the center of heated debate in the Kashmir Valley.
A statement by the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police and a fatwa against
stone-throwing issued by Maulana Shaukat Ahmed Shah, the head of an influential
religious organization in the valley, have triggered fierce debate over whether
stone-throwing has the sanction of Islam or not.
The controversy comes at a time when militancy is on the decline in the valley.
Over the past 10 months or so, mass demonstrations marked by stone throwing
against the Indian
security forces has become the norm, especially in J&K’s summer capital,
Srinagar.
These protests usually erupt after Friday prayers, when youths - mainly
teenagers - chant anti-India and pro-azadi (independence) slogans and
march through the streets hurling stones at the security personnel deployed en
route. The main battleground between youths and police is the volatile Nowhatta
Chowk, where Srinagar’s main mosque, the Jamia Masjid, is located. This area
alone is reported to have witnessed over 65 instances of stone-pelting by mobs
in 2008 alone.
It might have been the Palestinians who made stone-pelting famous during their
intifada, but it is Kashmiris who claim to have "perfected the skill", having
used this form of protest for many decades. It is said that in the 1930s, when
Kashmiris were fighting the autocratic rule of Maharaja Hari Singh, they
expressed their anger by hurling stones.
Stone-pelting gained popularity again in the 1960s when supporters of the
National Conference and those of the Awami Action Committee engaged in violent
clashes that involved pelting stones at each other. The parties paid people to
throw stones at their rivals.
A senior officer of the J&K police told Asia Times Online that some of
those engaged in the stone-throwing today are "professional stone-throwers", ie
they are paid to hurl stones at the security forces. While there is some truth
in this, most of the stone-throwing seems to be "genuine".
Not surprisingly, the stone-pelting has the security forces in a bind. Used to
dealing with Kalashnikov-carrying militants - J&K has been convulsed in
violence and terrorism since the start of the uprising in 1989 - police and
paramilitary personnel have been grappling with how to respond to teenagers
hurling pebbles at them.
"The stones may be small but their impact is deadly. And these are not peaceful
protests as they are made out to be," the J&K police officer said, drawing
attention to the dilemma his personnel face. Cops have been firing bullets and
tear gas shells at the stone-throwing mobs. It has earned them public
condemnation.
This year, the police hit on an idea. They would draw on Islam, on Prophet
Mohammed’s sayings to stop the stone-pelting.
Stone-pelting is "not only illegal and immoral, it is against the teachings of
Islam as well", Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Ahfad-ul-Mujtaba
said. "The Prophet has prohibited the throwing of stones," he added, citing
Book 21, Number 4808 of the hadith - the Prophet’s sayings.
Indeed, according to the hadith, the Prophet "disliked and prohibited
throwing of pebbles" as "it does not catch the game nor does it inflict defeat
on the enemy but breaks a tooth or gouges out an eye".
However, "the Koran says nothing about pelting stones as a form of protest", A
Faizur Rahman, a Chennai-based peace activist and student of comparative study
of religions, told Asia Times Online. At the same time, it "does not encourage
people to take the law in their hands. As such any violent protest is
un-Islamic. However, any democratic protest which does not inconvenience the
public is allowed."
Not surprisingly, the reference to the Koran to de-legitimize stone-throwing
has triggered a flurry of statements supporting or criticizing the
interpretation. Interestingly, a section of the Hurriyat Conference, a
conglomerate of pro-Pakistan and pro-independence organizations, have come out
in support of the police.
Among them is Shah, the head of the Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees, who issued the fatwa.
"Stone-pelting cannot be justified," he said. "It is un-Islamic."
A senior leader of the Hurriyat Conference and president of Anjuman-e-Sharie
Shian, Agha Syed Hassan al-Mosavi, has said that stone-pelting "defiles the
spirit of Islam". "There are other ways to show anger - through chanting
slogans and peaceful protests," he said. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief priest
of Kashmir and chairman of the Hurriyat’s moderate faction too has called on
the public to refrain from stone-pelting.
But there are powerful sections that are in favor of the stone-throwing. Among
them is Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a leader of the Hurriyat’s hardline faction who
has justified it on the grounds that the Kashmiris are fighting "Indian
occupation" and that they "throw stones [on security forces] when they are
showered with bullets".
His views have been echoed by the Hizbul Mujahideen, Kashmir’s largest militant
group. "Stone-pelting is forbidden in Islam when stones are hurled on a
powerless or innocent person," said Ahsan Illahi, the Hizbul spokesman.
"When police and paramilitary personnel resort to [firing bullets and tear gas
shells] on peaceful protestors, the latter are justified in pelting stones at
the cops."
So, has the tactic of putting stone-pelting to the test of religious legitimacy
worked for the Srinagar police? The stone-pelting continues and the streets of
downtown Srinagar remain strewn with stones.
However, the police are not giving up. "We are fed up with these stone
pelters," the police officer said, stressing that the police force is
determined to root out the problem from Srinagar.
According to a report in Rising Kashmir, an English daily from Srinagar, the
police are trying a carrot and stick approach. After identifying the
stone-throwers by examining video footage of the protests, "professional
stone-pelters" are taken into custody while the "new faces" are let off. And
efforts are on to draw the "new faces" away from the stone-pelting activity.
These include giving them preference for job opportunities in the police force.
The government is also considering providing the police with special training
in mob control. It hopes this will reduce the inclination of the police to use
bullets and tear gas to stop the stone-pelting.
While Kashmiris debate whether stone-pelting has religious sanction in blogs
and at seminars and public meetings, the impact of this strategy is beginning
to severely pinch ordinary people. The stone-pelting forces them to shut down
their shops, affecting their livelihood.
At the same time, they recognize the political roots of the pelting. As one
Srinagar-based lawyer put it, "It has its roots in frustration - frustration
with unemployment, violence, the heavy presence of India troops. It has to do
with anger with Indian reluctance to deal with the grievances of the
Kashmiris." The stone-throwing will stop, he says, when the Kashmiris are free
of India and Pakistan.
As Rahman points out, the "only way of stopping the protests is to ensure that
justice is done to all".
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in
Bangalore.
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