Malcolm Davidson
BAGH, Jan 31, (1990) The first refugees to reach Pakistan from Indian-controlled Kashmir said on Wednesday they fled their homes to escape Indian beatings.
Nine Indian Moslems from a village near the ceasefire line that divides Indian from Pakistani Kashmir told how they and their families waded through deep snow at night to evade Indian patrols.
A total of 36 men, women and children made the dangerous journey and more are expected to follow, said a top official in Bagh, a small town about 30 km (20 miles) from the line.
“We were tortured by Indian authorities who accused us of being used for carrying arms,” said 25-year-old Abdul Hamid.
“These people used to come to our homes and take us to the police and military posts.
There they beat us.”There was no independent confirmation of their charges and only one man, Latif Shah, could show a healing gash on one hand as evidence of ill treatment.
“They took me to a military post and they beat me with a bamboo stick,” he said. “They were accusing me of helping the freedom-fighters.
“Huddled under quilts in a draughty religious school in Bagh, Hamid and his fellow villagers said their troubles began about three months ago as a Moslem rebellion flared in Indian Kashmir.
More than 60 people died in anti-government protests last week as India poured security forces into the Kashmir valley to try to stamp out the secessionist movement.
The refugees left their isolated mountain village, Azad Barra, separately 12 days ago. After spending up to two days in the snowy forests they managed to slip across the ceasefire line only to be interrogated by the Pakistani army for five days to make sure they were genuine.
“I spent two days in the forest with my wife,” Hamid said. “We made it by midnight through the forests. Because the snow was falling they were not patrolling.”
India accuses Pakistan of aiding gunmen in its Jammu and Kashmir state with arms and training. Pakistan denies the charges but the row has plunged relations to their lowest point since Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto took power in 1988. Foreign Minister Sahabzada Yaqub Khan said on Tuesday that Islamabad would not compromise in its stand that Kashmiris should be allowed to choose their future in a plebiscite.
The two countries have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over Kashmir and anti-Indian emotions are running high in Pakistan’s Azad (free) Kashmir. Most shops were on strike in Bagh on Wednesday in protest against Indian action and an angry procession braved heavy rain to yell anti-Indian slogans.
“We are waiting for our government,” said the Deputy Commissioner of Bagh, Sardar Naeem Shiraz. “If they call we will go and we will fight to the death.” He said the semi-autonomous government of Azad Kashmir wanted to discourage more refugees but believed that more were on their way.
