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By Dr Suresh Khairnar

The attack on Pahalgam by terrorists is a living example of 100% communal polarization. But the common people of Kashmir have completely rejected this. Kashmiri people providing various services there have tried to save the passengers by risking their own lives. After this accident, the auto drivers of Srinagar started giving free service to the passengers travelling on their autos from the airport to the railway station for their return journey. They have put stickers of free service on the windshield of their autos.

The most important thing is that one of the 26 passengers killed at the accident site is Adil Hussain Shah. He used to ferry passengers on his pony. During the terrorist attack on Tuesday, he himself confronted the terrorists and told them that “don’t kill them, they are guests of Kashmir”. And when he tried to snatch the AK-47 gun from the terrorists, the terrorists shot him three times on his chest and killed him. Adil was the only son of his parents. Similarly, others have played a role in saving the BJP councilor and his family safely.

In the last few years, communal elements have succeeded in creating communal polarization on a large scale in our country. But while travelling to and fro Kashmir for more than fifty years, I have seen that from Qazigund to Srinagar and other places, hoteliers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers, boatmen, students and teachers of Srinagar University, lawyers, doctors and Hurriyat Conference leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and other citizens of Kashmir, all of them always speak against terrorists. This is because the economy of Kashmir is dependent on tourism business. And among the departments of the Kashmir government, the tourism ministry is considered the most important. Therefore, no tourist goes in an atmosphere of terror. Therefore, most of the people of Kashmir want peace and harmony.

I stayed in Jammu and Kashmir for two weeks during the shutdown that took place after the killing of Burhan Wani in August 2016. During that period, Zahoor sahab, the editor of Srinagar edition of Kashmir Times, told me that “You are roaming every inch of Kashmir in such a delicate situation. Seeing this, Senior Gilani wants to meet you. So you should leave Kashmir only after meeting him.” And before leaving Kashmir, I went to Gilani’s house to meet him. He was under house arrest. So the security officer called his senior officer on the wireless and after reading my identity card, told him my name and address and he said “Our senior officer has given you permission to meet Gilani. But it is very surprising that Yashwant Sinha had come and gone just before you. But he was not allowed to go. And he is allowing you to meet him.” And he himself said that I want to take a selfie with you.” Maybe this selfie was also a part of his duty.

Anyway, as soon as I met Gilani, he said “May God keep you safe.” Without caring for your life, you have been meeting people in the fields and barns of the valley for two weeks even during such a strict shutdown. This is a very good thing.” I told him that “It has been two months since August. The shutdown is going on. Even vehicles carrying people to the hospital are being stopped. Don’t you think that the shutdown should end now?” So he said that now people are not listening to me.” After hearing this from his mouth, I understood that people’s faith in the so-called Kashmiri separatists has weakened. And I have even seen some people cursing them that “they have no problem with such a shutdown. It is we who are troubled. They are in cahoots with both the governments, their children are studying abroad.” We are the ones who are facing trouble. Our children’s schools are closed, and we are not able to go out of the house for livelihood and employment. The leaders are getting all the facilities even while staying at home.

And A.S. Dulat, who was the head of the IB, and before that was posted in Kashmir for more than twenty-five years, has written about terrorism in his book ‘Kashmir the Vajpayee Years’. It is very shocking. He has revealed what all has been done in collusion with both the government agencies. After reading this, I have been demanding action against them since 2016. But action is a far cry. He and former Pakistan ISI chief Asad Durrani have jointly written a book titled ‘Spy Chronicle’ and exposed even more shocking facts. And both the authors have worked at the highest positions in the biggest agencies of their respective countries, giving the biggest time of their lives.

I am also requesting the common people of Pakistan on this pretext that despite the division between the two countries for the last 78 years, the budget that is being spent on security and the lives of people on both sides are being lost is an even more serious matter. Can’t we resolve the disputes by talking to each other? How long will both the countries continue to waste their resources on defence for the sake of giving a better life to their respective people on priority? The political breads of the people involved in politics are being baked but at what cost?

Dr Suresh Khairnar is Ex. President of Rashtra Sewa Dal

24 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Maj Gen Amin Naik

On April 22, 2025, the serene meadows of Baisaran in Pahalgam, often called the “Mini Switzerland” of Kashmir, were shattered by a horrific act of terrorism. At approximately 2:30 PM on April 22, 2025, militants affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, launched a brutal assault, indiscriminately firing on tourists and locals. The attack claimed 26 lives, including 24 tourists, a Kashmiri resident, and two foreign nationals, with over 20 others injured, many critically. This cowardly act is condemned as an assault not only on innocent lives but on the essence of Kashmiriyat, the spirit of humanity, hospitality, and unity that defines Kashmir.

The attack in Baisaran was a calculated act of barbarism. Survivors described how five to six militants, disguised in military-style uniforms, emerged from the forest and opened fire on unsuspecting tourists in the picturesque meadows. Posing as security personnel, the attackers demanded names and identities before shooting victims at close range. Among the fallen were a Naval officer, Bharat Bhushan, a tech professional from Bengaluru, and Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a local horse rider who heroically attempted to shield others, sacrificing his life. The deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians marks a chilling escalation in Kashmir’s history of violence.

This was not a clash with security forces or a strike against military targets but a massacre designed to instil fear, disrupt peace, and tarnish Kashmir’s image as a welcoming destination. The TRF’s claim that the attack was a response to alleged “demographic changes” in the Valley is dismissed as a hollow justification for their cowardice. The killing of tourists who came to admire Kashmir’s splendour serves no cause but to deepen suffering and isolation.

Kashmiriyat, the syncretic culture that unites Kashmiris, is rooted in hospitality, tolerance, and shared love. Kashmiris have welcomed visitors with open hearts for centuries, regardless of their origins. This attack strikes at the core of that tradition, threatening the livelihoods of countless locals reliant on tourism. As Chief Minister Omar Abdullah noted, the exodus of tourists following the attack, coupled with airlines adding extra flights and markets closing in protest, reflects the collective grief and anger of Kashmiris.

The attack is unequivocally condemned as an assault on humanity. Targeting civilians, particularly tourists, is a spineless act that achieves no legitimate goal and exacerbates the hardships faced by Kashmiris, for whom tourism is a vital economic lifeline. In 2024, over 3.5 million visitors revitalised local businesses and fostered goodwill in the Valley. This tragedy risks undoing years of progress, replacing joy with fear in places like Pahalgam.

Kashmiris are called to stand united against this violence and reject the divisive narratives spread by terrorists and their handlers across. The protests across Kashmir, marked by candlelit vigils and voices raised against terrorism, demonstrate the Valley’s total rejection of this brutality. The attack was not only on people but on Kashmiriyat itself.

Collective action is urged to counter the fear sown by this tragedy, encouraging the world to see Kashmir as a land of warmth and beauty. The people of our Nation and beyond are asked not to let this tragedy define the Valley, emphasising Kashmir’s resilience in overcoming darkness. Every Kashmiri, Indians and person of conscience is called to condemn the attack and work toward a future where such horrors are unthinkable.

Honouring the 26 lives lost requires recommitting to peace, unity, and the enduring values of Kashmiriyat. In the meadows of Baisaran, where tragedy struck, seeds of hope must be planted. With collective strength, Kashmir will prevail for the sake of humanity.

Maj Gen Amin Naik, a veteran and former Additional Director General at the Army Headquarters, was born and raised in Kashmir.

24 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Palestinian Territory – The Israeli project in the Gaza Strip has reached its most revealing and dangerous stage yet. Israel is no longer concealing its intention to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homeland—it now announces this plan more openly than ever before, through official rhetoric at the highest levels. Through actions on the ground and institutional measures designed to reframe the crime as “voluntary migration”, Israel has attempted to implement its displacement campaign by exploiting the international community’s near-total silence, which has enabled the continuation of the crime and Israeli impunity despite the unprecedented nature of humanity’s first livestreamed genocide.

Israel is now attempting to carry out the final phase of its crime, and its original goal: the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine, specifically from the Gaza Strip. For a year and a half, Israel has carried out acts of genocide, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of people, erasing entire cities, dismantling the Strip’s infrastructure, and systematically displacing its population within the enclave. These actions aim to eliminate the Palestinian people as a community and as a collective presence.

The current plans for forced displacement are a direct extension of Israel’s long-standing settler-colonial project, aimed at erasing Palestinian existence and seizing land. What distinguishes this stage is its unprecedented scale and brutality—Israel is targeting over two million people who have endured a full-scale genocide and have been stripped of even the most basic human rights, under coercive, inhumane conditions that make living any sort of a normal life impossible. Israel’s deliberate objective is to pressure Palestinians into leaving by making it their only means of survival.

Having succeeded in revealing the weak principles of international law, such as protections for civilians based on their perceived racial superiority or lack thereof, Israel is now reshaping the narrative once again. Armed with overwhelming force and emboldened by the international community’s abandonment of legal and moral responsibilities, Israel seeks to portray the mass expulsion of Palestinians as “voluntary migration”. This is a blatant attempt to rebrand ethnic cleansing and forced displacement using dishonest language—like “humanitarian considerations” and “individual choice”—and is a direct contradiction of legal facts and the reality on the ground.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasises that forced displacement is a standalone crime under international law. It involves the removal of individuals from areas where they legally reside, using force, threats, or other forms of coercion, without valid legal justification. Coercion, in the context of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, goes beyond military force. It includes the creation of unbearable conditions that render remaining in one’s home practically impossible or life-threatening. A coercive environment includes fear of violence, persecution, arrest, intimidation, starvation, or other forms of hardship that strip individuals of free will and force them to flee.

“Israel has already committed the crime of forced displacement against Gaza’s population,” stated Lima Bustami, Director of Euro-Med Monitor’s Legal Department, “having driven them into internal displacement without legal grounds and in conditions that violate international legal exceptions, which only permit evacuation temporarily and under imperative military necessity, while ensuring safe areas with minimum standards of human dignity. None of these standards have been met. In fact, Israel has used this widespread and repeated pattern of displacement as a tool of genocide—aimed at destroying and subjecting the population to deadly living conditions.”

She added: “Although the legal elements of the crime are already fulfilled, Israel is further escalating it to a more lethal level against the Palestinian people—manifesting its settler-colonial vision of expulsion and replacement. Now it is attempting to market the second phase of forced displacement, i.e. beyond Gaza’s borders, as ‘voluntary migration’: a transparent deception that only a complicit international community—one that chooses silence over accountability—would accept.”

Today, the people of the Gaza Strip endure catastrophic conditions that are unprecedented in recent history. Israel has obliterated all forms of normal life; there is no electricity or infrastructure, and there are no homes, no essential services, no functioning healthcare or education systems, and no clean water services. Around 2.3 million Palestinians are confined to less than 34% of the Strip’s 365 square kilometres. Approximately 66% of the territory has been turned into so-called “buffer zones”, or areas that are completely off-limits to Palestinians and/or that have been forcibly depopulated through Israeli bombings and displacement orders.

Most of the population is now living in tattered tents amid the spread of famine, disease, and epidemics and an accumulation of waste—conditions symptomatic of the near-complete collapse of the humanitarian system. Israel continues to systematically block the entry of food, medicine, and fuel; destroy all remaining means of survival; and obstruct any efforts aimed at reconstruction or restoring even the minimum conditions for a healthy life.

These conditions in place are not the result of a natural disaster; rather, they have been deliberately engineered by Israel as a coercive tool to pressure the population into leaving the Gaza Strip. The absence of any genuine, voluntary alternative for Palestinians in the enclave renders this situation a textbook case of forcible transfer, as defined under international law and affirmed by relevant jurisprudence.

“While population transfers may be permitted in certain humanitarian contexts under international law, any such justification collapses if the humanitarian crisis is the direct consequence of unlawful acts committed by the same party enforcing the transfer,” according to Bustami. “It is impermissible to use forced displacement as a response to a disaster one has created—a principle clearly upheld by international tribunals, particularly the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.”

Framing this imposed reality as a “voluntary” migration and an option not only constitutes a gross distortion of truth, but undermines the legal foundations of the international system, erodes the principle of accountability, and transforms impunity from a failure of justice into a deliberate mechanism for perpetuating grave crimes and entrenching the outcomes of such crimes.

Repeated public statements from the highest levels of Israel’s political and security leadership have escalated in intensity over the past year and a half, and expose a clear, coordinated intent to displace the population of the Gaza Strip. In a blatant bid to enforce a demographic transformation serving Israel’s colonial-settler agenda, senior Israeli officials—including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—have publicly called for the expulsion of Palestinians from the Strip and for the settlement of Jewish Israelis in their place.

Netanyahu expressed full support in February 2025 for United States President Donald Trump’s plan to resettle Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip, describing it as “the only viable solution for enabling a different future” for the region. Likewise, Smotrich announced in March that the Israeli government would back the establishment of a new “migration authority” to coordinate what he termed a “massive logistical operation” to remove Palestinians from the Strip. Ben-Gvir, meanwhile, has openly advocated for the encouragement of “voluntary migration” coupled with calls to resettle Jewish Israelis in the territory.

The 23 March decision of the Israeli Security Cabinet to establish a dedicated directorate within the Ministry of Defence, to manage what it calls the “voluntary relocation” of the Gaza Strip’s residents to third countries, is evidence that this displacement is not a by-product of destruction or political rhetoric, but an official policy. This policy is being implemented through institutional mechanisms, directed from within Israel’s own security apparatus, with full operational powers, executive structures, and strategic goals.

Current Defence Minister Israel Katz’s statement on the new directorate confirmed that it would “prepare for and enable safe and controlled passage of Gaza residents for their voluntary departure to third countries, including securing movement, establishing movement routes, checking pedestrians at designated crossings in the Gaza Strip, as well as coordinating the provision of infrastructure that will enable passage by land, sea and air to the destination countries”.

The true danger of establishing such a directorate lies not only in its institutionalisation of forced transfer, but in the new legal and political reality it seeks to impose. It rebrands displacement as an “optional” administrative service while stripping civilians of their ability to make free, informed decisions, therefore cloaking a war crime in a veneer of bureaucratic legitimacy.

Any departure from the Gaza Strip under current circumstances cannot be considered “voluntary”, but rather constitutes, in legal terms, forcible transfer, which is strictly prohibited under international law. All individuals compelled to leave the Strip retain their inalienable right to return to their land and property immediately and unconditionally. They also have the full right to seek compensation for all damages and losses incurred as a result of Israeli crimes and rights violations, including the destruction of homes and property, physical and psychological harm, the assault on human dignity, and the denial of livelihood and basic rights.

Under its obligations as an occupying power responsible for the protection of the civilian population, Israel is prohibited from forcibly transferring Palestinians and bears full legal responsibility to ensure their protection from this crime. The rules of international law, particularly customary international law and the Geneva Conventions, require all states not to recognise any situation arising from the crime of forcible transfer and to treat it as null and void. States are also obligated to withhold all material, political, and diplomatic support that would contribute to the entrenchment of such a situation.

International responsibility goes beyond mere non-recognition. It includes a legal duty for states to take urgent effective steps to halt the crime, hold perpetrators accountable, and provide redress to victims. This includes ensuring the safe, voluntary return of all displaced persons from the Gaza Strip, and providing full reparations for the harm and violations they have suffered. Any failure to act in this regard constitutes a direct breach of international law and complicity that could subject states to legal accountability.

The international community must move beyond deafening silence and abandon paltry rhetorical condemnations, which have come to represent the maximum response it dares to make in the face of the livestreamed genocide unfolding before its eyes. It must act swiftly and effectively to halt Israel’s ongoing project of mass displacement in the Gaza Strip and prevent it from becoming an entrenched reality. This action must be based on international legal norms, a commitment to justice and accountability, and an honest reckoning with the root structural cause of the crimes: Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 1967.

Endorsing or remaining silent about Israeli plans to forcibly transfer Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip not only exonerates Israel but rewards it for its illegal conduct by granting it gains secured through mass killing, destruction, blockade, and starvation. This is not just a series of war crimes or crimes against humanity—it embodies the legal definition of genocide, as established by the 1948 Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

All states, individually and collectively, must uphold their legal obligations and take all necessary measures to halt Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip. This includes taking immediate, effective steps to protect Palestinian civilians and to prevent the implementation of the US-Israeli crime of forcible transfer that is openly threatening the Strip’s population.

The international community must impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel for its systematic and grave violations of international law. This includes halting arms imports and exports; ending all forms of political, financial, and military support; freezing the financial assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians; imposing travel bans; and suspending trade privileges and bilateral agreements that offer Israel economic advantages that sustain its capacity to commit further crimes.

States must also hold complicit governments accountable—chief among them the United States—for their role in enabling Israeli crimes through various forms of support, including military and intelligence cooperation, financial aid, and political or legal backing.

The ethnic cleansing and genocide taking place right now in the Gaza Strip would not be possible without Israel’s decades-long unlawful colonial presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This is the root structural cause of the violence, oppression, and destruction in the besieged enclave. Any meaningful response to the escalating crisis in the Strip must begin with dismantling this colonial reality, recognising the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, and securing their freedom and sovereignty over their national territory. As Israel and its allies must be compelled to abide by the law, international intervention is the only path to ending the genocide, halting all forms of individual and collective forcible transfer, dismantling the apartheid regime, and establishing a credible framework for justice, accountability, and the preservation of human dignity.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a Geneva-based independent organization with regional offices across the MENA region and Europe

25 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Ram Puniyani

One of the greatest tragedies of South Asia has been the emergence of ‘Two Nation Theory’, which opposed the Anti Colonial Indian National movement. It was a great help to British colonialists to rule over this vast land. It led to the formation of Pakistan on the basis of Muslim majority (Islam) and the remaining part, India as a secular state with a large Muslim population. These Muslims, who by force of circumstances or by choice chose to stay here in India. It also led to large migrations of Hindus from Pakistan to India and many Muslims to Pakistan, the suffering was horrific.

Now seven decades after the tragedy on one hand we see the plight of Pakistan, sliding down on the scale of democracy, social well being and progress. India which began well and strove on the path of pluralism and development is seeing the resurgence of the ‘Two Nation theory’ in the form of strengthening the communal forces which are sharpening their politics to achieve Hindu Nation. Ambedkar in his book on Partition warned that formation of Pakistan will be the worst tragedy as it may pave the way for Hindu Raj. How true was he! The attempts of Gandhi, Maulana Azad and Congress to prevent the tragedy failed to counter the British Policy of ‘Divide and rule’ greatly assisted by the ideology and politics of Communal forces of that time, Muslim League on one hand and Hindu Mahasabha-RSS on the other.

The Partition debate, the underlying two nation theory keeps surfacing time and over again in both the countries. Sectarian Nationalisms, Muslim and Hindu both, keep blaming each other for this tragedy. They undermine the deep roots of tragedy in the declining sections of society, the feudal forces, assisted by the clergy on both sides. As both these sectarian streams were on the forefront of spreading Hate, against the ‘other’ community, the communal violence went on intensifying and the figures like Gandhi, Maulana Azad could not prevent the ghastly events which followed.

While each communal stream, Hindu and Muslim have their own versions of this event, the holistic picture can be unearthed by seeing the picture through the movement and ideology of emerging Indian Nationalism and its opposition by the declining sections of Landlords and clergy on both sides.

This debate has once again come to the surface with Pakistan’s General Asim Munir. While addressing the Overseas Pakistani Convention in Islamabad, in presence of the top political leaders of the country, he eulogized the “two Nation theory”. He went on to pay tributes to the people who worked for the formation of Pakistan. Seeing one side of the picture he stated, “Our religion is different, our customs are different, our traditions are different, our thoughts are different, our ambitions are different — that’s where the foundation of the two-nation theory was laid. We are two nations; we are not one nation,”

This in contrast to the understanding particularly of Gandhi and Nehru who saw the two major communities and other smaller religious communities as interacting with each other and creating a unique syncretic culture where each component has contributed to the emergence of celebratory Indian culture. Common celebration of festivals at social level and contributions of people to all aspects of Indian culture by people of diverse religions, the unique Bhakti and Sufi traditions being the highest form of these interactions. Gandhi summed it up in his unique, Ishwar Allah Tero Naam, and Nehru articulating it as Ganga Jamuni Tehjeeb.

Two Nation theory was not a sudden articulation. As the National movement started emerging from amongst the sections of society associated with Modern Education, industries, and communication, Indian Nationalism towered over all other fissiparous ideologies. As pointed out, the other sections not associating with it and hanging on the feudal and pre-modern values threw up Muslim league on one side and Hindu Mahasabha on the other. They were exclusionist and veered round propagating the caste and gender hierarchy, standing opposed to education for dalits and women.

The British subtly supported these trends as these were helpful for them in suppressing the National movement. One talked of Islamic Nation and the other of the Hindu Nation. Immediately after the formation of Indian National Congress the opposition to this came up in the form of Rajas and Nawabs pledging their loyalty to British rulers. Gradually these parallel streams emerged and Muslim League was formed in 1906. This was encouraged by the British. On the other side Punjab Hindu Sabha came in 1909, Hindu Mahasabha in 1915 and RSS in 1925. Both these criticized Gandhi to the hilt. Formally Two Nation theory was articulated by Vinayak Damodar savarkar and that became the guiding light of Hindu Nationalism. Muslim nationalism started talking of Pakistan by 1930 and strongly articulated in 1940 BY Jinnah in 1940.

Today RSS ideologues (BJP leaders and RSS leader, Ram Madhav: Decoding General, IE 19 April 2025) are presenting as if ‘Two Nation theory’ was only the making of Muslims through Muslim League. They underplay the great role of Allah Baksh, Maualana Azad and Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan who were opposed to the demand of Pakistan’s. Pakistan which was formed on the ‘Two nation theory’ just after 25 years of existence broke down into BanglaDesh and Pakistan. That was the grave of “Two Nation Theory” Their abysmal condition is very obvious today.

While in India Hindu Nationalism was quietly being nurtured in the silent manner, its first dangerous manifestation came when RSS trained Godse put three bullets in the bare chest of Father of the nation. Its further starkly visible form came up the decade of 1980 with the most divisive campaign for demolishing Babri Masjid.

A Pakistani poet Fahmida Riyaz at this point wrote Arre Tum bhi Hum Jaise Nikle, Ab tak Kahan chhupe the bhai. (Oh you have turned out to be like us, where were you hiding so far!). After this the attacks on the concept of secularism, inclusive politics and values of Indian Constitution were intensified and now the emotive issues have taken the center state. The product of “Two Nation theory” Pakistan, is in the grip of Mullahs-army and has been servile to America. The other component of Two nation theory, Hindu Nation has also more or less occupied the center stage in India. Values and outcome of Nationalism on both sides of the divide are same, only form is different. The Criticism of ‘two Nation theory’ and attributing it only to Muslims and Muslims is half the truth!

24 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Kathy Kelly

In 2022, Pope Francis created a will expressing his desire that just one word be inscribed on the stone marking his burial place: Franciscus.

Franciscus, Latin for Francis, is the name Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose when, twelve years ago, cardinals elected him to become the Bishop of Rome. He sought union with Saint Francis, known as one who lived on the margins, who discarded his worldly clothes, and who kissed the lepers. Pope Francis longed for “a church that is poor and is for the poor.” He recognized, as Bishop Robert McElroy once expressed it, that “too much money is in the hands of too few, while the vast majority struggle to get by.”

As the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Pope Francis unified people of different generations. He encouraged genuine love for humans—“Todo, todo, todo.” Or, as the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s personal physician, the late beloved Chicagoan Dr. Quentin Young would often say, “Everybody in, nobody out.”

Pope Francis exhorted people to set aside the futility of war and to always care for those who bear the worst brunt of war, particularly the children. His were the words of a man whose heart aches for children who are being punished to death, sacrificed by powerful people whose lust for greed and power overcomes their capacity for compassion.

“Yesterday, children were bombed,” Pope Francis said in his final Christmas message last December. “Children. This is cruelty, this is not war.” He added, touching the cross he wore around his neck, “I want to say this, because it touches my heart.”

Pope Francis was speaking about the children of Gaza, who have been orphaned, maimed, sickened, starved, forcibly displaced, traumatized, and buried under fire and rubble. In excerpts from the book Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World, published in November 2024, he was blunt about Israel’s accountability, writing: “What is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide. It should be investigated to determine whether it meets the definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

On Easter, the day before his death, Pope Francis expressed in a written message: “I appeal to the warring parties: Call a ceasefire, release the hostages, and come to the aid of a starving people that aspire to a future of peace!”

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During the current war, beginning in 2023, Pope Francis developed a strong relationship with parishioners of the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza. By holding virtual gatherings with the hundreds of people sheltering in the church,  he was able to stay in daily touch with the realities they faced under Israel’s siege and bombardment. On days when he learned that the bombing was particularly heavy, Pope Francis would call to check in on them as many as five times a day.

Pope Francis carried his antiwar message to the seats of power in places around the world. In September 2015, exasperated by the superpowers’ desire to control others through militarism, he posed a simple question to the U.S. Congress: “Why,” he asked, “would anyone give weapons to people who use them for war? . . . The answer is money, and the money is drenched in blood.”

Pope Francis emphasized the stewardship so vitally needed for future generations to have a habitable planet, sounding an alarm about the need to address climate change. “The world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point,” he stated in a magisterial document released in October 2023. “Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over, or relativise the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident.”

The Pontiff likewise denounced the use of atomic energy for the purposes of war, and declared possession of nuclear weapons to be immoral, asking: “How can we speak of peace even as we build terrifying new weapons of war?”

In accordance with his wishes, Pope Francis will be buried in a basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a place he went to pray before and after each of his forty-seven “apostolic missions.” The Basilica of Saint Mary Major is located in one of Rome’s poorer neighborhoods, a church in a neighborhood with refugees. Francis has entrusted himself to the protection of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

I’d like to think that those words, “Todo, todo, todo,” will break down the barriers creating illusory divisions between us, leading us toward true egalitarianism, embracing Earth and one another, grateful always for the chance to “choose life, so that you and your descendants can live.”

Beloved Franciscus, “Oremus.” Let us pray.

Kathy Kelly (kathy.vcnv@gmail.com) is board president of World BEYOND War.

25 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Punsara Amarasinghe

Early days of Papacy

It is by no means an exaggeration to mention that the Catholic Church that existed before modernity loomed in Europe was culpable of many atrocities which are heinous and the dogma that prevailed within the corners of the Vatican was a contrast to the love and compassion preached by Christ. Popes known as the ring bearers or Vicar or Christ in the Renaissance led more mundane lives leading armies across Europe as quintessential examples of the temporal power.

Against the backdrop of such a dubious history, the contributions rendered by Pope Francis will immortalize him as a pope who tried to swim against the stream in a manner, in which he took the plunge in changing Church doctrines by the needs of the people. His reign in the Papacy saw a robust development of Liberation theology’s influence in the corners of the Vatican which was not the case before Pope Francis.

Liberation Theology 

Liberation theology refers to theologies that proclaim that salvation involves a total liberation involving political, economic, and spiritual freedom. The gospel demands an end to oppression and a recognition of the exploitation of the poor, women, and minorities. Liberation theology is similar to the Social Gospel movement in these aspects. Still, it is more radical in its demands for societal change and in its use of Marxist and feminist social criticism.  Developed in the context of Latin America challenging the much traditional views of the Church, liberation theology grew in harmony with the leftist currents. Liberation theology, nourished by its pioneers like Gustavo Gutierrez, the one who coined the term and Juan Luis Segundo shacked the traditional pillars of the Vatican as some of the old order viewed it suspiciously.

The predecessors of Pope Francis shared an abominable attitude towards liberation theology making it a heresy within the Catholic Church. Overwhelming opposition shown by both Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict the 16th on liberation theology was rooted in their reluctance to admit the political aspect of it. Especially, The Vatican, headed by Pope John Paul II, refuted its core beliefs. To portray Christ as “a political figure, a revolutionary,” the pope said in 1979, violates Church catechism.

Pope John Paul’s successor Pope Benedict XVI was one of the ardent critics of liberation theology. Before he ascended to the papacy Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (which until 1965 had been known as the Office of the Inquisition), looked at the alternative narratives outside the church. Liberation theology became his prime concern, which he perceived as a singular heresy because Ratzinger did not want to accept the liberation theology’s interpretation of Christ’s crucifixion as a political event. In 1984, Cardinal Ratzinger released a sharp denunciation, in a paper titled “Instruction on Certain Aspects of the ‘Theology of Liberation.’” The simplicity and egalitarian culture of the “people’s church,” Ratzinger wrote, intentionally mocked “the sacramental and hierarchical structure” of the Roman Church—the splendour of which “was willed by the Lord Himself.” On its own, the phrase “liberation theology” is unobjectionable, but it is the church’s “first and foremost” duty to liberate people from “the radical slavery of sin.” Not from poverty.

Sri Lanka’s only liberation theologian Rev. Fr. Tissa Balasuriya was not spared from Cardinal Ratznger’s ire when Fr. Balasuriya’s book titled “Mary and the Human Liberation” was sent to the Vatican based on the allegations that Balasuriya’s depiction of Mary as a strong revolutionary woman challenges century of European iconography in which Mary is portrayed as docile and voiceless.

Pope Francis’s Admiration for Liberation Theology 

The archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who followed Ratzinger as Pope Francis reversed the church’s pessimism of Liberation theology to an optimistic outlook. The irony is Pope Francis was not trained to be a revolutionary priest emulating the liberation euphoria that spread across Latin America. Rather he was born and raised in Peronese Argentina where he witnessed the level of disparity that prevented the poor from entering the higher echelons. At the same, he witnessed how Argentina went through crony capitalism which resulted in an unmitigated disaster. In fact, what Neoliberalism did to Argentina was the wake-up call to Pope Francis to welcome liberation theological insights to his personal philosophy. After becoming the pope as the leader of the Catholic world in 2013, Pope Francis stated No one can accept the premises of Neoliberalism and consider themselves Christian.

Pope Francis’s vehement criticism of Neoliberalism should be understood in the context of his background in which his native Latin America was ravished by neoliberal policies. Pope Francis contended that Neoliberalism corrupts democracy by denying the fullness and interdependency of humans.

One of the most revolutionary steps taken by Pope Francis was to invite native Americans to the Vatican in 2019. This was an addendum to the Vatican’s apology issued in 2015 for the colonial sins and leaders who visited the Vatican from Native American tribes wore traditional dress, some with their faces painted—debated a range of issues related to capitalism, natural resources, and sustainability.

It goes without saying that the Pope’s practice of liberation theology met severe resistance from the conservative sects within the Catholic Church. Mainly the traditionalist sect led by American cardinal Raymond Leo Burke often critiqued the more nuanced theological views of Pope Francis by deepening the schism between Old Europe and the Global South. The worthy cause championed by the late Pope Francis has come to a perilous situation after its demise which opened the path for traditionalists in the church to consolidate their power. It should be noted that if the papacy falls to the hands of a more conservative cardinal like Raymond, the existing chasm between the Global South and North would reach its nadir. By all means, liberation theology’s finest era continued to flourish under the papacy of the late pope, the people’s priest who devoted his whole life to the real cause of Christ.

Dr Punsara Amarasinghe is a lecturer at the Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

24 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Andre Damon

On Tuesday, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended a meeting with leading members of Congress at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he pledged to bomb food and aid distribution centers in Gaza, claiming his proposals met with support on the part of the lawmakers.

“I had the honor and privilege of meeting with senior Republican Party officials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate,” Ben-Gvir said in a post on X. “They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid depots should be bombed in order to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home safely.”

Ben-Gvir was expressing the actual policy of the Israeli government, which aims to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population from Gaza through deliberate starvation.

On Tuesday, the total Israeli blockade of all food, water, electricity, and medical supplies into Gaza reached its 50th day.

In a statement, the UN relief coordination office said this is now the longest period without any supplies entering the Gaza strip since the start of Israel’s onslaught in October 2023.

“Right now, it is probably the worst humanitarian situation ever seen throughout the war in Gaza,” UN spokesperson Jens Laerke said Tuesday, noting that the entire population of Gaza is facing acute shortages of food, medicine, fuel and clean water.

“Hunger is spreading and deepening—deliberate and man-made,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement Tuesday. “Gaza has become a land of desperation … humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip and a weapon of war.”

Gaza’s bakeries have been forced to shut down, and the entire health system is collapsing amid a lack of medical supplies. “Two million people—a majority of women and children—are undergoing collective punishment,” Lazzarini said.

Last week, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor published a damning account of Gaza teetering on the brink of famine:

Euro-Med Monitor’s field team in the Gaza Strip has observed alarming indicators pointing to a severe food crisis that may soon reach the level of famine. The ongoing Israeli blockade has caused a severe and persistent shortage of essential food items necessary for survival, including grains, proteins, and fats. Much of the enclave’s remaining agricultural and food infrastructure has either been bombed or otherwise destroyed, and/or is currently under Israeli military control. As a result, people have been forced to sell their most basic belongings just to secure food, signaling the onset of a breakdown in their ability to endure the hunger.

Families in the Gaza Strip have been forced to cut the number of their daily meals, resulting in noticeable weight loss among residents. In the near-total absence of fresh and nutritious food, most people now rely almost entirely on the enclave’s limited supply of canned goods, while many others have become fully dependent on food banks for their daily meals. However, these food banks have come under intensified Israeli military attacks in recent weeks, further depriving residents of access to even the most basic food necessities.

In a statement published April 17, a group of humanitarian organizations including Oxfam and Save the Children published a statement warning that the “humanitarian aid system in Gaza is facing total collapse.”

The statement declared that “This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation. Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive. That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on 2 March.”

The statement noted that “More than 400 aid workers and over 1,300 health workers have been reported killed in Gaza since October 2023, despite the requirement under international humanitarian law for humanitarian workers to be protected.”

The statements by Ben-Gvir make clear that the Israeli military’s attack on humanitarian organizations is a deliberate policy, aimed at provoking famine throughout the region.

Ben-Gvir’s trip to Mar-A-Lago is part of a tour throughout the United States, involving a visit to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut on Wednesday. Ben-Gvir’s office said that among the congressmen in attendance was Republican Congressman Tom Emmer, the third-highest-ranking member of the US House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated the position of the Netanyahu government that “no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza.”

The visit by Ben-Gvir follows two weeks after the trip by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House, where Netanyahu declared that the Israeli government is “working on” Trump’s pledge to ethnically cleanse Gaza.

This plan is being implemented through the deliberate starvation of the Palestinian population, the daily bombardment and mass killing of the civilian population, and the active preparations for the full, permanent, military occupation of the Gaza Strip and the creation of the infrastructure to forcibly displace and transfer the Palestinian population outside of Gaza.

Last month, NPR, the Financial Times, and Haaretz reported that the Israeli military has drawn up a plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, internally displace the remaining population, and provide only the “minimum caloric amount necessary for survival,” in the words of Haaretz.

One month ago, the Israeli security cabinet formally voted to establish an office dedicated to overseeing the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Defense Minister Katz stated that the bureau would manage the “departure to third countries, including securing their movement, establishing movement routes, checking pedestrians at designated crossings in the Gaza Strip, as well as coordinating the provision of infrastructure that will enable passage by land, sea and air to the destination countries.”

In 2007, Ben-Gvir was convicted by an Israeli court of racist incitement and support for groups on terrorism blacklists. Since 2023, his policies of ethnic cleansing and mass killing have been adopted by the Israeli government in its genocidal onslaught on Gaza, using the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack as a pretext.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 51,300 Palestinians have been killed in the genocide to date, with 1,928 Palestinians since Israel unilaterally abrogated a ceasefire agreement on March 18.

On Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes killed 25 people, including 11 people in a school that was transformed into an emergency shelter. This followed the killing of at least 17 people, mostly women and children, in strikes on Tuesday.

Despite the ongoing famine, coverage of the humanitarian situation has almost totally dropped from news coverage in the United States. And after having overseen the Gaza genocide under President Joe Biden, the Democrats have voted repeatedly against any restrictions on US arms sales to Israel under the Trump administration.

24 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Bharat Dogra

On April 22 in one of the most inhuman terrorist attacks seen in India, terrorists killed 26 entirely innocent tourists and injured several others in the tourist resort of Baisaran Meadow, located in the famous Pahalgam area of Kashmir.

While the terrorists fired indiscriminately initially, it soon became clear that they were targeting tourists in particular, and among them they were more specifically targeting Hindu men.

In such a situation the local Muslim people may have stayed back quietly, considering that their position was safe, but this is not the way Syed Adil Hussain Shah looked at the situation. A local youth from a remote village who earned his livelihood from providing mules to tourists, Adil just could not bear to see innocent people being killed in such a cruel way. Forgetting the threat to his own life, in anguish he shouted at the terrorists—why are you killing innocent persons. The terrorists responded by shooting at him too and he died on the spot.

However some eye witness accounts have stated that Adil went much beyond merely raising his voice. A woman tourist said that he had started fighting the terrorists despite being unarmed himself and according to another account he tried to snatch the gun of one of the terrorists(see report in Dainik Tribune, April 24).

Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, went to attend the last rites of Adil and to console the family. He praised the exceptional courage and deep humanity of Adil. Despite the terror conditions, hundreds of people gathered to pay their homage to the brave youth.

While Adil made the supreme sacrifice, several other local (Muslim) persons also took risks to rescue endangered tourists and provide shelter to them. An elderly tourist from Gujarat told the reporter of Dainik Bhaskar newspaper that in the midst of firing local shopkeepers and mule-owners appeared like angels to rush injured persons to hospital. Another family from Maharashtra told the newspaper that at the time of the attack a taxi driver, also named Adil, provided them shelter and later arranged for food. A trader from Chattisgarh had come with an 11 member group, including children, for a holiday. He told the newspaper that a local trader Nazakat Ali had rescued them from a dangerous situation at the time of firing. At the same time, several mosques had opened their doors and arranged food for stranded tourists and other passengers in the aftermath of the terror attack (See Dainik Bhaskar April 24).

All over Kashmir protests and shutdowns have been organized to condemn the terrorist attack and to express grief for the victims of the tragedy. Candles were lit at several places to honor the memory of the innocent people who had been killed so suddenly and in such a cruel way. At Makka Market the Union President said, “There is mourning in the whole of Kashmir. Our guests have been killed.”  Another protester in Kashmir said, “Imagine the trauma of a child whose father was killed in front of him.” He said what distressed him most was that the attackers used the name of religion and Kashmir in the attack.

There is some evidence that this terrorist attack has a wider aim of not just disrupting peace and tourism (a leading source of livelihood here), but in addition disrupting inter-faith harmony in India. Just a few days before the attack, on April 16 the Pakistan army chief Gen Asim Munir had gone out of his way to make highly controversial and inflammatory remarks on big dividing lines between Hindus and Muslims and their alleged inability to live together in harmony.

Hence this is a particularly important time in India to protect inter-faith harmony, and all those Muslim residents of Pahalgam who rushed to the rescue of threatened Hindu tourists, in at least one case the rescuer even sacrificing his own life for the cause, have shown the way forward for maintaining inter-faith harmony. The people of Kashmir have also come out in large numbers to voice their strong opposition against violence in the name of religion. By rejecting those who are trying to provoke violence and disharmony, and by strengthening inter-faith harmony and peace, people of the entire country can give a befitting reply to those enemies of humanity who are trying to provoke disharmony and violence.

Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now.

24 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Aaqib Javid

What happened yesterday in Pahalgam will be etched into the memory of this valley for years to come.In the lap of Kashmir’s mountains an unimaginable act of violence unfolded. Armed infiltrators opened fire with no warning, no mercy, and no humanity indiscriminately targeting locals and tourists alike. Many lost their lives in a matter of moments. Families were torn apart and what remained was a shattered sense of calm in a region already exhausted by decades of pain.

While investigators are still trying to piece together who these attackers were and what agenda they followed, social media wasted no time in drawing its own conclusions. Before the facts could surface, a new storm of hate took over online platforms with many accusing the local Muslim community of supporting or sheltering the perpetrators.

As a Kashmiri, as a human being, I ask: how long must we bleed before someone hears us, not blames us?

The Horror on the Ground

Eyewitness accounts from the scene paint a picture that’s hard to even imagine. Screams echoed through the valley. Blood stained the earth that just hours before had seen children playing and tourists snapping pictures of the river flowing by. Among the many heartbreaking visuals circulating, one stood out in tears barely able to speak, describing how the terrorists questioned her husband’s identity. They said he “didn’t look like a Muslim” and shot him dead right in front of her.

This was not just an attack. This was a targeted massacre. A deliberate act to instill fear and to create division using religion as a weapon. And perhaps most dangerously to turn communities against one another. But as the bullets tore through bodies they didn’t distinguish between Hindu or Muslim, some of those killed were Kashmiri Muslims. Some were Hindu tourists. All were innocent.

A Valley Known for Warmth, Now Under Suspicion

What followed the attack has been just as devastating in a different way. Instead of unified grief and call for justice, the internet erupted with hate, hashtags blaming Muslims, trolling Kashmiris, and wild theories about “locals helping terrorists” began trending. It’s a story we’ve seen before, grief gets hijacked by propaganda and the victims are made suspects.

Let me say this with complete clarity that Kashmiris especially the Muslim community had no hand in this attack. We condemn this in the strongest terms possible. Not because we feel obligated to defend ourselves but because we are just as devastated. We are the ones lighting candles. We are the ones burying the dead and we are the ones being accused all at the same time.

Kashmiris are known across the world for their hospitality, for serving kehwa to strangers, for offering rooms to stranded travelers, for treating guests as family. It is simply impossible to believe that the same people would turn into monsters overnight. That narrative is not just false. It is malicious.

The Intent to Divide, But Not On Our Watch

This incident feels like a deliberate attempt to disturb the fragile social fabric that still holds Kashmir together. Over the years despite everything, Hindus and Muslims in the valley have lived side by side celebrated festivals together and mourned together. Attacks like this and the divisive response that follows seem designed to break that bond.

But it won’t work because we refuse to hate our neighbours. We know each other too well. We’ve shared food, laughter and pain. And now, we must share the burden of this tragedy not by blaming each other but by standing together.

Kashmiri Muslim leaders, social activists and citizens across the valley have publicly condemned the incident.Candlelight marches have been held not just by the public but also backed by political leaders, many of whom belong to the very communities being wrongfully accused. That unity matters. It shows the world that we are not divided, and we will not allow terrorists or hatefilled tweets to divide us.

This isn’t the first time Kashmiris have spoken out against terrorism. Every time such horror has struck whether from across the border or within the people of this land have risen to condemn it. We have mourned, marched, and we demand justice because we have suffered enough.

The Missing Conversation: Security Lapses

While blame is being thrown around so freely on the internet, very few are talking about something that desperately needs to be addressed that is “the lapse in security”.

Pahalgam is not just a local destination it’s one of the most popular tourist spots in Kashmir and it lies close to the border. With heavy footfall and a known risk of cross border infiltration, it should be under constant surveillance. Yet, according to multiple accounts, army bunkers in the region were either unmanned or inadequately staffed. There were reportedly no active patrols in the mountain zones where the attack took place.
Why weren’t troops stationed to safeguard the area especially when the flow of tourists has recently increased.

The role of the defence forces cannot be ignored in this situation. This isn’t about blaming them, it’s about accountability. The protection of civilians is the state’s responsibility. If gaps existed that allowed this attack to happen, those must be examined and addressed with urgency. We need answers and we need change.

A Cry for Peace and Dignity

More than anything, what Kashmiris want right now is peace. We are exhausted. For decades, we have lived under the constant fear of violence from one side or the other. We have lost lives, livelihoods and even our voices. But through it all we’ve kept hoping and hoping that one day we will be allowed to live freely and safely like everyone else. We are not asking for sympathy but for understanding. We are not asking for praise. We are asking for fairness.

And we are certainly not asking to be judged by the actions of murderers we had no part in protecting or supporting.

The government must introspect. The investigation must be swift, honest and transparent. And the narrative especially on digital platforms must be reshaped with facts not fears.

The victims of this attack were human beings. Their lives mattered. Their deaths must not be turned into political fodder. We must honour them by demanding truth and standing united not by deepening divides.

Final Words

Pahalgam is grieving. Kashmir is grieving. But amidst the mourning a dangerous fire of division is being lit. We, the people must be the ones to put it out not with more words but with actions, solidarity, empathy, and with courage.

Because no matter where we come from or what faith we follow, terrorism is our shared enemy and peace is our shared right.

Let’s not allow bullets to decide our futures. Let truth, justice and humanity lead us forward.

Aaqib Javid is a medical student in biotechnology from Trathpora, Kupwara, Kashmir

23 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Cedric Prakash

In the death of Pope Francis, the world has lost one of the greatest personalities of modern times! We are saddened that he is no longer in our midst!

He was truly a compassionate pastor with a warm, loving heart for the poor and marginalised, the excluded and the exploited, the refugees and the migrants, the LGBTGIA+ community, the victims of war and human trafficking and in fact, with all sub-alterns and those who live on the peripheries of society.

Pope Francis transcended boundaries and exclusiveness, divisions and discrimination of every kind. He was convinced that humans should build bridges and not walls, to reach out to others, particularly the lost, the last and the least. His Encyclical ‘Fratelli Tutti’ speaks strongly about this.

Pope Francis was deeply troubled by what is happening to the environment. He cared for our common home and wished that all take responsibility to ensure that our planet earth is liveable for all. His writings ‘Laudato Si’ and ‘Laudate Deum’ on the environment, bear testimony to his concern.

Pope Francis was a man of peace! He spoke out unequivocally against every war and the industrial military complex; he took a strong stand against the ‘culture of death’. He spoke directly to the most powerful people on earth reminding them of what they should be doing. His last tweet on 20 April evening began with “I would like us to renew our hope that peace is possible…”

Above all, Pope Francis was a man of God, sent to be a pilgrim on earth; to motivate all of us with a newer, deeper and more meaningful hope! He was a complete human being who left no stone unturned to make our world a more just, peaceful and humane place for all! He was and is a SAINT!

Millions all over will miss him! In his death the world is orphaned!

Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is a human rights, justice, reconciliation & peace activist/writer Email: cedricprakash@gmail.com

21 April 2025

Source: countercurrents.org