New Delhi, July 25 (ANI): Terrorists shot dead a civilian, Mohsin Ahmed Wani, in Sopore town of Baramulla district, while another person escaped an attack in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday.
Reacting sharply to the incident, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: "A young man was shot dead in Sopore yesterday for no apparent fault of his. Where the hell are all the irate voices??? Bloody hypocrites."
He also tweeted: "Mohsin was a businessman, doing business in Sopore. Shot by terrorists last night. No wonder my timeline is silent, as it wasn't by the army/police"
His anger is justified. Last week, when the alleged rape incident happened in Kulgam in South Kashmir, Abdullah was bombarded by tweets, calling him all sorts of names.
With one stroke, the army was vilified, much to the delight of some Pakistani twitterers, who retweeted these tweets with glee.
Journalists on twitter were flooded with calls for Azadi, mostly from anonymous twitterers, supposedly from Kashmir. If any moderate Kashmiri used the word 'alleged' rape in a tweet (which incidentally is the legal way to report a rape incident till it is proved), he was labeled an 'Indian agent' in Kashmir.
Abdullah reacted immediately then, calling for restraint, saying the guilty will not be spared if the case was true.
Sure enough, an immediate investigation was ordered and a special investigation team (SIT) of police formed to probe the alleged abduction and rape of the lady.
She lives in Manzgam, Gujjardar village in south Kashmir's Kulgam district. She alleged that she was kept hostage in the Cheranbal Forests, close to her home.
Preliminary medical examination did not confirm any marks of violence on the woman's body. The Hurriyat was not interested to know the facts, or, in the pursuit of justice in a sensitive case like rape.
It called for bandhs and protests. The bandhs also timed for the arrest of an American of Kashmiri origin, Ghulam Nabi Fai in America, for violating American laws and for lobbying for the Pakistani spy agency, ISI. Absurd did you say? Hmm.
But a bandh call in Kashmir is like a Swiss Army knife. It has multiple uses. Preventive arrests were made and the forces were out on the streets. The peace and calm of June marred once again by rumours and threats of a return of violence.
Editorials and articles with screaming headlines spelling doom and destruction once again for the Valley appeared in ultra liberal newspapers here and the ultra right in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the rape controversy took a new turn, when the husband and mother-in-law of the woman, claimed before the police that she suffered from mental illness and was at her home in South Kashmir on the day she claimed she was sexually abused. This got buried in some newspapers in the inner pages; the bandh and the 'alleged rape' are still on the front page.
Kashmir being a 'conflict zone' has nuances and shades in truth. That is probably the reason that a young man's death yesterday has provoked no outrage. Political parties and the separatists are silent. Terrorists killed him, so, if they raise their voices, they could be the next targets and be labeled as 'Indian agents' or 'National Conference stooges'.
Jumping to conclusions about the army is so much easier. Gets you fan following. So much harder to stick to the truth even if it takes time to unravel. (ANI)
Fait Accompli: #Kashmir loses one junket genie #Scrap370 #India
There are some embarrassed faces, some awkward silences in newspapers and television channels in North India. They belong to some of those journalists and academicians who availed the hospitality offered by Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, who ran the Kashmiri American Council, also known as the Kashmir Center.
Fai and Zaheer Ahmad, a Pakistani-American now believed to be in Pakistan, were charged with conspiring to act as unregistered agents of the Government of Pakistan. In other words, they acted as ISI (Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence) minions in the US. Fai has been hosting Kashmir conferences in the US for more than a decade where he would invite renowned journalists and intellectuals from India and Pakistan.
The Indian journalists and intellectuals went on all expenses paid trips and took part in these conferences and put forward their personal views about Kashmir. The Indian foreign office has never been represented at the conferences. Whether they attended them unofficially or surreptiously is anyone's guess.
To be fair to them, journalists and intellectuals are free to attend any and all conferences and are even encouraged to do so by their publications and even the Indian government. Free movement of ideas is encouraged in any democracy. But it was open knowledge even since the 90's, that Fai had dubious links with Pakistani intelligence operatives. Despite that, some thought it prudent enough to avail of airfare, hotel accommodation from him, a bill that would have certainly run up to at least a couple of lakh rupees per person.
Was he inviting them because they were such renowned personalities who had such wisdom to offer on how Kashmir could be solved? Or did he have a motive? Did these intellectuals pause to think they might have been used? Noted historian Irfan Habib tweets "Fai arrest exposes his covert links with ISI and shocks our glitterati in the media and politics. Needed to be more careful."
Security expert B. Raman says, " Fai was using Indian participation to convince Congressmen that his organisation had support in India and Pakistan and was not purely a Pakistani one. Pakistan is India's adversary. We have had three wars. Even if it was not known that he was ISI funded, it was obvious he was promoting Pakistan's agenda."
American Congressmen who attended Fai's conferences, among them noted India-baiter Dan Burton, were probably not aware that what the Indians there were saying at the conferences was not the official version, nor probably an informed opinion. However, it served Fai's agenda well to make his organization seem legitimate and his quest to fuel separatist flames in Kashmir got an incredible amount of credibility as a result of the participation of well known Indian journalists and academicians.
Praveen Swami of the Hindu writes "For decades, Dr. Fai was the most visible face of Kashmiri secessionism in the West: presiding over a succession of high-profile conferences for which delegates were flown in from across the world and flying from one world capital to the next rallying support for his cause."
Did the participants know they were rallying support for his cause? On the Indian side, they will, of course, deny it; unless Kashmiri separatism is something they believe to be a legitimate demand in India. And there are many among the Indian participants at Fai's conferences who have written that. They have openly said that India sees Kashmir merely as territory and is unconcerned about the people. They have voiced this opinion at the conferences hosted by Fai.
One of the participants has even said that when he attended the conference, it wasn't the time of Google and he was not aware about Fai's leanings. Did the person ask fellow journalists? Or other conference specialists?
There is also the opinion that it is important for journalists to attend anti-India seminars and conferences so as to put forward the Indian point of view. While the justification is right, the more pertinent point is that nobody really cares what participants say at such conferences.
That they participated and gave legitimacy to an outfit that was paying off Congressmen to make anti-India speeches in world capitals and at the UN is what is noted, remembered and part of public memory. Wonder how many of the participants remember what they said at these conferences and who they met? The ISI would certainly have details.
By Smita Prakash (ANI)
Fai and Zaheer Ahmad, a Pakistani-American now believed to be in Pakistan, were charged with conspiring to act as unregistered agents of the Government of Pakistan. In other words, they acted as ISI (Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence) minions in the US. Fai has been hosting Kashmir conferences in the US for more than a decade where he would invite renowned journalists and intellectuals from India and Pakistan.
The Indian journalists and intellectuals went on all expenses paid trips and took part in these conferences and put forward their personal views about Kashmir. The Indian foreign office has never been represented at the conferences. Whether they attended them unofficially or surreptiously is anyone's guess.
To be fair to them, journalists and intellectuals are free to attend any and all conferences and are even encouraged to do so by their publications and even the Indian government. Free movement of ideas is encouraged in any democracy. But it was open knowledge even since the 90's, that Fai had dubious links with Pakistani intelligence operatives. Despite that, some thought it prudent enough to avail of airfare, hotel accommodation from him, a bill that would have certainly run up to at least a couple of lakh rupees per person.
Was he inviting them because they were such renowned personalities who had such wisdom to offer on how Kashmir could be solved? Or did he have a motive? Did these intellectuals pause to think they might have been used? Noted historian Irfan Habib tweets "Fai arrest exposes his covert links with ISI and shocks our glitterati in the media and politics. Needed to be more careful."
Security expert B. Raman says, " Fai was using Indian participation to convince Congressmen that his organisation had support in India and Pakistan and was not purely a Pakistani one. Pakistan is India's adversary. We have had three wars. Even if it was not known that he was ISI funded, it was obvious he was promoting Pakistan's agenda."
American Congressmen who attended Fai's conferences, among them noted India-baiter Dan Burton, were probably not aware that what the Indians there were saying at the conferences was not the official version, nor probably an informed opinion. However, it served Fai's agenda well to make his organization seem legitimate and his quest to fuel separatist flames in Kashmir got an incredible amount of credibility as a result of the participation of well known Indian journalists and academicians.
Praveen Swami of the Hindu writes "For decades, Dr. Fai was the most visible face of Kashmiri secessionism in the West: presiding over a succession of high-profile conferences for which delegates were flown in from across the world and flying from one world capital to the next rallying support for his cause."
Did the participants know they were rallying support for his cause? On the Indian side, they will, of course, deny it; unless Kashmiri separatism is something they believe to be a legitimate demand in India. And there are many among the Indian participants at Fai's conferences who have written that. They have openly said that India sees Kashmir merely as territory and is unconcerned about the people. They have voiced this opinion at the conferences hosted by Fai.
One of the participants has even said that when he attended the conference, it wasn't the time of Google and he was not aware about Fai's leanings. Did the person ask fellow journalists? Or other conference specialists?
There is also the opinion that it is important for journalists to attend anti-India seminars and conferences so as to put forward the Indian point of view. While the justification is right, the more pertinent point is that nobody really cares what participants say at such conferences.
That they participated and gave legitimacy to an outfit that was paying off Congressmen to make anti-India speeches in world capitals and at the UN is what is noted, remembered and part of public memory. Wonder how many of the participants remember what they said at these conferences and who they met? The ISI would certainly have details.
By Smita Prakash (ANI)
Damaging #Kashmir revelations emerge from Fai arrest #Scrap370 #India
Last summer, as bloody clashes broke out between police and protesters on the streets of Kashmir's cities and towns, Ghulam Nabi Fai had an impassioned message for the world.
“Kashmiris,” the chief of the Kashmiri American Council wrote wrote, “wish to emphasise that their land is not real estate which can be parcelled out between two disputants, but the home of a nation with a history far more compact and coherent than India's and far longer than Pakistan's.”
Those impassioned words, FBI documents filed in a Virgina court on Tuesday allege, were more likely than not authored by an officer of Pakistan's intelligence services — and almost certainly paid for in hard cash by them.
For decades, Dr. Fai was the most visible face of Kashmiri secessionism in the West: presiding over a succession of high-profile conferences for which delegates were flown in from across the world and flying from one world capital to the next rallying support for his cause.
Dr. Fai's arrest, and the damaging evidence the FBI has amassed, will plunge the diasporic Kashmiri movement he spearheaded into crisis.
“The voice of reason”
Born in April, 1949, Dr. Fai grew up in the affluent central Kashmir village of Wadwan — just a few kilometres from the home of his childhood friend and future political associate, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's Pakistan-based commander-in-chief Muhammad Yusuf Shah. Shah would become known as the menacing face of the Kashmir jihad; Dr. Fai was to be its voice of reason.
Dr. Fai's academic career was illustrious: he obtained a master's degree from Aligarh Muslim University, and then moved to Saudi Arabia in 1967. In 1977, he obtained a doctorate in mass communications from Temple University, Pennsylvania, and became a citizen of the United States 10 years later.
Less is known about Dr. Fai's political life. He joined the Jamaat-e-Islami as a college student and became a rukun, or full-time cadre. In Saudi Arabia, party sources told The Hindu, he helped raise funds.
Early in the course of the Kashmir jihad, Dr. Fai began to emerge as a spokesperson for Kashmiri secessionists in the United States. CW2, an FBI secret informant whose testimony it alluded to in documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, claims that the ISI had been operating Dr. Fai since the late 1980s, around the time the jihad in Kashmir began.
From 1995 or so, the FBI alleges, Dr. Fai was a paid agent — run by a shadowy ISI figure so far identified only by the code-name “Abdullah,” his deputy, Brigadier Javed Aziz Khan, Brigadier Sohail Mehmood, and Lt.-Col. Tauqeer Butt. Eight out of 10 of Dr. Fai's statements, ‘CW2' said, were written up by his intelligence handlers.
The ISI also run two sister institutions, the FBI alleges — Abdul Majeed Tramboo's Kashmir Centre-European Union in Brussels, and Nazir Ahmad Shawl's Kashmir Centre in London.
From the dozens of e-mail the FBI has made public so far, it appears clear that Dr. Fai and his associates knew they were engaged in a covert enterprise: in one case, a conversation about the transfer of $75,000 used the code-phrase “Brylcreem, 75 miligrams,” another, for $157,000, to a “157 pages draft.”
Dr. Fai claimed to be a figure of great gravitas: he proclaimed at a conference in Leicester, for example, to have been told by no less than the then U.S. President, Bill Clinton's security chief that the independence of Kashmir was imminent.
His ISI handlers, though, treated him like a minion. In April, 2008, Brigadier Khan had these instructions for the KAC's chief: “Following are the details of the 13.3 inch laptop bag. A picture of the bag is also attached with this e-mail. Kindly procure and sent it with someone as soon as possible.”
“ABDULLAH IS EATING MY HEAD,” the e-mail ended.
“Kashmiris,” the chief of the Kashmiri American Council wrote wrote, “wish to emphasise that their land is not real estate which can be parcelled out between two disputants, but the home of a nation with a history far more compact and coherent than India's and far longer than Pakistan's.”
Those impassioned words, FBI documents filed in a Virgina court on Tuesday allege, were more likely than not authored by an officer of Pakistan's intelligence services — and almost certainly paid for in hard cash by them.
For decades, Dr. Fai was the most visible face of Kashmiri secessionism in the West: presiding over a succession of high-profile conferences for which delegates were flown in from across the world and flying from one world capital to the next rallying support for his cause.
Dr. Fai's arrest, and the damaging evidence the FBI has amassed, will plunge the diasporic Kashmiri movement he spearheaded into crisis.
“The voice of reason”
Born in April, 1949, Dr. Fai grew up in the affluent central Kashmir village of Wadwan — just a few kilometres from the home of his childhood friend and future political associate, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's Pakistan-based commander-in-chief Muhammad Yusuf Shah. Shah would become known as the menacing face of the Kashmir jihad; Dr. Fai was to be its voice of reason.
Dr. Fai's academic career was illustrious: he obtained a master's degree from Aligarh Muslim University, and then moved to Saudi Arabia in 1967. In 1977, he obtained a doctorate in mass communications from Temple University, Pennsylvania, and became a citizen of the United States 10 years later.
Less is known about Dr. Fai's political life. He joined the Jamaat-e-Islami as a college student and became a rukun, or full-time cadre. In Saudi Arabia, party sources told The Hindu, he helped raise funds.
Early in the course of the Kashmir jihad, Dr. Fai began to emerge as a spokesperson for Kashmiri secessionists in the United States. CW2, an FBI secret informant whose testimony it alluded to in documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, claims that the ISI had been operating Dr. Fai since the late 1980s, around the time the jihad in Kashmir began.
From 1995 or so, the FBI alleges, Dr. Fai was a paid agent — run by a shadowy ISI figure so far identified only by the code-name “Abdullah,” his deputy, Brigadier Javed Aziz Khan, Brigadier Sohail Mehmood, and Lt.-Col. Tauqeer Butt. Eight out of 10 of Dr. Fai's statements, ‘CW2' said, were written up by his intelligence handlers.
The ISI also run two sister institutions, the FBI alleges — Abdul Majeed Tramboo's Kashmir Centre-European Union in Brussels, and Nazir Ahmad Shawl's Kashmir Centre in London.
From the dozens of e-mail the FBI has made public so far, it appears clear that Dr. Fai and his associates knew they were engaged in a covert enterprise: in one case, a conversation about the transfer of $75,000 used the code-phrase “Brylcreem, 75 miligrams,” another, for $157,000, to a “157 pages draft.”
Dr. Fai claimed to be a figure of great gravitas: he proclaimed at a conference in Leicester, for example, to have been told by no less than the then U.S. President, Bill Clinton's security chief that the independence of Kashmir was imminent.
His ISI handlers, though, treated him like a minion. In April, 2008, Brigadier Khan had these instructions for the KAC's chief: “Following are the details of the 13.3 inch laptop bag. A picture of the bag is also attached with this e-mail. Kindly procure and sent it with someone as soon as possible.”
“ABDULLAH IS EATING MY HEAD,” the e-mail ended.
Gujjars in #Kashmir want their demands to be included in interlocuter's report #Scrap370 #India
A Gujjar organisation from Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday asked the Centre’s interlocutors to take into account problems and demands of the community while preparing their final report.
“The panel of interlocutors should make strong recommendations on the issues related to Gujjars and Bakerwals in its final report on Jammu and Kashmir,” Secretary of Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation (TRCF) Javaid Rahi said in a statement.
Mr. Rahi said, “Since the three-member interlocutors are finalising their report, we seek the help of the team to project an irreversible provision along with constitutional guarantees to reserve categories.
“We strongly plead for grant of social, cultural, economic and political empowerment of our tribe residing in far flung and difficult areas of the state,” he said.
He said a 10-page memorandum addressed to interlocutors -- Dilip Padgaonkar, Prof Radha Kumar and M M Ansari -- highlighted the problems and plight of the community and sought their favourable recommendations on 10 major issues faced by the tribals.
Mr. Rahi said the TRCF urged the team for a favourable recommendation on political empowerment of Gujjar Community through extension of political reservations under section 49 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The other demands projected in the memorandum include rehabilitation of nomad Gujjars, extension of Forest Right Act-2006 to Jammu and Kashmir, Providing Food Security for nomadic population among others,” he said.
Mr. Rahi said the community also demanded representation to Gojri language and culture in Indian Constitution, State Universities and conduct of special census of nomadic Gujjars.
He said a delegation of the community last year apprised the team that Gujjars are demanding a separate tribal council within the state on the pattern of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) so that their uniqueness could be protected and preserved properly.
“The panel of interlocutors should make strong recommendations on the issues related to Gujjars and Bakerwals in its final report on Jammu and Kashmir,” Secretary of Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation (TRCF) Javaid Rahi said in a statement.
Mr. Rahi said, “Since the three-member interlocutors are finalising their report, we seek the help of the team to project an irreversible provision along with constitutional guarantees to reserve categories.
“We strongly plead for grant of social, cultural, economic and political empowerment of our tribe residing in far flung and difficult areas of the state,” he said.
He said a 10-page memorandum addressed to interlocutors -- Dilip Padgaonkar, Prof Radha Kumar and M M Ansari -- highlighted the problems and plight of the community and sought their favourable recommendations on 10 major issues faced by the tribals.
Mr. Rahi said the TRCF urged the team for a favourable recommendation on political empowerment of Gujjar Community through extension of political reservations under section 49 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The other demands projected in the memorandum include rehabilitation of nomad Gujjars, extension of Forest Right Act-2006 to Jammu and Kashmir, Providing Food Security for nomadic population among others,” he said.
Mr. Rahi said the community also demanded representation to Gojri language and culture in Indian Constitution, State Universities and conduct of special census of nomadic Gujjars.
He said a delegation of the community last year apprised the team that Gujjars are demanding a separate tribal council within the state on the pattern of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) so that their uniqueness could be protected and preserved properly.
Grand Mufti of Jammu & #Kashmir Condemns terrorist attack in Mumbai #Scrap370 #India
Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir Maulvi Bashir-ud-Din today condemned the Mumbai blasts saying the attacks were inhuman and terrorist acts.
"The blasts in Mumbai are acts of terrorism ... These are inhuman acts," the Mufti told reporters here.
Any amount of condemnation against such acts will not suffice and there is a need for coordinated efforts to root these out, he said.
"People from all walks of life have to cooperate to bring to an end these acts which result in colossal loss of human life, particularly innocent people," he added.
The Mufti said gambling, flesh trade and other vices were flourishing in the Valley while the law enforcing agencies were not taking any action.
"The vices have taken Kashmir in their grip and everyone is aware about it. The inaction of police raises questions about its role," he said.
The Mufti urged the people of Valley to make all endeavours to stop these activities which were not in consonance with Kashmiri culture.
© Copyright PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of any PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.
"The blasts in Mumbai are acts of terrorism ... These are inhuman acts," the Mufti told reporters here.
Any amount of condemnation against such acts will not suffice and there is a need for coordinated efforts to root these out, he said.
"People from all walks of life have to cooperate to bring to an end these acts which result in colossal loss of human life, particularly innocent people," he added.
The Mufti said gambling, flesh trade and other vices were flourishing in the Valley while the law enforcing agencies were not taking any action.
"The vices have taken Kashmir in their grip and everyone is aware about it. The inaction of police raises questions about its role," he said.
The Mufti urged the people of Valley to make all endeavours to stop these activities which were not in consonance with Kashmiri culture.
© Copyright PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of any PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.
#India's Govt-owned BSNL launches 3G services in Jammu & #Kashmir #Scrap370
SRINAGAR: Telecom service provider BSNL launched 3G data services in Jammu and Kashmir.
The 3G services were launched in Srinagar and Jammu cities, the summer and winter capitals of the state, respectively, Chief General Manager BSNL (JK Circle) R K Kaul told reporters here.
Kaul said the service will be extended in 27 other towns and stations of the state in coming days.
However, the 3G users can only use data services as the video calling facility has not been cleared by the security agencies yet.
"The 3G services will include only data services and video calling facility will not be available here due to non-clearance from security agencies," Kaul said.
BSNL became the fourth service provider to launch 3G in Jammu and Kashmir. Reliance, Airtel and Aircel started these services earlier in the year.
The 3G services were launched in Srinagar and Jammu cities, the summer and winter capitals of the state, respectively, Chief General Manager BSNL (JK Circle) R K Kaul told reporters here.
Kaul said the service will be extended in 27 other towns and stations of the state in coming days.
However, the 3G users can only use data services as the video calling facility has not been cleared by the security agencies yet.
"The 3G services will include only data services and video calling facility will not be available here due to non-clearance from security agencies," Kaul said.
BSNL became the fourth service provider to launch 3G in Jammu and Kashmir. Reliance, Airtel and Aircel started these services earlier in the year.
Trip to #Kashmir leads to surreal encounters with all-seeing, djinn-conquering Pirs #Scrap370 #India
Given that Kashmir is not too hostile to tourists currently, it sounded like the ideal vacation for long walks and fresh mountain air.
Its well-documented deep spiritual connect was intriguing, but hardly surprising given its volatile relationship with militancy. What my spiritually undernourished side was unprepared for was a run-in with djinns and a pir with a wicked sense of humour.
It started when our Kashmir correspondent Anil Raina confidently promised that if militants were to kidnap me, it was just a minor set-back.
After all, he had a priceless picture of four terrorists reading a copy of Mumbai Mirror, captivated by the Bollywood stars’ colourful love lives.
Functioning by its own fuzzy brand of logic, the brain latched on to the idea that inner peace will be found in India’s most problematic conflict zone.
Spirit of the Valley
On the first day, our correspondent took his friend Khalida Jan and me to meet a pir. Both were ardently devoted to Pir Mohiddin, who had a fan following for his ability to control djinns. Yep, djinns. Stars of Arabic folklore.
Allah’s creations with free will. Made of smokeless flame or ‘scorched fire’, according to the Quran. Even Kashmir’s Chief Minister is said to have paid flying visits to his home in Badgam (a half hour drive from Srinagar) deep in the night.
We drove there and parked the car in the woods. Walking half a kilometre in the pitch dark through the forest and rice fields added to the atmosphere greatly.
The compact-sized Pir Mohiddin, or Pir Sahab as he is fondly known, welcomed us warmly with a ‘Salaam-Walekum’. With a salt-and-pepper beard, the youthful pir occupied a raised seat in the middle of a bare carpeted room where he held court.
As he chatted with my friends in Kashmiri, I’m embarrassed to admit that I fell asleep sitting up. The long, early morning flight had done its damage. For the nausea, he gave me some misri after reading some mantras. Within ten minutes, the nausea subsided.
Perhaps it was the sugar rush, I thought. After the session, he got up and went to the bathroom. A few minutes later, he was carried out by Anil and his family members since he had fainted in there.
As they covered him up, I noticed that he had blood-stained cheeks and before I could inquire further, Khalida and me were herded out of the room with great urgency.
Djinn alert
As we were leaving, lights started going on and off, doors slammed and a sound like a cat being tortured pierced the air. Khalida bumped into me, shaking from the eerie experience.
As we drove, the dogs started barking wildly at the car and couldn’t run fast enough in the opposite direction. Apparently, dogs can sense the presence of the djinns. Later, my friends explained that the djinns wanted to claim Pir Sahab for their own world when he was spent.
There was no saying how long he could be locked up in that room, it could be 10 minutes or two days. A borderless world. We could learn a thing or two from the djinns.
A coping mechanism?
The second session saw a number of people in Pir Sahab’s house waiting to seek his blessings. A lady who kept grunting deeply at regular intervals complained that she would find herself suddenly gasping for breath and felt that someone was sitting on her chest.
Apparently, she was possessed. Pir Sahab gave her a taaveez, more of the misri and chits of paper with scribbled mantras that she was to burn every day.
Another man had a unique problem. Apparently, two paris were in love with him and were causing harm to his wife.
Pir Sahab dealt with the problems with patience and humour. Later he joked with me, “Kashmiri log fizul ki baatien bahot karte hain.”
While it was amusing, perhaps this was just a way for people to cope. The valley’s status update never veered from’Problematic’, so maybe we have become desensitized to the violence reported in the news.
People who visited Pir Sahab said their children had trouble concentrating, the business wasn’t doing well, etc. Can we even begin to understand what families living with violence on a daily basis go through?
As time passed, Pir Sahab had another dizzy spell. When we walked out, a shower of pebbles was pelted at us. The front yard was empty.
Spot the signs
Maybe it was the spell of the sessions with Pir Sahab, but the quest for other signs of spiritual life actually led this agnostic to a temple.
The Vaishno Devi idol was stationed in the Kheerbhawani Temple before its move to greater heights.
People believed that the spring water around the current idol changed colour according to the status of peace/ violence in the valley.
In darker times, the water turned black and no matter how much milk the priests poured in, it stayed black. Right now, it was a reassuring milky blue.
A trip to the stunning Sonmarg and onwards to Dras revealed a different vista at every turn. The beauty was overpowering, and even the mountains have a different vibe.
While ascending to Dras on what can be loosely called a road, we could see the Amarnath yatri camps below at Balthan. People who took shortcuts flew via helicopters that looked like toys from that height.
All the way, the military presence in such a stunning place was jarring. Every place has its own personality, and Kashmir’s was weighty. The landscape is too perfect, it almost makes you spiritual.
So is there any truth then in the belief that the most beautiful places are fatefully cursed?
Djinn policies
The third time, Pir Sahab astonished me with an answer to a personal question, by divining details I hadn’t shared. Then, in broken Hindi, he told me how he became a pir. “I was an illiterate man. At one point, I fell into a deep fever for a month. Allah’s angels taught me everything I needed to know. When I woke up, I had the knowledge and I could read and write.” With ten years of ‘ibaadat’ under his belt, Pir Sahab’s presence had a soothing effect. Believer or not, the positivity was an undeniable force.
So what did the djinns looks like? What is the life purpose of the djinns? Did they live forever? How does the djinn economy function? Could he show me a djinn? My friend buried his head in his hands, at my expectation of the pir turning a party trick. Pir Sahab smiled, “Djinns travel to and fro, and they are present all over the world. There are good djinns and bad djinns. Djinns are scary at first to look at, but it’s a question of getting used to something. The oldest djinn is about 3500 years old, but he looks like a little baccha - he’s so tiny. They live for around 4000-odd years and then die.”
Pir Sahab promises to show me one. When the day arrived, unfortunately he fainted at midnight, with blood streaming from his eyes. Till the next morning, he was yet to leave his room.
Its well-documented deep spiritual connect was intriguing, but hardly surprising given its volatile relationship with militancy. What my spiritually undernourished side was unprepared for was a run-in with djinns and a pir with a wicked sense of humour.
It started when our Kashmir correspondent Anil Raina confidently promised that if militants were to kidnap me, it was just a minor set-back.
After all, he had a priceless picture of four terrorists reading a copy of Mumbai Mirror, captivated by the Bollywood stars’ colourful love lives.
Functioning by its own fuzzy brand of logic, the brain latched on to the idea that inner peace will be found in India’s most problematic conflict zone.
Spirit of the Valley
On the first day, our correspondent took his friend Khalida Jan and me to meet a pir. Both were ardently devoted to Pir Mohiddin, who had a fan following for his ability to control djinns. Yep, djinns. Stars of Arabic folklore.
Allah’s creations with free will. Made of smokeless flame or ‘scorched fire’, according to the Quran. Even Kashmir’s Chief Minister is said to have paid flying visits to his home in Badgam (a half hour drive from Srinagar) deep in the night.
We drove there and parked the car in the woods. Walking half a kilometre in the pitch dark through the forest and rice fields added to the atmosphere greatly.
The compact-sized Pir Mohiddin, or Pir Sahab as he is fondly known, welcomed us warmly with a ‘Salaam-Walekum’. With a salt-and-pepper beard, the youthful pir occupied a raised seat in the middle of a bare carpeted room where he held court.
As he chatted with my friends in Kashmiri, I’m embarrassed to admit that I fell asleep sitting up. The long, early morning flight had done its damage. For the nausea, he gave me some misri after reading some mantras. Within ten minutes, the nausea subsided.
Perhaps it was the sugar rush, I thought. After the session, he got up and went to the bathroom. A few minutes later, he was carried out by Anil and his family members since he had fainted in there.
As they covered him up, I noticed that he had blood-stained cheeks and before I could inquire further, Khalida and me were herded out of the room with great urgency.
Djinn alert
As we were leaving, lights started going on and off, doors slammed and a sound like a cat being tortured pierced the air. Khalida bumped into me, shaking from the eerie experience.
As we drove, the dogs started barking wildly at the car and couldn’t run fast enough in the opposite direction. Apparently, dogs can sense the presence of the djinns. Later, my friends explained that the djinns wanted to claim Pir Sahab for their own world when he was spent.
There was no saying how long he could be locked up in that room, it could be 10 minutes or two days. A borderless world. We could learn a thing or two from the djinns.
A coping mechanism?
The second session saw a number of people in Pir Sahab’s house waiting to seek his blessings. A lady who kept grunting deeply at regular intervals complained that she would find herself suddenly gasping for breath and felt that someone was sitting on her chest.
Apparently, she was possessed. Pir Sahab gave her a taaveez, more of the misri and chits of paper with scribbled mantras that she was to burn every day.
Another man had a unique problem. Apparently, two paris were in love with him and were causing harm to his wife.
Pir Sahab dealt with the problems with patience and humour. Later he joked with me, “Kashmiri log fizul ki baatien bahot karte hain.”
While it was amusing, perhaps this was just a way for people to cope. The valley’s status update never veered from’Problematic’, so maybe we have become desensitized to the violence reported in the news.
People who visited Pir Sahab said their children had trouble concentrating, the business wasn’t doing well, etc. Can we even begin to understand what families living with violence on a daily basis go through?
As time passed, Pir Sahab had another dizzy spell. When we walked out, a shower of pebbles was pelted at us. The front yard was empty.
Spot the signs
Maybe it was the spell of the sessions with Pir Sahab, but the quest for other signs of spiritual life actually led this agnostic to a temple.
The Vaishno Devi idol was stationed in the Kheerbhawani Temple before its move to greater heights.
People believed that the spring water around the current idol changed colour according to the status of peace/ violence in the valley.
In darker times, the water turned black and no matter how much milk the priests poured in, it stayed black. Right now, it was a reassuring milky blue.
A trip to the stunning Sonmarg and onwards to Dras revealed a different vista at every turn. The beauty was overpowering, and even the mountains have a different vibe.
While ascending to Dras on what can be loosely called a road, we could see the Amarnath yatri camps below at Balthan. People who took shortcuts flew via helicopters that looked like toys from that height.
All the way, the military presence in such a stunning place was jarring. Every place has its own personality, and Kashmir’s was weighty. The landscape is too perfect, it almost makes you spiritual.
So is there any truth then in the belief that the most beautiful places are fatefully cursed?
Djinn policies
The third time, Pir Sahab astonished me with an answer to a personal question, by divining details I hadn’t shared. Then, in broken Hindi, he told me how he became a pir. “I was an illiterate man. At one point, I fell into a deep fever for a month. Allah’s angels taught me everything I needed to know. When I woke up, I had the knowledge and I could read and write.” With ten years of ‘ibaadat’ under his belt, Pir Sahab’s presence had a soothing effect. Believer or not, the positivity was an undeniable force.
So what did the djinns looks like? What is the life purpose of the djinns? Did they live forever? How does the djinn economy function? Could he show me a djinn? My friend buried his head in his hands, at my expectation of the pir turning a party trick. Pir Sahab smiled, “Djinns travel to and fro, and they are present all over the world. There are good djinns and bad djinns. Djinns are scary at first to look at, but it’s a question of getting used to something. The oldest djinn is about 3500 years old, but he looks like a little baccha - he’s so tiny. They live for around 4000-odd years and then die.”
Pir Sahab promises to show me one. When the day arrived, unfortunately he fainted at midnight, with blood streaming from his eyes. Till the next morning, he was yet to leave his room.
Tax evasion worth $134 million in Jammu & #Kashmir #Scrap370 #India
RTI group Sangrash on Saturday filed a writ petition in the state High Court over the the RTI on the Rs 600 crore tax evasion in Jammu and Kashmir.
The petition has been treated as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and a division bench will hear the case on July 20.
An RTI query which was revealed on Friday stated that just in the last 10 years, over Rs 600 crores of taxes have been evaded. Many defaulters are the rich and the powerful.
Maulvi Iftikar Ansari, Senior PDP leader who runs Ansari Motors owes Rs 18 Crores, Shaurya Motors owned by son of Janak Raj Gupta, a Congress leader owes Rs 26 Lakh and Powergrid & BSNL are other leading defaulters. Powergrid owes Rs 50 Crores and BSNL owes Rs 25 Crores. While BSNL says that Sales Tax case is pending in the court, powergrid did not responded.
Money, which should have been spent in Jammu and Kashmir, is stacked somewhere else.
Son of PDP leader Iftikar Ansari, Imran Ansari says, “We have paid Rs 9 crores and if political linkages are kept aside, it is the dept which will owe us money.”
The RTI had also listed Chief minister Omar Abdullah's political advisor Devinder Rana as a defaulter. With his company Jamkash owing Rs 45 lakhs since 2006. But in a quick response to the RTI, on July 14, 2011 Jamkash obtained a tax clearance certificate from sales tax department.
There is a list of defaulters, who cross the Rs 10 lakh mark but the list does give a sense of how during the years of militancy, tax evasion became lucrative for the rich and the might.
The petition has been treated as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and a division bench will hear the case on July 20.
An RTI query which was revealed on Friday stated that just in the last 10 years, over Rs 600 crores of taxes have been evaded. Many defaulters are the rich and the powerful.
Maulvi Iftikar Ansari, Senior PDP leader who runs Ansari Motors owes Rs 18 Crores, Shaurya Motors owned by son of Janak Raj Gupta, a Congress leader owes Rs 26 Lakh and Powergrid & BSNL are other leading defaulters. Powergrid owes Rs 50 Crores and BSNL owes Rs 25 Crores. While BSNL says that Sales Tax case is pending in the court, powergrid did not responded.
Money, which should have been spent in Jammu and Kashmir, is stacked somewhere else.
Son of PDP leader Iftikar Ansari, Imran Ansari says, “We have paid Rs 9 crores and if political linkages are kept aside, it is the dept which will owe us money.”
The RTI had also listed Chief minister Omar Abdullah's political advisor Devinder Rana as a defaulter. With his company Jamkash owing Rs 45 lakhs since 2006. But in a quick response to the RTI, on July 14, 2011 Jamkash obtained a tax clearance certificate from sales tax department.
There is a list of defaulters, who cross the Rs 10 lakh mark but the list does give a sense of how during the years of militancy, tax evasion became lucrative for the rich and the might.
Video: Huge victory against Islamic terrorism for #India's security forces in #Kashmir #Scrap370
Number of dreaded terrorist leaders of pakistan-based & funded terrorist organization killed by India's security forces in its war against terrorism
#Pakistan-based terrorist organisation LeT suffers major blow in #Kashmir; top commanders killed #India #Scrap370
War on terror has entered into a crucial phase after the army wiped-out almost entire top Pakistani leadership of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in volatile north Kashmir.
Five top commanders of LeT and Jaish-e-Mohommad were killed by a joint team of army and police in a fierce gun battle that started on Thursday evening and ended on Friday night when security forces blasted off the house in which the ultras were hiding at Dar Moholla in Maidanpora area of Lolaab valley. A soldier was also killed in the gun battle
The slain terrorists have been identified as Saqib alias Sohail of Kasur in Pakistan, divisional commander of LeT for North Kashmir, Hamad alias Haneef alias Alfa Islam, divisional commander for Kupwara, hailing from Abbottabad in Pakistan, the place where al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by US navy seals.
Others were identified as Qari Saifullah, divisional commander central Kashmir, Chotta Saad, battalion commander of LeT and Umair alias Hafiz, battalion commander, of Jaish-e-Mohammad.
“While Saqib was the backbone of Lashkar in Lolaab and was active since 2009, Hamad was one of the most wanted terrorists in North Kashmir and was active since 2008.He was injured in an army operation in December. Qari Saifullah was active in Ganderbal district and Harwan areas of Srinagar”, said Lieutenant Colonel JS Brar, defence spokesman at Srinagar.
Army claimed with the killing of five top commanders, almost entire leadership of Lashkar-e-Taiba has been wiped out at least in Lolaab and Sopore areas of north Kashmir. “This is a major success and has almost wiped out the entire Lashkar leadership in Lolaab and Sopore area,” Lt Col Brar said.
The operation started on Thursday evening when security forces received specific intelligence about the presence of terrorist commanders in a house at Dar Moholla in Maidanpora of Lolaab valley.
Five top commanders of LeT and Jaish-e-Mohommad were killed by a joint team of army and police in a fierce gun battle that started on Thursday evening and ended on Friday night when security forces blasted off the house in which the ultras were hiding at Dar Moholla in Maidanpora area of Lolaab valley. A soldier was also killed in the gun battle
The slain terrorists have been identified as Saqib alias Sohail of Kasur in Pakistan, divisional commander of LeT for North Kashmir, Hamad alias Haneef alias Alfa Islam, divisional commander for Kupwara, hailing from Abbottabad in Pakistan, the place where al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by US navy seals.
Others were identified as Qari Saifullah, divisional commander central Kashmir, Chotta Saad, battalion commander of LeT and Umair alias Hafiz, battalion commander, of Jaish-e-Mohammad.
“While Saqib was the backbone of Lashkar in Lolaab and was active since 2009, Hamad was one of the most wanted terrorists in North Kashmir and was active since 2008.He was injured in an army operation in December. Qari Saifullah was active in Ganderbal district and Harwan areas of Srinagar”, said Lieutenant Colonel JS Brar, defence spokesman at Srinagar.
Army claimed with the killing of five top commanders, almost entire leadership of Lashkar-e-Taiba has been wiped out at least in Lolaab and Sopore areas of north Kashmir. “This is a major success and has almost wiped out the entire Lashkar leadership in Lolaab and Sopore area,” Lt Col Brar said.
The operation started on Thursday evening when security forces received specific intelligence about the presence of terrorist commanders in a house at Dar Moholla in Maidanpora of Lolaab valley.
Sahitya Academy begins translating literature from #Kashmir #Scrap370 #India
In order to disseminate rich anthology of modern Kashmiri poetry in India and the world at large, Sahitya Academy will translate Kashmiri literature in 24 major languages of India, officials of the academy said here today.
Convener, State Advisory Board of Sahitya Academy, Dr Aziz Hajni, Director Information Renzushah, Media Consultant, Farooq Nazki, Secretary Cultural Academy, Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, prominent litterateurs, including Shashi Shanker Toskhani, Dr. Mohammad Zaman Azuruda, Prof. Harash Narang, Brij Nath Behtab, Rukshana Jabeen, Prof. Syed Raja were present on the occasion.
To begin with the Kashmiri literature would be translated in Urdu, Hindi and English languages. Translation in these filter languages, which kick-started today would facilitate translation of anthology of modern Kashmiri poetry in other major languages.
Speaking on the occasion, Hajni said that the workshop aims at sensitizing translators about the methodology to be made use of for ensuring translation of Kashmiri literature aptly and upto the mark.
He said Sahitya Academy plans to complete the process in next six months. The step, he said would expose rich and creative modern Kashmiri poetry to readers at a much broader spectrum, adding the readers world over would be made familiar about the intellectual depth and vision of Kashmiri poets and litterateurs.
Director Information, in his speech appreciated the Sahitya Academy for its initiative to bring rich collections of modern Kashmiri literature on a wider canvas. The project, he said will give exposure to the modern Kashmiri poetry in the entire world. He wished success to the Academy in this pursuit.
Zaffar Iqbal Manhas assured full cooperation of the Cultural Academy in the project. He said Cultural Academy has been always on the forefront in the promotion of different languages of the State including Kashmiri.
Convener, State Advisory Board of Sahitya Academy, Dr Aziz Hajni, Director Information Renzushah, Media Consultant, Farooq Nazki, Secretary Cultural Academy, Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, prominent litterateurs, including Shashi Shanker Toskhani, Dr. Mohammad Zaman Azuruda, Prof. Harash Narang, Brij Nath Behtab, Rukshana Jabeen, Prof. Syed Raja were present on the occasion.
To begin with the Kashmiri literature would be translated in Urdu, Hindi and English languages. Translation in these filter languages, which kick-started today would facilitate translation of anthology of modern Kashmiri poetry in other major languages.
Speaking on the occasion, Hajni said that the workshop aims at sensitizing translators about the methodology to be made use of for ensuring translation of Kashmiri literature aptly and upto the mark.
He said Sahitya Academy plans to complete the process in next six months. The step, he said would expose rich and creative modern Kashmiri poetry to readers at a much broader spectrum, adding the readers world over would be made familiar about the intellectual depth and vision of Kashmiri poets and litterateurs.
Director Information, in his speech appreciated the Sahitya Academy for its initiative to bring rich collections of modern Kashmiri literature on a wider canvas. The project, he said will give exposure to the modern Kashmiri poetry in the entire world. He wished success to the Academy in this pursuit.
Zaffar Iqbal Manhas assured full cooperation of the Cultural Academy in the project. He said Cultural Academy has been always on the forefront in the promotion of different languages of the State including Kashmiri.
Young Kashmiri Pandits should learn from past mistakes #Kashmir #Scrap370 #India
ammu, Jul 4 (PTI) The new generation of Kashmiri Pandits should learn from past mistakes to carry forward their community's struggle for returning to their native place, an organisation representing the community said today."Our youth need to learn from past mistakes and failures. Instead mistakes and failures should be used as important assets to move forward successfully," Panun Kashmir president Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo said at a youth workshop here.Political education and training have a prime place in our life and Panun Kashmir is determined to pass on its legacy to the younger generations, he said."Our struggle for the community's resettlement in Kashmir will be determined on the basis of our geo-political rights and aspirations...," he said."Kashmir belongs to Kashmiri Pandits because we are the indigenous people of Kashmir having a written history of more than five thousand years old," Chrungoo said.The community needs its youth to come forward to take up the challenges of future, he said.In order to keep the issue alive, Panun Kashmir has not allowed any dilution of its core issues despite all odds and obstacles all these two decades of struggle in exile, he said.
Panun #Kashmir Flays Omar’s Tributes To July 13 Victims, Praises Dogra Rule #Scrap370 #India
Srinagar, Jul 13, KONS: Flaying the chief minister and the government for eulogising the martyrs of July 13, the Panun Kashmir, an organisation claiming to speak for the valley’s Pandits, on Wednesday gave a new twist to its campaign for a separate homeland for the community, arguing that Dogra rule had been the only respite it had got from persecution since (the advent of Islam here) in the 14th century.
“It (July 13)was a day when frenzied mobs in Srinagar attacked and looted the shops and houses of Kashmiri, Punjabi and Dogra Hindus,” the Panun Kashmir said about Martyrs’ Day when the then Dogra Maharaja’s troops gunned down over a score of defenceless Kashmiris during protests outside the city’s central jail in 1931.
“The worst mob vandalism against the Kashmiri Pandit community was witnessed in Vicharnag, Maharaj Gunj, and other parts of Kashmir. As many as nine Pandits were done to death in Budgam-Kanikoot where scores of houses were looted, and one member of the community was killed in Vicharnag, one at Gan Khan and one at Maharaj Gunj,” it said.
The outfit said that it had observed the “so-called Martyrs’ Day” as a Black Day to protest the government’s “persistent” efforts to call July 13 as Martyrs’ Day.
“The Kashmiri Pandits who were killed at the hands of frenzied mobs have been left unrecorded and unsung, by the state authorities, while their tormentors are continuously eulogised by the mainstream political parties of the valley,” the outfit quoted its convenor, Dr. Agnishekhar, as having said.
“After a brief lull of 123 years of Dogra rule during which the Pandit community had felt somewhat relieved of the persecution since the 14th century, it had again to face persecution from this day in 1931 till date,” Dr. Agnishekhar was quoted as having said.
“It (July 13)was a day when frenzied mobs in Srinagar attacked and looted the shops and houses of Kashmiri, Punjabi and Dogra Hindus,” the Panun Kashmir said about Martyrs’ Day when the then Dogra Maharaja’s troops gunned down over a score of defenceless Kashmiris during protests outside the city’s central jail in 1931.
“The worst mob vandalism against the Kashmiri Pandit community was witnessed in Vicharnag, Maharaj Gunj, and other parts of Kashmir. As many as nine Pandits were done to death in Budgam-Kanikoot where scores of houses were looted, and one member of the community was killed in Vicharnag, one at Gan Khan and one at Maharaj Gunj,” it said.
The outfit said that it had observed the “so-called Martyrs’ Day” as a Black Day to protest the government’s “persistent” efforts to call July 13 as Martyrs’ Day.
“The Kashmiri Pandits who were killed at the hands of frenzied mobs have been left unrecorded and unsung, by the state authorities, while their tormentors are continuously eulogised by the mainstream political parties of the valley,” the outfit quoted its convenor, Dr. Agnishekhar, as having said.
“After a brief lull of 123 years of Dogra rule during which the Pandit community had felt somewhat relieved of the persecution since the 14th century, it had again to face persecution from this day in 1931 till date,” Dr. Agnishekhar was quoted as having said.
Come home to Jammu & #Kashmir #Scrap370 #India
Last summer's unrest is a distant memory, as tourists flock to the Valley, which now even boasts hospitality of the homestay kind.
As we throw open the windows of our luxurious bedroom and gaze at the shikaras plying serenely on the Dal Lake, it is hard to believe that this used to be a neglected barn in the 1970s.
Or that the Dal was out of bounds just a year ago during Kashmir's summer of unrest.
We are at the Almond Villa, in Srinagar, a rather retro seven-bedroom homestay set on a hilly orchard with a vantage view of the Dal. It's the property of Kashmir's erstwhile Dogra royalty — the family of Dr Karan Singh, former Union minister and the last prince regent of Kashmir. Behind, beyond the beautifully manicured lawn, the villa is backed by mountains uncluttered by human habitation.
The sense of wellbeing heightens when the aroma of plum chutney made in the kitchens downstairs wafts through — the previous evening we had stuffed ourselves silly with peaches, plums and mulberries from the orchards. Gazing at the placid lake, backed by lovely mountains, the lines of Browning flash through: The hillside's dew pearled; the lark's on the wing; the snail's on the thorn; God's in his Heaven — All's right with the world!
The faint sense of nervousness that one arrived in Srinagar with — after all, there is always a frisson of tension visiting the heaviest militarised zone in the world — has completely vanished. In fact, last evening, we had been surprised by the huge crowds of tourists at the lake. Shrugging aside memories of last year's bloody summer marred by deaths, curfews and strife, tourists are clearly now flocking to Srinagar.
Since January, we are told, the Valley has already got over five lakh tourists, including over 10,000 foreigners.
Anywhere else — Mussoorie, Shimla — you would curse seeing such a melee, but here you cannot help but share in the pleasure of Wahid, our boatman, or Ghulam Nabi Dar, our driver, at receiving so many guests to the valley. After years of being idle, and eking an uneasy existence, the boatmen are eager for pickings, and their good cheer is infectious.
They also lay out all the charm in good measure — as we glided close to the water lily farms on the lake, Wahid laid down his oars, deftly plucked out some lilies and strung them into a garland for us.
It's also reassuring to see the houseboats — which sport incongruous names such as Cheerful Charlie, New Lucifer, Helen of Troy and Merry Dawn — full of guests.
Syed Bashir Ahmad, the manager at the Almond Villa, who was earlier a general manager at the Tourism Department, feels that peace is likely to continue as “people are now fed up”. With separatist leaders such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik all giving declarations that tourist earnings would not be marred by shutdowns, everywhere we go — be it the sightseeing spots or the handicraft shops, there is a hope of a revival in the economy.
Anyway, from our vantage perch at the Almond Villa, which despite having its gates open out on Dal, is completely secluded, we can bask in peace and solitude.
An erudite host
Jyoti Singh, the daughter of Karan Singh, is the epitome of the gracious hostess. Warm, friendly, erudite and full of exciting plans, she's without any of the airs one associates with old royalty. “That's thanks to my father,” she says. Also, she says the years at Lawrence School, Sanawar, which was “a boot camp kind of school”, ensured no creeping in of attitude. A PhD in philosophy, she taught for a bit as well, at Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College — before chucking it all to explore the creative arts.
For Jyoti, whose childhood was spent in Srinagar — she did her early schooling from Presentation Convent — it's been quite a comeback to the native precincts. Wasn't there a sense of resentment — after all, every Kashmiri one meets talks of the betrayal by the erstwhile royals? She claims on the contrary she has met with nothing but tremendous goodwill.
It was in 2004, she says, that she started going back to the Valley. At that time Almond Villa, and its orchards, which her father had gifted her, was with the NCC. “It was always a pretty neglected property — I don't remember anyone apart from an estate agent living there, though it was planned originally as a wine cellar,” she says.
“I came back with a view to do something with the local people — to get back some sense of involvement in the society and reconnect,” she says. So, she started off by working with people such as Sushoba Barve and Rajmohan Gandhi and with women's groups.
“People here have to get out of the sense of victimhood and start feeling empowered,” she observes.
Gradually, the homestay idea happened — more to maintain the house than anything else. Along with her surgeon husband, Pradeep Trehan, and son Viv Chauhan, she restored and modernised the old colonial building — putting in modern bathrooms instead of the old thunderboxes; five of the seven bedrooms are let out to guests.
And why the tie-up with Mahindra? Given that her brothers Ajatshatru and Vikramaditya both manage hotels — the former the Hariniwas Palace Hotel in Jammu and the latter, the Taragarh Palace Hotel in Kangra valley, Himachal Pradesh — couldn't she have drawn on their expertise?
“A homestay is so personalised — I like the concept,” she says promptly. “What I like about the Mahindra arrangement is the flexibility — we can get our own guests as well as through them. Also, if you are part of the Mahindra homestay network, you can actually go and stay in any other homestay in the brand. Imagine the number of places one can visit,” says Jyoti, a dreamy expression on her face.
Even as the villa takes in guests, for Jyoti, it's also the base of her cultural involvement in Srinagar — every year she coordinates from here the Dara Shikoh festival, which strives to acquaint young Kashmiris with their roots. “People don't realise the diversity that Kashmir has — be it the Kishtwad traditions of Jammu or the Pahadi or the eight dialects you find in Kargil, there are so many oral and folk traditions here,” she says.
In between, she's also set in motion a jam-making unit at the homestay, which ties in neatly with the women's social welfare group work. The fresh fruit from the orchard are converted into exotic jams and preserves with the help of 20 girls from the local women's polytechnic.
Of course, Jyoti does not spend all her time in Srinagar — in fact, the villa now runs on its own — and she has her own exciting life in Delhi, pottering away on her wheel creating works of art — though, of late, it is enamel that is her muse.
Charms of Chinar town
Although the Almond Villa is the kind of place from where you don't want to budge, and indeed don't need to — being a complete destination in itself, replete with books et al — our hosts tempt us to take a city tour.
Finally, we relent — more out of curiosity. The last time I had toured the gardens of Srinagar was in 1995 during the height of militancy, accompanied by a convoy of armed guards. It was certainly no picnic then visiting the highly neglected and eerily deserted Mughal gardens and Pari Mahal, watched closely by soldiers.
The contrast between then and now cannot be more heartening. The unkempt gardens are now restored and in full bloom. The soldiers are now inconspicuous, and instead it's the civilians' day out in the sun, with teenagers and school kids gambolling away, getting soaked in the fountains.
We could have stayed forever in the shade of the Chinars, enjoying the splendid gardens, but Ghulam Nabi prodded us to visit a few shrines.
The trip to Jama Masjid, driving past elegant latticed houses, mosques and temples on the banks of the Jhelum, across the quaint old wooden bridges, brings home the magical charm of old-world Srinagar.
But what is pleasing to our eyes seems to be hurting our driver. “These 20 years have pushed our State back by 100 years,” he says bitterly.
As we throw open the windows of our luxurious bedroom and gaze at the shikaras plying serenely on the Dal Lake, it is hard to believe that this used to be a neglected barn in the 1970s.
Or that the Dal was out of bounds just a year ago during Kashmir's summer of unrest.
We are at the Almond Villa, in Srinagar, a rather retro seven-bedroom homestay set on a hilly orchard with a vantage view of the Dal. It's the property of Kashmir's erstwhile Dogra royalty — the family of Dr Karan Singh, former Union minister and the last prince regent of Kashmir. Behind, beyond the beautifully manicured lawn, the villa is backed by mountains uncluttered by human habitation.
The sense of wellbeing heightens when the aroma of plum chutney made in the kitchens downstairs wafts through — the previous evening we had stuffed ourselves silly with peaches, plums and mulberries from the orchards. Gazing at the placid lake, backed by lovely mountains, the lines of Browning flash through: The hillside's dew pearled; the lark's on the wing; the snail's on the thorn; God's in his Heaven — All's right with the world!
The faint sense of nervousness that one arrived in Srinagar with — after all, there is always a frisson of tension visiting the heaviest militarised zone in the world — has completely vanished. In fact, last evening, we had been surprised by the huge crowds of tourists at the lake. Shrugging aside memories of last year's bloody summer marred by deaths, curfews and strife, tourists are clearly now flocking to Srinagar.
Since January, we are told, the Valley has already got over five lakh tourists, including over 10,000 foreigners.
Anywhere else — Mussoorie, Shimla — you would curse seeing such a melee, but here you cannot help but share in the pleasure of Wahid, our boatman, or Ghulam Nabi Dar, our driver, at receiving so many guests to the valley. After years of being idle, and eking an uneasy existence, the boatmen are eager for pickings, and their good cheer is infectious.
They also lay out all the charm in good measure — as we glided close to the water lily farms on the lake, Wahid laid down his oars, deftly plucked out some lilies and strung them into a garland for us.
It's also reassuring to see the houseboats — which sport incongruous names such as Cheerful Charlie, New Lucifer, Helen of Troy and Merry Dawn — full of guests.
Syed Bashir Ahmad, the manager at the Almond Villa, who was earlier a general manager at the Tourism Department, feels that peace is likely to continue as “people are now fed up”. With separatist leaders such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik all giving declarations that tourist earnings would not be marred by shutdowns, everywhere we go — be it the sightseeing spots or the handicraft shops, there is a hope of a revival in the economy.
Anyway, from our vantage perch at the Almond Villa, which despite having its gates open out on Dal, is completely secluded, we can bask in peace and solitude.
An erudite host
Jyoti Singh, the daughter of Karan Singh, is the epitome of the gracious hostess. Warm, friendly, erudite and full of exciting plans, she's without any of the airs one associates with old royalty. “That's thanks to my father,” she says. Also, she says the years at Lawrence School, Sanawar, which was “a boot camp kind of school”, ensured no creeping in of attitude. A PhD in philosophy, she taught for a bit as well, at Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College — before chucking it all to explore the creative arts.
For Jyoti, whose childhood was spent in Srinagar — she did her early schooling from Presentation Convent — it's been quite a comeback to the native precincts. Wasn't there a sense of resentment — after all, every Kashmiri one meets talks of the betrayal by the erstwhile royals? She claims on the contrary she has met with nothing but tremendous goodwill.
It was in 2004, she says, that she started going back to the Valley. At that time Almond Villa, and its orchards, which her father had gifted her, was with the NCC. “It was always a pretty neglected property — I don't remember anyone apart from an estate agent living there, though it was planned originally as a wine cellar,” she says.
“I came back with a view to do something with the local people — to get back some sense of involvement in the society and reconnect,” she says. So, she started off by working with people such as Sushoba Barve and Rajmohan Gandhi and with women's groups.
“People here have to get out of the sense of victimhood and start feeling empowered,” she observes.
Gradually, the homestay idea happened — more to maintain the house than anything else. Along with her surgeon husband, Pradeep Trehan, and son Viv Chauhan, she restored and modernised the old colonial building — putting in modern bathrooms instead of the old thunderboxes; five of the seven bedrooms are let out to guests.
And why the tie-up with Mahindra? Given that her brothers Ajatshatru and Vikramaditya both manage hotels — the former the Hariniwas Palace Hotel in Jammu and the latter, the Taragarh Palace Hotel in Kangra valley, Himachal Pradesh — couldn't she have drawn on their expertise?
“A homestay is so personalised — I like the concept,” she says promptly. “What I like about the Mahindra arrangement is the flexibility — we can get our own guests as well as through them. Also, if you are part of the Mahindra homestay network, you can actually go and stay in any other homestay in the brand. Imagine the number of places one can visit,” says Jyoti, a dreamy expression on her face.
Even as the villa takes in guests, for Jyoti, it's also the base of her cultural involvement in Srinagar — every year she coordinates from here the Dara Shikoh festival, which strives to acquaint young Kashmiris with their roots. “People don't realise the diversity that Kashmir has — be it the Kishtwad traditions of Jammu or the Pahadi or the eight dialects you find in Kargil, there are so many oral and folk traditions here,” she says.
In between, she's also set in motion a jam-making unit at the homestay, which ties in neatly with the women's social welfare group work. The fresh fruit from the orchard are converted into exotic jams and preserves with the help of 20 girls from the local women's polytechnic.
Of course, Jyoti does not spend all her time in Srinagar — in fact, the villa now runs on its own — and she has her own exciting life in Delhi, pottering away on her wheel creating works of art — though, of late, it is enamel that is her muse.
Charms of Chinar town
Although the Almond Villa is the kind of place from where you don't want to budge, and indeed don't need to — being a complete destination in itself, replete with books et al — our hosts tempt us to take a city tour.
Finally, we relent — more out of curiosity. The last time I had toured the gardens of Srinagar was in 1995 during the height of militancy, accompanied by a convoy of armed guards. It was certainly no picnic then visiting the highly neglected and eerily deserted Mughal gardens and Pari Mahal, watched closely by soldiers.
The contrast between then and now cannot be more heartening. The unkempt gardens are now restored and in full bloom. The soldiers are now inconspicuous, and instead it's the civilians' day out in the sun, with teenagers and school kids gambolling away, getting soaked in the fountains.
We could have stayed forever in the shade of the Chinars, enjoying the splendid gardens, but Ghulam Nabi prodded us to visit a few shrines.
The trip to Jama Masjid, driving past elegant latticed houses, mosques and temples on the banks of the Jhelum, across the quaint old wooden bridges, brings home the magical charm of old-world Srinagar.
But what is pleasing to our eyes seems to be hurting our driver. “These 20 years have pushed our State back by 100 years,” he says bitterly.
Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) plans to branch in Jammu & #Kashmir #Scar370 #India
New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) The prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) plans to open a branch in Jammu and Kashmir by next year, said an official Friday.
"We are working on the modalities of setting up IIMC's branch in Jammu and Kashmir. If everything works out, we will have an IIMC branch in Jammu and Kashmir by the next academic session of 2012-13," IIMC director Sunit Tandon told IANS.
Tandon had a meeting with state government officials in Srinagar Thursday.
"I had a meeting with information and broadcasting ministry joint secretary and chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir," said Tandon.
When asked about the location and number of seats in the proposed institute, Tandon said: "It is too early to say anything about that as we are still discussing this. There will be discussions between both the central and state governments."
The institute, which currently has branches in New Delhi and Dhenkanal in Orissa, was set up in 1965 on the recommendation of a team of internationally known mass communication specialists from Unesco and the Ford Foundation.
"We are working on the modalities of setting up IIMC's branch in Jammu and Kashmir. If everything works out, we will have an IIMC branch in Jammu and Kashmir by the next academic session of 2012-13," IIMC director Sunit Tandon told IANS.
Tandon had a meeting with state government officials in Srinagar Thursday.
"I had a meeting with information and broadcasting ministry joint secretary and chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir," said Tandon.
When asked about the location and number of seats in the proposed institute, Tandon said: "It is too early to say anything about that as we are still discussing this. There will be discussions between both the central and state governments."
The institute, which currently has branches in New Delhi and Dhenkanal in Orissa, was set up in 1965 on the recommendation of a team of internationally known mass communication specialists from Unesco and the Ford Foundation.
"#India has weathered great number of attacks over years by Muslims motivated by perceived occupation of Jammu & #Kashmir" #Scrap370
India has weathered a great number of attacks over the years by Muslims motivated by the perceived occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, and India has decided that the value of holding onto their territory exceeds the cost that the terrorists are incurring in India.
Look beyond LoC #Kashmir #Scrap370 #India
While we routinely claim that the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India on October 26, 1947, and is now an integral part of the Indian Union, both in terms of national and international laws, we take little interest in what is happening in the vast area which has been in illegal occupation of Pakistan.
The elections on June 26, held in a part of that area for its Legislative Assembly, for example, went practically unnoticed in our media. The strategic importance of this area is immense and China, with the collaboration of Pakistan, has been making extensive inroads into it.
We call the area in question Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). On the other side of the Line of Control, it is known as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”, with the fiction of sovereignty woven around it: Its name is not even mentioned in the Constitution of Pakistan, nor does it have any representation in the Pakistan National Assembly or senate.
The area of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” is about 78,114 sq. km., which is roughly one-third of the total area (222,236 sq. km.) of the erstwhile princely state. Of this, about 85 per cent constitutes the two main regions of Gilgit and Baltistan and three smaller territories of Hunza, Nagar and Punial.
These regions/territories, grouped together and separated from “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”, have been designated as the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Fana).
The area that remains as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” is only 15 per cent of the total area occupied by Pakistan and it is in this area that elections to the 49-member Legislative Assembly were held in June. The attempt of Pakistan has all along been to present this area to the world as a “quasi-sovereign” entity with a democratic set-up. But stark facts stand in the way of this attempt.
“Azad Jammu and Kashmir” is governed by its interim Constitution of 1974 which has quite a few trappings of sovereignty. Apart from its law-making Legislative Assembly, it has a Supreme Court and an Election Commission.
Its head of government and constitutional head are called Prime Minister and President respectively. But all these trappings have little meaning — in reality, the area is run as a fiefdom of the federal government of Pakistan.
According to the provisions of the aforesaid Constitution itself, there is an “Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council” of which the Prime Minister of Pakistan is the chairman and the federal minister for Kashmir affairs its secretary.
The Prime Minister of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” is merely its vice-chairman. The council has 11 other members of whom five are members of federal Parliament. This is an all-powerful body with as many as 52 legislative items under its jurisdiction.
The council has the sole power to declare emergency and dissolve the Legislative Assembly and its decisions cannot be challenged in the Supreme Court of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”.
Its vast jurisdiction and extensive powers leave hardly anything to the government of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”. Even appointments to all key posts — chief secretary, finance secretary and inspector-general of police among others — are made by the federal government. No wonder the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees has reckoned the area as “not free”.
The northern areas are in a much worse position. Till 2009, they did not even have a semblance of a representative body and were directly administered by the federal government through a joint-secretary of the ministry of defence.
A sizeable demographic change was also brought about by settling a large number of Pathans and Punjabi Sunni Muslims in these areas which earlier had an overwhelming majority of Shia and Ismaili population.
All this caused acute resentment amongst the people. A number of public agitations, including violent ones, followed. The Pakistan government relented. To assuage the anger, it issued an ordinance, notified as the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009.
Under this order, to preserve the local identity, the northern areas were renamed Gilgit-Baltistan. The order also provides for an elected Legislative Assembly and a governor and chief minister.
What is significant is that the entire area, which legally belongs to India, has been formally incorporated in Pakistan. The feeble protests made by the Government of India and political parties of Jammu and Kashmir and of Azad Jammu and Kashmir were ignored by Pakistan. Earlier in 1963, Pakistan had virtually ceded 5,180 sq. km. area to China, in addition to about 37,555 sq. km. which was already in its possession.
India has paid dearly for not paying serious attention to the developments on the other side of Line of Control. During the last 20 years, both the “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” area and Gilgit-Baltistan region have caused grave problems. The former became an active centre for cross-border terrorism, and the latter served as an avenue of intrusion into Kargil, which resulted in the Kargil War of 1999.
What should be a matter of special concern to India right now is that the Pakistan-China axis is sowing seeds for future trouble in the region. Of late, Pakistan has been giving de facto control of a vast chunk of Gilgit-Baltistan area to China for building rail and road links between Eastern China and Pakistani port cum naval bases at Gwadar, Pasni and Ormara.
With the completion of these projects, China would be able to transport its goods for exports to and imports from the Gulf countries in two days instead of the present period of 22 days. The Karakoram Highway is also being extended and strengthened to provide an effective link between Sinkiang province of China and Pakistan.
All this is bound to establish stronger strategic and economic bonds between Pakistan and China. Both may join hands to cause more difficulties for India with regard to the Kashmir issue and also for the United States vis-à-vis its interests in Afghanistan.
Already, about 10,000 soldiers of the Peoples’ Liberation Army are working in Gilgit-Baltistan on road, rail, irrigation and other development projects.
It is time India started taking a closer look at the events on the other side of Line of Control and evolved an effective strategy to counter their adverse fall-outs.
The author is a former governor of J&K and a former Union minister
The elections on June 26, held in a part of that area for its Legislative Assembly, for example, went practically unnoticed in our media. The strategic importance of this area is immense and China, with the collaboration of Pakistan, has been making extensive inroads into it.
We call the area in question Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). On the other side of the Line of Control, it is known as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”, with the fiction of sovereignty woven around it: Its name is not even mentioned in the Constitution of Pakistan, nor does it have any representation in the Pakistan National Assembly or senate.
The area of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” is about 78,114 sq. km., which is roughly one-third of the total area (222,236 sq. km.) of the erstwhile princely state. Of this, about 85 per cent constitutes the two main regions of Gilgit and Baltistan and three smaller territories of Hunza, Nagar and Punial.
These regions/territories, grouped together and separated from “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”, have been designated as the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Fana).
The area that remains as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” is only 15 per cent of the total area occupied by Pakistan and it is in this area that elections to the 49-member Legislative Assembly were held in June. The attempt of Pakistan has all along been to present this area to the world as a “quasi-sovereign” entity with a democratic set-up. But stark facts stand in the way of this attempt.
“Azad Jammu and Kashmir” is governed by its interim Constitution of 1974 which has quite a few trappings of sovereignty. Apart from its law-making Legislative Assembly, it has a Supreme Court and an Election Commission.
Its head of government and constitutional head are called Prime Minister and President respectively. But all these trappings have little meaning — in reality, the area is run as a fiefdom of the federal government of Pakistan.
According to the provisions of the aforesaid Constitution itself, there is an “Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council” of which the Prime Minister of Pakistan is the chairman and the federal minister for Kashmir affairs its secretary.
The Prime Minister of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” is merely its vice-chairman. The council has 11 other members of whom five are members of federal Parliament. This is an all-powerful body with as many as 52 legislative items under its jurisdiction.
The council has the sole power to declare emergency and dissolve the Legislative Assembly and its decisions cannot be challenged in the Supreme Court of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”.
Its vast jurisdiction and extensive powers leave hardly anything to the government of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”. Even appointments to all key posts — chief secretary, finance secretary and inspector-general of police among others — are made by the federal government. No wonder the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees has reckoned the area as “not free”.
The northern areas are in a much worse position. Till 2009, they did not even have a semblance of a representative body and were directly administered by the federal government through a joint-secretary of the ministry of defence.
A sizeable demographic change was also brought about by settling a large number of Pathans and Punjabi Sunni Muslims in these areas which earlier had an overwhelming majority of Shia and Ismaili population.
All this caused acute resentment amongst the people. A number of public agitations, including violent ones, followed. The Pakistan government relented. To assuage the anger, it issued an ordinance, notified as the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009.
Under this order, to preserve the local identity, the northern areas were renamed Gilgit-Baltistan. The order also provides for an elected Legislative Assembly and a governor and chief minister.
What is significant is that the entire area, which legally belongs to India, has been formally incorporated in Pakistan. The feeble protests made by the Government of India and political parties of Jammu and Kashmir and of Azad Jammu and Kashmir were ignored by Pakistan. Earlier in 1963, Pakistan had virtually ceded 5,180 sq. km. area to China, in addition to about 37,555 sq. km. which was already in its possession.
India has paid dearly for not paying serious attention to the developments on the other side of Line of Control. During the last 20 years, both the “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” area and Gilgit-Baltistan region have caused grave problems. The former became an active centre for cross-border terrorism, and the latter served as an avenue of intrusion into Kargil, which resulted in the Kargil War of 1999.
What should be a matter of special concern to India right now is that the Pakistan-China axis is sowing seeds for future trouble in the region. Of late, Pakistan has been giving de facto control of a vast chunk of Gilgit-Baltistan area to China for building rail and road links between Eastern China and Pakistani port cum naval bases at Gwadar, Pasni and Ormara.
With the completion of these projects, China would be able to transport its goods for exports to and imports from the Gulf countries in two days instead of the present period of 22 days. The Karakoram Highway is also being extended and strengthened to provide an effective link between Sinkiang province of China and Pakistan.
All this is bound to establish stronger strategic and economic bonds between Pakistan and China. Both may join hands to cause more difficulties for India with regard to the Kashmir issue and also for the United States vis-à-vis its interests in Afghanistan.
Already, about 10,000 soldiers of the Peoples’ Liberation Army are working in Gilgit-Baltistan on road, rail, irrigation and other development projects.
It is time India started taking a closer look at the events on the other side of Line of Control and evolved an effective strategy to counter their adverse fall-outs.
The author is a former governor of J&K and a former Union minister
Islamic Terrorists in #Kashmir take woman hostage #Terrorism #Scrap370 #India
Security forces in Jammu & Kashmir have surrounded a house in Kupwara district where they say a woman is being held hostage by terrorists.
Large numbers of soldiers and policemen were deployed and the area around the house in Maidanpur village was cordoned off, an army spokesman said.
Up to five terrorists were in the house, Lt-Col JS Brar told the BBC.
Kashmir, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan, has recently seen a drop in violence.
Thousands of people have been killed in the region since an armed rebellion instigated by the pakistan Army, as part of its strategy to bleed India with a thousand cuts using Islamic terrorists, against Indian rule erupted in 1989.
The operation in Kupwara was launched early on Friday morning after the army received information that some terrorists were holding a meeting in the house, Lt-Col JS Brar said.
Reports said intermittent firing could be heard from the area and that residents had been asked to leave.
Large numbers of soldiers and policemen were deployed and the area around the house in Maidanpur village was cordoned off, an army spokesman said.
Up to five terrorists were in the house, Lt-Col JS Brar told the BBC.
Kashmir, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan, has recently seen a drop in violence.
Thousands of people have been killed in the region since an armed rebellion instigated by the pakistan Army, as part of its strategy to bleed India with a thousand cuts using Islamic terrorists, against Indian rule erupted in 1989.
The operation in Kupwara was launched early on Friday morning after the army received information that some terrorists were holding a meeting in the house, Lt-Col JS Brar said.
Reports said intermittent firing could be heard from the area and that residents had been asked to leave.
What every native Jihadi in #Kashmir should know #Scrap370 #India
Way back in 2005, the Strategic Foresight Group, a Mumbai-based think tank, published a thin book titled ‘The Final Settlement -- Restructuring India Pakistan Relations.”
After a detailed examination and analysis of the relationship between the two nations, it concluded that 'in order to prevent a conflict between Punjab and Sindh, and to prevent a possible secession of Sindh and Balochistan, Pakistan needs physical control over the Chenab catchment region in Jammu and Kashmir. It needs sites to build dams, to store, divert and regulate water flows. It also needs additional fertile land. Jammu and Kashmir is a source of Pakistan's water and food security. It is a real estate dispute for strategic reasons.’
Pakistan’s concerns stem from the fact that the headwaters of the Indus River System, which provide almost all of Pakistan’s water, are in Kashmir.
In other words, India could, if it wanted, turn Pakistan into a desert by either damming or diverting the rivers that flow into Pakistan. But despite numerous provocations, it hasn’t.
The Eastern rivers of this system comprise the Sutlej, the Beas, and the Ravi. The western rivers are the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab.
In September 1960, after prolonged and acrimonious negotiations, Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ayub Khan signed the Indus Waters Treaty.
Brokered by the World Bank (or the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as it was then known), this treaty gave the waters of the Western rivers to Pakistan, while the eastern rivers stayed with India. India was barred from undertaking any activity on the western rivers which could impact their flow into Pakistan. But it did allow India to construct run-of- the-river power projects, with limited reservoir capacity.
India is thus literally between a rock and a hard place when it comes to hydel projects in J&K. If it adheres to the treaty, then it compromises development in J&K. And if it builds hydro-electric dams, it risks facing rebukes and more from Pakistan.
Despite that, that treaty weathered two full fledged wars (1965 and 1971) over Kashmir, and the war in Kargil. It survived heinous acts of terrorism against India plotted and orchestrated from Pakistan.
But all that is cold comfort to Pakistan, which keeps accusing India of attempts to violate the pact, and warns of war --including a nuclear attack.
After the release of
The Final Settlement
, I had written an article arguing that we should leverage this natural advantage. After all, all’s fair in love and war. Why should moral and ethical issues be constraints against a neighbour which obviously has none?
Of course, damming or diverting not one, but three rivers, is near impossible. But until then, what can be done is to ensure that every jihadi, every Pakistani, knows that Kashmir is not about religion, but about Pakistan’s deep insecurity over water. That they have been conned for over 60 years by their leaders into believing that Kashmir was a religious issue.
Apart from the constant refrain that India is stealing its waters, some rabid but popular Pakistani analysts like Zaid Hamid even accused India of engineering the floods that devastated the country in 2010. NASA’s satellite images clearly showed that the floods were caused by unusually heavy monsoons potentially caused by the La Nina effect.
Last week, the Strategic Foresight Group released another booklet, titled The Indus Equation, which is perhaps one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted on the water issue between India and Pakistan.
According to Gitanjali Bakshi, the author of the report, “Pakistani militant groups as well as right-wing newspapers are constantly using ‘water’ in their flamboyant displays of saber rattling. On March 2nd, 2011, chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s political wing Prof. Abdul Rahman Makki said that Pakistanis would have to be ready for every kind of sacrifice in order to end the Indian control over water (Daily Pak). The Editor-in-Chief of right wing Urdu newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt, Majid Nizami, says on a regular basis that Pakistan should use its nuclear arsenal to destroy Indian dams that bloc the flow of water into Pakistan.”
But these speeches, she says, are not based on fact: “India has given up close to 80% of the Indus Waters in the 1960 treaty; it is well below the storage capacity permitted on the Western Rivers under the IWT and it has only built run-of the-river dams which it is permitted to do – a fact conceded to by former Pakistani Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah.”
As for India using water as a weapon, she says: “The findings in the report hold a contrary viewpoint. Pakistan and the international community should realize that India is not blocking the flow of these rivers nor does it intend to release floodwaters to drown Pakistan and the past 50 years of ‘water neutrality’ should elucidate this fact. All this argument over water is not only leading to a security threat but it is a waste of time, effort and money. The IWT is designed to handle technical and legal disputes over the Western Rivers. Let’s leave this negotiation and arbitration to the experts.”
“Political talks,” she believes, “should include issues like terrorism that do not enjoy common and legally-bound agreements and if there are talks on water they should be about the real challenges of tomorrow –
Climate Change, Water Distribution and Demand Management. Of course these terms don’t raise as many eyebrows as ‘water wars’, but this is where the true solution to tackling water problems lie – clear and efficient resource management.”
According to The Indus Equation, “Pakistan’s water situation is not simply predicated on water flows from India. The low supply of water in Pakistan is largely due to water conveyance losses, poor infrastructure, increasing desalination, water pollution and climate change. ...Even climate change and the retreating Himalayan glaciers have contributed to the water crisis in Pakistan. Often times India is blamed for all of these factors. It is true that the majority of Pakistan’s water resources flow from India, however, India has no control over Pakistan’s internal mismanagement of water resources or climatic conditions.”
The report also concludes that Pakistan’s ‘water anxieties’ are based more on emotion than on fact. There are very few countries in the world that enjoy Transboundary Water Treaties with their ‘upper riparians’ and the Indus Water Treaty is considered by all standards as one of the most successful and ideal international arrangements.
According to sources, the petition on the Kishanganga Dam on the Jhelum, which Pakistan asserts violates the Indus Water Treaty, might be heard at UN International Court of Arbitration towards the end of July. No doubt this will invite more sabre rattling on the issue of water and false accusations about Indian ‘water aggression’.
“At that time, hopefully, this report and articles like yours will provide a voice of reason, and help clarify some of the misconceptions that Pakistanis and even Indians have about Indo-Pak water issues,” says Gitanjali.
Until then, India has to understand that all the power in the world is no good unless you are prepared to use it.
After a detailed examination and analysis of the relationship between the two nations, it concluded that 'in order to prevent a conflict between Punjab and Sindh, and to prevent a possible secession of Sindh and Balochistan, Pakistan needs physical control over the Chenab catchment region in Jammu and Kashmir. It needs sites to build dams, to store, divert and regulate water flows. It also needs additional fertile land. Jammu and Kashmir is a source of Pakistan's water and food security. It is a real estate dispute for strategic reasons.’
Pakistan’s concerns stem from the fact that the headwaters of the Indus River System, which provide almost all of Pakistan’s water, are in Kashmir.
In other words, India could, if it wanted, turn Pakistan into a desert by either damming or diverting the rivers that flow into Pakistan. But despite numerous provocations, it hasn’t.
The Eastern rivers of this system comprise the Sutlej, the Beas, and the Ravi. The western rivers are the Indus, the Jhelum and the Chenab.
In September 1960, after prolonged and acrimonious negotiations, Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ayub Khan signed the Indus Waters Treaty.
Brokered by the World Bank (or the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as it was then known), this treaty gave the waters of the Western rivers to Pakistan, while the eastern rivers stayed with India. India was barred from undertaking any activity on the western rivers which could impact their flow into Pakistan. But it did allow India to construct run-of- the-river power projects, with limited reservoir capacity.
India is thus literally between a rock and a hard place when it comes to hydel projects in J&K. If it adheres to the treaty, then it compromises development in J&K. And if it builds hydro-electric dams, it risks facing rebukes and more from Pakistan.
Despite that, that treaty weathered two full fledged wars (1965 and 1971) over Kashmir, and the war in Kargil. It survived heinous acts of terrorism against India plotted and orchestrated from Pakistan.
But all that is cold comfort to Pakistan, which keeps accusing India of attempts to violate the pact, and warns of war --including a nuclear attack.
After the release of
The Final Settlement
, I had written an article arguing that we should leverage this natural advantage. After all, all’s fair in love and war. Why should moral and ethical issues be constraints against a neighbour which obviously has none?
Of course, damming or diverting not one, but three rivers, is near impossible. But until then, what can be done is to ensure that every jihadi, every Pakistani, knows that Kashmir is not about religion, but about Pakistan’s deep insecurity over water. That they have been conned for over 60 years by their leaders into believing that Kashmir was a religious issue.
Apart from the constant refrain that India is stealing its waters, some rabid but popular Pakistani analysts like Zaid Hamid even accused India of engineering the floods that devastated the country in 2010. NASA’s satellite images clearly showed that the floods were caused by unusually heavy monsoons potentially caused by the La Nina effect.
Last week, the Strategic Foresight Group released another booklet, titled The Indus Equation, which is perhaps one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted on the water issue between India and Pakistan.
According to Gitanjali Bakshi, the author of the report, “Pakistani militant groups as well as right-wing newspapers are constantly using ‘water’ in their flamboyant displays of saber rattling. On March 2nd, 2011, chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s political wing Prof. Abdul Rahman Makki said that Pakistanis would have to be ready for every kind of sacrifice in order to end the Indian control over water (Daily Pak). The Editor-in-Chief of right wing Urdu newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt, Majid Nizami, says on a regular basis that Pakistan should use its nuclear arsenal to destroy Indian dams that bloc the flow of water into Pakistan.”
But these speeches, she says, are not based on fact: “India has given up close to 80% of the Indus Waters in the 1960 treaty; it is well below the storage capacity permitted on the Western Rivers under the IWT and it has only built run-of the-river dams which it is permitted to do – a fact conceded to by former Pakistani Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah.”
As for India using water as a weapon, she says: “The findings in the report hold a contrary viewpoint. Pakistan and the international community should realize that India is not blocking the flow of these rivers nor does it intend to release floodwaters to drown Pakistan and the past 50 years of ‘water neutrality’ should elucidate this fact. All this argument over water is not only leading to a security threat but it is a waste of time, effort and money. The IWT is designed to handle technical and legal disputes over the Western Rivers. Let’s leave this negotiation and arbitration to the experts.”
“Political talks,” she believes, “should include issues like terrorism that do not enjoy common and legally-bound agreements and if there are talks on water they should be about the real challenges of tomorrow –
Climate Change, Water Distribution and Demand Management. Of course these terms don’t raise as many eyebrows as ‘water wars’, but this is where the true solution to tackling water problems lie – clear and efficient resource management.”
According to The Indus Equation, “Pakistan’s water situation is not simply predicated on water flows from India. The low supply of water in Pakistan is largely due to water conveyance losses, poor infrastructure, increasing desalination, water pollution and climate change. ...Even climate change and the retreating Himalayan glaciers have contributed to the water crisis in Pakistan. Often times India is blamed for all of these factors. It is true that the majority of Pakistan’s water resources flow from India, however, India has no control over Pakistan’s internal mismanagement of water resources or climatic conditions.”
The report also concludes that Pakistan’s ‘water anxieties’ are based more on emotion than on fact. There are very few countries in the world that enjoy Transboundary Water Treaties with their ‘upper riparians’ and the Indus Water Treaty is considered by all standards as one of the most successful and ideal international arrangements.
According to sources, the petition on the Kishanganga Dam on the Jhelum, which Pakistan asserts violates the Indus Water Treaty, might be heard at UN International Court of Arbitration towards the end of July. No doubt this will invite more sabre rattling on the issue of water and false accusations about Indian ‘water aggression’.
“At that time, hopefully, this report and articles like yours will provide a voice of reason, and help clarify some of the misconceptions that Pakistanis and even Indians have about Indo-Pak water issues,” says Gitanjali.
Until then, India has to understand that all the power in the world is no good unless you are prepared to use it.
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