Raahat upholding hospitality of Kashmir, set up langar at Qazigund for truckers on national highway
Younus Rashid
Following heavy snowfall, and recent damage to the road at Kela Morh in Ramban has led to hundreds of truckers and tourists stranded on Srinagar Jammu national highway. Truck drivers are stranded from past 10days and as mercury dips to -8°c in Qazigund, they are left to God’s mercy. Hundreds of trucks are lined up on highway from checkpoint Levdoura Qazigund, day by day their miseries go up as no facility is being provided to them. Non-availability of drinking water, public convenience has added fuel to the anguished driver stranded here in Qazigund. No one from the administration has visited us except yesterday when they came with a dry kit of ration but, where will we go in this snow-clad area to get drinking water toilet alongside the highway is nowhere available, said a stranded driver.
Observing difficulties of stranded drivers a young group of guys have set up a community kitchen at Badragund (Daulatabad) in Qazigund area to at least help these drivers by providing them free of cost meals.
Lunch and dinner are being served, a young volunteer knocks at the window of truck asks the driver ‘ustad Ji free langar haa, bartan niklo and laylo dal chawal’ these words go on repeating at every single window of the truck, and likewise, drivers come and take a cooked food in their utensils and move back to the respective vehicle.
A youth committee under the banner of Raahat A Ray of Hope is reaching out to them with two-time meals -lunch and dinner in Qazigund. The young volunteers of Raahat are tirelessly working from dawn to dusk by preparing and distributing meals among the stranded truckers.
The food is catered via private cabs and served to passengers, spread across the area, in disposable packets as well. On the 3rd consecutive day, tourists and truckers are being served who are stranded on the Kashmir side of the tunnel. These young boys were seen busy in the distribution of dinner despite bone-chilling cold when the sun goes down and the temperature dips to minus.
A young volunteer Asrar Rayees says, he is pleased to do such work. There is no real pleasure than to reach out to stranded people with whatever possible is from our side, we are known for hospitality so we must keep it continue, Asrar added.
We are very much thankful to all these people who come to us with meals and other things, we never feel any kind of hindrance here, they are loving people, said a driver from Haryana state.
Restoration of Srinagar Jammu national highways will take few more day till then we are here to help them (drivers), we will continue this langar (community kitchen) until the highway is not restored, says Khan Lalee the chairman of Team Raahat.
News Kashmir Exclusive The travel along the 255-km so-called all-weather Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, which connects Kashmir with the rest of the country, has since long time become a nightmarish and horrible experience for people especially in the winter months despite constructions of tunnels .Pertinent to mention here, Notably, tunnels, such as the Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel and the Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel have reduced the distance between Jammu and Srinagar (formerly 295 km) by about 40 km .The Banihal to Ramban sector is still proving to be uphill challenge with often closures in winter . The heavy snowfall at the start of this year has mean that in the month of January 2021 national highway has hardly remained open for traffic . The closure of highway has given much difficulty to the commuters and drivers plying on this road. The collapse of bridge near Ramban caused big obstacle .Jammu-Srinagar National Highway shall remain closed due to sudden collapse of retaining wall of a bridge near Kela Morh, Ramban on January 10 at 6:20 pm. Repairing by concrete filling and settling of the concrete for making it motorable may take approximately 10 days as per project director NHAI,” the Traffic advisory said .Highway closure of this nature leads to inflation .The much long nature of closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway has now started affecting the smooth delivery of supplies to the Valley. The markets are already witnessing inflation in form of sky-rocketing of prices especially that of basic food items and vegetables. On average, every day, around 1,200 trucks and as many tankers, besides 1,000 vehicles ferrying passengers, ply on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. There are also over 500 vehicles of government forces on the road on a routine day. Nearly 7,000 vehicles cross the Banihal toll post on an average day. Recently also , The drivers stranded along Srinagar—Jammu highway for the past four days on rued lack of facilities alleging that the administration seems to have forgotten them. The drivers stuck along the highway following the damage to the bridge at Kela Morh in Ramban stated they are facing many difficulty. Many are hoping that four lanning , and start of rail link between Kashmir to Jammu would start soon so that highway blockades would not hamper lives of people soon. The work on the intervening 111 km section of Katra-Banihal is ongoing and is the most challenging portion due to its geology and extensive riverine system with deep gorges. Recently, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal asked the engineers working on the project to expedite the remaining portion on a mission mode. For the moment although the closed highway is giving much troubled time to the people of Kashmir .
DRUG ABUSE AND SOCIETY.By Syed Mustafa Ahmad Drug abuse is a patterned use of a drug in which the users consume the substance in amounts or with methods which are harmful to themselves or others. Drug abuse corrodes the foundations of society and has the potential to lead to child abuse as well as sexual and domestic violence. The problem is global and India is no exception to it. In our country, drug dependence is a major social issue in parts of Maharashtra, North East, Karnataka, Goa and Punjab. The fact that India is in close proximity to the Golden Crescent (Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan) as well as the Golden Triangle ( Myanmar, Laos and Thailand) makes it vulnerable to drug trafficking. It means that there is no hardship in finding the harmful drugs. They are available at arm’s length. What started off as casual use among a miniscule population of high income group youth in the metropolitan cities, the drug abuse has permeated all sections of the society. Cannabis, heroin, and Indian_ produced pharmaceutical drugs are the most frequently abused drugs in India. Alcohol and tobacco are the most prevalent addictive substances used across India. The pharmaceutical products containing narcotic drugs are also being increasingly being abused. The codeine_based cough syrups continue to be diverted from the domestic market for abuse. To highlight the menace, the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed annually on June 26. The decision to mark the Day was taken on December 7, 1987 through a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in order to strengthen global action and cooperation to achieve its aim of making the international society free of drug abuse. The year 2019 theme of the Day was ‘ Health for justice, Justice for Health’ which emphasized that justice and health are two sides of the same coin, when it comes to addressing the problems associated drugs. One of the major reasons for drug abuse is its presence at the nook and corner of the country. Sometimes, it is romanticized in films and it becomes a thrilling and seductive affair for youngsters , who can be misguided easily because of their relative lack of experience in life. The other cause for this the lack of counseling. Our youngsters are left to fight with the changes happening in them and the changes taking place around them. They are not in a position to emerge out of the trauma which the newest things bring with them. Here the need of counsellors is of utmost importance. But we lack it completely. We are lacking the main stream of doctors. The presence of counsellors, say in a city or a village, is a distant dream. Moreover, the unyielding system of education is another cause for this. Thousands of students commit suicide due to this rigid system of education. No knowledge for the practical life is imparted in the institutions. The dreams of the students fall like a pack of cards and they take to drugs, in order to avoid the haunting present and the black future. What is the motive of education? The object of education is to produce the human beings, who can settle in a society, whatever the situations be. There is a big chasm between what is taught in the classrooms and what is going on in the society. This difference makes them incompatible and they find solace in the harmful drugs. Love affair is another cause. Recently, The Times of India came up with a report that made it clear that the cause of deaths and drug addiction is caused by the love affairs in most of the states of India. Romanticism at the earliest age and the taboos attached with it, forces a youth to take to drug addiction. The media also are forefront. The glorification of the drug addiction in the movies or in other dramas, create a destructive mark on the plastic minds of the students in general and the youth in particular. They get excited and try to make imitate this at their homes and pave way for the destruction of the society. Peer pressure is another cause. Like in the movie “3 Idiots” the main theme is that a student should be allowed to live his or her life. He or she should not be forced to act according to a particular trend of the society. All the students should be patently listened. Their grievances and views should be respected and the ways should be found to tackle them. But they are being rebuked and they feel isolated. It is this isolation that takes harmful form in the future and make the brilliant minds vulnerable to the menace of drug addiction. The impacts of the drug addiction are manifold. The worst impact of drug abuse is on the brain, which consequentially affects every other aspect of life of the person addicted to drugs. Drugs are primarily chemicals that affect the communication system of the human brain. They disturb the ways in which nerve cells send, process and receive information. Drugs such as heroin and marijuana are structured in the Same way as chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are produced naturally by the human brain. As a result of this similarity, the drugs can fool the receptors of human brain and activate the nerve cells in such a way that they send some abnormal messages. In case of drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine, the nerve cells get activated and they release extraordinarily large volumes of neurotransmitters. This disrupts the normal functioning of the human brain and can prove very disastrous at sometimes. The another devastating affect of drug addiction is on the generation. A lot of person’s die due to this menace. They not only destroy themselves but also their family members in particular and the relatives and the neighbors in general, for a long time. Apart from this, a lot of money is lost in drug addiction. To ease their nerves, the drug addicts become thieves and are burden on the society with the passage of time. It brings misery and gloom in the lives of the people of any country. The dreams of a bright future are shattered and it gives rise to other diseases and with this, slowly and steadily, the whole society is engulfed and the escape is totally blocked. We are facing the agony of the drug addiction. Our alleys, streets and roads are preoccupied by the drug addicts. They are own brothers and sisters, if I talk about the youth. They need our guidance. They are the part and parcel of our society. We are the organs of a single body. We can’t be so mean in allowing anyone to die in this fashion. To curb this menace, prevention is one of the ways. In fact , it is one affliction that can be easily prevented according to medical experts and practitioners. Prevention programmes involving families, schools and the immediate communities are important in this regard. Media also should come forward in eradicating this menace, rather than romanticizing it. Movies should be based on the harmful effects of the drug addiction. From the beginning, the students should be taught to abhor these things. Adult education should be promoted so that our elders leave this harmful way. The best method to tackle this issue is to destroy the crops where the drugs are grown at the earliest. There should be strict punishment for those who are culprits. The suppliers of the drugs should be hanged in an open. They are the butchers. They should be sending to gallows. The Government should take initiatives to stop this menace. They can do a lot but they are not doing anything. They, in cooperation with the common people, can eradicate this menace from the society. The last but not the least thing is that cancel the license of the chemists, drug manufacturers, associations, etc.,. at the earliest. Ban the sale of medicines that can have the potential of being used as drugs. Lip service won’t do any miracles. Collective approach is the need of the hour. Parents and religious leaders have a lot to offer. We earnestly wait for it.
Sadness and DepressionSuhaib Ashraf Bhat.Peace of mind, contentment, happiness and freedom from worries and anxiety, these are what everyone wants, and these are the ways in which people can have a good life and find complete happiness and joy. There are religious means of achieving this, and natural and practical means, but no one can combine all of them except the believers; although other people may achieve some of them, they will miss out on others.The name of failure is enough to put us off it and strive for success, regardless of the material gains that a man may attain as the result of his success, because failure is a word that implies shortcomings and loss, and success is a word that implies perfection and praise. Failure and success are two sides of the same coin, although they may seem to contradict one another at first glance. But in fact they are interconnected if you think about it, based on experience and real life.You might often come across a conversation pertaining to things like “sadness is shaytan’s doing” or that “a believer never gets sad” or even that “sadness is an indication of weak or incomplete faith”. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could be further from the truth. Statements like these only escalate the process of drowning for individuals who suffer from depression, anxiety or hopelessness. It is of the utmost importance that people ought to know the difference between sadness and depression; sadness is a typical human emotion and depression is a much more damaging and longer lasting condition of hopelessness, despair, and dejection. Sadness is a part of what makes us human. No living soul is unfamiliar with it; even our Prophets faced multiple episodes of sadness. For example, Yaqub (Alahisalam) wept until he lost his vision and even our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah swt be upon him) experienced bouts of sadness upon the loss of his wife and uncle. Hence, sadness is not a sign of weakness in any form. To experience sadness is to be human. Having strong faith, or Imaan, does not render a believer to be an exception to the emotion of sadness. Depression is majorly defined by a sense of hopelessness- in yourself and in the world around you. It is rooted in a sense of sheer helplessness where you feel like nothing is in your control. But that is the truth; nothing IS in your control. It is in Allah’s (swt) control. Take a moment, embrace your lack of control over your circumstances, and know that the one in control is the best of planners and loves you more than you can imagine. Surrender your attempts to control your life, leave it up to Allah (swt), and trust His plan for you. Sometimes, the human mind is unable to understand Allah’s (swt) ultimate wisdom behind every single thing that happens to us. However, by accepting that Allah (swt) is in control and welcoming His plans for us ultimately leads to the enrichment of our mind, body and soul.Steadfastness of heart and not being disturbed about the imaginary things that bad thoughts may bring to mind. For when a person gives in to his imagination and lets his mind be disturbed by these thoughts, such as fear of disease and the like, or anger and confusion stirred up by some grievous matter, or the expectation of bad things and the loss of good things, it will fill him with worries, distress, mental and physical illness and nervous breakdowns, which will have a bad effect on him and which causes a great deal of harm, as many people have seen. But when a person depends on Allah swt and puts his trust in Him, and does not give in to his imagination or let bad thoughts overwhelm him, and he relies on Allah swt and has hope of His bounty, this wards off his worries and distress, and relieves him of a great deal of mental and physical sickness. It gives indescribable strength, comfort and happiness to the heart. How many hospitals are filled with the mentally sick victims of illusions and harmful imagination; how often have these things had an effect upon the hearts of many strong people, let alone the weak ones; how often have they led to foolishness and insanity. It should be noted that your life will follow your train of thought. If your thoughts are of things that will bring you benefit in your spiritual or worldly affairs, then your life will be good and happy. Otherwise it will be the opposite.Have great hope in Allah swt, and do not let the Shaytaan cause you to despair of the vast mercy of Allah swt which He has guaranteed for His believing slaves. You need to increase your hope and trust in Allah swt Who forgives all sins, and who accepts the slave who seeks His protection and refuge, for He is the Most Merciful, the Oft-Forgiving and the Most Loving. You should increase your good deeds, upholding the ties of kinship, etc. The sadness which we feel also happens to others, for it is something natural. How many people were examples followed by others and had a great deal of drive and ambition, then they lost their drive and ambition for a long time, then it came back to them by the grace of Allah swt. Remember the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah swt be upon him): “Everybody has his time of energy, and every time of energy is followed by a time of lethargy. But if a person tries to follow a moderate path, then I have hope for him, but if he becomes one who is pointed out (in the street), then do not think anything of him.”(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2453; classed as hasan (sound) by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 1995). What is meant by “Everybody has his time of energy” is eagerness for a thing, energy and the desire to do good.What is meant by “every time of energy is followed by a time of lethargy” is tiredness, weakness and lack of movement.“But if a person tries to follow a moderate path” means that the one who has energy does his deeds in moderation and avoids going to extremes when he is feeling energetic and avoids being negligent when he is feeling lethargic.“Then I have hope for him” means, I have hope that he will be successful, for he can continue following a middle course, and the most beloved deeds to Allah swt are those which are continuous.“but if he becomes one who is pointed out (in the street)” means, if he strives hard and goes to extremes in doing good deeds so that he will become famous for his worship and asceticism, and he becomes famous and people point him out to one another,“then do not think anything of him” means, do not think that he is one of the righteous, because he is showing off. He did not say, “do not have hope for him,” as an indication that he has already fallen, and he will not be able to make up for what he has missed out on. Think about this hadeeth, and relate it to your own situation and the situation of others: you will see a clear similarity. This hadeeth clearly states that man goes through a stage of incomparable eagerness and great focus and ambition, and then suddenly he becomes weak and loses that focus and eagerness and ambition. When he reaches this stage, he must strive even harder to do obligatory duties and avoid haraam (impermissible) things. If he does that, then there is the hope that he will succeed and progress, but if he falls into haraam things and stops doing obligatory things, he will be lost and doomed.Don’t ever forget that Allah (swt) will never burden you with something that is beyond your capacity to deal with. Even on days when you feel as if you cannot take it anymore, know that you can survive it- for Allah (swt) knows us better than we know ourselves and whatever trial you’re facing in your life, know that He also gives you the strength to handle that trial. Suhaibbhatt85@gmail.com
Ugly Traffic Jams in Srinagar Traffic jams since many years have been a curse for the Kashmir Valley especially the Summer Capital Srinagar . The historic city of Srinagar is currently after the recent heavy snowfall battling one of the worst traffic jams in its history . Commuters state that for completing mere five to ten kilometers journey within the Srinagar city it is taking them many hours altogether making life miserable. Media reports state that various areas of Sriningar City centre witnessed massive traffic jams causing immense problems to commuters. The problem was further worsened due to presence of snow mounds on roadsides.
Grime nature of the traffic jam was such that it has taken many commuters nearly an hour to reach LalChowk from Sonwar, Dalgate.Heavy snowfall and snow not cleared from many areas caused hardships to the masses. causing difficulties for the commuters as it is hampering the smooth passage to them.Massive gridlocks across the City were witnessed for many days after snowfall and it took hours for people to reach their destinations.All walks of life have been badly hit by these long and painstaking traffic jams especially the students community and office goes . One hopes in the new look Jammu and Kashmir the human resource of Traffic Department would be increased by much as the meagre human resource makes very less traffic cops visible on the streets of Sriningar and other parts of the Jammu and Kashmir.Recently, even the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) has expressed serious concern over the inconveniences the travellers faced on way to Srinagar Airport due to huge traffic jams and snow accumulation on the road.In a statement, TAAK President Farooq A Kuthoo said the logjams on way to Srinagar Airport is bringing bad name to Kashmir and may prove detrimental to tourism sector. The hopes on ground zero are that very soon these long and tiring traffic jams would be things of past and people will get relief from same .
Mir Tafazul , Kashmiri young lyricist shines in viral Song Kitna Tarsey lyric and acting stunt with famous TV actress Aparna Dixit For Kashmir’ s young lyricist Mir Tafazul ,who wrote his first song Khat describing pain of communication lockdown faced by Kashmiris living outside , the recent song Kitney Tarsey ,where he got surprising opportunity to act with Star TV actor Aparna. Dixit turned a unbelievable success . As the video in just one week crosses whooping one million views .In an exclusive interview with News Kashmir ,he talks to Rameez Makhdoomi.
How did viral and successful Kitna Tarsey Happened ? I actually wrote ‘Kitna Tarsey’ in 2019 and my friend Rauhan Malik who composed the song knew it from the beginning that our song will touch everyone’s heart. In 2020, we collaborated with a music record label ‘Koinage records’ and its core team really loved the song and were eager to produce this song and release it from their YouTube channel.When the song was completely produced, they told us to make the video for this song and gave us this humongous responsibility. We started with the pre production of the video and contacted some good people in the film making industry who were working in Delhi. Rivuraj Saha, a close friend of ours, got the opportunity to be the Director of this video and within a couple of days, prepared the script of the video and also asked me for some inputs which were added in the script. He asked me to work as an assistant director for this video and I willingly agreed to assist him. I gave my 100% and did a lot of hard work during the pre production of this video. From script writing to budget making , from recce to finalizing locations and sets, I gave my all efforts because this song was very close to my heart. The producer of the video, Managing Director of Koinage records, casted the actors for two lead roles only and everything was left on our shoulders. Producer wanted a very famous and beautiful actress for the video so the song gets good publicity and response, which was actually a good marketing strategy.So he casted Aparna Dixit who charged a lot of money, which she deserves actually, as she is a prominent actress of Indian Television and has an experience of 7 years of acting in Bombay. As he spent a lot of money on the female actress, he didn’t spent that much money on the male lead, and casted some inexpensive and common guy from Delhi. The director was very upset about this decision of the producer but he could not to do anything about it. Rivuraj, Rauhan and me were very nervous and restless before the night of the shoot and couldn’t sleep at all due to all the tension as it was the first big shoot of our lives. Then what happened next ?Yes we throughout the night we tried to figure out everything and planned a proper schedule for the shoot. We left for the shoot by 6am in the morning and I guess we were prepared for everything, we knew it, that to complete such a demanding script in a day would be a tremendous task and we needed utilize every second of that day.As we reached the set, we started with the shots of the singer, Rauhan Malik, and it took couple of hours to take all his shots, and all this time I was assisting the Director. Meanwhile the actors came to the set and were going through the script. When Aparna Dixit saw the actor casted by the producer, she was disappointed. She told the director and the producer that he looks like a child and it’s a complete mismatch. She was determined to cancel the shoot unless if someone else would act with her.The director, Rivuraj told me that Tafazul you have to act with her instead of that guy, because you look perfect for the role and also you know the script very well, and asked me take my mask off so that she can see my face.When she saw me, she instantly told the director and the producer that yes I am good looking and perfect for the role, so she asked me to be her co actor. I was stunned with all this and couldn’t believe that this is happening. Me being a 21 year old boy from Kashmir, who had no acting experience is suddenly getting a chance to act with a such an established actress, I just couldn’t swallow it. I was very hesitant initially and reluctant to act with her because I was prepared to do everything that day, but only behind the camera, not in front of it. I wasn’t prepared to act that day, and thousands of thoughts were troubling me at that moment. After talking to Rauhan and Rivuraj for a while, we came to the conclusion that we can’t afford to let all our hardwork go to waste and we couldn’t waste time as the shoot was meant to be completed in one day. So I said yes and agreed to act with her, and immediately director told me to go to the stylist and get ready for the shot.Everyone on the set, including the DOP, Naushad Ali Sir, who has worked with Shahrukh Khan, was very happy about the fact that I complied. He was the one among many other people on the set who had asked and persuaded me to say yes to act in the video at the last moment.The first shot of the shoot was the most difficult one for me because it was a romantic scene with Aparna dixit. It’s not easy to act, let alone romance with a complete stranger, behave like that you know her for years, in front of the camera with so many people staring at you. It takes courage, a lot of courage. The director helped me a lot in the first shot, because he knew what my situation was, and gave me some tips to feel comfortable. Even Aparna Dixit, during the takes conversed with me and she was being very Frank with me, trying make me comfortable. As things got better for me, I gave my first good take which looked completely natural on the screen. After seeing it on the monitor everyone applauded and told me that I am looking brilliant on the screen, and the DOP, Naushad Sir shouted that this video is a hit. As the shoot went on, Aparna helped me a lot with the scenes and gave her efforts to build up a chemistry between us, and that’s why she is such a great and humble actress. We talked a lot during throughout the shoot and we became good friends, got along very well and eventually we delivered every shot perfectly. Everyone at the set was amazed by my acting, especially Aparna, who repeatedly told me that I am doing good and no one is going to believe that It’s my debut as an actor. She told me that my Screen presence is outstanding and you’ve a very bright future. Even though I was the lead actor on the set, I helped a lot the director and the team in preparing for the scenes. I even helped the spot boys while I was waiting for my shots.Everyone on the set appreciated my hard work and ethics, and told me that you’re going to have a great future, just stay the way you are.After the shoot was completed, the producer came to me and said his thanks, and told me that you were god sent, and you should start your career as an actor. He told me if you did this so good as a spontaneous and in prompt to actor, you will do wonders if you join theatre and get more experience as an actor.After so much appraisal on the set that day, I decided to start my journey as an actor and made my mind to keep learning acting and become a great actor in future.Now, after the release of this music video, I am getting so much appreciation from the people, and no one can believe that it’s my debut as an actor. They are really impressed.The video is getting such a great response, it received one million views in a week, so many comments and most of them are about me and my performance, which is so overwhelming for me. Where you knowing the video will go viral like this ? I believe that Allah had written it for me, to start my acting career in such an unexpected way, with such a beautiful actress, with such a talented team, and for such a melodious song. I am blessed to have so much support of my family and they are really proud of me and they want me to reach heights in this journey of mine as an actor. I will work in front and also behind the camera during my journey and make sure that my work touches the heart of millions of people around the globe. I want to inspire the youngsters of Kashmir to dream big and achieve everything they dream of. I will make sure that my work will push and persuade them to start on with their journey as an actor or a film maker from a very young age. I am so thankful to Allah for the fact that my debut received one million views in a week, and it’s quite a big achievement for everyone of us, especially the singers of this song. Our upcoming videos will always be better than the last one and we will always keep improving and deliver art every time through our work. We are about to start with the shoot of the second music video and it will be out in coming months. Till then stay tuned and updated through my Instagram, @7afazul and catch up with me there. Thank you.
