Waiting for Mufti’s Mercy

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News Kashmir Analysis

Kashmir more than year ago suffered devastating floods. Pertinently, In September 2014, the Kashmir region suffered disastrous floods across many of its districts caused by torrential rainfall. Kashmir valley saw huge devastation on account of floods and scores of precious lives were lost. Throughout length and breadth of Valley flood created havoc and destroyed the business centers of Srinagar as well.

Devastating floods in Jammu and Kashmir had caused an immediate loss of Rs. 5,400-5,700 crore to the state’s economy, with heavy damages to trade, hotels, restaurants, horticulture and handicraft, according to the initial estimates of industry body Assocham.

Despite all talks of packages, relief and assistance most of the flood victims from  South to North Kashmir to Capital are raising hue and cry on account of inadequate help. Even traders are furious over the performance of Government to deal with relief and rehabilitation efforts of flood victims  .

In this regard recently while terming the government package of Rs. 2,000 crore for rehabilitation as ‘adding insult to injury,” Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation president Haji Mohammed Yasin Khan said: “By not pleading the case for a Rs. 44,000-crore package, as was sought by the then government, the PDP has served the interests of their RSS masters in Nagpur.”

Even elected representatives are furious about the letting down of flood affected masses of Kashmir. MLA Langate Engineer  Rashid also recently demanded immediate rehabilitation of flood victims of Sonawari and alleged that the battle of egos and interests between the local MLA and MLC has made the flood victims, victim of politics and exploitation.

Ajaz War, a flood hit victim from Maisuma states- “ Government has so far failed to give any real and concrete package to Flood affected people of Kashmir and most of the victims of flood feel dejected at the overall pace of relief and rehabilitation process. Me and my brothers lost three houses among them two completely ruined but we have been paid peanuts. The overall compensation that we have received so far hardly compensates our five percent loss whileas  Ninty five percent has been left unaddressed. In an age when a basic plinth of house costs more than three lakh rupees these small amount sanctions that too marred by inefficiency will not help in any way the flood affected masses  of Kashmir. Government should show efficiency, mercy, compassion and above all prove its viability by rendering a real helping hand to flood victims of Kashmir.”

 

The pulse on ground is that government is making tall claims of package but the overall paradigm expectations based on track record is very low.

 

 

But there is a silver lining in the dark clouds, Jammu and Kashmir minister of PHE, irrigation and flood control Sukhnandan Chaudhary has few days back said the amount of Rs 10,000 crore sanctioned as a flood relief for the state will be brought in use in another 15 days.

One hopes that after much dilly dally tactics the government will with much efficiency try to solve the pain  and distress of flood hit victims  in Kashmir and provide them the much deserved rehabilitation that they have been craving for.

Hanging Peshawar School tormentors

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Pakistan in a major development has hanged four convicts involved in dastardly Peshawar School Massacre. On 16 December 2014, seven gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban(TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The militants, all of whom were foreign nationals, included one Chechen, three Arabs and two Afghans. Their accomplices were many Pakistani Nationals.They entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children, killing 141 people, including 132 schoolchildren, ranging between eight and eighteen years of age. A rescue operation was launched by the Pakistan Army’sSpecial Services Group (SSG) special forces, who killed all seven terrorists and rescued 960 people. On 02 December, 2015 Pakistan hanged four militants involved in the Peshawar massacre.

This was the most horrible terrorist attack ever to occur in Pakistan, surpassing the2007 Karachi bombing.

 

The attackers were handed the death sentence for their respective roles in the massacre.Maulvi Salam was convicted of harbouring suicide bombers who attacked the Peshawar school, killing 144 people, a majority of them children. The ISPR claimed that he had confessed to his crime and that he was also involved in the killing of two colonels and a senior official of the National Development Complex.

 

Pertinently, Hazrat Ali was convicted of raising funds for the APS attack and involvement in the killing of 23 Levies Force personnel after their kidnapping.Sabeel was found guilty of being involved in an attack on the Pakistan Air Force’s Peshawar base in 2012 and transporting 10 suicide bombers and of abetment in the APS attack.

Meanwhile, Mujeebur Rehman was convicted of transporting 10 suicide bombers for the attack on the PAF base, being involved in assaults on personnel of law enforcement agencies and abetment in the APS attack.

Certainly,Pakistan has sent a strong message to extremists post Peshawar School Massacre.

Package Politics

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News Kashmir Analysis

Jammu and Kashmir is a mountainous state built from three primary regions: Jammu (the winter capital), the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh; its capital in the summer is called Srinagar.

The tough terrain aided by political turmoil has ensured Jammu & Kashmir especially the Kashmir Valley remains backward in terms of overall developmental scenario. The successive central governments at New Delhi have found answers in announcing the packages to deal with the developmental issues and also try to address political aspirations via these packages.

 

During his recent visit to Kashmir,Prime Minister Narendra Modi   announced a Rs 80,000 crore package for Jammu and Kashmir and said it should be used to transform the state, devastated by floods last year, into a modern, progressive and prosperous one.  Prime Minister added –“There would be no dearth of money for the state’s development, the Prime Minister promised, saying, “This Rs 80,000 crore is not a full stop. It’s only the beginning…Not only is Delhi’s treasury for you but so is its heart.”

However , even this much of package failed to douse the grievances and anger. Just days after the announcement of this package while commenting on  the government plan of giving mere Rs 2000 crores rehabilitation package as “insult to the injury” of flood-hit people of valley of Kashmir, the Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation President Haji Mohammed  Yasin Khan  recently stated  “PDP befooled people only to come to power, and to be in power.”

“What we have learnt is that Rs 800 crore are for affected shopkeepers and Rs 1200 Cr for damaged houses. What will each of the flood hit get when the total number of affected families is 15 lakhs?” Khan questioned, in a statement.

 

In a related development just on the heels of PM Narendra  Modi’s announcement of a Rs 80,000 crore package for Jammu & Kashmir, the Union Cabinet few days back  cleared a proposal to provide 3,000 state government jobs and 6,000 transit accommodations in Kashmir for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore.

While talking to News Kashmir, R K Bhat, organization of Kashmiri Pandits Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj stated- “ These packages just represent politics and in actual paradigms and lag the vision to rehabilitate the Pandits back in their native places. The real stakeholders are not taken into consideration while framing the packages for Pandits community as a result nothing much is achieved. We were few years back when we returned as employees back to our native land promised lot but nothing concrete was done as a result many left the job. The burning veracity  is that the government couldn’t even rehabilitate 2000 KP youths during the last 8 years who had volunteered to serve in Kashmir valley which means not even 5 percent of the whole package has been implemented so far.”

On the otherhand due to lack of holistic vision the demand for more packages continues to be raised now just days back Fruit Growers cum Traders Union (FGTCU) demanded Rs 2890 core compensation for horticulture.

 

Addressing media persons FGTCU president Bashir Ahmad Bashir said t devastated floods in September 2014 hit the horticulture industry very badly.

“Every stock of fruit stored in godowns, shops, residential house and other places got destroyed. Even the trucks loaded with fruits could not reach to desired destination as roads were blocked by flood waters,” he said.

Be it package with reference to development of Kashmir or  Concerning Pandit rehabilitation and return to their native land the ground pulse is that there is more rhetoric and politics in packages than addressing the serious concerns.

In Search of Alternative to Hartals

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Hartal (pronounced [həɽt̪aːl]) is a term in many South Asian languages for strike action, first used during the Indian Independence Movement. It is mass protest often involving a total shutdown of workplaces, offices, shops, courts of law as a form of civil disobedience. In addition to being a general strike, it involves the voluntary closing of schools and places of business. It is a mode of appealing to the sympathies of a government to change an unpopular or unacceptable decision. A Hartal is often used for political reasons, for example by an opposition political party protesting against a government policy or action.

Over the past 27 years of violent conflict of Kashmir this word Hartal has echoed almost billions of times in the hearts and minds of Kashmir to register their protest and anger against killings , unaddressed political aspirations and atrocities with about two thousand strikes observed in past 25 years in Kashmir.

But since few time the Hartal as a strategy employed by profreedom polity is failing to garner impressive response. The representatives of Hurriyat Conference, an amalgam of different separatist parties in Kashmir recently decided to brainstorm at Mirwaiz Manzil in Srinagar last week to think of “alternate means” of protest.  Feedback from online platforms like twitter is being asked from youth to suggest alternative to hartals.

Will the anniversary hartals and failed chalos lead us to freedom?” a student asked Mirwaiz, the head priest of Kashmir who leads Friday congregational prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, to which he replied, “At times, hartal becomes the only option, but I agree we have to look for alternative means of protest.”

 

People have been asking and questioning both on ground and online media to profreedom leaders  to  find an alternative to these strikes .Will the alternative come remains to be seen.

 

Back To Dark Ages

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News Kashmir Exclusive
Kashmir possesses huge capacity to harness hydro-electricity and does produce an impressive amount of electricity. But, inspite of these very facts the power situation deteriorates as soon as winter sets in, and most of the areas of Kashmir are thrown into darkness with never ending load shedding.
As a matter of fact, the power generation in Kashmir, which is said to be capable of generating more than 20000 MW power, seems by and large a Delhi-controlled affair as State government has failed to bring back the ownership of several power projects .
Students are undoubtedly the most terribly affected by this unbridled load shedding, which have brought exam preparations to a near standstill. The negative impacts of load shedding are beyond description – From Housewife to students, Doctor to Technocrat ,Professional to Labourer everyone seems to be badly hit by the current spell of never ending load shedding throughout the length and breadth of the valley . Pertinently, the load shedding is more badly affecting those students who are either attaining online education or depend upon online mediums for their education.
With these unabated power cuts the resentment and anger is also growing among masses of Kashmir from North to South. Be it Downtown and uptown areas of Sumer capital Srinagar the power crisis is deepening. Recently, the people of Maisuma, Gaw Kadal, Basant Bagh and other adjoining areas staged protests in heart of the City and blocked vehicular movement at Budshah Chowk. The protesters, mostly women, said that the PDD is resorting to ‘unnecessary load-shedding’ of power which causing lot of problems to them. Pertinently, Protests also broke out at Koil village of Pulwama district in south Kashmir against unscheduled power curtailment.

Power protests have even history of turning violent and claiming precious lives. A class 12 student was killed and two persons injured when Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel guarding National Hydroelectric Power Corporation projects in Kashmir had opened fire on people protesting against power shortage in Boniyar area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district at the start of year 2012 . The CISF personnel at that juncture had opened fire, killing Altaf Ahmad Sood (18) son of Bashir Ahmad of Barnait, Boniyar on the spot. Parvaiz Ahmad son of Ghulam Hassan and Abdul Majid son of Wali Muhammad, both of Boniyar, were injured in that firing incident .

While talking to News Kashmir Magazine Beenish Parray, a Writer States – ” As soon as long spell of winter dawns on Kashmir power cuts become a norm. Be it downtown, uptown areas of Srinagar or for that matter rural areas the power crisis makes life terrible for the masses especially students undergoing different exams .Government should immediately revisit the policy of long and unscheduled power cuts as it is making life difficult for masses. Power is one of the most basic necessities in our age and we should be provided with regular electricity.”
Without ambiguity the nutshell analysis is that Kitchens, IT Centers, Study Rooms, Industrial sectors , Prayer Places all other significant spheres of life are getting adversely hit by the peril of sustained load shedding and the problem demands instantaneous action otherwise the lava of anger generated would not have good consequences. Government should take necessary steps to curb load shedding before this problem goes out of hand and people are forced to protest aggressively.

Refugee pain

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Currently world over due to Civil Wars and foreign interventions the people of many countries especially countries of Middle East such as Syria, Iraq , Libya and Yemen are forced to leave and become refugees.
A refugee, according to the Geneva Convention on Refugees is a person who is outside their country of citizenship because they have well-founded grounds for fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, and is unable to obtain sanctuary from their home country or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country; or in the case of not having a nationality and being outside their country of former habitual residence as a result of such event, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to their country of former habitual residence. Such a person may be called an “asylum seeker” until considered with the status of “refugee” by the Contracting State where they formally make a claim for sanctuary or right of asylum.
As a matter of fact many refugees are dying while undertaking dangerous sea journeys towards Europe. The world is witnessing the largest refugee crisis since the horrors of World War II.

Today there are close to 60 million war refugees, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—“an all-time high as violence and persecution” around the world are on the rise.

It is high time world wakes to the refugee pain and root causes of all conflicts are addressed .

Bihar Election Verdict Divides BJP

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Bihar election have thrown an open verdict with ruling party at Center BJP and its partners receiving defeat at the hands of resurgent grand alliance comprising of JDU, RJD and Congress. Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar will be sworn in as chief minister for the third time in a row on 20 November after the Mahagathbandhan won a majority of seats in the assembly. But the electoral verdict of Bihar has given rise to rebellion in BJP with elder voices sounding the tunes of revolt.

 

Four veteran leaders, including Margdarshak mandal members L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, issued a stinging statement — a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for London — that the party was being “forced to kow-tow to a handful”, its “consensual character has been destroyed,” and it has been “emasculated” in the last year.

While ruling out Shah’s removal as party chief, Gadkari demanded stringent action against those making “irresponsible” statements against Modi and Shah. “I have told the party chief to initiate disciplinary action against those party activists who make irresponsible statements in public and cause damage to the image of the party,” the minister said.

Nevertheless the political ramifications of the Bihar electoral verdict seem to be far reaching on the overall political scene of India .

PDP Perishing?

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Rameez Makhdoomi

The PDP – BJP coalition government was formed in February 2015.This was done after a series of serious deliberations between the two parties amidst a fractured electoral verdict in Jammu and Kashmir. Many believe that nine months down the line all looks doomed for PDP and the question Is PDP Perishing has started to invoke a debate. Political analysts feel that PDP has fast lost its popularity since it has formed the government with BJP. Resurgent protests and killing of civilians has made road tough for PDP.

Pertinently, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, a top PDP Leader and parliamentarian in a sensational  interview with NDTV has signaled that future of PDP Looks quiet bleak.

Mr Baig, who was the first to support the PDP’s alliance with the BJP, an ideological opposite, told NDTV that he now fears the way the PDP-led coalition government is functioning will “lead to its (PDP’s) annihilation.”

 

Ahead of a joint rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in Srinagar, Mr Baig had written a letter to PM Modi on “rising intolerance in the country and failure of PDP-BJP alliance.

“One of the most important reasons for the higher voter turnout in the J&K Elections was the ‘fear’ of the BJP entering the valley, a sentiment which was fully exploited by the PDP during their campaign. PDP sought votes from the people on the pretext of stopping the BJP from coming to power, but what happened later is history. Forming coalition by PDP and BJP was reckless and it went wrong for Mufti in Kashmir and BJP in Jammu. PDP seems to have softened its stand on the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the BJP, which has been demanding the abrogation of Article 370, has taken a complete U-turn, deciding to maintain a status quo. The way things are working as of now, it is unlikely that the PDP-BJP alliance will complete six years in the office. It is destined to fail by its contradictions. The PDP looks to be big loser politically ” – Raies Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, Lawyer at High Court of Delhi and Former Student Leader at University of Delhi.

From Coffee Shop gossip to street talk, from analytical paradigm to grassroots the downslide of PDP as a potent political force is not only being felt but discussed threadbare.

 

Senior Activist and AIP State Secretary Tanveer Hussain Khan stated – ” PDP seems to be fast losing its electoral and popular base. South Kashmir once party bastion is also simmering with anger against the party especially in backdrop of latest volatile situation of the area and accord of PDP with rightwing BJP. If PDP continues at this pace it has every chance of getting decimated and could well become history.”

“BJP too is making things tough for PDP as a series of growing acts of intolerance and rising communal tendencies under BJP rule at Center has been a focal point since past  one year in Indian Polity. These series of developments are strengthening roots of Separatism and weakening the mainstream in Kashmir ,” added Tanveer Hussain Khan.

Nevertheless, the question of debacle of PDP and debate over it despite it being in  Power has started to take roots.

Modi’s Magic Mantra?

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News Kashmir Exclusive

 

Unprecedented security measures were  put in place here in Kashmir ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally on Saturday, with security forces manning all the entry and exit points of the Srinagar city.  The authorities in Kashmir had unleashed cracked down on hundreds of political activists and pro-independence leaders just ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the region. The venue for the – Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium – was virtually  turned into a fortress with Special Protection Group (SPG) taking over it.

From analytical paradigm, “MODI-MAGIC” mantra not long ago was seen electorally  sweeping across all India as a result in 2014 General Elections  a thumping win and  clean sweep for BJP was ensured. But with growing acts of intolerance in the country the governance model has come into question.

MLA Langate Engineer Rashid, While talking Exclusively to News Kashmir stated – ” There is no such thing as Modi Magic Mantra with reference to Kashmir. Kashmir is being caged and suffocated virtually turned into a prison on the eve of Prime Minister Visit .Kashmir needs resolution of its political conflict not mere meaningless packages. Intolerance is at its peak in India and it is no longer Gandhi’ s India. Modi needs to shun extremist approach and be mature, inclusive if he wants to see way ahead in Kashmir. Suffocations and repressions cannot deter people of Kashmir.”

Faizaan Bhat, a student  and columnist  states – ” Kashmir is a humanitarian issue and needs humanitarian solution and perspective. Prime Minister trips to Kashmir will make any sort of sense to Kashmir only when some sought of concrete political packages is announced until that nothing concrete can be achieved . Any further delay in resolution of political disputes endangers peace and harmony in this world.”

How much peace is still fragile in Kashmir was evident as just 36 hours before  Prime   Minister visit militants hurled a grenade towards the CRPF camp housed in a hotel at Khyam Srinagar in which 13 CRPF personnel were injured.

On the otherhand, Business community in its own way had its expectations  from the visit .  ”We are pinning high hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Jammu and Kashmir on November 7. It would give a new pace to development projects across the state,” AJKPC President, Anil Sharma told reporters .

Commoners have their own expectations from the overall dynamics of prime Minister visit as they are hoping this visit will have beneficial consequences on Kashmir.  Bashir Ahmad, a commoner states – ‘’The magic mantra of prime Minister would work on ground only if the State and Central governments in real sense walk the talk. We hope the era of unemployment that has long pained Kashmir would be now solved. In addition of solving the problems of unemployment and giving an effective economic package to the state we are also hoping that some sort of dialogue mechanism would be started with all shades of opinion  and this conflict will be settled so that we move towards a brighter Jammu and Kashmir .’’

Most of the pulse on ground reflects that Magic Mantra of Prime Minister would only be effective if it yields concrete economic and political package that would solve decades of misery and sufferings of Kashmiris.

Rejuvenating Carpet Sector of Kashmir

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Carpet industry has historically been backbone of Kashmir as it has provided meaningful employment to youth and been representative of our exports and in a way also represented our culture. The splendid carpet industry of Kashmir has wonderful history behind it. Pertinently, Kashmir carpet industry is of Persian origin. The trade, which has been handed down by the grand artisans of Iran, prospered and thrive to huge extent in the valley of Kashmir during the Mughal rule in Kashmir.

Nevertheless, the Persian culture influenced the Kashmiri carpet for quite a long time. It was only after a long period of time that Kashmiri carpet acquired some sought of  an aboriginal quality. On the otherhand, although in India the origin of hand-knotted carpets can be traced back more than 1800-2000 years, in Kashmir, however, its history begins with the invasion of Mughals. With the touch of local artistic splendor the Kashmiri carpet attained a sky-scraping degree of perfection and carved out an ‘elite’ place in the worldwide market.

At this juncture painfully enough the carpet industry in Kashmir does not show much healthy picture . Despite having all the potential for generating huge employment and earning bulk of foreign reserves, the low allocation by the government for this sector has reduced its growth to a limited size and curtailed its reach in the national market  and not many are taking carpet industry as a serious option and younger generation seems to be disinterested towards carpet sector.

 

The realities of the present hour state that presently the Carpet Sector  of Kashmir should be paid attention so as to strengthen the economy of Kashmir and return the lost sheen of the carpet industry of Kashmir  .