News Kashmir Magazine

Rameez Makhdoomi

2018 Year is ending and it has been one of the bloody years in the 30 year history of Kashmir conflict . 2018 (MMXVIII) which was  the current year, and is a common year which started   on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2018th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 18th year of the 3rd millennium, the 18th year of the 21st century, and the 9th year of the 2010s decade.

Bloodshed seemed written all over the year 2018 with kashmiris being among the majority of the casualties suffered and more than 90 percent of coffins of the conflict affecting the households of Kashmir. There were 587 incidents of violence during 2018 compared to 329 last year. Official figures say 240 militants were killed during the year against 200 last year.

Casualties among civilians and the security forces have also been comparatively higher. Thirty-seven civilians and 86 security men were killed in 2018 against 36 civilians and 74 security personnel killed last year.

People across the spectrum are dismayed over the blood soaked 2018 .

Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar, a prominent writer and activist of Kashmir, while talking to the News Kashmir stated :”2018 was unfortunately one of the years that witnessed most violence  in the recent turbulent history of conflict hit Kashmir. Militants, poilcemen, army men, civilians, informers, political activists, journalists were killed during this year with majority of the victims being Kashmiris themselves. The nature of this ugly bloodshed calls for a meaningful dialogue with the angry youth of Kashmir and also dialogue between India and Pakistan. We hope against hope that coming year 2019 brings some relief in our lives to end this disaster once for all  .2018 overall gave us a nostalgia of bad memories of death and destruction. ”

On the other side of the spectrum, the hope is that year 2019 would bring some good news for Kashmir eluding peace .

Bilal Bashir Bhat, editor in Chief Daily Jung, while talking to the News Kashmir stated :”2018 was the year of unprecedented death and destruction, this year was among the most violence hit years of Kashmir with large number of civilians and local militants dying in the conflict. We need to touch the cause of this which lies in the unresolved political issue of Kashmir for which meaningful dialogue should be held between India, Pakistan and Kashmir. But on important terms 2018 gave us tears and blood. We hope for better 2019 .

NEWS KASHMIR EXCLUSIVE

Education System has been positively reformed   all over the globe. The reality on ground is that our response in Kashmir in reforming  education system in right direction has been going on at snail pace thus  the education system of ours is facing several inherent problems.

Be it elementary education, high school to college and University level education system of ours in Kashmir is craving for reforms. Our education system is stated to encourage rote learning which thus kills creativity . The public education system is in doldrums since long with poor results often the case.

Rote learning which is widely used in the mastery of foundational knowledge. Examples include phonics in reading, the periodic table in chemistry, multiplication tables in mathematics, anatomy in medicine, cases or statutes in law, basic formulas in any science, etc. Rote learning, eats up  comprehension and creativity, and consequently, it is an ineffective tool in mastering any complex subject at an advanced level.

On the other  side of the spectrum, there is no fixed criterion for payment in private schools but general trend is  that the teachers  in private schools are paid very less as compared to their counterparts in government or government-aided schools. While as the students are forced to pay heavy fees and donations and the departments who are supposed to regulate our education system seem to have no control over them. In our part of the world, Private schools are working like imperialistic empires without any check and balance system.

Well known academic expert Sheikh Sameer, while talking to News Kashmir  states :

“It should be the among the top priorities of state government to reform education sector as statistical data has shown dismal position of education sector in Jammu and Kashmir . Drop out rate has gone up to 10.2% from 6.9% and has shown increasing trend over the years .Reason for this is lack of academic infrastructure, poor coordination ,failed implementation strategy, conventional teaching modus operandi ,lack of political will and bureaucratic interventions in policy making which should be the domain of academics from colleges and universities.

Initiatives have been taken to introduce various schemes even NGOs have been involved  to train teachers and to implement them but no substantial results have been yielded.

From the academic point of view, you will see there has been content crises as text books are not in consonance with  teaching skills .Content is parrot fashioned, mechanical and quasi conventional. There is no scope for affective_ cognitive approach of teaching learning process .Shared learning is not encouraged. Teachers have to prepare according to prescribed syllabus. No educational tours, no community involvement and inter school debates ,seminars symposia at intermediate level keeping in view changing academic landscape.”

Undoubtedly from all pros and cons our education system is in need of reforms

Honorable Guv should create board of academic advisors. It should have 10 member body headed by VC retired or existing, experts from relevant fields. Sec. education and director to be nominated as ex officio members. This body should be empowered to discuss academic issues only.”

Rameez Makhdoomi

American actress Jenna Morasca had famously stated : “As human beings we value the experience that comes with age. We are reminded over and over again with statements like ‘older and wiser’ and ‘respect your elders,’ promoting age as something to be cherished and respected. “

But as a matter of great pain and discomfort with the speed of life changing under the garb of technology in once close knitted, compassionate society of Kashmir the elders are finding themselves at the receiving end , with more and more elders cutting across economic and social sections  being abandoned by their children and relatives.

Pertinently, the recent image of abandoned elderly transgender in capital city Srinagar showed how grievous the issue is . The administration swung into action only after a social media storm. Painful condition of Ghulam Nabi Mir, a Kashmiri transgender hailing from North Kashmir’s Bandipora district aged 70 , sleeping  on the footpath outside the Srinagar UN Office aptly described the gravity of this issue.

The ground pulse is that We have been listening since ages unfulfilled promises from the consecutive state governments   of  creating rehabilitation homes for people in need, especially abandoned in their  old age by relatives  often found wandering in hostile weather conditions on the streets of Srinagar and other parts of kashmir.

Ghulam Ahmad  ( Name Changed ), a case of elderly neglected by a child belonging to a posh area in Srinagar states , “ I am from good  financial ground but feeling a need of elderly old age home to take care of me as my children have all left me to foreign lands and come here for just few weeks in a year . In this day and age one cannot trust the servant and his or her background easily .The need of the hour is to build elderly homes were deprived elders cutting across social and economic boundaries meet and get cared so as to lead healthy and interactive life .

Rights activists are also raising genuine questions . Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar , an eminent activist states : “The  society with each passing day is growing callous. The growing materialism is directly proportional with our apathy towards old and physically challenged. Despite our strong boasting about being a religious society, the problem of abandoned elderly is growing though not in epidemic proportions, but as a problem it needs to be reckoned. The NGOs and state can establish some homes with permanent lodging and boarding for elderly. But being a Muslim majority society the women and men who are not related to each other can’t exist under a single roof. So some different arrangement needs to be worked out. Also some recreation centres need to be started too in different areas where elders can spend their time and socialize with each other.”

On the otherhand, authorities are also questioned for hallow talks in this regard and every year just promising shelter homes and doing nothing.

Sheikh Imran, Deputy Mayor Srinagar City while talking with News Kashmir stated : “We would be definitely looking to possibility of setting old age homes at least in Srinagar city for elderly people as the time is taking negative direction and many  elderly are feeling heat of  troubled times in the this day and age, especially those who are abandoned either by their kids or are unfortunately childless. The pain of elderly people goes unnoticed in Kashmir and is being clearly sidelined by other issues. With the zeal and enthusiasm to give our city and Kashmir a new direction we would definitely try to give practical shape to the idea of perfect shelter for elderly people. ”

News Kashmir Exclusive

In a big boost to the peace efforts between India and Pakistan  the Kartarpur Corridor was inaugurated few days back .The Kartarpur  is a  border corridor between India and Pakistan. It will connect the Sikh holy shrine of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib (located in Punjab, India) and the holy shrine of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan. The main goal of this proposed corridor is to facilitate the crossing of religious devotees from India to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, located in Narowal District, Pakistan, only 4.7 kilometres from the Pakistan-India border.

This step is a great boost to Sikh aspirations who revere and respect deeply these places. The move has come after long time and many decades .

As a matter of fact, In 2000, Pakistan agreed to allow Sikh pilgrims from India to visit the shrine without the need to present a passport or visa by constructing a bridge from the Indian side of the border to the shrine.

In August 2018, Punjab Minister and former MP Sidhu announced that Pakistan Army Chief General Bajwa had told him that Pakistan would open the Dera Baba Nanak (Kartarpur) corridor on Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary.

On 26 November 2018, the Vice President of India, S Venkaiah Naidu, laid the foundation stone of the Dera Baba Nanak – Kartarpur Sahib Corridor at Mann village, in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab, India.

On 28 November 2018, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur corridor near the Narowal district of Punjab, Pakistan.Two Union Ministers of India, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri were present at the event in Pakistan. Former Indian MP  and current Minister in Punjab Cabinet Navjot Singh Sidhu and Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla were also present.

Indian former cricketer and currently politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan role is lauded in opening of Kartarpur corridor.

Many see the opening of this corridor as the opening of peace corridor between two hostile neighbors.  All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC), has welcomed the opening up of Kartarpur corridor and said that the step would help a lot in normalizing the strained relations between India and Pakistan.

In an important development, APSCC Chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina said that people of Kashmir, especially the members of Sikh community, are “quite ecstatic over the development”.

He said the move would help the Sikhs of India to move towards the different religious places located in Pakistan.

“It is quite heartwarming that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan proposed the opening of Kartarpur corridor and the same was reciprocated with warm gesture by the Government of India. This shows that both the countries are quite serious in fostering good relations with each other,” said Raina.

Undoubtedly if not in short run but in long term Kartarpur Corridor is a step in right direction and move towards peace .

News Kashmir Exclusive

We all are aware that electricity is the very basic need of human life .But the Kashmir Valley is presenting a bleak outlook vis a vis electricity supply. The power crisis in Kashmir is reaching crippling proportions, with the supply-demand deficit reaching a record level that too at the start of harsh winter season . The prolonged spells of load shedding has become a norm in Kashmir Valley. With the result, life in kashmir has been made miserable and difficult to core.

On the other side the fact is that Kashmir possesses great capacity to harness hydro-electricity and does produce a great amount of electricity. But, inspite of that the power situation worsens as winter sets in and most of the areas of Kashmir are thrown into darkness with never ending   painful spells of load shedding. To add to the woes, 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. The pulse on ground is that Kashmir is not getting due share of its hydroelectricity resources

From Srinagar to Bandipora to Qazigund every belt of Kashmir has been this winter hit more worse by loadshedding. Pertinently, the areas spread throughout central, north and south Kashmir are complaining about the crippling electricity woes.

Senior National Conference leader Advocate Nazir Malik, while talking to News Kashmir  stated : “Located in Gurez valley of Bandipora district in north Kashmir, the 330 megawatt Kishenganga Hydroelectric power project inaugurated sometime back has meant no positive change for the people of the district . As neither the legal power share of the Bandipora district nor employment to local youth in these hydroelectricity projects is provided and all rules and regulations are brazenly violated . Life in the Bandipora district has been brought to grinding halt  as a result of these often power cuts have adversely affected the business community and students . We are seeing the people losing their patience and angry protests erupting over power cuts , recently Residents of Hajin town Bandipora district blocked the Hajin-Srinagar road to protest against power crisis in the area, similar anger is witnessed from main Bandipora to other areas like Watapora Qazipora,Aloosa, Kaloosa Ashtangoo etc .”

On the other hand, anger is brewing north to south Kashmir over erratic power supply. As a matter of fact  complete protest shutdown is being observed in Awantipora town of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district against Power Development Department.

As per reports  a large number of locals  staged a protest demonstration against the erratic power supply near townhall Awantipora and raised slogans against the PDD.

In the township all shops and other business establishments are closed against unscheduled and long hours of power cuts in Awantipora and several adjoining villages for last one month, reports said.

Undoubtedly the load shedding scenario is giving painful times to people of Kashmir .

News Kashmir

In a significant development for the volatile Kashmir valley , the former National Conference leader Junaid Azim Mattu, who quit the party sometime back to contest the urban local body polls in Jammu and Kashmir, was elected Mayor of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Tuesday, 6 November, 2018 ,  with the support from the BJP and the Peoples Conference.

It is worth mentioning Mr Mattu secured 40 votes while Congress candidate for the mayoral post Ghulam Rasool Hajam got 26 votes in the 74-member SMC, Commissioner of the civic body Peer Hafizullah told PTI.

Mr Mattu resigned from the primary membership of the National Conference (NC) in September after the party decided not to contest the urban local body polls till the Centre made clear its position on Article 35-A of the Constitution, which has been challenged before the Supreme Court. The other prominent local party of the Kashmir People’s Democratic Party too had boycotted Municipal polls citing same reasons.

Junaid Azam Mattu was a prominent face in media due to his excellent writing and speaking skills. He started writing a widely regarded weekly column called ‘HOPE’ for the local English daily Greater Kashmir. The first column titled ‘Hopelessness is a Sin’ was published on November 6th, 2011

As a matter of fact , He contested the SMC election as Independent from four wards, winning from three of them and was announced as the mayoral candidate by Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone hours after the election results were declared on October 20.

It is worth pointing out here that the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the SMC with 16 seats but fell way short of 38, the number of seats required to take control of the corporation.

While the Peoples Conference had four, the BJP had five candidates elected to the corporation. There are 53 Independent corporators.

Mr Lone, who was a minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir from the BJP quota, is seen as instrumental in garnering support for Mr Mattu’s election, along with rebel PDP lawmaker and influential Shia leader Imran Raza Ansari.

However, Mr Mattu’s election as Mayor of the SMC has been clouded by remarks of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik during an interview to a private TV channel last month.

The pulse on ground zero is that voices hope that Junaid Mattu will change the face of historical Srinagar city towards betterment, which over the past few decades has seen bad governance destroying the beauty of city.

Junaid immediately tweeted : “Unfortunately most of our internal drainage systems are choked and hence dysfunctional. It is both an infrastructural as well as a management issue and will require a two pronged resolution. We have to resolve this issue permanently and effectively.”

One hopes Junaid Azam Mattu will change the direction of Srinagar in a Positive manner.

News Kashmir Exclusive

South Kashmir over past few years has assumed the point of no return as it has emerged the epicenter of mayhem , violence, killings and protests. This year alone we have seen killing of huge number of civilians near encounter sites in South Kashmir.

As a matter of fact, South Kashmir four districts have bore worst brunt of violence .  Pertinently, The four districts of south Kashmir have witnessed a higher level of militancy-related violence in the first eight months of this year with 139 deaths.

According to data, at least 263 persons—civilians, militants and forces’ personnel—were killed in militancy-related incidents across the Valley in first eight months this year.

Of 263 causalities, south Kashmir’s four districts—Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam—have borne the maximum brunt of violence with highest 139 deaths witnessed in the region alone.

On the other hand of the spectrum, the huge number of destructions, killings associated with large scale mayhem  has put the people of Kashmir in the enormous pain, to the extent with many now openly questioning the abnormal levels of bloodshed and especially the large number of youth killings this year in South Kashmir as fighters and civilians.

On the otherhand of the spectrum, Pain in Kashmir is now neither expressed by prose  nor poetry as words do not seem  to do any justice with what is going on. This bloodshed has disturbed mental balance and solace of heart. Even Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) has said that the suppression has become unbearable for the people in Kashmir. In this hour of tremendous grief, all the words and statements of condemnation and condolence sound very hollow at this scale of human tragedy that Kashmir is witnessing.

Gulzar Ahmed, a commoner states : “ South Kashmir is witnessing huge huge amount of bloodshed and devastation almost every day it is high time for each and every stakeholder to come forward and settle the burning issue of Kashmir once for all so that we do not see the painful bloodletting on daily basis . South Kashmir has been turned into a warzone and daily daily bloodshed does not augur well for any ”

The larger picture is that the continuous Bloodshed and violence has destroyed mental peace of common Kashmiris and also destroyed him or her on emotional levels, as loss of near and dear one means life-long trauma.

One hopes this brutalization of South Kashmir comes to abrupt end .

News Kashmir Exclusive

Kashmir is currently witnessing rivers of blood , encounters after encounters is giving rise to tremendous bloodshed . Just few days back ten people including seven civilians and three militants were killed in Kulgam.The officials said immediately after the gunfight ended and the forces withdrew from the spot, civilians rushed to the encounter site where an explosive substance went off resulting in death of seven civilians.

“Despite requests to not visit the spot till thorough search is done for explosives, several civilians visited the encounter site immediately after the operation. While they were there, some explosive substance went off, resulting in on spot death of a civilian and injuries to several others,” the official said.

Condemnations to the Kulgam tragedy poured from every side .

President of Anjuamn Shari Shian and senior separatist leader Aga Syed Hasan Almosvi Alsafvi has condemned the Kulgam killings and has termed it as “worst form of oppression.”

He stated :

“New Delhi India is using muscular power to crush the ongoing struggle.

The Kulgam massacre has pained every soul in Kashmir and it needs to be condemned at all cost. People of Kashmir can’t stay away from the ongoing struggle and their resolve can’t be broken up through muscular power. We have sacrificed everything for our cause and we will take it to the logical conclusion,” a spokesman of Anjuman quoted Aga Syed Hassan as having said in a statement.

Mirwaiz Umer Farooq  took to social media platform Twitter and tweeted : As we mourn the Martydom of Sabzar Sofi &Asif Gojri,each day we are losing educated youth to the obduracy &arrogance of NewDelhi who does not want to resolve Kashmir dispute but instead resorts to subjugation& repression,forcing our youth to a path of armed resistance& martyrdom.

On the otherhand, Former Chief Minister Mehbooba  Mufti told the Union Home Minister that in the past when bilateral relations improved, Jammu and Kashmir not only witnessed an era of minimal violence but also reconciliation and people’s active participation in democratic and developmental processes.

Expressing concern over the prevailing situation in the state, the PDP president also urged the Home Minister to ensure that civilian deaths and collateral damage during security operations are avoided at all costs.

The magnitude of the bloodshed is such that nearly 12 civilians and 35 militants have lost their lives in the first 25 days of October . Reality calls on all the stakeholders to initiate a meaningful dialogue to end this ugly and painful cycle of bloodshed in kashmir that is resulting in youth annihilation.

Immediate steps needed to trim the bloodshed are needed so as to heal humanity in kashmir.