News Kashmir Magazine

Farzana Mumtaz

With the closure of strategic Jammu- Srinagar National Highway it has been a trend that airfares escalate and currently also due to closed highway due to snow fall and landslides we are  witnessing huge increase in airfare giving much trouble to commuters. A few years back, with the ease of airfare the travel to and from Kashmir for travelers had become affordable. But now since sometime, especially during the tourist season, closed road connectivity  the airfare skyrockets and as a result the different sectors of Kashmir especially tourism are hit hard

Kashmir is known globally as an acclaimed tourist destination. People from all over the world crave to have a glimpse of the natural beauty of Kashmir. The connectivity of Kashmir on account of tough geographical terrain gets in winters marred by the often road disruptions on account of bad weather which causes landslides and road blocks.   With train connectivity to Kashmir from Jammu still incomplete, air travel assumes that extra importance with reference to the tourists visiting Kashmir and also for travelers from Kashmir wishing to visit outside Kashmir for varied reasons.

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Bilal Bashir Bhat, Journalist states – “To boost the tourism where we see many significant decisions by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism department like conducting of winter festival at summer destination Pahalgam, the state seems unaware of the fact that the air ticket prizes are becoming a major cause for the tourists to choose another place for outing.

The Jammu and Kashmir Tourism department which is conducting several road shows, symposiums and seminars in different states of India aimed to boost the tourism sector in Kashmir which lost its sheen particularly after 2014 devastating floods following by the 2016 public uprising has yet failed to address the major issue of the unprecedented airfares particularly at a time of long intervals of road closing due to snowing which is considered main attraction of the tourists.”

Pertinently, all the voices are outraged at abnormal spike in airfare that takes place when highway gets closed. Junaid Azam Mattu, youth leader of National Conference tweeted to Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha – “Fare from Delhi to Srinagar more expensive than round-trip tickets to Dubai from Delhi. I thought @jayantsinha said it’s cheaper to fly than to take an auto rickshaw? Airlines can’t fleece people because we had two inches of snow in the Valley. Highway robbery as usual.”

Without doubt the pulse is that the huge spike in airfare every time national highway gets closed is throttling Kashmir and it needs to be checked .

 

News Kashmir

 

The attacks on the students of Jammu and Kashmir outside the state are continuing unabated without any headway seen in this regard. Even the year 2018 has started with attacks on students from the state especially the Kashmir valley in different parts of India .

 

Just few days back a student hailing from North  Kashmir’s Sopore area was allegedly beaten up by some fellow students near the campus of a private university in Haryana’s Ambala district, police stated . The latest unfortunate incident came close on the heels of a similar incident in which two university students, residents of Jammu and Kashmir, were allegedly beaten up by some people in Haryana’s Mahendragarh.

During the current Assembly session the issue of beating up of Kashmiri students has taken centerstage in the discussions.

Raising the issue in a strong tone,  Senior National Conference leader and MLA Khanyar Ali Mohammad Sagar has expressed deep concern over the continuous attacks on Kashmiris especially  students at places outside the state.

Ali Mohammad Sagar stated – “We have made it clear to the government that continuous attacks on Kashmiri students the recent example being attack at Ambala is having negative impacts on the overall situation and further vitiating the atmosphere and alienating the youth. Despite repeated assurances by the government that we are taking up the matter of security of Kashmiri students with home ministry and concerned Chief Ministers nothing concrete has happened as attacks are continuing”

Ali Mohammad Sagar also made it clear that a statement by Parliament member of BJP asking Muslims to go to Pakistan is of serious concern and we wanted debate on it but speaker disallowed so we walked out.

Syed Tajamul Imran, founder AJKSU and a youth activist stated – “ The series of constant attacks on the Kashmiri students outside the state has been a burning issue since many years now with students from Kashmir always at the receiving end. It is high time for the state and central governments to match their lofty words with some concrete actions in this regard. Assurances have been given every time without any follow up on them. Time has come to devise a concrete strategy to solve this serious issue hampering our youth . “

The saner pulse on the ground is that hooligan elements harming the Kashmiri students should be curbed and a clear cut vision displayed by the respective governments to solve this issue once for all.

News Kashmir Exclusive

 

 

The  lack of hope is all time high in the state of Jammu and Kashmir especially in the valley of Kashmir .Worsening situation with reference to escalating killings, very less growth in private sector , declining agriculture sector , downslide in tourism sector are defining the life of Kashmir these days and with these factors weighing heavily the youth are worst hit.

Reflecting on this lack of hope of people in Kashmir both expert voices as well as the common masses are  expressing deep anguish and calling upon all the stakeholders, leadership, authorities to engage in brainstorming sessions so as to develop effective policy that can bring back hope in the pain hit valley of Kashmir.

Young Journalist Bilal Bashir Bhat states –‘’ There is an absolute lack  of hope in our society. Recently When whole of the world was busy in  making certain resolutions on the arrival of New Year 2018, the downtrodden people of Kashmir are focusing, praying for long lasting peace and prosperity. The annual gory statistics based on annihilation, pain, tragedies, anger, suffocation and fear psychosis has become a routine which needs to be ended, dreams every Kashmir cutting across the political ideologies. With PDP BJP government taking the reins of power the hope has been dashed to large extent further as situation with every week is going from bad to worse . It was unfortunate to note that like last several years, the images emanating from Kashmir in 2017 were not of its picturesque resorts but wailing Kashmiris mourning the death of around 400 precious human lives, including those of over 200 militants. One hopes this current atmosphere of absolute hopelessness is put to end .”

Even in the year 2018 when the entire world is thinking of making new discoveries or undertaking some more leaps towards the scientific and technological advancements the Kashmir is  mourning and drenched in tears of blood .South Kashmir has emerged as synonym of pain and grief ,with relentless protests and bearing the worst brunt of atrocities perpetrated by all the sides .

The pulse on the ground zero is that there are not many lucrative opportunities for the youth to engage themselves  meaningfully “ We believe that this and all the former governments have not been able to create good number of employments opportunities and the worst impacted are we the unemployed youth of Kashmir. Uncertain , violent situation of Kashmir  and chronic unemployment is killing the hope of youth,” stated Manzoor Ahmad, a youth.

Realities are calling upon the state government to speed up the efforts to ensure hope is restored in Kashmir and smile is returned back to sad faces.

 

 

News Kashmir Desk

In a move that is drawing widespread condemnation and outrage, The JK government recently has added a sub-rule in the Jammu and Kashmir Government Employees Conduct rules which states that no government employee shall engage in any criminal, dishonest, immoral or notoriously disgraceful conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to the government.

 

“They shall also not use their personal social media accounts for any political activity or endorse the posts or tweets or blogs of any political figure,” the rule states. The employees shall also not use their accounts in a manner that could reasonably be construed to imply that the government endorses or sanctions their personal activities in any manner whatsoever, it said. The order said that the employees shall also not post inflammatory, extraneous messages in an online community with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response.

Kashmir and restrictions on social media are nothing new as internet services being snapped on several occasions to curb unrest has been a common feature . During the month of May the state government directed internet service providers to block 22 social networking platforms to clamp down on tensions spurring clashes between security forces and civilians.

Both on online and real world outrage against the order was witnessed. Shafat Farooq, a journalist wrote ”

Dear Netizens, in view of this recent government gag order for its employees, please brace up for more Angel Priya, Charming princess accounts. Remember: any Dady’s princess account could be Gafoor Bhai in real. Thanks”

Shah Faesal , the famed IAS officer in a comic tone criticized the order in comic tone on facebook articulating his feelings in critical  language  -”

“Heard that government employees will be subjected to foot whipping for operating Facebook (account). From now on I will use coded language to update,” Faesal, the first Kashmiri to top the civil services examination in 2009, wrote on his Facebook page, hours after the government issued the gag order

An employee pleading anonymity stated – ”The order of the government curbing our freedom of speech is an onslaught on democracy. It is  a bizarre 16-page order titled “Social Media Usage Policy for Government Employees” issued by the state’s general administration department on Tuesday, which invokes new ‘guidelines’ having been made into law by Governor NN Vohra, specifying how over we the more than 4.8 lakh government employees in the state must behave on social media. This is clear violation of democracy and killing freedom of speech.”

The  move to regulate Social Media activity of the government employees is drawing flak from every quarter.

News Kashmir Analysis

2017 remained another high-voltage year of happenings and sad developments that defined the buzz on street in Kashmir .We analyze the top five developments that impacted Kashmir in year 2017.

NIA raids against separatists and others

In June this year, NIA had carried out searches at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in the national capital in connection with terror funding. Around eight hawala dealers and traders in the national capital were also raided. The raids and arrests related to it continued for several months.

 

Six Hurriyat members were arrested from Srinagar and one was nabbed from Delhi. Among those arrested, six of them including Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah (also known as Altaf Fantoosh), Geelani’s close aides Nayeem Khan, Merazuddin Kalwal and Pir Saifulla, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar, and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq’s close aide and spokesperson Shahid-ul-Islam were arrested in Srinagar. Farooq Ahmed Dar alias ‘Bitta Karate’ was arrested in Delhi.

At the yearend many leaders, businessmen continued to remain in Jail in what NIA termed its effort to curb terror and violence in Kashmir.

Braid chopping

Braid chopping was yet another burning issue faced by Kashmir in year 2017 and it remained intense in months of September and October.”Braid-chopping” attacks  had resulted in protests across the region.

At least 200 women in Kashmir had reported being attacked by masked men resorting to braid chopping.

The women had claimed that the attackers sprayed chemicals on their faces and left them unconscious. Upon waking up, they found their hair had been chopped off.

Review Of Article 35A, Key to J&K’s Special Status

The politics over the article 35 a which grants special status to the Jammu and Kashmir state was another dominating development defining debates on Kashmir. A case over whether Jammu and Kashmir can keep its right to decide who qualifies as a permanent resident of the state has  been taken for hearing by the Supreme Court  and would be taken again in January-end next year.

Intrestingly during last hearing The  Central government had cited the recent appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as its interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, saying the top court’s hearings in the politically volatile and emotive one could have some impact on the government’s initiative. The case is being heard by three judges including Chief Justice Dipak Mishra.

Operation  against militants

 

‘Operation All-Out’, an offensive launched by the security forces against militants in year 2017 that killed more than 210 militants  and security forces stated that it would continue till there was complete peace in the state.”The people of Kashmir will feel peace very soon,”. the top cops have maintained .

During these encounters scores of civilians also lost their lives in firing by security forces on protesters.

Farzana Mumtaz

“Our govt will be regularizing 60,000 daily wagers & casual labourers working in various departments in J&K to provide sustainable livelihoods to those who need it the most,” tweeted Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti few days back, which many have seen a big stride towards solving this complicated and serious issue .

Daily Wagers and Casual Labourers have become symbols of agitation over the past few decades owing to their unfulfilled demands.

 

 

Some years back the state Finance ministry stated that 61,446 casual/seasonal /need-based employees were engaged in as many as 31 government departments.The reply added that at present wage rate of such workers was Rs 150 per day however in someDepartments,

The need-based and part-time workers were being paid consolidated wages at varying rates.

Importantly, this  reply also contained  department-wise number of such employees with Public Health Engineering-Irrigation and

Flood control (PHE/I&FC) department alone employing 23711

followed by Forest Department (7171), R&B (6692), Agricultureproduction (4383) and Housing and Urban Development(3922). In a worrying development despite the  state government imposing  a blanket ban on appointment of daily wagers on several instances, these people were engaged by various departments under different names such as casual workers and need-based workers.

After the State was burdened with huge appointments of daily wagers by polity that lacked foresight , what followed was the Lack of concrete policy on daily wagers, no regularization policy, huge delay in payment of salaries has defined the plight of daily wagers. With crisis growing into a disaster Daily Wager issue was among the  serious issue that has been surfacing as a very big headache  for the state administration and successive governments.

Importantly, The panel headed by Chief Secretary BB Vyas submitted its report to the finance department in October, stating that the total number of workers engaged in 31 departments under 15 different categories, including casual labourers and seasonal workers, was 1,00,501.

Syed Mohammad Haadi, an expert voice on it stated  “We should all welcome the decision of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to regularize the daily wagers as agitation was becoming only means for these daily wagers over past many years .The daily wagers have faced great number of serious issues mainly due to very meager amount paid and that too after much delays .One is hopeful that the recent policy decision from the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti will be implemented in letter and spirit. Once the daily wage issue is solved with great vision and pragmatics it will take state to new level of transparency.’’

One hopes there would be light at the end of dark tunnel on byDaily wage issue with announcement on daily wage issue by CM.

 

 

 

 

News Kashmir Analysis

(The age in which we live can only be characterized as one of barbarism. Our civilization is in the process not only of being militarized, but also being brutalized. Alva Myrdal).

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December every year.

The date was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights and one of the first major achievements of the new United Nations. The formal establishment of Human Rights Day occurred at the 317th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on 4 December 1950, when the General Assembly declared resolution 423(V), inviting all member states and any other interested organizations to celebrate the day .

 

Humanity in Kashmir has been brutalized ever since the political conflict of Kashmir took a violent turn .. Heart-wrenching stories are all alike around Kashmir – . Hundreds of humans lost their lives during this year too and mothers wailing over their dead sons or wives mourning over their husbands killed has been a scene since many decades in Kashmir  .

As a matter of fact, almost every day  the heartrending images  of Kashmir conflict are seen in the print media and in some sections of the satellite television medium.

Yesterday , was never  different in kashmir as bloodshed is  visible quiet clearly in every nook and corner of Kashmir.

 

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No doubt, human rights are crushed. It has also been an established fact that many cases of human rights violation stem from abuse of power under repressive laws and under undue use of gun.  Sometimes even for  acts that are legitimized by international human rights standards of free speech, freedom of association and assembly, and freedom of the press are met with highhandedness.  While many arrests are without any legal justification and Shamefully, even corpses have been beaten up in Kashmir which is quiet heart rending.

Bilal Bashir Bhat, a journalist stated -“We need to respect human rights and as we all know the situation with reference to burning issue of human rights has not been that much promising thus realities call upon the Indian state to be more serious in taking to task those who have abused power and violated human rights of kashmiris.”

Clearly, the latest cycle of tremendous  violence in the troubled valley is a stark reminder that more than seven  decades after independence of both India and Pakistan, the troubled  territory of Kashmir remains as volatile as ever and as a result human rights suffer .Mood on ground zero clearly indicates that that until a permanent solution to the Kashmir crisis is found, normalization of ties between Pakistan and India will not be possible and peace can also  be not achieved .

News Kashmir Exclusive

Global Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992. It has been celebrated with varying degrees of success around the world . The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. It was originally called “International Day of Disabled Persons” until 2007. Each year the day focuses on a diverse issue related to the Specially-abled humans.

 

 

According to rough estimates there are about 4.5 lakh specially-abled persons in Jammu and Kashmir.  According to activist and opinions expressed by specially- abled in the state they suffer a lot   due to government apathy  .Specially- abled   humans are facing a large number of  problems as there are very few facilities for them and thus their families are suffering every sort of trouble.

Sameer Ahmad, an specially – abled person states  – “It is quiet heartbreaking to point out that the overall condition of specially-abled  persons and other handicaps is quiet troublesome in our state. Successive governments have failed us so the  state Government especially the state social welfare department should wake up and gear up its efforts to improve the conditioning  with reference to it . We also need  a comprehensive proposal and roadmap formulated by the State Government and supported by  the Government of India for securing necessary funding for undertaking a survey of all physically challenged persons in the State so that targeted intervention programmes could be planned and implemented  and we also should have at authority level the concern about sensitivities of Specially abled persons taken into consideration while developing infrastructure . Our buildings especially the many government institutes lag the infrastructure that can cater to the needs of the specially- abled persons especially like building friendly ramps.”

On the otherhand of the spectrum, the association  of specially-abled have also stated that they be provided the  financial assistance  that is upto the mark with the needs of time and  relaxation should be granted when it comes to recruitment or promotion. Activists and associations also demand that  specially-abled  in Government service may kindly be posted under five kilometer parameters and while granting ration cards, instead the income of the family, the income of the Disabled persons should be taken into consideration.

In nutshell, we need to go a long way in proving the best atmosphere to persons with disabilities .