News Kashmir Magazine

Pain in Kashmir has crossed all limits owing to violence occurred on account of lingering political conflict. Kashmir continues to burn in flames. For more than seven decades Kashmir, or Paradise on Earth as it is called, has suffered at length due to the extremely brutal  violence used  to quell the sentiment of masses for seeking a just solution to their centuries old conflict.

 

India  has time and again stated that it is the World’ biggest Democracy. But this assertion goes on much beyond mere size to a direct claim to be also the most moral democracy. How correct is this claim Of course, this unbelievable claim rests entirely upon the gross lack of knowledge and false pride of the Indian masses, who have been indoctrinated to make only an adoration of democracy and not seek its practical application on ground zero. Certainly, Kashmir nullifies this towering claim from every angle .Now, even sane Indian voices state that Kashmir is a “big blot on India’s democracy”.

 

Since 1988 over one lace civilians including women and children have died and many are opining that steps should be taken to address this bloodshed.

Democracy implies respecting the human rights of masses and allowing them to democratically vote to seek solution to their conflict, which in case of Kashmir is the democratically implied solution. Kashmir needs true democracy to mitigate its sufferings and pain

 

Pellet Gun has symbolized new face of oppression in Kashmir over the past few years. Loss of Vision, terrible injuries and often fatalities have been aftermath of deadly pellets fired from  pellet guns on humans of Kashmir.As a matter of fact, a pellet is a non-spherical projectile designed to be fired from an air gun. Air gun pellets differ from bullets and shot used in firearmsbecause of the pressures encountered: airguns operate at pressures as low as 50 atmospheres, while firearms operate at thousands of atmospheres.

Even during the current wave of unrest, the indiscriminate use of pellet gun is giving nightmare to people of Kashmir with analysis emerging that-“Pellet Guns Are Giving Kashmir’s Young & Restless A Dark Future”.

 

On the otherhand,Indian state proudly states  that it is the biggest democracy of  the world . But in Kashmir the behavior of state seems brutally unexplainable and this has turned Kashmir into a painful Concentration camp. We all know that Eyesight is the most precious gift bestowed to mankind from God but for people who have no sight or limited sight because of a birth defect, disease, or an accident, all of life’s experiences are dimmed and virtually meaningless. But in Kashmir the new method of torture invented has been shattering and destroying  eyesight via pellet guns thus ruining their entire world.

It is high time that voices of conscience in India wake up from the slumber and force their government to stop the use of brutal pellet gun in Kashmir.

World renowned and Popular qawwal Amjad Sabri was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Karachi’s Liaquatabad area on Wednesday, people belonging to all walks of life condemned the incident and mourned his death. The nation of Pakistan and his fans throughout the world are in shock over his killing by terrorists.

Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned terrorist attack in which famous Qawwal Amjad Sabri lost his life. The Prime Minister prayed for eternal peace for the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear this irreparabe loss. The Prime Minister directed the concerned to find the culprits behind this attack and bring them to task. Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif paid tributes to the services of Mr. Amjad Sabri for promotion of Qawwali in the country and said he will be immensely missed in times ahead.Others too expressed their grief .

It is worth mentioning here that Amjad Sabri was the nephew of qawwali icon Maqbool Sabri who passed away in 2011.

Maqbool Sabri along with his brother, the late Ghulam Farid Sabri, formed a formidable qawwali group in the mid-50s and became known for their soul-stirring renditions of arifana kalam (mystic poetry).

One hopes Pakistan will wake up from slumber to fight extremism.

The vacation of army land has always been a burning issue in Kashmir now with  Prime Minister Narendra Modi approving a Jammu and Kashmir government’s proposal for vacating nearly 458 Kanal of land in army’s possession for expansion of Kashmir University campus in Anantnag is seen as a historic step.

In this regard, Highly-placed sources said the prime minister, after his return from the five-nation tour, had called a meeting on Kashmir during which he asked the Defence Ministry to hand over the ‘high ground’ in Anantnag to the state at the earliest so that the expansion plan of south campus of Kashmir University can be carried out.

It is worth mentioning out here that during the meeting, the prime minister said the Centre is committed to all-round improvement of education in the state, official sources said.

One cannot miss out the fact that the army had in-principle been agreeable to vacating the land for quite some time but a decision by its headquarters got delayed.

Pertinently, the land that  is vacated s adjacent to south campus in Fatehgarh area near an army camp. It was being used by the army for landing helicopters despite the force having a similar facility at Khanabal, a few kilometres from there.

346.7 Kanals of land, which was earlier in the army’s possession, was transferred to the university in 2004.

Political watchers see this step of vacating army land for campus as historic.

Kashmir valley is known as paradise of earth on account of its unmatchable natural beauty .The lush green meadows, gorgeous mountains, streams, rivers in full flow and beautiful gardens define the great beauty of Kashmir. But, Kashmir is also a disaster- prone zone owing to its tough geographical terrain and unique topography.

What is worrying is that considering the ground level preparedness we do not seem to have desired level of efficiency in dealing with natural disasters both in terms of infrastructure and trained human resource.

Recently, Scientists have found that the Reasi fault near Jammu has been building up pressure for some time, suggesting that when it does release or “slip”, the resulting earthquake may be large — as much as magnitude 8.0 or greater.

 

Scientists started looking at this fault more closely following the 7.6-magnitude earthquake in 2005 on the nearby Balakot-Bagh fault in the Pakistan side of Kashmir, which was not considered particularly dangerous because it wasn’t on the plate boundary. The 2005 Kashmir earthquake killed about 80,000 people in Pakistan and India.

On the otherhand, our disaster management preparedness was also taken off guard in the 2014 floods and we were just saved by matter of luck.

The onus is on new government to look into this all important aspect and give full thrust on capacity building with reference to effective disaster management.

In what can be described  as a major shift in its Kashmir policy, the Narendra Modi government has said that the Hurriyat Conference (separatist) leaders are free to meet the representatives of any country in India.

Pertinently, the  Indian government had earlier cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan when the Pakistan’s High Commissioner, Abdul Basit, met Kashmiri separatist leaders.

At national level, Narendra Modi government’s approach towards Pakistan in ensuring better ties has invited sharp criticism from opposition parties in the country but praise from the world leaders.

Experts are it as a major  shift in its ‘Pakistan Policy’, of the government which has now decided to ‘compromise’ on its ‘most controversial’ point on Islamabad holding meetings with Hurriyat leaders.

In kashmir it has been widely welcomed, PDP Senior Leader and Spokesperson Rafi Ahmad Mir has said that PDP warmly welcomes the initiative taken by union government to allow Hurriyat to hold talks with Pakistan. Mir said that “we laud this confidence building measure by the government after sincere efforts of PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, this step will be a defining moment in the Indo-Pak relations.

Former Chief Minister and Senior Leader of National Conference Omer Abdullah has welcomed the government decision to allow Hurriyat leaders to meet Pakistani leadership.

The whole Kashmir valley was on edge few days back as after allegations of molestation of girl by army five civilians lost their precious lives in firing by security forces. Now to cool the tempers  bulldozers tore down four  army bunkers on Tuesday 19 April at Kashmir’s Handwara town, a week after a young cricketer and two others were killed in firing by security forces.

Pertinently, these  four bunkers set up 23 years ago in the north Kashmir town were razed by the administration. The army, which had refused to move out of the town, relented after “negotiations with the administration and the an intervention at the highest level at the state government and army command,” sources say.

It is worth mentioning here that as the main bunker came down in the heart of the town, locals immediately put up a banner naming the square after Nayeem Bhat, a 19-year-old cricketer who was killed in the firing last Tuesday.
It is a known veracity that locals in Kashmir have been long demanding the demilitarization of Kashmir as a tiny Kashmir valley cannot afford to much security forces. Many have stated that demilitarization of Kashmir completely  logically is not possible but to some extent it should be done.

Many voices are stating that removing of army bunkers in Handwara was a “good sign” and that the process needs to be extended to other parts of Kashmir too.

In a big blow to hopes of people of Kashmir men in uniform have once again resorted to civilian killings. A few days back as the events unfolded in North Kashmir Township of Handwara after the allegations of molestation  on the security forces lead to heavy protests and in action of security forces three precious lives were lost.

As the pro-freedom groups announced strike call the very next day one more precious lives was lost in Kupwara.

These killings are a setback to recently sworn in Government of first ever women  Chief Minister Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti.She too seems to be upset over all this.

 

Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, met the Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, at Delhi and discussed with him the unfortunate firing incident at Handwara yesterday in which three civilians, including a woman, were killed.

 

During the meeting, the Chief Minister called for a time-bound enquiry into the incident so that those responsible for the deaths are handed exemplary punishment. This, she said, will act as a deterrent against such incidents in future.

Mehbooba Mufti said such incidents shake the confidence of the people and adversely impact the efforts of the State government in consolidating peace dividends.

She said the loss of lives of the innocent civilians cannot be compensated by whatsoever means.

 

However, she urged the Defence Minister to announce adequate compensation to the families of the victims, who have suffered such an irreparable loss.

The Defence Minister assured the Chief Minister of a detailed time-bound probe to fix the responsibility in the firing incident at Handwara. The Chief Minister also discussed several other wide-ranging issues with Manohar Parrikar.

Pertinently, the Defense Minister assured Mehbooba Mufti, as regards the issues raised, early positive consideration by his Ministry.  One hopes a tough action is taken against those responsible for these innocent killings and these killings are stopped immediately.

Poison has been sold in name of food items in Kashmir. Once again the Khyber corporate house of Kashmir has bought the corporate of Kashmir shame by being convicted of selling unsafe milk products.
In this regard, Court declared Khyber milk unsafe, imposed fine and convicted nominated person of the company.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate Budgam on Monday held M/S Khyber Agro Farms Pvt Ltd guilty for selling substandard and unsafe milk. The court has imposed a fine of Rs 9 laks on the company and besides it has ordered six months imprisonment to the In-Charge Operations nominated by the said company. The court has also declared Food Analyst Kashmir either incapable or dishonest and has ordered for his immediate removal.

The court passed these directions in the case of State through Zeenat Ayoub Food Safety Officer area Budgam (complainant) V/s Incharge Operations nominated person for M/S Khyber Agro Farms Pvt Ltd, Muhammad Shafi Ganaie, son of late Ghulam Muhammad, resident of Repora Lar, Ganderbal and Ghulam Ali Khan, son of Ghulam Muhamamd, a resident of Wahdatpora Budgam, proprietor M/S Yaseem Provision Store main chowk Budgam.
It is high time all such corporate companies compromising with human health get the harshest possible punishment.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate Budgam Imtiaz Ahmed Lone in its judgement said: “this is not first case where it has come to the surface that the milk product manufactured by the accused company contains detergent, urea and other dangerous chemicals not only in milk but other edible products and in this behalf prosecution has been launched against the accused company and others. The accused company is facing similar cases before various courts,therefore, the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused company is ruled out. The apex court of the state has also taken cognizance suo moto against the product in question and the product is presently before the Honorable Supreme Court of the country, for the same offence.

One hopes the corporate of Kashmir maintains the desired principles and standards.

 

Life is a priceless gift from God.   Even when a human being has no material belongings, life will still be possessed.   In light of these observations, it is very rational and principled to believe committing suicide is dreadful because you are always better off than someone else out there. Why would you want to throw your life away?

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. Unfortunately, despite being the greatest vice, the suicide rate has increased alarmingly over the past few years in the Kashmir Valley. Just a few decades back, Kashmir was among few places across the globe with very low suicide rates. Paradoxically, over the past two decades the graph of suicides has run north. With the growing depression among masses owing to conflict and changing times the suicide rate has risen in Kashmir considerably enough. Many voices believe that the breakdown of institution of parenting being the single largest reason behind rising suicides

The other factors responsible for most of the suicides in the valley are unsuccessful love affairs, failure of students to meet the expectation of their parents.

The need of the time is to provide  strong counseling to depressed people to fight the pain and challenges of life. We have to understand that Pain is for the living, souls do not feel earthly pain as that is an experience that is reserved for when we are in our physical bodies, now, heartbreak is ruled by our emotional selves and the emotions primarily manifest on the astral plane, we need to recognize the loveliness of life and fight boldly with unfavorable situation rather than taking foolish and immoral step of ending our life. Life is a precious gift of Allah and we need to value it.