Monday, 30 September 2019

India, Pak armies exchange fire along LoC in Poonch

Srinagar

The armies of India and Pakistan on Tuesday exchanged fire along the Line of Control in in Shahpur and Kirni sectors of Poonch district, IANS reported.

“There was unprovoked firing of small arms and mortar shelling from the Pakistani side at around 7.45 a.m. Indian troops retaliated to the shelling. No casualties or injuries have been reported,” an Army official told newsagency IANS.

Quoting sources news agency IANS said, a Border Security Force trooper was injured in Monday’s firing.



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JMI Extends Last Date Of Admission For J&K Students

Srinagar

The Jamia Millia Islamia has extended the last date for admission to the university for students from Jammu and Kashmir owing to the “communication gap” that ensued following the abrogation of Article 370 provisions for the state, reports quoted officials as having said.

Reports said that the date has been extended to October 10, according to a letter written by the varsity registrar to resident commissioner, Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

“The Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia is pleased to extend the admission date up to October 10, 2019, for the students of J&K who could not report in time to complete the admission formalities. Now, the affected students of J&K can submit the applications to the office of the Resident Commissioner, J&K till 10 October, 2019,” the letter said.

In a letter written to Jammu and Kashmir resident commissioner by the varsity’s registrar on September 26, it was mentioned that a number of students had approached the university authorities for admission.

It appears that they have applied and appeared in the entrance examination but “failed to see the result due to which they could not report in time to complete the admission formalities”, the varsity said.

The Jammu and Kashmir governor had also desired that such cases of the students be taken up to redress their grievances, the letter said.

“It is appropriate that the office of the Resident Commissioner, J&K act as Nodal Office to collect all the applications of such candidates who were in the merit list but could not complete the admission formalities due to the communication gap owing to prevailing situation in the State w.e.f. 05 August. 2019,” the varsity wrote in the letter.

Earlier, the date for contacting the resident commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir was October 1 but the varsity on Monday extended it to October 10.

According to an official of the varsity, the resident commissioner will submit the list of students who were shortlisted for admission, and then a committee will check their names with its records and accordingly they will be granted admission.

“The names of students will be tallied with the names that were shortlisted on the basis of entrance examinations and those students will then be contacted,” the media outlets quoted the official as having said.



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Only 200-250 people put under preventive detention in J&K: Ram Madhav 

Srinagar

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav has stated that during the abrogation of Article 370, around 2000-2500 people were under preventive detention in Jammu and Kashmir but now only 200-250 are under preventive detention.

“Today in Jammu and Kashmir only 200-250 people are under preventive detention in view of the law and order. They have been kept under preventive detention respectfully, some in five-star guest houses, some in five-star hotels,” Asian News International quoted Madhav as having said.

“I would also like to say that 200-250 people have been put under preventive detention and there has been peace in Kashmir for two months. You can understand what do the people of Kashmir want and what these 200-250 people want,” he added.

Madhav further asserted that in 1994, a “unanimous decision was taken that the only point left to discuss with Pakistan is when they will handover Pakistan-adminisatered Kashmir (PAK) to India.”

“Only outstanding issue between India and Pakistan with respect to Kashmir is the status of Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PAK),” Asian News International quoted Madhav as having said.



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Last date for filing objections, collection of admit cards extended for SKIMS posts

Srinagar

According to the Administrative Officer, SKIMS Medical College, all the concerned candidates who have applied for the posts of Junior System Engineer (IT), Anesthesia Assistant, Physiotherapist, OT Technician, Junior Theatre Assistant and Assistant Librarian are informed that last date for filing of objections with regard to their ineligibility for the said posts is extended from September 30, 2019 to October 03, 2019.

Further, the Administrative Officer said that to conduct written test for the aforementioned posts, last date for collection of roll number slips/admit cards has been extended from October 01, 2019 to October 04, 2019 upto 12:30 pm.



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CET at JAKLI Regimental Centre Srinagar on Oct 26

Srinagar

Written test for Soldier General Duty, Soldier Technical, Soldier Clerk/Store Keeper Technical and Soldier Nursing Assistant categories of qualified candidates who have been declared medically fit at recently conducted recruitment rallies shall be held on October 26, 2019 at JAKLI Regimental Centre, Rangret Srinagar.

Earlier, the entrance exam was scheduled on October 27, 2019. Due to change in the date of entrance exam, admit cards would be issued to the candidates before October 20, 2019.



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Northern Army Commander Visits Forward Areas Of Eastern Ladakh

Srinagar

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command visited forward areas of Eastern Ladakh today and reviewed operational preparedness being maintained in the sector, a Northern Command Defence spokesman said.

Northern Army Commander Visits Forward Areas Of Eastern Ladakh

He was accompanied by Lt Gen YK Joshi, General Officer Commanding, Fire & Fury Corps, said the spokesman.

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh interacted with troops deployed at forward posts and complimented them on their state of readiness, he said.

He appreciated the tenacity and high standards of professionalism displayed by all ranks in extreme terrain conditions. He exhorted them to remain vigilant, uphold the high traditions and standards of professionalism of the Army, said the spokesman.



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Pleas challenging Art 370 abrogation:SC hearing today

Srinagar

A five-judge Supreme Court Constitution Bench on Tuesday will hear a clutch of petitions challenging the ongoing lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir and other related matters.

On Monday, the court had postponed the hearings by a day and said the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi did not have the time to hear the pleas.

“We don’t have time to hear so many matters,” reports quoted Gogoi as having said. “We have a Constitution Bench [Ayodhya dispute] case going on… These petitions will be heard by the Kashmir Bench.”

Reports said that Justices NV Ramana, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, Bhushan Gavai and Surya Kant are part of the Kashmir Bench. The pleas have challenged the communication blockade in the state, the alleged illegal detention of children, and the impact of restrictions on healthcare. The court will also take up a new petition filed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami challenging the validity of the revocation of the state’s special status.

The Supreme Court referred a plea filed by Kashmir Times Executive Editor Anuradha Bhasin and an application by child rights expert Enakshi Ganguly and Shanta Sinha to the Bench. In her affidavit, Anuradha Bhasin claimed that the “information blackhole” in the Kashmir Valley was still continuing. In an additional affidavit on September 4, Bhasin had said that despite the administration’s claims that restrictions were being withdrawn, movement of journalists in Srinagar was being curbed.

On August 28, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre and the state administration to respond to the petition within seven days, reported scroll.in.

Earlier, on August 16, the court had said it would like to give the government a little more time to review the situation.



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All Schools will open on Oct 03; Colleges to open by Oct 09 in valley: Div Com

Srinagar

The Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan today directed all Deputy Commissioners and concerned officers to ensure that all government schools as well as private institutions upto Higher Secondary level of the valley be open by Thursday, October 03 and Colleges to open by or before Oct 09 across the valley.

He also directed them to hold Parent-Teacher meet on October 01 in all Schools across the valley and also finalize all the modalities for opening schools and colleges in coordination with district administration across Kashmir Division.

During the meeting, it was informed that Medical Colleges and Dental College are already functioning smoothly and their Students are appearing in Exams without any inconvenience.

Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal, Director Information & Public Relations Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar, DIG (central), SSP Srinagar, Directors of School Education & Colleges, Additional Commissioner Kashmir, Assistant Commissioner (central), Principals of all Schools & Colleges and other concerned officers were present in the meeting while as other Deputy Commissioners of the valley participated the meeting via video conferencing, said an official statement.



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Tuesday, 24 September 2019

Briefing

SHAHNAWAZ AALAM (July 1958- September 2019)

Jammu and Kashmir’s top Rural development academician, Prof ShahnawazAalam, 61, died On September 17. Cancer in his lungs was detected in February last and for the last seven months he was shuttling between various hospitals within and outside Kashmir. For the last three days of his life he was communicating by writing only. He was laid to rest on September 18 at their ancestral graveyard at KakMohallaNowhatta near Naqshband Sahib.

Aalm was a professor at the Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development (IMPARD), a multi-disciplinary institution where government trains its human resources and initiates key policy studies. Since his appointment in IMPARD in 1987, Aalam trained a few generations of officers, elected representatives and might have done as many as 300 policy and background papers for the government.

Born to Ahmadullah Shah, A Waqf Board employee, he was the youngest of his three brothers – KhursheedAalam (politician), MuzaffarAalam (a retired government employee), and SartajAalam (a Delhi based businessman). They have three sisters as well one of whom is wife of AbulRouf, former JK Bank President.

Aalam did his masters, pre-doctorate and PhD from the University of Kashmir. His thesis was on Kashmir agrarian economy under Prof Bashir Ahmad Khan.

His colleagues remember him as the most popular faculty, an honest intellectual, an impressive trainer and a knowledgeable mentor. He was the main driving force behind the J&K EDI having a sprawling structure outside the confines of Rajbagh, where it was initially supposed to operate from. He even drafted the SKEWPY, the main policy for which EDI is known for.

A liberal, Aalam was a silent helper to the needy – his colleagues say some still visit his IMPARD chambers, a voracious reader and mutton-eater; he knew English, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and Kashmiri and was a class singer to his classmates. His wife is a homemaker. He is survived by two sons – Mohsin (works for JK Bank), and Shuib (still in his 12th class), and a daughter who is settled.

Authorities drove his elder brother from jail on January 18, morning and permitted him to be part of the burial and funerals. By around 6 pm, he was driven back to the Centaur Lake View Hotel, where Kashmir’s political class is in custody since August 5. Two days later, he was sent home on parole for four more days.

Aalam lived his life like a king. For his entire career, he did not avail an official vehicle. In run up to September 2014 floods, he spent literally one month in personally cleaning the IMPARD like a labourer. In 2013, almost four years ahead of his superannuation, the always smiling Aalam submitted his papers for voluntary retirement. His request was not accepted. Finally he resigned in December 2016, when he still had 18 months to go. Post-retirement, he turned down at least three major consultancy offers – two had come from the central government, insisting that he wishes to spend time with his family. Though he died in a hospital, he lived up to his words – he stayed with his family and in last three days would communicate by writing notes. He literally wrote his death. Before he stopped talking, he would sing the famous ghazal: AayKatib-e-TaqdeerItnaTouBataday,  Kya Main Nay KiyaHai, KyounMuj Say KhafaHai.

SRINAGAR

While the Supreme Court has permitted Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to visit Kashmir, the governor’s administration has sent back former BJP minister YashwantSinha back from Srinagar airport. However, his three colleagues’ journalist Bharat Bhushan, civil society members KapilKak and SushobaBharve were permitted in. Sinha leads the Concerned Citizen’s Group on Kashmir. At the airport, Sinha was served an order terming him to be a “threat to maintenance of public order” and quickly another order directed him to fly back. Sinha told reporters in Delhi that he defied the restrictions but instead of arresting him, he was forcibly put on a Delhi flight.

DELHI

After being denied permission, Communist leader Sitaram Yechury finally took the Supreme Court help in flying his ailing comrade Yousuf Tarigami to Delhi. Now Targami has become the first Kashmir politician to open his mouth almost 40 days after the clampdown. “This is a Kashmiri, an Indian speaking. We must also get the chance to live,” Tarigami was quoted saying in Delhi. “We only ask you to take us along. An average Kashmiri asks for nothing, we don’t ask for the stars, we don’t ask for the heavens. We just want the chance to merge with you.” He further said: “All they say is that no one is dying. People are dying slowly. There is suffocation. And that’s why I appeal, not to the rulers to whom my voice may not reach, but to the common public and the poor that we also want to live. We must also get the chance to live.”

RAFIABAD

Nazir Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Rafiabad, spent days in Srinagar to seek help in getting his son-in-law freed. Tanveer Ahmad and Bhat’s daughter were supposed to marry on September 8; weeks after their nikah took place. However, a day after the abrogation of Article 370, Ahamd, a Sarpanch was arrested by police and moved to a jail in UP. Now his father in law is trying to seek some support. He is carrying the nikahnama to explain his crisis. Bhat wants his release for wedding so that it enables his daughter to go her home so that she can take care of his ailing parents.

MUZAFFARABAD

For many it was a windfall. Days after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the Pakistan administered Kashmir; the local government announced “generous” allowances to its employees. The Utility Allowance for Civil Secretariat officers is up to Rs 20,000. A special allowance up to fifty percent of the basic pay was announced for all the twenty pay scales.

DELHI

Syed Mubarak Hussain, a US based neuroscientist and LS Shashidhara of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) joined hands to help the students who missed their deadline in fresh admissions across the world. They have identified the case and are making requests to the universities to retain the berths for the Kashmir students. Hussain has said that some Kashmiri students who had confirmed admissions under China Scholarship Council have missed the bus because of communication blockade. Professor Shashidhara, currently with Ashoka University, has written to many universities so that the students do not miss the precious year. Hussain said they have helped 400 students by raising money from their pockets to fund the fees as students were unable to access their parents.

RUSSIA

Their battles apart, India and Pakistan have not changed their off shore. The armies of India and Pakistan have joined their counterparts in Russia in multinational counterterrorism military drills. China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has organized the exercises in Orenburg. SCO was established in 2001, with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its founding members. Last year India and Pakistan had participated in the SCO anti-terror military drills, also hosted by Russia, after becoming full members of the organization in June 2017. India and Pakistan armies have also been working together in UN peacekeeping missions.

DELHI

Kashmir’s longest serving governor N N Vohra has not spoken a single word on Kashmir when he released David Devadas’s The Story of Kashmir in Delhi. He was asked pointed questions about his assessment but he did not respond. He did find “critical gaps” in the book, however. Vohra who took over as Kashmir governor at the peak of 2008 unrest and was replaced by Satya Pal Malik, a decade later, was the person who had met every single legal expert in India on Article 370 and submitted a detailed report to then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

CHANDIGARH

Punjab is the only state that recently witnessed a series of protests over the abrogation of Article 370. After a few Punjab-based outfits under the banner of Kashmiri KaumiSangharshSamarthanSamiti decided to hold a protest at the Dussehra Ground, police imposed Section 144. Police stopped the protesters from reaching the Mohali venue. However, symbolic protests were reported in 14 districts by BhartiKisan Union (Ugrahan). Some protesters like in Ropar breached the security siege and blocked highways. They burnt effigies of Prime minister and Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh. “People of Kashmir were not asked about their choices before removal of Article 370 and 35-A which is against the written agreement,” Jhanda Singh, president of the BKU (Ugrahan) was quoted saying. “Rather, after its removal, restrictions have been imposed in Kashmir with claims that all is good in Kashmir.” A few days later, a delegation of Sikh activists attempted getting into Jammu and Kashmir. They were stopped on the state border and sent back.

New York

PM Narendra Mdoi

Part of the Kashmir tamasha would be outside the UN General Assembly. The Gates Foundation, world’s largest private nonprofit run by Microsoft promoters Bill and Melinda Gates are honouring Prime Minister NarendraModi by conferring him its annual Goalkeepers Global Goals Award for providing 500 million people in India safer sanitation. Lot of people opposes the idea. Justice For All coalition has delivered 100,000 petition signatures to the Foundation’s Seattle headquarters on September 16. Some big names have dropped out. Actors JameelaJamil (The Good Place) and Riz Ahmed have pulled out of the ceremony. Executive director of the Polis Project SuchitraVijayan and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Arjun Singh Sethi have written in The Washington Post against the award being given to Modi. But the Foundation is going ahead and it is expected to lead to protests. The event coincides with the UN General Assembly gathering.

There is also another event on September 22, when Modi will appear at the Howdy Modi event to be attended by 50,000 Indian Americans in Texas. US president Donald Trump will also attend the meeting and focus is expected to be on trade.

These events are taking place at a time when the White House is under pressure to ease the tensions between India and Pakistan. As many as seven lawmakers have top American diplomats in India and Pakistan to help the two countries de-escalate on Kashmir. “This presents tremendous danger to global peace and a clear national security risk for the United States,” Congressmen Donald Beyer, Raul Grijalva, Alan Lowenthal, Andy Levin, Ted Lieu, James McGovern and Ilhan Omar have written. “Pakistan and India are both valued allies, crucial to our interests in the region, including the Afghanistan peace process.” They have specifically mentioned US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster, and Chargé d’ Affaires of US Embassy in Pakistan Paul W. Jones “to do everything in your power” to get Indian authorities to release detainees taken on arbitrary pretexts, end the communications blackout, allow press access, and “emphasize the centrality of Kashmiri voices in determining the future of Jammu and Kashmir.”

This could be yet another reason for Trump to keep talking on Kashmir. He told reporters that he will meet both Indian and Pakistani premiers in the next few days while claiming that “a lot of progress is being made” in defusing tensions. “I’ll see Prime Minister Modi and I will — we’ll — be meeting with (prime ministers of) India and Pakistan,” said Trump, adding: “And I think a lot of progress is being made there, a lot of progress.” Modi and Khan are scheduled to address the UN on September 27 in New York.

But the situation has pushed the Indian diplomacy to the extremes. Right now, newspaper commentaries suggest, they are trying their best to douse the flames within the American politics and the civil rights workers to ensure that the event is incident free.

This has become all the more important because in anticipation of the UN speeches, slated for September 27, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres insisting that dialogue between India and Pakistan “is an absolutely essential element for the solution of the [Kashmir] problem.” His spokesman quoted him saying: “Well, our capacity is related to good offices, and good offices can only be implemented when the parties accept it. And, on the other hand, it relates to advocacy, and the advocacy was expressed and will be maintained”.



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1853: A Tourist On Foot

An unknown Englishman has penned in his peculiar language his long trek from Shimla to Srinagar via Tibet on foot in the summer of 1853, years after the notorious Treaty of Amritsar

A photograph of 1920 shows the Kashmiri professionals taking the tourists to Gulmarg in palkis.

A photograph of 1920 shows the Kashmiri professionals taking the tourists to Gulmarg in palkis.

I started fromSimla on the 7th of May last, to wander in the mountains for six months, and as I wished to travel for the sake of convenience, and to save trouble, I determined to walk all the way, and now I am glad of it, for a pony would have been a source of constant anxiety over the line of country I travelled.

I left Simla and proceeded by regular marches to Chenie. I found it hard work at first, not being used to such severe exercise, but the beautiful scenery and magnificent mountains made one forget the fatigue when viewing such things after the day’s march. I started on my journey with the intention of going into Tibet, Iskardo, and then on to this lovely spot; rather a long journey you may say, but a very delightful one I have found it.

Soon after leaving Chenie you lose all the fine wooded mountains, and enter on a new kind of country, a tree seldom to be seen, some of the passes were very fine. I have now been over ten, but the Parang is the highest; it has an elevation of 18,725 feet, six miles of snow to get over, but I quite enjoyed it all; some of the men suffered from snow blindness for a few days after. From this Parang Pass I proceeded for sixteen days through a country without inhabitants I may say, for I do not think I saw twice that number of people; there are no villages, and only a few Tartars, who bring down their flocks to feed on the young and scanty herbage for a few weeks. The elevation of this line of country ranges between 15,000 and 10,000 feet; to me it was a delightful climate, but many people find a difficulty in breathing.

I was delighted with the Chumerari Lake, sixteen miles by about four; but even at the end of June, when I was there, much ice was floating about it. About this neighbourhood I saw the wild horse, a small animal of a light chestnut colour, and not higher than fourteen hands. The water of the lake is 15,200 feet above the sea, so you may fancy how cold it was. I had to carry all my supplies of course for myself and coolies, but six marches beyond the lake I got into an inhabited country. We had nothing to cook with but a small kind of stinking shrub, called by the natives Dama, and occasionally that failed, when we were obliged to collect the dung of the Yak.

The Tibet mountains have great charms for me, notwithstanding they are quite bare; it enables one to judge more of the mighty work which surrounded me. On the passes, I was struck with the total silence that prevailed, and when thus perched up so many thousands of feet, looking over ranges of mountains, one cannot help being struck with awe at viewing such mighty works, and what an insignificant being man then appears. I never had the thermometer lower than 24, but that was low enough you will say; however, the Tibet climate is so dry, rain seldom falling, that I did not find it too cold; a short walk soon made me warm.

I visited the salt lake on my way to Leh, a dreary-looking spot. I was much pleased with Leh, and remained there four days. I was too early in the season, as the caravans from Yarkund had not arrived, so I got scarcely anything to purchase. A few Chinese reside there; but these Sikhs are the pest of the country. I left Leh on the 3rd of July, and had a pleasant scramble until I got here. The last five marches was down the Scinde valley; a more lovely spot you cannot conceive; seldom in England have I seen such lovely scenery; the first view of this valley disappoints you; the want of wood is the chief cause; but after being here a few days I was quite enchanted with the whole place.

There are upwards of one hundred officers here, and scattered about the valley. We are encamped generally in the fine gardens on the banks of the Jelum. This river runs through part of the city, and canals from it intersect the place in all directions, consequently boats are the order of the day. Every person keeps one, for which you pay monthly Rs 2; for each man. They use paddles, and push along at a great pace. It is rather a lively scene of an evening when all the gentlemen turn out in their boats.

I have of course been to see all the sights here, but I shall not attempt to describe anything; I could not do justice to all I see. You must get hold of Vigne’s book on Cashmere; there you will find a true and faithful account of all; even he has not overdrawn the beauties of this valley.

We ought never to have let Goolab Sing have this country; what a colony it would soon have been of Englishmen! You do not feel as if you were in India, the climate delightful, almost perpetual spring. I am going to start in a day or two for the large lake, some twenty miles down the river, and after seeing the country about Baramula, I return here so as to make a start homewards the first week of next month. I never was in such a cheap place; for one rupee you get eight ducks or chickens, flour and atta 37 seers, eggs 250, fine mutton 12 seers, fish and vegetables for a mere trifle, but there is great temptation among the shawl merchant’s shops, and I fancy our countrymen spend a great deal with them; it is rather pleasant going shopping in a boat, the papiermache’ work is by no means bad here.

There are four ladies here, but I fancy every season now will add to the number; the only drawback to the place is the mosquitoes, but they are only annoying just at this season. No dust, and but little wind, everything looks charming; 1 shall very much regret leaving such a spot.

(The travelogue was lifted from Allen’s Indian Mail, a British publication, dated October 31, 1853.)



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Lending: Managing Price, Risk

Credit in conflict areas is expensive because it involves risk. But the government can rediscover its subsidies set up and invest a bit of it in offering credit guarantees for making banks comfortable in altering a stunted growth

Imagine a customer sitting in front of a credit manager in any of the banks in J&K and asking for a loan. The standard first response of the manager would be; “can you provide guarantee of a government employer?” This typical sample conversation explains the predicaments of banks operating in J&K, the hassles faced by customers and implications on credit pricing.

Banks primarily deal with money and earn their profits by lending money against a cost. Lending in a conflict area like J&K is a risky business because uncertainty, lockdowns, curfews  and sometimes weather stall normal business growth and impact the repayment capacities of the borrowers. That is why banks show reluctance to lending in conflict areas and resort to such mitigation measures which have no relation with the business plans of the customers. Seeking mortgages of disproportionate immoveable property to secure a loan is one such measure. For smaller loans, guarantees of government employees are asked for, as the government employees are supposed to have regular and assured income streams.

One more way of risk mitigation generally practised by the banks is to factor in risk premiums into the pricing of the loan. That makes credit much costlier for a businessman in J&K as compared to his counterparts elsewhere. As is evident, this creates a vicious circle of high-cost debt and lower margins for businesses in J&K and impairs their competitiveness and growth.

It has been generally seen that banks in J&K, apart from showing general reluctance to lending to businesses within the state resort to all the above measures to secure their loans. This does not just make loans costlier in terms of rates of interest but also adds opportunity costs to the operations of local businesses by making access to credit difficult.

As a result and on the other hand, while banks have expanded their operations in the state considerably over the last two decades, they usually engage in deposit-taking and pawning activities and shy away from lending to the extent possible. The new generation private sector banks, with their fast growing branch network in the recent years, have also not been able to make any considerable difference. These banks usually target High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs) for low-cost deposits and for third party product sales. The only innovation in lending they have so far introduced in J&K is lending against gold which is merely a pawning activity.

While it is a fact that the interest rates charged by the banks on the loans given locally are comparatively higher after factoring in the risk premiums, these are not the only costs businesses pay to get loans from financial institutions in J&K. There are other ‘sunk costs’ which businesses in J&K have to invariably incur. The reluctance of banks to lend to businesses generally, Greenfield businesses in particular, adds to cost of doing business in J&K. Even if a businessman is ready to pay any rate of interest to get a loan, the banks may not lend money to him adequately. This either results in under financing of projects and their subsequent sudden death or their sluggish growth.

The other factor that makes funds costlier for the business fraternity is the insistence of banks on mortgage of immoveable assets as a collateral security. A collateral security is an asset which the borrower already owns and which is not created out of loan the bank intends to give.

The third important factor which reduces growth and expansion of business is the under leveraging of fixed assets and landholdings. This also is a direct consequence of J&K being a conflict region. Banks usually insist on taking mortgages two to three  times the value of the loan they extend. This highly impacts the fungibility of the immoveable assets of the business and impairs their capability to leverage these assets to secure more funds.

All these measures used as risk-mitigation means tools by the banks make credit expensive in the state. J&K is a unique state where economic activity is driven more by government spending than by private enterprise. This is becase private enterprise is too small and is unable to grow farther. Any downward trend in government spending and investments in public infrastructure invariably result in economic slowdown in the state. This is a situation which is neither desirable nor sustainable.

Businesses and private enterprises have to necessarily grow in the state for a sustainable economic turnaround. But the growth in business is not possible in the face of credit scarcity. The banks, by making credit scarce and expensive, are infact hampering the growth. Risk mitigation in a conflict region has to be a specialised function. Conflict zones, across the world, provide ample opportunities to financial institutions, to redesign their products and re-orient their risk mitigation processes.

Use of credit guarantee cover provided by central government agencies like Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for loans upto Rs100 lakhs is one such option. It does with the requirement of taking mortgages as collateral security. Upto a certain limit, the premium to be paid to CGTMSE for their guarantee cover is borne by the banks themselves.

The state government has usually been providing capital and interest subsidies to businesses availing credit from banks. As has been seen over the years, the impact of such subsidies has little trickle-down effect. The state government, instead of providing cash subsidies to businesses, should think of providing guarantee cover to business loans and set aside a corpus for the same. This can increase its outreach by more than 10 times as the actual cash outgo will be much less as compared to that in credit subsidies.

On the other hand, the banks will also be more comfortable to lending to business covered by a state government guarantee. This will not only make credit accessible to a much larger number of businesses but will also make it more affordable and less costly.



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Killing Time

With communications blocked, the entire population is having a lot of time but not knowing what to do with it. Umar Mukhtar meets the young and elderly to understand how they kill their time

Ishfaq works for Jammu and Kashmir’s taxman. His routine is typical of a government official – early breakfast, quick movement to office and return home by evening. He spears weekends for relaxation, plays cricket, chills out with his peers. Since August 5, his routine is seriously obstructed.

Fearing a violent response to the rollback of autonomy and stripping of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, authorities imposed a communication blackout. Phones, internet, public transport is as good as dead, more than three fortnights later.

The change in routine is a crisis for everybody. With businesses suffering enormous losses and closure of educational institutions creating a new benchmark in knowledge deficit, the real big question for the young generation is: how to kill time? The communication clampdown has actually made the situation worse for the new generation because it was hugely dependent on the internet, even for education.  So, what they do to the time?

In uptown Srinagar, a shopkeeper who has been downloading entertainment, mostly movies, as part of his personal collection is reportedly selling a movie for Rs 50. An eye witness said that the mobile accessory seller is routinely having a long line, every day.

Another provision store owner said he has 350 GBs of films. “When my clients make purchase, I offer them my bank, if they require,” the retailer said on the condition of anonymity. “I do not charge anything but a few show interest and come with their pen-drives.”

“I had around 70 movies in my laptop; I watched them all in these days. Now I have nothing to watch,” said Tawheed, a college student. “As far as my studies are concerned, I mostly rely on the internet. So there is nothing to study.”

Though the communication gag has rendered the smart mobile phones nothing more than toy gadgets, people are still glued to them. Users keep their phones with them even when they travel. Now these gadgets are used as timepieces, mini-film screens and playing games. For most of the day, the young men are busy sharing stuff, mostly films, serials and games. Even the jargon for asking such stuff has been introduced; Cheyaakhen(if you have something).

Watching movies and TV series is what most of the young ones kill their time in. The famous Turkish series Ertugul is the most preferred tele-serial that youth are watching these days. No exaggeration, this series is a craze for the new generation. Globally, it has already 30 million views on the internet.

“This is a treat,” admitted one keen watcher, now watching the third season. “It is a never ending story that one relates with, culturally and historically.” The four seasons of the serial, based on the situation and the wars before the creation of the Ottoman caliphate, runs into hundreds of hours of world class cinema.

People watch it in groups and then discuss its cinematography, history content and the characters. “I believe we can now pursue our career as the film critiques,” said Tawheed in a satirical tone.

People who are not movie watching are busy in the games. In volatile areas of the Srinagar city where venturing out of the homes is no less than the endangering lives, the indoor games are back. Carom that was very popular in 1990’s unending, is back in charm.

A sports good seller said the demand is so high that he sold almost 300 caroms in last one month and the demand is still high. A random visit to any area of the valley, one can find people playing carom in the lanes and by lanes, on shop fronts and others surround them. Surrounding every board is a group, which is actually waiting for its turn. These gaming sessions are huge interactive sessions where the young men exchange information and analysis.  Some of the chromic PUBG players have also found solace in the carom.

The other indoor game which mostly the old people prefer to play is cards. Unlike carom, these are played in shades within the confines of the homes. People play cards while sipping tea, watching TV and discussing politics.

Unlike Srinagar, there are instances in the periphery where the young play outdoor games, mostly cricket and volleyball.  Some cricket enthusiasts managed selling local tourney and making good money out of the frustration of the young population.

A good section of the population is busy in fishing. They pick up the fishing equipment and leave for the lakes and the rivers. This trend is same in the city and the periphery. “I have a passenger bus and it is parked inside the land of my Mohalla since that Monday (August 5),” a bus driver from Nowshehra in Srinagar said. “I kill my day fishing in the lake and invariably I get a few kiligrans almost daily.” Commuters travelling on the Anantnag – Srinagar stretch of the highway see crowds on the ditch, between the highway and the railway track. It was basically irrigation Khul but now is a sort of water body. These crowds are actually busy fishing the whole day.

Girls kill their time by visiting friends in the neighbourhood and do the chit chats for long, read books and watch movies. Qurat a college student said that she checks whether her brother has bought anything new or not. “The idleness has even made me a good cook.”

“Prior to this gag, I used to surf internet for the news, now I visit the streets to listen to what is happening in other parts of the valley,”  saidMudasirNisar, 26, a resident of Chanapora (Srinagar). The street news is sometimes true, sometimes fabricated or even baseless. “We call this street news as Dapaan TV.” Mudasir was working for a private company and since August 5, he has no place to do now. He does not know if he is still on the rolls.

Elders have their own preoccupations. With the communication gag, they trek distances to reach out to the relatives. They are the key carriers of the distribution of the ‘word of mouth’ – news, rumours and the gossip. It is this section of the population that is enormously news hungry. They shift between the TV and the Radio and ensure the newspaper reaches home and is read and discussed. This population spends a lot of time in and around the mosques where post-prayer interactions are the real political exercise.

Besides, this population in various localities across Kashmir is the force behind community schooling and the charity at the local level. Most of the Srinagar city localities have started raising small donations to help the sections not economically well off.

But the crisis has its costs. As the businesses are collapsing and the earnings are depleting fast, the psychological issues have started showing physical manifestations. A doctor in the district hospital Pulwama said that in last one month there is a considerable spike in the mental trauma cases, mostly in the young. The doctor shared an anecdote where he treated a patient who was not keeping well because he could not talk to her fiancé for all these days.



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‘Out Of Circulation’

Almost 42 days after he was restricted to his Gupkar home, the government finally arrested DrFarooq Abdullah formally under Public Safety Act. The arrest of five-time Chief Minister and five-time MP is not an ordinary development in Kashmir history, Masood Hussain reports

“If you have in mind someone who ends up in jail, you can count me out. I am the last person to like being jailed. I like to play golf. What I am going to do in jail?”

DrFarooq Abdullah in LalChowk on June 28, 1989

On September 16, morning Safiya Abdullah, one of the three daughters of DrFarooq Abdullah, left her home to drop her kids at the army school when she saw the staff of her father on the road. Once back, she enquired and was shocked to know that Dr Abdullah has been detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA). The orders had been served to him at around 11:30 pm, on September 15.

After a lot of insistence, Safiya told Rising Kashmir, she was permitted to talk to her father on intercom. Hearing her father’s voice, she said she broke down. Later, she met her brother, Omar, being held in HariNiwas, who had already come to know of the development. It started Safiya’s struggle to meet her father, who is unwell for a long time. They are neighbours to each other, separated by just a porous wall.

Safiya went to see Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, who had gone to the secretariat. She also went there. “The last time, I had visited the civil secretariat was with my grandfather (Sheikh Abdullah),” she told the newspaper. “Today, I was made to walk from the main gate and I had no idea who to approach.”

Finally, she met her father. She saw the grounds of detention and terms them ridiculous. “Despite receiving abuses from common people, Omar and Farooqsahib always stood by the side of the Indian state,” Safiya told the newspaper. “All their lives they believed in the ‘idea of India’. They always pitched for Kashmir resolution within the ambit of Indian constitution. Today, they feel betrayed.”

The order, Greater Kashmir reported, accuses Dr Abdullah of “glorifying” militants; issuing statements aimed at “mobilising people against the state”; and threatening “the integrity of the country”. It says the octagenarian has “tremendous potential for creating an environment of public disorder within the district (Srinagar) and other parts of the valley”.

Dr Faooq’s formal arrest under PSA came within days after his friend MarumalarchiDravidaMunnetraKazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko filed a habeas corpus petition before the Supreme Court. Vaiko, a RajyaSabha member, had invited him for the September 15, birth anniversary of CN Annadurai, a former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, to Chennai. Vaiko has made a formal request o Jammu and Kashmir government for permission. It was not granted so Vaiko went to the court.

“The actions of the Respondents (government) are completely illegal and arbitrary and violative of the right to protection of life and personal liberty, right to protection from arrest and detention and also against right to free speech and expression which is the cornerstone of a democratic nation,” Vaiko’s petition said. “The right to free speech and expression is considered to have paramount importance in a democracy as it allows its citizens to effectively take part in the governance of the country.”

In anticipation of a possible order by the court, the governor’s administration in Srinagar, formally arrested Abdullah. This vindicated the Kashmir’s “incarcerated” political class that any effort to seek the intervention of the court would lead to their formal arrest. That is why none of the 150-odd politicians of various parties and classes have  approached  the court of law, political insiders say. However, Vijaita Singh reported in The Hindu that five politicians including MirwaizUmerFarooq, two NC men and one each from PDP and Peoples’ Conference have “signed the bonds” and “gave an undertaking that they would not indulge in any political activity after their release”. The politicians are detained under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), it added.

DrFarooq and many others have been restricted to special jails across Kashmir or have been limited to their homes since August 5. He, however, had managed coming out of his home on August 6, morning and talked to at least two TV channels. “I want to cry,” he told a news channel. “Yes, I want to cry at the grave of my father.” In a quick follow-up, the authorities posted additional security staff around his home to ensure the breach is not repeated. His son, Omar, however, was moved out of his residence and is being held at HariNiwas.

In the week preceding the abrogation of Article 370 and downgrading of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union Territory (UT), Dr Abdullah was grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Chandigarh on July 31 in the infamous Rs 100 crore Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) scam for four hours.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that investigated the case filed the charge-sheet against Farooq and three others in July 2018. It alleged the foursome for allegedly misappropriating over Rs 43 crore BCCI grants received by JKCA between 2002 and 2011.

A day later, DrFarooq accompanied Omar Abdullah and NC MP Justice (retired) HusnainMasoodi to the Prime Minister NarendraModi. Omar was happy about the meeting and insisted it was “reassuring” in wake of the deployments being made during rumours of Article 35(A) abrogation.

On August 2, Mehbooba Mufti attempted meeting DrFarooq but failed. She later met Sajjad Lone and a delegation visited governor Satya Pal Malik. Indications suggested that political parties were getting together as NC made public that it will be attending an all party meeting on the issues. In anticipation of the meeting, they all were put under house arrest.

Dr Abdullah’s formal arrest is Kashmir history’s extra-ordinary development. A five-time Chief Minister (1982 – after his father’s demise; 1983, 1986, 1987, and 1996); a five-time MP and a central cabinet minister once, DrFarooq Abdullah is the son of Sheikh Abdullah. Post militancy, he was part of the India’s UN delegation in 1994 and later to the crucial United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva in 1995 where India barely escaped a punitive resolution.

“The fact that Farooq was a Kashmir Muslim, that he had administered Kashmir as its democratically elected Chief Minister, that he had witnessed firsthand the history of post-1947 Kashmir by virtue of being Sheikh Abdullah’s son and that he knew in detail each attempt by Pakistan to disrupt the development of Kashmir, swung things in India’s favour,” AdityaSinha wrote in Farooq Abdullah: Kashmir’s Prodigal Son. “The Indian delegation was successful not only in preventing diplomatic and political embarrassment to India but also in driving home the point to the people of the Valley – who stood at Srinagar street corners during the last days of the debate, years glued to their radios – that Pakistan did not care for them or their cultural identity, that Pakistan’s motives were not only selfish but also a threat to Kashmiris in the long run.”

Then, DrFarooq was literally a non-resident Kashmiri. He had left within days after quitting his job in January 1990 as the Chief Minister in wake of the appointment of Jagmohan as the governor, an appointment made by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the then Home Minister. The militancy’s first target was the political class, especially the National Conference (NC), the party Dr Abdullah inherited from his father. As their killings started, the newspapers were flooded with the paid advertisements of workers resigning from the party. This led to mass migration of the political families but the political assassinations did not stop. Officials said by now, NC must have lost more than 400 workers including some of the lawmakers. In a few cases, some of them were killed (one actually roasted alive) by the counter-insurgency grid as well.

Now, 23 years later, when Dr Abdullah, 81, who represents the central Kashmir in LokSabha, was served a dossier for his formal arrest under PSA, it shocked everybody, even his rivals. He is surviving with a single kidney that his British wife Molly donated in 2014.

Masoodi, his colleague in the LokSabha, sees arrest of a man who faced a lot on home turf for being pro-India and whose nationalism and commitment towards India is unquestionable, as unimaginable. “He has been on the top of political horizon of the country for more than five decades,” New18 quoted Masoodi saying. “You consider this person as a threat to security is beyond imagination.” He regrets: “Mainstream parties have nothing to project and market.”

“Country’s misfortune”, GhulamNabi Azad, his friend and former Chief Minister said on Abdullah’s arrest. “Each chief minister and each political party, be it the Congress, NC or PDP, in Jammu and Kashmir have tried their level best to fight militancy,” Azad said. “If there is no militancy today, it is because of these political parties and not the BJP.”

“When a former chief minister is under arrest, what normalcy are you talking about?” said All India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen (AIMIM) leader AsaduddinOwaisi. “He met Prime Minister NarendraModi a day before the abrogation of Article 370. How can he be a threat if he met the PM of the country?”

“Abdullah has stood by India through thick and thin. Why has the PSA been imposed?” asked Communist leader SitaramYechury. “This is a cowardly afterthought by the BJP government with no respect for either India or its Constitution.”

In Kashmir, there is shock and disbelief. The use of PSA, however, has pushed the debate further. Privately people talk about the abuse of the law that Amnesty International termed a “lawless law”. The law promulgated by Sheikh Abdullah in 1978, apparently to manage timber smuggling, is harsh and interestingly inhuman. It has been invoked against tens of thousands of people as it permits the government to withhold a person in custody without judicial scrutiny for as long as two years.

In 2010 autumn session BasharatBukhari, now with NC, moved an amendment in, what he said, “the most misused law” insisting that “the present turmoil and turbulence in the state owes much of its origin to the misuse, abuse and overuse of this law”. He forcefully argued: “No civilized state believing in rule of law can afford to have a provision like section 10(a) of the act which provides that the order of detention cannot be deemed to be invalid even if the grounds of such detention are vague, nonexistent, not relevant and not connected with the person to be detained. It means that a person can even be detained on nonexistent, vague, irrelevant grounds or even if the concerned person is not connected at all. A democratic set up cannot afford to have such a law.”

“PSA is must for running the affairs in the State. It is not a joke,” Ali Mohammad Sagar, the then law minister, said reacting to Bukhari’s moral high stand. “The MLA should not be angry. It is about running the affairs of the state. When PDP was in power, it never thought of amending the Act, which is necessary for running the state.” Bukhari’s amendments fell flat. By the time, Bukhari became the law minister, he had forgotten his amendments.

Talking to Amnesty in May 2010, senior IAS officer Samuel Verghese had put the justification for PSA beautifully: “We have to keep some people out of circulation.”

Now both of them – Sagar as well as Bukhari, are in protective custody as the government does not want them ‘to be in circulation’.

“Karma is a bitch. It returns to haunt you,” quipped a journalist wishing not to be named. He said the social media ban has helped the detained political class in retaining their stature. “They could have been virtually roasted. Even Farooq once famously said ‘let them (separatists) rot’ in prison.”

This time, however, it is the entire political class that is literally ‘out of circulation’. The politicians and the observers in Delhi, most of whom were prevented from entering Kashmir, see the consequences of the mass restriction on politicians from a different prism.

Journalist Manoj Joshi, the author of Kashmir – The Lost Rebellion, sees this aspect of Modi’s Kashmir policy as the most questionable. “With the parties that upheld the country’s flag outside the pale, who does the government expect will take up the task of providing political leadership to the people in the Valley?” Joshi wrote in The Wire. “That is, unless the Union government is planning to treat the Valley as some kind of an internal colony of the country.”

“They (Kashmir’s mainstream political class) have kept the political process alive in Kashmir against all odds and despite threats even as some sections of the population remained aloof or hostile to India,” The Hindu, India’s respected newspaper wrote in an editorial. “The argument that Kashmiri politicians used the State’s special status to shield their corruption and nepotism is disingenuous, as these problems are endemic to Indian politics. The amorality of the government’s treatment of pro-India forces is certainly dispiriting, but dangerous is the vacuum this is creating. The void will be filled only by forces inimical to India, if the government removes politicians from public spaces by wrongly labelling them anti-India.”

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi was blunt. “It’s obvious that the government is trying to remove nationalist leaders like FarooqAbdullahji to create a political vacuum in Jammu & Kashmir that will be filled by terrorists,” Rahul tweeted. “Kashmir can then permanently be used as a political instrument to polarise the rest of India.”

Safiya and Masoodi, both told reporters that they are planning to knock at the doors of the judiciary. Courts are usually not upholding the police stories in preventive detentions.

Post-August 5, estimates suggest that almost 300 of the many thousand persons stand arrested under PSA and most of them are being held outside the state. The Indian Express has recently done a quick study of 150 habeas corpus cases filed before the High Court between February 14 and until August 4.

“Of these, verdicts came in 39 cases — in almost 80 per cent, the court quashed the detention and ordered the release of the detainee. All these pleas involved those booked under the PSA,” the newspaper reported. “The detentions were quashed broadly on six grounds: violation of Constitutional rights; serious procedural lapses; no need of PSA when normal laws sufficient to take action; and the absence of fresh facts to justify detention.”

Masoodi, a former High Court judge also says the same thing. “The court always finds the grounds of detention in these sorts of arrests,” Masoodi said. “This is a detention without trial and charge. The liberty of a person cannot be interfered just for no reason,” Earlier, the court granted Masoodi and Akbar Lone, both MPs, access to Farooq and Omar Abdullah, with a rider – they can meet but not divulge anything to media!

Seemingly, the government is expected to defend its decision. DrJitendra Singh has stated that the Kashmir politicians will be set free with “less than 18 months”. They may reconsider the case once they get free from New York. Till then, the government will facilitate access of family members, doctors or even psychiatrists, if need arises, the political grapevine in the corridors of civil secretariat suggests.



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Thursday, 19 September 2019

Briefing

Ram Jethmalani (1923-2019)Ram Jethmalani

Ram Jethmalani, one of India’s most prominent lawyers and the most expensive ones, who died last week at the age of 95, was the man behind the Kashmir Committee, a 2002 civil society initiative that had the Government of India in loop. The Committee was constituted after his series of interactions with the Kashmiri separatists in run up to the 2002 assembly elections.

The Committee had its members driven from diverse backgrounds. These included Vinod Grover, former IFS officer; lawyers Ashok Bhan, Fali S Nariman, and Shanti Bhushan; JawaidLaiq from Amnesty International; editorsDileepPadgaonkar and MJ Akbar. Jethmalani set up the Committee after the separatists refused to engage with Kashmir interlocutor K C Pant.

His Committee had a series of pre-poll meetings with a number of separatists. It made a number of suggestions to the central government as well. Many think the inputs by the Kashmir Committee were crucial for Vajpayee’s Srinagar speech in 2002 that led to the silencing of the Line of Control (LoC) and eventually led to the resumption of talks with Pakistan. There are people who believe Jethmalani’s encouragement to Abdul Gani Lone to be more liberal was another factor that might have contributed to his assassination.

Post 2002, the Committee existed for some time but it slowly went into oblivion. There were some efforts to revive it but all efforts failed. But that never meant that Jethmalani was delinked from Kashmir. He was always in touch with some people and his litigation was vital in getting some of the detainees freed.

Lahore

Diplomacy apart, Pakistan is not leaving any area where it cannot use Kashmir. The latest is that Pakistan’s most prominent names from entertainment sector have joined hands for a track Main Kashmir Hoon. The song, reported to be “emotive and moving” has vocals of singers RehanNazim and NimraRafiq. Prominent actors Parveen Akbar, HinaDilpazeer, Noor-ul-Hassan, Asma Abbas, FaysalQureshi, Sohail Sameer, and ShahoodAlvi have performed for the video. Meanwhile, a group of Pakistani doctors formally applied to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad requested that they be permitted to enter Kashmir to treat the patients. The group of 21 doctors had said it will meet the UNMOGIP also, Pakistani media reported.

Srinagar

As around 150 members of Kashmir’s political class are attempting to move free from ‘precautionary detention’, three young men walked in Srinagar’s Media Facilitation Centre with a roadmap and a claim to Kashmir leadership. Telegraph termed them “obscure men” who “emerged from nowhere” to call for “a new road map and new leadership” for Jammu and Kashmir. The newspaper identified the “leaders” of the Jammu Kashmir Political Movement-I as Shahid Khan, Raja Ashraf, advocate, and MushtaqTantary. They urged media to shun negativity and “bring up the positivity about Kashmir and play a positive role” in the post Article 370 era. They urged Delhi to restore the statehood, grant domicile rights and job reservations to residents similar to those available in the Northeast under Article 371, lift the clampdown and deal leniently with the detained Valley youth.

Mumbai

The DupteNunem (He took my headscarf) singer AadilGurezi literally lived his song after his landlord closed doors on him in wake of the abrogation of the Article 370. A social media sensation, one of his numbers was watched by 14 million people. Gurezi, a resident of Bandipore, had flown home on August 1. When he returned on September 3, he was told by his roommates that the landlord does not want him to live in the apartment, his home for one year.

When he was searching for a room, he could not get one because of being Kashmir, he told reporters. Finally, he hired a flat in the name of his Hindu friend. Now, he has approached the police to reclaim his Andheri West flat.

Delhi

A Delhi courty has finally granted Shehla Rashid, a member of Shah Feasal led JK Peoples Movement, an interim protection against arrest in the sedition case that was filed against her on September 6. She was charged under Sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intention to cause riot), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505 (spreading rumours) of IPC. In a series of tweets, Shehla had said the Army was indiscriminately picking up men, raiding houses and torturing people in Jammu and Kashmir to serve the agenda of the ruling BharatiyaJanata Party.

Almost A Month After Passing The Jammu And Kashmir Reorganization Act, The Central Government Detected And Corrected 52 Mistakes Excluding Spellings, Tenses And Numerical Errors

Handwara

Riyaz Ahmad Thickrey, 24, a daily wager, was arrested by police on September 3, from his NandporaMalikpora, in a 2018 case. His half blind mother traced him in a police lock-up and talked to him. A day later, police guided his relative to a toilet where he was dead. They were told he committed suicide. Police said magisterial enquiry has been initiated. The death in custody triggered protests which were quelled by police.

Vadodra

IrfanPathan was caught in a peculiar situation after the government issued an advisrory asking Amarnath pilgrims and tourists to leave Kashmir. “Nobody knew what was happening. When the AmarnathYatra was called off, we decided to shut the camp and sent back the players,” Pathn who was overseeing the training of 186 cricket players in Srinagar when the crisis unfolded. “The places which I used to visit from my hotel everyday would take 10 minutes, but those two-three days, it used to take me an hour-and-a-half as everyone was on the road. There were long queues at petrol pumps, and at grocery stores with everyone in a rush to fill their homes with food.” The camp was shut and now 100-plus players have reassembled in Jammu. Pathan has taken the seniors to Vadodra for coaching. Post-preparations, the best players would be selected for the upcoming Vizzy Trophy. They will spend a fortnight playing at the Motibaug Stadium here. The season will kick-off with the Vijay Hazare Trophy on September 24.

Sopore

Gunmen barged into a home in Dangerpora (Sopore) and opened fire leaving four members of the family injured. These included Asma, a six year old girl. Police said the main target of militants was not at home at the time of the raid. In his early seventies he is a prominent apple trader. The injured include his son and granddaughter. All four are said to be out of danger and treated at different hospitals in Srinagar.

 

Srinagar

This Muharram mourning lacked everything, including the black banners, a symbol of mourning. Given the situation, the authorities avoided taking a chance and imposed a blanket ban on the Muharram processions across the city, AbiGuzar, Hawal, Hassanabad, Shaheedgunj, and Aalamgiri Bazaar. Though the major processions were never permitted beyond the local areas, this was the first instance in which not even symbolism was permitted. On eighth and tenth of Muharram, authorities imposed crippling restrictions. Indian Express quoted some clerics saying that they exhibited cautioning even in their sermons.

Delhi

Gowhar Geelani

Journalist GowharGeelani, whose book Kashmir: Rage and Reason was released byRupa last month, was prevented from flying to Bonn in Germany where he was joining a new job as an editor with Deutsche Welle. Moments before boarding, the immigration officials told him he is not being permitted to take off. Earlier, former IAS officer DR Shah Feasal was also prevented from taking off to Turkey. He was flown to Srinagar and sent to the special jail in the Centaur Lakeview Hotel. Geelani said no specific reason was given to him in writing, except the immigration official repeating: “Aajkal Kashmir kolekarkafidiqqathai”.

 

34,274 Distress Calls Were Received By Crpf’s Madadgaar Helpline (14411) From Kashmiris Living Outside The State Since August 5. In 1227 Calls, The Crpf Visited The Families Across Kashmir To Establish Their Contact With The Callers



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Ladakh In Action

Unlike Kashmir, the soon-to-be Union Territory of Ladakh is actively working to consolidate the gains that came to the arid region in wake of scrapping of special status and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir. It has finally found a way out to protect its land and demography, reports Masood Hussain

Instantly, the new Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh has gone newsy, both from within and outside. While a 3-member penal is assessing the twin-district’s asset share from the bifurcated state of Jammu and Kashmir, a report suggested a face-off between the rival armies of China and India at the Line of Actual Control (LAoC) somewhere near the PangongTso Lake.

The two countries are staking claims over a vast 130-kms plus stretch that extends towards the Chinese Tibet, the report said. The face-off was managed through talks at the local commander level. The crisis spot was the same where they had a scuffle earlier when the two armies had problems in Doklam. The face-off came days ahead of the October war-games exerciseHimVijay. The exercise, reports said, will take place in Arunachal Pradesh envisaging IAF and the army creating a “real war scenario” within the Indian Territory.

But the real developments are taking place to address the concerns that emanated from the rollback of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir that opened apparently withdrew the protection to demography and land. Ladakh had voiced its concerns seriously. Unlike Leh, Kargil went into an instant strike. There were protests as well. Finally, the governor Satya Pal Malik flew to Kargil, met the local leaders and assured them that their concerns will be taken care of. His visit came days after a section of the political workers formally joined the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) in Delhi.

“The markets are open, so are the schools,” one Kashmiri, who is serving in Kargil said. “It is perfectly normal.” The landlines and the mobiles have been unblocked and the internet services were restored. However, in the last few days, Kargil is again facing internet clampdown, the reasons for which are not immediately known. No such situation, however, emerged in Leh. The Buddhist district welcomed the UT move and celebrated the new status. The UT will be operational from October 31, when a Lieutenant Governor will be appointed for the region. However, the Ladakh UT will lack an assembly.

In order to address the concerns of Ladakh, the Government of India has taken an interestingly different route. Reports appearing in the media suggest that the Ladakh UT is being declared a Scheduled Tribe (ST) that will automatically protect its land, culture and demography.

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, the Home Ministry, Law Ministry and the Tribal Affairs Ministry have agreed to make Ladakh a tribal area. At a high level meeting the ministries have discussed the idea in the backdrop of the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution calls for the administration of autonomous districts and regional councils for the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram after the formation of autonomous districts. The government has indicated that even after the reorganization, the two Union Territories will have the same High Court.

According to Article 244 and the Sixth Schedule, tribal-dominated areas in four States – Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram – are called “tribal areas”, which are technically different from the “scheduled areas” under the Fifth Schedule. While executive powers of the Union extend in scheduled areas with respect to their administration in the Fifth Schedule, the Sixth Schedule areas remain within the executive authority of the state. At the conclusion of the exercise the Commission on September 11, finally made the recommendation that Ladakh should be declared a ‘tribal area’ in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

The inclusion, according to the Commission, as reported by Indian Express, will help in “democratic devolution of powers, preserve and promote distinct culture of the region, protect agrarian rights including right on land and enhance transfer of funds for speedy development of the region.”

The possible recommendation is the outcome of a memorandum that Ladakh BJP had submitted to the Tribal Affairs Ministry earlier. In the memorandum, BJP MP JamyangTseringNamgyal, had said the region is a predominantly tribal area with tribal’s making up to 98 per cent of its population. Seeking the protection, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Chairman Gyal P Wangyal had also insisted that “now our only demand is that Ladakh be brought under the Sixth Schedule so that their land remains protected”.

LAHDC sent a 4-member delegation to Shillong for four days, last week, to study the set of rights provided to the tribal’s of Meghalaya under the Sixth Schedule. Leh’s former lawmaker TseringSamphel led the delegation. At the same time, almost unofficially, the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh have sponsored five groups to visit Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya and two UT’s of Andaman and Nicobar and Pondicherry to study the tribal affairs management models in vogue.

Since the UT demand was met, lawyer DeskitAngmo was quoted by The Northeast Today saying that “now it is time for us to look at and study in-depth in respect to the protection of tribal’s, our environment and our lands; to study the Constitution of India and the 6th Schedule that protects and safeguards the tribal’s.” The lawyer, however, wants certain amendments in the Sixth Schedule to suit Ladakh. Once they conclude the exercise, these groups will re-assemble in Delhi, discuss the in-puts and compile their suggestions as a Peoples Document to the Government of India.

Meanwhile, the top officials from Ladakh have fanned to various belts to understand the best UT model that would suit them. A 4-member team led by Leh Municipal Committee President DrIsheyNamgyal was in Kokrajhar, the headquarter town of BTC to study how it is being run. Interestingly, however, in all these efforts Kargil is seemingly missing.

In between there was a sort of a mini-investment summit in Chandigarh on September 6, in which officials and the stakeholders of the Ladakh economy and economics participated. There were many discussions. A senior officer who attended the meeting, however, said the net outcome was not immediately available.

Indicating that by 2025, Ladakh will have completely organic farming, Gyal P Wangyal, the LAHDC Leh Chairman said White Seed Apricot will be the prime focus.

Leh, unlike Kargil, has remained quite sensitive towards any kind of investment from outside. It has literally banished one agricultural entrepreneur in recent past fearing the investor may create his own stakes in local society and economy at the cost of the local rights. The region has not, for a very long time, sold any raw Pashmina wool to the Kashmiri traders. Most of the Pashmina that is used in the making of famed Kashmir shawl is imported from Mongolia.

However, local intellectuals are working on certain niche things that suit the local ecology and the market. “What we want to do is to get into plants that have economical worth and ecological advantages,” SonamWangchuk, the Rolex and Megsasay Award winner who is Ladakh’s most known face said, days ahead of the creation of UT. “The plants like Dry Roses, Capers and Junipers that I am talking about, if grown in higher altitudes will help in absorbing most of the rain water thus they will prevent floods. Indirectly, it will also help manage a gradual discharge thus preventing droughts.”

These plant species grow in high altitude deserts and do not require any irrigation. Dry Rose has enormous commercial use and Capers are fundamental to Pasta, Noodles and other Western dishes. Already there is a movement of using the locally produced Pashmina to create some apparel brand.

While the private investment can wait, the Government of India’s wholly owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has started a fast 48-month implementation of a 7500-MW solar power project that would eventually be aRs 50,000 crore 23000-MW Ultra Mega Solar PV project, according to Indian Express. Earlier, the project was to come up at Nyoma but owing to environmental issues, it will now be established at Pang, a spot almost 117 kms from Leh.

The energy generated by the project would be wheeled by a separate transmission line via Manali (Himachal) to Kaithal (Haryana). Earlier, the project had three sections of 2500-MW each at Zanaskar, Taisuru (Kargil) and HanlayKhaldo belt of Nyoma (Leh). Now the entire project will come up at Pang. SECI that would be signing the PPA for 35 years has already issued the Request for Selection of the developers will now start the tendering process, the newspaper reported.

These developments followed the major demand that emanated from Leh within days after the abrogation of the Article 370. It wants exclusion of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir and conveying the same to the world. This, they said, was vital to ensure the advisories being issued by the Western world against visiting Jammu and Kashmir should not affect the booming tourism season in Leh.

Ladakh Tourist Trade Alliance actually submitted a memorandum to the visiting Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel. “With Ladakh being a UT, we have been freed from the civil war of Kashmir. We want you to help us create Brand Ladakh,” SonamParvez, an executive of Ladakh Hotel Association requested Patel. They wanted the division to be conveyed first. “Even if there is a small mishap, embassies come out with travel advisories asking their citizens not to visit the area. Our tourism suffers. Please approach embassies on our behalf and tell them that our Ladakh is peaceful.”

The stakeholders also sought the skies to be opened up. They sought a flight each from Bangalore and Ahmadabad. Patel obliged them all and assured the communications will go to all the embassies. He sought a blueprint for a tourism policy that suits the fragile agro-climatic region.

But the biggest boost to the Leh tourism came from Utter Pradesh where the Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath announced a grant of Rs 20,000 for every Sindhi who wishes to visit Leh and pray at the Indus River. The dole would come from UPs DharmarthKarya, the religious affairs department, according to Times of India. This is aimed at strengthening the SindhuDarshan, a BJP initiated festival that survived the Congress government’s name change in recent years.

“This pilgrimage needs to be promoted as the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has changed now,” the newspaper quoted an official note regarding the initiative saying. “This will help generate employment for locals in that region and SindhuDarshan will be able to play a bigger role than just tourism.”

The concession was already there but the quantum of the dole was doubled in March. UP has a huge Sindhi population that the newspaper put at five million. Once the people start utilising this grant, UP will send tens of thousands of tourists to Leh. The area will have to add to its capacity now.



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Quite Streets

Five weeks later, ground zero is not offering any indication that would suggest an early turnaround in Kashmir situation, reports Shams Irfan

For the first time in Kashmir’s chequered history valley is shut for last five weeks without a formal call for shut-down. Literally nobody is sponsoring the strike.

After the initial confusion following the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A on August 5, a new routine has emerged across Kashmir in which markets remain open for three hours in morning from between 6 AM and in the evening after 6 PM. For rest of the day businesses, schools, and other private institutions remain shut.

Barring Srinagar’s civil line areas and some uptown localities, life is struggling to limp back to normalcy in major parts of the valley. Even small towns and villages are observing a strict shutdown on their own. What add to the confusion are random posters and letters pasted in mosques asking people to follow the new routine and timing. But the authenticity of these posters and letters has not been established so far.

A number of these posters were seen in Shopian, Pulwama, Sopore, Srinagar, Pampore etc. Recently police arrested eight people in Sopore who they claimed were responsible for making and distributing these posters.

What added to the crisis is silence of the cell phones. Before the fixed landlines were restored fully people would travel from different parts of Kashmir to Srinagar and other areas to make phone calls. Long queues were a common site outside PCO’s which people had almost forgotten after mobile phones were introduced in Kashmir. Using internet is still a luxury. For around 200 journalists, government had provided one telephone and five computers with internet facility. Now four more computers were added at the Srinagar based facility.

But journalists were not the only ones whose work is dependent on the internet. Unlike earlier days, small traders used to place their orders and check samples on whatsapp, a cell phone application, and other social media platforms. The world had literally shrunken for everyone. It was a matter a seconds for parents to reach out to their kids studying in universities in Indian cities and abroad using Skype or whatsapp video calling facility. These parents were seen waiting in long lines outside police stations and other government facilities, where landlines worked, to call their loved ones. It took a week for a resident of Srinagar to contact his father who had gone to Saudi Arabia for Hajj.

In another instance an uncle causally walked past a graveyard where his young nephew’s funeral was held. He had no idea that his nephew had drowned in the Jhelum while saving a friend that morning. There was no way to inform him either.

But lack of communication also helped some people come out of their virtual worlds and become part of the real world. Families once again started talking to each other over dinner as mobile phones went dead. In last over five weeks kids visited their grandparents along with their super busy parents. Old friends met each other in parks or under Chinar trees instead of chat-rooms and whatsapp groups. Long lost relations got revived as people believed they might not get another chance to say sorry or forgive each other. Expression of love and longing too was done in the old fashioned way. A husband who was visiting Delhi sent his wife, who was at her parent’s house, a letter telling her that he will be away for two day. But not all letters would reach its destination. Some of them remain with messengers who couldn’t make it to their destinations yet.

Even big and extravagant marriages that were pre-planned were toned down and celebrated humbly.

It was like old times that both bride and groom had no news about each other till the day of their marriage. A special curfew pass had to be arranged for the groom who was flying in from Saudi Arabia where he works. His bride had no idea till the last moment if the groom has arrived in Kashmir or not.

With public transportation off the roads since August 5, travelling from one place to another has become a difficult task for people. Every morning, before the deployment of police and paramilitary forces in the area, people wait near market squares and main roads hoping to hitch a ride to their destinations. Interestingly, people stop to offer a ride, these days.

A large number of these people have their appointments fixed with doctors in different hospitals. What adds to the crisis is that most of the specialised healthcare facilities are located in Srinagar and its peripheries.

All schools and colleges are shut since August 5 across Kashmir. Efforts by the authorities to open some primary and high schools could not yield desired results. Government’s failure in opening its own schools discouraged private players from making an effort at all. One school had summoned parents and asked them to drive their wards to the schools but they refused citing the strike and the prevalent situation.

With students confined to their home, most of the schools are now trying to reach them with study materials. But the exercise is largely confined to schools located in Srinagar and its outskirts. There are reports of some community based efforts to help students stay in touch with their studies, but not on a large scale. In rural areas, kids kill their time in local playgrounds playing football, cricket, and volleyball.

In case of Srinagar, where playgrounds are scarce, indoor games like carom and chess are back in vogue. In small alleys of downtown area, one can find people sitting around a carom-board. As only four people can play at a time, others wait for their turn with excitement. “If a team loses three games in a row they have to give way to the next team,” said Ajaz, a resident of downtown. “This is how we kill our time and keep ourselves sane.”

Director (school education), Younis Malik was quoted by Hindustan Times saying that attendance in schools was thin but improving. “The percentage varies from single digit to 20% in different districts,” he has said but did not offer any idea where the schools operate.

All of a sudden, parents say the kids are usually news-hungry in mornings and evenings. “The students are losing a lot of precious time but these days have helped them get quick education about what has happened to the state and why,” one college teacher said on the condition of anonymity. “I am told by parents that their kids are asking them uncomfortable questions and they have to consult people to have a plausible explanation. That is the kind of education that the kids are getting.”

Outside Srinagar, this time of the year is usually busiest for people associated with horticulture. Since mid-July harvesting of cherry kick starts the four month long season of plucking, packing and transporting of the fruit. But with Kashmir shut, sending fruit outside the valley to markets in Indian cities has become a major challenge for growers.

“Almost 80 percent of the pear is sold at loss,” said a grower from Sopore who refused to be named. “A box of pear was sold for just Rs 150 while the same fetched Rs 700 last year. It didn’t even cover our transportation cost, which is highest this year between Rs 60 and 100 for Jammu and Delhi.”

It forced fruit growers to push most of their produce into local market at much lower prices. “But local market has a limited appetite for pears,” said another grower.

However, the real problem is harvesting and transporting apples, which makes bulk of Kashmir’s horticulture annual produce and adds more than Rs 8000 crores to farmer’s kitty. Kashmir produces more than two million tonnes of apple a season and this year it is a bumper cop.

But given the unprecedented situation in major apple producing belts like Shopian, Pulwama, Sopore, and Kulgam, growers have their fingers crossed already.

Compared to Srinagar, these districts witness strict civil curfew and fewer private vehicles plying on the roads during day time. At night, most of the villages in these districts observe graveyard silence with people confining to their houses early. The night silence is because of the security situation. In most of the south Kashmir, the counter-insurgency grid is patrolling the villages.

The government has roped in NAFED to purchase apple from Kashmir. But its budget limitation and lack of experience to manage such a tall order is expected to cost Kashmir much. Insiders in the trade said the NAFED intervention would run riot with the traditional market systems that have evolved over the years.

Governor Satya Pal Malik while launching the Centre’s Special Market Intervention Price Scheme (MISP)  on September 12, at Lal Mundi said the NAFED would procure 12 lkah metric tonnes of the apple crop. He said the C-grade apple that makes almost 40 per cent of the crop, would be procured at 1.5 to three times of the current rate (between Rs 3 to Rs 7 per kg). The apple procurement would be from the local mundis for next six months starting this month.

For the first time in a decade air tickets are at its cheapest but there are no takers. Hotels and houseboats which were booked for months in advance are locked like rest of the Kashmir. Tourist hotspots like Gulmarg and Pahalgam which used to be filled with visitors are empty. “We have stocks worth lakhs or rupees in our shops which will be wasted now,” said a dry-fruit shop owner Lethpora. “This year we anticipated good sales as tourist footfalls were better to Kashmir. But now everything is lost.”

In last few years Lethpora has become a must stop place for tourists who wanted to purchase quality dry-fruit. In anticipation of good tourist footfall, most of the businessmen had purchased dry-fruit in bulk from growers. It has blocked a lot of capital in their inventory.

“We have not been able to open our shop’s shutter in last one month,” said another businessman at Lethpora. “You can imagine what would have happened to dry-fruit in this weather.”

With most of the shops shut across Kashmir, a new and innovative way of selling goods is being practised by a few traders. Every morning, before the self-imposed restrictions would start, small load carrier auto’s carrying vegetables, milk and other basic items would swarm small localities. They sell quickly and leave even more quickly. One can even place an order with these flea-market style traders.

“It seems we were already living like this,” said a young college going girl in Shopian.

Officials say the situation is improving. The government had started the Media Facilitation Centre where the government spokesman would brief the media. The practice has been abandoned apparently because there is nothing new that can be shared. Privately, officials say that Srinagar is witnessing better attendance of government staff in most of the offices and their movement is key to the occasional busy roads during mornings. They also admit that people avoiding an angry response to the August 6, decision-making has helped the situation better.

The government is planning an early durbar move so that the authorities get enough of time in Jammu to prepare the roll out of the two UTs on October 31. There are rumours that possibly the Prime Minister NarendraModi may preside over the function in Jammu.



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