SRINAGAR: A delegation of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry today called on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha here at Raj Bhawan.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha meeting PHDCCI delegation
The delegation headed by Pradeep Multani, President PHDCCI lauded the Lt Governor-led UT Government for addressing the concerns of the business community and taking various initiatives for industrial development in the UT.
The delegation further submitted a representation to the Lt Governor seeking support measures for the economic development of J&K pertaining to Ease of Doing Business and implementation of Business Action Reforms plan, extension of VAT amnesty, review of Srinagar Master Plan, Ease in banking services, infrastructure projects, support to existing manufacturing and service sector, extension of emergency credit line guarantee scheme to all sectors, Special Economic Zone, etc.
The Lt Governor while interacting with the members of the delegation assured them that all their issues and demands would be addressed on merit.
UT Government is taking various breakthrough initiatives for furthering the economic growth and holistic development of Jammu & Kashmir, he said.
We are committed to strengthen the industrial & business ecosystem in a manner that the benefits percolate to all sections of the society, added the Lt Governor.
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SRINAGAR: In a setback to Jammu & Kashmir Apni Party, its general secretary and prominent face from Jammu, Vikram Malhotra on Wednesday quit the party, saying that it has no coherent and workable policy and programme.
In a resignation letter sent to Apni Party president Syed Altaf Bukhari, Vikram has written that he is “convinced that the Apni Party offers no promises to translate into reality at any point of time”.
“For over two years, we counted the ill and bad of other parties to convince people that we are the political party of future. I am feeling deeply pained and dismayed to say that most of us are now tired of this. I am not able to figure out any coherent and workable policy and programme of the Apni Party,” news agency KNO quoted the letter as saying.
Malhotra is the second prominent face from Jammu to quit the party which was formed after August 5, 2019. Earlier, former MLA Bishnah Kamal Arora quit the party.
Vikram is the son of former Legislative Council chairman Amrit Malhotra.
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SRINAGAR: A conductor was charred to death while the driver suffered injuries late last night after a truck caught fire under mysterious circumstances on Bandipora-Srinagar highway at Shilwat area of Sumbal.
Truck Catches Fire on Bandipora- Srinagar highway on June 1,2022
Quoting officials the news agency KNO reported that soon after the incident police swung into action and rescued the duo sitting inside the bus. The injured were taken to Srinagar hospital where the conductor of the bus succumbed to his injuries.
However, the driver identified as Ajay Singh, son of Wardan Singh, a resident of Ramban is still undergoing treatment, they said.
The officials said that the deceased has been identified as Rakesh Singh son of Darshan Singh a resident of Jammu.
“The cause of the fire is not yet known while the police have registered a case and investigation is underway,” they said.
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SRINAGAR: A 12-year-old boy died after receiving an electric shock at his home in Mamath area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Wednesday morning.
Quoting an official, news agency KNO reported that the boy identified as Riyaan Ajaz son of Ajaz Ahmad Mir was soon rushed to Budgam hospital by family members.
However, doctors at the hospital declared him as being brought dead on arrival.
Police has taken cognizance of the incident.
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With the death of 10 workers under a massive landslide in Ramban, while working on a road project, the focus is back to the fragile geography of the region, a ground reality the policymakers and construction companies have been ignored from day one, writesMasood Hussain
A tunnel along Baramulla – Jammu railway line. KL image by Bilal Bahadur
A Ministry of Road Transport and Highways appointed a 3-member expert committee led by IIT Delhi’s Prof JT Shahu (with a chief engineer from the office of the DG BRO and Vinod Shukla, MD of FGS Consultants, who is also a member of MoRTH’s expert committee on tunnels, as members) is looking into the issues of the Khooni Nalla tunnel collapse. Regardless of the probe outcome, the fact is that 10 precious lives were lost and even if the company and the project owner compensate for the losses the families will never be the same again.
On May 19, 2022 night, a portion of the just-started adit tunnel between Digdole and Khooni Nallah on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway caved in, impacting 13 workers working on the site. Almost all the machines were devastated by the mountain collapse. Three workers were rescued and 10 were retrieved dead in the subsequent four days.
Of the ten slain, five were from West Bengal, one from Assam, and two each from Nepal and Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district. Hundreds of people joined the funeral prayers of Muzaffar Sheikh, 38, and Mohammad Ishrat, 30, when they were laid to rest at Panthiyal village.
Quickly, the EPC contractor and the district administration announced the compensation for the families of the slain. Some relief was also extended to the people who survived the tragedy. That, however, did not end the story.
Kashmir Rail
The tunnelling project (T4) is part of the new Jammu Srinagar national highway that is by and large complete between Srinagar and Banihal and Jammu and Ramban. However, the crisis remains in the most challenging part of the highway – between Banihal and Ramban – a stretch of around 36 km. Its challenging geology was the key factor why not many contractors were willing to get into this area.
Some of the most festering spots of the otherwise blood-drenched highway including Marog, Panthial, Digdol, and Battery Chashma are located on this stretch. The spot where the work on the adit tunnel started in early February 2022 is a place that is part of Kashmir folklore – Khooni Nalla, a bloody rivulet. This vast stretch between Digdole and Khooni Nallah is home to a shooting stone area for which the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) attempted a series of treatments including a steel mesh. Nothing much helped. Now the new highway has planned a 4-lane-tunnel between Digdole to Panthyal for which the adit tunnel was being laid. “They had barely completed three meters that the tragedy befell,” one senior civil administration officer said. The contract for the tunnel has been awarded to JV between Ceigall India Limited and Patel Engineering Limited.
“There are instances when a moving vehicle was literally devoured by a landslide and quite a few could survive,” recalls a resident, attributing part of the frequent tragedies to the spot being haunted. “By an average, an accident takes place every month.”
Initially, the planners thought the road will follow the old alignment and will undergo expansion in width. Subsequently, however, it was decided that the road must bypass most of the festering spots and eventually a new realignment for around 13.6 km was decided. The new alignment will include five tunnels, 33 culverts, 13 viaducts, 11 minor bridges, and three underpasses and overall redoing of the stretch would cost no less than Rs 2169 crore.
“Almost 66 per cent of this stretch is four-laned,” one report, privy of the developments said. “It includes almost 2700 meters of tunnelling. But after doing all this, the NHAI decided to implement two tunnel projects which will bypass the seriously ailing spots.” The journalist said that the people had pleaded from day one that the project will not be viable unless the major tunnels are done. “They implemented the road and now will be having tunnel and flyovers.”
As workers started working on an adit tunnel near Khooni Nalla in Ramban. a hillock collapsed killing 10 labourers, two of them from Ramban on May 20, 2022.
Fragile Ecology
While improving the sick highway has no alternative, the planners, however, have been ignoring the geological realities of the region they work in. Mostly denuded, the area has the youngest mountains of the region, which are prone to soil erosions and landslides. During winters avalanches are quite frequent.
Working with these mountains would require extra expertise and a lot of spadework before actually moving the shovels in the foothills. People who have been managing this highway for the last seven decades have lived the challenges of keeping it open for most of the year. There is not a single chain on this highway that has not seen the human blood, somewhere a worker was killed and somewhere a manager but in most of the cases, the commuters topped the list. There have been scores of instances in which a single shooting stone hit an individual passenger near the window, and killed him as the bus moved unscathed otherwise. This is one factor why the people living around Khooni Nall believe the spirit of the wife of an MP (military policeman) is seen during nights with her kid seeking a lift!
How fragile, the ecology of the place can be demonstrated by what happened while implementing the prestigious railway project. People who drafted the rail alignment from their ivory towers cost the public kitty a whopping amount after the geological realities forced planners to make last time amends.
Jammu Srinagar highway is blocked due to massive landslides near Ramban.
Lost Tunnels
The 23-km track between Udhampur and Katra, the base station for the cave shrine of Vaishno Devi, was formally thrown open in early 2014, almost seven years after it was completed for the first time. The reason was that the geological realities showed up at a time when the project owners were planning a test drive.
The track passed through some of the youngest belts of the Shivalik range and envisages 11 km of tunnels, nine major and 29 minor bridges, besides 10 rail over / rail bridges. The tallest bridge on the track is 85 meters high and the longest tunnel is 3.15 km long.
An aerial view of the Ramban located between the Jammu Srinagar highway and the Chenab river.
One fine day in December 2002, when the officials went visiting the track, they saw the 3.22-km Tunnel-1, literally devastated. NRCO spent Rs 95.13 crore on the construction of the tunnel and attempted repairs to the deformed tunnel but it collapsed completely in November 2006 and blocked the passage. A new tunnel on a new alignment of 1800 meters was constructed for Rs 91.74 crore and was completed later in 2013, excluding the costs of cement and steel.
The 2.48-km T-3 was built at a cost of Rs 55 crore and was already in a bad shape. Completed in April 2008, it was having massive waterlogging issues since July 2003. NRCO commissioned a number of consultants and finally managed to revive it. A CAG investigation later found that the geological realities, even though pointed out by the surveyors had not been taken care of. These two tunnel projects delayed the arrival of rail to Katra by a decade. The erstwhile Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, once publicly said that when he visited the tunnel he saw a river flowing under it!
Overall Challenges
Planners had a “paper” alignment and went ahead to implement it. During implementation, the lack of extensive studies offered challenges thus forcing a relook on the alignment. By then part of the work had been implemented. The new alignment, mostly impacting the Katra-Qazigund stretch, reduced the length of the original proposal by 21 km; improved the stability and security of the track as the number of tunnels and bridges came down.
But adopting the new alignment had its own costs. As many as 15 tunnel projects and eight bridges, which had seen some work at an investment of Rs 226.39 crore were abandoned.
The trickiest section of the track continues to be between Katra and Banihal, which is still under implementation. In the 71-km track between Katra and Dharam, even though the new alignment reduced the number of tunnels from 31 to 17 and that of bridges from 51 to go, the geological realities continued throwing surprises.
Tunnel-1 in this section saw a 19.75-meter long false tunnel partly twisted and partly collapsing in February 2005, besides damaging 75 meters of the main tunnel. In July 2007, a 5-meter stretch of the tunnel collapsed and later
378 meters of the tunnel from the Katra end was deformed requiring a fresh investment of Rs 14.08 crore for repairs. This was in addition to the heavy ingress of water in the tunnel that led the contractor to submit a bill of Rs 10 crore for dewatering the tunnel.
The T-2 remained inundated in massive water discharge till the tunnelling methods were changed after many years but the pace of tunnelling fell from 1976 meters in 13 months to only 21.75 meters. One of its portals was demolished twice in March and May 2007 and was eventually abandoned. Tunnel T-3 remained literally inundated throughout. There was no tunnel in this stretch that had a normal, incident-free construction. In September 2006, a major landslide hit T-42 annihilating 23 shops and 25 houses forcing the planners to change the alignment completely as they were constructing the tunnel slope debris without any geological study. Some of them were abandoned and new tunnels were laid. A lot of them had new entrances as the initial ones collapsed, the same way as happened on the highway at Ramban.
The situation was not very different between Dharam and Banihal. As the landmass offered surprises, various bridges and tunnels were abandoned paving the way for newer ones.
Auditing the prestigious project in 2013, CAG said that there was a net loss of Rs 3259 crore apparently as the outcome of a bad design alignment, which included Rs 281.42 crore of abandoned assets; Rs 57.24 crore for suspension of work when the authorities started working for an alternative and particle alignment; Rs 1122.63 crore of loss in foreclosure of works and re-tendering the same at higher costs and spending Rs 194.37 crore for repairing the executed works.
Dam Looks Like A Little Ocean
Regardless of everything, the track is coming up fast. The major tunnel of almost 13 km is about to be ready, and so is the major bridge over Chenab in Reasi.
Ground Realities
The ground realities of the region, however, remain unchanged. The region falls in the seismic zone IV. In fact, a major fault line passes through the Baglihar dam. The young mountains are weak and prone to erosion.
The planners and the implementing agencies should take lessons from the twin projects – the old highway and the railway, before picking the shovel in the foothills of the region. Even if they succeed in implementing the surface communication projects, the region is so unstable that it can throw up surprises at any time. It is better to hire local geographers and earth scientists both in planning and execution and avoid discovering the wheel every time a project of better accessibility is announced.
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SRINAGAR: Kashmir valley reported 17 encounters in the month of May in which 27 militants and two security personnel were killed.
Of the 17 encounters, 10 were reported in South Kashmir, six in North Kashmir and one in Central Kashmir.
Data states that 91 militants were killed in J&K this year so far and among them, two were killed in Jammu division and 89 in Kashmir division.
Among 91 militants killed 26 were non-locals and 65 locals and most of them 53 were affiliated with LeT, 24 with Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), 11 with Hizb, two with Al-Badr and the affiliation of one wasn’t known.
On May 06, Three Hizb militants including the longest surviving commander Ashraf Molvi of Kokernag, Roshan Zameer of Aswara kanelwan in Bijbehara and Muhammad Rafiq Drangay of Hayar Bijbehara were killed in an encounter in Sirchan Top area of Pahalgam.
On May 08, Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants identified as Haider, a Pakistani, and Shahbaz Shah, a local from Kulgam were killed in an encounter in Cheyan Devsar area of Kulgam.
On May 09, militants managed to give slip to forces, however, one civilian namely Shahid Ahmad was killed during cross fire at Pandushan area of Shopian.
On May 10, two LeT militants identified as Arif Hussain Bhat resident of Halsidar Dooru & Suhail Ahmad Lone resident of Awgam Kulgam were killed in an encounter in Kreeri Anantnag.
On May 11, a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant identified as Gulzar Ganaie of Baramulla who was a part of a newly infiltrated militant group, was killed in an encounter with security forces in the Srinder forest area of North Kashmir’s Bandipora.
On May 13, two non-local LeT militants were killed in an encounter in the Brar Argam area of Bandipora district. On the same day, militants managed to give slip to forces after a brief exchange of fire in Marhama Bijbehara area of Anantnag district.
On May 16, a youth namely Shoaib Ahmad Ganaie was killed in Turkwangam area of Shopian district.
On May 20, a foreign militant identified as Mohammad Muneer son of Bilal Ahmad, a resident of Jura BandiBandi (POK), was killed in an encounter in Tangdhar area of Kupwara.
On May 25, three non-local militants affiliated with JeM and a cop were killed in a chance encounter in the Kreeri area of Baramulla.
On May 26, three non-local LeT militants and an army porter were killed in an encounter in Kupwara district.
Two newly recruited local militants affiliated with LeT namely Shahid Mushtaq Bhat from Hafroo Chadoora and Farhan Habib from Hakripora Pulwama who according to police killed TV artist Amreen Bhat were killed in an encounter in Aganhanzipora Awantipora on May 27.
On the same day, two newly recruited LeT militants namely Shakir Ahmed Waza and Afreen Aftab Bhat, both residents of Trenz Shopian, were killed in an encounter in Soura, Srinagar.
On the same day militants managed to give slip to forces after a brief exchange of fire in the Gundpora Rampora area of Bandipora. On 28 May, two HM militants namely Ishfaq Ahmad Ganaie resident of Chakwangund Anantnag and Yawar Ayoub Dar resident of Dogripora Awantipora were killed in an encounter in Sheetipora Bijbehara.
On 30 May, two local JeM militants identified as Abid Shah of Monghama Pulwama and Saqib Azad Sofi of Amshipora Shopian were killed in an encounter in Gundipora Pulwama.
On May 31, two Jaish militants identified as Shahid Rather of Larow Tral and Umar from Shopian were killed in an encounter in Rajpora Awantipora area of Pulwama district. (KNO)
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SRINAGAR: The Government today informed that 01 fresh positive case of novel Corona virus (COVID-19)has been reported today from Jammu division, thus taking the total number of positive cases to 454249.
Moreover, 11 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from various hospitals; 06 from Jammu division and 05 from Kashmir division.
The Bulletin also informs that no new case of Mucormycosis has been reported today, thus the total number of confirmed cases remains 51 across J&K.
On COVID vaccination, the bulletin informs that 8,737 doses of COVID vaccine have been administered in the last 24 hours bringing the cumulative number of doses administered across J&K to 2,30,57,682.
According to the daily Media Bulletin on novel Corona virus (Covid-19), out of 454249 positive cases, 54are Active Positive (43in Jammu Division and 11 in Kashmir Division), 449443 have recovered and 4752 have died; 2328 in Jammu division and 2424in Kashmir division.
The Bulletin further said that out of 25461585 test results available, 454249samples have tested positive and 25007336 samples have been tested as negative till date. Besides, 10,317 COVID tests have been conducted in last 24 hours.
Till date 6557310 persons have been enlisted for observation which included 177persons in home quarantine including facilities operated by government, 54 in isolation and 346 in home surveillance. Besides, 6551981 persons have completed their surveillance period.
Providing district-wise breakup for positive cases for today, the Bulletin informs that Jammu reported 01case while as no other district across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir reported any fresh case.
The bulletin informs that in case of any help, the general public can call J&K UT Centralised Health Helpline- Toll Free No. 104.In case of emergency, people can avail free ambulance services 24×7 by calling toll free number 108 while as pregnant women and sick infants can avail free services by dialling toll free number 102, the bulletin reads.
It also informs that the public can reach national helpline by dialling 1075.
Further the bulletin also informs the public that for any kind of COVID-19 query, logon to https://ift.tt/VeWbHoQ
The readers can also reach us on the official Twitter account of DIPR-J&K @diprjk; website: http://www.jkdirinf.in; Webportal: jkinfonews.com and Facebook: @dipr.jammu.kashmir.
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SRINAGAR: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper allegedly died by suicide at Humahama in Budgam.
Quoting an official news agency KNO reported that, the deceased has been identified as HC/GD Gulshan Rai of RTC Humama, was found hanging on Tuesday morning.
He said the trooper was brought to Composite hospital BSF Humhama were doctors declared him brought dead.
The official said the body will be sent to his village after the completion of legal formalities.
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A teacher was shot dead by unknown gunmen suspected to be militants in the Gopalpora area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday.
Quoting a top police officer news agency GNS reported that a migrant woman by profession teacher was fired upon by militants in Gopalpora.
A senior doctor at DH Kulgam said that the woman was brought dead to the facility.
Soon after the attack whole area has been cordoned off to nab the attackers.
Confirming the killing, officials sources identified her as Rajni Devi wife of Raj Kumar of Samba. She was posted in a school at Chwalgam in Kulgam where she was shot dead. She was posted in the school in the SC category.
The killing of the female teacher took place at a time when the migrant Kashmiri Pandits serving Kashmir under a special package have been on protest seeking their transfer outside Kashmir. Their protests started after the killing of a revenue clerk in his office at Chadoora. Though they have had a meeting with LG Manoj Sinha, there was no ice break.
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SRINAGAR: A Migrant lady was shot at and injured by unknown gunmen suspected to be militants in Gopalpora area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday.
Quoting a top police officer news agency GNS reported that a migrant woman was fired upon by militants in Gopalpora.
She was immediately shifted to nearby hospital for treatment. Her status of condition and identification wasn’t available at the time of this story was being filed.
Soon after the attack whole area has been cordoned off to nab the attackers.
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SRINAGAR: The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra reached Kashmir on Monday to investigate a Maharashtra resident Junaid Mohammad’s links with the militant organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad, reported Daily Excelsior.
The ATS visit came after it was revealed that three of Junaid’s handlers – Hamidulla Zargar of Kulgam, Aftab Shah of Kishtwar and Umar – who are presently on the run, hailed from Jammu and Kashmir, said the report.
Junaid, 28, was arrested from the house of his relative in Dapodi area of Pune on May 24.
A native of Khamgaon Taluka in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra, he was arrested for his alleged role in a “terror funding case”, reported Daily Excelsior.
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SRINAGAR: Prof Bhim Singh, the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party is no more. He was unwell for more than a year and passed away at a hospital in Jammu. He was 81 years old.
Bhim Singh
Singh is survived by his wife and son. The latter lives in London.
Singh was born on August 17, 1941. He emerged in Jammu and Kashmir politics as a student leader in 1966. He had travelled most of the world on a motorcycle which brought him to focus. Initially, he was with the Congress party but later he broke away from the party and decided to have his own platform. He constituted Panthers Party in 1982 with his wife, Jay Mala. The 2002 elections were the peak time of the party when it won all the assembly seats in the Udhampur district, the place of its origin and the key influence area. Singh was elected to the state assembly in 1977 and was later nominated to the legislative council.
Tragically, his party literally disintegrated while he was in the last year of his life. Most of his party leaders including his close relatives joined AAP.
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You Tuber and TV actress, Ambreen Bhat was killed at her Chadoora residence by militants on May 25, 2022.
Perhaps emerging as the first militancy-related murder in which killers were slain within less than 24 hours, the family of Ambreen Bhat, a TV artist and social media star, will never be the same again. After her mother died almost 12 years ago, she dropped out of secondary school and became a TV actor. In 2012, she fell in love with a south Kashmir boy but the marriage could not last long and in 2014, she was back home as a divorcee. As the work at Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar, dried up, off late, she started using social media to stay relevant and gradually her followers increased. She would make small videos on TikTok and YouTube and was active on Instagram since April 2020. She had 27,000 followers on Instagram and another 15,000 on YouTube.
On May 25, evening two men barged into her residence at Hushroo (Chadoora) and got her out and asked her to join their shooting session in Budgam. She refused, saying she does not work with strangers. One of the duo pulled out a pistol and fired thrice. Two bullets hit her and another her 11-year-old nephew, Farhan Zubair. She somehow managed to get into her room where she collapsed, was driven to the hospital and breathed her last on the way, her nephew survived.
Jammu and Kashmir Police said they identified her killer and engaged them in an encounter in an Awantipora village where they were killed. But the family of a 35-year old entertainer, a cushion and the bread-earner is lost. Ambreen was living with her asthmatic father, Khazir Mohammad, her elder sister and her labourer husband and their two kids. Amreen was earning for the family that was somehow managing to live with dignity within the limitations of the resources.
Her father told reporters that he would have happily pulled out her daughter from acting, had somebody warned them.
Ambreen’s killing, however, has panicked the professionals in the entertainment sector. Over the years, scores of boys and girls have taken to social media for exhibiting their creativity and offering entertaining content in music, comedy and other art forms. Many think the killing has pushed them to a sort of 1990s when these art forms were the key taboos. “She was the lone bread-winner of the family, having had to take care of her ailing father. For her, acting was all about feeding her family. Besides, in every shoot, you would see her properly dressed. We are part of our society and we all know our limits,” one artist was quoted by a newspaper saying. The murder of Ambreen has spread fear and grief among the 450-odd TV artists in Kashmir. Many of them are jobless these days, prompting some to switch to the tricky terrain of social media platforms that has earned them both accolades and brickbats. “I think she (Ambreen) is the second artist to die this way. In the early 90s, an artiste named Shamina Akhtar was shot dead. But all these years in between, we faced no issues. God knows why it has happened now.”
LG Visits Slain TV Artist Amreen Bhat’s Residence At Chadoora on May 29, 2022. The YouTuber was killed by militants at her residence.
LG Manoj Sinha also visited the family. “Met the family members of Ambreen Bhat at their residence at Budgam. She was a strong-willed woman and a pillar of support to her family. The administration will provide every possible assistance and support to the family. We shall forever remember Ambreen’s indomitable spirit”, Sinha tweeted after the meeting.
Amid continued protest by Kashmiri Pandit employees serving the valley, the government has shifted 56 of them to safer places.
BANIHAL
It was a tragedy in twists. A baby girl born to Shameema Begum, wife of Basharat Ahmed Gujjar a resident of Gujjar Basti Bankoot in sub-district hospital Banihal was declared the baby born-dead by the medical staff. She was kept in the morgue for an hour. After the formalities were over, the ‘body’ was handed over to the family. Instead of walking to their village, almost 56 km away, they decided to lay the baby to eternal rest in the local graveyard at Hollan. Post-burial, the graveyard managers raised objections over the unauthorised burial. This angered the family and they exhumed the infant with the objective of reburying her in their ancestral graveyard. It was during the exhumation that the baby cried shocking everybody.
It triggered a crisis. While the baby was immediately shifted to GB Panth Hospital in Srinagar, the hospital put two of its staffers under suspension for grave negligence. Deputy Commissioner ordered a probe. A four-member committee was constituted by the Director of Health Service Jammu to investigate the matter. While the probe was underway, the baby breathed her last more than 24 hours after being exhumed alive. She was buried again – this time, dead.
In the financial year 2021-22, 11434 recruitments were made by the Jammu and Kashmir government. These included 9390 by JK Service Selection Board, 561 by JK Public Service Commission and 1483 by JK Bank.
SHOPIAN
Three including the ‘faith healer’ were arrested after a woman’s death in Shopian on May 25, 2022. Pic: JKP
They had taken their daughter to the faith healer to save her from evil spirits. They did not know that the faith healer was an evil spirit instead. A resident of Damhal Hanjipora, Souby Jan’s family believed she is possessed. Married to Muzaffar Ahmad, she was unwell and the mother accompanied her to a ‘faith healer’ in Hanjipora Shopian so that she is exorcised from the evil spirits. Her mother said the so-called faith healer, Zakir Naik, beat her brutally and when the mother attempt to interrupt she was also injured. An unconscious lady was driven to a hospital in Kulgam where she died. Police have arrested Naik along with the deceased lady’s husband and brother.
1500 girl students enrolled in colleges are being awarded scholarships to help them undertake high-quality and tech-driven online skilling programmes in cutting edge technologies like Digital Marketing and Data Science with Artificial Intelligence. The government has partnered with upGrad Foundation which will ensure a 100 per cent fee waiver to help deserving and shortlisted female learners through its social impact initiative – Vidya Shakti Scholarships.
PULWAMA
Not allowed: Waheed ur Rehman Parra at the door of his gate as cops guard it. The PDP leaders were prevented by police from attending the party meeting on September 3, 2020. PiCc PDP
After spending 17 months in jail, PDP leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Para is home as the High Court granted him bail. NIA arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in November 2020, three days after he filed his nomination for the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Though on January 10, 2021, a special court granted him bail saying that the “offences, particularly falling under UAPA, are not prima facie made out”, he was picked up by Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) and placed in judicial custody. In June 2021, a special court framed charges against him. A Division Bench comprising Justices Vinod Chatterji Koul and Sanjeev Kumar finally bailed him out. He has to make himself available to investigators and surrender his passport. Various political parties including his PDP welcome the bail. “Viewed from any angle, the evidence assembled by the investigating agency and relied upon by the prosecution to prosecute the appellant even if accepted as it is without any denial or rebuttal by the appellant, is not such on the basis of which the Court can formulate an opinion that the allegations proved during the investigation are prima facie true,” the order reads. “The evidence as is gathered by the prosecution is too sketchy to be believed prima facie true, that too, with a view to deny bail to the appellant.”
Interestingly, he was elected to DDC while in jail but could not take the oath because he was in jail.
SRINAGAR
A rare photograph showing Sheikh M Abdullah in the Royal Palace at Srinagar in late 1947.
Two years after renaming Jammu and Kashmir’s police medal for gallantry and meritorious service, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha administration removed the embossed image of the National Conference (NC) Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah from the medal. It was replaced by the national emblem. The other side of the medal inscribed with the Jammu and Kashmir state emblem will now be inscribed as “Jammu and Kashmir Police Medal for Gallantry” and “Jammu and Kashmir Police Medal for Meritorious Service” in case of gallantry or meritorious medal, as the case may be.
The decision has triggered serious reactions. Mehbooba Mufti said that Sheikh took the bold decision of bringing J&K with the country when the two-nation theory was prevalent. “They should have thought that Sheikh sab took the bold decision of joining India being a secular country rather than Pakistan when the two-nation theory was prevalent,” she said. “And now after 70 years if someone wants to remove his identity what can be said of those persons. It is their mental bankruptcy, nothing else. Sheikh sab won’t be affected.”
“Sher-e-Kashmir is not just a prefix that you can erase,” an NC spokesman said. “Sher-e-Kashmir was, is and will always be the only Sher-e-Kashmir.” Various NC leaders posted with the hashtag “ShereKashmirliveson” on Twitter to protest against the move. Former minister, Naeem Akhtar said: “Sheikh Abdullah is another Aurangzeb [for the BJP]. The man without whom Kashmir may not have acceded to India ‘demonetised’, as the Sher-i-Kashmir is replaced with the national emblem.”
J&K Film Development Council (JKFDC) has received more than 350 applications from producers to shoot in Kashmir of which 116 applications have been approved. As many as 104 film companies have booked locations in Kashmir.
SRINAGAR
Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences Kashmir (IMHANS)
The first Suicide Prevention Helpline Zindagi has started functioning in Kashmir. The Helpline No (18002701008), a partnership initiative of the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences – Kashmir, GMC Srinagar and NGO SRO Kashmir, will operate between 6-11 pm as these hours are seen as the most vulnerable period for self-harm thoughts among those facing extreme mental stress as they feel lonely during the time. The helpline will offer suicide prevention counselling, first aid, psychological support, distress management, mental well-being, promotes positive behaviour, and psychological crisis management. Currently, the Helpline is backed by a team of 14 psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. There is no language barrier; the helpline entertains calls in English, Urdu and Kashmiri. They are receiving almost 10-15 calls per day. In near future, they are planning to make it 24×7 and will be creating a provision to evacuate the person having severe suicidal thoughts to the hospital.
JAMMU
Not expecting that it will trigger a crisis, the government had decided to terminate the services of people engaged as Rehbar-e-Khel, Rehbar-e-Janglat, Rehbar-e-Zirat, and National Youth Corps (NYC) and refer all these positions to Service Selection Board. The idea was to make fresh recruitments by offering extra weightage and age relaxation to those already serving. After the news leak, thousands of these workers were seen on the roads. Understanding the magnitude of the crisis, the move could trigger, the administration got into salvaging the situation by terming the news as a rumour. The protests continued for a few days with the youth seeking withdrawal of the order, if any, that might have been sent to SSB.
WASHINGTON
Khurram Parvez
Detained human rights activist, Khurram Parvez is one of the three persons from India who is listed among Time magazine’s “world’s 100 most influential people of 2022”. Two others are Gautum Adani and Supreme Court lawyer, Kauna Nundy. Khurram’s brief sketch has been written by journalist, Rana Ayyub. “He had to be silenced, for his was a voice that resounded around the globe for his fierce fight against human rights violations and injustices in the Kashmir region,” the newspaper quoted Rana writing. “The soft-spoken Khurram is almost a modern-day David who gave a voice to families that lost their children to enforced disappearances, allegedly by the Indian state.” Khurram was arrested on November 25, 2021, from his Srinagar residence by federal investigator NIA in a terror funding case.
BIJBEHARA
Waseem Raja from Shalgam Bijbehara who won Rs 2 Cr from an online sports fantansy platform in May 2022
Waseem Raja, a resident of Shalgam area of Bijbehara has won Rs 2 crore on the online platform, Dream11. “I was sleeping and didn’t know about it at all; my friends called and told me that I had figured at number one slot, paving a way for me to win Rs 2 crore,” Raja said. An Indian fantasy sports platform, Dream11 allows users to play fantasy cricket, hockey, football, kabaddi and basketball and earn rewards. The platform is a skill-based application that lets users win cash prizes as they play. “I cannot express my happiness, I am overwhelmed because we were in hardships and this money should ease it all for me; my mother is ill, and I will now be finally able to ensure she gets the necessary treatment; I thank God for whatever has come my way.”
NASEEMBAGH
Prof Neelofar Khan
In the University of Kashmir’s 74-year history, it got the first woman Vice-Chancellor, last week. Professor Nilofar Khan, who has been teaching home science for over 30 years, has been Dean, College Development Council, Registrar, Dean Faculty of Applied Science and Technology and Director Institute of Home Sciences. She was also the first woman Dean of Students Welfare of the University and the founding Director, of the Centre for Women’s Studies and Research.
Meanwhile, KU scientist Dr Altaf Bhat was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Coordinator at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovations (CIRI), Bhat has made significant contributions to the understanding of how genes regulate cellular physiology and how genome stability is maintained in the cells.
KHANMOH
The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to convert the DRDO-created 500 bedded Covid19 Hospital facility at Khonmoh into a fully-fledged Infectious Diseases Hospital. His will help the major hospitals from getting disturbed every time, an epidemic or a pandemic starts altering the footfalls. The new facility can emerge as a super-speciality gradually. It is a complete hospital and has well equipped intensive care units with hundreds of ventilators, high-flow oxygen on every bed and a huge bed capacity. To manage it the government recruited its manpower last year.
JAMMU
Lt Governor meeting family members of Cricketer Umran Malik
Jammu and Kashmir’s pace sensation, Umran Malik has finally been selected for the Indian team against South Africa in the T-20 International home series starting from June 9. He is the second player of Jammu and Kashmir after Parvez Rasool who has been selected for the Indian team for the five-match T-20 series.
Rasool received his maiden call-up for the national team in 2013 for the Zimbabwe tour but finally represented the Team India against Bangladesh in June 2014 at Mirpur. Malik, son of a modest fruit seller, was playing for IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad. He picked up 21 wickets so far in the 13 games with his ability to bowl consistently at 95 miles per hour which caught the attention of everyone in the cricket world.
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SRINAGAR: Two militants killed in a gunfight with the counter-insurgent forces at Rajpora village of Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district were affiliated with the Jaish-E-Muhammad outfit, an official said.
An official said that both the slain militants were identified as Shahid Rather of Tral and Umar Yousuf of Shopian.
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) May 31, 2022
He said that besides other crimes, terrorist Shahid was involved in killing of a woman Mst Shakeela of Aripal and a govt employee/ peon Javid Ahmed of Lurgam Tral.
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SRINAGAR: Two militants were killed in an encounter with counter-insurgent forces at Rajpora village of Awantipora area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday.
An official said that two militants were killed in encounter at Rajpora village in Awantipora area of Pulwama.
The identity of the slain militants could not be ascertained immediately.
Earlier, a police spokesman said a gunfight broke out between militants and forces at Rajpora village in Awantipora area of Pulwama on Monday late evening.
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SRINAGAR: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar Monday said the police was working on a multi-dimensional front to prevent local youth from joining militancy and those who motivate and lure youth towards militancy are being booked under Public Safety Act (PSA).
Talking to media men here, IGP Kashmir said that police have succeeded to a large extent to prevent youth from taking up arms. “We are working on multi-dimensional fronts to prevent local militant recruitment. Parents support is a very must. Parents have played a vital role in bring a large number of youth back. Besides, we were also tracking new recruits through technical surveillance and bringing them back,” news agency KNO quoted the IGP as having said.
The IGP said that those who motivate and lure young boys towards militancy are being slapped with PSA. About the Pulwama encounter, the Kashmir police chief said the two slain were locals and affiliated with the Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit. He said that the slain were identified as Saqib and Abid who were involved in the killing of police constable Reyaz Ahmed on May 13 at Gudoora, Pulwama.
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SRINAGAR: India witnessed a decline in Covid cases with 2,706 fresh infections being reported in last 24 hours against previous day’s 2,828 count, as per the Union Health Ministry’s Monday morning data.
Also, 25 fatalities took the nationwide death toll to 5,24,611.
Meanwhile, the active caseload has also risen to 17,698 cases, accounting for 0.04 per cent of the total positive cases.
The recovery of 2,070 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,26,13,440. Consequently, the country’s recovery rate stands at 98.74 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Daily Positivity rate has risen to 0.97 per cent, while the Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 0.58 per cent.
Also in the same period, a total of 2,78,267 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 85 crore.
As of Monday morning, the vaccination coverage exceeded 193.31 crore, achieved via 2,45,16,503 sessions.
Over 3.38 crore adolescents have been administered with a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of vaccination drive for this age bracket. (IANS)
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SRINAGAR: One more militant was killed in an encounter with the counter-insurgent forces on Monday at Gundipora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, taking the death toll of militants to two, an official said.
He said that one more militant was killed in the gunfight in Gundipora village in Pulwama district.
He added that the identity of slain militants were being ascertained.
Earlier, police had said that one militant was killed in the encounter in Gundipora area of south Pulwama district.
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SRINAGAR: Weather remained inclement in Jammu and Kashmir during the last 24 hours as the Meteorological (MeT) department said on Monday that partly cloudy weather with light rain/thundershowers are likely during the next 24 hours.
“Partly cloudy weather with the possibility of afternoon light rain/thundershowers is likely during the next 24 hours in J&K,” the department officials said.
Srinagar had 14.3, Pahalgam 9.6 and Gulmarg 5 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature.
Drass in Ladakh region had 8.3, Leh 9.6 and Kargil 9.2 as the night’s lowest temperature.
Jammu had 25.4, Katra 23, Batote 14.6, Banihal 14.8 and Bhaderwah 13.1 as the minimum temperature. (IANS)
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SRINAGAR: Lockie Ferguson, the express paceman from New Zealand, ensured that he would remember IPL 2022 for one reason or the other as he bowled the fastest delivery of the season in the final against Rajasthan Royals.
The Gujarat Titans paceman steamed in and bowled the last delivery of the fifth over at a pace of 157.3 kmph, which broke the mark earlier set by SunRisers Hyderabad paceman Umran Malik.
Umran made a name for himself this season by bowling consistently at a pace of above 150 kmph. He also picked up as many as 22 wickets this season, and his performance earned his a maiden Team India call-up for the upcoming T20I home series against South Africa.
Ferguson’s delivery was a fine yorker, bowled at scorching pace at Rajasthan’s main man Jos Buttler.
Umran’s delivery, which was earlier the fastest this season, was clocked at 157 kmph.
Fast bowling is a riveting art which makes for great viewing in cricket and the emergence of a number of express bowlers in India has helped the national team as well.
Ferguson had picked up 12 wickets in IPL 2022 before the start of the final match.
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SRINAGAR: An unidentified militant was killed in an ongoing operation at Gundipora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, an official said.
An official said that one unidentified militant has been killed so far in the ongoing encounter.
He said that the gunfight broke out at Gundipora area in Pulwama on Sunday late night following a search operation.
Earlier, a police spokesman said a gunfight broke out between militants and forces at Gundipora area of Pulwama district on Sunday.
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WhenGeorge Forstervisited Kashmir in 1783 spring, it was Azad Khan ruling the roost in Srinagar. He has recorded the state and status of Kashmir state and its people at the peak of Afghan oppression.
An early twentieth-century photograph showing a group of extremely beautiful Kashmiri women, disempowered and in poverty. The photograph has been taken in the Kashmir periphery.
The valley of Kashmire has generally a flat surface, and being copiously watered, yields abundant crops of rice, which is the common food of the inhabitants. At the base of the surrounding hills, where the land is higher, wheat, barley, and various other grains are cultivated. A superior species of saffron is also produced in this province, and iron of an excellent quality is found in the adjacent mountains.
The Shawl Economy
But the wealth and fame of Kashmire have largely arisen from the manufacture of shauls, which it holds unrivalled, and almost without participation. The wool of the shaul is not produced in the country, but brought from districts of Thibet, lying at the ‘distance of a month’s journey to the north-east.
It is originally of a dark grey colour, and is bleached in Kashmire by the help of a certain preparation of rice flour. The yarn of this wool is stained with such colours as may be judged the best suited for sale, and after being woven the piece is once washed. The border, which usually displays a variety of figures and colours, is attached to the shauls after fabrication, but in so nice a manner, that the junction is not discernable
An 1870 lithograph showing a group of Kashmiri Mulsim women in Srinagar.
The texture of the shaul resembles that of the shaloon of Europe, to which it has probably communicated the name. The price, at the loom of an ordinary shaul is eight rupees; thence, is proportional quality, it produces from fifteen to twenty; and I have seen a very fine piece sold at forty rupees the first cost. But the value of this commodity may be largely enhanced by the introduction of flowered work; and when you are informed that the sum of one hundred rupees is occasionally given for a shaul to the weaver, the half amount may be fairly ascribed to the ornaments.
A portion of the revenue of Kashmire is transmitted to the Afghan capital in shaul goods, which I had an opportunity of seeing previously to the dispatch, and from the information then received; I am reasonably confirmed in the accuracy of this statement I have given. The shauls usually consist of three sizes, two of which, the long and the small square one, are in common use in India; the other long and very narrow, with a large mixture of black colour in it, is worn as a girdle by the northern Asiatics.
Trade
A wine is made in Kashmire, resembling that of Madeira, which, if skilfully manufactured by age, would possess an excellent quality. A spirituous liquor is also distilled from the grape, in which and the wine, the people of all kinds freely indulge.
The Kashmirians fabricate the best writing paper of the east, which was formerly an article of extensive traffic; as were its lacquerware, cutlery, and sugars; and the quality of these manufactures clearly evince, that were the inhabitants governed by wise and liberal princes, there are few attainments of art which they would not acquire.
A group of silver and copper smiths in a workshop in Jammu and Kashmir in 1895
But the heavy oppression of the government, and the rapacious temper of the bordering states, who exercise an unremitting rapacity on the foreign traders, and often plunder whole cargoes, have reduced the commerce of Kashmire to a declining and languid state. In proof of this position, the Kaslimirians say, that during their subjection to the Mogul dominion, the province contained forty thousand shall looms, and that at this day, there are not sixteen thousand.
In Kashmire are seen merchants and commercial agents of most of the principal cities of northern India, also of Tartary, Persia, and Turkey, who, at the same time, advance their fortunes, and enjoy the pleasures of a fine climate, and a country over which are profusely spread the various beauties of nature.
Dress
The dress of the Kashmirians consists of a large turban, awkwardly put on a great woollen vest, with wide sleeves; and a sack, wrapped in many folds round the middle; under the vest, which may be properly called a wrapper, the higher class of people wear a pirabun, or shirt, and drawers; but the lower order have no undergarment, nor do they even gird up their loins.
On first seeing these people in their own country, I imagined, from their garb, the cast of countenance, which is long, and of a grave aspect, and the form of their beards, that I had come amongst a nation of Jews. The same idea impressed also Mr Bernier who, carrying it further, has attempted, by the aid of some proofs more specious than substantial, to deduce their origin from the Jewish tribes that were carried into captivity.
A 1920 photograph showing two women talking in a houseboat Shikara
The dress of the women is no less aukward than that of the men, and is ill adapted to display the beauties they naturally possess. Their outward, and, often, only garment, is of cotton, and shaped like a long loose shirt. Over the hair, which falls in a single braid, they wear a close cap, usually of a woollen cloth, of a crimson colour and to the hinder part of it is attached triangular piece of the same stuff, which, falling on the back, conceals much of the hair. Around the lower edge of the cap is rolled a small turban, fastened behind with a short knot, which seemed to me the only artificial ornament about them.
You will be pleased to notice, that I speak of the dress of the ordinary women, such only being permitted to appear in public. The women of the higher classes are never seen abroad nor is it consistent with the usage of any Mahometan nation, even to speak of the female part of family.
The People
The Kashwirians are stout, well-formed and as the natives of country lying in the thirty-fourth degree of latitude, may be termed a fair people; and their women in southern France, or Spain, would be called Brunettes. But, having been prepossessed with an opinion of their charms, I suffered a sensible disappointment; though I saw some of the female dancers most celebrated for beauty, and the attractions of their profession. A coarseness of figure generally prevails among them, with broad features, and they too often have thick legs. Though excelling in the colour of their complexion, they are evidently surpassed by the elegant form and pleasing countenance of the women of some of the western provinces of India.
An 1870 photograph showing the famed Kashmir Nautch Girls in a group photograph.
The city of Kashmire once abounded with courtezans, equally gay and affluent, but the rigorous contributions of the Afghans have great reduced their number, and driven most of those that remain, into a languid poverty. The few that I saw, afforded me much pleasure by their graceful skill in dancing, and voices peculiarly melodious. And here let me observe, least I should afterwards forget, that the women of Kashmire are singularly fruitful, be the government ever so oppressive, or fortune at all points adverse, no baneful effects are seen to operate on the propagation of the species, which is maintained with a successful perseverance. I will not presume to investigate the physical cause of a virtue so copiously inherent in the men and women of this country; but will simply intimate to you, that its waters are well stored with fish, which is thought to be a generative stimulus, and constitutes a site article of the food of the people.
The Kashmirians are gay and lively people, with strong propensities to pleasure. None are more eager in the pursuit of wealth, have more inventive faculties in acquiring it, or who devise more modes of luxurious expense. When a Kashmirian, even of the lowest order, finds himself in the possession of ten shillings, he loses no time in assembling his party, and launching into the lake, solaces himself till the last farthing is spent.
The fort on Hari Parbat was started by the Mughals but completed during the Afghan rule.
Mughal Era
Nor can the despotism of an Afghan government, which loads them with a various oppression and cruelty, eradicate this strong tendency to dissipation; yet their manners, it is said, have undergone a manifest change, since the dismemberment of their country from Hindostan, Encouraged by the liberality and indulgence of the Moguls, they gave a loose to their pleasures and the bent of their genius. They appeared in gay apparel, constructed costly buildings, and were much addicted to the pleasures of the table.
The interests of this province were so strongly favoured at the court, that every complaint against its governors was attentively listened to, and any attempt to molest the people, restrained or punished. |
In the reign of Aurungzebe, when the revenue of the different portions of the empire exceeded that of the present day, the sum collected in Kashmire amounted to three and a half lacks of rupees; but, at this time, not less than twenty lacks are extracted by the Afghan governor, who, if his tribute be regularly remitted to court, is allowed to execute with impunity every act of violence. This extreme rigour has sensibly affected the deportment and manners of the Kashmirians, who shrink with dread from the Afghan oppressions, and are fearful of making any display of opulence. A Georgian merchant, who had long resided in the country, gave me the most satisfactory information of Kashmire. He said, that, when he first visited the province, which was governed by a person of a moderate disposition, the people were licentious, volatile, and profuse but, that since the administration of the fate chief, an Afghan, of a fierce and rapacious temper, they had become dispirited, their way of living mean, their dress slovenly, and, though of a temper proverbially loquacious, they were averse from communicating ordinary intelligence.
During my residence in Kashmire, I often witnessed the harsh treatment which the common people received at the hands of their masters, who rarely issued an order without a blow of the side of their hatchet, a common weapon of the Afghans, and used by them in war, as a battle-axe. Though the inhabitants of this province are held under a grievous subjection, and endure evils the most mortifying to human nature, being equally oppressed and insulted, the various testimonies brought home to me of their common depravity of disposition, made me the less sensible of their distress; and, in a short time, so faint was the trace of it on my mind, that I even judged them worthy of their adverse fortune.
Character
In viewing the manners of a people at large, it were at once a sacrifice of truth, and every claim to historical merit, to introduce passionate or fanciful colouring; yet the coolest reflection does not withhold me from saying, that I never knew a national body of men more impregnated with the principles of vice, than the natives of Kashmire.
Afghan oppression had broken the back of the Kashmiri people. An artwork by an anonymous artist
The character of a Kashmirian is conspicuously seen, when invested with official power. Supported by an authority which prescribes no limits to its agents, in the accumulation of public emoluments, the Kashmirian displays the genuine composition of his mind. He becomes intent on immediate aggrandizement, without rejecting any instrument which can promote his purpose. Rapacious and arrogant, he evinces in all his actions, deceit, treachery, and that species of refined cruelty, which usually actuates the conduct of a coward. And it is said that he is equally fickle in his connections, as implacable in enmity. In behalf of humanity, I could wish not to have been capacitated to exhibit so disgusting a picture, which being constantly held out to me for near three months, in various lights, but with little relief, impressed me with a general dislike of mankind.
Tue Kashmirians are so whimsically curious, that when any trivial question is proposed to them, its attention and purpose is enquired into with a string of futile interrogatories, before the necessary information is given; and a shopkeeper rarely acknowledges the possession of a commodity, until he is apprised of the quantity required. In examining the situation in which these people have been placed, with its train of relative effects, the speculative moralist will, perhaps, discover one of the larger sources from whence this cast of manners and disposition has arisen. He will perceive that the singular position of their country, its abundant and valuable produce, with a happy climate, tend to excite strong inclinations to luxury and effeminate pleasures; and he is aware, that to counteract causes, naturally tending to enervate and corrupt the mind, a system of religion or morality is necessary to inculcate the love of virtue, and especially, to impress the youth with early sentiments of justice and humanity.
But he will evidently see that neither the religious nor the moral precepts of the present race of Mahometans contain the principles of rectitude or philanthropy; that, on the contrary, they are taught to look with abhorrence on the fairest portion of the globe, and to persecute and injure those who are not inclosed in the fold of their prophet. Seeing then the Kashmirians, presiding as it were at the fountainhead of pleasure, neither guided or checked by any principle or example of virtue, he will not be surprized, that they give a wide scope to the passions of the mind and the enjoyments of the body.
The Sherghari Palace that Afghans built on the banks of the Jhelum river in Srinagar was their seat of power. The photograph taken in the Dogra era shows Maharaja’s Royal Barge waiting in the river.
The Oppression
Azad Khan, the present governor of Kashmire of the Afghan tribe, succeeded his father Hadji Kareem Dad, a domestic officer of Ahmed Shah Duranny, and who was at the death of that prince, advanced to the government of Kashmire, by Timur Shah, as a reward for quelling the rebellion of the Amir Khan. Though the Kashmirians exclaim with bitterness at the administration of Hadji Kareem Dad, who was notorious for his wanton cruelties and insatiable avarice, often, for trivial offences, throwing the inhabitants, tied by the back in pairs, into the river, plundering their property, and forcing their women of every description; yet they say he was a systematical tyrant, and attained his purposes, however atrocious, through a fixed medium.
They hold a different language in speaking of the son, whom they denominate the Zaulim Khan, a Persic phrase which expresses a tyrant without discernment and, if the smaller portion of the charges against him are true, the appellation is fitly bestowed.
At the age of eighteen years, he has few of the vices of youth, he is not addicted to the pleasures of the harem, nor to wine, he does not even smoke the hookah. But his acts of ferocity exceed common belief; they would seem to originate in the wildest caprice, and to display a temper rarely seen in the nature of man.
That you may form some specific knowledge of the character of this, let me call him, infernal despot, I will mention some facts which were communicated during my residence in the province. While he was passing with his court, under one of the wooden bridges of the city, on which a crowd of people had assembled to observe the procession, he levelled his musquet at an opening which he saw in the path way, and being an expert marksman, he shot to death an unfortunate spectator. Soon after his accession to the government, he accused his mother of infidelity to her husband, and in defiance of the glaring absurdity which appeared in the allegation, as well as the anxious intreaties of the woman who had borne him to save her from shame, she was ignominiously driven from the palace and about the same time, on a like frivolous pretence, he put one of his wives to death.
Jehlum River near Baramulla, Kashmir somwhere in the 1880’s
A film on one of his eyes had baffled the attempts of many operators, and being impatient at the want of success, he told the last surgeon who had been called in, that if the disorder was not remedied within a limited time, allowing but a few days, his belly should be cut open; the man failed in the cure, and Azad Khan verified his threat.
These passages were related to me by different persons, some strangers in the country, others, who from the stations they held, would rather have been induced to speak favourably. Azad Khan had, in the three first months of his government, become an object of such terror to the Kashmirians, that the casual mention of his name produced an instant horror and an involuntary supplication of the aid of their prophet. Among the lesser order of his exactions, but which seemed to me the most unpopular and discouraging, is that levied from the courtezans or dancing girls, who are obliged to account for every sum of money they receive, and to pay the larger share of it to the intendant of the police; nor are they allowed to attend at any festival or entertainment, without the permission of that officer. The rigorous treatment of this class of females, which are ever the most pleasing to society, from the indulgence granted to them, has here affected a grievous change for though Kashmire is known to abound in fine, women, few are now seen among the courtezans.
Revenue
A revenue of between twenty and thirty lacks of rupees is collected from this province, of which a tribute of seven lacks is remitted to the treasury of Timur Shah. The army of Kashmire, part of which I have seen embodied, consists of about three thousand horse and foot, chiefly Afghans, who had received little pay for two years, and many of them, for want of a better subsistence, were obliged to live on the kernel of the Singerah, or water-nut, which is plentifully produced in the lakes of the country.
(This is the concluding part of the two-part series on George Forester’s Kashmir travelogue.)
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It was a tragedy in twists. A baby girl born to Shameema Begum, wife of Basharat Ahmed Gujjar a resident of Gujjar Basti Bankoot in sub-district hospital Banihal was declared the baby born-dead by the medical staff. She was kept in the morgue for an hour. After the formalities were over, the ‘body’ was handed over to the family. Instead of walking to their village, almost 56 km away, they decided to lay the baby to eternal rest in the local graveyard at Hollan. Post-burial, the graveyard managers raised objections over the unauthorised burial. This angered the family and they exhumed the infant with the objective of reburying her in their ancestral graveyard. It was during the exhumation that the baby cried shocking everybody.
