Srinagar: Terming the decision of abolition of J&K Cadre of Civil Services as unwarranted and arbitrary, former finance minister Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Friday demanded that the decision be rolled back in light of the promises of restoration of Statehood made by the Country’s Prime Minister on the floor of Parliament.
Bukhari also expressed strong reservations on doing away with five years age relaxation granted to Jammu and Kashmir youth in the Civil Services examinations. “The decision of abolition of J&K Cadre and doing away with the five years age relaxation are capricious and have come as a shocker for the people of Jammu and Kashmir especially its aspirants for Civil Services careers,” Bukhari remarked. The former finance minister observed that these decisions are confusing and make no sense because at the time of temporary conversion of J&K from State to Union Territory, the Central Government had assured there will be no fiddling with the J&K Cadre. “These decisions seem to have been taken without proper application of mind. Not only the sanctity of Caderization of Civil Services has been put to a question mark but the decision to abolish J&K Cadre will be a strong factor for de-motivation of J&K youth who aspire to join the prestigious civil services in the country,” he opined. Bukhari observed that the five years age relaxation was granted by the government of India to J&K civil service aspirants because of topography, inclement climatic conditions and the hostile security scenario in Kashmir Valley. “However, the contenders from all the regions of Jammu and Kashmir were equally benefitted by this special provision of age relaxation. Doing away with this advantage has not only brought cynicism among them but has also disillusioned thousands of J&K students who have gone outside State for coaching, thereby wasting their precious time and resources,” he added. The former finance minister demanded immediate review of these decisions in the larger interests of people of Jammu and Kashmir especially its huge number of qualified, unemployed youth. “The status of Jammu and Kashmir may have changed from a State to Union territory but unfortunately there is no marked change on the ground situation sofar. These hostile decisions are bound to alienate our aspiring youth further,”: Bukhari observed, while appealing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister to intervene into the matter and ask the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to revoke its decisions without any delay. He said that the civil service aspirants of Jammu and Kashmir appear in the examination conducted through UPSC after facing tremendous hardships including inclement weather, intimidating security situation and frequent internet shutdowns. “Our youth have always braved all odds with a hope that they will get a chance to prove their mettle in the prestigious civil service examinations. That hope, trust and confidence of our students need to be restored by the leadership of our country,” he advocated.
Srinagar: This year visitors will get to witness beautifully arranged tulips here at Tulip Garden as are mostly found many gardens in Europe. The department of Floriculture has planted the tulips in wave pattern and its water stream would be extended up to second terrace. Shayiq Rasool who is Field Officer (FO) at Department of Floriculture said the number of tulip bulbs will be about 13 lakh this season. He said with the addition of four new varieties will be added to have 55 different varieties of tulips. “The garden was a formal type earlier. Now, this season, we are stressing on wave patterns to make it more attractive. It will similar to gardens tulip gardens in Europe,” he said. Some new elite varieties of daffodils, hyacinths and ranunculus would also be added this season. “We are also working on different flower varieties also which can bloom in spring only,” he said. The department has also appealed visitors not to bring any food inside the Garden to maintain its upkeep. Deemed as Asia’s largest tulip garden, it is spread over an area of 30 hectares and is situated on the foothills of Zabarwan.
The Tulip garden has attracted many Bollywood film makers. The opening of the famous garden marks the beginning of tourist session in Kashmir.
“When the testing facility is available, we will be able to have the test results in 4 hours time,”
As of now, we are shipping the samples outside Kashmir and wait for the response, and the process takes days to weeks’ time.
Srinagar, Feb 07: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Friday has sought testing facility for coronavirus in Kashmir.
“That would detect cases faster and speed up the diagnosis,” said DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan.
“When the testing facility is available, we will be able to have the test results in 4 hours time,” he said.
Dr Nisar said as of now, we are shipping the samples outside Kashmir and wait for the response, and the process takes days to weeks’ time.
So far, 9 samples have been sent to NIV Pune, only one sample result has come that is negative and rest of the test results are pending.
He said in order to combat the potential pandemic threat of new coronavirus, and to improve the surveillance and ability to track the spread of the disease, US FDA has approved authorization of diagnostic tests for the novel virus in any qualified laboratory. Now, labs can use the test on-site rather than having to ship the samples to other places.
“We have the recommended biosafety level 3 lab at GMC Srinagar and machine to do the tests. We have the laboratory expertise in molecular detection of the virus. We need diagnostic kits and we will be doing the tests,” Dr Nisar said.
He said the diagnostic kit is designed for the detection of novel virus in respiratory samples like nasal or throat swabs.
“Any person with fever and cough and who has been in close contact with a confirmed case or has a history of travel to the affected area within 14 days of symptom onset should undergo diagnostic testing,” Dr Nisar said.
Quoting a paper published in the Journal The Lancet, he said persons who are not showing symptoms can still be carrying the virus.
“Because asymptomatic infection appears possible, persons who have travel history or history of contact should be considered for testing even if they do not exhibit the signs and symptoms of the disease,” said Dr Nisar.
Srinagar, Feb 05: A student hailing from South Kashmir’s Pulwama district currently in China has appealed the union government especially External Affairs Minister Dr. S J Shankar to evacuate the Indian residents who are suck in Wuhan province in China.
According to the wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Manzoor Ahmad Dar, son of Abdul Majeed Dar, resident of Trichal village of Pulwama in his Facebook post said that many of the people from India are stuck in Wuhan since the deadly Coronavirus spread in China and so far claimed almost 450 lives.
He said that after the spreading of infectious virus in China, he was not allowed to board the Air India flight arranged by the Government of India for the evacuation of stranded Indian residents from Wuhan due to slight higher body temperature (37.5).
The Kashmiri medical student he along with two other students were assured by Indian embassy that they will be airlifted by the next flight, but they were not airlifted so far. “After being disallowed to board in the flight, I have no symptoms of infections or virus. I made several requests to the Indian Embassy to airlift me to India, but to no avail,” he said.
“Although University provides everything whatever we need but every day in Wuhan is marked by fear and frustration. Back home, my parents are very much worried. My mother is a heart patient,” he said in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, the Kashmiri student appealed the Union government especially the External Affairs Minister Dr. S.J.Shankar to kindly intervene and rescue him from Wuhan.
Nonetheless, his family in Pulwama has said that they are very much worried about him and requested concerned authorities to kindly evacuate him. (KNO)
Historians state that Thorpe’s life is shrouded in “myth, memory and history”.[3] He is regarded in Kashmir as a martyr who died for the cause of Kashmiris.[4][5][6]
Gravestone of Lt. Robert Thorpe in Kashmir.
Lieutenant Robert Thorpe (1838–1868[1]), an officer of the British Indian Army,[2] visited Kashmir during the reign of Maharaja Ranbir Singh and wrote about the sufferings of the Kashmiri people. His writings were compiled into a book Cashmere Misgovernment and published in London in 1870. Thorpe also appealed to the British soldiers, who raised funds for Christian Missionary Society to send medical help to the Kashmir Valley. This eventually led to the founding of the British Mission Hospital in Srinagar.[2]
Family
According to Jane Strand, a surviving relative of Robert Thorpe, Robert Thorpe was born in 1838 to parents Thomas Thorp (died 1854), a solicitor in Alnwick in Northumberland, and Elizabeth Jane Tudor (died 1890) from Bath, Somerset. Robert had a brother William Tudor Thorp, who was a vicar and the great grandfather of Jane Strand.[7]
Other versions of his background are current in Kashmir. According to writer Fida Hassnain, Robert Thorpe’s father was Lt. Col. R. Thorpe of the British Army. On a holiday to Kashmir in 1833, Col. Thorpe is said to have fallen in love with a Kashmiri woman named Amiran, the daughter of a landlord in Shoguin, and the two were married. Then they are said to have gone back to Britain, where Robert Thorpe was born.[8][9]
According to another version from Justice Yusuf Saraf, Robert Thorpe’s mother was Jani (Jan Bibi), the daughter of Daim Rathore (Dayim Rathore) of Kishtwar. To get married to her, Col. Thorp had to convert to Islam. Robert Thorpe is said to have been the youngest of three children.[10][11][12][13] Kumar and Dar note the inconsistencies in the various narratives.[14]
Life and career
According to Jane Strand’s information, Robert went to school first in Durham and later in Surrey. He was commissioned in the 98th foot regiment of British Army in India (British Indian Army in modern terminology) in February 1858. He resigned from the Army in February 1867.[7]
When Thorpe entered Kashmir around 1865, he was a Lieutenant.[2] Scholar Sheikh Showkat Hussain believes that Thorpe was sent to Kashmir on a mission, to prepare the case for British intervention in Kashmir.[15]
Writings on Kashmir
Between 1865 and 1868, Thorpe travelled extensively in the villages, collecting information about the living conditions, economy, taxation, and the state apparatus.[10] He wrote scathing articles on the Dogra rule in Anglo-Indian newspapers.[16] He wrote to the British officials at Lahore (provincial capital of Punjab) and Calcutta (capital of British India).[10] But his writings also contained a strong political message. He was advocating the British annexation of Kashmir, a prevailing view among the British officials at that time.[17] His attack on the Dogra rulers and the Treaty of Amritsar that transferred Kashmir to the Dogras were scathing:
…by a government into whose hands British statesmen sold the people of Kashmir, by a government, therefore whose existence is a disgrace to the British name. It is at once a memorial of that foul act, when like the arch traitor of old; we battered innocent lives, which fate placed into our hands for a few pieces of silver. [18]
His writings did not lead to annexation of Kashmir. However, the British government brought the state of Jammu and Kashmir into a subsidiary alliance, placing a British Resident in Kashmir.[19]
Other than the political messages, scholars find Thorpe’s writings valuable for the detailed information they provide on the state of the early Dogra administration. They describe the patterns of land tenure and revenue administration, the tax administration of the shawl industry, transport of supplies for troops and the system of begar (forced labour for the state). They bring to fore the “poverty, oppression and degradation” that characterised the early Dogra administration.[20]
The writings were compiled into a book Cashemre Misgovernment published by Longmans, Green and Company in London in the year 1870. The book has been republished many times, two modern editions including those edited by S. N. Gadru[21] and Fida Hassnain[22].
Death
Thorpe died in Srinagar on 22 November 1868 under mysterious circumstances. The cause of death was determined by the British doctor as a rupture of the heart. Poisoning was alleged and continues to be suspected even though the doctor ruled it out.[19]
Why was Thorp murdered? Thorp was shocked to see the miserable plight of the people in his mother’s birthplace. He raised his voice at the time when there was total sanction on information reaching the government of India. Thorp took it on himself to inform and educate the British people about the situation in Kashmir by writing to the British Press without caring for consequences. Thorp felt the British were responsible for the plight of Kashmiris, as it was they who had sold it to the Maharaja under the “Treaty of Amritsar.” Thorp pleaded before the government to release Kashmiris from the wretched condition, oppression and misery. He believed that public opinion was paramount to influence the government to do what was needed. Thorp traveled to Valley’s nook and corner collecting information about the plight of the people and thoroughly investigating the facts. He later on published a book titled Kashmir Misgovernment and dedicated it to the people who, according to him “do not approve of cruelties upon human beings, and to those who are exalted from the moral, religious and social point of view and do not like oppression”.Thorp pleaded that the British were the first nation, which led the way to the abolition of slavery. When resistance was shown by one Sheikh Imam-ud-Din, the Britishers forced Sheikh to obey the new Sovereign of Kashmir or consider himself as an enemy of British power. Sheikh yielded and Gulab Singh’s troops were permitted to occupy Srinagar without any resistance. Thorp pleaded that British government had committed a wanton outrage and injustice by handing over Kashmir to the unjust Maharaja. He pleaded to the British government to establish the facts as he had done by laborious investigation in Kashmir itself. However, trouble came upon Thorp and he was ordered to leave Kashmir. Undeterred, Thorp returned to Srinagar on November 21, 1868, and next morning after his breakfast he died, possibly because of poisoning. Thorp was found dead on the Sulaiman Taing Hill. Some misinformed people believe that thorp was a British agent and had come here to pursue some ulterior motives. However, his book speaks for him. Nothing more is needed to prove his credentials. [27]
Cecil Tyndale-Biscoe, who went as a Christian missionary to Kashmir in 1890, informs us that prior to his death, Thorpe was ordered out of the state by the Maharaja. When he refused to leave, he was tied to his bed and carried to the pass. Thorpe is said to have escaped and returned to Srinagar. His death occurred the following day.[23][11]
Fida Hassnain, on the other hand, states that the Maharaja’s men attacked Thorpe when he went to the Shankaracharya Hill near the Dal Lake (also called the Takhat-i-Sulaiman), and he died on the spot. The source of this information is not specified.[24]
Thorpe was buried at a Christian cemetery at Shaikh Bagh. The carving on the grave states, “He gave his life for Kashmir”.[1]
Legacy
Robert Thorpe’s appeals for help mobilised other British officers such as Sir Robert Montgomery, who was the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, Sir Herbert Edwards, Colonel Martin and Colonel Urmston, who got together and raised funds for sending a medical missionary to Kashmir with the help of the Christian Missionary Society. Doctor William Jackson Elmslie went as a missionary doctor in 1864. His work is said to have been obstructed by the Maharaja’s administration, but he continued until his death in 1872. Afterwards, the Society sent Doctor Theodore Maxwell who was able to get land from the administration for building a basic Mission Hospital at Rustum Gari, close to the Takhat-i-Sulaiman. Dr. Arthur Neve, who succeeded him, built the present hospital.[25]
In 1967, Fida Hassnain wrote an article on Robert Thorpe in a local newspaper calling him “the first martyr” of Kashmir. Major Afzal arranged the first anniversary memorial at the grave of Robert Thorpe, and since then it is remembered every year.[24][26]
^ abc Mir, N. A.; Mir, V. C. (1 April 2008), “Inspirational people and care for the deprived: medical missionaries in Kashmir”, The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 38(1): 85–8, PMID19069044
^Kumar & Dar, Marginality and Historiography 2015, p. 43, note 33: “For some, Thorpe’s mother was Janna, for others it was Janni, for some she was the daughter of a landlord from Budgam, while for others she was daughter of the ruler of Kishtwar. For some, Robert Thorpe was a Muslim, because his father had converted to Islam, while for others Robert Thorpe was a Christian whose cemetery can still be seen in the Sheikh Bagh Christian graveyard in Srinagar.”
Kumar, Amit; Dar, Fayaz A. (26 September 2015), “Marginality and Historiography: The Case of Kashmir’s History”, Economic and Political Weekly, 50 (39): 37–44
Srinagar: The technical teams hired by the government to block access to social media sites have faced issues in banning social media websites in the process which has resulted in delay in restoration of Broadband internet services in Kashmir. According to a report restoration of Broadband is likely to take more time as the software experts hired for the purpose to block the access to social networking sites and other applications through use of broadband or using Virtual Private Network (VPN) and other proxies have not been successful Pertinently teams from Bangalore and Chandigarh were called to Kashmir by home ministry for blocking the social media sites and also to put ban on other proxy servers.
NEW DELHI – The National Conference on Tuesday attacked the government in Lok Sabha for abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir saying it was a historical blunder and has not brought down militancy.
Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in Lok Sabha, NC member Hasnain Masoodi said despite the Centre abrogating Article 370 and withdrawing special status, a senior police officer was caught “hand in gloves” with militants.
“Abrogation of special status, Article 370 has been a historical blunder and not less than misadventure…. The basic value of truthfulness was murdered,” Masoodi said.
He said that the Centre has unilaterally breached the commitments made to the people of Kashmir in 1947, 1952 and 1975 and this will only widen the divide in the state.
He asked the Centre to “undo” the abrogation and acknowledge that it was a mistake.
The Centre on August 5 revoked Article 370 provisions which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and proposed that the state be bifurcated into two Union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Last month Jammu and Kashmir’s Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh was caught ferrying militants in a car in the Valley.
Participating in the debate, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP government talks about ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’, but it neither took everyone along nor was there any development.
Rather “it is only creating doubts in the minds of people”, he said.
Yadav said the government forgot to mention about river Ganga in the President’s address. He said that the government has not acted to clean Ganga.
Cleaning Ganga is only possible when you clean the polluted river Yamuna, he said.
Speaking at a public rally in Vishwas Nagar ahead of the Delhi Assembly Elections, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday hit out at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, telling him to focus on the schools and hospitals in his state.
” The Uttar Pradesh chief minister has been saying that the schools and hospitals in Delhi are not upto the mark, the quality of education is not good. But the people of Delhi are saying that it is definitely better than that in his state,” ANI reported Kejriwal as saying.
Taking at dig at Yogi Adityanath over his criticism of the schools in Delhi, Kejriwal said, “First take care of schools and hospitals in your state. We all know the condition. We all know what happened in Gorakhpur.”
He also alleged that the development of Vishwas Nagar Assembly constituency suffered because the BJP MLA did not let the AAP government work in the area. The constituency in East Delhi was one of the three Assembly seats that the BJP won in the last assembly polls.
The sitting BJP MLA OP Sharma has not let the AAP government build mohalla clinics in the area and install CCTV cameras, Kejriwal alleged. He also spoke about the AAP government’s scheme under which tenants in Delhi will be able to avail power subsidy.
“I have directed Deepak Singla (the AAP candidate for Vishwas Nagar) to help tenants get the benefit of the scheme.”
“The area has suffered a lot as the BJP MLA did not let the AAP government do work in the Assembly constituency. If the AAP wins, I will personally ensure that the area is developed,” the AAP chief said.
The Delhi Assembly elections will be held on 8 February.
With inputs from agencies
(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
A heartbreaking video of two elderly coronavirus patients, who were in their 80s, saying goodbye to each other at the hospital is doing the rounds on the internet. The video of the elderly couple was shared by a Twitter user with the caption, “What does a couple mean? Two elderly patients of #coronavirus #CoronarivusOutbreak in their 80s said goodbye in ICU, this could be the last time to meet and greet.”
As the video of the old couple went viral, social media was abuzz with reactions.
A user wrote, “So terrible seeing these old people suffer. Situation seems completely out of control. Thanks for sharing.”
Another wrote, “Loyalty to the beloved … what a sad video … but it’s says a lot about the splendor of that love that does not end until the end of life…”
A post read, “I’m heartbroken. But who is filming and how can they when it looks like the woman is in obvious distress and the man is looking for help.”
A Twitter user remarked, “The images of human suffering are unimaginable.”
In China, at least 361 people have died after being infected by coronavirus, the government said on Monday.
(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Beijing, China: Coronavirus patients arrived Tuesday at a Chinese field hospital built from scratch in under two weeks at the frontline of the outbreak, state media said, following a round-the-clock construction marathon that became a national social media sensation.
The 1,000-bed facility was built to relieve hospitals swamped with patients in Wuhan, the city in Hubei province at the epicentre of the national health emergency that has killed more in China than the 2003 SARS outbreak.
Fifty patients arrived at the military-run facility, the state-backed China Daily reported, with images showing workers in protective suits pushing people in wheelchairs up a ramp and into the pre-fabricated structure.
The virus has killed more than 400 people and infected a further 20,000, nearly all of them in Hubei, and spread to two-dozen countries since it emerged in December at a market that sold wild animals in the city.
The World Health Organization has declared the crisis a global health emergency, and the first death outside China was confirmed in the Philippines on Sunday.
As reports surfaced of bed shortages in hospitals in Wuhan, construction began on Huoshenshan — “Fire God Mountain” in Chinese — on Friday January 24.
Workers toiled day and night amid a forest of earthmovers and trucks carting materials around the site, southwest of the centre of the city of 11 million.
On the side of one of the trucks, the isolated city’s new rallying cry — “Let’s go Wuhan!” — was written on a banner.
Fire and thunder
All workers wore masks, as mandated by the authorities for the entire population of Wuhan, and were checked for fevers during their breaks.
By the following Friday, they had laid 400 prefabricated shipping-container-like rooms, after setting concrete foundations and routing the power supply to the complex.
The two-floor facility was handed over to the army on Sunday and will be staffed with 1,400 military medics, including some with experience dealing with SARS and Ebola.
State media had initially reported that patients would begin arriving Monday — inside the 10-day timeframe authorities had set out when construction began.
Leishenshan (“Thunder God Mountain”), another hospital on an adjacent site, is set to start admitting patients on Thursday, with 1,600 beds.
Fire and thunder are traditionally associated in China with protection against illnesses.
Authorities said the Wuhan facilities were modelled on the Xiaotangshan hospital in Beijing, which was built from prefabricated structures in barely a week to treat patients infected by SARS in 2003.
That pathogen killed 349 people in China and hundreds more in Hong Kong and abroad.
However, with the death toll surging in Wuhan and elsewhere in Hubei province, it was not immediately clear what overall impact the hospitals would have on the virus spreading elsewhere.
The city also plans to convert three existing venues, including a gymnasium and an exhibition centre, into hospitals, the Wuhan government said.
The three buildings will be turned into healthcare facilities with a total of 3,400 beds to take in patients with mild symptoms.
Livestreamed
Footage of the mammoth construction effort was livestreamed continuously on social media and watched tens of millions of times.
It has also been feted endlessly in state media as an example of the decisive response to the public health crisis after authorities in Hubei faced a torrent of public anger for perceived incompetence, including delays in announcing the public health emergency.
Local Communist Party secretary Ma Guoqiang acknowledged Friday that officials had worsened the spread of the virus by failing to restrict travel earlier.
When a lockdown and blanket travel ban were finally introduced, they swept up more than 50 million people in Wuhan and nearby cities.
(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
