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Ghulam Rasool, the lead gardener at Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden—Asia’s biggest—in Srinagar, has two years to retire. But that doesn’t bother him. What does worry him is what would happen to the garden when he’s not around. He quickly dispels his own apprehensions.

“These are just my fears,” he told THE WEEK. “The staff here will continue to put up a spectacular show every year, and better. But I will miss being around.”

The garden dominates Rasool’s thoughts at work and at home. “At home, I spend hours thinking what I have to do the next day. At night I keep thinking about the garden and the flowers.”

Once he was awake till 3 am making plans about the garden. “Then I fell asleep and woke up when the Moazin gave a call for fajr namaz (first prayer of the day).”

He said he joined the floriculture department in 1984 as a daily wager. “I have worked in many gardens in Kashmir but the tulip garden has had a captivating effect on me,” he says.

When people appreciate the beauty of the garden, it’s enough to get them going next year.

“Appreciation by visitors is our reward and we tell ourselves that next year we will make it look even better,” Rasool says.

When former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad ordered the preparation of the garden in 2006, the floriculture department assembled a seasoned team of gardeners and floriculture experts. Rasool was part of the team and later went on to lead a dedicated bunch of gardeners equally zealous about their work as he is.

There were apprehensions whether what Azad wanted could actually materialise. But a year later, when the garden was thrown open to public, it had exceeded the expectations of the officials involved in the project. “Azad sahab was thrilled,” said an official. “This garden is his brainchild. Last time he came here and took a tour of the garden and left very content.”

The tulip festival begins late in March and goes on for over a month. “If the weather is not too hot, the tulips last longer,” he said. “The real work begins after that which nobody witnesses.” Once the season ends, planning for the next year begins.

First, the bulbs are removed for reuse. Less than 50 per cent are reused after harvesting. Rest are imported. “We have to ensure that all the bulbs are removed. If a tulip pops up from a bed that doesn’t match with the rest, that would make it appear odd,” Rasool says. “Great planning goes into designing different sections of the garden to accentuate its beauty.

“Designing different sections takes a lot of effort,” says Rasool. “Each section is meticulously designed and selected for different varieties of tulips like strong gold, margaritas, candela, kung fu, early harvest, ile de france, etc. We also have hyacinths, daffodils and ranunculus.”

Apart from the variety of tulips, what fascinates Rasool the most is the tulip tree. “For me, this is one of the main highlights of the garden,” he says. “This tree comes to full bloom with tulips in March and presents a unique look.”

Rasool said that they have locally developed a technique with the help of experts to clone the tree.

“We identify a certain part of a branch of the tree and wrap a metal wire tightly around it then cover it with a small bag full of soil,” he said. “After some time the roots sprout from the area covered with the wire. That portion is planted and taken care of and after some time, a new tree begins to grow.”

The 30 hectare garden, located on the banks of the Dal lake, is on the foothills of Zabarwan. Because of the slopes, the garden has many terraces much like the famed Nishat garden that overlooks the Dal.

“This year we expect 1.25 million tulips and we hope the tourists come to see this beautiful spectacle, and also the locals,” Rasool says. “If the tourists don’t come it would sadden us to no end.”

A senior official of the floriculture department said the tulip garden in Kashmir is the first major landscaping project taken by the state after the royal Mughal indulgence.

“Kashmir is known for its beauty, not for tulips, so this is nothing short of an invention that attracts tourists,” he said. “The tulip garden has advanced the tourist season in Kashmir by a month and increased the revenue by Rs 1,500 crore at the best of times.”

As the officer was speaking to THE WEEK, Rasool continued to guide his men and pace the garden passing instructions to his team.

Courtesy : The Week

Srinagar, March 23: A gunfight broke out between Government forces and militants at Dooru in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Friday evening.

Official sources told News Agency GNS that a joint team of 19RR, CRRPF and SOG launched a cordon-and-search operation at Singh Check Shestergam adjacent to Mehmoodabad following specific inputs about the presence of some militants.

As such the joint team of forces intensified the searches and fired some warning shots towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants opened fire triggering off a gunfight.

When reports last came in the intermittent firing was going on.

Meanwhile, clashes erupted at Sirnoo village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district following inputs about the presence of some militants. (GNS)

Srinagar: J&K Police’s Dial 100 once again saves a life of a youth. A youth, who fell from the hillside at Parimahal while taking selfie and is lying injured’ this was stated by a caller. The nearby Dial 100 response vehicle was immediately informed about the incident, who without losing any time, rushed to the spot.
The response time was 7 minutes And the Dial “100” response vehicle shifted the injured youth to SMHS Hospital for treatment and in the meantime, ascertained his identity as Fayaz Ahmad resident of Karnah Kupwara, studying at Degree College Bemina.
While shifting him to the hospital, his family members were also informed about the incident.
After shifting him to the hospital, the injured youth’s family also reached the hospital, thereby Dial 100’s response team taking leave and left again for endless work to save the humanity and to help the people.

One trooper missing, army press drones, rushes reinforcements

Srinagar: Three army soldiers and two Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel were killed in an ongoing encounter with militants at Check Fatehkhan, Halmatpora area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

So far four militants have been killed in the gunfight while one soldier is also missing, official sources told news agency GNS.

The deceased have been identified as Havaldar Zorawar of 3 JAK Rifles who was attached with 160 Territorial Army (TA), Mohammad Ashraf Rather of same TA battalion, Naik Ranjeet Khalho of 5 Bihar while two SOG men as Mohammad Yousuf Cheche (SPO) of Kachama, Kupwara and Deepak Pandit of Nagrota, Jammu.

Also, four government forces personnel including Sub Inspector (SI) Harvinder Singh, Javaid Ahmad of SOG, one army soldier and a CRPF trooper were injured.

While the firefight was intermittently going on throughout the night, it intensified since morning and was going on when this report was filed.

The army has recovered four militant bodies from the encounter site. While three militant bodies were found early Wednesday morning, the other was retrieved later, they said.

Sources said that one soldier Rifleman Abdul Majeed Bajad of 160 is missing and it could not be immediately known whether he is dead or there is some other reason to it.

“The soldier is missing and his fate is not known,” a police source said.

The army has also pressed drones to track the militants. The army also rushed reinforcement of 5 Bihar and 4 para commandos today in the morning and has also cordoned off areas in the peripheries of the Halmatpora.

Sources said that firing has stopped at around 6:30pm and when this report was filed, there was lull as per a senior army officer.

Director General of Police DGP also confirmed the killing of four militants and three government forces personnel so far in the encounter.

“4th dead body of (militant) recovered from encounter site of Kupwara, firing still continues, unfortunately 2 brave hearts of J&K Police martyred & one of TA,” the DGP said In a tweet,.

The encounter started when a group of militants believed to be seven in number fired upon a joint team of army and SOG at Check Fatehkhan forests on Tuesday afternoon. (GNS)

Srinagar: A policeman of Special Operation Group (SOG) was injured in an ongoing encounter at Check Fatehkhan, Halmatpora area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Official sources told news agency GNS that the SOG personnel Javid Ahmad sustained bullet wounds in his leg today morning and was evacuated to nearby military hospital for treatment.

While the firefight was intermittently going on throughout the night, it intensified this morning and was going on when this report was filed.

The army has claimed to have recovered three militant bodies from the encounter site.

Director General of Police DGP also confirmed the killing of only three militants so far in the encounter.

In a tweet, the top police officer of the JK said that three militants have been killed so far.

The encounter started when a group of militants believed to be seven in number fired upon a joint team of army and SOG at Check Fatehkhan forests.

The army has also rushed Para commandos to the area yesterday evening. (GNS)

Srinagar: Center for Peace and Justice is an institute working to assist and help rehabilitate victims of violence in J&K especially in the valley,work for peace and ensure justice to those who are being deprived.
The director CPJ Nadir Ali held various youth outreach programmes during last few months at Shangus, Mattan, Khannabal and Shopian in South Kashmir; Ganderbal and Budgam in Central Kashmir and Baramulla in North Kashmir, thereby interacting with huge gatherings of youth and victims of violence and deliberating upon youth grievances.
He has been instrumental in educational rehabilitation of pellet victim Insha Mushtaq of Shopian by facilitating her admission in Delhi Public School Srinagar, in SEN department.
“We are very thankful to princiapl DPS Vijay Dhar Sahib who personally helped us regarding Insha’s admission,” he said.
The organisation also facilitated grant of child protection sponrship Rs 2000 per month in her favour from J&K State Child Protection Society. Center for Peace and Justice (CPJ) shall also bear many other expenses accruing on her boarding and lodging in Srinagar. (KNS)

Srinagar, March 20: The army on Tuesday said that bodies of here militants were recovered from the encounter site at Check Fatehkhan, Halmatpora area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

“Operation is in progress so far only three militant bodies recovered,” defence ministry spokesman told GNS.

Earlier, the spokesman had said that four militants have been killed in the operation.

Sources said that the militants were offering prayers when they were spotted close to the forests by the joint team including army and SOG who were acting on inputs about the movement of militants in the area.

However, before surrender offer could have been made, the two militants guarding them opened fire triggering off a gunfight.

Later, they dispersed and joined with the two militants in the gunfight.

Meanwhile, reinforcement of Para Commandos was rushed to the area and they joined the operation. The forces, according to sources have also launched a cordon-and-search operation in the adjacent forest areas including Gulgam and Awoora- which is connecting the Halmathpora forests.

The joint team of forces has also installed searchlights in the area.

Earlier, a police officer had said that a joint team of army’s 41 RR and SOG launched a cordon-and-search operation following inputs about the movement of seven foreign militants.

As the joint team of forces intensified the searches, the militants hiding in the area opened fire, triggering off an encounter, the officer had said. (GNS)

Srinagar: A gunfight broke out between government forces and militants at Check Halmatpora area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Tuesday.

A police officer told news agency GNS that a joint team of army and SOG launched a cordon-and-search operation at Check Fatehkhan adjacent to forest area of Halmatpora today at around 3:00 pm.

As the joint team of forces intensified the searches, the militants hiding in the area opened fire triggering off an encounter, the officer said.

When reports last came in, the intermittent exchange of fire was going on. (GNS)

In 1965, when he was 22 years old, Sehrai was jailed for the first time for “anti-government activities”.

Srinagar: Muhammad Ashraf Ali, popularly known as Ashraf Sehrai, was born in 1944 in TekiporaLolab in Kupwara district. His forefathers had migrated to this part of Kashmir from pre-Partition Pakistan.
Sehrai studied in Tekipora till primary level before moving to Sogam High School for further studies. He passed his matriculation examination in 1959. He was a bright, intelligent but shy student who took great interest in debates and discussions on religious and political discourses since his childhood. Sehrai earned a scholarship in class 10 for his excellent command over Persian, Arabic and Urdu languages. He did BA (Hons) in Urdu from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

When Syed Ali Geelani was the district president of the Jamaat-e-Islami for Kupwara district, he would visit Tekipora frequently. The two struck a chord instantly.
Sehrai was impressed by Geelani’s knowledge of the Quran, Hadees (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)) and writings of Jamaat founder MaulanaAbulAlaMaududi.
He has been affiliated with Geelani since 1959. Sehrai’s love for literature and poetry hasn’t diminished, but he doesn’t write anymore because of his political engagements. In 1965, when he was 22 years old, Sehrai was jailed for the first time for “anti-government activities”. He was imprisoned at Srinagar Central Jail for about six months. He has also been detained in jails outside the state.
In 2004, he and Geelani formed the TeH.

Srinagar: A top Pakistani militant who was killed along with his two local associates was buried at Boniyar in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district Saturday night – where foreign militants are laid to rest in the Valley.

Official sources told GNS that the charred body of the slain militant Abu Hamas was recovered under the debris yesterday and was buried with the help of local Auqaf committee at Sheeri Boniyar late Saturday night.

A police officer confirmed that the foreign militant was buried in Boniyar.

The militant was killed along with his two associates Rasiq Nabi Bhat of Tral and Shabir Dar of Awantipora in a gunfight with forces in Balhama village of Khanmoh in outskirts of Srinagar city.

The encounter broke out on Thursday after a group of militants made an abortive bid to snatch a rifle of the personal guard of BJP leader Mohammad Anwar Khan near Arsh medical institute in Balhama Khanmoh. (GNS)