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Srinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said that J&K had to create “such an atmosphere so that India and Pakistan are compelled to come together.”“The relations between India and Pakistan are bad at this point but they cannot remain the same always. Both nations have to live and die together. We have to create such a good atmosphere in the state so that India and Pakistan are compelled to come together,” Mehbooba said while addressing an impressive party function to commemorate her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s first death anniversary. “This enmity between the two (India and Pakistan) has a direct impact on the J&K situation. However, this enmity is not going to continue.”Later, talking to reporters after the function, Mehbooba said that after taking over as CM in 2002, her father had started a political process and it had resulted in good relations between India and Pakistan.“…But unfortunately, because of the governments here as well as in Delhi, that process could not be taken forward. Then when he took over again in 2015, he had to start from zero but unfortunately he did not get the opportunity,” she said.The Chief minister said that they were again trying to create such an atmosphere in J&K. “I wrote a letter (to the separatists) but we did not get a desired response. I am trying that we together create such a situation so that a process is started,” she said.Mehbooba said she was hopeful that they would succeed.“First we should talk within us. Our people are fighting against each other. Our children should be in schools, with pens in their hands. Sometimes, certain elements push stones in their hands in place of balls. It will take time and we are hopeful to succeed,” she said.Earlier in the day, Mehbooba visited Bijbehara in Anantnag and paid floral tributes at the mausoleum of her father at Dara Shikoh Park. She offered ‘fatiha’ and joined ‘Koran Khwani’.

PDP observes first death anniversary of Mufti

Jammu: Rich tributes were paid to former Chief Minister and PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on his first death anniversary at a commemoration function organised at Zorawar Singh Auditorium of here on Saturday. MP Muzaffar Hussain Baig was the chief guest at the function that was also attended by Legislative Council Chairman Haji Inayat Ali, ministers, PDP legislators and leaders. Baig said Mufti was gifted with a charismatic aura and it was with this unique attribute that whosoever, used to meet the great leader felt an immediate connection with him. “Even if you had a brief interaction with him, he made you feel like you were his son, or his daughter or his sister or brother,” Baig said. — TNS

My New Year’s resolution-making started with grim note, or I had a vision of hundreds of our youth detained under Public Safety Act. I was reminded of Kashmir’s uneven history of resistance. This history usually blooms during the summers and shimmers down to nothing in winters. The intensifying cold and chill leave us inconclusive whether the resistance has borne some fruit or only left us in the oblivion of Azadi. While aspirations were brewing in summer following the killing of Burhan Wani, at this moment, we appear in despair again, unclear whether we have only wasted these months or we have achieved something. Wasted in the sense that thousands stand maimed, about one hundred killed, still hundreds languishing in jails while Kashmir limps back to normalcy with the usual calendars reduced to a mere formality.The united Hurriyat once determined in summer that we were near our goal and that we have never got this far in our struggle. But today, it is muted as the long term strategy turned weak and the Kashmiri people felt the need to reduce the number of days of strikes. Where does the onus of blame lie? Is it on the Hurriyat for weakening this struggle given that they could not forge any vision during these months that could keep Kashmir in the limelight? If yes, then why are they our leaders – visionless leaders? This is not to forget how long they took to come under one banner. Leave aside the leaders, Kashmiri struggle has always been a people’s movement yet our so-called intellectuals, human right activists have never come up with such a strong strategy that will help our movement despite people’s heroic and valiant efforts.
My diatribe might sound like criticism and I may be labeled as a critic. But I am not one. I do, however, question.
The pain I see in the eyes of parents whose children been detained in various jails, helplessly roaming the courts, definitely makes me think. We cannot let hundreds of our youth who are at the peak of their lives languish in jails. We cannot keep begging with the mainstream politicians for their release. Instead, the Hurriyat must devise some strategy to pressurize the government to release those incarcerated.
Moreover, the long-term resistance cannot have only calendars as their pivotal parts. The joint is that the resistance leadership has to prove its mettle and lead from the front i9n spite of the difficulties the administration mounts against it. Certainly, there is no problem with issuing calendars but our struggle cannot be reduced to merely following the protest calendar. Shut downs are mere shutdowns. Definitely again, we have to rethink.
At another level, we have scores of activists debating at every platform the pain inflicted on Kashmiris, highlighting the rights abuses by government forces. Appreciated, but the amount of groundwork that they need to do is far more than what has is done so far, as the onus lies on their shoulders to come forward and liberate the youth of Kashmir. But the pain and plight of the injured, not to speak of the families of those killed, snuffed out lives, must not be used as mere debating points.
In terms of our leadership, faith and trust in them should have been the driving principle of our movement but instead what we have is rift, lacunae and confusion in the minds of people as nothing concrete never comes up from our leadership.
Kashmiris are a brave and heroic people who have always resisted oppression. They have been vocal about injustice inflicted on them. The past uprisings is an eloquent proof that people, without any provocation, are ready to resist any unholy move aimed at suppressing us. However, the end has always been the same. Our youth are thrown into jails while the leadership just stands mute merely issuing calendars and statements. The movement would have been much stronger and healthy if the leaders had come up with such strategies and policies that would save our youth. Rather what happens is that we fall prey to an oppressive regime with no backup plans to save our precious youth who are ready to do anything for the cause.
Let me now turn to the ‘mainstream’ politics. They are playing a post truth politics game. There is no denying the fact that everybody has played his or her part in the mainstream charade of being chameleonic. From championing the cause of freedom struggle to infamous ‘toffee and milk’ comments, their role cannot be neglected in further damaging the credibility of the resistance movement.
Separatist politics has then always had a pivotal role to play. But the problem is that people repeatedly trust them yet nothing substantial happens and yet the result is the same every time. We all make mistakes, but the 2016 movement must serve as a cautionary tale. We must continue to learn. It is never late for people of Kashmir. Because we resist every time, we forget nothing. All of us – leadership, intellectuals, activists, youths, women, everybody – has a role to play. Although nowadays we are using a variety of platforms and methods including sarcasm on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to highlight our plight, the need of the hour is to rethink and save our youth who are languishing in jails, and our future. They are our leaders, nation builders, and fearless torchbearers. Something has to be done. They must be saved.

The writer is a student of horticulture and can be reached at: [email protected]

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today dismissed the plea of Payal Abdullah, estranged wife of former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, for government housing on security ground, saying that if her husband can shift to a private accommodation there is no reason to treat her differently.“When Omar Abdullah himself has shifted to a private accommodation, there is no reason why the appellants (Payal and her sons) should be treated differently. We do not see any merit in the appeal. The same is dismissed,” a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice V K Rao said.By its judgment, the court upheld the single judge’s August 19, 2016, order asking her to vacate the 7, Akbar Road bungalow in Lutyen’s Delhi, where she and her sons were residing.Payal and her sons had appealed for government accommodation on the ground that they enjoyed ‘Z’ and ‘Z plus’ security status, respectively.The division bench noted that as per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), there was no immediate threat to them and this “cannot be questioned” as even the single judge had concluded that there was only a general threat perception regarding them.The court rejected as “not sustainable” Payal’s plea that she and her sons were being discriminated against as some other persons — KPS Gill and Subramanian Swamy — had been given government accommodation on the basis of their security status. The MHA had opposed her plea for government accommodation on the ground of security threat and said it was for the Delhi Police to ensure safety for her stay here.In their plea, Payal and her sons have claimed that they were living in a rented flat which is not appropriate as they have to house around 90 security personnel. — PTI

Srinagar: At the neurosurgery ward of Government Super Specialty Hospital (GSSH), Srinagar, patients are made to wait for months before they are finally operated upon.Doctors say the surgeries are getting delayed because of lack of an operation theatre and staff shortage.Government Super Specialty Hospital at Shireen Bagh in the city was created out of the 12-bedded Neurology Department of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital earlier this year with limited infrastructure.One of the patients at the ward, Shakeel Ahmad, 17, a resident of south Kashmir’s Shopian district, who remains admitted for the past more than two months, says the delay in getting operated upon has distressed him.Ahmad suffers from brain arteriovenous malformation —- a tangle of abnormal and poorly formed blood vessels having a higher rate of bleeding than normal vessels.After having repeated convulsions, Ahmad was brought to GSS Hospital by his parents and admitted on November 1 last year.“I have been waiting to get operated upon since November 1 but every week the doctors treating me give me a new date for surgery,” said Ahmad. He hopes and prays that his surgery, whenever performed, is successful. So far, he has received no confirmation from the doctors about the date of his surgery, pushing him into despair.“I am scared and in distress. I am feeling suffocated living among the patients here for such a long time,” he said.Doctors say Ahmad’s blood vessels in the brain can rupture anytime and result in his sudden death. Like Ahmad, several other patients in the Neurosurgery Department have been waiting for months to get operated upon.Another patient, Muhammad Ishaq from Kargil, has a tumour in the brain and has been waiting for the surgery for the past two months. After much delay, Ishaq’s surgery has been scheduled on Friday. However, he has no hope that his surgery will be performed on the scheduled date. “I don’t know when they will operate upon me. I have been waiting for long now,” he said.A doctor at GSSH said: “The emergency surgeries of the patients who suffer from trauma in road and other accidents are being done on a routine basis but the planned surgeries are getting delayed.” The inadequate staff has overburdened the resident doctors and paramedics at both hospitals.The junior residents have to work 24 hours twice a week while senior consultant Shafiq Alam is the only doctor who visits both wards twice a day and also performs surgeries during the night when on emergency call.To cater to the rush of patients, the Neurosurgery Departments at both hospitals have only two senior residents, four junior residents and two consultants, headed by retired doctor Muhammad Afzal Wani, who was given an honorary post after his retirement some years ago.Principal, Government Medical College, Srinagar, Dr Kaisar Ahmad, who is the head of both hospitals, said the Neurosurgery Department had done the “best job” in recent turmoil in Kashmir. “The Neurosurgery Department is headed by the best hand beyond doubt. We cannot say that the planned surgeries are getting delayed. They are performed keeping in view the different health aspects of the patients,” he said. TNS

Srinagar: A year after he passed away on January 7, former JK CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is likely to be honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, the highest category of Padma or civilian honours given away on Republic Day, The Hindu reported.

The award is significant in that the late Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir had struck an alliance with the BJP to form a government after the 2015 elections yielded a fractured mandate.

The award is likely to be given on January 26, the Indian Republic Day.

Pertinently, the first death anniversary of late Mufti will be observed tomorrow.

Late Mufti is the second politician, besides former CM Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq, to be honoured with Padma Vibhushan.

 

Kashmir movement not a case of democratic mis-governance: Yasin Malik to Pak assembly

“It is an outcome of a forced incorporation of a people in a country against their will”

The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chief Yasin Malik on Friday said that the five-month-long uprising triggered after the July 8 killing of militant commander Burhan Wani was “crushed through the use of unbridled force”.

He was addressing a seminar of Young Parliamentarians Forum of Pakistan, National Assembly of Pakistan through a video link.

Malik said that, as a member of the “oppressed Kashmiri nation and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, I pray for the growth of cordial relations between Pakistan and India, which is a precondition for the resolution of Kashmir Conflict and for a lasting peace in South Asia.” 

“The young and dynamic group of Pakistani Parliamentarians, who are the future nation and State builders of Pakistan, would hopefully share my sentiments regarding the importance of promoting sustained efforts at peace building in South Asia, particularly aimed at improving Pakistan-India relations. The brunt of Pakistan-India border hostilities is borne by Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and naturally the people of both parts of divided Kashmir are the biggest votaries of peace,” he said, in his speech.

Malik told the seminar that the five-month-long mass uprising was crushed by an unbridled use of force. 

He said that the International Community tells them that the world must move from the outdated conception of state centered national security to a people centered conception of human security. 

“We also hear about the doctrine of R2P, about a State’s responsibility to protect its citizens but we continue to see the limits and repeated failures of liberal humanitarianism the world over. Many powerful western governments have encouraged subjugated peoples like Kashmiris to give up armed struggle and adopt non-violent means in their struggles for freedom. In the past ten years, Kashmiris have primarily relied on non-violent means in articulating their aspirations for Azadi or Independence. However, Indian State has responded with an increasing use of military force to suppress mass uprisings in Kashmir and choked all spaces for non-violent resistance. The people’s uprisings of 2008, 2010 were crushed by massive military force and the story of the 2016 people’s uprising has seen history repeating itself. The world largely remains mute to the sufferings of Kashmiris,” he said.

Diplomats of major Western democracies have even stopped paying lip service to the question of human rights in Kashmir. 

“When some of them visit India occupied Kashmir, they lecture us on the virtues of India’s participatory democracy and about India’s democratic successes. It is like blaming the victim. Democracy, be it in a formal sense or substantive may work for the Hindu middle classes and the elite in India but Kashmiris have since 1947 harvested a bitter fruit of this democracy. This is not to suggest that Kashmiris’ movement for Azadi or freedom is a case of democratic mis-governance or decay of democratic institutions but it is an outcome of a forced incorporation of a people in a country against its will,” said Malik.

He said India as a growing market has become the darling of powerful western countries. 

“In the world of big business and arms deals, where do western powers stand on human rights? Can the oppressed people of Kashmir and other oppressed nationalities expect any solidarity from western democracies like USA, UK, France AND EUROPIAN UNION, which have huge economic stakes in the weapons industry? Can the David of Human rights really triumph over the Goliaths of War industry and big business?” he asked.

Malik said that a “poor country like India” is spending 40 Billion US Dollars on its military annually. A smaller economy of Pakistan has an annual defense budget of over 8 Billion US dollars. 

“The defense budgets of the two countries continue experiencing a regular increase annually. The primary reason behind this massive spending on arms is the Pakistan-India rivalry over Kashmir, which leads to a huge loss of precious economic resources and limits economic potential of both the countries. Not surprisingly the Human Development Index Rankings of India and Pakistan stand at 130 and 147 respectively,” he said.

A just and lasting solution to the Kashmir conflict, which gives primacy to Kashmiri self-determination, would usher in an enduring and positive peace in South Asia,” said Malik. 

“It would not only put an end to the suffering of Kashmiris but also help unlock the massive economic potential of South Asia, with a population that roughly adds up as one fourth of the world’s total population.”

 

Srinagar: The state government has toughened its stand and ordered the teachers not to take any private assignments, including teaching in private coaching centres, unless permitted by the authority concerned.The order issued by the government on Wednesday has directed that no teaching faculty of the Education Department shall take any activity/assignment, including teaching in private institutions or coaching centres.“The Directorates of the Education Department and all Education Officers are directed to ensure strict compliance of the instructions in their respective jurisdiction,” the order reads.The order reads that those who will violate the directions will be strictly dealt with. It has also been directed that a weekly report shall be furnished with relevant details by the Directorates.In 2015, the state government had framed guidelines for the operation of the tuition centres across the state and put a blanket ban on the private practice of government teachers.However, not much changed was visible on the ground.In its fresh order, the government has ordered that no teacher shall undertake any assignment privately unless the permission is obtained from the competent authority and no such permission shall be available two hours before the opening of the schools and two hours after the schools get closed.Since last year, the government has also started winter schooling for children and the Chief Minister’s Super 50 to prepare students for competitive exams.The government has set up 800 centres across the Valley to teach students during winter and many teachers have been engaged for teaching.The Director, School Education, said the decision had been taken to make the government’s winter schooling efforts successful.“There are some teachers who don’t want our initiative of free winter schooling to succeed. This creates problems as we want the students to get benefitted. We are using the services of experienced and specialised teachers in the department. Those who fail to adhere to the guidelines will be strictly dealt with,” said Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, Director, School Education. (TNS)