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Jammu: J-K Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Friday appointed Dr J P Sharma as the vice-chancellor of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology.

Dr Sharma, who was serving as the joint director of the ICAR in New Delhi, has been appointed as the university VC for a period of three years or until he attains the age of 65, whichever is earlier, with effect from the date on which he takes over the charge on the terms and conditions which are being notified separately, reads an order.

By: Nayeem Rather | Kashmir Ink

Well a lot of people wanted to know about Kashmir’s oldest tea room. It was established in 1890 by Lala Mohammad Sheikh, a young man from Handjan village in Budgam. Back then, the Bund area was yet to be built upon. There were just a few shops around. In fact, Lala Sheikh’s earliest customers were local shopkeepers. As government offices started coming up around the Bund, though, business boomed.

Till date the interiors of the tea shop still remain the same.

The historian Zareef Ahmed Zareef says Lala Sheikh’s best years year were around World war 2. When British set up a transient camp for their frontier infantry in Naseem Bagh, which now houses the Kashmir University campus. The soldiers would come to the Bund to ride shikaras on the Jhelum and stroll around. So, early mornings and evenings, the restaurant would be filled with soldiers. “The soldiers were particularly fond of fried kidney with butter toast and ginger biscuits,” Zareef recalls. The soldiers didn’t had money so they would pay in gold.

It was around that time that Lala Sheikh is said to have hosted Ali Mohammad Jinnah, who would found Pakistan a few years later. Zareef says he has heard the story but could not verify it. Altaf is certain. “I heard my grandmother say that Jinnah had tea in our hotel, right in front of the antique mirror,” he says, referring to the reportedly 137-year-old mirror that overlooks a pair of sofas at the far end, which once served as the VIP section.

Mohammad Yousuf Chapri, who was until 2015 the chairman of the Houseboat Association, claims he took part in the procession of boats that took Jinnah from Dalgate to Lala Sheikh. “Jinnah took a walk on the Bund and then entered Lala Sheikh and had tea,” Yousuf says.

The 1940s were also when a generation of “progressive” writers came of age in Kashmir, says Zareef. Dina Nath Nadim, Bansi Nirdosh, Mirza Arif, Akhtar Mohiuddin, Amin Kamil, Pran Jalal and other greats would gather at Lala Sheikh in the evenings and discuss poetry and politics over endless cups of tea. Sometimes, the discussions would go on past midnight.

“Lala Sheikh has seen some of the fiercest literary and political discussions in Kashmir” Zareef says. “It is a witness to our history, political and cultural.”

In the 1950s and 60s, Lala Sheikh became popular with leaders and supporters of the National Conference. Mehboob Ali Sheikh, who co-owns the restaurant, recalls that after major rallies of the party, its leaders and workers would gather at the restaurant and discuss their politics and strategy. “While serving them tea and fried kidney plates, I would overhear talk about many political issues. I learned so much about politics and history by serving tea to those people,” he says.

In the 70s and 80s came a different kind of customer – the cinemagoer. Also, Mehboob says, since the Doordarshan TV station and Radio Kashmir were located nearby, famous singers like Raj Begum, Ghulam Ahmed Sofi, Abdul Rasheed Hafiz, and prominent broadcasters like Makhan Lal Saraaf, Prana Shonglu would come to the restaurant in the evening.

The 90s brought the gun. As an armed rebellion erupted against Indian rule, militants would roam the streets of Srinagar. Many would come to Lala Sheikh for tea. Altaf, who waited tables then, says, “Militant commanders would come in the evening. They would put their guns on the chairs and smoke and talk.” Altaf recalls serving famous militants such as Farooq Dade, Mushtaq Padroo, Jafar Kashmiri and Yasin Malik. “Even today, when Yasin Malik is jailed, he sends for tea here,” Altaf says.

However, even the “main tea house” retains little of the original Lal Sheikh, and not just in ambiance. Gone are the famous fried kidney and liver plates, as are the ginger biscuits. “The 90s made people forget everything. It was no time for eating delicacies. The people no longer wanted to have anything except tea,” says Altaf. “And after we stopped making them, we also forgot those dishes even existed.”

Lala Sheikh is now split among the three great grandsons of its founder – Altaf, Mehboob and Farooq. “The other two parts are just for name. The main Lala sheikh is still the tea house,” says Muneer Ahmed, 45, who has been coming to the restaurant for the last 15 years.

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar: President of Restaurant and Café Association of Kashmir (RAK) today made strong appeal to Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir state and seeks his intervention for providing support for the waive off rents of restaurants and cafés across Kashmir valley as continued closure of business establishments in Kashmir has brought revenue generation to a grinding halt for hospitality sector.

In a statement, Sheikh Feroz, President of the association said, “Our business activities are severely disrupted from last 8 months which makes it hard to pay the rent to landlords. The rent dues are still pending, hence we request all the landlords including UT-government to reduce the rent and to allow the business community to lessen the burden of extra cost to manage their business activities in these testing times.”

He further said that the UT government as a ‘goodwill gesture’ should take a lead to revise the rental agreements of its rented out property and to reduce the charges so that the business community will find a hope to survive.

Sheikh Feroz made an appeal to the landlords across the valley and said, “At a moment our survival is in the hands of landlords. Any reduction of rent dues will actually contribute in providing livelihood to people associated with our industry. We, therefore, request to all the landlords, particularly the UT government to reduce the rent and to equally create a mechanism wherein rent shall be paid in installments to help the business community to survive.”

Pleading the point, the RAK President said: “We are already crushed under the burden of bank loans and other dues and given the fact that there has been income we are unable to pay rentals in time.”

Given the fact that this sector of hospitality industry provides livelihood to thousands of families, Feroz appealed the government to have a compassionate look into the matter.

The RAK expressed commitment in review of the rent agreements once situation normalizes. “We ensure landlords to review the rent agreements after the situation normalizes. But at the moment it would be a great service towards the business community if relaxation is provided in payment of rent through installments, and in some cases to exempt the rental for months when the business was severely impacted due to pandemic situations and before the pandemic situation emerged in Kashmir,” Feroz said.

Srinagar: In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the J&K administration is likely to allow only 2,000 pilgrims in a day during the 14-day Amarnath Yatra via the shorter Baltal route in Ganderbal district, said shrine board sources. They said registrations shall be made online.

Due to the spike in Covid-19 infections across the country, uncertainty looms large over the annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine in south Kashmir.

The works section of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) is awaiting the J&K administration’s nod for the Baltal route so it could undertake the maintenance tracks leading to the shrine, they added.

So far, it has been decided that barring sadhus, no pilgrims above the age of 55 years will be allowed to embark on the yatra, which will take the shorter Baltal route.

“All those undertaking the pilgrimage must possess Covid-negative certificates. The pilgrims will be cross-checked for the infection upon entry into J&K before they are allowed to undertake the yatra,” said an official requesting anonymity.

The SASB is also looking to telecast the live aarti from the cave shrine in the morning and evening for the devotees, the official added.

Another official said since it would be a curtailed yatra, the SASB is mulling to allow it via helicopters only.

However, lieutenant governor’s principal secretary and SASB CEO Bipul Pathak said, “The board is yet to meet and take a decision.”

With inputs from Hindustan Times

India’s move changing status of J&K ‘challenged sovereignty of Pakistan and China’ says report

A report authored by a senior figure at an influential Chinese think-tank has linked the current tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to India’s move last year to abrogate Article 370 and change the status of Jammu and Kashmir, a decision that China had voiced opposition to.

The article, for the first time, described the move as a joint challenge to China and Pakistan, saying the move had “posed a challenge to the sovereignty of Pakistan and China”.

The report was shared on Friday on social media by a press officer at the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, although it was first published on June 4 and has since been shared on several Chinese websites.

Status of Ladakh

“On the Chinese side, India opened up new territory on the map, incorporated part of the areas under the local jurisdiction of Xinjiang and Tibet into its Ladakh union territory,” it said. “This forced China into the Kashmir dispute, stimulated China and Pakistan to take counter-actions on the Kashmir issue, and dramatically increased the difficulty in resolving the border issue between China and India.”

The article was authored by Wang Shida, who is Deputy Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR). CICIR is a Beijing-based think-tank that is affiliated to the Ministry of State Security, China’s top intelligence body.

Mr. Wang noted that the Chinese Foreign Minister had conveyed China’s strong opposition to the move to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during his visit to Beijing last year, following the abrogation of Article 370 and the establishment of Ladakh as a union territory. The week before the August visit, Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken in Parliament about taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Aksai Chin.

Mr. Jaishankar conveyed to Beijing that the move was an entirely internal matter that did not impact India’s external boundaries or the LAC with China. China had opposed the Ladakh map for including Aksai Chin.

The article said the move had “posed a challenge to the sovereignty of Pakistan and China” and “made India-Pakistan relations and China-India relations more complex.” It noted that China had raised the issue at the United Nations Security Council.

U.S. role

The author hit out at what he called India’s “double confidence” behind the move. The first, he said, was the 2019 election win that gave the Bharatiya Janata Party “unprecedented political confidence”. The second reason, he said, was that the “United States and some other Western countries puffed India up from an ideological point of view” to “hedge” against China.

“To this end,” he said, “India was seen as a favourite by the U.S., which not only drew India over to its side and praised India but also turned a blind eye to the excessive use of force and other misdeeds of the Indian authorities” in Kashmir.

“Regardless of how confident India is and no matter how good it feels about itself,” he concluded, “its attempts to forcibly seize territory are doomed to fail.”

With inputs from The Hindu

Srinagar: With uncertainty looms large over reopening of schools, authorities have stressed for community schooling in Jammu and Kashmir.

There is uncertainty over reopening of schools amid COVID-19 lock down in Jammu and Kashmir.

Concerned over losses to students by lockdown, authorities have stressed for community schooling.

“In view of continuous COVID-19 lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir, all local teachers, masters and lecturers may volunteer for community schooling within their locality, mohalla, village with parental support while strictly adhering to all SOPs social distancing and preventive measures,” Principal Secretary Education Department Dr Asgar Samoon said as per news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS). Earlier this month, the education department had said that they were planning to reopen schools from mid-June., the Centre recently said that schools won’t be reopened till August.

An official said the reopening of schools will increase the public movement in the valley which means the end of lockdown. “There are 15 lakh students studying in government schools and another 10 lakh are in private schools. Once schools open, there will be increased public movement. This will end the lockdown. So the government has to be careful before announcing the reopening of schools, ” the official said.

Community schools have already been set up in various parts of the valley to ensure that the students who miss out on schooling stay in touch with their education. These schools are entirely run on the resources and labour pooled by young people.
A group of youth in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district have started a community school.

“Proper distance is being maintained while teaching students. We don’t see any improvement in the situation. The biggest casualty is the education and mental growth of young ones. It is necessary to start community schools to compensate the losses to students,” said Bashir Ahmad, who teaches in one of the community schools.

Farooq Ahmad, a private school teacher said it was good that the government is suggesting teachers to start community schools in their respective areas.

“But proper protocol should be followed to ensure there is no spread of infection,” he added. (KINS)