ESMA reduced to hukm-e-nawwab ta dar-e-nawwab
Trade union leaders set up ‘War Control Room’ at CAPD hqs; shutdown continues
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Apr 8: Even as authorities have detained nearly 50 trade union activists in what are locally ridiculed as ‘ornamental arrests’, Omar Abdullah government’s decision of invoking the draconian Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) has been reduced to a joke. As over 95 percent offices and all educational institutions remained locked on the fourth consecutive day of the strike sponsored by Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) of the employees, prominent trade union leaders have established a control room for running and monitoring the strike at CAPD headquarters while holding daily press conferences to browbeat the Government.
Reports available from different sources suggested that there was near-total shutdown in government and public sector undertaking offices besides educational institutions all over Kashmir valley on the fourth day of strike. JCC, which comprises both factions of Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) and constituents of almost all trade union alliances, with the support of premier organization of the non-gazetted staff working as Civil Secretariat, has been demanding release of pay arrears which have become due to over 450000 employees on account of the implementation of 6th pay commission recommendations in 2009.
Employees on strike have also been seeking enhancement of the age of superannuation from 58 to 60 years, House Rent Allowance and regularization of the services of all the incumbents engaged on daily-wage, adhoc, contractual and consolidated arrangement.
Reports said that Police managed to pre-empt demonstrations and assemblies of the trade union leaders and employees at several places in Valley. DC Budgam said that 11 of the trade union activists were detained by Police as they had gathered at Budgam and were attempting to form a rally. He said that “99 percent” of the District Officers were present at their offices. Similar claims poured in from other districts all over Valley. However, independent reports said that less than 50 officers at each district headquarters enjoyed an idle day at respective DC’s offices and guesthouses as all of their offices remained locked.
Trade union activists were spotted entering even the fortified office complexes and dragging out skeletal class 3 and class 4 employees who had been drawn by officers mainly to serve them tea and cold drinks. Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir and all DCs in Valley called it “successful attendance” and conveyed to Chief Minister that “almost all the offices are open and functional”. Two of the junior officials, who had opened their office, and were ready to discharge duty, were scolded by a DC’s PA as to why they were violating the strike. “There are serious complaints that you people have opened the office and you are on duty”, they were purportedly told by the officials who themselves remained busy in doling out lies to the highest authorities.
According to reliable reports, even a few hundred officials, who reached their offices, did not do any work in absence of their subordinate staff. They did not have even keys to open their offices. Trade union leaders were seen flashing their writ over mobile phones to ensure that there was no business at offices. It is believed to have demoralized more than 50 percent of the employees who looked convinced over Government’s argument, as published in paid advertisements, and were ready to attend duty. As against the government propaganda machinery, trade union leaders have even dominated all local newspapers and cable television channels to convince the masses over the agitation and float a virulent counter-information campaign against the government.
Reports said that health and medical services, besides other essential services, remained affected to a large extent notwithstanding the visit of a ministerial delegation to different hospitals in the summer capital. Shutdown remained complete even as Chief Minister had taken a serious note of the “total strike” and made it clear on senior government functionaries at a high level meeting last evening that any lackadaisical attitude in enforcement of ESMA would not be tolerated by him. Informed sources said that Police and intelligence agencies have informed Chief Minister that a number of Heads of Departments, particularly some Chief Engineers, besides KAS officers of 1977 and 1984 batch, who were in age group of 55 to 58 years but had not been inducted into IAS, were openly supporting EJAC and JCC not only with lip service but also material contribution.
Ironically within hours of Chief Minister’s meeting with the officers, Police was forced to release the most important trade union leader and head of a faction of EJAC, Khursheed Alam, late last night. Reports said that over the telephonic orders of a Ministrer from Jammu, Khursheed Alam was released within an hour of his arrest and handed over to his family. Plush with high level of morale and confidence, Alam today addressed 2nd consecutive press conference. He has already established a control room of the JCC and EJAC at CAPD headquarters and Director CAPD is said to be providing complete support to the trade union leaders addressing virulent news conferences against Chief Minister and one particular Minister of the 5-member Cabinet Sub Committee dealing with the agitation.
Highly placed authoritative sources revealed to Early Times that two of the Cabinet Ministers were aggressively against giving any relief to the agitating employees. They were reportedly in favour of strict enforcement of ESMA. However, two more of their colleagues were completely tight-lipped. Last member of the Cabinet sub committee was now widely perceived to be in favour of reconciliation and conceding 58-60 year demand. In absence of clear-cut instructions to the law enforcement agencies, decision of invoking ESMA is being dismissed as a joke which, analysts believe, had the potential of causing huge damage to the coalition government’s credibility and competence in implementing its sensitive decisions.
END
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
ESMA threat fails to break morale of trade union leaders, employees
EJAC leader Qayoom arrested; Khursheed Alam picked up but released in one hour
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Apr 7: Treating Omar Abdullah government’s threat of ‘no work no wages’ and detention under the draconian Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) with contempt, over 200,000 state government employees in Kashmir valley observed near-total shutdown of their work places on the third consecutive day of their strike to press their principal demand of release of arrears of their salaries. Even as, in its first enforcement of ESMA, Police today arrested a senior trade union leader, his colleagues at a news conference said that the employees were unfazed by the threats and they would soon make the Government bow.
Little impact of the government’s ESMA threat was visible on third consecutive day of the weeklong strike of the employees today in Kashmir valley as more than 95 percent of the offices remained locked and attendance was dismal in others that opened for business. Essential services and Police are not covered under the agitation that has been launched by the government employees to press their demands---primarily release of pay arrears due to them on account of implementation of the recommendations of the sixth pay commission in 2009.
Reports said that in absence of the government’s clear instructions to law enforcements agencies, particularly district magistrates and district Police chiefs, trade union leaders enjoyed a field day in keeping the offices locked and preventing staff from discharging their duties. According to these reports, a number of the employees heading for their work places or found working at offices were not only humiliated but also harassed. However, the offices of Divisional Commissioner and District Development Commissioners functioned, albeit with remarkably thin attendance.
Finding the employees and trade union leaders in high spirits, Government launched its first crackdown with the arrest of EJAC (Q) President, Abdul Qayoom Wani, when he was going to see his wife who was reportedly admitted at SKIMS Medical College Bemina. A couple of insignificant trade union activists were also arrested in Anantnag. In a significant development, Government got the most wanted EJAC (K) President, Khursheed Alam, arrested by SHO Parimpora. However, the authorities buckled under pressure from different sources and dropped him back at his residence late tonight.
Earlier today, while addressing a news conference at CAPD headquarters, Khursheed Alam asserted that the Government would be made to bow and forced to concede all of the employees’ demands. He said that there were four-and-a-half lakh employees at the back of the trade union leaders and there was no question of their succumbing to the government’s threats. Khursheed alleged that the Government had resorted to “martial law” marshal to break the morale of the agitating employees but, according to him, it would end up as an exercise in futility. He said that in reaction to Government’s action of arresting some trade union leaders and choosing to remain bellicose, Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) had extended the strike with the addition of two days to April 13th.
Khursheed Alam said that the essential services, including health and CAPD, had been left out but threatened their inclusion in case government continued to remain “at war with its own employees”. He advised consumers to keep stock of two months of ration at their homes as there was likelihood of the strike overstretching to the summer.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah arrived in the summer capital and took a detailed meeting at SKICC with senior officers of Police and civil administration to take stock of the situation arising out of the employees’ strike. Officials gave him a resume of the work, according to them, underway in their departments.
Deputy Chief Minister,Tara Chand, Minister for Medical Education, R S Chib, Minister for CAPD and Transport, Qamar Ali Akhoon, Advisor to Chief Minister, Mubarak Gul, Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Devinder Singh Rana, Minister of State for Tourism, Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary, S S Kapur, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Khursheed Ahmed Ganai, DG Police, Kuldeep Khoda, Additional DG CID, K Rajendra Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Mrs Naseem Lanker, IGP Kashmir, Farooq Ahmed, and heads of departments of various departments and educational institutions were present in the meeting.
Addressing the officials Chief Minister said that the Government had not closed its doors for negotiations and urged upon the employees to resume their duties in the larger public interest. He said that the government was committed to fulfill the genuine demands of the employees, most of which, he asserted, had been already met. “The government requires huge sum of Rs. 4200 Crores to disburse the arrears on account of implementation of sixth pay commission recommendations for which resources have to be arranged”, he said.
Chief Minister Omar called upon the officers to ensure that the people were not put to any inconvenience due to the strike of the employees and exhorted upon them to ensure that the contingency plans were fully implemented. He said that Government’s primary responsibility was to provide services to the greater population which expected effective delivery of services. As such efforts should be made to provide the services across the board with focus on essential services particularly Education, Health, Drinking Water, Electricity and Public Distribution.
Chief Minister said that “No Work No Pay” provision would be strictly implemented and the resolve of the government in this regard remained undeterred. He said that his government was committed to the people of the state and no effort would be left to serve the population of the state in a way they expected the government to function.
Expecting an early resolution to the problem the Chief Minister said that his government has always taken an extra step to fulfill the genuine demands of its employees and despite financial resources we were among the first few states in the country to implement the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and during the last year the government incurred an extra expenditure of Rs. 1800 crore on the demands of our employees. The employees must understand that the situation cannot be pushed beyond a certain point and appealed them to resume work and come forward for the discussions to find an amicable solution to the problem. Mr. Omar said that we are being paid to serve the people weather as Public representatives or Public Servants and our Aim must be that people of the state do not suffer at any cost.
END
EJAC leader Qayoom arrested; Khursheed Alam picked up but released in one hour
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Apr 7: Treating Omar Abdullah government’s threat of ‘no work no wages’ and detention under the draconian Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) with contempt, over 200,000 state government employees in Kashmir valley observed near-total shutdown of their work places on the third consecutive day of their strike to press their principal demand of release of arrears of their salaries. Even as, in its first enforcement of ESMA, Police today arrested a senior trade union leader, his colleagues at a news conference said that the employees were unfazed by the threats and they would soon make the Government bow.
Little impact of the government’s ESMA threat was visible on third consecutive day of the weeklong strike of the employees today in Kashmir valley as more than 95 percent of the offices remained locked and attendance was dismal in others that opened for business. Essential services and Police are not covered under the agitation that has been launched by the government employees to press their demands---primarily release of pay arrears due to them on account of implementation of the recommendations of the sixth pay commission in 2009.
Reports said that in absence of the government’s clear instructions to law enforcements agencies, particularly district magistrates and district Police chiefs, trade union leaders enjoyed a field day in keeping the offices locked and preventing staff from discharging their duties. According to these reports, a number of the employees heading for their work places or found working at offices were not only humiliated but also harassed. However, the offices of Divisional Commissioner and District Development Commissioners functioned, albeit with remarkably thin attendance.
Finding the employees and trade union leaders in high spirits, Government launched its first crackdown with the arrest of EJAC (Q) President, Abdul Qayoom Wani, when he was going to see his wife who was reportedly admitted at SKIMS Medical College Bemina. A couple of insignificant trade union activists were also arrested in Anantnag. In a significant development, Government got the most wanted EJAC (K) President, Khursheed Alam, arrested by SHO Parimpora. However, the authorities buckled under pressure from different sources and dropped him back at his residence late tonight.
Earlier today, while addressing a news conference at CAPD headquarters, Khursheed Alam asserted that the Government would be made to bow and forced to concede all of the employees’ demands. He said that there were four-and-a-half lakh employees at the back of the trade union leaders and there was no question of their succumbing to the government’s threats. Khursheed alleged that the Government had resorted to “martial law” marshal to break the morale of the agitating employees but, according to him, it would end up as an exercise in futility. He said that in reaction to Government’s action of arresting some trade union leaders and choosing to remain bellicose, Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) had extended the strike with the addition of two days to April 13th.
Khursheed Alam said that the essential services, including health and CAPD, had been left out but threatened their inclusion in case government continued to remain “at war with its own employees”. He advised consumers to keep stock of two months of ration at their homes as there was likelihood of the strike overstretching to the summer.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah arrived in the summer capital and took a detailed meeting at SKICC with senior officers of Police and civil administration to take stock of the situation arising out of the employees’ strike. Officials gave him a resume of the work, according to them, underway in their departments.
Deputy Chief Minister,Tara Chand, Minister for Medical Education, R S Chib, Minister for CAPD and Transport, Qamar Ali Akhoon, Advisor to Chief Minister, Mubarak Gul, Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Devinder Singh Rana, Minister of State for Tourism, Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary, S S Kapur, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Khursheed Ahmed Ganai, DG Police, Kuldeep Khoda, Additional DG CID, K Rajendra Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Mrs Naseem Lanker, IGP Kashmir, Farooq Ahmed, and heads of departments of various departments and educational institutions were present in the meeting.
Addressing the officials Chief Minister said that the Government had not closed its doors for negotiations and urged upon the employees to resume their duties in the larger public interest. He said that the government was committed to fulfill the genuine demands of the employees, most of which, he asserted, had been already met. “The government requires huge sum of Rs. 4200 Crores to disburse the arrears on account of implementation of sixth pay commission recommendations for which resources have to be arranged”, he said.
Chief Minister Omar called upon the officers to ensure that the people were not put to any inconvenience due to the strike of the employees and exhorted upon them to ensure that the contingency plans were fully implemented. He said that Government’s primary responsibility was to provide services to the greater population which expected effective delivery of services. As such efforts should be made to provide the services across the board with focus on essential services particularly Education, Health, Drinking Water, Electricity and Public Distribution.
Chief Minister said that “No Work No Pay” provision would be strictly implemented and the resolve of the government in this regard remained undeterred. He said that his government was committed to the people of the state and no effort would be left to serve the population of the state in a way they expected the government to function.
Expecting an early resolution to the problem the Chief Minister said that his government has always taken an extra step to fulfill the genuine demands of its employees and despite financial resources we were among the first few states in the country to implement the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and during the last year the government incurred an extra expenditure of Rs. 1800 crore on the demands of our employees. The employees must understand that the situation cannot be pushed beyond a certain point and appealed them to resume work and come forward for the discussions to find an amicable solution to the problem. Mr. Omar said that we are being paid to serve the people weather as Public representatives or Public Servants and our Aim must be that people of the state do not suffer at any cost.
END
Monday, April 5, 2010
Govt invokes ESMA against employees on strike
Tough decision of ‘no work no wages’ taken on day one of shutdown in Secretariat
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU, Apr 5: In sharp contrast to its image of a government of submission and surrender, 15-month-old National Conference-led ruling coalition today decided to invoke Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to beat the ongoing agitation of over 400,000 state employees. It was on day one of the weeklong strike, which was, for the first time this year, also observed in Civil Secretariat that Omar Abdullah government took the tough decision of not paying any wages to any of the employees found absent from work.
After a three-hour-long Cabinet meeting this evening, Minister of Finance and head of a 5-member Cabinet sub committee dealing with the demands of the employees on strike, Abdul Rahim Rather, told mediapersons at a hurriedly organized news conference at Chief Minister’s Secretariat that Government had taken tough decisions to keep the systems running for ten million people of the state. He disclosed that the Cabinet discussed the employees’ strike and their demands at length and decided to invoke different provisions of ESMA to discharge what he called “the government’s constitutional responsibilities”.
Rather made it clear that none of the government employees found on strike or absent from work would be paid any wages for the period of absence. While further explaining consequences of absence of the government employees from office without “reasonable excuse”, Rather said that such employees as well as those preventing the employees from discharging of their duties could be arrested and detained for a period upto one year and subjected to fine. “We spend huge amount of Rs 25 Crore a day on account of the wages of the government employees. If they chose to remain absent from work, it is our constitutional duty to save this public money. We feel we are accountable for this expenditure before our people and before Almighty. Wasting of this money would be a gunaah-e-azeem (huge sin)”, Rather asserted.
Flanked by other members of the Cabinet sub committee---Surjit Singh Salathia, Taj Mohiuddin, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed and Ali Mohammad Sagar---Rather said that the employees had declared war on their own government and pushed it to the wall with their ‘obduracy’. According to him, the trade union leaders’ current call for weeklong shutdown of offices was in no way justifiable as the government was leaving no stone unturned to meet their demands. He said that Government had made it clear to the employees in a meeting on February 18th, 2009, that it would implement recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission from 01-07-2009 and the demand of raising the retirement age from 58 to 60 years would be considered in view of all opinions.
“As per our agreement with the employees, we implemented the pay commission recommendations from 01-07-2009 and also paid all installments of Dearness Allowance to them all. Just one installment of DA, that has been announced by Government of India a few days back, remains payable. As against their demand of raising the wages of daily rated workers from Rs 70 to Rs 100, we enhanced it to Rs 110. We also took the bold and unprecedented decision of regularization of the services of all employees appointed by competent officers on adhoc, contractual and consolidated wages arrangement. We have passed the Bill in Assembly today”, Rather said. He said that Government held two detailed meetings with the trade union leaders on 19-03-2010 and 03-04-2010 and reiterated the assurance that their arrears would be liquidated as and when resources were made available by the Centre.
“We advised them to wait for the outcome of the visit of all-party delegation to New Delhi. The delegation is proposed to take up the demand of the payment of arrears with the Centre in near future. But, rather than being amenable to reason and logic, they began browbeating us with another strike”, Rather said. He said that in 2009-10, Omar Abdullah government had paid an additional amount of Rs 1,800 Crore on the employees’ salaries which was unprecedented in the state’s history. “There is absolutely no procrastination on our side. Our intentions are clear”, he added.
Rather said that his government had worked out a contingency plan to keep the systems functional and urged upon all daily rated, adhoc, consolidated and contractual staff to ensure that there was not a day’s break in their continuity of service. He made it clear that only those employees, who had no break in seven years of continuous service, would be entitled to regularization in government service. In reply to a question, Rather disclosed that his Government could resort to the option of fast track recruitment of the unemployed youth to overcome the deficiency of manpower.
Responding to another question, Rather made it clear that the government employees, responding to the strike calls of the separatist Hurriyat Conference and other separatist political outfits, would be making themselves liable to the similar action under ESMA. According to him, now on, no government employee found absent from office “without reasonable excuse” on the days of shutdown called by separatist organizations would be paid that particular day’s salary.
Asked for his reaction to the reports that Government had ordered Police to arrest prominent trade union leaders in Srinagar and Jammu, Rather said that no such orders had immediately flown from the Government. He, nevertheless, sought to make it clear that law would take its course on the employees found on strike or preventing the employees from discharging their duties.
END
Tough decision of ‘no work no wages’ taken on day one of shutdown in Secretariat
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU, Apr 5: In sharp contrast to its image of a government of submission and surrender, 15-month-old National Conference-led ruling coalition today decided to invoke Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to beat the ongoing agitation of over 400,000 state employees. It was on day one of the weeklong strike, which was, for the first time this year, also observed in Civil Secretariat that Omar Abdullah government took the tough decision of not paying any wages to any of the employees found absent from work.
After a three-hour-long Cabinet meeting this evening, Minister of Finance and head of a 5-member Cabinet sub committee dealing with the demands of the employees on strike, Abdul Rahim Rather, told mediapersons at a hurriedly organized news conference at Chief Minister’s Secretariat that Government had taken tough decisions to keep the systems running for ten million people of the state. He disclosed that the Cabinet discussed the employees’ strike and their demands at length and decided to invoke different provisions of ESMA to discharge what he called “the government’s constitutional responsibilities”.
Rather made it clear that none of the government employees found on strike or absent from work would be paid any wages for the period of absence. While further explaining consequences of absence of the government employees from office without “reasonable excuse”, Rather said that such employees as well as those preventing the employees from discharging of their duties could be arrested and detained for a period upto one year and subjected to fine. “We spend huge amount of Rs 25 Crore a day on account of the wages of the government employees. If they chose to remain absent from work, it is our constitutional duty to save this public money. We feel we are accountable for this expenditure before our people and before Almighty. Wasting of this money would be a gunaah-e-azeem (huge sin)”, Rather asserted.
Flanked by other members of the Cabinet sub committee---Surjit Singh Salathia, Taj Mohiuddin, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed and Ali Mohammad Sagar---Rather said that the employees had declared war on their own government and pushed it to the wall with their ‘obduracy’. According to him, the trade union leaders’ current call for weeklong shutdown of offices was in no way justifiable as the government was leaving no stone unturned to meet their demands. He said that Government had made it clear to the employees in a meeting on February 18th, 2009, that it would implement recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission from 01-07-2009 and the demand of raising the retirement age from 58 to 60 years would be considered in view of all opinions.
“As per our agreement with the employees, we implemented the pay commission recommendations from 01-07-2009 and also paid all installments of Dearness Allowance to them all. Just one installment of DA, that has been announced by Government of India a few days back, remains payable. As against their demand of raising the wages of daily rated workers from Rs 70 to Rs 100, we enhanced it to Rs 110. We also took the bold and unprecedented decision of regularization of the services of all employees appointed by competent officers on adhoc, contractual and consolidated wages arrangement. We have passed the Bill in Assembly today”, Rather said. He said that Government held two detailed meetings with the trade union leaders on 19-03-2010 and 03-04-2010 and reiterated the assurance that their arrears would be liquidated as and when resources were made available by the Centre.
“We advised them to wait for the outcome of the visit of all-party delegation to New Delhi. The delegation is proposed to take up the demand of the payment of arrears with the Centre in near future. But, rather than being amenable to reason and logic, they began browbeating us with another strike”, Rather said. He said that in 2009-10, Omar Abdullah government had paid an additional amount of Rs 1,800 Crore on the employees’ salaries which was unprecedented in the state’s history. “There is absolutely no procrastination on our side. Our intentions are clear”, he added.
Rather said that his government had worked out a contingency plan to keep the systems functional and urged upon all daily rated, adhoc, consolidated and contractual staff to ensure that there was not a day’s break in their continuity of service. He made it clear that only those employees, who had no break in seven years of continuous service, would be entitled to regularization in government service. In reply to a question, Rather disclosed that his Government could resort to the option of fast track recruitment of the unemployed youth to overcome the deficiency of manpower.
Responding to another question, Rather made it clear that the government employees, responding to the strike calls of the separatist Hurriyat Conference and other separatist political outfits, would be making themselves liable to the similar action under ESMA. According to him, now on, no government employee found absent from office “without reasonable excuse” on the days of shutdown called by separatist organizations would be paid that particular day’s salary.
Asked for his reaction to the reports that Government had ordered Police to arrest prominent trade union leaders in Srinagar and Jammu, Rather said that no such orders had immediately flown from the Government. He, nevertheless, sought to make it clear that law would take its course on the employees found on strike or preventing the employees from discharging their duties.
END
Sagar’s Bill may unite NC, PDP but divide Cong in Assembly
Bills seeking regularization of contractual employment, ban on inter-district recruitment coming up today
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU, Apr 4: Government’s Bill No: 1 of 2009, that will be moved by Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Mohammad Sagar, for consideration and passage, is likely to force Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to end its boycott to the proceedings in Legislative Assembly on Monday and also, for the first time in 15 months, bring Mehbooba Mufti’s and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s parties on one side. It is, however, likely to divide the coalition partner Congress in two groups---one of them, led by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, strongly opposing the legislation seeking ban on recruitment of government job aspirants of one district in another district.
With 11 Government Bills coming up for consideration and passage on the last day of the Budget Session, Legislative Assembly is likely to witness a united house on Monday for the principal ruling party, NC, and the principal Opposition party, PDP, first time in the last 15 months. Bill No: 1 of 2009, seeking ban on inter-district recruit, is scheduled to be moved for consideration and passage by Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Mohammad Sagar, obviously under strong pressure from a consortium of five MLA of Kupwara districts. Besides independent MLA from Langet, Er Sheikh Abdul Rashid, and PDP’s one-odd MLA of Lolab, Abdul Haq Khan, this alliance of legislators has three MLA, namely Chowdhary Mohamamd Ramzan, Mir Saifullah and Kafeel-ur-Rehman, from NC. They have been sponsoring a mass agitation since last year.
This confluence of the interest of Kashmir-based political parties has already forced PDP to call off its indefinite boycott to the Business in Assembly that the party had declared over Chief Minister’s “non-seriousness towards Legislature” and alleged withdrawal of security cover to one of its Pulwama-based leaders. Sources in PDP said that all 21 of its members, excluding Nizam-ud-din Bhat, whose brother-in-law has died in Bandipora yesterday, would remain present in Assembly to speak and vote in favour of the Bill. “We have our doubts that two Congress MLAs, namely Abdul Majid Wani and Ashok Kumar, have moved their amendments only to derail the process and hand over the Bill yet again to another select committee. But, in case NC remains silent or supportive of another select committee, it will expose the ruling party and give us the desired dividends in the Valley”, said a senior PDP leader.
NC sources, however, insisted that it was a Government Bill and there was no question of its derailment to another select committee. “It has been already thoroughly examined by a sub committee that had representatives not only from NC and PDP but also from Congress, BJP and Panthers Party. All the controversial issues have been addressed”, said a senior NC leader and Cabinet Minister. He sought to clarify that Wani’s and Kumar’s amendments had come in their private capacity and maintained that a consensus had been already achieved over the Bill between the coalition partners. “There has been hectic political activity and senior leaders at Congress high command have taken Deputy Chief Minister Mr Tara Chand into confidence. His concern for Scheduled Castes is being addressed appropriately”, he added. According to him, Government was immediately going to reserve existing six Assembly segments, reserved for SCs, for further 10 years. He said that there was a possibility of the division of opinion among the Congress members and some of them may chose to remain absent but, according to him, large number of NC’s and PDP’s members, besides legislators like Er Rashid, Hakeem Yasin and Mohamamd Yusuf Tarigami were evidently supportive of the legislation.
Mr Tara Chand, who spent two days in New Delhi to discuss this crucial legislation with the Congress high command, could not be reached for his comments as his mobile phone was permanently switched off. However, one of the senior leaders of the party, believed to be close to Deputy Chief Minister, told Early Times that the coalition partners (Congress and NC) had secretly decided to bring the Bill only to break the PDP’s boycott and assuage the feelings of Kupwara MLAs. He disclosed that the Bill would be passed on to a proposed sub committee of 9 MLAs of different political parties. “No less a person than Chief Minister has been convinced on the strategy by Congress high commands and he has agreed to (derail) it”, he claimed.
The Bill will need simply majority of the members present at the time of voting for its passage in Assembly.
Sagar’s Bill will be the first among 11 Government Bills to come up for discussion in the Assembly on Monday immediately after the Business of Question Hour, five calling attention motions of Tarigami, Sharief Niaz, Nazir Gurezi, Basharat Bukhari and Sukhvinder, is over. It will be also preceded by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s laying of the half-yearly report on State Vigilance Organisation on the table of the House and Chairman of House Committee on Ethics, Mir Saifullah, submitting another report to the Assembly.
Significantly, after a debate on the issue for eight months, Minister of Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather, will be moving for consideration and passage the Bill seeking regularization of the services of those completing seven years of engagement on adhoc, contractual and consolidated arrangement. Those working in PSUs and all those not appointed against a clear vacancy in Government departments would not be entitled to the benefit.
While as Sagar is scheduled to move a Bill for amendment in anti-corruption laws and Minister of Tourism, Rigzin Jora, would move a Bill for preservation of the heritage sites and structures, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would bring up a legislation to prevent power pilferage in the state. All the eleven Bills have been already introduced in Assembly.
END
Bills seeking regularization of contractual employment, ban on inter-district recruitment coming up today
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU, Apr 4: Government’s Bill No: 1 of 2009, that will be moved by Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Mohammad Sagar, for consideration and passage, is likely to force Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to end its boycott to the proceedings in Legislative Assembly on Monday and also, for the first time in 15 months, bring Mehbooba Mufti’s and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s parties on one side. It is, however, likely to divide the coalition partner Congress in two groups---one of them, led by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, strongly opposing the legislation seeking ban on recruitment of government job aspirants of one district in another district.
With 11 Government Bills coming up for consideration and passage on the last day of the Budget Session, Legislative Assembly is likely to witness a united house on Monday for the principal ruling party, NC, and the principal Opposition party, PDP, first time in the last 15 months. Bill No: 1 of 2009, seeking ban on inter-district recruit, is scheduled to be moved for consideration and passage by Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Mohammad Sagar, obviously under strong pressure from a consortium of five MLA of Kupwara districts. Besides independent MLA from Langet, Er Sheikh Abdul Rashid, and PDP’s one-odd MLA of Lolab, Abdul Haq Khan, this alliance of legislators has three MLA, namely Chowdhary Mohamamd Ramzan, Mir Saifullah and Kafeel-ur-Rehman, from NC. They have been sponsoring a mass agitation since last year.
This confluence of the interest of Kashmir-based political parties has already forced PDP to call off its indefinite boycott to the Business in Assembly that the party had declared over Chief Minister’s “non-seriousness towards Legislature” and alleged withdrawal of security cover to one of its Pulwama-based leaders. Sources in PDP said that all 21 of its members, excluding Nizam-ud-din Bhat, whose brother-in-law has died in Bandipora yesterday, would remain present in Assembly to speak and vote in favour of the Bill. “We have our doubts that two Congress MLAs, namely Abdul Majid Wani and Ashok Kumar, have moved their amendments only to derail the process and hand over the Bill yet again to another select committee. But, in case NC remains silent or supportive of another select committee, it will expose the ruling party and give us the desired dividends in the Valley”, said a senior PDP leader.
NC sources, however, insisted that it was a Government Bill and there was no question of its derailment to another select committee. “It has been already thoroughly examined by a sub committee that had representatives not only from NC and PDP but also from Congress, BJP and Panthers Party. All the controversial issues have been addressed”, said a senior NC leader and Cabinet Minister. He sought to clarify that Wani’s and Kumar’s amendments had come in their private capacity and maintained that a consensus had been already achieved over the Bill between the coalition partners. “There has been hectic political activity and senior leaders at Congress high command have taken Deputy Chief Minister Mr Tara Chand into confidence. His concern for Scheduled Castes is being addressed appropriately”, he added. According to him, Government was immediately going to reserve existing six Assembly segments, reserved for SCs, for further 10 years. He said that there was a possibility of the division of opinion among the Congress members and some of them may chose to remain absent but, according to him, large number of NC’s and PDP’s members, besides legislators like Er Rashid, Hakeem Yasin and Mohamamd Yusuf Tarigami were evidently supportive of the legislation.
Mr Tara Chand, who spent two days in New Delhi to discuss this crucial legislation with the Congress high command, could not be reached for his comments as his mobile phone was permanently switched off. However, one of the senior leaders of the party, believed to be close to Deputy Chief Minister, told Early Times that the coalition partners (Congress and NC) had secretly decided to bring the Bill only to break the PDP’s boycott and assuage the feelings of Kupwara MLAs. He disclosed that the Bill would be passed on to a proposed sub committee of 9 MLAs of different political parties. “No less a person than Chief Minister has been convinced on the strategy by Congress high commands and he has agreed to (derail) it”, he claimed.
The Bill will need simply majority of the members present at the time of voting for its passage in Assembly.
Sagar’s Bill will be the first among 11 Government Bills to come up for discussion in the Assembly on Monday immediately after the Business of Question Hour, five calling attention motions of Tarigami, Sharief Niaz, Nazir Gurezi, Basharat Bukhari and Sukhvinder, is over. It will be also preceded by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s laying of the half-yearly report on State Vigilance Organisation on the table of the House and Chairman of House Committee on Ethics, Mir Saifullah, submitting another report to the Assembly.
Significantly, after a debate on the issue for eight months, Minister of Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather, will be moving for consideration and passage the Bill seeking regularization of the services of those completing seven years of engagement on adhoc, contractual and consolidated arrangement. Those working in PSUs and all those not appointed against a clear vacancy in Government departments would not be entitled to the benefit.
While as Sagar is scheduled to move a Bill for amendment in anti-corruption laws and Minister of Tourism, Rigzin Jora, would move a Bill for preservation of the heritage sites and structures, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would bring up a legislation to prevent power pilferage in the state. All the eleven Bills have been already introduced in Assembly.
END
Friday, April 2, 2010
POLITICAL ANALYSIS
Er Rashid emerging as Gani Lone’s successor in mainstream politics
PC founder’s legacy falls into the lap of a nondescript separatist columnist and Govt official
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Apr 2: “Tum char sau bees hau (You are a cheat)”, Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah grumbled on enfant terrible Abdul Gani Lone on the floor of Legislative Assembly in 1978. Lone quipped back: “Tum aath sau chalees hau (But, you are a cheat of the cheats)”. That was how the Lion of Kashmir and the Lion of Kupwara roared on each other and, in the process, a frail political activist from a penurious rural background emerged as a “threat” for the all-imposing ‘Twinkling Star of Asia’. Earlier, Lone had proved his mettle with his resignation as a Minister in Syed Mir Qasim’s Congress government. Later, he was among the two-odd candidates of then ruling Janata Party who could defeat NC in Kashmir valley in the Assembly elections of 1977. In 1979, Sheikh created a separate revenue district for Kupwara--- alongwith Budgam and Pulwama in Central and South Kashmir, respectively---but Lone forced the government to raise offices of most of the district officers at his hometown of Handwara.
Days before his death in September 1982, Sheikh began the operation of creating a cub to undercut Lone in Handwara. A fresh law graduate from Pune, Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan was catapulted into the fray so forcefully that Lone fought pitched battles but failed to become MLA of Handwara until his end. He floated his own Peoples Conference (PC). In 1983, he polled 17,565 votes against Ramzan’s 17,575. He was still returned impressively from the adjoining parallel constituency of Karnah. It is perhaps because of that ‘battle of the giants’ that Handwara is still a history. Apparently a threat for many of his separatist colleagues in Hurriyat Conference, Lone was assassinated on Iddgah Grounds on the death anniversary of Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq on May 21, 2002.
Lone’s mainstream proxy, Ghulam Mohiuddin Sofi, became the beneficiary of PC’s boycott to the elections as, in 2002, he created the history of Ramzan’s first defeat at the hustings. Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed rewarded Sofi by inducting him as a Minister in his Cabinet and allocating him once Ramzan’s high profile Forest portfolio. Even as Ramzan staged a spectacular comeback and polled the highest number of votes (28,000) among all 2000-odd candidates in Kashmir in the Assembly elections of 2008, electors in the adjoining Langet constituency paid their tributes to Lone by returning one of his ordinary colleagues. A nondescript separatist columnist, who worked as an engineer with J&K Projects Construction Corporation, wore Lone’s mantle in Assembly. Unlike the unassuming Sofi, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid began doing what his mentor had done decades ago.
Much like Lone, he has been also wavering on postures, making it difficult to understand whether he was NC’s “associate member” or a stanch detractor of Omar Abdullah’s government. Even while defending Omar and making frontal attacks on Mufti’s government, Er Rashid has been on the forefront of the agitation demanding ban on inter-district recruitment in government services. “I have been used” (by NC-led government in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elections of 2009) and I am simply asking for the price. I have done it all for the people of my constituency and Kupwara district”, MLA Langet is reported to have said in his last ditch effort of getting his demand conceded.
Rashid seems to have inherited even the suspicion Lone lived with for decades. A many of the coalition leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand---who feels that the ban could lead to “Amarth Sangharsh-like agitation” among the Scheduled Castes---suspect that the all-party agitation was only NC’s gameplan. Interestingly, Rashid has been joined by three of NC’s Kupwara-based MLAs, namely Chowdhary Ramzan, Mir saifullah and Kafeel-ur-Rehman, besides PDP’s lonely Abdul Haq Khan.
In all three of the Assembly sessions so far, Rashid has attained the distinction of attracting maximum number of Speaker’s warnings, reprimands and marshal actions. The way Lone once invited Taliban to Kashmir, in most of his speeches Rashid has sought release of the hardliner militant ideologue Dr Qasim from jail. This Jamiatul Mujahideen top man has been serving a life term in Srinagar Central Jail for having ordered human rights activist Hridhay Nath Wanchoo’s murder in 1992. He also happens to be the husband of Dukhtaraan-e-Millat Chairperson, Asiya Andrabi. Rashid has even eclipsed PDP in its refrain of “maslaa Kashmir” (solve the political problem of Kashmir). He has gone a step farther by demanding Jammu’s separation from Kashmir.
Lone’s heir apparent in mainstream politics, Rashid has had luck on his side. While his colleague of years and fiery mentor, Sajjad Lone, blew hot and hold with regard to the option of directly participating in the elections in 2008, Rashid took the dangerous decision. He exploited a menacing anti-incumbency factor against the NC stalwart Sharief-ud-din Shariq and PDP leader Mohammad Sultan Panditpuri and trounced both in a multi-cornered contest in Langet.
As Gani Lone’s advocate daughter, Shabnam, lost to NC’s Mir Saifullah in Kupwara segment, Rashid became the undisputed custodian of Lone’s legacy in the mainstream politics. That provoked the real heir apparent, Sajjad Lone, to jump into the fray of Lok Sabha elections next spring but it proved to be too late. Even in his strongest segments of Handwara and Kupwara, Sajjad suffered a dressing down at the hands of NC’s Ramzan and Saifullah who maintained impressive lead for Shariq. Sajjad discovered that he had lost the bus to his proxy, Sofi, in 2002 and Rashid had already laid his hands on the achievable knighthood. This left Abdul Gani Lone’s elder son, Bilal Lone, to be his undisputed successor in separatist politics.
While Lone’s progeny has been, perhaps unsuccessfully, struggling for space in Kashmir’s politics, a number of his old trusted colleagues and PC founders have also landed in the present Assembly. Besides Rashid, they include Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Nizam-ud-din Bhat , Abdul Haq Khan (now all in PDP) and Mohammad Akbar Lone, now Speaker and NC’s MLA from Sumbal Sonawari.
END
Er Rashid emerging as Gani Lone’s successor in mainstream politics
PC founder’s legacy falls into the lap of a nondescript separatist columnist and Govt official
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Apr 2: “Tum char sau bees hau (You are a cheat)”, Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah grumbled on enfant terrible Abdul Gani Lone on the floor of Legislative Assembly in 1978. Lone quipped back: “Tum aath sau chalees hau (But, you are a cheat of the cheats)”. That was how the Lion of Kashmir and the Lion of Kupwara roared on each other and, in the process, a frail political activist from a penurious rural background emerged as a “threat” for the all-imposing ‘Twinkling Star of Asia’. Earlier, Lone had proved his mettle with his resignation as a Minister in Syed Mir Qasim’s Congress government. Later, he was among the two-odd candidates of then ruling Janata Party who could defeat NC in Kashmir valley in the Assembly elections of 1977. In 1979, Sheikh created a separate revenue district for Kupwara--- alongwith Budgam and Pulwama in Central and South Kashmir, respectively---but Lone forced the government to raise offices of most of the district officers at his hometown of Handwara.
Days before his death in September 1982, Sheikh began the operation of creating a cub to undercut Lone in Handwara. A fresh law graduate from Pune, Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan was catapulted into the fray so forcefully that Lone fought pitched battles but failed to become MLA of Handwara until his end. He floated his own Peoples Conference (PC). In 1983, he polled 17,565 votes against Ramzan’s 17,575. He was still returned impressively from the adjoining parallel constituency of Karnah. It is perhaps because of that ‘battle of the giants’ that Handwara is still a history. Apparently a threat for many of his separatist colleagues in Hurriyat Conference, Lone was assassinated on Iddgah Grounds on the death anniversary of Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq on May 21, 2002.
Lone’s mainstream proxy, Ghulam Mohiuddin Sofi, became the beneficiary of PC’s boycott to the elections as, in 2002, he created the history of Ramzan’s first defeat at the hustings. Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed rewarded Sofi by inducting him as a Minister in his Cabinet and allocating him once Ramzan’s high profile Forest portfolio. Even as Ramzan staged a spectacular comeback and polled the highest number of votes (28,000) among all 2000-odd candidates in Kashmir in the Assembly elections of 2008, electors in the adjoining Langet constituency paid their tributes to Lone by returning one of his ordinary colleagues. A nondescript separatist columnist, who worked as an engineer with J&K Projects Construction Corporation, wore Lone’s mantle in Assembly. Unlike the unassuming Sofi, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid began doing what his mentor had done decades ago.
Much like Lone, he has been also wavering on postures, making it difficult to understand whether he was NC’s “associate member” or a stanch detractor of Omar Abdullah’s government. Even while defending Omar and making frontal attacks on Mufti’s government, Er Rashid has been on the forefront of the agitation demanding ban on inter-district recruitment in government services. “I have been used” (by NC-led government in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elections of 2009) and I am simply asking for the price. I have done it all for the people of my constituency and Kupwara district”, MLA Langet is reported to have said in his last ditch effort of getting his demand conceded.
Rashid seems to have inherited even the suspicion Lone lived with for decades. A many of the coalition leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand---who feels that the ban could lead to “Amarth Sangharsh-like agitation” among the Scheduled Castes---suspect that the all-party agitation was only NC’s gameplan. Interestingly, Rashid has been joined by three of NC’s Kupwara-based MLAs, namely Chowdhary Ramzan, Mir saifullah and Kafeel-ur-Rehman, besides PDP’s lonely Abdul Haq Khan.
In all three of the Assembly sessions so far, Rashid has attained the distinction of attracting maximum number of Speaker’s warnings, reprimands and marshal actions. The way Lone once invited Taliban to Kashmir, in most of his speeches Rashid has sought release of the hardliner militant ideologue Dr Qasim from jail. This Jamiatul Mujahideen top man has been serving a life term in Srinagar Central Jail for having ordered human rights activist Hridhay Nath Wanchoo’s murder in 1992. He also happens to be the husband of Dukhtaraan-e-Millat Chairperson, Asiya Andrabi. Rashid has even eclipsed PDP in its refrain of “maslaa Kashmir” (solve the political problem of Kashmir). He has gone a step farther by demanding Jammu’s separation from Kashmir.
Lone’s heir apparent in mainstream politics, Rashid has had luck on his side. While his colleague of years and fiery mentor, Sajjad Lone, blew hot and hold with regard to the option of directly participating in the elections in 2008, Rashid took the dangerous decision. He exploited a menacing anti-incumbency factor against the NC stalwart Sharief-ud-din Shariq and PDP leader Mohammad Sultan Panditpuri and trounced both in a multi-cornered contest in Langet.
As Gani Lone’s advocate daughter, Shabnam, lost to NC’s Mir Saifullah in Kupwara segment, Rashid became the undisputed custodian of Lone’s legacy in the mainstream politics. That provoked the real heir apparent, Sajjad Lone, to jump into the fray of Lok Sabha elections next spring but it proved to be too late. Even in his strongest segments of Handwara and Kupwara, Sajjad suffered a dressing down at the hands of NC’s Ramzan and Saifullah who maintained impressive lead for Shariq. Sajjad discovered that he had lost the bus to his proxy, Sofi, in 2002 and Rashid had already laid his hands on the achievable knighthood. This left Abdul Gani Lone’s elder son, Bilal Lone, to be his undisputed successor in separatist politics.
While Lone’s progeny has been, perhaps unsuccessfully, struggling for space in Kashmir’s politics, a number of his old trusted colleagues and PC founders have also landed in the present Assembly. Besides Rashid, they include Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Nizam-ud-din Bhat , Abdul Haq Khan (now all in PDP) and Mohammad Akbar Lone, now Speaker and NC’s MLA from Sumbal Sonawari.
END
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
RAPE OF POLITICS
....and where are those Mehboobas, Shameemas, Asiyas today?
Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU, Mar 30: Hullabaloo over then widely perceived rape-cum-murder of two young woman, married Neelofar Jan and unmarried Asiya Jan, of Shopian in May last year was understandable as well as justifiable. Jostling for the limelight, female politicians of all hues had done whatever possible to undercut one another in the race of smudging the men in uniform. There were initially efforts to involve the Balpora-based formation of Rashtriya Rifles. Soon the campaign was downgraded to a unit of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). But once both proved to be the hard nuts, convenience zeroed in on Police. Even as two of the Police personnel, detained for their alleged involvement in destroying the evidences, were just a vegetarian target, counter-insurgency profile of then SP and Dy SP of Shopian made it a perfect case for a mass movement.
For weeks together, Kashmir was yet again in flames. Eight people got killed, and around 1,000 sustained injuries in clashes with Police and armed forces. Over a thousand vehicles, including 50 ambulances of different hospitals in the Valley, were damaged in stone pelting. There was shutdown after shutdown for four months. Damage caused to the Kashmir economy is estimated to be in hundreds of Crores of Rupees. Loss suffered by the student community remained incalculable. Why all that? Obviously because government officials, supposed to protect the honour and life of women, were perceived to be involved in the sinister act of outraging the modesty of the victims and doing away with them.
Within months, yet another government official---this time a doctor on whose evidence stood the “rape-cum-murder” of the Shopian duo---has been found to have outraged the chastity of a hapless woman at his clinic at the nearby district headquarters of Pulwama. There are few differences between the two. First one was fully based on surmise, speculation and perception. Post mortem reports of two teams of doctors made it an explosive case of gang rape and murder. Actors need not to be searched in such kind of incidents in the strife torn Valley. Second one has been purportedly shot on camera and the actor stands not only identified but also placed under suspension, arrested and jailed.
In case of Shopian, the victims were found to have died once. In case of Pulwama, the victim has been left to die a hundred times every day as long as she lives. The latest revelation is that she happens to be the mother of a girl doing first year of her MBBS and a 17-year-old son who is in class 11th. Shopian happened by night in a nullah and Pulwama in broad daylight during the holy month of Ramazan, at a property owned by a religious trust. Then, why an uproar on Shopian and a silence of convenience on Pulwama? The biggest poser of the cruel times in Kashmir: Is it the outfits of an actor that categorizes rapes in the Valley? Had the Pulwama actor been in Khaki, would the Kashmiri politicians have maintained this silence. The questions ahead: Are the Kashmiri female politicians concerned over the outrage of the modesty of hapless women by government officials or are they exploiting such incidents selectively to create space for themselves in the politics of deceit and camouflage that has had a bullish market from New Delhi to Islamabad?
PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, and the pro-Pakistan Dukhataraan-e-Millat supremo, Asiya Andrabi, stole the show in Shopian as they left no stone unturned in berating the men in uniform. That was understandable for one was the queen of the mainstream opposition and another indisputably the highest profile female political activist in the separatist camp. But the ruling National Conference’s MLA, Shameema Firdaus, appeared to outsmart all and sundry in the agitation when she led a procession of workers on Residency Road in Srinagar, chanting slogans against the Shopian rapists and killers and demanding exemplary punishment for them all.
Of late, Shameema Firdaus, has been appointed by Omar Abdullah government as the Chairperson of the State Women’s Commission. While Asiya and her ilk in the separatist camp must have now realized the dangers of walking into the trap of pro-India politicians, PDP chief has never been sighted in Assembly since the day Pulwama surfaced on March 21. Ms Firdaus remained in attendance but did not utter a word of condemnation even when the independent MLA from Langet, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, raised his lonely voice on the floor of the House and demanded termination of the doctor’s services.
Until yesterday, the big question was: How could the two women have drowned to death in “ankle deep waters” of Rambiara ? After CBI exonerated all the four Policemen and filed a chargesheet against 13 persons, including six doctors---notably then deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi, now booked for raping a woman at his clinic---a bigger question surfaced: How do the gang rapes in Valley take place while leaving hymen of an unmarried woman intact? Now a far bigger question: Is it all politics on rape or rape of politics---to spare the rapists in civvies and target only the rapists in uniform?
END
....and where are those Mehboobas, Shameemas, Asiyas today?
Selective condemnation of rape and murder has become bane of J&K politics
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU, Mar 30: Hullabaloo over then widely perceived rape-cum-murder of two young woman, married Neelofar Jan and unmarried Asiya Jan, of Shopian in May last year was understandable as well as justifiable. Jostling for the limelight, female politicians of all hues had done whatever possible to undercut one another in the race of smudging the men in uniform. There were initially efforts to involve the Balpora-based formation of Rashtriya Rifles. Soon the campaign was downgraded to a unit of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). But once both proved to be the hard nuts, convenience zeroed in on Police. Even as two of the Police personnel, detained for their alleged involvement in destroying the evidences, were just a vegetarian target, counter-insurgency profile of then SP and Dy SP of Shopian made it a perfect case for a mass movement.
For weeks together, Kashmir was yet again in flames. Eight people got killed, and around 1,000 sustained injuries in clashes with Police and armed forces. Over a thousand vehicles, including 50 ambulances of different hospitals in the Valley, were damaged in stone pelting. There was shutdown after shutdown for four months. Damage caused to the Kashmir economy is estimated to be in hundreds of Crores of Rupees. Loss suffered by the student community remained incalculable. Why all that? Obviously because government officials, supposed to protect the honour and life of women, were perceived to be involved in the sinister act of outraging the modesty of the victims and doing away with them.
Within months, yet another government official---this time a doctor on whose evidence stood the “rape-cum-murder” of the Shopian duo---has been found to have outraged the chastity of a hapless woman at his clinic at the nearby district headquarters of Pulwama. There are few differences between the two. First one was fully based on surmise, speculation and perception. Post mortem reports of two teams of doctors made it an explosive case of gang rape and murder. Actors need not to be searched in such kind of incidents in the strife torn Valley. Second one has been purportedly shot on camera and the actor stands not only identified but also placed under suspension, arrested and jailed.
In case of Shopian, the victims were found to have died once. In case of Pulwama, the victim has been left to die a hundred times every day as long as she lives. The latest revelation is that she happens to be the mother of a girl doing first year of her MBBS and a 17-year-old son who is in class 11th. Shopian happened by night in a nullah and Pulwama in broad daylight during the holy month of Ramazan, at a property owned by a religious trust. Then, why an uproar on Shopian and a silence of convenience on Pulwama? The biggest poser of the cruel times in Kashmir: Is it the outfits of an actor that categorizes rapes in the Valley? Had the Pulwama actor been in Khaki, would the Kashmiri politicians have maintained this silence. The questions ahead: Are the Kashmiri female politicians concerned over the outrage of the modesty of hapless women by government officials or are they exploiting such incidents selectively to create space for themselves in the politics of deceit and camouflage that has had a bullish market from New Delhi to Islamabad?
PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti, and the pro-Pakistan Dukhataraan-e-Millat supremo, Asiya Andrabi, stole the show in Shopian as they left no stone unturned in berating the men in uniform. That was understandable for one was the queen of the mainstream opposition and another indisputably the highest profile female political activist in the separatist camp. But the ruling National Conference’s MLA, Shameema Firdaus, appeared to outsmart all and sundry in the agitation when she led a procession of workers on Residency Road in Srinagar, chanting slogans against the Shopian rapists and killers and demanding exemplary punishment for them all.
Of late, Shameema Firdaus, has been appointed by Omar Abdullah government as the Chairperson of the State Women’s Commission. While Asiya and her ilk in the separatist camp must have now realized the dangers of walking into the trap of pro-India politicians, PDP chief has never been sighted in Assembly since the day Pulwama surfaced on March 21. Ms Firdaus remained in attendance but did not utter a word of condemnation even when the independent MLA from Langet, Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid, raised his lonely voice on the floor of the House and demanded termination of the doctor’s services.
Until yesterday, the big question was: How could the two women have drowned to death in “ankle deep waters” of Rambiara ? After CBI exonerated all the four Policemen and filed a chargesheet against 13 persons, including six doctors---notably then deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi, now booked for raping a woman at his clinic---a bigger question surfaced: How do the gang rapes in Valley take place while leaving hymen of an unmarried woman intact? Now a far bigger question: Is it all politics on rape or rape of politics---to spare the rapists in civvies and target only the rapists in uniform?
END
Monday, March 29, 2010
From Farooq’s joyride with Shabana to Omar’s chatting on BlackBerry
Calling the Abdullahs ‘non-serious’ has been the Muftis’ ace in a political chess game
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU, Mar 29: It is now over a year since the state’s youngest Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, enjoyed skiing on the alpine slopes of Afarwat on the day of his reply to the discussion on Governor’s address in the Legislative Assembly. He appeared on the scheduled time of his turn, at 4.00 p.m dot and got a bonus of one full hour as few of the MLAs demanded more time to make their points. Inspite of being absent for noticeable durations and having listened to not more than five speakers, he began replying to the debate and was heard making one of the most impressive speeches of his 11-year-long political career. He was plush with his party’s victory at the hustings and the Muftis were in the thick of reconciling to PDP’s defeat. Just the men like Panthers Party’s Harsh Dev Singh noticed Omar’s absence and made a modestly reformative comment.
As soon as PDP’s pain of the defeat receded, Muzaffar Hussain Baig did not lose a second to fire the salvo during the Budget session in Srinagar. It was indeed not an eloquent speech on the corruption tainted officials getting plum positions, land mafias grabbing the state land, financial mismanagement or bad governance. It was something that sells, like many parts of the country, in Jammu & Kashmir: Chief Minister’s and also his father’s “name in the shame list” (Srinagar sex scandal of 2007). Driven by his gut, Omar refused to listen to his party colleagues and friends and played what was indisputably the most dangerous game of his past and future political career. More than his age, his stars were strongly on his side and Baig’s gun almost backfired.
NC’s nincompoops did much of their dancing over the failure of what they called a “made in Papa 2” plot---an allegation that Baig was just an actor and the producers, directors and scriptwriters were all occupants of the former Chief Minister’s residence. What they failed to understand was that the same old armoury of 1980s was being invoked to pull down the prince in modern Kashmir’s battle royal.
In sharp contrast to his charismatic father, Farooq Abdullah was projected by his detractors as a joker. Suffering a deficit of his practical knowledge of the Valley’s social sensibilities, he exposed himself to every onslaught---by boarding the SRTC’s buses and checking the tickets of commuters, rushing to the National High School to douse the flames with his bucket, performing as a disco dancer and taking Shabana Azmi for a joyride on his motorcycle to Gulmarg.
The gameplan of labeling him “non serious” and a “man of easy virtues” consummated in late 1980s when Srinagar Doordarshan created its most popular “Hazaar Daastaan” and every watcher of the political satire began identifying Farooq with the clown king “Ahad Raza”. The serial was aborted under then Chief Minister’s strong protest but not before scores of its episodes had gone on air. By the time Farooq woke up, it was too late.
Being young becomes a disqualification when it comes to learning why Mr Baig was now pasting the cliché of Ahad Raza on Farooq’s successor. Irony is that whatever is expunged in legislature, gains circulation outside. It is not obviously without purpose that the Abdullahs are still being projected as “lesser Kashmiris” and “lesser Muslims”. Days before today’s accusation of“non seriousness”, Mr Baig had called the Chief Minister as “dau tihayi angrez” (two-third European) well on the floor of the House.
PDP seems to be confident that creating the image of non-serious, non-resident, inattentive, fun-loving Chief Minister would continue to sell in J&K much more than building an attack on the real issues like employment, governance and accountability. She has the facts on her side: trapping the coalition in a rape-and-murder that is now proved by CBI not to have happened, perhaps artificially manufactured with the help of men and women of political agenda in the noble professions of medicine, law and media; making Omar believe that his father’s hardcore diatribe against Pakistan was the fundamental reason of NC’s defeat in 2002 Assembly elections; forcing the NC to mug the refrain of “dialogue with militants, dialogue with separatists et al.
Even if, as the Home Minister of the country’s most sensitive state, he is addressing an urgent security related issue with Home Minister Chidambaram and Defence Minister Antony, Omar Abdullah is simply walking into the Opposition’s old trap by sporting his BlackBerry in the Assembly.
END
Calling the Abdullahs ‘non-serious’ has been the Muftis’ ace in a political chess game
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
JAMMU, Mar 29: It is now over a year since the state’s youngest Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, enjoyed skiing on the alpine slopes of Afarwat on the day of his reply to the discussion on Governor’s address in the Legislative Assembly. He appeared on the scheduled time of his turn, at 4.00 p.m dot and got a bonus of one full hour as few of the MLAs demanded more time to make their points. Inspite of being absent for noticeable durations and having listened to not more than five speakers, he began replying to the debate and was heard making one of the most impressive speeches of his 11-year-long political career. He was plush with his party’s victory at the hustings and the Muftis were in the thick of reconciling to PDP’s defeat. Just the men like Panthers Party’s Harsh Dev Singh noticed Omar’s absence and made a modestly reformative comment.
As soon as PDP’s pain of the defeat receded, Muzaffar Hussain Baig did not lose a second to fire the salvo during the Budget session in Srinagar. It was indeed not an eloquent speech on the corruption tainted officials getting plum positions, land mafias grabbing the state land, financial mismanagement or bad governance. It was something that sells, like many parts of the country, in Jammu & Kashmir: Chief Minister’s and also his father’s “name in the shame list” (Srinagar sex scandal of 2007). Driven by his gut, Omar refused to listen to his party colleagues and friends and played what was indisputably the most dangerous game of his past and future political career. More than his age, his stars were strongly on his side and Baig’s gun almost backfired.
NC’s nincompoops did much of their dancing over the failure of what they called a “made in Papa 2” plot---an allegation that Baig was just an actor and the producers, directors and scriptwriters were all occupants of the former Chief Minister’s residence. What they failed to understand was that the same old armoury of 1980s was being invoked to pull down the prince in modern Kashmir’s battle royal.
In sharp contrast to his charismatic father, Farooq Abdullah was projected by his detractors as a joker. Suffering a deficit of his practical knowledge of the Valley’s social sensibilities, he exposed himself to every onslaught---by boarding the SRTC’s buses and checking the tickets of commuters, rushing to the National High School to douse the flames with his bucket, performing as a disco dancer and taking Shabana Azmi for a joyride on his motorcycle to Gulmarg.
The gameplan of labeling him “non serious” and a “man of easy virtues” consummated in late 1980s when Srinagar Doordarshan created its most popular “Hazaar Daastaan” and every watcher of the political satire began identifying Farooq with the clown king “Ahad Raza”. The serial was aborted under then Chief Minister’s strong protest but not before scores of its episodes had gone on air. By the time Farooq woke up, it was too late.
Being young becomes a disqualification when it comes to learning why Mr Baig was now pasting the cliché of Ahad Raza on Farooq’s successor. Irony is that whatever is expunged in legislature, gains circulation outside. It is not obviously without purpose that the Abdullahs are still being projected as “lesser Kashmiris” and “lesser Muslims”. Days before today’s accusation of“non seriousness”, Mr Baig had called the Chief Minister as “dau tihayi angrez” (two-third European) well on the floor of the House.
PDP seems to be confident that creating the image of non-serious, non-resident, inattentive, fun-loving Chief Minister would continue to sell in J&K much more than building an attack on the real issues like employment, governance and accountability. She has the facts on her side: trapping the coalition in a rape-and-murder that is now proved by CBI not to have happened, perhaps artificially manufactured with the help of men and women of political agenda in the noble professions of medicine, law and media; making Omar believe that his father’s hardcore diatribe against Pakistan was the fundamental reason of NC’s defeat in 2002 Assembly elections; forcing the NC to mug the refrain of “dialogue with militants, dialogue with separatists et al.
Even if, as the Home Minister of the country’s most sensitive state, he is addressing an urgent security related issue with Home Minister Chidambaram and Defence Minister Antony, Omar Abdullah is simply walking into the Opposition’s old trap by sporting his BlackBerry in the Assembly.
END
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)