DDK Srinagar in-house scam-II

 Shami, others at DDK concealed proposal registers

Station Directors, Producers violated all rules and norms in Rs 64 cr ‘in-house productions scam’; mentioned relatives as ‘facility providers’ of their own programmes

“The producers at the Kendra have a pretty long stay at DDK Srinagar itself and it appears that they have taken everything for granted and are nurturing their vested interests at the cost of the organization with impunity. It is, therefore, suggested that the Producers may be transferred out of the Kendra periodically”, says the DD team’s report submitted to DG Tripurari Sharan

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Oct 1: The two-member fact finding team from Directorate General of Doordarshan, comprising Deputy Director Administration, Ashok Kumar, and Section Officer, Nadeem Ahmad, has observed in its eight-day-long investigation in Srinagar that two successive Heads of Programme (HOP) and incharge Directors of Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Srinagar, in league with their subordinate Programme Officers, have violated all rules and norms in accomplishing Rs 64 crore “in-house productions scam.

In the report submitted to DG Doordarshan, a copy of which is available with Early Times, the two-member team has recorded that many of the DDK Srinagar Producers concealed records and did not provide proposal registers of the ‘in-house’ programmes they claim to have produced and telecast. Still, contracts have been found lying with the Accounts Section.

It has been noticed by the DD team that one particular serial, titled ‘Mizraab’, figures at serial numbers 41 and 57 separately in a list previously submitted to DD headquarters. At both places, Producer Rashid Javed claims payment of Rs 300,000. DDK Srinagar officers have demanded an amount of Rs 3.45 crore [Rs 3,45,55,362] to clear the liability of 59 serials and musical series in the same list.

However, during the process of verification, Deputy Director and Head of Programmes, Shami Shair, who functioned as incharge Head of Programmes from July 2011 to September 2012, did not produce records of a documentary film and another programme series, titled ‘Zu Chhu te Jahan Chhu”. Contracts drawn and processed by her claimed payment of Rs 2,88,000 for the documentary and Rs 8,52,000 for the programme series. For a long time, she has functioned as Programme Officer of this series and her predecessor HOP, Dr Rafeeq Masoodi, has purportedly approved each episode of the series till he was relieved by Mrs Shair in July 2011.

“Concerned file and Proposal Register not produced to verify the actual approved cost”, says the Remarks column of Mrs Shair’s programmes.

The reason of concealing the records, according to insiders, was that most of the payees of Mrs Shair’s programmes are her relatives and family members, including a domestic help. According to the contracts and Detail Forms, signed by Mrs Shair herself, the “facility providers” of her programme series “Zu Chhu Te Jahan Chhu” include her sister Neelofar, niece Naila Neelofar, nephew Aabid Ali, his wife Surraya and other relatives.

Her other payees are Waseem Hassan, Arshad Meraj, Naseema, Pervez Ahmad, Tufail Qadiri, Abdul Rehman Sheikh, Gulzar Ahmad Dar (son of a retired DD official engaged by her to look after her production and contract works), Azma Zahoor, Firdaus Ahmad Khan, Massarat Riyaz, Suhail Ahmad Bhat, Shaista Ahad, Arif Hussain Zargar, Manzoor Ahmad Khan, Shehbaz Khan, Riyaz Ahmad Rishi, Idrees Ahmad and Suleman Gujar. Their relation to her, if any, is being verified. Private Studio M/S Ravi Mech is claimed to have been engaged despite availability of DDK Srinagar’s own studios and other hardware.

In gross violation of norms and codes, she has herself proposed in-house programmes as Producer and approved the same programmes as Head of Programmes. Local private producers have complained it to the highest circles in DD and Prasar Bharti but no action has ever been initiated to stop this practice.

However, Mrs Shair is not the only officer who has avoided submitting proposal registers to the DD team. Programme Officer Rajiv Sadhu, who enjoys the dubious distinction of having created the highest liability (Rs 7.36 crore) among all DDK Srinagar officials, has concealed proposal register of his series “Loli Aalav” which claims payment of Rs 1,85,710. The report says that Mr Sadhu also did not provide proposal register of another series “Kashur Meeras” claiming payment of Rs 4,60,000.

Programme Officer Javed Bukhari, who has created liability of Rs 3.64 crore, has refused to provide proposal register of his series “Chandanhar” claiming payment of Rs 1,09,000, series “Zamanik Rang” claiming payment of Rs 1,86,000, series “Kehkashaan” claiming payment of Rs 1,67,500 and series “Sitaray Jammu Kay” claiming payment of Rs 7,80,000.

Programme Officer Haleema Parveen has declined to submit proposal register of her series “Milchaar” claiming payment of Rs 4,03,000. Programme Officer Satish Dhar has not provided for verification proposal registers of his series “Afsana” claiming payment of Rs 900,000, series “Saaz Te Aawaz” claiming Rs 9,50,000 and serial “Yaqeen” which claims payment of Rs 20,61,022.

The DD team from New Delhi has recommended that payment to all these programmes, amounting to Rs 81,22,232, should not be made at this stage.

The team has pointed out that submission and approval of the so-called in-house programmes, as also fixing the number of episodes, approval of budget, schedule of telecast and releasing payments has been entirely subject to the “volition” of the Director DDK/HOP. Officials have violated all rules, norms and DD codes and procedures in this whole business. Favoutism and nepotism has been found as a key feature.

Says the report: “It was noticed by the team that the criteria adopted for approving the number of episodes was not scientific. The basic question as to why the programme should be earmarked such and such number of episodes with a view to make it interesting for the viewers are not critically analyzed beforehand. It is only the discretion of the Director/HoP which rules the roost. The Director / HoP approved the number of episodes on his own volition, which varies from case to case basis even in respect of similar nature of programmes. It was observed that about 100 episodes were approved by the Director in one stretch in some cases whereas in other cases of similar nature, the number of episodes approved was about 13 or even less.   As such, the element of nepotism and favouritism in allocating the number of episodes to a particular producer cannot be ruled out”.

It adds: “It is seen that pick and choose method was adopted in taking a decision which programme would be telecast when. Lack of uniformity in approach is glaringly visible, as some programmes were telecast after the gap of two year or more whereas some of the programmes were got telecast on within a week after its completion or even on the same day”. [See table].

S.No.	Name of Programme	Date of submission of the tape	Date of first telecast of the programme
1.	Tote Guv Kul	22-1-2011	28-1-2011
2.	Rood Kya Baqi	28-10-2010	28-10-2010
3.	Rum Gayam Sheeshas	8-1-2011	8-1-2011
4.	Ghar Se Bollywood Tak	20-1-2011	20-1-2011
5.	Lagyo Ponso	14-11-2010	14-11-2010
6.	Face the Future	10-8-2009	8-12-2010
7.	Soz-e-Daroon	8-4-2009	12-3-2011
8.	Sangarmaal	1-2-2009	4-3-2011
9.	Kashur Meeraas	14-1-2009	4-3-2011
10.	Ratichhap	2-10-2008	7-2-2011

Favouritism: Some programmes have been telecast on the day of submission of tapes while as others have been telecast one to three years after submission of tapes

It further adds: “It was observed by the team that the Director / HOP aimlessly conceived programmes and got them prepared without a professional planning and as a result thereof the tapes of the programmes are showcasing the designated almirahs of the Kendra with the endless wait to get a chance to be telecast”.

Adds the report: “It was observed by the team that the programmes already made during the past have not yet been telecast for want of the time slots or otherwise and yet the new programmes are still being made. The cogent reasons for making new programmes without exhausting the huge pile up of the previously made programmes were asked for from the present HoP. She explained that she is producing programmes as per Fixed Point Chart with meager cost. Further details can be ascertained separately from the HoP”.

“It was noticed that uniformity of rate for hiring a similar service/logistic is not taken into account while firming up the budget of the programmes but it varies from case to case basis for the reasons to be explained by the Kendra. This gives rise to doubt about the approved cost of the programmes as conjured and arbitrary”, says the report.

It adds: “It was noticed that the payments have been made to the Resource Persons (hand-picked by the Producer of the Kendra to facilitate the programme production) without any ‘Bill’ showing expenditure actually incurred for hiring of services and logistics used during the programme production”.

While suggesting need to stop this practice forthwith, the DD team has noticed that with their long postings in Srinagar, DD officials had developed vested interest. “The producers at the Kendra have a pretty long stay at DDK Srinagar itself and it appear that they have taken everything for granted and are nurturing their vested interests at the cost of the organization with impunity. It is, therefore, suggested that the Producers may be transferred out of the Kendra periodically”, says the report.

[To be continued…..]

END

DD team unearths Rs 64 crore ‘in-house’ scam in Srinagar

Masoodi & Co approved 14,000 programme episodes without budget in 2 years, created Rs 52 cr liability for DDK Srinagar

“The responsibility squarely lies on the part of the authorities who approved the programmes and the Producers of Doordarshan who utilized the services / logistic support of the outside service providers without having funds in hand and that too without the concurrence of competent authority. Those authorities at DDK Srinagar, who conceived the idea of programme production headlessly and aimlessly without having adequate fund in hand and the required time slots for airing the programmes, are the ones who should be blamed for and brought to justice”

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 30: What Early Times has been reporting about Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Srinagar and DD Kashir since 2009, has been confirmed now by DD’s own two-member inquiry. The team headed by Deputy Director Administration (DDA) of Directorate General of Doordarshan has unearthed “in-house approval scam” to the tune of Rs 64 crore in DDK Srinagar. It has discovered that two successive Heads of Programme (HoP) and incharge Directors of DDK Srinagar have run the approval bazaar while practicing worst kind of nepotism and favouritism and approved over 14,000 programme episodes in just two years---against the ceiling of 4,000 episodes---and thus created sizable liability of Rs 52 crore over and above the sanctioned budget in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

The team from Directorate General, comprising DDA Ashok Kumar and SO Nadeem Ahmad, scrutinized DDK Srinagar records and questioned officials from September 5^th to September 13^th. It has sent a 20-page report on its findings to DD’s DG, Tripurari Sharan, through ADG North, Ashok Jailkhani. According to highly placed sources in Prasar Bharti Broadcasting Corporation of India (PB), DD Directorate General has now slapped a show-cause notice on 19 officers of DD, asking them all to explain their position in the matter of approving as many as 15, 969 programme episodes without sanction and availability of budget in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.

The report, a copy of which is available with Early Times, holds these officials guilty and recommends action against them all. Those receiving the show-cause notice include Dr Rafeeq Masoodi, who functioned as Director DDK Srinagar and HoP from 2008 to 2011 and DDP Mrs Shami Shair, who functioned as Director and HoP, from July 2011 to September 2012. Both have been removed from DDK Srinagar. While as Dr Masoodi, now holding the rank of DDG, has been placed under suspension earlier this year, Mrs Shair has been recently shifted to DD headquarters in New Delhi but not given any posting.

“The responsibility squarely lies on the part of the authorities who approved the programmes and the Producers of Doordarshan who utilized the services / logistic support of the outside service providers without having funds in hand and that too without the concurrence of competent authority. Those authorities at DDK Srinagar, who conceived the idea of programme production headlessly and aimlessly without having adequate fund in hand and the required time slots for airing the programmes, are the ones who should be blamed for and brought to justice”, says the report.

The report illustrates how the Directors/ HoP have approved hundreds of proposals containing thousands of ‘in-house’ programme episodes from their “hand-picked Resource Persons” through Programme Executives (PEXs) and non-programme officials like cameramen and floor managers on their own volition and sweet will in flagrant violation of DD codes and procedures as also without sanction or availability of budget under PPPS. It has pointed out that fixation of number of episodes of different proposals, mostly drama serials and musical packages, budget of such programmes of identical nature as well as scheduling the dates of telecast and making payments to the unauthorized contractors (Resource Persons) has depended merely on sweet will of PEX and Director DDK Srinagar.

Out of two programme serials of identical nature, over 100 programmes have been approved in favour of one outside contractor and just 6 in favour of another resource person. Budget too varies from programme to programme without any scientific evaluation, says the report.

It has observed that while practicing the worst kind of nepotism and favouritism, DDK Srinagar Directors have approved/allotted innumerable programmes in favour of their under-hand contacts, acquaintances, relatives and family members through a group of PEXs and other officials. The beneficiary “Resource Persons”, locally known as Thekedars, have not signed any contract with PEXs or HOPs but invested or planned to invest their own money on these productions. As per the uniform modus operandi, they have all given names of their own family members or friends as “facility providers” to DD and drawn/ prepared to draw cheques of payment in these very names.

“After getting ‘going ahead signal’ for production of a particular programme from the Director, the PEX could have applied their mind to tie up the physical as well as financial resources available at the Kendra before starting the work of production.  But they invariably hire somebody from outside on verbal basis to arrange various facilities and logistics to be utilized for programme production and that person work as the main Resource Person during the entire production period for providing required services / logistics (as reported by the PEX during the enquiry). The resource persons make all monetary investments during the period of programme production. The resource person also acts as a link person between the PEX of Doordarshan Kendra and the actual facility/logistics providers”, says the report.

“It is observed that the PEX at the Kendra who have been assigned the work of Programme Production enter into a tacit understanding with the Resource Persons (hand-picked by them) without any authority with undeclared commitment that their investment would be paid back in due course by the Department”, the report adds.

“After the programme production is over, the final product in the shape of a tape is stated to be previewed by the concerned PEX who after satisfying himself the workable condition and the quality of the product, deposits the same with the Tape Library in Doordarshan Kendra. The concerned PEX does not make any presentation before any committee or before the Director / HOP. The concerned PEX do not also make any mention or give certificate whatsoever in the concerned file or proposal register”, it further adds.

“Depending upon the availability of the funds, the Account Section makes payments in the name of the Resource Persons. It is noticed by the team that on most of the occasions the cheques issued in favour of the Resource Persons are first received by the some of the officials of the Kendra and then stated to be delivered to the persons concerned”, observes the report.

The report further adds: “It is seen that pick and choose method was adopted in taking a decision which programme would be telecast when. Lack of uniformity in approach is glaringly visible, as some programmes were telecast after the gap of two year or more whereas some of the programmes were got telecast on within a week after its completion or even on the same day”.

The team has pointed out that DDK Srinagar’s availability of time slot was just three hours a day and accordingly maximum of six programmes of 30 minutes duration could be produced/ approved for a day. In other words, maximum of 2,000 programme episodes could be made/approved for one year. As against this, 1870 programme episodes have been approved/produced in 2008-09 and total liability of Rs 7.21 Cr created.

However, in the 2009-10, when Rafeeq Masoodi was Director/ HoP, DDK Srinagar approved/ produced as many as 4,410 programme episodes---nearly 2,400 over and above the ceiling of 2,000 programmes. On account of this further liability of Rs 17.00 Crore was created.

Third year of Rafeeq Masoodi’s posting as Director and Head of Programmes at DDK Srinagar witnessed the worst. As many as 9,689 programme episodes of shadow Thekedars were approved/ produced in so-called ‘in-house category’. This recorded an all-time high excess of 7,689 programme episodes. It created further liability of Rs 37.35 Crore. Even after DG of DD imposed blanket freeze of this approval bazaar, liability of Rs 3.26 Crore was raised in 2011-12 when Shami Shair functioned as incharge Director and HOP.

According to the calculations of the DD team, DDK Srinagar has approved/ claimed to have produced as many as 14,099 programme episodes in just two years i.e. 2009-10 (4,410 episodes) and 2010-11 (9,689 episodes), creating excess of 10,089 episodes and liability of Rs 54.35 Crore.  With the liability of Rs 7.21 Crore in 2008-09 and Rs 3.26 Crore in 2011-12, the team has calculated the cumulative liability of DDK Srinagar at Rs 64.81 Crore.

S. No	Year	Limit as per time slot	Number of programme episodes approved/ produced	Programme episodes produced over the limit	Amount of liability created
1	2008-09	2,000	1,870	Within limit	Rs 7.21 Crore
2	2009-10	2,000	4,410	2,400	Rs 17.00 Crore
3	2010-11	2,000	9,689	7,689	Rs 37.35 Crore
				Liability of 2011-12	Rs 3.26 Crore
				Total liability	Rs 64.81 Crore

Year-wise break-up of the liability of Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar as created by Rafeeq Masoodi, Shami Shair and their subordinate officials.

I&B, Prasar Bharti, DD top brass visiting Srinagar next week

DDPs of DD not promoted, only ‘stop gap arrangement’

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 29: Top brass of the union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B), Prasar Bharti Broadcasting Corporation of India (PB), Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) is arriving in Srinagar next week to inaugurate a higher caliber transmitter for FM radio as also to conduct a an exhaustive review of the functioning of the Jammu and Kashmir stations of DD and AIR.

Informed sources in New Delhi told Early Times that AIR’s FM transmission would be remarkably augmented in Kashmir from next week with the inauguration of a new 10 kw higher transmitter on Saturday. High level teams would be flying to Srinagar on October 4^th and 5^th with the twin agenda of reviewing the functioning of DD and AIR stations in Srinagar, Jammu and Ladakh and inauguration of the newly installed FM-2 transmitter.

Sources said that that operation of the new FM transmitter would remarkably improve transmission quality of the programmes of Commercial Broadcasting Service (CBS) and several programmes of MW-1 and MW-2 which would be relayed through it from next week. Sources said that CBS would continue on its existing FM-1 transmitter that has capacity of 10 kw. Effective footprint area of FM-2 would be a radius of 72 Kms in and around Srinagar. It was designed for a brand new service but due to paucity of staff, it is being used only for fresh programmes for two hours a day. For rest of the day, it would relay CBS, Yuva Vani, MW-1, MW-2 and FM-Gold programmes.

Parliament Members in Consultative Committee of I&B Ministry are also scheduled to arrive in Srinagar on October 4^th to hold a review meeting for two days. Sources said that on October 5^th, media heads would extensively deliberate on “paid news” and DAVP operations in a high level meeting in Srinagar. Next day, Minister I&B, CEO PB and others would hold a meeting and inaugurate the FM-2 service.

Minister of I&B, Ambika Soni, Secretary I&B, Arun Kumar, two Joint Secretary of the I&B Ministry, CEO of PB, Jawahar Sircar, Director General of DD, Tripurari Sharan, DG of AIR, S.D. Mandloi, besides Engineer-in-Chief of AIR and Principal DG of Press Information Bureau (PIB), Neelam Kapoor, would be among members of the team. Sources said that the team would arrive in Srinagar on October 5^th and conduct an extensive review of the functioning of DD, AIR, PIB, DAVP and other organs of I&B Ministry and Prasar Bharti.

On October 6^th, Mrs Ambika Soni would inaugurate the new FM transmitter on premises of Radio Kashmir Srinagar. Previously, the team was scheduled to visit Srinagar on September 28^th but the programme was postponed due to presence on President, Pranab Mukherjee, in connection with 18^th annual convocation of University of Kashmir around the same time.

Sources said that Mrs Soni and her team would take certain measures not only to improve transmission and services of DD and AIR stations in the sensitive border state but also to refurbish image of the Central government’s media institutions which have suffered a credibility crisis due to the conduct of some officers and flagrant corruption witnessed at DDK Srinagar and DD Kashir in the last four or five years.

Show-cause notice to 19 DD officials

Just two of the Heads of Programme and incharge Directors of DDK Srinagar, namely Dr Rafeeq Masoodi and Shami Shair, have created huge liability of over Rs 60 Crore in excess of normal PPPS budget in the last three financial years. However, both have been removed and shifted to DD headquarters in New Delhi. Masoodi has been lately placed under suspension.

With availability of total time slots of 3 hours a day, DDK Srinagar was supposed to approve/produce/telecast maximum of six programmes a day, or 2,000 episodes a year. A two-member team from DD headquarters has observed during its scrutiny of records in Srinagar from September 5^th to September 13^th that 2008-09 has been a no-excess year as the station has approved/ produced total of 1870 episodes of programmes. Liability accrued thereto has been Rs 7.21 Crore.

However, with his becoming Director of DDK Srinagar, Dr Masoodi has approved/ produced 4410 episodes in 2009-10, creating liability of Rs 17.00 Crores. In the year 2010-11, he has crossed all limits of approving and producing programmes, mostly in the scandalous “in-house” category. The team has calculated that as many as 9689 episodes of programmes have been approved/ produced under Dr Masoodi’s orders in 2010-11, creating further liability of Rs 37.35 Crore.

In other words, as many as 14099 episodes have been approved/ produced by Dr Masoodi in 2009-10 and 2010-11, which makes it clear that 10,089 programmes have been scandalously approved in excess to the normal ceiling of 4,000 programmes. With this, cumulative liability of DDK Srinagar has touched all time highest of Rs 61.55 Crore in April 2011. Thereafter, Masoodi and Shami have further created liability of Rs 3.26 Crore despite blanket freeze of this scandalous operation by Directorate General of DD. Consequently, DDK Srinagar is now reeling under the unimaginable liability of Rs 64.81 Crore.

The team has observed that almost all these programmes have been outsourced to relatives, family members, friends and acquaintances of the two Directors of DDK Srinagar besides their under-hand beneficiaries including fake names and those who have had no connection with electronic media. Sources said that that a show-cause notice was being slapped on 19 defaulter officials of DDK Srinagar on the basis of the findings and recommendations of the report compiled by Deputy Director Administration (DDA) at DD headquarters Mr Ashok Kumar and S.O. Mr Nadeem Ahmad. Those being asked to explain their conduct with regard to unauthorized liability of Rs 64 Crore include Rafeeq Masoodi and Shami Shair.

Interestingly, when the team from Directorate General was conducting the scrutiny, one of DD’s key female anchors, according to FIR No: 110 of Police Station Nageen, was caught red-handed in a compromising position at a public place in Hazratbal with a former MLC of the ruling National Conference. Both were later released on separate bail bonds. However, immediately after her release, the female anchor was called back to Srinagar Station of DD and asked to continue hosting the daily morning show “Good Morning J&K”.

Stop gap, not promotion

Sources today made it clear that it was not only the tainted anchor’s re-appearance in the morning show but also the DD team’s report that resulted in shifting of Mrs Shair from Srinagar to DD headquarters. The team has recommended in the report, submitted to DG DD through ADG Ashok Jailkhani, that the DDK Srinagar officers involved in the “in-house” scandal should be transferred to outside J&K and should be “brought to justice”.

With regard to recent news of the promotion of 14 Deputy Directors of Programme (DDPs), including Mrs Shair, authoritative sources in Prasar Bharti clarified that it was only a “stop gap arrangement”.

“It is not any promotion. They will all function in their own pay and grade of DDP but would temporarily work as incharge Directors of Programme. We call it ‘DDG Current Duty Charge’ and the order makes it clear that this arrangement would in no way influence the seniority list or promotion prospects of these incumbents”, said a top ranking official. He sought to clarify that this file was under process of CEO’s approval for the last few months and had nothing to do with promotion of any of these officers which was within the competence of Union Public Service Commission from Director of Programme and onwards.

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On World Tourism Day, Govt shuts tourism for Pranab

Separatists freeze Valley; Govt freezes Dal Lake, Mughal Gardens

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Sep 27: Frequent Kashmir visitor, Pranab Mukherjee enjoys the distinction of being Congress party’s chief political strategist in Manmohan Singh-led UPA-I and UPA-II. He played a key role in forging an unnatural post-election alliance between the unionist Congress and the pseudo separatist People Democratic Party (PDP). That coalition government, first headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of PDP and later by Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress, crumbled under the weight of its own incompatibility of cultures four months short of its term.

Inspite of enough of bad blood between the two, Pranab continued to pat Mufti and his party. In a statement in Jammu, during election campaigning in 2008, he left the door open for PDP for yet another alliance. But, Ajmal Qasab had already played spoilsport when his November 26^th Mumbai strikes assumed all the trappings of a political tsunami. Call it jingoism or patriotism, entire India asserted against terror---first time after the attack on Parliament in December 2001---firmly in one voice.

Political outfits, which had remained friendly, sympathetic or soft to militants, became overnight untouchable in New Delhi. It made Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference (NC) a logical beneficiary. Congress stalwarts like Pranab and Makhan Lal Fotedar were left with no option but to reconcile to the formation of a new coalition---comprising Congress and NC. Days before the Presidential election earlier this year, Pranab visited Kashmir to garner support of all constituents of the ruling coalition as well as Mufti’s PDP.

But none of his visits as a Congress leader or a Union Cabinet Minister did ever trouble an ordinary Kashmiri. Many of them, in fact, saw in him a “soft politician” like they did previously in BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee.

In contrast, Pranab’s maiden visit to Kashmir as President of India today brought with it some sort of blight. Paradoxically, on the Wold Tourism Day, security agencies and authorities imposed an undeclared curfew in entire Dal Lake area surrounded by Mughal Gardens and other common tourist attractions like Hazratbal and Nageen. An unusually thick security bandobust was in place, disallowing pedestrian and vehicular movement in several areas and presenting the looks of a war zone after years.

As long as President remained busy with the Convocation at Kashmir University campus at Hazratbal, hundreds of Indian and foreign tourists remained confined in their hotels and houseboats on and around the twin lakes. Shikaras were not allowed to venture into floating gardens and straits. Government employees and students failed to reach their offices and schools and businessmen had to be content with watching TV at home. Even otherwise, many of the offices and educational institutions as well as businesses were already frozen under a call of shutdown from many separatist and militant groups.

With a break of few hours, Dal Lake and its surroundings wore yet again looks of an embattled conflict zone when President expressed his will to enjoy a motor launch ride on the waters and the famous Mughal Garden, Nishat. With columns of Police and paramilitary forces lined up on all roads, it proved to be the worse spell of undeclared curfew. For more than two hours, vehicular traffic was fully blocked on several entry and exit points.

At Nishat, Dalgate and Hazratbal Zakoora, none of the private or commercial vehicles, including those of journalists and doctors, were allowed towards Boulevard and SKICC. Even the patients without ambulance were stopped on several points and sent back to home. Businesses usually defiant to Hurriyat’s and militants’ shutdown calls were disallowed to operate for “security reasons”. “President’s security is paramount”, argued officials, even those deployed seven to eight Kms away from his itinerary and guesthouse. The shutdown was reminiscent of the early 90s when sunlight and darkness were the only marks of distinction for the day and the night.

At the cost of the Shikarawallah’s and the corn seller’s earnings of the day, President enjoyed the mechanical cruise in the company of Governor Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. His memorable moments were captured by cameras and cellphones. He was later commandeered through the picturesque terraces and lush green lawns of Nishat Bagh, followed like shadows by Governor, Chief Minister and other VIPs. Amid an eerie silence, the aesthetical backgrounds wore deserted looks. These hours yesterday, Nishat bustled with flowing streams of tourists.

Otherwise also, there was no event of celebrating the World Tourism day by the Ministry or Department of Tourism. The only relevant news was that of a meeting of the executives of Ogilvy and Mather with Minister of Tourism, Rigzin Jora, or MoS Tourism, Nasir Aslam Wani. What the international advertising brand has promoted of Kashmir tourism is known only to the two Ministers and their subordinate officials. Even a nominal cultural show or tourism awareness event was not organized anywhere in Valley.

In rest of the capital city, and elsewhere in Valley, life remained crippled under the impact of a Hurriyat-sponsored shutdown. Business establishments, shops, government and private offices remained shut and public transport was off the road. While as both factions of Hurriyat and JKLF had called for shutdown on occasion of President Mukherjee’s maiden visit to Kashmir, attendance was thin in government and private offices besides banks, schools, colleges and Universities.

Nevertheless, President’s visit was a success in a many ways. Pranab, like all in the Indian establishment, has a fascination, or perhaps obsession, for the “mosaic”. For his lecture at the intellectual gathering, which had all the Vice Chancellors in attendance, his audience included two eminent personalities from academia. One is a retired Principal of a college and another a serving Professor at University of Kashmir. Both are famous for their secessionist views and lifelong affinity with those championing the cause of ‘Azadi’.

Of late, the lady Principal---unlike the New York returned Professor of Mathematics of the Islamic University (Awantipore) who was more conspicuously present than her VC Dr Trag---has been in the forefront of Kashmir’s “civil society”, lamenting that “occupational India” has been drying up Kashmir’s water and mineral resources and hence needed to be sliced from this country. This respected speaker, however, skipped all the known rhetoric of Kashmir Economic Alliance and restricted her paeans to only the Valley’s “pluralism” and “secular ethos”.

END