Zaira trolled in 2017, Shameema shot dead in 1993, and the show goes on

Over 1,000 Kashmiri women have performed on screen, stage, radio in last 50 years

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

________

JAMMU, Jan 19: Around 70 years ago, Radio Kashmir began its broadcasting history with a Quranic recitation by Begum Akbar Jehan, wife of late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who became the State’s first Prime Minister after 1947. Cinema, then known as Talkies, had already arrived in the Valley. Television followed in 1972. Breaking societal taboos, the Kashmiri women grabbed their representation on all the three media and entertainment platforms besides the stage.

Retired officials of Radio Kashmir, Doordarshan and the J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages believe that the number of the Kashmiri women who performed in fiction and entertainment, including singing and dancing, in the last 50 years, could be well over 1,000. Like in other States, the women performers and entertainers in the Valley were exposed to threats, attacks and social boycott. Yet those hounded, trolled and intimated for the “infidelity” are not even in dozens.

Only one female television artiste, namely Shameema Parveen, lost her life as she was gunned down by unidentified men, widely believed to be militants, in 1993, in her downtown neighbourhood of Safakadal, in Srinagar. Unlike the current victim of the social media trolls, who have got till date the only supportive statement from a separatist women organisation Dukhtaraan-e-Millat, nobody dared to raise a question 23 years ago. It was never made clear by Police or investigated by media as to what precisely led to her assassination but the artistes’ fraternity continues to believe Shameema had received threats for her performing in plays on Srinagar Doordarshan.

In the middle of 1960s, Bollywood director Jagi Rampal, whose Hindi movie Pyaar ki jeet was an average on box office, was hired by Producer Mansa Ram to make some romantic films in regional languages. In association with the celebrated Radio Kashmir producer Pran Kishore and eminent playwright Ali Mohammad Lone, Rampal made the first feature film in Kashmiri titled ‘Maanzi Raath’. A Kashmiri Pandit artiste, whose name according to her contemporaries, was Asha Kaul, played the stellar role. Debutant Hafeeza Kausar, who now lives in United States of America after taking retirement from Doordarshan, became the first Kashmiri Muslim female actor to perform for celluloid.

“It was a taboo to sing, dance and act in a film but it was nobody’s headache. Many of the Kashmiris liked the film which had a powerful script by Ali Mohammad Lone”, said an old cinema buff who insists to remain anonymous. Kashmiris had earlier enjoyed Rampal’s ‘Pyaar ki Jeet, starring Ajit and Suraya.

A couple of years later, acclaimed actor-director Balraj Sahni got his 25-year-old son Ajay, later named as Parikshit, to act as the protagonist in a biopic on Kashmir’s most popular poet Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad Mehjoor. Until his death in 1952, Mehjoor is said to have been in touch with Balraj Sahni. Chief Minister Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq took extraordinary interest in the story on Mehjoor but he died months before the bilingual film in Hindi and Kashmiri was screened in Srinagar.

Director of Education in Jammu and Kashmir, Sajida Zamir Ahmad, who had a passion for theatre, performed as Mehjoor’s mother against Balraj Sahni, who played the poet’s father. Directed by Prabhat Mukherjee, Shayar-e-Kashmir Mehjoor was written by Ali Mohammad Lone. Balraj Sahni, who died in April 1973, also worked on the film’s screenplay. Another Kashmiri Muslim female artiste, Nabla Begum, was also given the role of an extra.

Mrs Sajida, who is currently in Jammu, was among the first Muslim women in Kashmir who did graduation from S.P. College and chose to work as teacher. She was from a humble background in downtown Srinagar but shot into prominence with her marriage to the eminent physician Dr Syed Naseer’s brother Captain Zamir Ahmad who had worked with Peace Brigade against the tribal invaders in 1947. Sajida’s sisters-in-law Mehmooda Ahmad Ali and Begum Jalal-ud-din, besides Dr Naseer’s wife Dr Girija Dhar, were famous in the State in their respective fields.

Radio Kashmir’s propaganda programme “Wotal Buji” ended immediately after the Indo-Pakistan war ended in 1965. Director of All India Radio, Nand Lal Chawla, flew down to Srinagar to find a replacement for the chunk. Producers Somnath Sadhu and Farooq Nazki, besides other officers, proposed a 15-minute daily drama to highlight the developmental and governance issues. A budding female artiste, Maryam Begum, was chosen to play the housewife. A day after the first programme went on air, many of the Radio officers opined that Maryam was “totally unfit” for the role.

“Sadhu Sahab went to Chawla and insisted that a decision about Maryam’s replacement be taken after two weeks. Within two weeks, Zoona Dab became a household name in entire Kashmir and everybody remained glued to transistors to listen to it every morning. Sadhu, the family head, was named as Aga Saab and Maryam Ji, the housewife, as Aga Bai. Zoona Dab went on without break for 25 years and became Radio Kashmir’s most popular programme. Many people in the Valley believed Aga Saab (Somnath Sadhu) was a Muslim. We were told that when he died, people in some villages conducted for him funeral prayers”, says Farooq Nazki, who played the domestic help ‘Ramba’ and also scripted the programme in rotation with with Sadhu and Pushkar Bhan, until he was shifted to DD in 1972.

Phenomenally popular, Maryam Begum, who sported Burqa, till her retirement in Radio Kashmir, and Pushkar Bhan got the prestigious Padam Shri awards for their performances in Zoona Dab in 1974. Nayeema Mehjoor, who retired as a producer with BBC before joining PDP and taking over as Chairperson of the State Women’s Commission in the Mufti Government, played as the Aga couple’s daughter Nanna. In 1977, Nayeema played as the queen’s friend in Bashir Budgami’s award winning telefilm film Habba Khatoon which was also screened at an international film festival in Prague.  

Pioneers like Farooq Nazki, Bashir Budgami and Siraj Qureshi engaged a number of Kashmiri female actors in their dramas, tele-serials and telefilms at Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar from 1972 to 1990. While Usha Kaul shot into prominence in Nazki’s serial “Shabrang”, Rita Razdan, Prana Shangloo, Hafeeza Kausar, Nayeema Mehjoor and Gul Afroz dominated television in Budgami’s Habba Khatoon.

Gul Afroz and Sayeeda left indelible imprints with their performances in Budgami’s biopic on the romatic poet Rasul Mir. Later Nabla Begum, Shabnam Lone, Jai Kishori, Rita Jalali, Bharti Zaroo, Asha Zaroo and others became famous for their roles in Budgami’s films ‘Zameen chhe asaan” and “Daag”, besides Siraj Qureshi’s “Arni Maal”. These and other female actors also worked in Nazki’s “Soda Ta Boda”, the first serial on Srinagar DD, “Aab Seemaab”, “Totma” and “Alaav” which had a powerful script by Farooq Masoodi. Towards 1989, Nirmala Dhar emerged as one of the most sought after actresses. 

Finally towards the end of the halcyon years in Kashmir, Budgami’s satirical drama serial “Hazaar Daastaan”, in which his brother and top comedian, Nazir Josh, and Bharti Zaroo played lead roles as the king and the queen, broke all records of popularity. “It used to be like curfew. Not a single vehicle would ply. Attendance at the evening prayers in mosques reduced drastically when Hazaar Daastaan used to be on air”, said a shopkeeper at Residency Road. He said that sale of TV sets increased by 1000% because of Hazaar Daastaan in 1988. Daisy Naqaib, debuted, with the popular Bharti Zaroo in the same serial.

Until 1990, eminent drama Producer Pran Kishore, who also remained associated with DD India’s serial “Gul, Gulshan, Gulfaam”, introduced scores of female artists in radio plays.

Incidents like Srinagar DD director Lassa Kaul’s and Shameema Parveen’s assassination put the curtain on Radio, TV and film in 1990-93. All the 15 cinema theatres in the Valley were shut down under militant threats and a campaign by Dukhtaraan-e-Millat. In 1994-97, Nazki as Director DDK Srinagar encouraged a number of private producers to make tele-serials and picturised songs but entire shooting was held in Jammu as not a single female actor in Kashmir came forward to take an offer. Finally the production activity revived in a big way when militancy was wiped out to a large extent in the Valley in 1996 and the militants in following years did not threaten even the young women artistes making video albums throughout the Valley. Thereafter hundreds of young women, many of them from distant villages, performed in hundreds of serials, films and picturised songs.

In the last 10 years, Srinagar DD is believed to have associated over 500 young female artists in its singing competitions. During the same period, over a dozen Kashmiri Pandit female artistes got key roles in Bollywood movies and serials on different entertainment channels.

END

[STATE TIMES]

Who upset India’s applecart in Kashmir in 2008-16?

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

_________

JAMMU, Jan 15, 2017: Certainly for the first time, the Jammu and Kashmir government’s pre-Budget Economic Survey-2016 has attributed all deficits of growth and other liabilities to the “political strife” that, in a bold official admission, assumed a menacing dimension in the year 2008 and is continuing to be unceasing and intractable. Without comment on his millennial ideas of recovery in the last two — now three — Budgets, one has to appreciate the State’s failures on the developmental front and resource mobilisation admitted by Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu even as, to some, it sounds nothing more than a search for alibi.

Notwithstanding PDP’s passion for the green and the pen-and-inkpot election symbol left behind by the Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief Syed Salahuddin, I had never any confusion about Mufti Mohammad Sayeed being a die-hard Indian patriot and New Delhi’s most trusted politician in Jammu and Kashmir. “Would you also succeed Farooq Abdullah as Chairman of the Unified Headquarters and preside over the counter-insurgency operation of the Police and security forces?”, I asked Mufti at his first press conference as Chief Minister for which he flew to Srinagar in November 2002. “Yes, I will”, Mufti retorted, “without any hesitation, but ensure that there’s no human rights abuse”.

Next month, while we were walking together toward his helicopter after he addressed the PDP’s first post-victory show at Khannabal, Mufti slowed down and asked me: “What do the people say now?” Keeping with my style, I said: “Honestly speaking, many of them feel happy and relieved. But, quite a number of them have apprehensions that the militants would regroup and the separatists would find it easy to reclaim their base”. Allaying the impression, Mufti stopped and said: “I’ll soon wipe them out from the root. Their game is over”.

True to his word, and in total contrast to his soft-separatist rhetoric in statements and public meetings, Mufti wiped out the core of militancy in the next three years of his coalition rule. Almost all the top Hizbul Mujahideen commanders, who in the year 2000 had responded to an Indian initiative and met with Union Home Secretary Kamal Pandey at Nehru Guest House, were caught alive and killed.

Riyaz Rasool was captured in Soura outskirts and killed near Zainakote. ‘Operational chief’ Saiful Islam nee Engineer Zaman was captured in a bank manager’s house, in close vicinity of Mufti’s house in Nowgam, and later killed at midnight. Commander Masood Tantray was seized in Pampore and subsequently killed in a fake encounter. Majid Dar and Farooq Mirchal are believed to have been eliminated by their own organisation.

Even as it was for the first time that a Minister (Dr Ghulam Nabi Lone) was killed in a fidayeen-type attack inside his guarded house in the high security zone of Tulsibagh, normalcy had been restored to a great extent when Mufti cleared out for Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress in November 2005.

It is no secret that Mufti did not quit until Congress made an announcement in New Delhi that Azad had been chosen as leader of the party’s MLAs. Entire month of October witnessed a flurry of activity from Srinagar to Delhi. A multitude of Mufti’s advocates pleaded for his continuance in chair “in the national interest” for the full term of six years with varied arguments. Retired IB and RAW chief A.S. Dulat, who also served as an advisor to Prime Minister Vajpayee, wrote an article in The Hindustan Times, while strongly favouring Mufti’s extension.

The anti-climax occurred hours after Mufti, having just returned from Uri alongwith Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, told the journalist Pervez Bukhari that he would soon host an Iftar party for the media. It indicated Mufti’s over-confidence in his continuing as head of the PDP-Congress coalition government. The journalist at a crowded press conference at the Banquet Hall had asked Mufti if he was going to step down or continue at the end of his three-year term that day.

Sonia Gandhi’s decision of inducting Azad as the first Congress Chief Minister after Syed Mir Qasim’s resignation in 1975 was believed to be influenced by Rahul Gandhi. Politicians claimed that the National Conference top brass was also at work through Sachin Pilot, Rahul and others. Amid speculations that men of consequence in Congress, including Digvijay Singh, Ahmad Patel and M.L. Fotedar, were strongly in favour of Mufti’s continuance, even the senior most Pranab Mukherjee in Jammu had given unambiguous indications that Congress would go by the “national interest”, not the party interest.

The valley experienced two more years of peace as Azad began reviving the “developmental constituency” Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad had assiduously created for 10 years and finally abandoned with his resignation as ‘Prime Minister’ under the Kamarj Plan in October 1963. Until June 2007, the militancy was at its lowest ebb. There was no stone pelting, separatist-sponsored shutdown or a major demonstration. Peace and development had decisively neutralised all voices of secessionism and political instability.

Without appeasement to militants and separatists, and while loudly speaking against “terrorism”, Azad became the first Chief Minister who got over a dozen SOG men, including then SSP of Ganderbal Hans Raj Parihar, booked and arrested for killing five innocent civilians in fake encounters as “foreign terrorists”. For years, no court granted bail to the accused. Finally, a catastrophe befell the Valley in June 2007.

While Pakistan,  Hurriyat and the militants had been forgotten by the Kashmiris, the mainstream politicians triggered an explosion of regional and communal polarisation — between the Muslim and the Hindu, between Kashmir and Jammu — for the first time after 1947. Mufti and other PDP leaders warned Azad publicly that they would withdraw support and bring down his government if he did not cancel allotment of a piece of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that had been earmarked in compartment No: 63 of Sindh Forest for temporary use by the pilgrims. Paradoxically, the allotment had been recommended and facilitated by none other than the two PDP Ministers, namely Qazi Mohammad Afzal and Tariq Hamid Karra,

Undoubtedly, the turbulence in 2008, which later came to be known as the Amarnath shrine land row, sprouted out of the statements of the separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who in the months of April and May restricted his focus to the “huge number” of the pilgrims allowed to the shrine cave every year and their polyethylene bags. He contended that it could pose “a potential threat to the environment and ecology”. Soon some pictures of “hutments” being raised in the Sindh forest cover appeared in a local newspaper.

While the arguments and the counter-arguments were being traded between the politicians, Governor Lt Gen (retd.) S.K. Sinha’s Principal Secretary Arun Kumar shot a comment, asking why nobody was concerned over the large number of the pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia every year. It proved to be a trigger.

With every passing day, in the month of June, the coalition partner PDP increased pressure on Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to either cancel the allotment of the 40 hectares of land or face withdrawal of the support from Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s party that could obviously bring down his government. Leaders of at least two mainstream parties began buttressing the separatists’ charge that the Government had planned to set up “Amarnath Nagar” to make demographic changes in the Valley.

Any politician of Mufti’s stature and experience could have perceived well the consequences. Cancellation of the allotment could expose Azad and his party Congress to enormous hostility, not only in their core constituency in Jammu but also across the country. Azad chose to step down. On July 7, after a discussion on the PDP’s no-confidence motion in Assembly, he announced his resignation. Six people had died by that day in clashes and demonstrations and hundreds had been injured.

Unprecedented for 18 years, the civilian government’s fall created a mainstream political vacuum and Governor Sinha’s administration found itself on the receiving end of a 1990-like mass movement in entire Kashmir valley. For the first time after 1947, it created an equal and opposition reaction in Jammu, leading to an acute regional and communal polarisation. It was after 14 years that pro-Pakistan flags and slogans dominated the demonstrations, the militants and the separatist politicians reclaimed their ground overnight. In Jammu, all the traditional mainstream leaders went into oblivion and a right wing advocate emerged as the only representative of the people.

The agitation was finally crushed with firing and arrests in Kashmir and a settlement with the sponsors of a parallel strife in Jammu, followed by announcement for the Assembly elections. Suddenly all the extremist forces were marginalised in both, Kashmir and Jammu, and a heavy voter turnout in the elections made it clear that the real drivers of the turbulence were within, not outside.

With little regard to their rhetorical statements made during the turmoil, the mainstream politicians in the Valley sought vote for solving the “day to day governance issues” of roads, power, water, health and education. Immediately after winning the elections, even the top leader Omar Abdullah began raising “the larger political issues” and calling for “dialogue with separatists and Pakistan”.

In presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Omar asserted that Kashmir was a “political issue” that required a “political solution”. This, nevertheless, failed to save him from attempts of a new “ragda” that unfolded soon with the mysterious death of two young women in Shopian as the residents alleged that both had been “raped and killed by Police or security forces”.

Senior State Congress leader and former Union Minister for Water Resources, Prof Saifuddin Soz, said in a statement that he would take up the matter of the Shopian “rape and murder” with the Prime Minister. While the separatists were still struggling to find takers to their allegations of “rape and murder”, the statement from Prof Soz lent seriousness and credibility to the public outrage. Clashes and demonstrations ended only when, four months later, CBI booked about a dozen doctors and lawyers for being “part of a conspiracy to defame the security forces and destabilise the Government with false allegation of rape and murder”.

In the following months and years, almost all those in the forefront of the Shopian agitation were found indulging in crimes like burglary and rape. One of the doctors, who had played key role in sending fudged vaginal smear to the FSL to project it a case of “gang rape”, was caught on camera committing rape on a middle-aged female patient at his clinic. Another leader of the agitation was found to have committed rape on a 14-year-old maid who, according to an uncontested story in Kashmir Images, was passed through abortion at a clinic in Anantnag. Later, Police arrested the same leader with the proof that he had broken into his brother-in-law’s jewellery shop and stolen gold worth Rs 60 lakh.

Two more of the ‘leaders’ were known activists of PDP and NC—one appointed as a prosecutor by Mufti’s government and another by Omar’s government. 

Again, in the year 2010, attempts were underway with the beginning of the tourist season to bring down Omar Abdullah’s government. Death of a teenage student, Tufail Matoo, in Police action against a small group of demonstrators triggered a major turbulence. Over a hundred people got killed in Police and security forces firing and hundreds injured. Those killed in the clashes included PDP’s District Youth President in Anantnag.

Incredibly even the ruling NC’s own activists were found involved in enforcing Hurriyat’s shutdown calendar. One of such persons smashed the head of a shopkeeper for defying the shutdown call in Nowhatta area and left him dead. About a dozen of them attacked and captured a Policeman and left him almost dead on the highway near Narbal. They were found to be the sons of the staunch supporters of a National Conference leader and Cabinet Minister in Srinagar.

In competition, activists of almost all the mainstream political parties outsmarted even the separatist hardliners and militants while levelling allegations, attacking Police and security forces and calling for “solution of the Kashmir dispute as per the aspirations of the people”—their euphemism for Azadi. Finally, this theatre of the absurd began fading out only when Rahul Gandhi made it clear in Kolkata that Omar Abdullah’s government in J&K would not fall.

In September, NC’s Member of Parliament Shariefuddin Shariq was the first to allege that the Police (of his own government) had shot dead “three innocent civilian youths” in cold blood, near Qamarwari in Srinagar. An investigation made clear that all the three were active militants carrying guns. They had shot dead two Policemen and taken away their rifles. One of the three slain assailants next day turned out to be the MP’s own grandson.

With the arrival of winter, this time the separatists disappeared, alongwith their shutdown calendar, for a longer pause.

Like that of the year 2008, which saw the anti-climax in a successful Assembly election, the summer turmoil of 2010 was followed by the highest-turnout Panchayat elections next year. The signing off slogans like ‘khoon ka badla June mein lenge’ proved to be hollow as the people of Kashmir did yet again turn their back on the separatists. Developmental activity went remarkably up and the Valley witnessed the best of its trade and tourism seasons in 2011, 2013 and, until the day of floods, 2014.

Much more than the separatists, it were the mainstream opposition leaders who attempted to create another major turbulence when Afzal Guru was hanged to death in Tihar Jail in February 2013. Someone demanded Guru’s mortal remains and someone glorified his death as “sacrifice” and “martyrdom”. To beat them in the same currency, even Chief Minister Omar Abdullah warned the Centre that Guru’s death would lead to a fresh spell of insurgency. It didn’t. Nobody died in protest.

Again, the same year, the mainstream political parties, including BJP, left no stone unturned to create the stage for a communal flare-up when six demonstrators got killed during a mob attack on a paramilitary camp and when, subsequently, at least three persons got killed and hundreds of shops and vehicles were set on fire on the day of Eid in Kishtwar. Omar put his put down and did not allow any of the political leaders — notably the BJP’s top brass from Jammu and Delhi and the separatists from Srinagar—towards Kishtwar for several weeks.

In the four years following 2010, the only major threat to normalcy poured in with the flash floods of September 2014. Like in 2002-08, Kashmiris forgot about militancy and separatist politics and no major clash or incident of bloodshed occurred to disturb the tranquillity. Significantly, death of two civilians during an operation in Sumbal followed by killing of two young students in Army’s firing at Chhatergam did not shatter the ambience of peace in the Valley.

Before and after the floods, the year 2014 proved to be historic as Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the best-held Parliamentary and Assembly elections. From October to December, hundreds of hugely attended political rallies took place across the Valley. Colourful banners, buntings and posters, besides giant hoardings of different political parties— particularly those of Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi—surfaced throughout South Kashmir. None of these were guarded by Police or security forces and not one was damaged, set on fire or pulled down anywhere. Around a dozen personnel, including militants, died but the fidayeen attack on a Police establishment on Baramulla-Uri Road failed to disrupt the atmosphere for elections. 

The Assembly elections of unprecedented enthusiasm and participation were conducted in October-December, 2014. For the first time after 1983, there were no allegations of rigging, other unfair means, no attempts of intimidation, intervention or coercion by security forces or partisan role of the polling staff. The results were equally accepted by all the political parties even as none of them secured majority of 44 seats to form the Government independently.

Over two months of negotiations between the PDP, that had won maximum number of seats (25) in Kashmir, and the BJP, winner of 25 seats in Jammu, culminated into the formation of a coalition Government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in March 2015.

Within a week of his taking over, Mufti ordered the release of Massarat Alam Bhat— driver of the 2010 turmoil. Next month, Alam was permitted to organise a major pro-Pakistan demonstration in reception of the separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani in front of the office of Director General of Police and the J&K Police headquarters on the airport road. While his followers waved hundreds of Pakistani flags, Alam led them with slogans like “Hafiz Sayeed ka kya paigam, Kashmir banega Pakistan”.

Next day, Alam organised a similar show in Tral on occasion of the 4th day ceremony of the militant Burhan Wani’s brother, Khalid, who had been killed in an encounter between the militants and Army on a hill top.

Even as Alam was re-arrested under BJP’s and the national media’s pressure, his two demonstrations proved to be a turning point. Thousands of the Kashmiri youths, particularly the College and University students, began identifying themselves with the separatist movement and looking for fresh icons.

The vacuum was filled up by the 21-year-old not-so-famous Burhan Wani who hogged headlines and dominated media—social as well as the regular—with his inflammatory statements, videos and interviews. Until his death in an encounter, Government did not block his access to Internet as he kept posting threats to Police, announced to establish Caliphate, mobilised and enrolled youths and even organised cricket tournaments in South Kashmir.

Within a year of the history’s most successful election, South Kashmir became out of bounds for all pro-India politicians including the Ministers and MLAs of the ruling party known to be having a soft corner for Burhan and his organisation. After March 2015, there was not a single cordon-and-search operation by security forces that was not disrupted by stone pelting mobs. Over a dozen of the top wanted militants are said to have escaped under the cover of these clashes. Even civilian casualties failed to restore order and fear of the forces.

By the time three militants of Bijbehara area died in an encounter in Mattan, in November 2015, PDP and NC had completely surrendered their space to the militants. While as 8,000 to 10,000 residents of Mufti’s home town of Bijbehara attended the funeral of each of the three militants, less than 4,000 participated in Mufti’s own when he was laid to rest in January 2016. Even the shops did not shut.

Even after the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was returned from Anantnag in a low-turnout by-election in June, the boiling point of the much-sustained unrest came with Burhan Wani’s death in an encounter within a fortnight. It proved to be a volcanic eruption as nearly 90 demonstrators were killed and thousands injured in the subsequent clashes and protests for 5 months in the Valley. The number of the participants in Burhan’s funeral is claimed to be between 50,000 and 200,000. This groundswell, Mehbooba recently admitted in Assembly, had not been imagined by anybody in her party of the Government. An unprecedented barrage of Pakistani flags all across the Valley did not subside until hundreds of people---some claim thousands---were detained.

Police and administrative machinery remained almost completely crippled for over four months of continued curfew and shutdown. They fished in the troubled waters but, as on date, the Government has not produced any credible evidence of Pakistan’s or Hurriyat’s hand in the ‘Ragda-2016’. On the contrary, every mainstream political party’s subscription to the turmoil is evident from North to South Kashmir.

From stone pelting to arson, that damaged hundreds of public properties, schools and over 15,000 vehicles and caused loss of Rs 16,000 crore to the State economy, it were the workers of the mainstream political parties who were openly on the forefront. Family background of the detainees, who attacked Police stations and looted weapons, makes it all the more clear. Not surprising if the elected lawmakers of PDP or NC or an independent MLA call Burhan Wani a “martyr” and his death “sacrifice to the cause of freedom”.

END

STATE TIMES Jan 16, 17, 18 (2017)

2016 was PDP’s, BJP’s and NC’s creation, not Pakistan’s and Hurriyat’s

Who upset India’s applecart in Kashmir in 2008-16?

Part 3

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
________

JAMMU: Like that of the year 2008, which saw the anti-climax in a successful Assembly election, the summer turmoil of 2010 was followed by the highest-turnout Panchayat elections next year. The signing off slogans like ‘khoon ka badla June mein lenge’ proved to be hollow as the people of Kashmir did yet again turn their back on the separatists. Developmental activity went remarkably up and the Valley witnessed the best of its trade and tourism seasons in 2011, 2013 and, until the day of floods, 2014.

Much more than the separatists, it were the mainstream opposition leaders who attempted to create another major turbulence when Afzal Guru was hanged to death in Tihar Jail in February 2013. Someone demanded Guru’s mortal remains and someone glorified his death as “sacrifice” and “martyrdom”. To beat them in the same currency, even Chief Minister Omar Abdullah warned the Centre that Guru’s death would lead to a fresh spell of insurgency. It didn’t. Nobody died in protest.

Again, the same year, the mainstream political parties, including BJP, left no stone unturned to create the stage for a communal flare-up when six demonstrators got killed during a mob attack on a paramilitary camp and when, subsequently, at least three persons got killed and hundreds of shops and vehicles were set on fire on the day of Eid in Kishtwar. Omar put his put down and did not allow any of the political leaders — notably the BJP’s top brass from Jammu and Delhi and the separatists from Srinagar—towards Kishtwar for several weeks.

In the four years following 2010, the only major threat to normalcy poured in with the flash floods of September 2014. Like in 2002-08, Kashmiris forgot about militancy and separatist politics and no major clash or incident of bloodshed occurred to disturb the tranquillity. Significantly, death of two civilians during an operation in Sumbal followed by killing of two young students in Army’s firing at Chhatergam did not shatter the ambience of peace in the Valley.

Before and after the floods, the year 2014 proved to be historic as Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the best-held Parliamentary and Assembly elections. From October to December, hundreds of hugely attended political rallies took place across the Valley. Colourful banners, buntings and posters, besides giant hoardings of different political parties— particularly those of Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi—surfaced throughout South Kashmir. None of these were guarded by Police or security forces and not one was damaged, set on fire or pulled down anywhere. Around a dozen personnel, including militants, died but the fidayeen attack on a Police establishment on Baramulla-Uri Road failed to disrupt the atmosphere for elections. 

The Assembly elections of unprecedented enthusiasm and participation were conducted in October-December, 2014. For the first time after 1983, there were no allegations of rigging, other unfair means, no attempts of intimidation, intervention or coercion by security forces or partisan role of the polling staff. The results were equally accepted by all the political parties even as none of them secured majority of 44 seats to form the Government independently.

Over two months of negotiations between the PDP, that had won maximum number of seats (25) in Kashmir, and the BJP, winner of 25 seats in Jammu, culminated into the formation of a coalition Government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in March 2015.

Within a week of his taking over, Mufti ordered the release of Massarat Alam Bhat— driver of the 2010 turmoil. Next month, Alam was permitted to organise a major pro-Pakistan demonstration in reception of the separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani in front of the office of Director General of Police and the J&K Police headquarters on the airport road. While his followers waved hundreds of Pakistani flags, Alam led them with slogans like “Hafiz Sayeed ka kya paigam, Kashmir banega Pakistan”.

Next day, Alam organised a similar show in Tral on occasion of the 4^th day ceremony of the militant Burhan Wani’s brother, Khalid, who had been killed in an encounter between the militants and Army on a hill top.

Even as Alam was re-arrested under BJP’s and the national media’s pressure, his two demonstrations proved to be a turning point. Thousands of the Kashmiri youths, particularly the College and University students, began identifying themselves with the separatist movement and looking for fresh icons.

The vacuum was filled up by the 21-year-old not-so-famous Burhan Wani who hogged headlines and dominated media—social as well as the regular—with his inflammatory statements, videos and interviews. Until his death in an encounter, Government did not block his access to Internet as he kept posting threats to Police, announced to establish Caliphate, mobilised and enrolled youths and even organised cricket tournaments in South Kashmir.

Within a year of the history’s most successful election, South Kashmir became out of bounds for all pro-India politicians including the Ministers and MLAs of the ruling party known to be having a soft corner for Burhan and his organisation. After March 2015, there was not a single cordon-and-search operation by security forces that was not disrupted by stone pelting mobs. Over a dozen of the top wanted militants are said to have escaped under the cover of these clashes. Even civilian casualties failed to restore order and fear of the forces.

By the time three militants of Bijbehara area died in an encounter in Mattan, in November 2015, PDP and NC had completely surrendered their space to the militants. While as 8,000 to 10,000 residents of Mufti’s home town of Bijbehara attended the funeral of each of the three militants, less than 4,000 participated in Mufti’s own when he was laid to rest in January 2016. Even the shops did not shut.

Even after the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was returned from Anantnag in a low-turnout by-election in June, the boiling point of the much-sustained unrest came with Burhan Wani’s death in an encounter within a fortnight. It proved to be a volcanic eruption as nearly 90 demonstrators were killed and thousands injured in the subsequent clashes and protests for 5 months in the Valley. The number of the participants in Burhan’s funeral is claimed to be between 50,000 and 200,000. This groundswell, Mehbooba recently admitted in Assembly, had not been imagined by anybody in her party of the Government. An unprecedented barrage of Pakistani flags all across the Valley did not subside until hundreds of people---some claim thousands---were detained.

Police and administrative machinery remained almost completely crippled for over four months of continued curfew and shutdown. They fished in the troubled waters but, as on date, the Government has not produced any credible evidence of Pakistan’s or Hurriyat’s hand in the ‘Ragda-2016’. On the contrary, every mainstream political party’s subscription to the turmoil is evident from North to South Kashmir.

From stone pelting to arson, that damaged hundreds of public properties, schools and over 15,000 vehicles and caused loss of Rs 16,000 crore to the State economy, it were the workers of the mainstream political parties who were openly on the forefront. Family background of the detainees, who attacked Police stations and looted weapons, makes it all the more clear. Not surprising if the elected lawmakers of PDP or NC or an independent MLA call Burhan Wani a “martyr” and his death “sacrifice to the cause of freedom”.

 [Concluded]

END

Iss ghar ko aag lag gayi ghar ke chirag se

Who upset India’s applecart in Kashmir in 2008—2016?

(Part 2)

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

_________

Undoubtedly, the turbulence in 2008, which later came to be known as the Amarnath shrine land row, sprouted out of the statements of the separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who in the months of April and May restricted his focus to the “huge number” of the pilgrims allowed to the shrine cave every year and their polyethylene bags. He contended that it could pose “a potential threat to the environment and ecology”. Soon some pictures of “hutments” being raised in the Sindh forest cover appeared in a local newspaper.

While the arguments and the counter-arguments were being traded between the politicians, Governor Lt Gen (retd.) S.K. Sinha’s Principal Secretary Arun Kumar shot a comment, asking why nobody was concerned over the large number of the pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia every year. It proved to be a trigger.

With every passing day, in the month of June, the coalition partner PDP increased pressure on Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to either cancel the allotment of the 40 hectares of land or face withdrawal of the support from Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s party that could obviously bring down his government. Leaders of at least two mainstream parties began buttressing the separatists’ charge that the Government had planned to set up “Amarnath Nagar” to make demographic changes in the Valley.

Any politician of Mufti’s stature and experience could have perceived well the consequences. Cancellation of the allotment could expose Azad and his party Congress to enormous hostility, not only in their core constituency in Jammu but also across the country. Azad chose to step down. On July 7, after a discussion on the PDP’s no-confidence motion in Assembly, he announced his resignation. Six people had died by that day in clashes and demonstrations and hundreds had been injured.

Unprecedented for 18 years, the civilian government’s fall created a mainstream political vacuum and Governor Sinha’s administration found itself on the receiving end of a 1990-like mass movement in entire Kashmir valley. For the first time after 1947, it created an equal and opposition reaction in Jammu, leading to an acute regional and communal polarisation. It was after 14 years that pro-Pakistan flags and slogans dominated the demonstrations, the militants and the separatist politicians reclaimed their ground overnight. In Jammu, all the traditional mainstream leaders went into oblivion and a right wing advocate emerged as the only representative of the people.

The agitation was finally crushed with firing and arrests in Kashmir and a settlement with the sponsors of a parallel strife in Jammu, followed by announcement for the Assembly elections. Suddenly all the extremist forces were marginalised in both, Kashmir and Jammu, and a heavy voter turnout in the elections made it clear that the real drivers of the turbulence were within, not outside.

With little regard to their rhetorical statements made during the turmoil, the mainstream politicians in the Valley sought vote for solving the “day to day governance issues” of roads, power, water, health and education. Immediately after winning the elections, even the top leader Omar Abdullah began raising “the larger political issues” and calling for “dialogue with separatists and Pakistan”.

In presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Omar asserted that Kashmir was a “political issue” that required a “political solution”. This, nevertheless, failed to save him from attempts of a new “ragda” that unfolded soon with the mysterious death of two young women in Shopian as the residents alleged that both had been “raped and killed by Police or security forces”.

Senior State Congress leader and former Union Minister for Water Resources, Prof Saifuddin Soz, said in a statement that he would take up the matter of the Shopian “rape and murder” with the Prime Minister. While the separatists were still struggling to find takers to their allegations of “rape and murder”, the statement from Prof Soz lent seriousness and credibility to the public outrage. Clashes and demonstrations ended only when, four months later, CBI booked about a dozen doctors and lawyers for being “part of a conspiracy to defame the security forces and destabilise the Government with false allegation of rape and murder”.

In the following months and years, almost all those in the forefront of the Shopian agitation were found indulging in crimes like burglary and rape. One of the doctors, who had played key role in sending fudged vaginal smear to the FSL to project it a case of “gang rape”, was caught on camera committing rape on a middle-aged female patient at his clinic. Another leader of the agitation was found to have committed rape on a 14-year-old maid who, according to an uncontested story in Kashmir Images, was passed through abortion at a clinic in Anantnag. Later, Police arrested the same leader with the proof that he had broken into his brother-in-law’s jewellery shop and stolen gold worth Rs 60 lakh.

Two more of the ‘leaders’ were known activists of PDP and NC—one appointed as a prosecutor by Mufti’s government and another by Omar’s government.  

Again, in the year 2010, attempts were underway with the beginning of the tourist season to bring down Omar Abdullah’s government. Death of a teenage student, Tufail Matoo, in Police action against a small group of demonstrators triggered a major turbulence. Over a hundred people got killed in Police and security forces firing and hundreds injured. Those killed in the clashes included PDP’s District Youth President in Anantnag.

Incredibly even the ruling NC’s own activists were found involved in enforcing Hurriyat’s shutdown calendar. One of such persons smashed the head of a shopkeeper for defying the shutdown call in Nowhatta area and left him dead. About a dozen of them attacked and captured a Policeman and left him almost dead on the highway near Narbal. They were found to be the sons of the staunch supporters of a National Conference leader and Cabinet Minister in Srinagar.

In competition, activists of almost all the mainstream political parties outsmarted even the separatist hardliners and militants while levelling allegations, attacking Police and security forces and calling for “solution of the Kashmir dispute as per the aspirations of the people”—their euphemism for Azadi. Finally, this theatre of the absurd began fading out only when Rahul Gandhi made it clear in Kolkata that Omar Abdullah’s government in J&K would not fall.

In September, NC’s Member of Parliament Shariefuddin Shariq was the first to allege that the Police (of his own government) had shot dead “three innocent civilian youths” in cold blood, near Qamarwari in Srinagar. An investigation made clear that all the three were active militants carrying guns. They had shot dead two Policemen and taken away their rifles. One of the three slain assailants next day turned out to be the MP’s own grandson.

With the arrival of winter, this time the separatists disappeared, alongwith their shutdown calendar, for a longer pause.

[To be concluded…..]

END

[STATE TIMES]

Who did upset India’s applecart in Kashmir in 2008-16?

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

_________

Certainly for the first time, the Jammu and Kashmir government’s pre-Budget Economic Survey-2016 has attributed all deficits of growth and other liabilities to the “political strife” that, in a bold official admission, assumed a menacing dimension in the year 2008 and is continuing to be unceasing and intractable. Without comment on his millennial ideas of recovery in the last two — now three — Budgets, one has to appreciate the State’s failures on the developmental front and resource mobilisation admitted by Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu even as, to some, it sounds nothing more than a search for alibi.

Notwithstanding PDP’s passion for the green and the pen-and-inkpot election symbol left behind by the Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief Syed Salahuddin, I had never any confusion about Mufti Mohammad Sayeed being a die-hard Indian patriot and New Delhi’s most trusted politician in Jammu and Kashmir. “Would you also succeed Farooq Abdullah as Chairman of the Unified Headquarters and preside over the counter-insurgency operation of the Police and security forces?”, I asked Mufti at his first press conference as Chief Minister for which he flew to Srinagar in November 2002. “Yes, I will”, Mufti retorted, “without any hesitation, but ensure that there’s no human rights abuse”.

Next month, while we were walking together toward his helicopter after he addressed the PDP’s first post-victory show at Khannabal, Mufti slowed down and asked me: “What do the people say now?” Keeping with my style, I said: “Honestly speaking, many of them feel happy and relieved. But, quite a number of them have apprehensions that the militants would regroup and the separatists would find it easy to reclaim their base”. Allaying the impression, Mufti stopped and said: “I’ll soon wipe them out from the root. Their game is over”.

True to his word, and in total contrast to his soft-separatist rhetoric in statements and public meetings, Mufti wiped out the core of militancy in the next three years of his coalition rule. Almost all the top Hizbul Mujahideen commanders, who in the year 2000 had responded to an Indian initiative and met with Union Home Secretary Kamal Pandey at Nehru Guest House, were caught alive and killed.

Riyaz Rasool was captured in Soura outskirts and killed near Zainakote. ‘Operational chief’ Saiful Islam nee Engineer Zaman was captured in a bank manager’s house, in close vicinity of Mufti’s house in Nowgam, and later killed at midnight. Commander Masood Tantray was seized in Pampore and subsequently killed in a fake encounter. Majid Dar and Farooq Mirchal are believed to have been eliminated by their own organisation.

Even as it was for the first time that a Minister (Dr Ghulam Nabi Lone) was killed in a fidayeen-type attack inside his guarded house in the high security zone of Tulsibagh, normalcy had been restored to a great extent when Mufti cleared out for Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress in November 2005.

It is no secret that Mufti did not quit until Congress made an announcement in New Delhi that Azad had been chosen as leader of the party’s MLAs. Entire month of October witnessed a flurry of activity from Srinagar to Delhi. A multitude of Mufti’s advocates pleaded for his continuance in chair “in the national interest” for the full term of six years with varied arguments. Retired IB and RAW chief A.S. Dulat, who also served as an advisor to Prime Minister Vajpayee, wrote an article in The Hindustan Times, while strongly favouring Mufti’s extension.

The anti-climax occurred hours after Mufti, having just returned from Uri alongwith Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, told the journalist Pervez Bukhari that he would soon host an Iftar party for the media. It indicated Mufti’s over-confidence in his continuing as head of the PDP-Congress coalition government. The journalist at a crowded press conference at the Banquet Hall had asked Mufti if he was going to step down or continue at the end of his three-year term that day.

Sonia Gandhi’s decision of inducting Azad as the first Congress Chief Minister after Syed Mir Qasim’s resignation in 1975 was believed to be influenced by Rahul Gandhi. Politicians claimed that the National Conference top brass was also at work through Sachin Pilot, Rahul and others. Amid speculations that men of consequence in Congress, including Digvijay Singh, Ahmad Patel and M.L. Fotedar, were strongly in favour of Mufti’s continuance, even the senior most Pranab Mukherjee in Jammu had given unambiguous indications that Congress would go by the “national interest”, not the party interest.

The valley experienced two more years of peace as Azad began reviving the “developmental constituency” Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad had assiduously created for 10 years and finally abandoned with his resignation as ‘Prime Minister’ under the Kamarj Plan in October 1963. Until June 2007, the militancy was at its lowest ebb. There was no stone pelting, separatist-sponsored shutdown or a major demonstration. Peace and development had decisively neutralised all voices of secessionism and political instability.

Without appeasement to militants and separatists, and while loudly speaking against “terrorism”, Azad became the first Chief Minister who got over a dozen SOG men, including then SSP of Ganderbal Hans Raj Parihar, booked and arrested for killing five innocent civilians in fake encounters as “foreign terrorists”. For years, no court granted bail to the accused. Finally, a catastrophe befell the Valley in June 2007.

While Pakistan,  Hurriyat and the militants had been forgotten by the Kashmiris, the mainstream politicians triggered an explosion of regional and communal polarisation — between the Muslim and the Hindu, between Kashmir and Jammu — for the first time after 1947. Mufti and other PDP leaders warned Azad publicly that they would withdraw support and bring down his government if he did not cancel allotment of a piece of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that had been earmarked in compartment No: 63 of Sindh Forest for temporary use by the pilgrims. Paradoxically, the allotment had been recommended and facilitated by none other than the two PDP Ministers, namely Qazi Mohammad Afzal and Tariq Hamid Karra,

[To be continued….]

[STATE TIMES]

_____________2008 to 2016 __________

How creations of Kashmir’s mainstream politicians make 1.25 crore people bleed through their nose

After death, Burhan Wani caused Rs 16,000 crore loss to Kashmir's economy

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

________

JAMMU, Jan 10: The Jammu and Kashmir Government’s most authentic official document, Economic Survey 2016, released by Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu in Legislative Assembly here on Tuesday, makes a bizarre admission of the near-total breakdown of all activities of growth and development in the second year of the PDP-BJP regime. For the first time, it was officially revealed on the floor of the Legislature that the upheaval created by the Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani’s death in an encounter on July 8, 2016, had caused damage worth Rs 16,000 crore to the Valley’s economy.

Wani became a militant in Omar Abdullah’s regime in 2010-11 when some Policemen associated with counterinsurgency operations in Tral area allegedly maltreated with him and other teenagers. During Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s regime in 2015, politicians and media in competition created him as an “icon and inspiration” for the Valley’s new generation of the youth. A many of the mainstream politicians, including Ministers, MLAs, MLCs and MPs glorified Wani as a “hero” until his death and thereafter began eulogising him as a “martyr”. Paradoxically, these mainstream politicians are on oath to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India and this country's Constitution. Burhan treated them as "traitors" and "Indian agents" and claimed to be struggling for Kashmir's separation from India and establishment of Caliphate.

Birth of the PDP-BJP coalition in March 2015 frittered away entire enthusiasm of the Jammu and Kashmir’s best held Parliamentary and Assembly elections, in 2014, and lent a fresh lease of life to political uncertainty and the badly marginalised separatist politics and armed insurgency. Massarat Alam’s release by Mufti Sayeed’s government, followed by permission to a massive pro-Pakistan demonstration on Srinagar Airport Road in reception of the separatist hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, witnessed hundreds of youths abandoning their studies and picking up guns and stones — something almost completely forgotten after failure of Alam’s 2010 turmoil.

In a week of his taking over as Chief Minister, Mufti freed Alam on March 8, 2015. With their honour of reception to Geelani, in front of the Police Headquarters, on April 15, 2015, followed by a similar demonstration in Tral four days after Burhan's brother Khalid got killed in an encounter between militants and Army, Alam and his associates revived pro-Pakistan euphoria in a big way. Even as Alam was re-arrested under BJP’s pressure, Burhan carried the mantle while dominating newspapers, television channels and social media with his jihadist slogans and naked-face videos. Soon he discovered himself turning into a “role model” and inspiration for many of the Valley’s youths in schools and colleges. His death created yet another take of the turbulence Kashmir had witnessed in 2008 and 2010.

Ironically, even in 2008, when the two PDP Ministers, namely Qazi Mohammad Afzal and Tariq Hamid Karra, created a street turmoil with allotment of a piece to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and Mufti Sayeed brought down Ghulam Nabi Azad’s government, the Valley had forgotten militants and marginalised the separatists. It was none other than Mufti and is PDP who brought down Ghulam Nabi Azad's coalition and unleashed a new era of political instability that comes intermittently knocking on the Government's doors with different intervals. Later, over one hundred people got killed and hundreds injured in street clashes and demonstrations in the summer of 2010.

“…the prolonged cycles of unrest since 2008 have become a new normal in the social, political and economic life of Jammu and Kashmir resulting into highly adverse impact on economic growth and infrastructural development”, Drabu’s Economic Survey admits. “Since June 2008, there have been four cycles of unrest — Amarnath land row, Shopian ‘rape and murder’ case (2009), 2010’s summer turmoil and the latest unrest following killing of Hizb militant Burhan Wani  — adversely hampering the delivery of public services and drastically slowing down the development expenditure”, it records.

The Survey reveals: “The general estimates of the losses caused due to the unrest are estimated at more than Rs 16,000 crore over a period of 5 months from 8^th July 2016 to 30^th November 2016. The cost of security related expenditure is over and above the losses caused due to unrest of 2016 in J&K State”.

“The continuous hartals, stone throwing and curfews have resulted in loss of tourist season, loss of working season, about 116 days out of total working season of 180 days (may to October) in 2016. Thus about 64% of the tourist and working season has been lost”, says the Economic Survey.

“Tourist season in Kashmir valley starts from April and lasts up to October, thus making season of 7 months. During 2015-16, the number of tourists who had visited the Valley stood at 6,23,932 including 2,20,490 Amarnath Yatris. The tourist season had started during 2016 in April and was in full swing upto end of 7^th July, 2016. The remaining about 4 months (24 days of July, August, September and October) remained completely tense and registered closure of all activities due to turmoil in almost zero arrival of tourists in the Valley”, it added.

The Survey details how the tourism revenue of Rs 32.45 crore of Quarter-1 (April, May, June) came drastically down to Rs 1.84 crore in the Quarter-2 (July, August, September) in Kashmir valley in 2016-17. As compared to Q-1 of the year 2015-16, tourism revenue had remarkably gone up in Q-1 of 2016-16. While as it was Rs 19.13 crore in Q-1 and Rs 9.37 crore in Q-2 of 2015-16, it went up to Rs 32.45 crore in Q-1 of 2016-17 but dipped to a paltry Rs 1.85 crore in Q-2 after Wani’s death.  The State Cable Car Corporation alone had earned record revenue of Rs 31.62 crore in April, May and June of 2016 but it nosedived to Rs 1.67 crore in July, August and September.

“The estimated loss suffered by Industry during hartals/curfews (130 days) is of the order of Rs 13,291 crore comprising of Rs 6,548 crore of private sector and Rs 6,713 crore of Govt sector”, says the Survey. “In addition to the above, some Jammu-based SSI units have also suffered production losses due to turmoil in the Valley. The turnover loss has been reported as Rs 1,800 crore and revenue loss as Rs 275 crore”.

The Survey attributes cumulative economic losses of Jammu and Kashmir to the “political conflict” and draws a comparison between the turbulent J&K and the peaceful Himachal Pradesh, making clear how the neighbouring State’s businesses and economy are flourishing every year.

According to the Survey, J&K’s area is 1.01 lakh square kilometre and population 1.25 crore souls. HP is spread on 0.56 lakh sq km and has population of 68.65 lakh souls. Both the States have Himalayan mountain terrain and 20% each Forest cover. In 2015-16, HP’s GSDP (Constant prices) has been Rs 95,929 crore while as it was only 91,806 crore in J&K. While as 1.75 crore tourists visited HP, only 92.03 lakh (including Vaishno Devi and Amarnath pilgrims) visited J&K. As against HP’s 4.06 lakh foreigners, only 29,000 foreign tourists visited J&K.

As regards the power sector, HP and J&K have hydroelectric generation potential of 20,000 mw each. While as HP is generating 6,370 mw (revised estimate 10,264 mw), J&K’s harnessed capacity currently is not more than 3,220 mw. HP has 503 units of Medium and Large industrial units compared to only 86 in J&K.

While as HP’s GSDP (at constant prices 2011-12) for 2015-16 is Rs 95, 929 crore and per capita income (NSDP 2015-16) is Rs 1,11,977, it is only Rs 91,806 crore and Rs 57,858 respectively in J&K.

END

[STATE TIMES]

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed:
Politician, Patriot, Peer, Pandit, Paadshah

KEEPING MY PROMISE of expressing my opinion about late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Sahab and his political ideology on occasion of his first death anniversary, I am now exercising my right. Since I have seen most of our contemporary politicians closely without ever having my own newspaper, need to seek loans or advertisements or contracts or transfers and I don't have to contest elections or play to the galleries, I will give my own independent, objective, dispassionate view which may be different from that of many of the esteemed friends. According to my belief, which can be partly or fully wrong, Mufti Sahab sailed against the wind of then popular Plebiscite Front from 1955 to 1965 and he, alongwith friends and colleagues like Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, GM Sadiq etc. played a key role in integrating Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India by sowing the first seeds of the Congress party in Kashmir and collaborating with the Centre in diluting the State's special statutory position. So it stands as incontrovertible evidence that he was New Delhi's agent and representative in Kashmir, not Kashmir's representative in New Delhi. He paid its prices but got equally attractive dividends. He lost all the Assembly and Parliamentary elections in Kashmir till 1998 and to become an MLA he contested and won the elections from RS Pora of Jammu in 1980s. He and his colleagues faced social boycott in Kashmir when NC under Sheikh Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah made the slogan "Mufti sinz qabbar Kashiri nebar" popular in 1970s-80s. To become a Member of Parliament and Union Minister of Tourism, followed by Union Home Minister, he had to contest from Bihar and UP. He won his first and the last Parliamentary election from Kashmir on Congress ticket only in 1998 and later his first Assembly election once from Pahalgam and once from Anantnag. Because of support and faith from Delhi, he became Chief Minister of J&K twice and has the distinction of being till date the only Muslim who was inducted as the Union Home Minister in India. Even before floating his own PDP, and while being in Congress, Mufti Sahab had started expanding his base with destabilising the elected governments in 1970s and 1980s and later in 1990s generating a sentiment with his severe criticism of Farooq Abdullah's anti-militant, anti-separatist and anti-Pakistan politics and governance that ultimately helped him erase much of his regime's massacres and massive human rights abuse in 1990 when he was India's Home Minister. He was an exceptionally shrewd and connected-to-people politician and made lakhs of Kashmiris to believe that Farooq Abdullah had been the architect of the "rigging" in 1987 Assembly elections inspite of the fact that Mufti himself was part and parcel of the Rajiv-Farooq Accord in 1986-87. Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Ghulam Qadir Pardesi, who was District Election Officer in 1987 and has to share maximum responsibility of the alleged rigging, was a founder member and served the media kebabs at the press conference when Mufti Sahab floated PDP in July 1999, months after J&K Legislature passed a resolution unanimously and the Farooq Abdullah government's Autonomy Committee report called on New Delhi to restore 1953 position to the State. One can't be taker to the wild allegations that then PM AB Vajpayee and Home Minister LK Advani paid huge amounts of money to create and promote PDP but it is a fact that the Kashmiri mainstream was never as split as it became post-1999. Being great visionaries, Vajpayee and Advani perhaps wanted to set J&K's politics in such a mould that a Valley-based Muslim-dominated party, be it NC or PDP, should never be able to hold 44-plus seats and thus form the government without making a national party like Congress or BJP a part of the coalition. With such a coalition, autonomy or J&K's special status will never be a consensus demand in Assembly or outside. This goal could not be achieved without bringing NC and PDP to the position where they could win seats in range of 15-30 and run the government by rotation every six years. And this would not be possible until PDP was given a long rope, free hand and license to raise and exploit the secessionist passions with glorification of separatists, militants and Pakistan and while demonising and discrediting the Indian institutions and systems particularly the Army and paramilitary forces and "Farooq Abdullah's Task Force". Thus, while calling for friendship with Pakistan, opening of all roads to Pakistan, release of "political prisoners", prosecution of Police officers and soldiers involved in human rights abuse, space to separatists et al, Mufti Sahab created a political space for PDP in the Valley and in 2002, 2008 and 2014 he managed to get a chunk of vote from the genetically pro-Pakistan and separatist populace that helped him assume power twice. New Delhi's unflinching support and faith made him over-confident to the extent that towards the end of his career and life, he did what few in the Valley had imagined---formation of the government with RSS-driven BJP which, all through campaigning, he had described as a demon and asked the Kashmiris to fail. He was never, and could never have been, what some people like Arnab Goswami called him "pro-separatist" and "pro-Pakistan". It was because of his long rope from New Delhi and remarkable support even from very influential Congress leaders, including Pranab Mukherjee, Ahmad Patel, Digvijay Singh and Makhan Lal Fotedar, that PDP's agenda to unsettle Ghulam Nabi Azad led to fall of the coalition government and subsequently an unprecedented regional and communal divide in J&K in 2008 when the militancy had reduced to a trickle and the separatists had been marginalised by the political developments across the globe post 9/11. It resuscitated what many in Delhi had forgotten as the "dead snake" which is now biting everybody Indian in Kashmir after intervals. It had two devastating manifestations in 2010 and 2016---when Mohammad Shafi Qureshi died in Delhi and India could not hold his burial in Kashmir. Today's competitive separatism among the mainstream parties, including NC and PDP, are an essential consequence of the theatre created in 2008. If NC will return to power in 2020, we will see PDP playing this role in next 6 years. It is now clear that New Delhi does not need genuine, legitimate politics and democratic institutions or patriots and nationalists in J&K. It just needs vote and someone in the chair as CM or Minister. Irrespective of party, New Delhi also needs sustenance of a scenario in which 68% Muslim population or 58 Muslim MLAs in a House of 87 will have no independent say in any matter of policymaking. Our politicians will claim to be "friends of peace with Pakistan" and "peaceful resolution" of the Kashmir issue but the fact is that they have little role in the whole game as long as the separatists will act as the bonded labours of Islamabad and the so-called mainstream politicians will provide the same service to New Delhi. One shall have to make a dispassionate introspection to find as to who are the real beneficiaries of this sort of the political theatre in Kashmir. I believe late Mufti Sahab did a great, unparalleled service to the Indian nation to achieve many of its strategic goals in Kashmir. Once jingoistic, hardcore Indian, Farooq Abdullah is just learning some lessons and making himself attractive for New Delhi by using the language Mufti Sahab did for years. It is well possible that only 4,000 Kashmiris will attend funerals of such politicians and people like Burhan Wani will live as heroes and die as martyrs with 200,000 attending their last rites. But India is least worried about that. Governance and development will become relevant only when this era of Delhi-protected dynastic politics will end in Jammu and Kashmir. Having said about his politics, I have no hesitation to accept that late Mufti Sahab was an extremely humane and helpful politician in his personal behaviour who would keep with him friends and enemies alike. May his soul rest in peace.

______ Ahmed Ali Fayyaz