Jammu, August 5
Thirteen-year-old Zahida Parveen was moving around while her cattle were grazing when she unwittingly stepped on an anti-personnel mine and set the device activated. Within a fraction of a second, there was a huge blast and the girl was lying unconscious on the ground.

A few hours later, she regained senses only to find that she had lost a lower-limb for the rest of her life. Admitted in the ward no. 2 of the orthopedics department at Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu, she is struggling to come to the terms with the rude reality.

The incident happened on the evening of July 22 at the border village of Jandrola in Mandi tehsil of Poonch near the LoC. The mines randomly planted by the military have reportedly already killed at least five persons of the village.

Mohammad Shareef, victim’s father, rued: “Army personnel were present near the spot, but they did not attend to the badly injured child lying unconscious there. When I reached the spot, they were standing there as mute spectators”.

An inconsolable Shareef, who is a small farmer, recollected: “I pleaded with junior army officers for a vehicle to rush my daughter to the hospital, but they were unmoved”.

“With a great deal of efforts, villagers hired a private vehicle and only then she could be shifted to the district hospital and then to Jammu,” he said and added: “Gazing at her amputated leg, my dearest daughter laments as to why is she alive to live like a handicap”.

“She was very excited after she got promoted to class VIII this year. But now she won’t be able to go to school,” he added.

The girl was visibly choked with emotions and could not say anything. Shareef claimed to have spent Rs 30,000 on her treatment without any help from anyone.

In the adjoining ward lies another mine victim, Mohammad Hussain (60) of Shahpur village in Haveli tehsil.

He had been a porter with the Army for 15 years. On July 22, he was engaged in a work by the Army. He was cutting the bushes when a landmine went off. Though his right leg remained intact, his left leg below knee had to be amputated.

“I was shifted to the Civil Hospital at Poonch by the Army. Thereafter, my family shifted me to this hospital,” said Hussain.

“The Army authorities had engaged me and used to mark my attendance but they were irregular in paying salary to me,” he alleged and added, “They have not extended any financial help to me so far”.

“I am useless for the rest of my life,” he regretted and alleged, “They (Armymen) knew that the area had been mined which is why they did not clear the area themselves and asked me instead”.

Like Zahida, he is also not the only person who became a victim of a landmine in his locality. “There are many others who have lost limbs in such blasts. They have also not got any relief from the government. Though the Army has assured to provide the job of a porter to my son, I will not allow him,” he added.

Jammu, August 5
Close on the heels of the death of a woman in a freak accident, the Samba police has now decided to conduct narco analysis and lie-detector tests on her husband to solve the case.

The police strongly doubts that the death of the woman - Anita Devi - in a freak accident on a hilly road of Mansar on February 12 this year could turn out to be a cold-blooded murder with her husband as the prime suspect.

Talking to The Tribune, Samba SSP Israr Khan said the police had now decided to conduct these tests on the slain woman’s husband - Yudhvir Singh of Kaily Mandi in Samba town.

“A truck driver, Jaswant Singh of Jourian in Akhnoor, who was a witness to the case, divulged to us that on the fateful day, he had seen Yudhvir sitting on the edge of a cliff close to the road and crying profusely,” said the SSP.

When approached by the driver to know the reasons, Yudhvir told him that his car had fallen off the hill into a gorge while his wife was sitting inside the vehicle. “Now, going by the statement of the witness, we are left with no option but to conduct lie detector and narco analysis tests of the prime suspect,” said Khan.

Extra-marital relations with a girl were said to be the motive behind the crime. Smelling foul play, the Samba SSP had reopened the case.

The police has already accessed the call details of Yudhvir and his girl friend - a teacher in a private school.

On the fateful day of February 12, the accused, who has a four-year-old daughter, had taken his wife in a car to the Mansar Lake on the pretext of feeding fishes.

Though it was a routine for the couple and their minor daughter, who used to frequent the lake to feed fishes, on that particular day the man had left his daughter at his home, said the police.

On their way back to Samba town around 6.30 am when their car reached a deserted and dangerous slope in the hilly area, pretending a technical snag in the vehicle, Yudhvir, while sitting in the car, pushed it with his legs to gain speed so as to start the engine.

“During investigations, he had said since the car went out of control, he had to jump out of it. He had asked his wife to do the same, but she could not manage and before he could do anything, the vehicle plunged into a deep gorge,” added Khan.

Srinagar, August 5
As the autumn leaves change colour, the Kashmir Valley will be resonate with the sound of poetry, literary dialogue, debate and discussions and readings with the first-ever three-day national literature festival beginning September 24. A special series of symposiums and discussions on the concluding day, September 26, would be held at the University of Kashmir.

“Harud: The Autumn Literature Festival” would provide a platform to celebrate the written word and create a forum for the rich literary tradition that exists in the region. Harud (autumn in Kashmiri) would be free to the public and emphasise on the local writings from Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh, with special focus on folk and oral traditions. The event would also host significant writers from across India.

The festival advisor and noted author, Namita Gokhale, said: “Harud: The Autumn Literature Festival will engage with the local writing in Kashmiri, Urdu and English to provide an open and inclusive forum for literature. It will celebrate the vibrant and layered literary tradition of the region, provoke dialogue and communication and create a platform and inspiration for a new generation of readers and writers”.

Sanjoy Roy, producer of the Harud Festival & MD, Teamwork Productions, said: “The Harud festival will be a great addition to our existing literary and arts festivals in India. It is a privilege to organise this programme with the backdrop of Kashmir and its legacy of literature, which has a history of over 2,500 years”.

The sessions would include conversations on culture, travel, history, film and poetry amongst other themes. Namita Gokhale is the programme director and Sanjoy Roy and Sheuli Sethi of Teamwork Productions are the producers of the festival. The festival advisors include MK Raina, Naseem Shafaie, Neerja Mattoo and Urvashi Butalia.

Srinagar, August 5
Stating that the creation of tourism-related infrastructure at Lolab, Bangus and Drangyari tourist destinations in Kupwara district of North Kashmir was a priority of the state government, Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora has said that an amount of Rs 1 crore is being spent during this financial year.

He said the government would soon submit Rs 5-crore project for the creation of modern tourist facilities at Lolab and Drangyari spots to the Centre for approval.

The Minister directed the authorities to formulate more project reports for the approval of the Centre under the Central schemes so that holistic tourism infrastructure building would be ensured in the area.

These views were expressed by Jora while chairing a maiden meeting of the Lolab, Bangus, Drangyari Development Authority (LBDDA) members here recently. Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Nasir Aslam Wani, who is also vice-chairman of the LBDDA, was present in the meeting.

Bringing of Lolab, Bangus, Drangyari on the tourism map would open new vistas of tourism activities in the state and help to boost the local economy and provide a healthy environment for tourism trade in Kupwara district, which has been conferred a status of the Tourism Development Authority. This would prove ideal and suitable to the tastes and needs of the tourists owing to its scenic and lush-green topography and perennial streams and adventure tracks, Jora said.

Legislators of Kupwara district, Ch Mohammad Ramzan, Haq Nawaz, Abdul Rashid, Commissioner Secretary, Tourism, Atul Duloo, Director, Tourism, Kashmir, Farooq Ahmad Shah, and other concerned senior officers attended the meeting. It deliberated upon the modalities, jurisdiction and infrastructure development under the authority.

The legislators gave their viewpoints and suggestions for exploring fully the tourism potential of their areas.

Jora assured the legislators that focused attention would be given for the promotion of tourism activities in all the potential areas of the district in a phased manner, adding that the matters like upgrading of road connectivity, electricity and drinking water facilities, besides land acquisition and forest matters would be taken up with the concerned ministries to solve impediments confronting the creation of tourism infrastructure facilities in the area.

Nasir Aslam Wani said the State Tourism Department had engaged the consultancy of the World Tourism Council for developing tourism potential of each area of the state in a unique way, adding that the services of the consultancy would also be utilised in the area for its promotion.

He said the vast tourism potential of Kupwara district would be explored fully in a phased manner, which would prove beneficial for economic growth of the people of the area.

Srinagar, August 5
Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir has said there was an urgent need for adopting a new strategy of cultivating crops of higher economic value and utilising the available land to its optimum to get self-sufficiency in agriculture produce.

The minister said this while addressing a first-of-its-kind Kisan Mela at Dawar in the remote area of Gurez in Bandipore district. He said there was a need for blending modern technology with conventional methods to enhance the yield and quality to enable higher returns and international acceptance. Mir said diverse cropping pattern and utilisation of modern farm technology were significantly important in this regard.

“Popularising double and triple-cropping pattern by taking to modern technology and using high-yielding varieties of seeds, besides the application of balanced doses of fertilisers were need of the hour,” he said, asking the director, agriculture, to concentrate on this aspect and encourage the growing of cash crops as a regular farming practice.

Saying that kala zeera from Gurez was known for its taste and fragrance, Mir said for the past three years the department had been giving thrust to increasing its area under cultivation in Gurez for higher production. He said Gurez had a huge potential to produce quality potatoes and kala zeera on a commercial basis and added that the Agriculture Department would provide technical and marketing assistance to the farmers.

The minister underscored the significance of hybrid and improved variety of seeds to boost its production. He said the replacement of low-yielding varieties was all the more important to give considerable fillip to the potato production. He said the department should formulate a programme for achieving 100 per cent replacements of seeds by high-yielding varieties in a phased manner to make Gurez hub of potato and kala zeera. “The farming community has to be properly educated in this regard and sufficient quantity of improved seeds would be made available to them accordingly”, he added. He said the department was also making efforts to cultivate peas at Gurez on a large scale.

Mir asked the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K) to ensure the transfer of new research and farm techniques to the farmers. “The scientific findings and the research work should not remain only on paper. There is a need for applying this in the field and help revolutionise the production and productivity,” he maintained.

He also underlined the need for marketing of the agriculture produce as good prices would attract more and more young people to adopt agriculture as a means of livelihood. He said the government was trying to restore the glory and prestige of the farming community. He asked the youth to take the benefit of the schemes and programmes in agriculture sector.

“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink” seems to be coming true in Kashmir. The Valley is known for its water resources in the higher mountain reaches in the form of glaciers. These glaciers melt down during summer months to suffice the water requirements of the people across Kashmir through its streams that form the tributaries of the Jhelum. It has also water reserves in the form of lakes and springs spread all over. However, these sources seem to be drying up.