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Wednesday,
April 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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A product
of the system A new-look Congress |
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Putsch in France FRENCH President Jacques Chirac’s victory in the first round of the presidential election held on April 21 was not entirely unexpected. Pollsters have long predicted Mr Chirac’s success even in the second round run-off due to be held on May 5. However, what has surprised many is the dramatic victory of the extreme right-wing National Front leader, Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen, as France’s “second most popular politician”, after the President, defeating Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
Between
coalition and Hindutva
Bottled-up
Holi
An
excursion into Kashmir’s mystical past!
Synthetic
duvets can worsen asthma
It pays
to control craving for sweet foods
Etching
Kashmir’s tragedy in stone
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A product of the system ONE healthy fallout of the infamous Ravi Sidhu saga of corruption is the public interest and debate it has generated on the (mal)functioning of the state Public Service Commissions in general and the one in Punjab in particular. How to restore the public faith in the process of recruitment is the immediate task before the leadership in each state. One sensible suggestion is to empower the UPSC to appoint the Chairmen and members of the state PSCs. Like the Supreme Court supervising the functioning of the high courts, the UPSC can keep an alert eye on the state Public Service Commissions. Politicians have badly damaged many state institutions, particularly universities and Public Service Commissions. By appointing their own favourites as Chairmen and members of the PSCs, Chief Ministers have politicised these bodies. The state commissions, set up to tap local talent to meet local needs, have been given abundant autonomy under the Constitution to insulate them from interference of the state governments. But political wheeling-dealing has dwarfed these institutions. It is unbelievable that the PPSC Chairman alone could hijack the entire recruitment system and openly sell the posts for years together without the notice or involvement of the powers-that-be. The Punjab Chief Minister, who has earned the public gratitude for the operation clean-up now under way at the PPSC, as also at Punjabi University, must take his anti-corruption drive to its logical conclusion, sparing none, no matter who and how well connected. The scrapping of the PPSC selections for 639 posts is welcome, even though some might have made it purely on merit. Since the bribe giver is as much guilty as the bribe taker, there is no alternative to sacking the already selected. They cannot be allowed to bleed the system to get back the returns on their investments. Instead of growing up to the post he was given by a former Congress Chief Minister for reasons other than merit, Mr Ravi Sidhu chose to misuse power and status that go with such a prestigious post. He was provided a chance to serve society, but he chose to serve himself. He not only diminished and disgraced himself but also rubbished his family members who all joined hands with him in the murky deals. Proving himself utterly unworthy of the honour bestowed, he harmed society by denying honest talent to the administration. He not only corrupted and demeaned himself but also the system. And yet he displays no sense of regret or shame. Mr Sidhu is a true product of the corrupt environment in which we all live uncomplainingly and perhaps helplessly. Given the quality of education provided in the state, particularly in the rural areas, and bleak prospects of employment and personal growth opportunities for youth, buying a job for a son or a daughter carries no sense of shame and stigma. Instead, parents gladly boast about the price they paid for their ward’s job. The Ravi Sidhu episode must make us ponder where we are heading. There may be one bribe taker, but how many bribe givers are there among us? |
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A new-look Congress BRITISH
Prime Minister Tony Blair is given credit for reinventing a comatose Labour Party by injecting fresh blood and rewriting its approach to issues in a technology-driven global village. New Labour under him discovered the right political mix for winning elections. The policy has paid rich dividends. Mr Blair has won a second term for the party that at one point of time appeared lost under the shadow of the Conservative Party. Congress President Sonia Gandhi appears to have been inspired by the success of Mr Blair. And why not? No party can remain politically relevant and acceptable if it does not keep revising its policies and inducting new blood. The series of changes that Mrs Sonia Gandhi announced on Tuesday can be said to be the beginning of the process for giving the moribund organisation a new look. Ideologically, the Congress continues to be short of fresh ideas. The Congress President may decide to give a fresh look to the political contents of the party with the help of the new team that she has put together. She has her eyes firmly on several fronts while restructuring the organisation. The new faces that she has inducted are in tune with the thrust of her speech at the Guwahati session of the Congress. The most remarkable aspect of the changes she has made is that they are not based on her personal likes and dislikes. She is at least giving the impression that she wants to carry all the factions with her. For instance, the elevation of Mrs Ambika Soni to a position that places the former Sanjay Gandhi loyalist in close proximity of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. The fact that Mr P. V. Narasimha Rao during his term as Prime Minister and party President tried to undermine her position is not classified information. Yet, she has risen above the confines of narrow factionalism and accommodated Mr Rao’s camp followers, Mr S. B. Chavan and J. B. Patnaik, as special invitees to the CWC. Mr Ahmed Patel, a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, has been appointed political secretary. By giving him a key position Mrs Sonia Gandhi has sent out loud and clear political signals to the Muslims of Gujarat. Mr Salman Khursheed’s political rehabilitation as a special invitee to the CWC is part of the larger exercise of telling the country’s Muslims that at a time when most political parties have abandoned them for petty political gains the Congress is their best bet for resurrecting secularism from the smoldering debris of sectarian hate. In many respects both Mr Ahmed Patel and Mr Khursheed represent the moderate and modern face of Indian Muslims. The same cannot be said about other parties, including the Samajwadi Party of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Bahujan Samaj Party of Ms Mayawati. The general profile of the candidates of these two parties returned to the legislatures explains why it is not easy to separate crime from politics. Mrs Sonia Gandhi has revamped the party by encouraging youth without undermining the position of the veterans. Now the bigger challenge before her would be to take the Congress back to its roots that lie buried in the villages of India. Can most of the city-bred office-bearers help her in achieving this objective? Only time will answer this question. |
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Putsch in France FRENCH
President Jacques Chirac’s victory in the first round of the presidential election held on April 21 was not entirely unexpected. Pollsters have long predicted Mr Chirac’s success even in the second round run-off due to be held on May 5. However, what has surprised many is the dramatic victory of the extreme right-wing National Front leader, Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen, as France’s “second most popular politician”, after the President, defeating Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. Mr Le Pen’s success is being described in various circles as a “political earthquake” as it is believed that the results have transformed the political landscape with consequences that may affect the continent as a whole. It has shattered Mr Jospin’s hopes so much that the latter has decided to quit politics after May 5, knowing full well that his exit will leave the Socialists leaderless in the parliamentary elections slated for June. An analysis of Mr Le Pen’s victory suggests that his votes came from the unemployed, older people who are frightened that immigrants have put them out of job and from the youth unaffected by the political process. Apparently, Mr Le Pen’s concentration during the campaign on the theme of the increasing crime rate and insecurity allowed his National Front party to present itself as the only political force that could make the streets safe. While Mr Le Pen polled 17.2 per cent of the votes cast, Mr Jospin got 16 per cent and the Communists less than 4 per cent. This time, a record 16 candidates were in the fray in the first round, having represented various shades of opinion — from the extreme left to the extreme right, centrists, ecologists from both the left and the right, ultra-liberals and anti-globalisation champions. The manifestos reflected the diversity of the contemporary debate — from immigration, ecology, healthcare and pensions to globalisation and Europe. It was a dull campaign, but opinion polls suggested that nearly half the electorate could not make up its mind. A record 28 per cent abstention in the first round proves this. His electoral victory notwithstanding, Mr Chirac does not seem to be enjoying popular support. He has avoided prosecution for financial scandals by pleading the immunity of his office. His first two years in office were marked by errors, the last three by inertia. His score, a little less than 20 per cent of the votes cast, is said to be the lowest ever for a first round topper. Still, he is expected to be rewarded by five more years at the Elysee Palace with the authority in the domain of foreign affairs and defence. But the new government will come from the majority party that will emerge from the parliamentary elections on June 9 and 16. |
Between coalition and Hindutva COALITION politics is not yet over. It is intact, though shattered and bruised after the Gujarat happenings and the displeasure of some of the BJP’s allies, but the party is newly aggressive in its regained Hindutva incarnation. The BJP’s old ideology has resurfaced on the ruins of the recent compromises. The country has been astonished by the change of stance by the Prime Minister between his visit to Gujarat and his statement in Goa. But that does not worry the BJP. It feels that this will pay it dividend. The calculation is that Gujarat has become so communal and one-sided that all the Hindutva forces will rally around it and it will bring Mr Narendra Modi back as Chief Minister whenever elections are held. If that happens Hindutva and Mr Modi will be on top of the world. Back in power, the BJP will not go back on Hindutva. If its Gujarat experiment succeeds, the BJP will fight the general election too on its Hindutva terms. Hang the allies. It will not need them in that event. Much will depend on when the elections are held and Hindutva winning power to the BJP in Gujarat. It hopes that Hindutva will be so powerful that the BJP will ride to power without the need of allies. That is the importance of the coming Gujarat elections which the BJP wants to push through but are held back by the attitude of the allies. It needs them now, not when Hindutva holds the sway. The BJP top brass has calculated that the party will win handsomely in the election and return Mr Modi. For allowing the communal frenzy to take on after the Sabarmati Express carnage Mr Modi gets full marks in the Hindutva brigade. When elected, he will be able to whitewash whatever has happened and come before the country with a so-called democratic Hindutva face. The second advantage of an election in Gujarat will be to tell the BJP policy planners how far the Hindutva succeeded in bringing the party back to power. If the result is favourable the new political stance will be applied countrywide. The BJP is placing the country on the brink of a great change. It is not going to be the old amiable party for its allies. It will be the Hindutva party. The country is at the crossroads. This is the L.K. Advani line. He was the founder and forerunner of the rath yatra. That gave Hindutva much force and brought the BJP nearer to power. When that happened the BJP fell short of a majority and it formed the present coalition with several parties which were in their regions fighting the Congress (or in some cases other parties) for supremacy, like Ms Jayalalitha’s AIADMK, Mr Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, Mr Karunanidhi’s DMK, Mr George Fernandes’ Samata Party and Ms Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. They helped the BJP capture power. To make that happen the credit goes to the BJP organisation man, Mr Advani. He brought it about by jettisoning the BJP’s old agitational objectives, having a common civil code, abolishing Article 370 and building the Ram temple at Ayodhya. This enabled the BJP to live a comfortable life in power. Because of this so far it has been in power for nearly four years. But things have not gone all the way along what the BJP wanted. Its cadres found that it had become like the Congress, mild and accommodating other ideologies. At the same time the Congress went on making good progress. Beginning badly, Mrs Sonia Gandhi has forged ahead so much that while the BJP controls only three states, the Congress has 14 with it. The fear that it might lose the general election two years hence has now gripped the BJP. Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr Advani were for a time seen as holding to the ends of the same rope, the former not allowing the latter to forge the Hindutva forces and thus on the verge of losing the Hindu vote. The fight has gone on. Mr Vajpayee has been almost lonely save that he has the backing of the secularists in the BJP. He is the man who was the hope of the moderates and enjoyed an international reputation. But that is not good enough for the BJP. With the Advani line ganged up were the RSS, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. Mr Vajpayee went on making compromises, like what happened between Gujarat and Goa. His clash with Mrs Sonia Gandhi showed him rattled and angry but it was a battle he did not have to join. It served no purpose. In this scenario the carnage in Gujarat became the mother of the last battle. Going to Gujarat a month after the carnage he was his old self, fair-minded to whom the victimised minorities could look forward to. When Mr Vajpayee went to Gujarat his conscience was stirred on seeing the destruction and what had been done to Muslims in the state. From what he said it seemed that Mr Narendra Modi’s days were over. One of his colleagues, the Union Food Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, took courage in both hands and demanded Mr Modi’s resignation, sticking his neck out for a principle. In a way, he has been one of the heroes. He won’t get any reward for it. He may rue the day. He has already apologised. But will that save him? In less than a week the situation changed completely, so completely that a new BJP is in the offing. Mr Vajpayee’s speech in Goa spelt the Hindutva line. He came back to the “Newton reaction” of the Gujarat killings and arson being a reaction to what had happened at Godhra, a theory which had first been attributed to Mr Modi but later denied by him, as the people shouted that this was intemperate in view of the sad developments in the state. Mr Vajpayee’s speech turned the tide. What it will do to him in view of the power game being played in the BJP, to the BJP and to India remains to be seen. Not seeing too much into the future, it is likely that a great fight is going to be on between the Hindutva and secular forces. How the BJP allies will react has yet to be seen. The events are likely to bring about a great ideological fight in India, causing much bitterness. The big fight is nearly on. |
Bottled-up Holi “HOLI Mubarak!” “Holi Mubarak!” As I opened for door, Anwar Ahmed, more of a hood than a neighbour, buttonholed me; spread “gulal” on my hair, forehead, a little in the ears and mouth. Shukre Allah! The eyes were spared the caress. I was prepared and used the powder kept dry just for this occasion. He put his arms around my neck, making a wrestler’s hold of a Holi hug. Having thus become chummy-chummy, we made our way together to another prospective victim. Little did I realise that I walked the road to a stern test of will and a spiritual ordeal! One of the resolutions I had made on the New Year’s eve was to stop imbibing spirituous death — not even once in a blue moon. Reminding myself constantly of the resolution, I along with my Holimate made a beeline for the house of a common friend, known as much for hospitality as hermit-like asceticism. A safe proposition, I told myself. This teetotaller greeted us with open, colour-throwing arms. We exchanged pleasantries for a while. And lo and behold he suddenly produced a bottle of champagne, Bacchus only knew from where. He asked me to open it. Now this was that precious stuff I could not taste even when I happened to be in the country of its origin. And, ever since whoever teased me mildly about my sojourn in the “Champagne country”, had been given to understand in the connoisseur-like tones that it was nothing less than nectar. Now the same nectar was here right under my nose, tantalising me. But, the bitter memories of the financial and other hardships of those drink-sodden days intervened. I bottled up my temptation. No, I would not compromise with my principle, my conscience, I would not weaken. Often I had cried peccavi. Enough. I would not let myself perish Holika-like in the flames of gross pleasure. I must be strong like Prahlad and so I said “no” to temptation — a point-blank refusal. The friend gave me a good dressing-down for assuming a holier-than-thou attitude. He spoke to me like a Dutch uncle. He berated me in a paraphrase of Sir Toby: “Dost thou think because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale.” Having exhausted his wealth of sarcasm, he asked me about my pleasure. Nothing but a “Holi Milan” with you. Thanks. Seeing that a goblet no longer cheered me up, he retired and after a suspenseful two minutes, returned with a tumbler of some milky drink. “What is it”? I enquired. “Curiosity killed the cat,” he admonished me, “this is simply sweetened milk in which almonds and other dry fruits (he named a dozen others, which I can hardly recall) have been put. This is the ‘prashad’ of Shiva. You will commit a sin if you refuse it.” A staunch Shivaite as I am, I could not say no. I bottomed it up in one go. This, now, was indeed nectar. The tumbler was refilled. I quaffed six tumblers. For a while, I was in a paradise. Then started the dizziness. My head swam and I was tongue-tied. I just managed to blabber. I felt like Prahlad who disobeyed his father. I felt as if I had been hurtled down to hit the earth, as if I had been shut up in room filled with deadly reptiles. I thought the ides of March had passed off. I was proved wrong. How long these hallucinations lasted? Pray ask me another. I woke up late at night and came to know of what divine draught I had drunk. I discovered the colours of love, though in a different manner. Maybe, the day of April Fool dawned earlier. |
An excursion into Kashmir’s mystical past! THE history of Sufism in Kashmir is spread over a long period of time starting from Bulbul Shah to the Sufi poets. Sufi saints are still inspiring people of Kashmir by their subtle mystical insights. The Suharwardi, Naqashbandi and Qadri Sufi orders have also played a very great role in the process of Islamisation of Kashmir. This process was taken to its logical conclusion by the localised Rishi version of Sufi teachings, and a central figure in this regard was Shaykh Nooru’d-Din, popularly known as Nund Resh. Islam came to Kashmir from Central Asia and later on was accommodated within the Kashmiri ethos, which was shaped by diverse factors over a period of time. The influences from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrainism were received. Even the Sufis had imbibed some elements which were considered anti-Shariat by some authors. For example, Mirza Haidar laments about the “un-Islamic and anti-Shariat ways of Sufis.” Moreover, the spiritualisation process started in Kashmir with the coming of the Sufis from other parts of the Islamic world. According to G.M.D. Sufi: “.... These Syeds and their followers seem to have stimulated the tendency to mysticism for which Buddhism and Vedantism had already paved the way”. Another author says: “Popular saint singers became the apostles of a synthesis and rapprochement, aided by common points in Advaita and Sufism” But it should not be misconstrued from this that the role of Islam was marginalised and overshadowed by the local influences as the phenomenon of Sufism is to be viewed always in its global perspective, and Kashmir was not an exception to it. Since the Suharwardi, Naqashbandi, Qadiria, Kubarawi and Rishi schools of Sufi thought flourished side by side in Kashmir, the interplay of various foreign and local elements in the flourishing of Kashmir mysticism can easily be discerned. Sufism came to Kashmir after the emergence of Khanqahs and Silsilas. Though “almost simultaneously with the foundation of Muslim rule in Kashmir (720/1320), Sufism was introduced there,” still there is evidence that Islam made its inroads long before the establishment of Muslim rule in Kashmir. But there is no doubt that the systematic and well-organised Sufi activities began only towards the end of the 14th century. Hence forward Sufis like Saiyid Ali Hamadani, Mir Muhammad, Saiyyid Jaamaluddin Bukhari and Saiyid Ismail Shami began to enter Kashmir in quick succession. One important ideological framework, which can be discerned running through all the activities of foreign and local Sufis and mystics in Kashmir, was based mainly on the works of Ibn’ Arabi and the Kashmiri Sufis seem to have taken little notice of Shaykh Alaud-Din Simani’s criticism of Wahdat-al-Wajud of Ibn Arabi. A different trend, which emerged after the coming of the Sufis from Persia and Central Asia, was the crude synchronised form of it, which came to the fore with the development of an indigenous Sufi order known as Rishism. To start with, let us take a close view of some Sufi stalwarts. Much research work has been done on the Kubarawi and Rishi mystical movements of Kashmir. The monumental work of Prof M. Ishaq Khan titled as “Kashmir’s Transition to Islam — The Role of Muslim Rishis” and “Sufism in Kashmir” of Prof A.Q. Rafiqi are the books in point. Therefore, I have confined to lesser-known history of Sufism in Kashmir. To start with Sayyid Sharfud’-Din ‘Abdur Rahman (d. 1327 CE), popularly known as Bulbul Shah, was the first Sufi, who apart from being a devout mystic, was a great human reformist. He was a disciple of the Suharwardi Sufi, Shah Ni ‘matullah Wali Farsi. Bulbul Shah succeeded in attracting to Islam Rinchen Shah (1324 CE), who was instrumental in popularising Islam in Kashmir. Bulbul Shah, the first Suharwardi Sufi, was able to convert Rinchana, a Buddhist to Islam, apart from some 10,000 converts, including Rawanchandra, the brother-in-law of Rinchana. Rinchana, in turn, granted the revenues of certain villages to Bulbul Shah for his maintenance and also built a Khanqah for him near his own palace. Attached to the Khanqah was a large langer-khanah (kitchen) known as Bulbul Lankar, where the poor were fed free of cost twice a day. A mosque was also built near the hospice by Rinchana, (Sadruddin, the new name given to him by Bulbul Shah), where he offered congregational prayers at appointed times. Thus the first community kitchen was established by this great Sufi saint in order to invite one and all to dine there without any consideration of creed or colour. Thus the first Suharwardi Sufi, of whom we have any record to have entered Kashmir, was Bulbul Shah, who by converting the king, increased the prestige of Islam and led to the acceptance of the new faith by some of the nobles and, according to one tradition, by 10,000 inhabitants of the valley. Bulbul Shah led a life of complete self-abnegation and preached against superstitious and charlatans widely prevalent amongst the Kashmiris of his period. He helped the poor, and showed immense love towards the downtrodden. (The writer is the Director, Shah-i-Hamadan Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Kashmir, Srinagar) |
Synthetic duvets can worsen asthma RESEARCHERS in New Zealand, which has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world, have refuted long-standing advice that sufferers should use synthetic bed coverings rather than feathers. Synthetic duvets, or quilts, can actually make the condition worse, the Wellington School of Medicine researchers said in a study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal. The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation said it had stopped recommending the use of synthetic pillows and duvets in preference to feather ones, as a result of the research. Quilts and duvets with man-made fillings are much cheaper than those made of feathers or wool and outsell them four-to-one.
DPA
Abortion pill makers alert doctors A woman who took the abortion pill mifepristone died of a bacterial infection and another suffered a non-fatal heart attack, but it is not clear whether the pill caused the problems, US regulators and the drug’s maker said. Danco Laboratories, which sells the drug under the brand name Mifeprex, alerted physicians to the events. All the women took the pill — also known as RU-486 — and misoprostol, another drug that needs to be taken with mifepristone to end pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration and Danco also said that three women given mifepristone had ectopic pregnancies that ruptured, and one of the women died. Ectopic pregnancies are ones that develop outside the womb, often in the fallopian tubes.
Reuters |
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It pays to control craving for sweet foods MOST of us have a pretty good idea of what constitutes a healthy diet and will be only too aware that sugary stuff such as sweets, chocolate and coffee-bar patisseries is unlikely to do much for our waistline or
well-being. As an occasional treat, it’s fine. But despite the best of intentions, some of us can find ourselves cracking into the chocolate cookies with disconcerting regularity. The traditional view is that such dietary indiscretions are the result of a lack of self-control. Yet while a sweet tooth may seem to be rooted in some psychological feebleness, my experience tells me otherwise. Mostly, I have found that serious sugar cravings are the result of an imbalance in body, not mind. A few dietary modifications can often undo an unhealthy fondness for the sweet stuff, and take the angst out of doing the right thing nutritionally. The body depends on a ready supply of sugar in the bloodstream to keep it functioning normally and it generally likes to keep the level of this most essential of fuels within relatively narrow parameters. However, not everyone is adept at keeping sugar on an even keel. For some, blood-sugar levels roller coaster their way through the day. But because it is so fundamental, alarm bells ring if blood-sugar levels drop to subnormal levels. If the body senses it’s running low on sugar, it generally stimulates the urge to eat. Not that a salad nicoise will do, mind. When blood-sugar levels plummet, it’s sugar the body needs — and cravings for sweet snacks is the almost inevitable result. So stabilising blood-sugar levels is a top priority for those who crave sugar and the right diet is key to taking control. It is vital to avoid foods that release sugar very quickly into the bloodstream. The peaks of blood sugar these foodstuffs induce can overstimulate the body’s regulatory mechanisms, leading to crashes of blood sugar (and more cravings) some time later. Obviously, foods packed with refined sugar are likely to give trouble. But many starchy foods, notably white bread, white rice, pasta and potatoes, destabilise blood-sugar levels, too, and are best given a wide berth. Basing the diet on foods that give a long, slow release of sugar into the bloodstream is a key to ensuring good blood-sugar stability. Suitable candidates include whole rye bread, brown rice, wholewheat pasta, beans, pulses and most fresh fruits and vegetables. Another important element is protein — including some with each meal seems to help blood-sugar stability. For treats, dark chocolate is relatively low in sugar and makes a pretty decent alternative to common-or-garden sweet-shop fare. What we eat helps keep blood-sugar levels stable, but when we eat is critical, too. Skipping breakfast, grabbing an excuse of a lunch and then overeating in the evening is unlikely to help our cause. Eating three square meals a day is the order of the day for blood-sugar stability. Healthy snacks such as fresh fruit and nuts keep blood-sugar levels from dropping into the danger zone. Keeping the body regularly stoked with slow-burn fuel puts pay to an unhealthy attachment to sugar, and helps keep us on the nutritional straight and narrow without the need for a cast-iron resolve.
The Observer Etching Kashmir’s tragedy in stone ISMAIL
Gilkar is a somewhat hardened man today, as unsentimental about death as the tombstones he carves for the dead. Though he has gone about his work with a cold efficiency for nearly 25 years now, Gilkar, (57) has not remained entirely immune from the growing cynicism generated by the death and destruction during 12 years of a violent separatist campaign. “Death is such a reality in Kashmir that I have stopped arguing for its reasons. Each day about half a dozen tombstones are dressed by me and out of say six, four are meant for those who have died in the ongoing violence,” he says coldly as he works with a hammer and a chisel on a new slab of stone. Placing a tombstone atop a grave has been a longstanding tradition with the Muslims living in the urban areas of the valley. But during the past decade the practice has caught on with rural Kashmiris too, as deaths in the course of the secessionist campaign have come to be associated with martyrdom and hence the need for memorials. “As young men are claimed by violence each day in Kashmir, a father or a brother feels a moral obligation to erect some sort of a memorial to remember them,” says a local social scientist. The past decade has meant more work for Gilkar as he has been called to prepare tombstones for the youths buried in Srinagar’s graveyard for martyrs. Gilkar works from his shed in the heart of the valley’s largest graveyard called Malla Kha, which is spread over hundreds of acres. Gilakar smiles as he points to an Urdu couplet he has carved out on a tombstone: “Ayay thay hum mislay bulbul, Saeray gulshan kar chalay/ Laloy mali bagh apna, Hum to apnay ghar chalay (I visited your garden as the nightingale/ To thee O gardener thy abode, it is time for me to go home),” it reads.
IANS |
In the western mind zero means nothing; to the eastern mind zero means all, because out of nothing is born all and to nothing it gone back again. So in the beginning is Zero the Infinite, and in the end is Zero, the infinite, and in the middle is the whole world of categories, concepts, words, classifications, this and that. And the same is the case with the arithmetic of life too; you come out of a zero nad one day you will go back into it. Before that happens if you can enter into it you will become spiritual. Then you will have a totally different kind of life..... You will be in the world but untouched by it, unspoiled by it. You will do everything that is needed and yet you will not be a doer. You will talk when needed but deep inside you will remain silent. You will carry a zero inside you always and always. The Zero is what Christianity means by calling Mary a virgin. If a man carries a Zero within his heart he is a virgin. Jesus is born out of that inner virginity.... the Christ-child is born out of a zero consciousness. ....Sannyas is nothing but preparation to make you a virgin Mary so that you can mother the new child of your being, a new man, who is not born out of the body, not born out of the mind, but is born out of your innermost consciousness. And that innermost consciousness is of the nature of void... it is so pure. — Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, The Zero Experience, A Darshan Diary *** God give us men! A time like this demands Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and a will; Men who have honour; men who will not lie. — Josiah Gilbert Holland, The Day’s Demand *** One cannot balance tragedy in the scales Unless one weighs it with the tragic heart. — Stephen Vincent Benet, John Brown’s Body |
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