Mendhar (Poonch), January 6
Amidst tension between India and Pakistan following Mumbai terror attacks, people living near the Line of Control (LoC) here in Mendhar want the two countries to iron out the differences and work for permanent ceasefire. More than four years back, guns fell silent along the LoC due to ceasefire between India and Pakistan and people in the border township of Mendhar, who suffered a lot due to hostility between the two countries, heaved a sigh of relief.

Before 2003, residents of this township, which is located just a few km from Kotli district of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), lived in constant fear due to heavy shelling from across the border.

They say a number of locals lost their lives due to shelling before the ceasefire and there was a huge loss to property as well.

They say hundreds of animals also died due to shelling in Mendhar and its adjoining areas, including Balakote, Mankote Sagra and Gaulad.

After the ceasefire, the fear had reduced. However, with increased tension between India and Pakistan following Mumbai terror attacks, people here are praying that the dark clouds of war just wane away and ceasefire turns permanent.

The residents say people used to rush home after 5 pm before 2003, but now the markets remain crowded till late in the evening.

“Four years ago, there was constant fear in the minds of people here that they will get killed in heavy shelling. But after ceasefire between the two countries, there is peace along the border,” says Sanjeev Bali, a local resident.

"We pray that the two countries fight jointly to eradicate terrorism. We also want Pakistan to punish the mastermind of Mumbai terror attacks so that trust is restored between the two countries. We are hoping that after the current tension ends, we will see a permanent ceasefire”.

Months before the two countries announced ceasefire along the border, Rafiq Khan, a namberdar of adjoining Balakote village, died after a shell hit him.

Though the villagers of Balakote still recollect the shocking incident, they hope that such incidents don't repeat and permanent peace prevails.

“Though Rafiq lost his life during the shelling, we hope that such incidents won't happen again.

The hostility between the two countries has added to the sufferings of the people and who better than people living along the borders know that war leads only to devastation and bloodshed on either side,” says Muhammad Sharief Khan, a contractor and resident of Balakote.

Ramnagar, (Udhampur) January 6
Ravinder Thakur, who was unemployed just three years back, is now earning Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 per month after he adopted bee-keeping as a full-time work at his native place in Ramnagar.

Like other unemployed youth of this mountainous belt, Thakur, an undergraduate, was running from pillar to post to get a government job. The dejected and hopeless youth was even ready to do a class IV job in any department. Being an elder son of the family, he had even decided to sell his agricultural land to bribe officers for getting the desired job.

“It was the matter of chance that one of my friends took me to a camp organised by the horticulture department to educate the unemployed youth about various self-employment schemes," Thakur recalled. During the camp, he was introduced to bee farming by an officer.

Thakur sought help from the officer who selected him for training in bee-keeping. Now, with the financial support from a bank, he is one of the prominent bee-keeper of this Kandi belt where horticulture has huge potential. “I am developing bee colonies, producing honey and earning between Rs 60,000 and Rs 70,000 per annum through this business,” he said, and advised other youth to join the venture to counter unemployment.

As his hard work yielded good results, Thakur roped in a number of unemployed youth in bee-keeping and today they are producing huge honey and supplying the same to government stores and private shops.

Thakur’s is not an isolated case, bee-keeping has emerged as a big source of employment in the backward areas of Udhampur and Doda districts. Even some non-government organisations (NGOs) are coming forward to involve unemployed youth and women in this business to create job avenues for the poor sections of society.

At least six NGOs have been working in this mountainous belt, which have constituted self-help groups to provide all help, including loans and marketing facilities, to those who want to start bee-keeping as business.

Several NGOs and teams of the horticulture department have started organising camps and are encouraging farmers and village youth to set up agro-based business ventures with small investment.

According to the officers of the department, Jammu region has a vast potential for honey production and at least three good crops can be obtained in a year. They say Doda and Ramban belt produce world-class white honey, which is a unique variety. White honey is produced from the flowers of “plectrantus” bush, found only in this belt, they add. 

Srinagar, January 6
Helping Inderveer Singh, a special child, in eye-hand coordination activities, Jenny, a special educator at Life Help Centre for Childcare, Srinagar, finds the otherwise tough job as normal with no challenge.

Jenny guides children who suffer from cerebellum pulse, down syndrome and mental retardation on motor, self-help, communication, functional academic and domestic behavioural skills, and community orientation in primary II.

Sharing same thoughts, her counterpart Bency from Chennai, who teaches secondary class at the centre, says, "We are trained accordingly. Training, interest and involvement put together makes the tough going easy”.

For a local trainer, the task is painstaking. Four out of six children in primary I have speech problem. “I teach them drawing, join the dots and matching, which is quite hectic,” says the trainer.

With 21 special children on rolls, the centre caters to the age group from six to 16 only. Only mild and moderate mentally challenged cases are admitted to the centre.

“It has to be determined by clinical psychologist. As there are no clinical psychologists in the valley, psychiatrists and doctors do this job, which is not good,” says P. Rajan, project coordinator.

Children are segregated as prescribed by the Rehabilitation Council of India on the basis of chronological age.

With equal number of boys and girls, the centre has capacity to cater to 50 special children. Inaugurated in September 2007, the centre is equipped with daycare and residential facilities.

Special children from various pockets of valley, including Uri, Tral, Kargil, Leh, Pulwama and Baramulla, avail facilities here.

“We are trying to motivate parents to send their special children to the centre so that they can avail the services available. We offer special training to children, but parents lack awareness,” says Rajan.

The centre is a unit of the Life Help Centre for Handicapped, Chennai, and it has an experience of 30 years.

“Our ultimate goal is to train locals and strengthen parent-teacher relationship," says Rajan, adding, “Such centres cannot run on charity basis for long. Parents are to be involved and habit of paying for services has to be inculcated”.

Project coordinator says that children are happy at the centre and have shown lot of improvement. “There is a scope to develop their skills and provide them vocational trainings,” he says.

“Being special, they need extra care, they are harmless and innocent. Most of them stay here as they come from the remote areas,” says Rajan.

He says being slow learners, the special children tend to forget things if there is any gap. “So we keep them busy with various exercises. Support and cooperation from parents is important”.

Speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy are offered to children apart from health screenings.

“Government support is all the more important and only then we can move ahead,” he adds.

Jammu, January 6
To showcase the might of equipments and weapons held by the Indian armed forces and to motivate the youth to join the Army, the Jammu-based Tiger Division of the Army organised a two-day arms exhibition in Jammu on January 4 and January 5.

Aimed at motivating the youth to take up armed forces as a career option, the exhibition , “Know Your Army”, got a tremendous response from the masses, especially the youth of the region who came in large numbers to catch a glimpse of the firepower possessed by country’s armed forces.

Various equipments on the display were a centre of attraction for the youth and schoolchildren.

The two-day exhibition has become an annual feature in the region where the Army puts on display its arsenal to attract the youth to fill the vacuum created due to the shortage of officers in the armed forces.

“The aim of this type of exhibition is to make the common masses aware about the firepower and the might of the armed forces of the country, besides motivating the youth to take up armed forces as a career option,” said GOC , Tiger Division, Major- Gen DL Chowdhary.

The weapons that were kept on display include the mighty T 72 and T 55 tanks, BMPs, reconnaissance vehicle “MILAN” and the anti-tank guided missile system.

In the artillery segment, the Army, for the first time in the state, kept on display the 155 SOLTAM guns, the gun with nine men detachments, which can effectively engage targets up to 39 km, besides firing a variety of precision ammunition and degrade the enemy combat potential.

Also on display was the 130 MM medium gun, which can effectively engage targets up to 27 km.Besides firing a variety of ammunition each weighing 33 kg at the rate of 6-6 shells per minute, it has the power to topple an enemy tank with 
direct firing.

The other main attraction was the powerful rocket system that can pulverise a target of size 600m X 400m with 40 rockets in 20 seconds.It has also the capability to fire single salvo and can shoot and scoot.

The Army also displayed its air defence system, infantry weapons, engineering equipments, communication and medical equipments.

Jammu, January 6
Despite introducing land reforms and several other welfare measures to ameliorate the socio-economic condition of lower strata, certain castes among the weaker sections of society not only miss equal opportunities but are also considered untouchables.

Most of them allege that they are still considered untouchables, albeit, in soft form.

Meghs and Mahashas of Palth village on both sides of the Samba-Mansar road reflect this sordid tale.

What attracted attention towards the village is that most of the homes in the village are thatched huts or mud houses except for a few concrete houses.

In the age of Internet, the village still remains in shambles, as it was 50 years back.

Rano Devi, a villager, says boys of the village read up to 5th standard and then pick up some odd jobs in Samba town while girls look after household chores till they attain the age of matrimony.

“Meghs and Mahashas do not have much land for agrarian activities so our men resort to manual labour to earn a living,” she says.

However, she regrets that after hard work, whatever these men earn they splurge it on alcohol. She maintains unlike Meghs and Mahashas, Jats have ample land to eke out a living on their own.

Meanwhile, a researcher in land reforms and caste subjugation, Neeraj Randhava says people belonging to backward castes are still to achieve social, cultural and economic parity.

“During my research work, I came across glaring examples wherein lower-cast people have to face discrimination in several societal functions,” he says.

For instance, in Ram Leela depiction, people belonging to backward caste do not get the opportunity to play the character of Rama, Lakshmana or Sita.

If accommodated at all, men from such castes are given the roles of Ravna, Megnatha or something like that, he says.

Similarly, during marriage ceremonies or other community feasts in the villages, they are served separately.

“Once I came across a teacher belonging to a lower caste, who had donated his blood to an upper caste person. To my utter surprise, he told me that when the recipient and his family came at the home of donor to express their gratitude, they did not even accepted a glass of water as courtesy,” says the researcher.

You can adjudge the mindset of some people belonging to the upper caste. They can accept blood from a man of lower caste but cannot accept a glass of water, he adds.

“There is a dire need of social awakening on the part of people in general and NGOs while the state and central governments need to initiate steps in right perspective to bring these marginalised classes in the mainstream,” he recommends.

Jammu, January 6
“Samawar”, a traditional vessel for preparing “sheer chai” (salty tea), has got reduced to an article of decoration. It is now presented as a gift on special occasions like marriage and birthday.Visitors buy it as an article of decoration for their houses.

“Samawar” travelled a long way from Khurasan in Iran to the Kashmir valley centuries ago in the confluence of Irani culture with Kashmir. It is made up of brass with its interior nickel-plated. Designs carved on its outer surface make it attractive.

It is a pot in which tea is made by burning charcoal in the small chimney called “Nod” at its centre. The base of this chimney has pores through which the ash settles down, air blows through this chimney and helps in keeping the charcoal ignited to boil the water and prepare the tea. There is a cylindrical outlet for pouring the tea into the cup.

Tea like “sheer chai”, taken with salt, particularly sweet tea called “kahwa”, used to be exclusively prepared in “samawar” a couple of decades ago, but now the modern electronic and electrical tea pots have made the use of “samawar” irrelevant. It is used by the peasantry in the valley for carrying tea to the fields for people working there. With a smooth bottom, it easily rests on the ground surface.

In olden days when there was no facility of electricity available to the people, “samawar” was an essential kitchenware every household had to have. Its size was so big that around 12 cups of tea could be made in it, but now as a piece of Kashmiri art its size has reduced considerably to hardly accommodate a single cup of tea. It is available in the market particularly in Moti Bazaar at different prices. It is affordable and its prices range between Rs 380 and Rs 1,800, depending on the size.

Vinod Bhat, a resident of Domana, said, “No doubt the tea made in samawar was good in taste. The reason for its reduction to merely a gift item is that making tea in samawar is a time- consuming process.”

“Earlier, we used to make tea in samawar, but now we prefer to give and receive it as a gift on special occasions, although we use it during marriage ceremonies, said Kishani Pandita, a resident of Nagroota.

Bari Brahmna (Jammu), January 6
Working at a filling station has been a matter of pride and satisfaction for 18-year-old Isha Bhagat, as after her father’s demise the responsibility to earn livelihood for the family shifted to her shoulders.

“I feel proud and honoured that I have been given the opportunity to work here. No work is big or small provided you have the commitment to do it with honesty and dedication,” Isha told The Tribune.

Situated on the outskirts of Jammu on the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway, Ganga Filling Station is the only filling station in the entire region, which is being looked after by female staff. At this station it is an all-women affair as the female staff is looking after the entire operation.

Right from filling fuel in the vehicles to collecting money and keeping record of all transactions, the entire work at the station is being looked after by the female employees.

The job for the four girls, who work at the station, has come as a blessing for them, as it has not only provided them with a means to support their livelihood, but also has given them an opportunity to save money for their future.

“A few years ago, I lost my father and the responsibility came on my shoulders. We were almost on the verge of starvation, but this job has come as a blessing,” said Isha.

Like Isha, another girl, Seema, who had also lost her father a few years ago, opted to work at the station to earn her livelihood.

“What I earn from my hard work is sufficient to feed my entire family. In the absence of any other source of income, I have to look after everything, right from feeding the family to arranging money for educating my younger siblings,” said Seema.

The girls said in unison that the owner of the station had not only provided them employment but also had emerged as a father figure for them.

“Our boss takes care of us and we approach him whenever we face a problem. He trusts us, never checks the meter and relies on whatever records we show him,” said Ravinder Kaur, another girl working at the station.

The owner of the station, Jay Ram Sharma, says there has been a remarkable increase in the sale of the station after the entire operation was taken over by the female staff.

“There has been a remarkable sale as the families who earlier were reluctant to come to fill the fuel together now feel comfortable with the girls. Also, these girls are honest and the entire record of the transactions is kept transparent,” Sharma said.

Adding he said, “There is a rise in our sale and the overall profit and the credit goes to my female staff which performs a dedicated service.”