Katra, September 25
For years together, a local hotelier-cum-social worker Shiv Kumar Sharma has been organising wrestling contests, popularly known as dangal, at the local level in which grapplers from throughout the country usually participate.

In 2005, when confidence-building measures were taken at the official level between India and Pakistan to improve relations between the two countries, Sharma had mooted the idea of inviting Pakistani wrestlers at Katra during Navratra festival. His initiative received an overwhelming response as wrestlers from Pakistan gave their consent to display their talent during the festival.

“It was really encouraging when our brothers from Pakistan accepted our invitation and announced that they would participate in the festival,” Sharma recalled while narrating how this wrestling contest, christened as Mission Dosti, was started in 2005.

For the fifth consecutive term, the contest has been successfully completed this year during Navratras and credit for conducting the event goes to Pakistani wrestlers.

Pakistani teams of different sports have been participating in various tournaments in India. A team of wrestlers from Pakistan visited the state in 2005 during Navratras and later it became a regular affair due to the love and affection shown by people of the region.

“Even, we were not expecting such an overwhelming response from our local people. It was all due to the affection shown by the locals towards them that Pakistani wrestlers always gave positive response to our invitation,” Sharma said, adding, “Wrestling during Navratras has become an event to promote peace and brotherhood in this sub-continent”.

In 2005, when Pakistani wrestlers first time reached Katra, the base camp of the holy shrine of the Mata Vaishno Devi, they became emotional due to the love and affection shown by people. Devotees from all over the country, who had thronged the holy town, cheered the Pakistan wrestlers and gave them a rousing reception.

“Since 2005, it has become a routine affair that people of Katra come on the roads to show their affection towards Pakistani wrestlers,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the wrestling contest is organised by the organisers with the help of the local people, especially hoteliers and business houses. Out of the total expenditure incurred in the event, only 10 per cent is borne by the Navratra Festival Committee, while as remaining 90 per cent of the expenditure is being borne by the locals.

In the state, Mission Dosti wrestling is the only sports contest in which players from outside the country participate.

Sharma, while sharing his experience in organising such event, said wrestling was the most popular game in this sub-continent, especially in the rural areas. “We share common culture and heritage and wrestling is a part of our common culture so we decided to use this game as a bridge to spread peace and brotherhood in this region,” he said.

On July 17, 1983, Sharma had first time organised a dangal at Katra and since then he has been organising the event in different parts of the state to make younger generation aware about the tradition and heritage of our country.

Srinagar, September 25
Known for their delicious taste and appealing colour, apples grown here are high in demand.

The fruit is grown in the valley on 1.25 lakh hectares and its total production is 13.5 lakh metric tonnes. Out of this, 20 per cent of the apples come from an early season variety, known as Hazratbali, says an official in the horticulture department.

Hazratbali, a medium-sized apple, matures by mid-July. Other varieties Amri (ambri Kashmiri), American Trel (American pirogue), Delicious (red delicious), Maharaja (white-dotted) are famous world over.

However, apple growers across the valley, who are currently busy in harvesting the fruit to be transported to markets outside state, accuse the government of not doing enough to safeguard the declining horticulture sector.

“Kashmir’s fruit business, despite being one of the prime revenue earners, has never got the desired attention from the government,” says Abdul Khaliq, a fruit grower in Shopian, 52 km from Srinagar.

Like Khaliq, most fruit growers complain of government’s failure to accord an industry status to the fruit business.

“If fruit business is granted the status of an industry, we would be entitled to financial and other subsidy benefits,” says Mohammad Ibrahim, an orchardist in North Kashmir’s Sopore.

The valley’s fruit business faces stiff competition from Shimla and importers. Orchards are being converted into residential plots, as farmers here say the trade that once earned fortunes for them, is not yielding enough.

“After suffering many crop failures, I sold a portion of my orchard to a businessman who has started construction on it,” says Farooq Ahmad, a resident of Teilbal north-east of Srinagar.

According to the horticulture department, around 1.5 million tonnes of apples are produced in Kashmir annually. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry says over three million people are directly or indirectly associated with this trade that is currently estimated at Rs 20 billion. Ashiq Hussain, an orchardist in Rafiabad-Baramulla says, “Apart from the quantity, the quality of apples grown here is very good”.

According to estimates, over 5 lakh tonnes of apple are ruined every year in the valley. Diseases like scab infection, red-mite and powdery mildew are spoiling the crop and growers are unable to do much to save their crop. Farmers allege that spurious fungicides, pesticides and fertilisers are being supplied to them at exorbitant rates. The declining landholding of farmers is another major concern. “The absence of cold storage facilities to preserve the fruit is yet another problem,” says Imran Ahmed, a research scholar.

“On an average, a truck takes 40 hours to reach New Delhi and longer, if it is headed further. The absence of proper marketing strategies, proper grading according to size and quality, attractive and scientific packaging is damaging valley’s fruit trade,” opines the scholar.

Jammu, September 25
Apart from fighting the armed insurgency in the state, the Army is engaged in various social activities; one among them is providing quality education to the youth of the far off areas of the state.

Under its operation Sadbhavna, the Army has established around 51 goodwill schools in the state where it has been providing quality education to a large number of students.

Nine such schools are operational in the Jammu region, in which 2,140 students, mostly of far off areas of the region, are getting quality education.

“The Army launched a unique operation called operation Sadbhavna in 1998 to win the hearts and minds of the terrorism-ravaged population of the state. Over a period of 11 years, an amount of about Rs 321.14 crore has been spent towards strengthening the bond between the Army and the common people,” said Col DK Katchari, an Udhampur-based Public Relation Officer of the Ministry of Defence.

As per the details, the Army has constructed 62 schools and provided assistance by undertaking 1,797 additional projects of the state government schools in the remote areas.

“This assistance has been in terms of renovations; construction of additional classrooms, toilets and playgrounds; and provision of furniture, stationary, books for students and libraries, computers and educational software packages,” Colonel Katchari said, adding, “The motive of the exercise is to provide quality education to the children of poor and weaker sections of the society at a nominal cost and enable them to be part of the national mainstream as responsible citizens,” he said.

In addition, the Army is giving a scholarship to a total of 158 militancy-affected children for education in the Army schools outside the state.

The Army is also running 51 goodwill schools in the state. Nine are in the Jammu region with a strength of 2,140 students, out of which 300 belong to Gujjar and Bakarwal families.

The Army has also constructed two residential schools in Rajouri and Pahalgam to provide state-of-the-art education to the children so that they could achieve academic and social excellence. “Army Goodwill Public School, Rajouri, has a hostel for 105 boys and 45 girls. It has admitted 101 Gujjar and Bakarwal children as students. All the students have been showing excellent results,” the Colonel said.

Srinagar, September 25
The state is having a huge number of public and personal vehicles. The number stands at 6,68,445, comprising 4,19,425 in Jammu and 2,49,020 in Kashmir division. However, the state has no mechanism to check air pollution (arising out of emission of smoke due to fuel consumption) and noise pollution.

While 79 per cent of the population lives in the rural areas and 21 per cent in the urban areas, the case is contrary in case of vehicles which stand at 78 per cent in the urban areas and 22 per cent in the rural areas. This is mainly because of the “soft loans” provided by banks, which has immensely increased the number of vehicles. In the absence of a mechanism, the traffic police relies upon “pollution under control” certificate issued by the pollution checking centres authorised by the transport commissioner.

“The punishment being meagre that the violators afford to repeat the violations only to add to the environmental pollution without compunction,” says GS Chauha, SSP. Thus, the state high court has directed the traffic police to seize all vehicles not carrying the pollution under control certificate and fitness certificate. The steps to check pollution also include a ban on the vehicles older than 25 years and stop vehicles of other states if not carrying pollution and fitness certificates from entering the state at Lakhanpur.

In order to check noise pollution, various prohibitory measures are in force. The traffic police claims to have achieved a considerable progress in checking noise pollution. In accordance with the high court orders, it has also identified 15 stretches of roads in the state passing along educational institutions and hospitals as “silence zones”. The police, however, lacks required equipment to measure the noise standards in case of doubt about a vehicle crossing the permissible noise level. The police is also implementing high court directions to prevent washing of vehicles and their movement in and around the Dal lake area. 

Jammu, September 25
The tallest set of effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnath for the celebration of Dussehra is being made for Jammu, costing Rs 1 lakh.

These sets are also being prepared for Srinagar and Kishtwar, which cost Rs 80,000. The sets would be sent for the first time to these two places. While as the same sets of different dimensions are also being prepared for Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Akhnoor. On the day of Dussehra, people enjoy the moment when the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnath are burnt with a thundering impact of crackers.

The festival is incomplete without the work of artists who make these huge effigies.

Around 40 artists from Maina Pothi village of Meerut district, UP, are preparing the effigies at Geeta Bhawan.

Mohammad Gyasudin, a Muslim artist who is the head of the group, said: “I come here every year one month before the Dussehra to prepare the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnath. We all Hindu and Muslim brothers are working unitedly to complete our task quickly”.

These artists are preparing around 50 sets of effigies for the celebration of the festival in different parts of the state.

The artists are using silk sarees, bamboo sticks, cardboard and waste posters for making the effigies. They carry all the material for making the effigies with themselves. This group of artists is preparing the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnath for the state for the past 26 years. Mohammad Gyasudin is the third generation man who is continuing this business. His children are also learning this art alongside their studies.

Jammu, September 25
After having approved by the Indian Medicine Central Council, a multi-crore Central Research Institute for Sowa Rigpa is coming up in Leh for the promotion of ancient system of medicine.

Sowa Rigpa, commonly known as Aamchi, is quite popular in the Himalayan region of India. Experts maintain that Tibetan word Sowa means to heal, to care and to nourish whereas Rigpa means knowledge or Science. It’s a part of ayurvedic science that covers and explains the moral conduct of patients, causes of diseases and methods of treatment.

Presently in the state, the Ladakh Aamchi Sabha has been imparting four-year diploma course in Bachelor of Tibetan Medical System, besides Central Institute for Buddhist Studies set up by the Ministry of Culture. The Government of India at Leh offers a six-year degree course in Sowa Rigpa.

“Recognition to Sowa has come after long efforts made by Sowa Rigpa Research Institute that was established in 1976. We geared up our endeavour to get it recognised in 2000 as we had a lot of research work and ancient literature related to the system of medicine to back our demand,” said Dr Padma Gurmet.

After the visit of the then Union Health Minister Ambu Mani Ram Dass to Ladakh, a panel of experts was constituted in 2007 for the study of status and strength of Sowa Rigpa in India. The panel, headed by Dr Gurmet, submitted its report in 2008.

“The institute is coming up at Leh on a seven-kanal tract, besides a herbal garden is being readied on vast swathe of land measuring around 225 kanals along the banks of the Indus,” Dr Gurmet added.

Sowa Rigpa is practised in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling in West Bengal, Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and the Ladakh region.

“As many as 50 per cent people are dependent on Sowa Rigpa in Ladakh and some Ladakhi-speaking pockets of Paddar in Doda,” revealed Dr Gurmet.

According to Dr Gurmet, Sowa Rigpa has the Indian origin and is part of ayurveda. “The fundamental text book, ‘Rgyud-bzi’, is believed to be preached by Lord Buddha as part of the Buddhist philosophy,” he said, and added: “When Buddhism reached in Tibet in the eighth century, the medicinal text was translated in the Tibetan language”.

“We have collected as many as 1,000 ancient books and manuscripts, besides discovering as many as 525 herbs of medicinal use and 100 mineral,” he said. 

Leh, September 25
Life in Ladakh is celebrated in a grand way. The birth of a child or marriage turns into impressive celebratory occasions for people. The auspicious day, 7th, 15th, 20th and 30th of the newborn baby, is celebrated by everyone of the community by bringing chang (local beer brewed from barley or wheat), rice and khataks (white colour scarf used on happy occasions to welcome the baby).

These traditional celebrations, one of the main tourists attractions, keep the community ties strong, besides delighting the people during the winter lasting almost six months.

Apart from traditional celebrations, the much hyped 15-day festival from September 1 every year has become a new source of entertainment.

People in large numbers dance to the tunes of traditional music for the inaugural procession of the festival by different cultural troupes in traditional costumes. The procession depicts diversity of culture to tourists who merrily click photographs of the festivities. Khatok Chenmo, royal entertainment for king and his darbar, introduced for the first time this year as one of the items in the festival, was a huge draw as people thronged Leh Palace, where it was held.

The festival this year also expanded by encompassing other remote destinations like Changthang in eastern Ladakh and the Nubra valley in western Ladakh.

Nessar Hussian, assistant director of the Tourism Department, Leh, says: “Leh and its adjacent areas earlier used to be the centre of attraction in the festival. With a view to attracting tourists to other regions, the pastoral culture of Changthang, sand dunes and double-humped camel of the Nubra valley were the main feature of the event”.

Double-humped camel, known as Backterian camel, found only in the valley of Ladakh, is a new tourist attraction of the Nubra valley.

Ladakh Festival is reviving the lost and forgotten traditional games. Mehbob, district tourist officer, says: “Horse Polo match, earlier played by royals in Ladakh, is the most sought-after pastime with tourists visiting in big groups paying Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per match”.

Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, who hails from Leh, says: “Ladakh festival is a drive to lengthen the tourist season. Over 70,000 tourists visited Ladakh last year, while till August, 67,585 tourists visited the area this year”.