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Day of music, bullets and deserted roads
Shutdown against Zubin’s concert affects life in Valley
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Rapper releases track in protest against concert
Governor urges scientists for solutions to global warming
Vohra for translation of literary works
Second Ladakh Marathon today
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Day of music, bullets and deserted roads
Srinagar, September 7 The region’s roads were hauntingly deserted throughout the day as security forces erected checkpoints on all routes into Srinagar city and in the interiors of the city. At a park in the central city, under the shadow of mighty Chinar trees, civil society organisers of a concert — projected as a parallel to the internationally acclaimed conductor of western classical music Zubin Mehta’s Ehsaas-e-Kashmir — waited for the clock to strike four. The state government, which permitted the parallel concert late in the evening on Friday, had placed several conditions, including timing. Police personnel in riot gear, armed with rifles, sealed all routes to the venue of this parallel concert, only allowing organisers and the media to move into the park. Checkpoints and armoured vehicles were placed on the roads, preventing people from reaching the venue. Through most of the afternoon, the international, national and local media thronged the venue — a coup for organisers of Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir, who had accused the organisers of Mehta’s concert of trying to hijack Kashmir’s narrative. As the day passed, the news of a firing incident in south Kashmir’s Shopian district began to trickle in. From the initial report of three injured, the toll kept mounting to one dead, then two dead, until it reached the final figure: four dead. Tension had been mounting in the region ever since Germany announced that it was organising Mehta's concert in Kashmir. As opposition to the concert grew in tone and tenor, the region was becoming a volatile powder keg. At three in the afternoon, organisers began to assemble the stage for the Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir concert, and, at 4 pm, the show began with several hundred people from a cross-section of society present in the audience. The civil society organisers said their event was in opposition to Mehta’s Ehsaas-e-Kashmir. “It is an aesthetic tribute to the resistance of the people of Kashmir,” one of the speakers said. Among the audience were students, poets, lawyers, doctors, academicians, businessmen, human rights activists and separatists. Three high-profile aides of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who had called for a shutdown in the region against Mehta’s concert, were listening to the musical concert — hitherto forbidden for them. The parallel concert was a mix of many things and included a rap song in English by two teenage singers, several poetic recitations, a Kashmiri song and a theatre play. Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir also hosted the return of Kashmir’s minstrels or bhands, who were fast going into oblivion since the modern forms of entertainment entered the region. Even as civil society’s Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir was underway and Mehta’s high-profile Ehsaas-e-Kashmir was being played in the Mughal-era Shalimar garden, bombs and bullets were puncturing Kashmir’s fragile calm. A few hours after the firing incident in Shopian, suspected militants attacked policemen with a grenade in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, in which 11 policemen were wounded. As the evening was nearing, Kashmir’s day of silence had been punctured with the sound of music, bullets and bombs and the climax was yet to end. As the clock was rushing towards six and the sun was beginning to settle behind the western mountains, two gunshots rang out at Budshah bridge, located less than a kilometre from the venue of Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir. Police or paramilitary personnel who were manning a checkpoint fired at a white car, injuring its driver. There was blood on the steering, the driver’s seat and the slope of the bridge. The police version and the claims of locals clashed head on. At Shalimar Garden, where Mehta was performing compositions of Beethoven and other maestros of western classical music, and inside the park in central Srinagar, where civil society was holding a parallel concert as a mark of protest, the show was on even as Kashmir recorded another of its bloodied days.
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Shutdown against Zubin’s concert affects life in Valley
Srinagar, September 7 The concert ‘Ehsas-e-Kashmir (Feeling of Kashmir)’ organised by the German Embassy, was held at the Shalimar Garden on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar on Saturday evening. Opposed to the holding of musical show in Srinagar, Geelani had called for a general strike on September 7 as a mark of protest against the international event broadcast live around the world. However, to ensure peaceful and smooth conduct of the concert, the government had put in place stringent security measures in the capital city and had even deployed sharpshooters at strategic points in and around the venue. Responding to the shutdown call, shops, business and commercial establishments in Srinagar city and other major towns of the Valley remained closed. Traffic was also off the roads, with inter-district transport service between Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir remaining suspended. Some private vehicles were, though, seen playing on the roads. The work in government offices, banks and educational institutions was also affected due to the strike. The stringent security measures put in place for the concert contributed to the situation in Srinagar, as the police and security forces had erected barricades and checkpoints on the arterial roads connecting Srinagar to other towns and on all the approach roads leading to the Shalimar Garden. Police were seen frisking and checking the identity of people at many places in Srinagar and its outskirts. The separatist outfits, including both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference, and civil society groups were opposed to the holding of the concert by internationally acclaimed musician in Srinagar, arguing that the conduct of the show will “overshadow the realities” about Kashmir “issue”. Separatists call for shutdown
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‘Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir’ a people’s show, says Mirwaiz
Srinagar, September 7 “Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir is a very good initiative. The Shalimar even is by the elite and for the elite, where as this event is a show by the common people of Kashmir who have seen suffering pain, agony, killings, disappearances and mass graves,” Mirwaiz said. The parallel show was organised by few civil society groups and activists based in Kashmir as a counter to Mehta’s show, which was organised by the German Embassy in India. Mirwaiz said nobody was against any such events which aimed at promoting things, but here in Mehta’s event, there was a hidden political agenda and an impression was being conveyed by the government that everything was normal in Kashmir, whereas the fact remains that there was tremendous pressure on the people. Mirwaiz said the German Government could have demonstrated its concern for the people of the Kashmir valley by contributing to its ailing healthcare or by paying an attention to the dying Dal Lake. |
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Rapper releases track in protest against concert
Srinagar, September 7 MC Kash, who shot to fame with his track ‘I protest’ during the 2010 civil unrest in the Valley, was especially known to make revolution hip-hop music as well as writing lyrics, which has made him a popular figure among the youth in the Valley. His ‘Orchesta of war’ track reminisces the violent past two decades of Kashmir. “In my streets, there is no peace, there is war” is the theme around which the song revolves, sending across the message that Kashmiris have seen so much bloodshed that they will never forget their history. MC Kash recalled his years of growing up in the Valley. He said, “When a person is born in Kashmir, what he sees is war. He has known nothing else but torture, deaths and curfews. It is impossible for a Kashmiri to ignore that perspective of Kashmir. When a Kashmiri is brought up with so much fear, he starts to challenge it. That is not politics, that is the emotion of a Kashmiri.” About his latest song ‘Orchestra of war’, he said it did not attack anybody in particular. “It does not attack anybody, but may refer to somebody. It says there is no peace in Kashmir, there is war,” he said. |
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Chicago team to visit Jammu home over rape issue
Jammu, September 7 “We are sad over the incident and welcome the probe initiated by the police and the administration. Our Chicago team has taken the incident seriously and will visit here soon to probe the role of Rotary members in the incident,” Sunil
Jain, president of Rotary Club Jammu Tawi, said at a press conference here today. Members of Rotary Club had gone into a huddle and were denying any role in the incident. Instead of addressing the issue and taking action against the people involved in the heinous crime, club
members were more interested in saving the name of the club. “Our only apprehension is that the good name of the home is not disgraced. With the kind of publicity that is appearing in the media, the good efforts of the last 34 years have been painted black,” Jain said. Replying to queries, members said they were not aware of the case and their knowledge was limited to whatever had appeared in the media. “The police is investigating the case and we are not privy to all facts in the case. If the happenings brought out by the media are correct, we condemn the incidents and support the action being taken by the authorities. We assure full cooperation to the administration in bringing the guilty to book,” Jain said. Members seemed to be washing their hands off the issue with the argument that they never found anything like rape or exploitation at the home. “The home is being managed by a board and day-to-day administration is being run by full-time employees such as Director, Principal, wardens, teachers, watchman and cook. We have no role in its functioning,” said Dushyant
Choudhary, chief zonal chairman of Rotary Club Jammu Tawi. The members were not taking moral responsibility for the incident and had not taken any action against the persons arrested. “The administration has not taken us into confidence. When the girls were medically examined, we requested the administration to make us a part of the process, but got a cold response. We do not know what the first information report is all about and who is involved in the case,” Choudhary said. Asked why they were not resigning, Choudhary said, “Will you guarantee that the case will be resolved after we resign?” The police was investigating the case and said it was hopeful of arresting everyone responsible. The police arrested the Director and a watchman of the home on Wednesday in connection with the rape and exploitation of five mentally challenged girls. The victims had said they were being exploited for the last one year. The police and the administration were investigating the case and two more arrests were made yesterday. |
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Governor urges scientists for solutions to global warming
Srinagar, September 7 The Governor inaugurated the five-day science camp for “Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE 2013)” for students, organised by the Kashmir University here today. The science camp, in which about 300 science students from the Kashmir valley are participating, has been sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, under its INSPIRE programme. “In J&K, we face problems which are peculiar to our state. If we groom our scientists, they can tackle these problems,” the Governor observed. He said one of the major problems was of earthquakes and referred to the recurring tremors which had been taking place in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts for the past few months. Another problem flagged by the Governor was about the emerging challenges of global warming and climate changes and their impact on agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, forests, animal and sheep husbandry and allied sectors. He observed that our boys and girls need to have a clear vision on how to find solutions to meet these challenges. The Governor urged the students to take keen interest in protecting and conserving the Dal Lake, Wular Lake and other water bodies in the state. The Governor also referred to various innovations and emphasised their importance for the overall economic development of the state. Referring to the INSPIRE programme, the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the Kashmir University, observed that it was a very imaginative programme sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, with a view to enable students to pursue science as a career for which scholarships were also available. He impressed upon the students to take best advantage of a galaxy of scientists participating in the programme and interact with them. |
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Vohra for translation of literary works
Srinagar, September 7 This would contribute towards the promotion of languages, enrichment of literatures and national integration, Vohra said while inaugurating a national seminar on “Contribution of saints, poets and poetesses of India to the social equality, religious harmony and national integration” here. The event was organised by the Hindi Kashmiri Sangam in association with the Bhasha Sangam, Allahabad. The Governor lauded the good work being done by the Hindi Kashmiri Sangam and Bhasha Sangam, Allahabad, in the arena and hoped that these organisations would continue with their initiatives. He assured all possible support to the organisations for carrying forward such literary activities. Referring to the importance of books, Vohra observed that the knowledge contained in significant works has relevance and utility for centuries to come. He hoped that the seminar would go a long way in the promotion of languages and literatures. The Governor on the occasion also released five publications, including September issue of the quarterly magazine Kashmir Sandesh published by the Kashmiri Hindi Sangam, besides two volumes brought out by the Bhasha Sangam, Allahabad. He also felicitated literary personalities for their contributions by presenting them cash awards, shawls and mementos. Vohra interacted with the recipients and congratulated them for their literary achievements. Among those felicitated on the occasion were Khemlata Wakhloo, chairperson, State Social Welfare Board, Chandra Prakash, Chief Post Master General, J&K Circle, Dr Mathura Datta Pandeya, Dr Tribhuwan Shukla and Dr Beena Budki. |
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Governor lauds role of IAF
Srinagar, September 7 “The Governor lauded the crucial role played by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in defending the territorial integrity of the country and in providing valuable support to the civil authorities in carrying out rescue, relief and evacuation operations and enabling the authorities concerned in dealing with emergencies and natural calamities. The Governor observed that whenever there was any calamity or an accident, the Air Force provided crucial help by providing relief materials, medicines, essential commodities and evacuating the injured for treatment,” the spokesman said. The Air Chief Marshal briefed the Governor about the recent inductions and initiatives being taken by the Air Force in regard to further securing the frontiers. |
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Second Ladakh Marathon today
Leh, September 7 Chhewang Mutup, the proprietor of the agent said as many as 2,000 runners are registered to participate in all four categories of the marathon. The event will be held in four categories, including full and half marathon, 10-km distance running and Khardongla Challenge marathon. |
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