1. religion and spirituality
2. hinduism

C M Y K
kashmir
Malala
invites IndoPak PMs
to Nobel
ceremony
3
15 Zilhaj | 1435 Hijri | Vol: 17 | Issue: 213 | Pages : 08 | Price: `3
w w w. k a s h m i r o b s e r v e r. n e t
sunDaY 12 OCtOBEr 2014
/ Srinagar Today: Clear
MaxiMuM: 20 oC / MiniMuM: 6 oC / HuMidiTy : 85% / SunSeTS Today... 06:02 PM / SunriSeS ToMorrow... 06:31 aM
India & Pakistan renew ‘Include Srinagar in
Smart Cities Project’
cross border gunfire
Mufti To Modi
It is far easier to
make war than to
make peace.
........... Georges Clemenceau
(1841-1929) French statesman and journalist.
Mirwaiz Sets Up Grievance Cell
SRINAGAR: Huriyat (M) Saturday
stated that the government and some
nongovernmental organizations instead of helping and providing relief to
people were compounding their problems by remaining callous to their legitimate demands and even reaping
benefits from the helplessness of public in these times of emergency.
Hence to deal with grievances of
people and expose those who indulge
in anti-people activities in the wake of
the flood catastrophe, Hurriyat conference today announced the establishment of its Public Page 6
270 Haj pilgrims return
SRINAGAR: The first batch of over 270
pilgrims from Jammu & Kashmir on
Saturday returned from Saudi Arabia
after performing the annual haj.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah received the pilgrims at the Srinagar International Airport, and greeted them
for performing the religious duty and
wished them well-being and prosperity, an official spokesman said.
Minister for Haj and Auqaf Peerzada
Mohammad Sayeed was accompanying
the chief minister, the spokesman said.
As many as 272 Hajjies arrived on Saturday in the first flight after performing the pilgrimage.
In all, 7011 pilgrims had left for performing Haj from the state, of which
five passed away during the Page 6
Naik re-designated as SAAG
SRINAGAR:- The Government in a
partial modification of previous orders has accorded sanction to the
re-designation of Mr. Shabir Ahmad
Naik, Additional Advocate General,
Srinagar as Senior Additional Advocate General. He shall also look after
the litigation work of Rural Development Department before Srinagar
Wing of the High Court in addition to
his own assignments.
Lakecity
Tour And TrAvel
SRINAGAR: India and Pakistan exchanged gunfire across the Kashmir
frontier on Saturday, military officials
from both countries said, ending a
pause in fighting that has already
killed 17 civilians in the worst skirmishes in a decade.
both sides blamed each other for
starting the fresh outbreak of fighting.
The Pakistan army confirmed
that a 70-year-old village resident
Wali Muhammad was injured due to
what it called unprovoked firing and
shelling by Indian forces in Poonch
sector near Rawalkot.
“Pakistani troops effectively
responded to Indian shelling,” a
spokesman for the ISPR said in a
short statement.
The spokesman warned that every Indian violation on the line of
Control (loC) and working boundary
would meet “a befitting response”.
Meanwhile, the Indian army
blamed the Pakistani military of
launching unprovoked fire.
An Indian army official said Paki-
stan border guards targeted 10 Indian
border posts in the Poonch sector.
“Our troops retaliated. Heavy firing is going on,” he told reporters Saturday afternoon.
Officials alleged that the Pakistan
also targeted civilian areas in which a
woman was injured. The woman was
identified as Salma bi, a resident of
Kerni, who was immediately Page 6
SRINAGAR: A group of Kashmiri students studying in a private engineering college in Punjab have developed
a unique android application (app)
which gives all information related to
the recent floods in Jammu and Kashmir on one platform.
Named 'Save Kashmir', the app
was launched Saturday by Punjab's
Technical Education Minister Madan
Mohan Mittal.
The app, developed by five Kashmiri students of Aryans College of
lAHORE: Pakistan opposition leader
and Tahreek-i-Insaf Party chairman
Imran Khan today asked Prime Minster Narendra Modi to use his mandate
to resolve Kashmir issue.
"Modi! I give you a free suggestion. The Indian people have given you
mandate. You should show a big heart
and act like a statesman on Kashmir
issue," Khan said today while addressing a big public rally.
The
cricketer-turned-politician
further said: "There has Page 6
Engineering, 25 km from here, contains all information about the floodhit state, including the list of missing
people, list of the dead, donation links,
government helplines, affected people
and areas and location of relief camps.
The students - Mudasir, Adil, Tahira, Aashu and Rumaisa, who developed the app said: "During the floods,
there was no common platform for
information providers and seekers.
We were also unable to contact our
parents for a few Page 6
SRINAGAR: banks will begin assessing rescheduling and restructuring of
loans worth about Rs 32,000 crore to
industries, small and medium enterprises and retail entities in the floodravaged Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
A senior public sector banker reported that the work on this would
commence in Jammu and Srinagar
on Monday, as water had receded
from many areas and many bank
branches had resumed operations.
The Indian bank's Association
will assist banks in this regard.
For loans that were standard
till the time floods hit the state, the
GOC Hails Local Youth for Rescue Ops
Says, lOC tensions won't affect relief operations
SRINAGAR: lt General Subrata Saha, GOC of the Army’s
15 Corps Saturday said that the
Army would play an important
role in building ‘Naya Kashmir’
after the catastrophic floods.
Talking to reporters on the
sidelines of a blood donation camp
organized by 22RR in Sopore, Subrata Saha said that the loC tensions would not hamper army’s
relief and rehabilitation measures
and that it has prioritized its efforts since day one in providing
all possible respite to the flood hit
people of the Kashmir valley.
GOC maintained that the
role the army is going to play in
putting the affected lives back
on track would be vital and the
institution in itself would in no
way be reluctant in ‘soothing
the blighted hearts’.
Saha also hailed the efforts
played by the local youth during
the rescue operations- saying
that army salutes the courage of
the locals who guided the army
rescue teams besides rescuing
thousands themselves. “They
guided the army boats and the
role played by the youth is truly
laudable,” The GOC said.
Nullifying the reports of
a major number of educated
youth joining the militant ranks,
the General Officer Commanding said the reports Page 6
Civil Society Group Poses 15 Qs
To Flood Control Deptt
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SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said the focus of
the post-flood rehabilitation programme in Jammu and Kashmir
should be on rebuilding of the economy and restoration of livelihood.
Interacting with people during
his tour of flood-hit areas of Srinagar and Anantnag, Sayeed said
the devastating floods have not
only destroyed assets but severely
impaired the process of income
generation and it would take the
state economy nearly a decade to
reach the achieved levels of income.
“Even as the State Government
has after long delay submitted Rs
44000 crore relief and rehabilitation plan to the Government of
Imran Khan to Modi
the rescue works in the midst of worst ever floods. They didn’t care for their
lives but saved thousands and their efforts will be remembered for long,” Saha
Cell :- 9419967015
ISlAMAbAD: Pakistan has called
upon India to allow the UN Military Observers Group to investigate recent ceasefire violations on
the line of control. At her weekly
media briefing in Islamabad Friday, Foreign Office spokesperson
Tasnim Aslam said that Pakistan
some days back took the UN Military Observers Group in Pakistan
and India (UNMOGIP) to its side
of the line of Control and working
boundary to show them the damage and pattern of fire carried out
by the Indian side.
The observers, she said, would
have compiled a report and sent to
the UN as per the practice. She said
the UNMOGIP is a neutral observer
and the best option for Page 6
India, it will take a long time to
get funds and benefits to fructify
on the ground,” he said added that
even as the Government of India
must fully fund this rehabilitation
and reconstruction plan, the Centre shall have to take practical and
urgent measures to address the issues of immediate concern.
Sayeed requested the Prime
Minister, Mr Narendra Modi to
make Srinagar part of the Smart
Cities announced in this year’s
Union budget with an allocation
of Rs 7000 crore in the current
year. “If Srinagar is included in the
Smart Cities project, as the money
has already been provided in the
budget, the process of rebuilding
can start instantaneously,” he said.
Similarly he said the union
budget for the current year has
allocated Rs 2000 crore for urban
renewal mission for making cities
livable with better infrastructure.
“I think no city can lay a greater
claim on the project than Srinagar
which needs to be made Page 6
Kashmiri students develop Banks to assess recast of loans in J&K
'Save Kashmir' app
We have seen how youth have endangered their lives and carried out
surantanG rainawari
srinaGar kashmir
ALLOW UNMOGIP
TO VISIT LOC:
PAKISTAN TO INDIA
Calls for inclusion of J&K
in PM’s mega schemes;
Asks ADB, World Bank
to send teams for needs
assessment
SRINAGAR: Civil Society Forum
Kashmir has said "refilling of
the breaches with loose clay, by
the Irrigation and Flood Control
(IFC) Department is certainly
going to put the population of
Kashmir at the greater risk of
another flood.
“We understand recent
flood was a natural calamity
which was catastrophic in nature but at the same time as far
as pre-monitoring of the floods
and post flood management is
concerned there are many questions which department has to
answer to the people of Jammu
and Kashmir.
During floods Forum preferred not to disturb the department at all, but there are many
questions which people want to
ask the flood control department.
1. Why did department ignore the warning of meteorology
department on heavy rainfall?
2: Why were flood monitoring committees not constituted
for every village, as per past
practice and if constituted, what
action was taken by them to
prevent inundation of areas?
3. Why were weak points
of bunds not reinforced across
the state and not even during
the days of flood. In particular
badamibagh bund, Rajbagh ,
Kursu Rajbagh, Sonawar, Shivpora, Qamarwari and various
other places?
4: Why were sand bags not
made available. And if Deptt
claims they issued 6 lakh sand
bags to which areas were they
issued?
5. Why did department not
monitor the illegal constructions on the bunds, including illegal govt constructions e.g. PHE
lift scheme installation at Panthachowk, Railway line passing
through Kandizal or byepass
road, lasjan etc?
6. Why did the IFC allow
other departments to lay heavy
pipes, drainage pipes, fibre optic
cables etc on the bunds which
weakened them thus making
them vulnerable to breaches? 7:
Why were low lying foot bridges
allowed to be constructed on
flood channel, which obstructed
the flow of water?
8 How much has been spent
on dredging of the river Jehlum
in these five years in South Central and North Kashmir?
9: Why was the flood channel, not dredged. In case, dredging was done, how much was
spent on it and why was the
work stopped halfway?
10. When South Kashmir got
flooded and HFl at all three levels broke all the earlier records,
why did department not warn
and forcefully evacuate people
in vulnerable areas of central
Kashmir and Srinagar? (Forceful
evacuation is a important clause
in flood management.)
11: What is the standard operating procedure (SOP) of IFC
department at times of floods?
12: When South got flooded
why were not any boats kept
available and deployed in low
lying areas of Srinagar?
13: like in other states why
wasn’t NDRF and army Page 6
terms might be reworked, the bank
executive said.
The J&K government has urged
the Centre to direct banks and financial institutions to re-schedule
loans/grant moratorium and grant
remission of interest for the moratorium period. It has also sought a
provision to give fresh loans for the
flood-affected, besides waiving loans
for individuals, subject to meeting
certain norms.
According to Reserve bank of
India (RbI) guidelines, lenders can
restructure loans to those affected
by natural calamities, as their ability
to repay is severely impaired. In all
cases of restructuring, RbI has suggested banks consider a moratorium
of at least a year. Also, lenders have
been asked not to insist on additional
collateral security for such restructured loans.
"Asset classification for (such) restructured loans will remain the same
as prevalent at the time of restructuring for a period of a year, according to
the extant guidelines for restructured
loans," RbI had said in its July 1 circular detailing the guidelines for relief
measures by banks in areas hit by
natural calamities. Agencies
'Use Mandate to
Solve Kashmir'
Kashmir Observer Foundation
®
Kashmir is prone to natural disasters. Each year, the state experiences hundreds of landslides, tremors and earthquakes,
and scores of avalanches.
In September 2014, intense rains caused severe flooding and landslides that were unprecedented in intensity and
extent. Vast areas of Kashmir were devastated.
The total magnitude of the horrendous destruction and the number of dead and missing may not be known for quite
some time.
Officials say at least 300 people were killed and hundreds of houses were destroyed.
Livelihood of tens of thousands was lost as businesses and farms were washed away by the ravaging flood waters.
In a spontaneous show of solidarity, people joined hands and formed rescue and relief teams thus saving thousands
of lives.
But as has been seen, most people tend to forget long-term rehabilitation once they have provided relief support after
a disaster.
Now that the flood waters have receded, the long and arduous task of rebuilding the lives and assets destroyed by the tragedy
has begun.
Thousands of people continue to live in temporary shelters or with neighbours and relatives. Reconstructing homes
and rebuilding lives will take years.
So we must not be complacent, nor relax our efforts. We need to keep up the spirit displayed during the initial days of
the disaster, in order to rebuild the shattered lives, get people back on their feet and earn a living again, and get hundreds of thousands of children back in to education.
WHaT IS TO Be DONe
• Help the homeless rebuild their homes
• Help children to go back to schools
• Help sick to get uninterrupted medical care
• Help farmers to go back to their farms
• Help small traders to resume their work
WHaT We aRe DOINg
• HOMELESS
Help homeless to prepare a shelter before the onset of winter so that they can restart their lives.
For those whose homes were destroyed or partially damaged we provide:
A: Part of the building material like corrugated roof tin sheets, cement, sand and bricks.
B: Matting, bedding, utensils, text books etc
• LIVELIHOOD
Help people in rural areas to earn a living by providing skills training, as well as farming tools, vegetable seeds,
fertiliser, animals and animal stock feed besides veterinary services to avoid further loss of animals and dependency
on food aid for the next one year.
• HEALTH
Free specialized medical care and medicines to the elderly sick for the next six months of winter period.
Health and hygiene education on how to avoid potentially fatal diseases for around one million people;
• EDUCATION
Help thousands of children by repairing schools damaged by the floods and providing temporary facilities for
children whose schools have been destroyed.
HOW YOU CaN HeLP
Help donate generously to Kashmir Observer Foundation
Act No: 7600 125 0000 112 |Syndicate Bank, Srinagar | IFSC: SYNB000 7600
Kashmir Observer Foundation
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C M Y K
sunday
12 10 2014 Kashmir Observer

BAzAR oBSERvER

mugHAl dArbAr
Mughal Darbar Is Kashmir’s Favourite FoodStop And Tourists Delight. Being In The
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OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL/DEAN
GOVT. MEDICAL COLLEGE
SRINAGAR
( N OT I C E )
on rent basis
This is for information of all concerned that General
Nursing Classes will commence from 13th of October. 2014.
All students are aecordingly directed to attend their classes
from the scheduled date strictly as per the timetable already
circulated and notified.
Dipk : 7186
call:
Government of Jammu & Kashmir
9796335539
9797027726
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE
ENGINEER PWD (R&B) DIVISION
KHANABAL ANANTNAG
Corrigendum
FItNeSS CeNtRe
Sub : Cancellation of work
Ref : This office NIT SL 46/R&B/KBL2014-15/4880-99
Dated: 30-09-2014
The work advertised vide this office above quoted NIT
appearing at SL No. 7th i.e. “Upgradation of road surface by
way of providing and laying of WBM Grade III, Nallah muck
on F.M School link road Muslimabad Anantang” is hereby
cancelled.
elocity
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hotelS
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Phone: 0194- 2312323, 2313725
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hotel booking
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Ph: 09906545466/ 01942450775
Fax: 01942453465
Email: Nanajitours&[email protected]
branches:
h. O: 2Nd flOOr, kENG
BUildiNG, pOlOViEW rESidENCy
rOad SGr kmr
tEl 0194- 2480221. MOB +91 9797967975
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mir iShfaq
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email: [email protected]
tOurS
trAvElS
hAjj, uMrAh
rEcruItMEnt
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Block 13
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Nishat Srinagar Kashmir- 191121( J&K )
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email: [email protected]
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www.canon.co.in
Government of Jammu & Kashmir
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER
IRRIGATION & FLOOD CONTROL
DIVISION, SRINAGAR
Phone No: 9796149988, 9906564001
Timing: 10.00 am To 9.00 Pm
SDA BUILDING NEAR POLICE CONTROL ROOM BATAMALOO
CoNSultANCy
Subject:Cancellation of tender
notice
Reference:- This office N.I.T No. 11 of 2014-15
issued under No. 2439-54 dated 02/9/2014
This office N.I.T NO 11 of 2014-15 issued under No.
2439-54 dated 02/9/2014 is treated as cancelled.
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Contact No’s: 0194-2459000,2476583
Website: www.grandhotelkashmir.com
Sd/- Er. Afroz Ahmad Mir
Executive Engineer
Irrigation & Flood Control Division
Srinagar
accepting responsibility for the future
OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL
Top Floor, Bolck-13 Mall Opp. Islamia College Of
Science & Commerce Hawal, Srinagar, J&K,india
India
Phones: 0194-2420386 Mobile: +91-8803314014
Email: [email protected]
GOVERNMENT POLyTECHNIC
FOR WOMEN, SRINAGAR
Bemina, Srinagar Kashmir 190018
PH. 0194-2491176/2494876 Fax: 01942493808
Website: www.gwpolysgr.org Email: [email protected]
COMPutECH
NOTICE
business
center
ATTENTION ALL REGULAR STUDENTS OF GOVT.
POLYTECHNIC FOR WOMEN, SRINAGAR
Regular classes (theory only) of lst, 3rd & 5th semesters shall start from Wednesday,
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However, the institution regrets to provide Hostel & Bus facility till further
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Of COmpUTErS
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DIPK NO. : 7185
Principal
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Phone: 0194-2456474
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*****************
Subject. - Tender notice for purchase of furniture.
dynamic
enterprises
Distributors And Govt
, Order Suppliers Of
Electro Mechanical And
Electronic Item
ReGd WIth SMAll SCAle INduStRIeS
email: [email protected]
Alamdar Road Budgam, Kashmir- 191111
Cell No: +91- 9419967015,
+91- 9622432766
Sealed tenders affixed with revenue stamps are hereby invited from registered dealers for supply of
following furniture items which should reach to the office of the under signed within fifteen days from
the date of publication of the notice. The tenders should be accompanied with cali deposit receipt of Rs.
4000/= (Rupees four thousand) only pledged the Manager JK Bank Ltd., branch R/R Srínagar. The rates
should be quoted both ¡n words and figures without any cuttings or over writing. The rates quoted should
be inclusive of all taxes and duties whatever admissible under rules. The tender, will be opened on last day
of the receipt ¡n presence of tenderers if they so like. The under signed reserves the right to accept or reject
any tender without assigning any reason thereof. The detail of the furniture items is given as below. :1.
Officer table 3/5 with side table ¡ncluding table top
2.
Officer moving chair
3.
Visiting chair both wooden made and Steel based
4.
Almería small size 22 gage
5.
Pigeon locker having 10 drawers
6.
Computer chair hydraulic with arms
7.
Clerical table 2.5/4
DIPK No.: 7179
Sd/- Additional Provident
Fund Commissioner Kashmir.
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Published from: Residency Road, SGR | Editorial: 9419004782,0194- 2456304 Corporate office: Wani Manzil Top Floor Lambert Lane, SGR-1
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12 10 2014 Kashmir Observer

NEWS

Malala invites Indo-Pak PMs to Nobel ceremony
BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, who became the
youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, made a
high-level peacemaking move after sharing the award with India's
Kailash Satyarthi for championing
children's rights.
The 17-year-old girls' education activist -- who heard of her
win during a chemistry lesson at
her school in Birmingham, England -- invited the prime ministers of oft-warring India and
Pakistan to the ceremony in Oslo
in December when she and the
60-year-old Indian activist will receive the award.
"The award is for all the children who are voiceless, whose
voices need to be heard," she told
a press conference held at the end
of the school day so she wouldn't
miss class.
Malala has lived in Britain since
she was brought there for treatment after being shot in the head
in 2012 by the Taliban near her
home in Pakistan's Swat Valley for
her advocacy of the right of girls
to go to school.
The selection of such a young
winner was bound to make headlines, but it also came amid news
that 17 civilians died in the worst
violence in decades in the disputed Kashmir region between India
and Pakistan.
Malala did not miss the significance of the moment, paying tribute to her co-winner anti-child
labour activist Satyarthi and inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as his Pakistani
counterpart Nawaz Sharif to celebrate their joint win.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the duo had been chosen
for their struggle against the repression of children and young
people and "for the right of all
children to education."
"Through her heroic struggle
Malala has become a leading
spokesperson for girls' rights to
education," the committee said.
Standing on a box so she could
reach the podium, the teenager
joked that the Nobel would not
help in her exams or in arguments
with her young brothers. And she
paid emotional tribute to her father, "who did not clip my wings."
Joyful Pakistanis celebrated her
receiving the prestigious award in
her home town of Mingora with
dancing, singing and the sharing
of cakes.
Ayesha Khalid, who was at
school with Malala, said: "It's not
Malala alone winning this award,
the girls of Pakistan have won it...
(she) is the light of our eyes and
the voice of our heart.
"She has proved that you can't
put a halt to education by blowing
up schools."
Satyarthi, who founded a consumer campaign in the 1980s to
combat child labour in the handmade carpet industry, said he
was "delighted", calling the Nobel
prize "recognition of our fight for
child rights."
The low-profile activist heads
the Global March Against Child
Labour, a combination of some
2,000 social groups and union organisations in 140 countries. He
is credited with helping tens of
thousands of children forced into
slavery by businessmen, landowners and others to gain their
freedom.
"Something which was born in
India has gone global and now we
have a global movement against
child labour," he told Indian television.
Pakistan's
premier
Sharif
called Malala the "pride" of his
country.
"Her achievement is unparallelled and unequalled. Girls and
boys of the world should take the
lead from her struggle and commitment," he told reporters in a
statement.
US President Barack Obama
also congratulated her, saying he
was "awe-struck by her courage."
The head of the UN educational organization Unesco praised
both winners, saying the awarding of the peace prize "sends out a
resounding message to the world
on the importance of education
for building peaceful and sustainable societies."
"Kailash Satyarthi is a close
friend of Unesco and has been at
the forefront of the global movement to end child slavery and
exploitative child labour since
1980," Unesco Director-General
Irina Bokova said.
"Malala stands with us in the
struggle for universal education,
especially for girls," Bokova said.
"Our consideration has been
to highlight the young who have
stood up... and the old who have
worked for years against child
labour and for children's rights,"
chairman of the Norwegian Nobel
Committee Thorbjoern Jagland
said.
"We have noticed that she has
received a long line of other prizes.... The most important thing
in the fight against extremism is
to give young people hope," he
added.
Since her brush with death,
Malala has become an international star. She received a standing
ovation in July 2013 for an address
to the United Nations General Assembly in which she vowed she
would never be silenced.
She will travel to Canada later
this month to become an honorary citizen, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said after the Nobel
prize announcement.
Malala was named an honorary Canadian a year ago and will
visit the country on October 22 to
receive citizenship, Harper said.
She is only the sixth person to
become an honorary Canadian;
the others include the Dalai Lama,
Nelson Mandela and Aung San
Suu Kyi.
President Barack Obama has
congratulated Satyarthi and Malala saying their Nobel Peace Prize
"is a victory for all who strive to
uphold the dignity of every human being."
In a message on behalf of himself, wife Michelle and all Americans, Obama, who himself won
the prize in 2009, said: "Kailash
Satyarthi has dedicated his life
to ending child labour and wiping the stain of slavery from our
world."
"The true measure of Kailash's
efforts is not a single prize he has
been awarded, but the tens of
thousands of people who today
live with freedom and dignity
thanks to his efforts."
"Through his advocacy, Kailash
reminds us of our shared responsibility to end the exploitation of
others, especially the most vulnerable among us," Obama added.
"At just 17 years old, Malala
Yousafzai has inspired people
around the world," said Obama
who along with his wife and
their elder daughter Malia met
Yousafzai at the White House in
2013, during her visit to promote
her memoir "I am Malala.”
"We were awe-struck by her
courage and filled with hope
knowing this is only the beginning of her extraordinary efforts
to make the world a better place,"
Obama said recalling that meeting.
Our cONsIderatION has beeN tO hIghlIght the young who have stood up... and the old who have worked for years against child labour and
for children's rights," chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland said.
KURDS BATTLE FOR HEART OF
KOBANE AS UN FEARS MASSACRE
Mursitpinar (Turkey) (AFP)
- Kurdish fighters halted a
thrust by Islamic State group
jihadists towards the heart
of the battleground Syrian
town of Kobane Saturday, after the UN warned thousands
of civilians risked massacre.
The pre-dawn attack came
after the IS militants overran
the Kurdish headquarters in
the border town on Friday,
sparking fears they would
cut off the last escape route
to neighbouring Turkey.
But US officials warned
that while world attention
is focused on Kobane, the
jihadists have been piling
pressure on government
troops in neighbouring Iraq,
leaving the army in a "fragile" position in Anbar province between Baghdad and
the Syrian border.
The renewed IS drive on
central Kobane sparked 90
minutes of heavy fighting
with the town's Kurdish defenders before the jihadists
fell back, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
US-led
coalition
warplanes also launched two
air strikes against IS targets
south and east of the town
early Saturday, according to
the Britain-based monitoring group, which has a wide
network of sources inside
Syria.
It said a sandstorm later
Saturday prevented more
coalition raids, and reported
fighting in southern Kobane
and near the headquarters IS
captured on Friday.
US-led warplanes have intensified air strikes against
IS, which has been attacking Kobane for three weeks,
but the Pentagon has said
that there are limits to what
can be done without ground
troops.
Small groups of Kurdish
fighters were trying to harry
the encircling jihadists with
operations across the front
line, Observatory director
Rami Abdel Rahman told
AFP.
UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned Friday that 12,000 or so civil-
ter the city to contribute to
a self-defence operation," he
said.
- Tighter border security The Observatory said at
least 554 people have been
curity of its porous Syrian
border after the escalating
fighting in Kobane sparked
the exodus of 200,000 refugees over the frontier.
Watching the events un-
Syrian Kurdish refugees sit outside a camp in the town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, southeast Turkey
ians still in or near Kobane,
including about 700 mainly
elderly people in the town
centre, "will most likely be
massacred" if the town falls.
Kobane was "literally surrounded" except for one narrow entry and exit point to
the Turkish border, de Mistura said.
"We would like to appeal
to the Turkish authorities in
order to allow the flow of
volunteers at least, and their
equipment to be able to en-
killed in and around Kobane
since the IS advance on the
town began on September 16
-- 298 IS militants, 236 Kurdish fighters and 20 civilians.
Twenty-one jihadists and
eight Kurdish fighters were
killed on Friday, it said.
Another 16 IS militants
died in coalition air raids
across the provinces of Aleppo -- which includes Kobane
-- and Raqa, where IS has its
main Syrian stronghold.
Turkey has tightened se-
fold from across the border,
Ahmed Abu-Ammar told AFP
that his son was killed when
IS attacked Kobane -- three
years after he lost his wife in
a regime air strike in Aleppo.
"My eight-year-old son
was martyred, God bless
him. When the shelling became heavier we fled to Turkey and we suffered a lot to
reach this place."
Turkey has been deeply
reluctant to allow weapons
or Kurdish fighters to cross
the border despite repeated
nights of protests among its
own large Kurdish minority
that have left 31 people dead.
The situation is complicated by the close ties between
the town's Kurdish defenders and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
which has waged a three-decade insurgency for self-rule
in southeastern Turkey that
Ankara is determined not to
embolden.
Washington has been
frustrated over Ankara's
reluctance to commit its
well-equipped and welltrained forces to the coalition against IS, but reported
"progress" after two days of
talks in Ankara by the coalition's coordinator, retired US
general John Allen.
- Anbar province 'fragile' Military chiefs from the 21
countries already committed
to the US-led coalition are
to meet in Washington next
week to discuss strategy,
Pentagon officials said.
US defence officials insist
the primary focus of the coalition's campaign remains
Iraq, where there are capable
local forces on the ground
to work with, particularly
Kurdish forces in the north.
But officials voiced concern about the "tenuous"
position of Iraqi troops in
Anbar province, where the
few remaining governmentcontrolled areas have come
under repeated attack.
Some of Anbar province
fell to IS at the start of the
year and most of the rest
was seized by the Sunni extremists in a lightning sweep
through Iraq's Sunni Arab
heartland in June.
"I think it's fragile there
now," one senior US defence
official told AFP.
"They are being resupplied and they're holding
their own, but it's tough and
challenging."
We WOuld lIke tO aPPeal to the Turkish authorities in order to allow the flow of volunteers at least, and
their equipment to be able to enter the city to contribute to a self-defence operation," he said.
14 killed as violence
rages north of Baghdad
BAQUBA: Friendly fire on a military ambulance, a suicide attack at
a market and a booby trap killed at least 14 people in a fresh day of
violence north of Baghdad Saturday.
Four soldiers were killed near Baquba, northeast of Baghdad,
when Shiite militiamen allied to the government sprayed gunfire on
their ambulance, police said.
"The four soldiers were riding in an army ambulance when members of the popular brigades shot their vehicle on the main road near
Mansuriyah, killing all of them," a police colonel said.
"They opened fire because they thought (the soldiers) were
Islamic State fighters using the ambulance as a trick to attack their
position," the officer said.
A doctor at Baquba general hospital confirmed the toll. The jihadist group holds huge quantities of vehicles, weapons and uniforms
looted from the army, making it difficult for pro-government forces
to tell them apart from their own camp.
In Meshahda, just over 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the capital, a bomber set off his suicide vest in the middle of a market, killing
at least seven people and wounding 25.
"There were at least two women among the dead, and several
women and children among the wounded," a police colonel from
neighbouring Tarmiyah told AFP.
A doctor at Tarmiyah hospital confirmed the casualty figures. Near
Tikrit, the hometown of executed former president Saddam Hussein
which is under IS control, three Shiite militiamen were killed in the
explosion of a booby-trapped house.
According to an army captain and a doctor at Samarra hospital, the
blast in Zalayah village also wounded nine people.
IS fighters rig roads and homes before withdrawing from areas
they control, making it difficult for the army and allied groups to gain
ground even after a military victory.
is militants execute four
women in northern iraq
BAGHDAD: The Islamic State group has executed at least four women,
including two doctors and a politician, in their northern Iraq strongholds this month, relatives and rights activists said on Saturday.
In the IS hub of Mosul, the jihadists executed three women on
Wednesday including two doctors, Hanaa Edwar, a human rights
activist who heads the Al-Amal organization, said.
A medical source in Mosul confirmed their deaths and named the
two doctors as Maha Sabhan and Lamia Ismail. The third woman was
a law graduate.
On October 5, Iman Mohammed Yunus, a former Sunni parliamentarian from the Iraq Turkmen Front in the city of Tal Afar, farther west
towards the Syrian border, was also executed.
"They took her from her home last month and called her family
this week to say that she had been executed," said Ali al-Bayati, who
runs a foundation supporting the rights of Iraq's Turkmen minority.
"Then they dumped her body in a water well outside Tal Afar," he
said. According to Edwar, who confirmed Yunus' execution, at least
four other women were executed by IS militants in the Mosul area in
recent weeks.
Among them were a former candidate for the local council and an
academic.
"Women are easy targets for them. Many of the rights activists
from Mosul ran away but some of the women among them had to
stay with their children," Edwar said.
IS militants have controlled Mosul since June 10, the second day
of a major offensive that saw jihadist fighters seize swathes of land in
five Iraqi provinces.
They have used the city, Iraq's second largest, as a de facto capital
for the Iraqi half of the "caliphate" which their leadership proclaimed
in June and also includes large parts of Syria.
"After going after the ethnic and religious minorities, they are now
hunting down Sunni members of civil society groups and anyone
remotely connected with the government," Edwar said.
C M Y K
C M Y K
sunday
sunday
12 10 2014 Kashmir Observer

WEEKEND Observer

A ScotlAnd on KAShmir?
Many thousands of Kashmiris who live in Scotland could vote in the Scottish referendum, but they have little say in their own State writes Gautam Bhatia
O
CTOBER 12, 2020: In last
week’s referendum, the
campaign for Kashmir’s
status took a surprising
turn when citizens of the
State voted overwhelmingly to stay
with India. With a 90 per cent turnout
in virtually all districts of Jammu and
Kashmir, the vote made it abundantly
clear that separatist forces, fuelled by
neighbouring Pakistan, had been convincingly defeated. Yasin Malik, who
had supported the idea of an independent homeland for the Kashmiris, immediately asked for a recount; the vote
however clearly stated that the majority
of the local population wished to remain
with India. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi who had endorsed the referendum
is expected to appear on national television to outline constitutional reforms,
giving greater autonomy to Kashmir
within the Indian union...
Sixty seven years after independence, the Indian state still struggles
with such archaic ideas of nationalism;
it is hard to imagine that the recent
referendum for Scottish independence
could ever see a similar call to some
sort of partial self-rule in Kashmir.
But the comparison with Scotland
....books
is perhaps unfair, for Scotland has been
part of a 300-year-old union, and its
attempted withdrawal was triggered
largely by issues of domestic governance. Kashmir on the other hand poses
more complex issues of religious, ethnic
and national identity. Without the
participation of thousands of Hindu and
Sikh refugees, obviously no referendum
on Kashmir can be fair. Moreover,
unlike Scotland, Kashmir’s status as
disputed territory multiplies choices,
not just for independence, but whether
to align with a neighbour, and if so,
which neighbour.
SymbolS
Separatist movements in other parts
of the world have only marginally succeeded in creating autonomy, certainly
not complete freedom. In the 1980 and
1995 referendum, Quebec rejected
independence and chose to stay with
Canada. The Flemish have campaigned
long enough for a territory of their own
in divided Belgium. Even separatists in
Spain have been inspired by the Scottish vote; Royo-Marine, a Catalonian
leader, insisting that “nothing can stop
the will of people.” Doubtless Kashmiri
separatists also watched the Scottish
referendum closely.
At the heart of the problem lies the
Indian practice of nationalism, often
confused with private patriotism. The
country’s status as an old civilisation
and a young nation contributes to such
collective insecurity and anxiety. It
becomes essential to parade around all
the symbol of togetherness at public
functions — the national anthem, the
tricolour, the Ashok Chakra, and an
endless array of cultural diehard longings that make patriotic statements to
others: Republic Day and Independence
Day celebrations, the ‘India Day Parade’
in New York, Ram-Leela in London.
The country’s touchy patriotism is
also singed easily by petty cricketing
loyalties. Even if long-settled Indians in
England root for the Indian team, the
occasional Kashmiri chant for Pakistan
is a slur hard to bear. God forbid an Indian athlete accidentally holds the flag
upside down, or drapes it like a lungi,
or forgets to mouth the words of the anthem. To a nation unsure of its identity,
these are grave, unpardonable insults.
For the most part, the rest of the
world treats its national symbols with
less reverence and with the banter of
easy familiarity, not to be taken too seriously. The American national anthem
is sometimes played as a pornographic
medley on radio; ‘Stars and Stripes’
is available as underwear, socks, and
bandannas. The Brazilian flag was
recently converted to a football and
kicked around.
Referendums on independence and
flags as underwear are of course for
self-assured nations that value human
choice and dignity over a vague and
— now in the 21st century — waning
patriotism.
Liberties that matter
Who is Indian, what he eats, who he
worships, what company he keeps, in
which country he lives, all have little
relevance in a world that no longer
respects borders. Certainly at the time
of independence, when the Kashmir
problem was framed, nationalism was
a natural sentiment, triggered as it was
by anti-colonialism. At the time, it was
the binding glue necessary for a country
discovering its new identity. That time
is long past. But as a people, perhaps,
we have not progressed beyond the
assertion of symbolic identity — not
far enough to see that individual and
private liberties may matter more. And
that people in Kashmir, or the North
East, or Tamil Nadu, might have real
reasons to ask for certain freedoms —
choices they should be allowed, in the
very least, to state.
It is ironic that many thousands
of Kashmiris who live in Scotland
could vote in the Scottish referendum,
but have little say in their own State.
Obviously, a settled long-term political
peace is a necessary condition for any
referendum. Under the present cloud
of acrimonious rhetoric, a Bilawal
Bhutto screaming hoarse about Kashmiri possession, and a State reeling
under a natural calamity, the Indian
stance needs to be balanced by cautious wisdom. Sadly, whenever ideas of
partial autonomy and greater self-rule
are raised, the government puts up
institutional smokescreens, and claims
allegiance to archaic and oft-repeated
measures and processes. A nervous
nationalism quickly comes to the fore
with the persistent refrain about India’s
integrity, United Nations resolutions
and at what level to talk with Pakistan.
When the only solution sought is perpetual stalemate, the problem will never go
away. --The Hindu
(Gautam Bhatia is a Delhi-based
architect and writer.)
Noam Chomsky
InfurIatIng and necessary
Y
David Masciotra
ou don’t have to buy Chomsky’s ideas wholesale to
recognize that his often outrageous critiques of American
democracy and capitalism usually hit their targets.
It is a testament to Noam Chomsky’s
brilliance and bravery that despite his
soft spoken manner and quiet personality, he manages to inspire fiery passion
in millions of activists around the world,
curiosity and conviction from students
on nearly every college campus, and hatred from angry nationalists wearing red,
white, and blue blindfolds.
The immensity of Chomsky’s mind is
matched only by its dexterity. In his first
triumph as a public intellectual, he reinvented the field of linguistics by developing the now widely accepted theory that
the ability to learn language is an innate
capacity common to all humans.
The academic world, where Chom-
sky is one of the most often cited living
authors, knows him for his groundbreaking work in his own discipline. But the
general public associates his name with
a record of radical advocacy for human
rights, nonviolence, and international
justice. A ferocious critic of American foreign policy and a nimble political analyst
and philosopher, Chomsky might well be
the most recognizable and most read intellectual alive.
For anyone whose political sympathies lie left of center, discovering and
reading Chomsky is a rite of passage. Like
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes for Catholics, or a learner’s permit for
driver’s education students, Chomsky’s
ever expanding body of work is essential
for any useful political education. The
clarity of his thought and prose not only
appeals to anyone seeking to learn about
the world, and America’s role in it, but reveals the pomposity and frivolity of many
intellectuals who, intelligent or not, would
rather obfuscate than illuminate. Chomsky’s writing style is surgical.
Every sentence seems put together with a scalpel.
I discovered
Chomsky’s work
as a high school
student shortly
after the horrific atrocity
of September 11,
2001.
In
the
wake
of that
catastrophe,
while
politicians
competed,
AmericanIdol style, for
most patriotic
balladeer and
journalists
tossed away
their pens and
recorders in favor of megaphones
and pom poms,
Chomsky released a
small book, 9-11.
An unlikely bestseller, the collection of
interviews presented the best
among precious few alternatives to
the mainline narrative of an angelic
America besieged by the devil. While
there is no room for sympathy for the fanatical and evil terrorists who murdered
thousands of civilians, there is also no
sympathy for an American government
responsible for the killing of civilians in
the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Chomsky had no patience for the
sharpening of knives from the Bush White
House, and warned against any rush to
war or enhancement of an already militaristic federal budget and foreign policy.
Reading Chomsky’s perspective made
my head spin, and my heart quicken.
Could all the clichés of the national media lack substance? Could the American
government have lied continuously for decades? Is there more to U.S. involvement
overseas than the fairy tale of knights saving fair maidens from dragons?
Chomsky helped me see the world
more clearly and realistically, and he undoubtedly performed the same service for
many people, years prior, with American
Power and the New Mandarins, his classic
shredding of American foreign policy during the Vietnam War, and Manufacturing
Consent, a look at the institutional biases
of the American media, co-authored with
Edward S. Herman.
Regardless of how one wrestles with
Chomsky, one does always wrestle, leaving the bout much smarter and stronger.
Chomsky typically shrugs off compliments, and attempts to keep attention on
the issues he examines, rather than his
own minimalist personality. It is worth
noting, however, that he was prophetic
on several cultural and political developments. Chomsky’s maxim to “never trust
the state” preceded the growing libertarianism of the Republican Party—a group
with which Chomsky would have no traffic given their support of corporate power
and their refusal to accept controls on big
business. Chomsky would feel closer at
home at an Occupy Wall Street gathering,
and any Occupier, whether he knows it or
not, is in debt to Chomsky who, far before
it was fashionable, wrote about income
inequality and questioned the moral foundation of capitalism.
Considering that Chomsky’s relevance has only grown with time, and
that his positions prove less radical and
more prescient as years pass, the timing
of his new book release, The Masters of
Mankind, a retrospective of lectures and
essays stretching from 1969 to 2013, is perfect.
There is more than enough profound,
powerful material in this collection to impress any readers unfamiliar with Chomsky’s intellectual agility. That said, there
are also things about this collection that
are just plain odd.
The first complaint concerns length.
At under 200 pages, the book seems like
chips and salsa on the table when you are
expecting a four course meal. Combing
through four decades of material should
have inspired Chomsky and his editors
to unearth more gems, rather than keep
them under lock and key.
The book begins with an aggressive
essay, “Knowledge and Power: Intellectuals and the Welfare-Warfare State,” from
1970. The all stars of the intellectual establishment make easy target practice for
Chomsky and his analytical sniper rifle.
Through assiduous documentation and
sharp criticism, he shows how leading
American institutions, in government,
media, and the academy, are always willing to promote sycophants to soaring
heights. Those who lend their talents and
acumen to the gallery of applause, while
America goes to war, or subverts democracy overseas, will receive an invitation
into the VIP lounge. Far from indicting
the incestuous relationship between intellectuals and the State as a conspiracy,
Chomsky makes it clear that it is merely
a natural alignment of institutional interests. People who think alike have a tendency to sponsor and support one another.
The essay is compelling, but Chomsky makes the same point with even more
brilliance and panache elsewhere in the
book with the deliciously titled, “A Divine
License to Kill.” In this 1987 essay, Chomsky demolishes the cult of American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr so thoroughly
that not only is Niebuhr among the body
count, but so are those whose effusive
praise Chomsky mockingly quotes—Arthur Schlesinger, Christopher Lasch, and
Alan Brinkley.
It is a thing of beauty to watch Chomsky the artful arsonist burn down a temple of clichés while demonstrating that
Niebuhr never truly argues anything of
substance, but instead merely dresses up
received wisdom in theological terms and
lyrical prose.
Chomsky writes that when reading
Niebuhr’s ideas, “no rational person could
be convinced since evidence is sparse and
often dubious, it is difficult to detect a
thread of argument, and he keeps pretty
much to the surface of the issues he addresses.” These otherwise fatal flaws do
not damage Niebuhr’s reputation, Chomsky argues, because he “assumed the
mantle of prophet of the establishment.”
Niebuhr “played by the rules” by affirming American exceptionalism, and writing
about American innocence. The country’s
history is free from taint, and its morality
often too good for its own sake.
The rest of the essays and lectures in
The Masters of Mankind show how Chomsky insists on breaking all the rules. In
“Consent Without Consent” he demonstrates that during the Clinton years—
now treated as Edenic—American democracy was largely a farce, citing John
Dewey’s observation that “politics is the
shadow cast on society by big business.”
In “Simple Truths, Hard Problems,”
Chomsky invokes the principle of universality to show how after 9/11, the American government was in no position to
lecture anyone on the use of terrorism.
Decades of bombings all around the world,
the organization of deadly coups, the installation of dictators in client states, and
the use of the globe as a basketball reveal
that the U.S. has an “operative definition
of crime”: “Crime is that which you carried out but we did not.”
In the 2010 lecture “Human Intelligence and the Environment,” we are
treated to a breathtakingly broad account
of how the American economy continually betrays ecology, as Chomsky leaps
from astrophysics to the political neglect
of public transit to suburban sprawl to
President Obama’s invisibility in the effort against climate change.
Not every essay in this too-short book
is top drawer. “Can Civilization Survive
Really Existing Capitalism?” is as useless as Obama’s theatrical environmental
policies. On its own merits, the piece is
interesting and informative, but it repeats
many points Chomsky has made in greater detail during earlier essays—climate
changes threatens civilization, politics is
unduly influenced by corporate power,
etc.
The closing lecture also presents
questions that Chomsky never answers—
mainly one of alternatives. Capitalism
creates painful inequities, but what is the
better option? Is there any chance that
his political vision of “libertarian social-
ism,” which he outlines in the pamphlet
Government in the Future, will even enter mainstream discussion, much less become feasible?
If the demolition of capitalism is not
practical, it might also be unwise. Joint research from the Economics Departments
at Columbia University and MIT, where
Chomsky was a professor of linguistics,
demonstrates that the world’s worst poverty has declined 80 percent since 1970.
Most historians, economists, and journalists attribute the nearly miraculous accomplishment to the growth of markets in
the Third World, especially China, and the
increase of commerce and trade.
Arundhati Roy, in her profound book,
Capitalism: A Ghost Story, makes it clear
that economic growth often concentrates
at the top, and results in misery at the bottom, using her home country of India as
a case study. With the right checks, balances, and regulations, along with a sizable social compact of compassion (health
care, trade unions, public education, affordable higher education, etc.), capitalism can, however, lead to a rising standard of living.
The American brand of what Chomsky condemns as “State Capitalism” lacks
a strong social safety net and has little regard for non-market values. It deserves vociferous criticism. But if the answer does
not lie in the balance of the “third way” of
Western Europe, where does it lie? Chomsky never provides an answer.
Chomsky’s way of looking at capitalism may be myopic, but he is still correct
to condemn the U.S. government for its
obsequiousness toward wealthy elites and
for its international hostility, aggression,
and violence.
The solution that Chomsky proposes
to the poisoning of democracy and the
madness of the militarism is as hopeless
as the possibility of libertarian socialism.
He is always calling on “we,” “the population,” or “the people” to rally in the streets
and agitate for a better future. Democratic
rebellion has transformed America in important ways. The civil rights movement,
the labor movement, and the feminist
movement are inspirational examples, but
there is little evidence that America is on
the verge of another mass movement, especially when it comes to addressing problems that are not as immediately visible as
Jim Crow and gender apartheid.
As much as Chomsky loves citing public opinion polls, he never mentions the
staggering documentation of American
ignorance and indifference. Most of the
population is either unaware of or apathetic to the basic facts of history and has
even less interest in political mobilization. Of the two recent minority political
movements—the Tea Party and Occupy
Wall Street—the former is a lost collection of saps directing their rage at invisible targets, and the latter was a disorganized, dysfunctional cacophony of utopian
dreams and collectivist nightmares, now
dead.
Regardless of how one wrestles with
Noam Chomsky, one does always wrestle,
leaving the bout much smarter and stronger. His flaws are eclipsed by the sizable
shadow of his strengths.
It is difficult to judge how much any
culture needs a particular intellectual, but
given Chomsky’s commitment to exerting
a factual check and balance on the erroneous and manipulative claims of power, his
fearless presentation of an alternative to
American clichés, his tireless advocacy
for peace and justice, and his thunderous
moral voice, it is fair to say that America
needs Noam Chomsky.
sunday
12 10 2014 Kashmir Observer

PANORAMA

Who Is Worried About Kashmir?
O
ADAM CHANDLER
n Tuesday, following
what Reuters characterized as Kashmir's
highest
single-day
death toll in over a decade, Indian and Pakistani troops
continued to exchange gunfire
along the disputed border. Tens of
thousands of Kashmiri villagers
reportedly fled the violence.
Some may be too fully immersed in the dual wars on Ebola
and ISIS to notice, but ratcheted
up violence between two nuclear
powers over turf that the two have
fought three wars over might
seem like a big deal. Is it though?
To find out, I reached out to
Dr. Daniel S. Markey, who is a
Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan,
and South Asia at the Council on
Foreign Relations.
"The potential for this to get
worse is real," Markey told me.
"But it would take more than this
kind of event to tip it into that
area."
We discussed Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, who
took office in late May and whose
recent presence in the United
States so benumbed journalists
that they ran out of synonyms for
"rockstar."
During his visit, the media
also focused on the sudden American about-face vis-a-vis Modi,
whose arrival ended a decade-long
travel ban by the United States
for his alleged role in the communal riots in India's Gujurat state.
Roughly 2,000 Muslims died in
Gujarat, where Modi served as
chief minister. I wondered if this
perception of him was fueling
any enmity on the Pakistani side.
Markey's initial answer was "Not
directly."
"The turn for his worse along
the border happened before he
came into office." Markey explained. "So that's part of why it's
difficult to tell this story."
He added, though, that Nodi's
hardline approach "certainly has
the potential to escalate more conflict."
Surprisingly, or maybe counterintuitively, Markey also said
that Modi's rise to power played
in Pakistan as something hopeful
given that the last prime minister
from the nationalist Bharatiya
Janata Party, Atal Vajpayee, "extended what he called 'a hand of
friendship' to Pakistan."
"What's sort of odd about this
is: A hawk is a hawk. And Modi's
a hawk."
Pakistan's enthusiasm may
be premature. "What's sort of odd
about this is: A hawk is a hawk,"
Markey said. "And Modi's a hawk."
As The New York Times noted, one precipitating factor in the
recent crisis was the cancellation
of high-level Indian-Pakistani
talks earlier this summer.
"That dates back to the decision by the Pakistani government
to meet with Kashmiri separatists, which they considered to be
a 'business-as-usual' approach and
Modi's government declared that
this is unacceptable and called off
the foreign secretary talks," Markey said. "This was a downgrading
in the relationship from the earlier, more hopeful approach that
Modi seemed to be taking when he
first got into office and had invited
all the heads of state from around
the region including [Pakistani]
Prime Minister Sharif."
He added that the two premiers didn't meet on the sidelines
of the United Nations General Assembly and were critical of each
other in their speeches. And, as
Professor Brahma Chellaney told
Reuters, there is the matter of the
escalating violence: "What we are
seeing on the border is unusual in
terms of its ferocity and the sudden eruption in violence."
India continues to blame Pakistan for using artillery as cover
to allow the crossing of militants
over into India while Pakistan
says the Indian shooting was unprovoked. Despite this dispute,
the language dispatched by the
two governments about the vio-
lence remains relatively demure.
As Hari Kumar writes, the
Pakistani government says it
“lodged strong protest” against
Indian action through diplomatic
channels and the Indian army said
an “equal effective response of unprovoked firing was given” in response to Pakistani fire, hardly a
Patton speech. Markey says that
this is a good sign.
"If it plays into a diplomatic
dynamic in which Modi is a taking a harder line and the Pakistani army is not inclined to back
down," he said, then, "you can begin to get an escalatory spiral."
Given that the 2003 ceasefire
has more or less held, despite its
shares of incidents (including the
highly deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks), it may be early for talk of
nuclear war.
It's the stupId, stupId
Bernard Weiner
B
arack Obama is not
stupid and he says
he doesn't want his
administration to do
"stupid things" in foreign policy. So why, then, has he
done a reckless, stupid thing by
starting a new, two-theater war
in the Middle East? And why
does that war in Syria have to
commence right now as an existential necessity?
Even though I don't
agree, I can at least
somewhat understand
a rush to war when
it comes to Iraq. The
corruption and vacuum
of leadership in that
country opened up
a rich shaft for the
extremist jihadis of
ISIS to mine -- and they
are moving inexorably
toward Baghdad. But
what was the absolute
moral hurry to bomb
inside Syria?; you
mean the operation
couldn't have waited
a few weeks so there
could be a full-scale
national debate, both
in Congress and in
the American polity
in general, about the
wisdom of such a
dangerous move?
We should always be wary
of hurry-up wars; someone (usually with $omething to gain) is
trying to rush things along before the public remembers the
previous such wars and how disastrous those turned out.
This whole Mideast situation is a chaotic mess, which
cries out for more rational
analysis. So let's try to parse out
as much as we can in terms of
possible motives for war, along
with pointing out the scary ramifications that always attend
The Dumb. Here are 10 places to
start.
1. MUSCLE BEACH
Ronald Reagan and CheneyBush were celebrated by the
Right and some Independents
for their "muscular" military
policy -- that is, taking the country to war. So Obama for years
has been covering his, and
Democrats', perceived electoral
vulnerability of being seen as
"weak" and wishy-washy when
it comes to national-security issues.
The speeches Obama has
given in the past few weeks,
justifying his somewhat amorphous military plans to crush
and destroy ISIS could have
been delivered word for word by
George W. No wonder the Hard
Right Republicans are celebrating -- while they lobby for sending foot-soldiers into Iraq and
Syria ASAP. And no wonder the
liberal left is discombobulated
by their formerly anti-war leader's dash toward militarism, especially with regard to bombing
inside Syria.
2. NEO-CONS 2.0
The Cheney-ite neo-conservatives have a simple way of
viewing the world: To them, the
U.S. is the last remaining superpower and thus it should move
aggressively to mold the world
in its image, even if it takes a
few more wars. The problem
with such thinking is that such
a geopolitical strategy didn't
work in the 1990s and it won't
work now: so many modern-day
wars are asymmetrical and difficult for large, musclebound
nations like the U.S. to fight successfully (see Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.)
From the standpoint of these
smaller countries, "success" in
this context means to bleed the
superpower with a thousand
cuts over many years. Stalemate
becomes victory, since eventually the American citizenry grows
weary of military quagmires
and withdraws from the battlefield.
Why the rush to war in Syria? I suspect that Obama and his
military advisors saw a golden
window of opportunity they
couldn't resist: a greatly distracted Assad, an enemy in ISIS that
almost invited the initial bombing runs and missile attacks by
massing men and materiel right
out in the open, a violent Sunni/
Shia split in Islam, some Arab
cheerleaders anxious to rein in
extremist jihadis, the president
free to act on his own since the
U.S. Congress wanted to keep
its fingerprints off a new Middle
East war (hence, no debate),
especially right before the midterm election.
3. A TRUE BELIEVER?
Another possibility: What if
Obama's war posture is not an
act? Maybe he really believes
what he's saying. The progressive Left chose to see Obama
as a liberal activist when he
actually was much closer to the
center-Right and beholden to the
prevailing corporate worldview.
He certainly was no pacifist.
Recall that when the President
received his Nobel Peace Prize
in 2009, his acceptance speech
to the assembled diplomats in
Oslo inexplicably was a defense
of going to war -- the "just war"
argument.
Obama today may truly believe in his own propaganda,
that ISIS is the latest manifestation of pure evil and must be
eradicated; forget the fact that
many of the ISIS fighters originally were recruited, armed and
encouraged by the U.S. as tough
fighters in the Syrian opposition. Now Obama wants ISIS to
be ripped, root and branch, from
the face of the earth, despite opposition from potential allies.
Surely, Obama sees that no
country is champing at the bit
to put its soldiers on the ground
in Syria. If other nations want
to help at all in the Syrian theater, it will be mostly from the
air and will mainly be in service
to the U.S. air force and drones.
(A somewhat reluctant Turkey
seems willing to send combat
troops, if it has to.)
As for the U.S., Obama promises no boots on the ground, unless there's a damn good reason
to do so. And, as the American
people have figured out (see re-
cent polls), there will be a "damn
good reason" to do so.
Since Obama is not stupid,
he must know that it won't take
much to make the U.S. change
its mind about BOTG (boots on
the ground). All it will take is a
U.S. aircraft shot down by ISIS
or Syrian missile, or when U.S.
military members are taken
prisoner and threatened with
beheading, or when some major
act of ISIS terrorism occurs inside "The Homeland" -- or that
can be blamed on ISIS Central,
even if done by free-lancing jihadis. You can bet that in such
circumstances, there will be
BOTG very quickly, whether
those of active-duty soldiers or
large numbers of special forces
operators.
4. THE TRUE
TARGET IN SYRIA
The bombs raining down on
Syria from the air are aimed at
ISIS facilities and troops, but
the actual goal is regime change
in Damascus. (And, after that,
maybe Iran.)
Surely,
Syria's
leader,
Bashar al-Assad, can see the
handwriting on the wall, that
he's next in the U.S. crosshairs,
so why is he being so relatively
quiet as his country's sovereignty is violated every day by U.S.
bombers and missiles?
It seems clear, at
least to me, that some
accommodation with
Assad -- perhaps
with tacit promises
of weapon and cash
-- was reached before
the U.S. bombing
campaign began. In its
most simplistic tactical
form, that deal might
have been something
like this: "You stay out
of our way -- we will
let you know in which
regions of Syria we will
be operating on that
day -- and you can
continue to rule." Assad
perhaps figured: "I need
to regroup and grow
stronger, so if the U.S.
wants to be my air force
for a year or two, I'll
take it. In the interim,
I can try convincing
the U.S. that I'm their
best hope in the region,
even if they say they
abhor my methods of
control. That might
mean that I would
effectively be in the
same camp as Israel,
but 'politics makes for
strange bedfellows' and
'the enemy of my enemy
is my (temporary)
friend'."
In addition, Assad is playing the nuclear card as further
insurance the U.S. will not overthrow him: He's revealed four
heretofore secret chemical fa-
cilities which, if ISIS were to get
ahold of, could ignite a firestorm
of death and mass destruction
all over the region and beyond.
5. ISIS STRATEGY
ISIS, at the moment, seems
content to be the leading jihadi
force in the Middle East region,
even though its spokesmen like
to poke a verbal stick in the eye
of the "Great Satan" by promising attacks eventually on the
American homeland.
The eventual goal of ISIS is
to establish the modern equivalent of the 7th-century caliphate
for all Muslims, and perhaps recreate the Islamic Empire over
much of the rest of the world.
One key to doing this is to
enrage the United States and its
Western allies enough to draw
them into the maelstrom that is
the Middle East. Just as Osama
bin Laden did with the attacks
of 9/11. The naive, angry U.S.
snaps up the bait and invades
another Muslim land.
Right now, ISIS is reaping
the whirlwind from the air. Lots
of damage, losing some momentum and so on, but bearable.
What is likely to transpire: ISIS
at some point ordering its troops
to melt into the villages and urban settings for awhile, while
it sharpens its guerrilla tactics
and uses its social-network
smarts to help round up thousands of new recruits. I would
expect terrorist bombings in the
capitals of Europe and in those
Arab countries (Jordan, UAE,
Bahrain, etc.) supporting the
U.S.-led war.
Since it's difficult to root out
ISIS fighters from the air, eventually the U.S. and its allies will
feel obliged to put boots on the
ground, and the mousetrap will
snap shut.
6. "UNINTENDED
CONSEQUENCES"
Wars look so contained and
tidy on the map charts when
they are started. It doesn't take
long before all hell breaks loose
and there's no way to put the
bloody genie of war back in the
bottle. And then the unintended
consequences start, and battle
plans have to be rethought as
the casualties and slaughters
commence.
There will be plenty of surprises as the new Syria/Iraq
war unravels. But even now,
we can anticipate some, such as
factions switching sides, hightech weaponry winding up in
ISIS and other jihadi hands, new
fighters coming onto the field,
alliances breaking apart, key
nation-state actors in Europe
starting to change their minds,
Putin's Russia causing mischief,
anti-war protests worldwide
starting to grow in size, freelance terrorists bombing inside
the U.S. and its coalition partners, the broadcasting of videos
of U.S. coalition tortures, etc.
Yes, the U.S. military can be
amazingly successful at times.
But in these wars, there will be
no victory. Just slow bleeding
-- of U.S. men and materiel and
Americans' sense of themselves
as a moral people.
Does that mean that ISIS'
barbarities should be ignored?
Of course not. Their medieval
mentality and cruelties and desire to force conversions on a
mass scale to re-establish the Islamic caliphate -- all these must
be confronted. Right now, the
default mode of that reaction is
violence (not that far removed
from the extreme wars of The
Crusades). The U.S. should be
seeking more creative ways,
involving larger alliances, and
economic and political sanctions, to build a stronger moral/
diplomatic/economic/political
shield against ISIS. It may not
ultimately work, but it can't
hurt and might actually help repel the advances of this group of
cutthroats.
7. WISE ADVICE
As the old colonial system
broke apart after World War II,
the active principle for Western
countries was "never fight a war
on the landmass of Asia." The
new warning should be "never
fight a war in the Middle East."
In that roiling, unstable part of
the world, the social and political infrastructures are infinitely complex, virtually impossible
for outsiders to understand,
easy to get bogged down in the
tribal, clan, religious miasmas,
with constantly shifting alliances. In short, it's easy to use missiles and bombs from thousands
of feet in the air, but actually
getting on the ground and trying
to decipher the shadowy social/
political rules and subrosa ways
of doing business is the very definition of ill-advised policy. Has
America learned nothing from
its defeats in Vietnam, Iraq,
Afghanistan (lessons already
learned by the Brits and the Russians in Afghanistan)?
As the U.S. gets bogged down
in these new Mideast wars, it
will spend down its treasury, its
aging infrastructure will continue to deteriorate, the economy will collapse once again, the
environment will continue to be
degraded, the results of climate
change will wreak more havoc
on cash-starved localities, the
gap between the uber-wealthy
and the rest of us will grow larger, social revolution will become
more necessary and real in the
streets, etc.
8. ELECTORAL FALLOUT
It may turn out that the
American Left will find itself
joining forces, at least temporarily, with the rightist Rand
Paulites to demand up-or-down
votes on use of military force in
Syria/Iraq.
Normally, the ruling party
in power can count on the polity
rallying around the flag and the
troops doing the fighting. But
whether the U.S. citizenry will
continue to support these newest wars in the Middle East is unclear. It's not even clear which
political party is "in power" -the one that controls the White
House? the one that controls the
House? -- or which military policies the populace might support:
boots on the ground? drone and
air force bombing??
My guess as I write
this in early October is
that the GOP is gaining
traction using ISIS ("the
terrorists are coming!")
to generate fear and
anxiety, and that may
be enough to tilt the
midterm elections in
their direction. The
Democrats are split
on the advisability of
Obama's war policies,
and may not react in
enough time (we're less
than a month away
from election day) to
win enough victories.
Needless to say, if the Hard
Right continues to dominate the
House, and becomes the majority in the Senate, the country is
in for a catastrophic, post-election hard landing in every area
imaginable, from economics
to judicial appointments (especially to the Supreme Court) to
educational slidebacks to fundamentalism and authoritarianism making massive gains in
the public arena.
9. A HUMUNGOUS
GAMBLE
Obama, it seems to me, is
gambling that the good patriotic zeal of finally hitting back
at somebody will accrue to the
benefit of the Democrats in the
midterm elections in November.
But I'm not sure Obama can pull
it off, hence the gloomy assessments above. Especially if Turkey and then NATO get sucked
into the larger war, and Russia
feels compelled actively to join
the other side. WW3, anyone?
If the Syria/Iraq campaign
is still going on in stasis in 2015
and the following year, and is
viewed by the U.S. population
as "Obama's War," stalemated
and unwinnable, the Democrats
may pay a high price at the polls
in 2016, losing the White House
and any hope for real traction in
the years following.
10. WHAT CAN BE DONE?
What the U.S. needs is a fullscale social/political revolution,
but though the need is certainly
there, the "objective conditions"
don't seem to be in forceful play.
This is true even as it's becoming more obvious that we are
moving slowly, incrementally
toward a revolutionary tipping
point.
Less than a month before
Election Day, there doesn't seem
to be much direction and passion among the liberal/progressive left. Which means that the
Democrats' GOTV campaign
will amount to little more than
reducing the electoral damage
rather than offering viable, creative, populist-Democratic alternatives.
If the electoral train hasn't
yet left the station, there may
still be enough time for the Democrats to kick their strategy into
high gear. But the Dems are notorious for snatching defeat out
of the jaws of possible victory.
As Tiny Tim might have said:
"God help us, everyone."#
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in
government & international
relations, has taught at universities in California and Washington, worked for two decades as a
writer/editor with the San Francisco Chronicle, and now serves
as co-editor of The Crisis Papers
(crisispapers.org). Comments:
[email protected] .
6 Sunday
12 10 2014 Kashmir Observer


Bajaj Allianz settles over 700 claims,
pays over Rs 35 crores
Srinagar: Bajaj Allianz General
Insurance Company is in the process of final settlement of around
2000 insurance claims in the
Kashmir valley within a week’s
time. The company has so far paid
insurance claims involving an
amount of over Rs 35 crores by settling more than 700 cases.
This was stated by the State Head
of the company, Aijaz Khan. Notably, Bajaj Allianz had not approached the Supreme Court
against the order of the J&K High
Court which had directed the insurance companies to pay 50 per
cent of insured amount for policies
above Rs 25 lakh and 95 per cent
for policies below Rs 25 lakh as
interim relief to people of Jammu
and Kashmir who lost their properties in the recent floods.
Four public sector insurance companies had jointly approached
the Supreme Court with a plea
seeking one month time to carry
out the survey before settling the
claims, which was rejected by the
apex court.
Notably, the company is extending
insurance cover here in association with J&K Bank.
The company has already announced that the claims where
loss is up to Rs.50000 would be settled without involving a surveyor.
The claims up to Rs 5 lakhs are
being settled through fast track
system and surveyors have been
instructed to finalise it on the spot.
The company has sought cooperation of the claimants and assures
that they would be getting their
money at any cost.
Meanwhile, the National Head of
claims, Praveen chajjed who is
camping in the valley for last 22
days said, “Ours is the first company to start surveying the losses
in the state. We deployed a strong
team of surveyors here, who swiftly
got into action and reached the affected people in minimum possible
time. So far 90% of claims intimated till date have been surveyed.”
“Bajaj Allianz is always there for
the people of J&K state and will always remain at their service,” the
regional head said.
It is also worth mentioning that
Bajaj Auto has announced a contribution of Rupees 20 crore for the
Prime Minister National Relief
Fund. The Company has contributed this amount to provide relief
efforts in the flood ravaged areas
in Jammu & Kashmir.
Bajaj Group of companies and
trusts are very actively involved
in various CSR and philanthrop-
ic activities such as Education,
Medical Health, Sanitation especially providing clean toilets for
girl Schools and ensuring supply
of clean drinking water etc. and
expect to contribute more than 150
crores during the current financial year 2014-15.
Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto
in a statement has said, “We feel
the grief of our fellow citizens in
the state and they need our help at
this critical time to come out of this
tragedy and to rebuild their lives.
Rather for collective efforts, determination Govt to provide input costs to the farmers: Mir
to rebuild shattered economy, infrastructure
Asks administration to be pro-active to solve people’s problems
BUDGAM,
OCTOBER
11- Asking administration to be pro active to
solve the problems of the
people with social obligations, the Minister for
Finance and Ladakh Affairs Mr. Ab Rahim Rather today said that provision of all the basic
amenities to the people
at their door steps is the
motto of present Government led by Chief Minister Mr. Omer Abdullah .
He said the recent floods,
which have shattered the
economy of the state, has
posed a big challenge before the administration
and the stake holders to
deal with the situation
with a joint effort adding that “we have to go
together to rebuild and
rehabilitate
the damaged infrastructure and
economy with courage
and full determination.”
Speaking to public gathering, after distributing
relief cheques under
IAY out of CDF to the
beneficiaries at Sheikhul-Alam Hall Budgam
today, Mr Rather said
that the government in
addition to approving
special financial package
of Rs 44000 Cr for rehabilitation of the flood affected people of the state,
has under the provision
of VAT ACT extended
several concessions to
the traders belonging to
flood hit areas of both
Jammu and Kashmir divisions, to enable them
restart their business
activities. He said the
proposed package will
be submitted to Govt of
India shortly for accord
of sanction. “Facilities
under VAT and Entry
Taxes shall be available to all flood affected
dealers regardless of
geographical location of
their business premises
in any part of the state,”
Mr Rather added. He said
the state Govt. has also
sought 10 years tax holiday for J&K to help it
revive it’s economy. He
asked the beneficiaries
to make better use of the
financial assistance provide to them under IAY.
The District Development
Commissioner,
Budgam Mr. Manzoor
Ahmad Lone was also
present on the occasion.
Mr Rather said that the
every region of the state
especially backward and
remote areas have witnessed an unparalleled
development and growth
during the last 6 years of
the present dispensation.
He said owing to the pivotal role of road linkage in
socio economic emancipation , the present Govt
has accorded top priority
to road connectivity in
remote areas, adding that
the Chari-sharrief constituency is, perhaps the
first hilly constituency
of the state, to have 100%
road connectivity. He said
no stone will be left unturned to come up to the
expectations of the people.
Listing some landmark
achievements the present Govt, Mr Rather asserted that could not
be done in many years
,after independence, was
achieved in just 6 years
of the present Govt headed by Chief Minister Mr.
Omer Abdullah. He challenged his political opponents to show a single
habitation , out of 115 villages of the Chari –Sharrief constituency where
benefits of the development have not reached.
Describing peace and
unity as key to sustainable development and
socio economic transformation, Mr Rather
asked the people to defeat political parties,
who thrive on deceit
and lie and want
to
polarize the society for
achieving
their petty
gains .He cautioned the
people against the booby trap of the opposition
to
hoodwink public
opinion and asked them
not to get swayed away
by their false and mischievous propaganda.
SRINAGAR, OCTOBER
11 – The State Government has decided to provide relief of Rs. 450 per
kanal for irrigated land
and Rs. 225 for non-irrigated (rainfed) land as a
cost of seeds, fertilizers
and pesticides to those
farmers whose crops
were damaged in recent
devastating floods in the
State.
This was stated by the
Minister for Agriculture,
Mr. Ghulam Hassan Mir
while chairing a high
level meeting of officers
convened to take stock
of the damages caused to
the crops and vegetables
in the recent floods.
The Minister said that
the amount will be provided out of State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF)
and would be disbursed
to the farmers through
the concerned Deputy
Commissioners
after
verifying the facts from
Revenue and Agricul-
ture Departments.
It was informed that
standing crops spread
over on 3.50 hectares of
land were damaged in
the recent floods. The
Minister said that a comprehensive proposal for
Rs. 217 crore as relief
package has been formulated and submitted to
the Centre for funding.
The amount would be
provided to those farmers whose crops were
damaged in the flood,
incessant rains and cold
shock as well as diseases
by rains.
Reviewing the seed and
fertilizers, the meeting
was informed that the
Department of Agriculture will provide 21753.5
quintals various kinds of
seeds to the farmers for
Rabbi Season 2014-15. It
was also given out that
there is requirement of
94650 metric tonnes of
different kinds of fertilizers in the Kashmir valley.
Among others, Commissioner Secretary, Agriculture, Dr. Asgar Samoon, Director Agriculture,
Kashmir,
Peerzada
Mushtaq Ahmed, Senior
officers of Agriculture,
Horticulture, Planning
and other allied sectors
of the department attended the meeting.
Later, the Minister visited flood affected areas
of Narbal, Sozeith, Goripora, Mazahama and Magam to take stock of the
post-flood situation. He
interacted with the people and enquired about
restoration of essentyial
services in the area.
On the occasion the Minister assured that the
government will provide
all possible assistance to
the flood hit people and
ensure speedy construction of damaged infrastructure.
PHQ orders absorption of 109 SPOs,
out of turn promotions to 102 cops
SRINAGAR, OCTOBER
11: Director General of Police (DGP), Mr. K. Rajendra Kumar today ordered
out of turn promotion to
102 lower subordinates,
besides absorption of 109
SPOs as constables in
Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The orders in this regard have been issued by
the Police Headquarters
(PHQ) on the recommendations of Police Establishment Board (PEB) in
recognition to their extra
ordinary contribution in
maintaining peace and order in the state.
Mr. Rajendra said that the
promoted personnel and
SPOs demonstrated great
velour and courage while
safeguarding the people
and their properties at different places in the state
from time to time that impressed the authorities to
reward them. He said that
police has a primary role
to maintain peace and order, ensuring dignity and
honor of the people of the
state. The promoted personnel by the dint of their
dedication and courage
have contributed in maintaining the peace besides
providing
professional
policing to the people, he
added.
The DGP said that the
SPOs absorbed as constables have been rubbing
shoulders
with
other police personnel in
maintaining law and order, besides other public
services continuously. He
disclosed that the lower
subordinates promoted to
their next higher ranks
include 64 constables,
27 Sg. Constables and 11
head constables.
Mr. Rajendra reiterated
that the performance of
personnel in public service is recorded at PHQ
level
and
recognized
through rewards and
promotions. He said that
every member of JKP has
to work with dedication
providing better police
service to the people of the
state.
From Front Page
Mirwaiz Sets...
270 Haj...
Grievance Cell under the leadership of senior Hurriyat leader Bilal
Gani Lone.
The Hurriyat has appealed the general public to come forward
and register their complaints regarding corruption and partiality
in the distribution of relief and rehabilitation and also black marketing of essentials and other problems faced by them to the following phone numbers, 9419004786, 9419011561, 9622728406,
9906763704, 0194-2429813, 0194-2415106,
40-day pilgrimage at the holy city of Mecca.
Sixteen intending Hajjies could not leave for Haj as they suffered
severely due to devastating floods in the state, the spokesman said.
India...
rushed to District Hospital Poonch. “However, no loss of life has
been reported so far,” they said. The firing continued throughout the
day, the officials added.
Locals said at least 10 houses have suffered damage due to Pakistani
shelling.
The fresh gunfire exchange resumes fighting after the two armies
abruptly stopped Thursday night following nine days of attacking each
other with mortars and heavy machine guns.
Indian officials said Pakistani firing has so far killed eight people and wounded around 70 others, while as Pakistani media reported 12 people on their side were killed and over 50 wounded.
Reports said nearly 20,000 people living close to the border
have fled to safer places in wake of the heavy firing.
Both sides have blamed the other for triggering a crisis on the
border, with Pakistan suggesting that India’s new government led
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was flexing its muscles on the
dispute over Kashmir, the cause of two wars.
New Delhi claims Pakistan has ratcheted up tensions to keep
alive the 67-year-old dispute and vowed a strong response to any
Pakistani attempt to stir up trouble in the Kashmir region.
The two sides agreed a ceasefire in 2003 which has frayed
over the past two years.
ALLOW UNMOGIP...
India is to allow the observers to visit the Line of Control on
its side to assess the situation. Its investigation and recommendations should be acceptable to India.
Responding to a volley of questions regarding escalation of
situation on the Line of Control and working boundary, the Foreign Office spokesperson categorically stated that Pakistan is only
responding to the situation. She said Pakistan has neither started
violations of the ceasefire nor did it escalate the situation.
Mufti To Modi...
livable after undergoing massive destruction during the September floods,” he said and added that Srinagar should be also
included HRIDAY (National Heritage and City Development and
Augmentation Yojna.) for conserving the heritage character of the
city impaired by the floods.
Mufti also urged the Asian Development Bank and the World
Bank to send in their teams at the earliest to assess the needs of
the state devastated by the floods. “In addition to needs assessment, I request these institutions to start long-term programs for
restoration of livelihood and capacity building in the State. This
would allow us to leap-frog into the 21st century,” he said.
While applauding the Supreme Court judgment on settlement of insurance claims, Sayeed said it is our responsibility to
look at those losses as well which have not been insured. He said
a large chunk of losses in agriculture, horticulture, trade and businesses are not insured in the flood-hit areas. While lessons need
to be learnt from this tragedy, he said it is important that the Centre and the multilateral institutions cover these losses through
fully funded financial package.
He said market intervention is required by the State Government to ensure that the costs of conducting business especially in
horticulture sector, which have dramatically shot up, are subsidized for this season. “Special attention must be given to workout
relief programme for Kissan Credit Card and Artisan Credit Card
holders. This will provide enormous relief to growers in the horticulture sector and artisans in the handicraft sector,” he said.
Sayeed also urged the Non-Resident Kashmiris to help rebuild
Kashmir by setting up institutions of international standards in
the State.
He also urged the national universities and professional colleges to make special one-time provision for delayed applications
in various parts of the country so that students from JK don’t lose
precious academic year.
Sayeed said if his party comes to power, it will give a policy
framework on sustainable and planned rehabilitation and reconstruction of the areas devastated by the floods. He said the policy
framework would also include flood control master plan to minimize the loss to life and property in the eventuality of any future
disasters and other climate threats.
“Our party will take this tragedy as a challenge and I assure
my people, that we would rebuild Srinagar as the best livable and
planned city with all the amenities that a modern urban centre
calls for,” he said.
Expressing grave concern over the reported serious discrepancies pointed out by the Supreme Court-appointed panel in the
relief operations, Sayeed said the concerns expressed by PDP regarding lopsided relief distribution by the State Government have
come true as the same stand vindicated by the official committee.
He said as reported by a section of the media, the SC-appointed
panel has pinpointed diversion of the relief material on political
considerations and dispatching of the same even to places, which
were least affected by the devastating floods.
Sayeed said it was disgusting to note that as per the official
panel report, several ministers of the present regime have made
sure that relief was doled out to their political activists in Srinagar
and were showing little concern for removing the sufferings of
the flood-hit people at large. He said official panel has also belied
the claims of authorities about distribution of free ration among
the flood-hit people as according to the report people are complaining that they have not got any rations.
by Indian firing at the LoC then your are seriously mistaken. Pakistan is united to face any aggression."
days. It was then that we thought of developing the app."
Aryans Group of Colleges chairman Anshu Kataria said that
the app will help people as it can be accessed by anyone.
The college management provided the funds for developing
the app, along with technological support.
Jammu and Kashmir was severely affected by unprecedented
floods early September. Lakhs of people were marooned across
the state for days. IANS
Civil Society...
Kashmiri students...
Use Mandate...
been extreme poverty in the sub-continent. Instead of fighting a war and wasting money on weapons, Pakistan and India
should do something to end poverty."
He said both the countries should take measures for lasting
peace besides increasing the trade volume between them.
Castigating Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for not condemning
"Indian aggression" on the LoC, Imran Khan said:
"There has been not a word from Nawaz Sharif on Indian aggression at the LoC that resulted killing of many Pakistanis.
"I on behalf of Nawaz Sharif tell Modi that Pakistan is not
afraid of its aggression. If you think Pakistanis will be intimidated
GOC Hails...
have no veracity that educated youth are joining militancy
in Kashmir “We have seen how youth have endangered their
lives and carried out the rescue works in the midst of worst ever
floods. They didn’t care for their lives but saved thousands and
their efforts will be remembered for long,” Saha said.
GOC also stressed for the need of efforts taken up for the
proper sanitization of the flood hit areas of Kashmir valley so that
the serious epidemic threats- looming large could be averted.
He maintained further that the army is fully equipped and
prepared to face any challenge and that the militant activities
didn’t hamper its rescue mission. “18 militants were eliminated
during the recent past when flood had hit the Kashmir valley. We
are vigorously carrying out our operations of relief and rehabilitation.”
Commenting on upcoming polls in J&K, the GOC said that
the decision is the domain of the government and that participating in the democratic process is among the basic rights of every
individual.
Meanwhile, 20 army personnel donated blood at the camp for
the flood victims. With Inputs From KNS
called out before the floods, and why wasn’t central Kashmir
put on very high alert and forceful evacuation done, as is done in
many parts of the country? (In Orissa a population of 10 lakh was
forcefully evacuated ahead of last floods there).
14. Why hasn’t IFC dept put in place an automatic guage monitoring system for measuring the rainfall and water level of river
Jhelum?
15. IFC deptt has claimed that sudden surge in water level was
due to an unknown cloud burst. Why is this statement not corroborated by the Met dept, which has denied that there was any
cloud burst?
Forum with other organisations is planning to move a series
of RTIs, both in central government as well as in state government
and will also file a PIL in the High Court and if required in Supreme Court for establishing a high level enquiry committee to
find out what all has been done during past five years and how
department worked before, during and after floods.
Universities should be asked to study entire catchment area
and flood prone areas of River jhelum from Pahalgam to Uri, the
sunday
sunday
ashmir O
Observer
bserver
12 07
10 2014
2014 KKashmir
27
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LAST PAGE
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news
Maulvi Abbas: ‘Lift Ban On
Muharram Processions’
Vows to take out 8th Muharram Procession via Lal Chowk
SRINAGAR: Veteran Shia leader
Maulana Abbas Ansari Saturday
called upon authorities to remove
the unjust ban on major Muharram
processions in Srinagar.
He was addressing a meeting of
Ittehadul Muslimeen workers
held to review relief and
rehabilitation programme for the
flood hit people and to formulate
plans for the upcoming holy
month of Muharram.
The meeting was chaired by
Maulana Abbas Ansari who is the
patron of Ittihadul Muslimeen.
Maulana said that “we don’t
expect any kind of support from
the paralyzed administration,
however we will put our
legitimate religious demands
before the government”.
He said the memorial gatherings,
meetings and processions will be
taken out with great religious fervor
and exemplary discipline this year.
Maulana Ansari said that “we
are not used to begging from the
government, but we demand
that the unjustified ban on
main Muharram processions be
immediately removed as this is
the open violation of international
law.
Abbas Ansari announced that
the Alam Sharief procession of
8th Muharram will be taken out
inspite of all the barriers.
Maulana Abbas while addressing
the audience said that Imam
Hussain’s revolution was not
only for Muslims but for all the
oppressed peoples of the world. He
blamed the state administration
that on one side it restricts Hussaini
processions and on the other
side has failed to provide basic
facilities regarding Muharram
arrangements. However, through
radio and television it only resorts
to propaganda.
Mulana Abbas appealed to the
public to create an atmosphere of
brotherhood and equality in these
pious days.
Sajad fears low turnout
if polls held at present
Jama’at starts
sanitation drive
in Rajbagh
Srinagar: Stating that Jammu
and Kashmir was passing
through one of the most
difficult phases in its history
due to the recent devastating
floods, Peoples Conference
(PC) Chairman Mr. Sajad
Gani Lone said, for a changelet the political parties give
preference to people over
politics.
It is strange that some
political parties are behaving
as if nothing has happened
and conditions are normal.
Kashmiris are desperately
trying to recover from the
devastating floods. There is a
real threat that the theory of
normalcy being propagated
by a section of politicians
would dilute the perception
of losses outside Kashmir.
Kashmiris desperately need
assistance and grants from
the Central government. If
we are to portray a picture
of normalcy it effectively
becomes an indicator of
losses. And it would be a
negative factor in evaluating
the final assistance package
which the affected people are
anticipating. A catastrophe
has hit Kashmir and we plead
not to dilute the intensity of
that catastrophe by painting
a picture of normalcy.
It is time to have some
mercy on the Kashmiri
people and deal with the
situation on humanitarian
grounds rather than political
grounds. The recent visit of
the election commission has
yet again seen statements by
traditional power seeking
SRINAGAR:
Jama’at-eIslami (JeI) Jammu and
Kashmir on Saturday
started 15 day sanitation
drive in worst flood-hit
Rajbagh area of Srinagar.
A spokesperson of JeI said
that the group’s volunteers
who have come from
different districts of the
valley joined the drive.
“We started the drive
today. Our volunteers will
help people in cleansing
their houses and locaties,”
Advocate Zahid Ali said.
Once considered a posh
area, Rajbagh is now
presenting a ghostly look.
The water level in Rajbagh
was around 25 feet
submerging the houses,
hotels,
offices,
guest
houses, schools, shops and
other buildings. Most of
the structures in the area
have either collapsed or
have suffered damage.
The area remained under
water for more than 20
days and the water is still
present at fewer places
with people blaming
government of inaction
and failure.
“Our volunteers will help
people in cleaning houses
and debris, collecting
house-hold material and
would sprinkle phenyl,”
he said, adding but we
won’t assist financially in
any construction work.
He said the drive would
continue till 25 October
and if need arises, it would
be extended. (GNS)
oligarchs the NC, Congress
and the PDP. Some want
the elections to be held
on time while some want
it to be delayed. The core
content of the statements
unambiguously reflects a
lust for power. It seems to
be a race to rob the people
of any relief assistance that
might come their way. He
said that it is a reality that
conditions in Kashmir will
take a long time to get
back to normal. The new
government which is to be
elected is going to rule the
state for six years. The least
the Kashmiris deserve is
some time to recover from
the shock of homelessness
and losses. We need to
collectively decide whether
people are yet ready for
elections or not. We as aparty
are ready for elections at any
time. But as on date, electoral
activity does come across as
embarrassing for any selfrespecting politician. Priority
should be given to relief and
rehabilitation. Electoral code
of conduct would certainly
become an impediment
in relief and rehabilitation
operations, he added. The
biggest
threat
remains
that of low participation.
If elections are thrust on
an unwilling and flooded
population and it keeps large
sections of people away from
participating, we will be in
all probability be saddled
with a non-representative
government for the next six
years, he added
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8 Sunday 12102014 Kashmir Observer
Will abide by the decision if polls are declared: NC
SRINAGAR: National Conference while
reiterating its suggestion of delaying
the state elections here, Saturday
however maintained that if election
commission declares conduction of
polls on due date, it will abide by the
decision.
The provincial president Kashmir Nasir
Aslam said that the party has already
submitted before the ECI team that
conduction of polls at present would
add to the miseries of people as the
masses who didn’t participate in Eid
celebrations could not participate
in the election process. “There are
homes in thousands devastated and
lives affected at large in Kashmir and
Jammu. Our priority is to put Kashmir
back on gear- this is our stand,” Nasir
maintained.
Party’s
general
secretary
Ali
Mohammad Sagar while taking a dig
at the opposition PDP said that its
demands to hold polls on time, actually
reflects is anti-people policy. “It is a
power hungry party,” accused Sagar.
“Which has no care for the peoples’
well being.”
Additional general secretary NC-Shiekh
Mustafa Kamal added further that the
security establishment here has on
record said that it would be difficult for
it to provide security in the midst of the
winter months in Kashmir.
Congress, on the other hand advocated
for the polls on due date- maintaining
that governor’s rule in the state of
Jammu and Kashmir is no substitute
to the People’s rule. Party’s senior vice
president Ghulam Nabi Monga said
Congress wants polls on due date so
that next government could take up
the relief and rehabilitation measures
on priority bases.
Pertinently, the former chief minister
and the Congress veteran Ghulam
Nabi Azad has earlier suggested the
conduction of polls on due date. Azad
in an interview with Kashmir News
Service had stated that polls should
be conducted on due date so that
rehabilitation measures are taken in
the tenure of the next government.
Opposition PDP maintained that
favoured conduct of elections on its due
date. The parry said that it conveyed its
point before the ECI team and it has also
proposed constitution of a join team of
officers who could manage the relief
and rehabilitation measures sans any
political interference.
Pertinently, in the recent past the
team of Election Commission of India
(ECI) led by deputy chief election
commissioner Vinod Zutshi met
almost all mainstream political
parties discussing the post flood
situation and the conduct of elections
in the state. It was reported later that
Election Commission of India (ECI)
is likely to issue green signal for the
polls by the end of this year. The final
announcement by the ECI is likely to be
made on October 20.(KNS)
C M Y K
C M Y K
Governor’s rule no substitute
to peoples’ rule: Congress
‘Mainstream Hungry For Power’
Geelani ups ante against polls
SRINAGAR:While
terming
the
eagerness regarding the holding
of election drama in Kashmir as
unkind thinking of the Indian policy
makers
and
selfcentered
thinking
of the Kashmiri proIndian
politicians,
Chairman
Hurriyat
Syed
Ali
Geelani
said that at the time
when the destructive
floods have snatched
everything from the
Kashmiri people and when they are
living a life in coma, even talking about
the election ‘drama’ is sorrowful and
it proves that the rulers of New Delhi
and Srinagar have nothing to do with
the miseries of the people and they are
only concerned with their benefits.
Huriyat (G) chairman in a statement
said, ”holding of election drama in
presence of 7.5 lakh Indian army in
Kashmir is although a military operation
and a cruel joke but talking about
the elections in this situation which
arose after the recent floods is equal
to adding to the pain and sufferings of
the people and it is also an attempt to
hide the reality of destruction in Jammu
and Kashmir from the outer world and
by announcing the
holding of election
drama, India want to
give an impression
to the international
community
that
everything is ok in
Jammu & Kashmir. In
the Saturday’s press
release, the Hurriyat
chairman said that the
recent floods and the situation thereafter
have entirely exposed the authorities in
New Delhi and NC and PDP like proIndian political parties of Jammu &
Kashmir that they are only interested
in the power politics. He further said
that the recent floods have shown us
that how did they disappeared from the
entire Jammu & Kashmir as if they were
never existent anywhere. They neither
did anything for saving the people and
nor have they any role in reaching out to
the affected people with relief and aid.”
everything from the Kashmiri people and when they are living a
life in coma, even talking about the election ‘drama’ is sorrowful
and it proves that the rulers of New Delhi and Srinagar have
nothing to do with the miseries of the people and they are only
concerned with their benefits
C M Y K
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at the time when the destructive floods have snatched