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C M Y K
9906564001 | 8494068168 | 9419087897
AEE
BEE
EnginEEring Works
18
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Servicing, repairing & Maintenance
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Nabdi Pora, M.K. Chowk, Hawal, Srinagar (J&K)
5
20 Rabi-ul-Awwal | 1436 Hijri | Vol: 18 | Issue: 09 | Pages : 08 | Price: `3
When Jalaluddin Balkhi became
Maulana Rumi
w w w. k a s h m i r o b s e r v e r. n e t
sunDaY 11 JanuaRY 2015
Wisdom
You are not a drop
in the ocean. You
are the entire
ocean in a drop.
/ Srinagar Today: MoSTly Sunny
MaxiMuM: 12oC / MiniMuM: -1oC / HuMidiTy : 75% / SunSeTS Today... 05:21 PM / SunriSeS ToMorrow... 07.24 aM
Vohra Takes Over Reigns of J&K
Modi praises Kashmiris Stable Govt in J&K Soon: BJP
...........Rumi
Grenade Kills Shepherd
rajOuri: A shepherd was killed
when a littered explosive substance went off Dharhal area of
Rajouri district.
Police said that the deceased
who had gone to graze his goats to
upper parts of Darhal was killed after a stray grenade went off as soon
as he accidently pulled its rusty pin.
A police official said that a blast
site was inspected thoroughly and
it was found the man had found the
stray grenade in dense bushes. “It
is a militancy infested area and we
have been investigating the matter,”
he said adding that search has been
launched to find out if any militant
group is present in the area.
Four Burglars Arrested
srinagar: Police on Saturday said
that it arrested four notorious burglars and recovered huge quantity
of stolen merchandize worth lakhs
of rupees from them in Zewan area
of Srinagar city.
“A spate of burglaries in shops
and houses were reported in Zewan
and Khanmou areas in recent days.
Police had assured the common
people that Police would take all
measures to stop the recurrence of
burglaries and detect that case of
burglaries at an earliest,” a police
official told CNS.
He said Panthachowk Police had
constituted a special investigation
team headed by Station House Officer to solve the cases of Page 6
Asks officers
to ensure good
governance
jammu: governor n n vohra saturday formally took over the reins of
the government in jammu and Kashmir and asked the administration to
take all necessary steps to ensure
developments and good governance.
After issuing the proclamation of
Governor’s rule in the State on Friday,
Vohra was given a warm welcome
with guard of honor on his visit to
the Civil Secretariat here on Saturday.
“The governor reached Civil Secretariat at around 2pm and was accompanied by Chief Secretary Iqbal
Khanday, Principal Secretary Home
Suresh Kumar, Director General Po-
lice K Rajendra. He was given a warm
welcome with guard of honour by
police,” one of the senior officials said.
He said that the governor chaired
a high-level meeting of secretaries of various departments and
reviewed the progress of development. In the meeting, sources said,
Vohra spelt out his priorities and
called for completion of key projects within a short time frame. “Priority attention should be devoted
to development projects like roads,
bridges, education and health care
services,” he told the officers according to sources.
“The Governor also stressed that
each public servant must do his job
efficiently and honestly,” sources
said. Later according to sources the
Governor visited the Police Headquarters and reviewed the overall
security situation.
srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday asserted people of Jammu and Kashmir
have given a historic mandate in the Assembly
elections despite the boycott call given by the
separatists and militant threat.
Addressing the BJP rally in New Delhi Modi
congratulated people of Jammu and Kashmir for
casting votes in large numbers and that too in
favour of BJP.
“I salute the people of Jammu and Kashmir who
despite the poll boycott call from the separatists
and terror threats came out and voted in large numbers. They have given a historic mandate,” he said.
Without naming separatist leaders he said,
“Some elements in Jammu and Kashmir though
tried to defame the Indian democracy in the
recent Assembly elections, but they were surprised when people rejected them and showed
trust in the Indian democracy.
According to KNS correspondent the Page 6
Exhorts Secretaries to Ensure
Good Governance
srinagar: Governor Vohra had a meeting with the Administrative
Secretaries of all the State Government departments at the Civil Secretariat, Jammu, today.
The Governor asked the Secretaries to take effective steps to ensure
that the functionaries of the departments and agencies under their
charge attend office punctually and work with due devotion. He also
stressed the importance of ensuring efficient and honest functioning of the various public service delivery organizations and timely
redressal of public complaints and grievances.
The Governor called upon all the Secretaries to clear all Page 6
Union Transport Ministry
Bypasses JK Govt, BRO
SHARnARtHI ISSue HotS uP
takes control of projects meant for JK highways
nC, Civil Society
Groups Join Chorus
srinagar: The Union Ministry
of Road Transport and Highways
which is responsible for the development and maintenance of
National Highways has taken direct control of the central projects
meant for JK highways, which was
earlier being handled by JK government and other nodal agencies.
According to the KNS the ministry which principally followed
the agency system to develop and
maintain the National Highways in
Jammu and Kashmir has bypassed
all the agencies acting as nodal
agencies of the Central Government.
Sources said that earlier the
State Government, the Border
Road Organization and National
Highways Authority of India, an autonomous organization under the
Ministry, acted as agencies of the
Central Government but now the
ministry has decided that it will
directly control implementation of
the projects from New Delhi.
Sources said that the Ministry in
its first move has taken the control
of Zojila Project which was earlier under the control of the Border
Road Organization (BRO). Further
the ministry has set a Page 6
KOchi: Declining to give any timeframe on formation
of government in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP claimed
on Saturday that there will be a stable government in
that state soon.
"We hope to have a stable government. BJP, obviously will be a part of that government. We will have
a stable government in Jammu and Kashmir soon,"
BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav said.
He was talking to reporters here on the sidelines of a
function, a day after Governor's Rule was imposed in J&K.
On the delay in the formation of the new government, he said, "Yes it is taking some time.
We hope to bring some kind of arrangement soon."
"We do not want to give any deadlines. We want to do it as soon as possible," he said, adding, that was the reason he was rushing to Delhi.
Governor's Rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, with PDP, which emerged as
the single-largest party, and BJP failing to cobble up the required number to form the government.
On the controversial 'ghar wapsi' (reconversion) programme of the VHP, the BJP leader
declined to comment, saying, "Our people have answered it. Whatever our people have said
is our response also."
Speaking at a function organised by the Indian Christian Movement (ICM) here Page 6
DGP, senior secretaries brief Guv
srinagar: K. Rajendra Kumar, Director General of Police, J&K, called
on N.N. Vohra, Governor, at the Civil Secretariat here today. The Governor reviewed the internal security situation in the state with Mr.
Kumar and urged him to ensure effective maintenance of internal
security in the State.
The Governor also held separate discussions with B.R. Sharma,
Principal Secretary, Planning and Development and B.B. Vyas, Principal Secretary, Finance and reviewed all major issues relating to the
current Annual Plan, formulation of the Annual Plan 2015-16, budgetary issues, payment of wages to casual employees and other matter
relating to fiscal management.
Hurriyat Convenes Emergency Meet
srinagar: Hurriyat Conference (M) has called
for an emergency meeting of its Shura on Monday to chalk out the future strategy and furnish
the details about concessions given to the West
Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) settled in Jammu by
the government of India.
Hurriyat (M) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told CNS that the move on part of government of India to grant citizenship rights and other concessions to the refugees settled in Jammu
is a serious and grave issue and the amalgam has
decided to convene an emergency meeting of its
shura to chalk out the future strategy.
“All the members of the Shura will participate
in the meeting. We will furnish all the details
about the serious issue and accordingly we will
chalk out a strategy to counter the move,” Mirwaiz said.
Meanwhile, academician and eminent civil
society member Dr Hameeda Nayeem while
terming the issue disturbing for the people of
Kashmir told CNS that Indian Parliament can’t
thrust its decision upon the Muslims of the State.
“Granting citizenship status is a state subject and
Centre has no say in it. Ultimately, it will be the
State Assembly that has to take call on the issue. If BJP wants to provide concessions to West
Pakistan Refugees, still it has to wait for the State
Assembly and in no way Jammu and Kashmir As-
sembly will pass the bill in this regard,” she said
adding that it has been a routine for the New
Delhi to create chaos and confusion in Valley by
provoking the sentiments of common people.
Move aimed at altering demography of JK:
Terming the recommendations of the Joint
Parliamentary Committee for settling the West
Pakistan refugees permanently in the J&K as anti-state, General Secretary National Conference
Ali Mohammad Sagar Saturday said such recommendations are aimed at changing the demography of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sagar told District Working Committees meeting from District Baramulla and District Kupwara
that the recommendations of Joint Parliamentary
committee are unacceptable and is a wicked conspiracy to temper the special status of Page 6
Cold Wave to
Continue, Kargil
Records -16
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srinagar: The minimum temperature in Srinagar and other places
in the Kashmir Valley remained
below freezing point Saturday and
according to the Met Office, there
would be no respite from the intense cold wave in coming days.
"The weather is likely to remain
dry Sunday. The cold wave conditions
would continue in Jammu and Kashmir," a Met official told IANS here.
"Jammu recorded a minimum
temperature of 3.5 degrees Celsius today (Saturday) which is five
notches below the season's average," he said.
Srinagar recorded a minimum
temperature of minus 4.8 degrees
Celsius, Gulmarg recorded minus
3.1 degrees Celsius and Pahalgam
was minus 6.6 degrees Celsius.
"Leh town in Ladakh region recorded a minimum temperature of
minus 16.2 degrees Celsius, while
Kargil town recorded a minimum
temperature of minus 16 degrees
Celsius," the official said.
Despite the intense cold wave
that has been sweeping the Valley since the beginning of 40-daylong period of harsh winter known
as 'Chillai Kalan' started Dec 21,
Kashmir has not received good
snowfall this season, although a
scanty snowfall occurred in Gulmarg last week.
C M Y K
sunday
11 01 2015 Kashmir Observer
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Earnest Money
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Time of
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Construction of Regional Work shop Buüding at
Ganderbal Near Power House
33.00
66000.00
90 days
01. Bidders are advised to study the Buüding Document carefully submission of e-bid against
this SDB shall be deemed to have been done after careful study and examination of the procedures,
terms and conditíons of the standard Bidding document with full understanding of its simplications
by the bidder.
02. The tender documents is available on web site http:// jktenders.gov.in interested bidders
may view or download the bid document, seek ciarification and submit their e-bid online up to date
as per the details mentioned in the table below.
A
Date and time of downloading of
standard Bidding Document
B
C
D
Clarification start date
Clarifications end date
e-bid submission (start) date & time
(submission of e-tender fee, BMD and
other supporting documents in PDF/
XLS format)
e-bid submission (end) date & time
(submission of e-tender fee, BMD and
other supporting documents in PDF/
XLS format)
Online e-bid opening date & Time
Venue of opening of technical &
financial e-bids
Cost of e-Bid document
E
F
G
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stage no.
6
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paraphErnalia
dynamic
enterprises
Distributors And Govt
, Order Suppliers Of
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ReGd with SMAll SCAle iNduStRieS
email: [email protected]
Alamdar Road Budgam, Kashmir- 191111
Cell No: +91- 9419967015,
+91- 9622432766
Rs. 1000.00 (Rupees One Thousand
Non-Refundable)
Fresh Tender Notice No 95 of 2014-15 - Fresh to NiT No 93 2014-15)
accepting responsibility for the future
business
center
29th January 2015 03:00 PM
s
For and On behalf of the Govener of jammu & Kashmir state sealed tenders affixed with one rupee
revenue stamp are invited from Government approved PWD contractors for the snow clearance to
the stages for the year 2014-15 as listed below.
8
Top Floor, Bolck-13 Mall Opp. Islamia College Of
Science & Commerce Hawal, Srinagar, J&K, India
Phones: 0194-2420386 Mobile: +91-8803314014
Email: [email protected]
27th January 2015 03:00 PM
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER,
R&B DIVISIÓN, BARAmULLA.
exploring yourself
determining values
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improving efficiency
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The standard Bidding Document can be
downloaded over http://jktenders.gov.in
from 8th January, 2015 : 02:00 PM
10th January 2015 10:00 AM
15th January 2015 02:00 PM
15th January 2015 02:00 PM
Sd/- Executive Engineer
ED-5th Ganderbal
DIPK : 9684
(aptitude, interest, strengthing & Weakness)
Near islamia college,Hawal,Srinagar-190001
Ph:0194-2410284,09205041260
Email:[email protected]
rESidEnCy rOad Srinagar
Estm. Cost
(Rs in Lacs)
tHE GOAlS tO ACHIEvE IN GuIDANCE
pOlO ViEW Sgr
COntaCt: 2480966
GRAND HOTEL
AND RESTAURANT
Name of Work
COUnSElling thE COUntry
COMPutECH
Block 13
S.No.
Timing: 10.00 Am To 9.00 Pm
ReStAuRANtS
Departmental
Store & Fast Food
For and on behalf of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir state, Tenders, are here by invited
from register / approved PWD/MES/CPWD contractors for following work as per below mentioned
ítems and conditíons required for electric Division-V Ganderbal of Electric Maintt. & RE Wing, Kashmir,
Srinagar.
Phone No: 9796149988, 9906564001
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E-mail : [email protected] Telephone No: 0194-2416236 Fax: 0194-2416236
Gist of this office NIT No: 01/TS of 2015 01. INVITATION: - dated: 05-01-2015 Office
CELL :- 9906660477
elocity
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OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER
ELECTRIC DIVISIÓN GANDERBAL
12
name of the road
bandipayeen inner links.
hudpora veernar road
faqirbagh inner links
sultanpora inner link
beighpati link
Thokurpati link
patchar link road.
doompora dangdara road.
shrakwara link road.
inner links at nowpora.
inner links at authoora
chanpora link
watergam bonpora. road
Takiya wani watergam link
bangdara link road
saloosa vizer link
chandoosa inner links
allied links at Takiya Tapper
kanispora singhpora road
mirangund singhpora road
Trikoulbl mundiyari road
inner lanes at pattan.
pattan check Jamal mir road
iqbal colony pattan
sooch palpora road
warpora pattan road
wayul kralpora
palpora pakipora road
length in kilometers
1.00
0.75
0.75
0.50
1.25
1.25
1.00
2.50
2.50
3.00
1.00
1.00
1.50
0.50
0.50
2.00
2.25
3.00
2.50
2.00
2.00
4.75
3.00
0.75
1.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
2. The tenders should be addressed to the Supenniending Engineer PWD (R&B) Circle Baramulla/
Kupwara (Baramulla) through registered post on the tender documents at an cost of Rs 200/stage properly
issued by the Executive Engineer R&B Division Baramulla should reach in his office on or before 13.01.2015
upto 2:00 pm. In case the receiving date being declared a Holiday / Hartal, the tenders shall be received on
next woxking day.
3. The tenders shall be opened on the same day or any other day convenient to opening authority, in
presence of the contractors who any like to be present there.
4. The tenders should be sealed in proper cover with name of work, name of the contractor, reference
to CDR No and Date without which tenders shall be rejected without assigning any reasons, thereof.
Conditional tenders shall not be entertained.
Sd/- Executive Engineer
R&B Division Baramulla
Dipk : 9680
nimrah
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, we are
11 01 2015 Kashmir Observer
sunday


All Independents Demanded Cabinet Berths: BJP
PDP, NC power
hungry: Qasmi
New Delhi: Indian Muslim cleric and
president Jamat Ulma-e-Hind Maulana
Suhaib Qasmi who campaigned for BJP
during poll process in Kashmir Valley
Saturday claimed BJP is in mood to succumb before the demands of People’s
Democratic Party. He said that both Na-
“
tional Conference and PDP were eager
to win the confidence of BJP and even
all the independent members secretly
met the BJP party leaders and extended
their support to the party.
“BJP had kept its options open but
the party decided not to forge any alliance with PDP or NC as both the parties
instead of raising pro-people issues
showed eagerness to grab more and
more berths in Cabinet and Legislative
Council,” Qasmi told Srinagar based
news gathering agency CNS adding that
BJP is ready for fresh elections and will
surely open its account from Kashmir
valley.
“BJP has come at the conclusion that
any government with the support of
either PDP or NC will not survive for a
long time as these parties can create
problems any time. Both NC and PDP
are regional parties but they have not
interest in people and always talk
about the power and chair,” Qasmi
alleged.
He said that those elected independent members who talk of only
supporting a secular government are
befooling people of Kashmir as, “all
these members one by one secretly met
BJP top brass and demanded cabinet
berths for themselves.”
“How can trust a party that fights
on the issue of power sharing and puts
a demand that a particular number
of members should be indicted into
Legislative council and cabinet. During
all the deliberations with both NC and
PDP, our party realized that these parties are interested in power rather than
in solving the problems of the people,”
he said.
Qasmi added that it is not correct
that only PDP was in touch with BJP. “It
NEWS
was National Conference that held talks
with BJP top brass on government formation. Both NC and PDP were active
on ground and were always in touch
with BJP,” he said.
Responding to a question, Qasmi
said that the deliberations with both
NC and PDP are on but the BJP is in
mood to budge before their demands
and is ready to face new elections.
(CNS)
BJP had kePt its oPtions oPen but the party decided not to forge any alliance with PDP or NC as both the parties instead of raising pro-people issues showed eagerness to grab
more and more berths in Cabinet and Legislative Council,”
Srinagar:
Strongly
opposing the proposed move of
New Delhi to grant citizenship rights to West Pakistan
refugees, Peoples Democratic
Front (PDF) president and MLA
Khansahib Hakim Mohammad
Yasin Friday warned that the
proposal could have serious
consequences as Kashmiris
would oppose any such decision tooth and nail.
In a statement he said, “The
West Pakistan refugees were
never residents of Jammu and
Kashmir and there is no legal
or constitutional obligation to
provide them with Permanent
Residence Certificates (PRCs).
I urge leadership of the state
to unite against this proposed
move and thwart the nefarious
designs of those vested interests who want to divide the
state in the name of region and
religion.”
“Kashmiris will
oppose any such
move tooth and nail
and will not allow
fiddling with the
demography of the
state at any cost,” he
added.
The MLA Khansahib said Article 370 was incorporated in
Constitution of India to maintain a distinct identity of J&K in
the political map of the world.
“But it has been reduced to a
husk through political fraud
and constitutional abuse. It
would be in the best interests
of nation that provisions of
Article 370 which have been
eroded from time to time are
restored,” he said.
(District Health Society Anantnag
natIonal rural HealtH mIssIon (nrHm)
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel/fax: # 01932-223712,091-1932-222255/
No.: CMO/DRHS/NRHM/14-15/2414-18 Dated: 08/01/2015
This Notification is also available on official website of Anantnag District with the URL http://
anantnag.nic.in or http://anantnag.gov.in
Subject: Notification for Interview of candidates to be hired under National Health Mission.
Reference: Advertisement Notification No. CMO/DRHS/NRHM/14-15/1402-10,
dated:21/10/2014.
The scheduled date & venue for interview of the shortlisted candidates for the post of Adolescent Health Counsellor (in the
ratio of 1:5) & other posts who have applied vide aforementioned advertisement notification is hereto as under:
S.No
Category
Nature of
Vacancy
01.
Adolescent
Health
Counsellor
(AHC)
01= District
Level
10 = Block
Level (For
Five medical
blocks, 2 per
CHC, 1 Male &
1 Female)
Shortlisted Candidates
S.NO
01
02
03
04
05
Name
Shabir ah shiekh
Sameer Ah. Lone
Fayaz Ahmad
Jahagir Ah Kadoo
Sajad ah. Sheikh
Bijbehara : MALE
S.NO Name
01
Fayaz Ahmad
02
Sajad ah. Sheikh
03
Sabzar Ah.Ganaie
Parentage
Mohd Jabardar
Gh.ah.Sheikh
Ab Aziz Ganaie
Bijbehara : FEMALE
S.NO Name
01
Rifat Saroosh
02
Shubana Akhter
Parentage
Noor Mohammad Vaid
Mohd Shafi wagay
(II) Block Larnoo Male:
S.NO Name
01
Mahboob ali wani
02
Mukhtar ah Mir
03
Muzafar Ah.Gania
04
Talib Hussain Shapoo
Female:
S.NO
01
02
03
04
Name
Javaida Akhter
Shahzada Parveen
Parveena Akther
Rukhsana Akther
(III) Block Mattan Male:
S.No
Name
01.
Shabir ah shiekh
02.
Sameer Ah. Lone
03.
Jahagir Ah Kadoo
04.
Gh.Jeelani Pader
05.
Irfan Hassan
Female
S.NO Name
01
Lafi Akhter
02
Shagufta Gani
03
Tahmeeda Jan
04
Naihada Amin
05
Muddasar Mushtaq
(IV) Block Shangus Male:
S.NO Name
01
Bilal Ah.Bhat
02
Mohd Irfan Wani
03
Bilal Hassan Wani
Female:
S.NO Name
01
Parveena Akther
02
Sumi Jan
03
Masrat Jan
04
Shamima jAn
05
Khalida Yousuf
(V) Block Verinag Male:
S.NO Name
01
Rayees Ah. Mir
02
Fayaz Ahmad
03
ishfaq Khalil Bhat
04
Bilal Ah.seh
05
Tariq Ah.Darzi
FEMALE
S.NO Name
01
Malik Rafia Farooq
02
Shamshada Akhter
03
Shaesta Akhter
04
Shugufta Gull
02.
03.
04.
IYCF counsellor
Nutrition Counsellor
Sister Tutor
District Level
Parentage
Ab Hamid sheikh
Ab. Rahim Lone
Mohd Jabardar
Ab. Rahman Kadoo
Gh.ah.Sheikh
Address
Anchidora
Bona dialgam
Guree
La Ian
Panchpora
Marhama
Address
Guree
Panchpora Marhama
Guree
Parentage
Ali mohd wani
Ab Rahman Mir
Mohd. Akram Ganai
Ab. Samad Shapoo
Parentage
Mohd Afzal Sheikh
Mohd.Jamal Kumar
Mohd.Jamal Kumar
Ab.Aziz Najar
Block
Achabal
Achabal
Bijbehara
Achabal
Bijbehara
Block
Bijbehara
Bijbehara
Bijbehara
Address
Bijbehara
Bijbehara
Block
Bijbehara
Bijbehara
Address
Akingam
Devalgam
Bindu Zalangam
Bindu Zalangam
Block
Larnoo
Larnoo
Larnoo
Larnoo
Address
Bidder Kokernag
3ahie
3ahie
Nagam
Block
Larnoo
Larnoo
Larnoo
Larnoo
Parentage
Ab Hamid sheikh
Ab. Rahim Lone
Ab. Rahman Kadoo
Ab.Gani Padder
Gh. Hassan Bhat
Address
Anchidora
Bona dialgam
Lalan
Viddy Srigufwara
Lalan
Block
Achabal
Achabal
Achabal
Sallar
Achabal
Parentage
Mohd Sikandar Khan
Ab.Gani Kumar
w/o peer Mudasir Qadri
Sajad Ah. Kanroo
W/oBashirAh. Khan
Address
Karwa Rampor
Machbawan
Mattan
Machbhawan
Panzmulla Sali
Block
Mattan
Mattan
Mattan
Mattan
Mattan
Parentage
Address
Block
Ab. Rashid bhat
Mohd Abbullah Wani
Gh. Hassan Wani
Nowgam Kuthar
Wanipora Shangus
Sheikh-pora Shangus
Shangus
Shangus
Shangus
Parentage
Ab. Jabar Khan
Ab Rahman Mir
Adbul Rehman dar
Ab. Gani Wani
Mohd Yousuf Shah
Address
Shangus
Wangam
Nowgam Shangus
Shangus
Shangus
Block
Shangus
Shangus
Shangus
Shangus
Shangus
Parentage
Ab.Rahman mir
Gh. Qadirbhat
Mohd khalil Bhat
Gull mohd She
Gh.Hassan Darzi
Address
Pethbagh Dialgam
Pethbagh Dialgam
Kreeri
Mehmoodabad
Nathipora Dooru
Block
Verinag
Verinag
Verinag
Verinag
Verinag
Parentage
Malik Farooq Ahmad
Ab RahmanWani
Gh. Nabi Wani
Gull Mohd Shah
Address
Verinag
Kreri Doru
Kokagund Verinag
Dooru Sehpora
Block
Verinag
Verinag
Verinag
Verinag
01 (District Level)
01 (District Level)
01 (District Level)
All Eligible Candidates
All Eligible Candidates
All Eligible Candidates
DATE 13/01/2015 Time: 10:00 a.m. Venue: Dak Bungalow, Khanabal, Anantnag.
Note: l.As per guidelines & vacancy available, Candidates have been shortlisted on District Level & Block Level and in case the blocks where
candidates were not available, candidates from adjacent blocks were shortlisted as per merit.
2. All candidates should come along with receipt.
Chief Medical Officer Vice Chairman DRHS Anantnag
dipk no; 9628
Geelani says, Sajad Lone
was never a separatist
Srinagar: The Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed
Ali Geelani Saturday said that
those who are languishing
in jails for the Kashmir cause
must be remembered at all
times as ‘they have sacrificed
their present for the future of
Jammu and Kashmir.’
The senior separatist leader
in a telephonic address from
New Delhi to the seminar organized by the Muslim League
here over the life sentences
awarded to Kashmiris, said that
youth are being thrown in jails
by the authorities in an attempt
to crush the dissent and to
weaken the freedom struggle
of Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that since 1947, New
Delhi all the times had tried to
crush the resistance spirit of
the people of Kashmir through
various tactics and even after unleashing ‘terror’ by all
means, jails are being packed
to capacity to weaken the will
of the ‘brave hearts’.
Huriyat (G) general secretary Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai
said that the Peoples’ Conference (PC) chairman Sajad Gani
Lone was never a pro-freedom
leader. He maintained that
Sajad was only known in the
separatist camp due to being
the son of late Abdul Gani lone.
Sehraie, who is considered as a
senior voice in the pro-freedom
politics alleged there are some
pseudo separatist leaders in
Kashmir who are parroting the
words of their masters in New
Delhi.
“Some pro-freedom leaders became exhausted and
signed agreements with New
Delhi via the former RAW chief
A.S.Dulat,” he alleged. While
not divulging any name, Sehraie said, “Such leaders are at
present for the sake of face saving raising concerns over Kashmir.”
The acting chairman of the
Muslim League, Mohammad
Yousuf Mir while terming the
youth languishing in jails as
‘assets of the nation’, said under the garb of democracy, the
authorities are cornering the
Kashmiri youth by all means.
“Some have been killed on the
name of terrorism and Muslim identity of the Jammu and
Kashmir is being eroded by all
ways and means at present. He
said youth in scores are languishing in jails with their cases
pending in the courts of justice
without any reason. From kids
to the 80 year old men, here any
one can be jailed and it has become a trend since decades.”
The Muslim League spokesman Mohammad Rafiq Ganie
also spoke during the occasion
and castigated the continuous
detention of Masrat Alam.
Never blamed PDP for
Governors Rule: Soz
Srinagar: State Congress president Prof Saifuddin Soz Saturday made it clear that he never
blamed PDP or anybody else
for the imposition of Governor’s Rule in the State.
In a statement, Soz that he
only spoke on facts. “Since a
section of the Press both print
and electronic media misquoted me or carried only half of
my statement, I reiterate my
position that when it came to
my notice that Omer Abdullah has offered his resignation
as a Care Taker Chief Minister
I strongly urged him not to
press his resignation as that
would create a Constitutional
difficulty and people would
suffer. I, however, added that
one can understand his
anxiety on being at the
helm during a fragile system
of Administration,
but his
resignation was not a solution and rather he should have
waited for a couple of days
more,” Soz said.
Soz said that as per Imposition of Governor’s Rule, the
Governor had exercised his
authority under the Constitution of J&K State. But, then, a
better course in the Constitution was available and that
way an elected Leader of the
PDP could have been invited to
from the Govt in the State and
normal course would be followed for election of Protem
Speaker and new Members
given oath. Following further
procedure, the Chief Minister
could make the recommendation (if required) Governor’s
Rule be imposed and Assembly put under suspended animation.”
Soz said that he had added
that unfortunately PDP had
opened the dialogue for Government Formation with the
BJP alone, but Congress Party
and four independents had
offered full support to it (PDP).
Army gave one
lakh to martial art
association
Srinagar Army on Saturday gave
one lakh rupees to a martial
art association and distributed
flood relief in central Kashmir’s
Budgam district. The army also
awarded five volunteers for
their exemplary rescue during
last year’s devastating floods in
Kashmir Valley and held a blood
donation camp.
Army gave one lakh rupees to
Wuschu Association Soibugh to
buy kits, body armour, practice
mats meant for martial arts.
According to GNS correspondent, the army’s Budgam based
Rashtriya Rifles unit also organized awareness camp in the
run up of 67th Army Day scheduled to be held January 15. The
army distributed 1000 blankets,
utensils, pressure cookers, ration, biscuits, and clothes among
flood victims of Soibugh, Chhurpora, Gotpora and Darmuna villages.
The blood donation camp
was organised at Senior Secondary School Soibug where both
army personnel and locals voluntarily donated more than 250
points blood.In the blood camp,
137 persons including 67 civilian volunteers and 70 army men
gave blood in front of SKIMS and
Red Cross doctors. The doctors
from Lal Ded hospital were also
present on the occasion. Besides
relief materials including stoves
and blankets were distributed
amongst the needy people.
According to an army officer,
the purpose of the camp was to
help patients requiring blood
transfusion both at Budgam and
Srinagar. The blood was handed
over to the blood bank officials
of Lal Ded and SKIMS hospitals.
A part from blood donation
camp, stalls from Agriculture,
Husbandry Sectors and Youth
Guidance Node were installed to
empower locals and youth.
The army gave 1000 rupees
each to the five youth.
GOC, Rashtriya Rifle Formation, Major General Asit Mistry
inaugurated the blood donation camp along with Manzoor
Ahmed, DC Budgam. On the
occasion, the GOC and DC expressed their gratitude to the
doctors, paramedics from PHC
as well as the donors.
ImposItIon of
Governor rule nonIssue: HurrIyat (G)
Srinagar: While terming the imposition of the Governor’s rule
in the state as non-issue, Hurriyat Conference (G) Saturday said
“state of Jammu & Kashmir is actually governed by the Indian
home ministry, Army and police and the so-called state administration acts merely as a show boy.”
In a statement Hurriyat (G) said that may it be the governor’s rule, BJP-PDP coalition or the grand alliance of PDP-NCCongress in the state, “there will be no impact over the illegal
and forced occupation of the Jammu & Kashmir state and the
Kashmiri people will continue its struggle against this forced
occupation.”“If the history reminds us the tyrannical period of
the Kashmir’s history during the rule of governor Jagmohan
when the hundreds of innocent people were brutally killed
and murdered but there was no letup in these incidents in
the so-called civil governments also. The brutal task force was
made in the period of Farooq Abdullah who killed hundreds of
innocent people in the custody and Farooq Abdullah on records
has said that “there is no vacancies in the jails now so, instead
of arresting the people, kill them on the spot”,” he alleged.
“The double murder and rape case of Asiya and Neelofar
happened in the regime of Omer Abdullah and instead of punishing the culprits the Omer gave them clean chit on the very
first day of the incident and declared it an accident and said
that they have drowned in the Nallah. In 2010, 125 innocent
students were murdered in the target firing and till now no
case has been registered against the murderers. Thousands of
people were booked under the black law of PSA. In this way
the regime of Mufti Mohammad Sayed was not different from
his predecessor and there was no letup in the difficulties and
the miseries of the people of Kashmir. Hurriyat Conference
said that this issue is meaningless for the people of Kashmir
that whosoever will be appointed for the chair of power Omer
Abdullah, Mufti Sayed or Ghulam Nabi Azad or the governor’s
rule is imposed but the first and the last problem of the common Kashmiri is the forced and the illegal occupation of India
and they will continue their struggle against this forced occupation in any way and at any cost,” the spokesperson claimed.
omar vIsIts Beeru,
tHanks voters
Srinagar: National Conference Working President and MLA
Omar Abdullah Saturday visited Beeru and addressed workers
and public at various locations.
Omar, who won the elections from the Beeru constituency,
thanked people for reposing faith in him and selecting him as
their local representative. He took the stock of the situation
and directed the concerned officers to redress the public issues
on priority. “It is necessary to ensure the resolution of all issues
and public grievances on time. In these harsh winters, there
are many issues concerning the general public, which must be
solved in a time-bound manner,” he directed the officials.
Omar also assured the people that he will be available and
accessible to his constituents all the time.
new traffIc scHedule
for HIGHway Issued
Jammu: In order to ensure safety and security of the passenger / drivers and to avoid accidents, fresh schedule regarding
movement of traffic (Up and Down) on NHW-1A has been
issued w.e.f. 13.01.2015. Up traffic viz. Jammu to Srinagar, the
movement of all types of LMVs/PSVs shall be allowed from
Nagrota (Jammu) strictly between 0600 hours and 1300 hours
only, on daily basis and all vehicles must cross Udhampur by
1500 hours positively. No LMV/PSV shall be allowed to move
(towards Srinagar) after 1300 hours from Nagrota and 1500
hours from Udhampur, under any circumstances.The movement of load carriers/trucks from Nagrota (Jammu) shall be
allowed strictly between 0700 hours and 1100 hours only
on daily basis and all these vehicles must cross Udhampur
by 1300 positively. Similarly, the movement of such type of
vehicles from Battal shall be allowed strictly after 0700 hours
only and all these vehicles shall cross TCP Udhampur by 1300
hours. However, no movement of trailers/multi-axle vehicles
(beyond 14 Chakha but not more than14 feet in length and
carrying more than 25 tonnes of load) shall be allowed on
NHW-1A till further orders.
Down traffic viz Srinagar to Jammu, the movement of all
types of LMVs/PSVs shall be allowed from Levdora (Qazigund)
strictly between 0600 hours to 1300 hours only, on daily basis
and all these vehicles must cross Jawahar Tunnel by 1500 hours
positively. No Jammu bound LMV/PSV (from Levdora) shall be
allowed to proceed towards Jammu after 1300 hours, under
any circumstances. The movement of load carriers /trucks shall
be allowed from Levdora (Qazigund) strictly between 0800
hours and 1200 hours only, on daily basis and all these vehicles
must cross Jawahar Tunnel by 1400 hours. However, the movement of HMVs stopped overnight at Pantha Chowk (Srinagar)
shall be allowed from 0600 hours upto 1000 hours only.
Moreover, no movement of trailers /multi-axle vehicle (beyond
14 Chakha but not more than 14 feet in length and carrying
more than 25 tonnes of load) shall be allowed on NHW-1A till
further orders.
However, in case of heavy snowfall, a separate schedule
shall be issued for regulating the traffic on one way basis on
NHW-IA.
Bsf constaBle mIssInG
sInce fortnIGHt
Srinagar: A Border Security Force (BSF) constable who was
posted in the outskirts of City is missing since fortnight, police
sources said Saturday.They said that 28 year-old Amit Kumar
Raman (belt number 10254664) who was posted at 6 Battalion
BSF in Pantha Chowk area, had gone missing since 27 December, last year.
The BSF man\ hails from Baghpath district of Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, police have registered a case in police station Pantha Chowk in this regard and search for the missing BSF man
has been started. (GNS)
C M Y K
Hakim Yasin: Governor
rule no alternative’
sunday
11 01 2015 Kashmir Observer

If the Prophet
was in Paris!
D
OPINION

by Mansoor Durrani
ue to his manners, generosity, simplicity and
kindness, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) won the hearts and minds of his friends and
foes alike.
A famous story found in almost all the books
of Islamic history relates to a non-Muslim lady who used to
regularly throw trash on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him). Once he did not find that lady at her usual spot to throw
garbage, so he enquired about her. He was told that she is sick.
So he immediately visited her to check on her health!
Based on what is going on in the name of loving the Prophet of mercy (peace be upon him) just a handful of his teachings
to his followers are presented below. And these are ALL from
authentic sources:
1. He will not enter paradise whose neighbor is not immune from his mischief [narrated by Muslim];
2. Show mercy to people on earth so that Allah will have
mercy in the heaven [Abu Dawood and Trimidhi];
3. O people [not just Muslims], extend the greetings of
peace among yourselves, provide food to the needy,
maintain the ties of kinship [Ibn Majah and Mishkat];
4. He is not a perfect believer [Muslim], who goes to bed
full and knows that his neighbor [Muslim or non-Muslim] is hungry [Bukhari];
5. Charity erases sins just as water extinguishes fire
[Mishkat];
6. Do NOT kill a wounded person, nor run after a fleeing
one [Al Tabrani];
7. To remove something harmful from the road is charity
[Mishkat];
8. Prophet Muhammad never took revenge (against anyone) for his own sake [Bukhari];
9. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once asked
his companions, “doesn’t it astonish you how Allah
protects me from the Quraish’s [the non-Muslims of
Makkah] abusing and cursing”? [Bukhari];
10. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) told his companion Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman “there will be some
people who will lead (other people) according to principles other than my tradition. You will see their actions and disapprove of them…… They will belong to
us and speak our language” [Bukhari].
THEN WHOEVER WILLS, LET HIM BELIEVE. AND
WHOEVER WILLS, LET HIM DISBELIEVE [QUR’AN, 18:29]
All perverted minded folks who are crossing ethical lines
(from west to east) in the name of “freedom of expression”
will pay for their crimes on the Day of Judgment. But imagine the Prophet (peace be upon him) who stood for the above
values how grieved he would feel about the actions of his own
(masked) “followers” in Paris!
Dr Mansoor Durrani is an international banker and writer and a PhD in Islamic banking from the UK. He serves as
Senior Vice President with a leading bank in the Gulf. The
views expressed are personal.
Charlie hebdo and
western liberalism
Islam has been unfairly criticised and ridiculed in the west for centuries
Abdullah Al-Arian
A
nother
horrific
tragedy has struck
a western capital in
the violent murder
of French journalists and cartoonists at a satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
The culprits appear to have
done so in response to the magazine's publication of cartoons
deemed offensive to Muslims,
though they were also thought
to have been radicalised by the
US-led invasions of Afghanistan
and Iraq.
French society - and indeed,
the global reaction - has been
united in its condemnation of
the attack and French authorities mobilised the full strength
of the state's law enforcement
agencies to track down the assailants, who were killed after a
standoff with police on Friday.
As with most incidents of
violence involving Muslims,
however, the ensuing public
discussion has revolved largely
around resolute vows to uphold
a fundamental value of western civilisation - the freedom
of expression - and degenerated
into recriminations about Islam's purported assault on that
very freedom. As a result, the
natural expressions of grief and
sympathy on behalf of the victims have taken on the added
quality of high-minded liberal
support for the content of the
Charlie Hebdo cartoons, irrespective of the publication's history of racism towards Muslims
and people of colour.
Hegemonic narrative
It is only by uncritically
adopting the hegemonic narrative of western liberalism
that one could reach the conclusion that the biggest threats
to freedom of expression in
the world today are Islam and
North Korea. To frame these
events without accounting for
the broader context and power
relationships at work inhibits
any sensible understanding of
the deep conflicts plaguing our
world at present.
By positing western liberal claims to freedom against
Islam's supposedly intolerant
attitude towards irreverent or
serious critiques of it would be
to ignore completely the history underlying the current tensions.
The reality is that for as
long as there have been liberal
ideals staking their claim to the
various freedoms western societies have come to sacralise,
there have also been societies
suffering from exploitation
and subjugation at the hands
of those professing these lofty
principles.
Even as they were establishing the very foundations of
modern liberal societies, from
the tenets of freedom of speech
and the free exercise of religion to the basis for democratic
forms of governance, Enlightenment thinkers were nearly
universal in their expression
of support for a world built on
racial hierarchies and the expansion of new European empires that depended largely on
the use of violence to control
colonial subjects. That these
philosophers developed their
racist outlooks towards Jews,
Muslims, and blacks on the basis of "reason" and "rationality"
makes such views more abhorrent than those derived from
pre-modern modes of thought.
Whether it is the racist expressions of Enlightenment
philosophers or the cartoons of
Charlie Hebdo, these provocative views cannot be separated
from the broader political projects at work. At the same time
that western liberalism gave
rise to modern states committed to freedom, democracy, and
the rule of law, it also saw to
the continuation of slavery, the
colonisation and subjugation of
large segments of Asia, Africa,
Australia, and the Americas,
and global economic exploitation and environmental degradation.
The indignities of
'empire'
Within Europe, western liberal ideals, whose proponents
had never concealed their racist and exclusionary outlooks,
could not avert the rise of a
fascist movement in the mid20th century that pursued the
extermination of millions of
people. Even after the devastation of World War II, European
appetites for destruction were
seemingly unsatiated, as the
next two decades were marked
by struggles for independence
from European powers by
colonised peoples in the global
south.
They are, all of them,
born with raging
fanaticism in their
hearts, just as the
Bretons and the
Germans are born with
blond hair. I would
not be in the least
bit surprised if these
people would not some
day become deadly to
the human race.
- Voltaire, 18th century
French philosopher
Faced with the prospect of
supporting the freedom of the
Algerian people, many French
liberal intellectuals instead offered enthusiastic support for
the brutal suppression of the
Algerian struggle in a war that
featured the widespread use of
torture and the death of over
150,000 Algerians.
"They are, all of them, born
with raging fanaticism in their
hearts, just as the Bretons and
the Germans are born with
blond hair. I would not be in the
least bit surprised if these people would not some day become
deadly to the human race."
Writing on European Jews,
this quote comes not from a propagandist in Nazi Germany, but
rather from Voltaire, the 18th
century French philosopher
whose name has been invoked
frequently in recent days as a
historic champion of the freedom of expression.
Voltaire's views on Islam
were no more tempered, as he
authored an entire play dedicated to mocking its Prophet
Muhammad as "the founder of a
false and barbarous sect" and "a
sublime and hearty charlatan".
While one can defend the
right of satirists, government
officials, and philosophers to espouse such beliefs - the hashtag
#JeSuisCharlie became a popular means of expressing solidarity with the magazine in the
hours after the attack - in the
face of this history, it should
become clear that in the case
of cultural production, context
always matters. Destructive
policies cannot be pursued successfully without the vocabulary and imagery of racism and
hatred of the other.
Pervasive
Islamophobia
One cannot attempt to comprehend the actions of mass
murderer Anders Breivik or
the recent report on the US
government's torture of Muslim prisoners solely against
the backdrop of western liberal
ideals. However, when one considers the rise of a pervasive
Islamophobic atmosphere as
seen in prominent discourses
across the US and Europe, one
can understand the reason such
violence becomes possible and,
indeed, normalised.
The significance of the
question of what can be deemed
appropriate speech goes far beyond its propensity to offend
Muslim minorities, to its potential to have corrosive effects on
the broader society. In the same
way that western governments
take great care to prevent the
spread of ideas and messages
they consider culpable for radicalising Muslims (all pretensions about freedom of expression be damned), they should
consider the role that anti-Muslim cultural production plays
in facilitating their own abuses
of human rights, and radicalising their own citizens, as seen
in the wave of anti-Muslim terrorism that has witnessed a
marked rise in the past decade.
Commenting on the recent
string of Islamophobic statements by Bill Maher and Sam
Harris, religion scholarKaren
Armstrong noted, "this is the
sort of talk that led to the concentration camps".
The current permissibility
of dehumanising expressions
against Muslims has a legacy in
the anti-Semitic tropes of a century earlier. Both stem from the
same noxious logic of exclusion.
The current
permissibility of
dehumanising
expressions against
Muslims has a legacy
in the anti-Semitic
tropes of a century
earlier. Both stem from
the same noxious logic
of exclusion.
In fact, western countries
have had no qualms about setting aside their liberal values
to offer full-fledged support to
authoritarian regimes in the
Middle East that, incidentally,
create the repressive climate
that has been proven to give
rise to militant extremism. Nor
have western societies proved
unwilling to abandon claims
about support for free speech
when the question of social cohesion arises.
France banned rallies in
solidarity with Gaza during last
summer's war and the state has
consistently prosecuted writers, comics, and even cartoonists whose work was deemed
to risk "disruption to the social
order". French Prime Minister
Manuel Valls commented on
the state's robust record of prosecuting artists saying: "Faced
with this creativity of hate,
should we do nothing? Certainly not."
In 2008, Charlie Hebdo fired
an artist and writer for a column that the editors found to be
anti-Semitic.
At this juncture, western
Muslims remain excluded from
national dialogues regarding
the question of social cohesion.
The historical continuity of
racial discrimination, coupled
with a ramped up pursuit of
strategic objectives across a
number of Muslim countries
during the last two decades have
seen to it that an atmosphere of
suspicion and hostility has permeated the public sphere in the
US and revived the legacy of intolerance in Europe.
To understand and counteract the violent behaviour of
extremists, these tragic events
should be examined in light
of this context, rather than
through the lens of free speech.
From Voltaire and the Enlightenment to the present, modern
western discourses are replete
with critiques of Islam.
By contrast, the abhorrent
violence by some Muslims is a
recent phenomenon, and one
that must be confronted by addressing the failure of western
liberalism to live up to its stated
ideals, not by reflexively continuing to sing its praises. --AlJazeera
Abdullah Al-Arian is
assistant professor of history
at Georgetown University,
School of Foreign Service in
Qatar and author of Answering the Call: Popular Islamic
Activism in Sadat's Egypt.
View from abroad: Peshawar, Paris, Pegida and me
SHADA ISlAM
J
ust when you think it
can’t get any worse, it
does.
On the second day
of my long-awaited trip
to Pakistan in December last
year, I woke up to the news of
the horrible massacre of school
children in Peshawar.
Like most people, I wept
for the innocent lost lives, the
bereaved families and a once
honourable country which has
lost its path, becoming mired in
ever-more indecent violence and
barbarism.
As I made my way home to
Brussels a few days into 2015,
I was preparing to write about
Pegida, Germany’s nascent and
very toxic ‘anti-Islamisation’
movement which is making
headlines across the globe.
But then tragedy struck
again as terrorists, unfortunately and wrongly, described
as Islamists gunned down 12
people at the offices of Charlie
Hebdo, the Paris-based satirical
magazine.
As France and the world
mourned the dead and worried
about the freedom of expression,
diversity and tolerance, I asked
myself: how many tears can you
shed? How long and often can
you weep? Will the hatred, violence and extremism ever end?
I don’t know the answers but
I I know that whether we recognise the link or not, Peshawar,
Paris and Pegida are, tragically,
connected.
I know that money,
encouragement
and support for the
extremists whether
in the Middle East,
Pakistan, Asia or
Europe can be traced to
extremist Wahabi state
and non-state actors in
Saudi Arabia and other
Gulf states.
I know that Far Right groups
in Europe and the United States
are spreading a hysterical and
toxic anti-Islam message, gaining traction and popularity as
the economic slowdown persists
and unemployment continues
to rise.
I know that politicians in
Europe, the US and the Muslim
world are unwilling and unable
to rise to the challenge of building a strong counter-narrative of
tolerance and discrimination.
I know that 2015 is going to
be a defining, testing year for
humanity’s ability to live together in peace while accepting
differences in religion, colour
and culture.
I know that the
violence-loving, guntoting men and (some)
women who kill, maim
and torture are outside
the boundaries of
any religion. There
is no “Islamic State”,
only murderers and
criminals. There is
no “good” Taliban,
just blood-thirsty
barbarians.
I know that just as is the
case for freedom-loving people
in Pakistan, life for Muslims in
Europe is going to get tougher
in the aftermath of the recent
terrorist attacks.
But I also know that sanity
and good sense will probably
and hopefully prevail in both
Pakistan and Europe.
In the end, it’s not the politicians who will stop the rot. It is
the people, the ordinary men,
women and young people who
say “enough is enough” to violence and intolerance.
I know it is possible. As we
visited Lahore only hours before
the massacre in Peshawar, girls
and boys came up to us to talk
and take pictures, giggling and
chuckling, proud of Pakistan
and their heritage.
The Badshahi Mosque and
the Lahore Fort sparkled in the
sun but it was the laughter and
the cheeky jokes of the young
men and women that warmed
our souls.
This was Pakistan the way
it really is, the way it should always be. Hours later as we tried
to come to grips with the tragedy in Peshawar, I took solace in
the hope I had seen in the eyes of
the young people of Lahore.
In Europe too, it is the
people who will stop the continent from descending into a
dangerous downward spiral of
anti-Muslim sentiment.
True, the Far Right is gaining momentum. Talk of a “clash
of civilisations” is rife. But
equally those who want a multicultural and tolerant Europe are
speaking out.
Pegida gatherings have been
dwarfed by massive counterdemonstrations in Dresden,
Berlin and Cologne where
people have spoken in support
of immigrants and condemned
intolerance.
The famous Cologne
cathedral and Berlin’s
Brandenburg gate have
switched off lighting as
a sign of protest against
xenophobic rallies.
German Chancellor
Angela Merkel has
warned against hate
and discrimination.
In the aftermath of the Paris
killings, European governments
will certainly clamp down hard
on radicals and would-be terrorists. They are right to do so. But
in the medium and long-term,
European politicians must also
focus on the compelling need to
integrate and accept their Muslim citizens.
Retribution and revenge
must not be allowed to take centre stage. If it does, it will play
into the hands of the extremists.
This is a dangerous moment. Yes, it is war. But it not a
conflict between Islam and the
West. The battle being fought so
cruelly is between people who
believe in humanity and criminals and terrorists who, quite
simply, want to kill.
sunday
11 01 2015 Kashmir Observer

PANORAMA

When Jalaluddin Balkhi
Became maulana Rumi
An excerpt from a novel based on the life of the Sufi mystic and poet.
RabisankaR ba
T
he person who returned from Damascus
was no longer Jalaluddin Balkhi, but Maulana Rumi. However,
he was already being addressed
as Maulana before going to Aleppo and Damascus. And his father
was Maulana-e Buzurg, the greatest Maulana.
Rumi was much thinner now,
which was why he appeared even
taller. His body held the glow of
yellow leaves shed in early spring.
A new madrassa was established
in the front half of the house. He
was thirty-six.
Four hundred pupils came to
his madrassa every day for an education. They included renowned
scholars, noblemen, and even the
Sultan of Konya. None of them
had ever met such an extraordinary teacher. He explained the
essentials of life and the world
through stories. He walked slowly, perpetually sunk in thought.
At the madrassa
or the mosque, on
Konya’s roads or at
the baths, whenever
anyone asked him a
question he listened
with bowed head,
answered, adding
with a smile, ‘What
I say is not the last
word, however.’
But it was, to everyone in
Konya. As though Maulana Rumi
was uttering the words of Allah,
just like Nabi.
There are a couple of things
I have not told you, my learned
readers. Maulana’s first wife
Gauhar Khatun died before he left
for Aleppo and Damascus. Maulana’s second wife was Kira Khatun. As far as I know, Kira was of
Greek origin. She bore Maulana
two more children— Muzaffaruddin Amir Alim Chalabi and Malika Khatun. Al Mustasimi told
me that Kira Khatun’s beauty was
like an ancient willow’s, uninhibited and understated at the same
time.
On his return from Damascus,
Maulana discovered three youthful soulmates. Hussamuddin Chalabi, the young Greek Thereanos,
and his own eldest son Sultan
Walad. All of them were in their
twenties then.
One day, with all
the students at the
madrassa having
gone home, and only
the three young men
sitting in front of
himself, Maulana
handed a copy of
the Attarnama to
Hussam, saying,
‘Open the book to any
page and read me
the first two words,
Hussam.’
As soon as Hussam had uttered these words Maulana Rumi
held up a hand to stop him. Shutting his eyes, he flawlessly recited all that was written on the
page, followed by an explanation.
Touching his feet, Sultan said,
‘What is it, Maulana?’
— He’s coming, Sultan.
— Who?
— He’s in Konya.
— Whom are you talking about?
— Hussam . . .
— Yes, Maulana?
— Describe Konya in winter.
— The houses, roads, trees, are
all hidden beneath snow, Maulana. Nothing but white everywhere.
— It’s so cold, Hussam. The
travellers are confined to their
inns. No road to any part of the
world is open. Only the ravens
can be heard cawing all winter.
After this there will be spring,
isn’t that so, Hussam?
— Yes, Maulana.
The rose will bloom.
The nightingale will
sing for it. They’ll
meet after such a
long time.
Maulana smiled. — You people only talk of the nightingale.
Aren’t you going to mention the
heron? It dons a white robe to visit Mecca every year. Do you know
where it builds its nest, Sultan?
— On the tower of the mosque.
— The soul of the heron has arrived in Konya, Sultan. Spring
is here.
— Who is he?
— You will see him very soon.
— Where?
— On the streets of this very
town. He is waiting for me.
— Do you know him?
— No. Shaikh Burhanuddin
had told me that a lion would
arrive from Tabriz.
— But you said it was the soul
of the heron.
— All melded together, Sultan.
He is the lion, he is the soul of
the heron, he is the rose’s lover,
the nightingale.
— Do you know him, Hussam
asked.
— No, Hussam.
Maulana Rumi
entered his library.
Since his return from Damascus, Maulana had spent most of
his time in this favourite room
of Shaikh Bahauddin’s. He was
engrossed in his father’s book
Ma’arif. All this time he had
considered Shaikh Bahauddin
nothing but a religious scholar,
but as he read Ma’arif, the life of
a passionate devotee was being
unveiled to him. He did not know
that Shaikh loved poetry.
There were nearly thirty fragments of verse in Ma’arif. It was
no longer possible to distinguish
between Shaikh’s own lines and
those that he had gleaned from
other people. In one of the poems
he had referred to himself as Allah’s lover. Just like the lover
who composes poetry for his beloved, Shaikh too had written
these verses for the Lord. All our
praises for our beloved’s features
and eyes and lashes are actually
encomiums to Allah. In his library, Maulana Rumi discovered
a lover of beauty and poetry in
Bahauddin.
In Ma’arif Bahauddin had repeatedly exhorted people to stay
away from all manner of filth
in the world. According to him,
there were four kinds: educated
people, cities, armed forces, and
rulers. O inhabitants of the world,
do not allow your hearts to be covered in grime. The fire in an oven
blackens everything at first, then
reddens them, and finally whitens. In the same way, the flames
of Allah’s love take us from black
to red and finally to the purity of
white.
Maulana sensed
a strange, raging
storm within himself
today, taking him
out of the world of
Ma’arif.
He became even more restless
over the next few days. He would
lapse into silence during his discourses, gazing out of the window.
It seemed to Hussam that his eyes
The Saffron Tide:The rise of the BJP
kingshuk nag
REVIEW
Humair Ishtiaq
T
HE August 11 speech by
Mohammad Ali Jinnah
is one of the most quoted
and interpreted pieces of
history in Pakistan by all
schools of political thought. Whether the Founder wanted the state of
Pakistan to be secular or theological
in orientation is a matter of conjecture and an element inherent in all
interpretations. But India, the state,
had no such confusions and made
much of its secular credentials on
the global stage. But is that the whole
picture? Well, the jury is still out on
this one, even in India itself.
While tracing the rise of the
Hindu right wing in The Saffron
Tide: The Rise of the BJP, author
Kingshuk Nag, a senior journalist,
asserts at the very outset that Indian
secularism was “only skin-deep.”
Even though Jawaharlal Nehru
ruled India for 17 years and had all
the time in the world to articulate,
interpret and execute his vision, his
brand of secularism could not take
root firmly enough to last long after
him; the success of the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) being a reflection
of that feeble pedigree. Talking of
the secular republic, Nag insists that
“barring a few men … others were
quite ‘pro-Hindu’ in their thinking
… [and for them], being Hindu was
the natural thing … This did not
mean that they were disrespectful
of other religions or their adherents.
These leaders found nothing wrong
with being secular and Hindu at the
same time.”
Even before Partition, Congress
had a lot of Hindu symbolism built
into its public posturing, writes Nag
and cites, among others, the use of
‘Vande Matram’, “the anthem of
freedom-fighters,” which was drawn
from a novel in which it used to be
sung by “Hindus rebelling against
their Muslim kings.”
The compulsion of electoral politics — “Is it possible to win elections
in India without polling the Hindu
vote?” — is the only rationalisation
Nag has on offer for this rather dubious approach.
However, his other questions
have built-in answers. Sample this:
“Was Nehru’s Indian Republic really
secular or was the Hinduness of the
country couched in secular terms?
Did the BJP become a victim of criticism because of promoting its cause
too blatantly? Was this the same
cause that the Congress had been
promoting, albeit in a softer fashion?” It is only understandable that
the book doesn’t try to answer these
questions directly, but the discreet
silence speaks for itself.
Having said that, indirect allusions galore: “The original Hindu
party of India — the party that reflected the Hindu interests — was
the Congress party … [which] — professing to be secular — remained in
power so long as the Hindu vote was
with it,” argues Nag. He adds that as
soon as the Hindu votebank started
perceiving that the Congress was
not able to fully serve its interests it
“started deserting it” and thus began
the search for an alternative.
This happened at a different
pace and over varying timeframes
in different Indian states (provinces)
and the fortunes of the right-wingers
remained dependent on the performance graph of the Congress. “Till
date, the BJP relies on the lack of
performance of the Congress party
for its election showing, even though
its dependence has reduced in the
last couple of decades.”
Though it remains a critical
study of Indian politics at large, The
Saffron Tide, as the title suggests,
has taken a look at the larger picture
through the prism of right-wing religious parties that together threw up
the BJP to take on Congress at the
national scale.
The Congress party was established in 1885 and in less than three
decades, in 1914, the Hindu Mahasabha was formed to “represent Hindu
interests”. In the intervening period,
in 1906, one may recall, the All-India
Muslim League was formed.
Next was the formation of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in
1925. On paper, it was to “abstain
from active politics and work at resuscitating the nation’s civilisational ethos, which was a cultural task.”
However, in his inaugural message,
the party founder emphasised to the
activists, among other things, the
need to “train [themselves] physically” to attain their goals.
Nag traces the development as
the momentum was carried forward
by the Jana Sangh in 1951, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in 1964, the Shiv
Sena in 1966, the Janata Party in 1977
and, finally, the BJP in 1980. It was
only in the mid-1980s that the “war
cry” — ‘Garv Se Kaho Hum Hindu
Hain’ (Say with pride we are Hindus) — started being heard in public. It was coined years ago by Guru
Golwalkar of the RSS, the “BJP’s
parent body,” according to Nag. And
then came the ideology of Hindutva
in 1998, flanked on either side by the
Babri Masjid riots in 1992 and the
Gujarat carnage in 2002.
As chronicled by Nag, though
not in as many words, the strongarm tactics by the Hindu right wing
did help it in the arena of electoral
politics. From just two seats and
eight per cent votes in the 1984 elections, it jumped to 85 (11 per cent
votes) and 120 (20 per cent votes)
seats in the next two elections.
In the first polls after the Babri
Masjid riots, the BJP ended up with
161 seats (20 per cent votes) and became the single largest party in the
543-member house for the first time.
The next time round, the BJP had
182 seats and 25 per cent of the total
votes polled.
Paying the incumbency cost,
the BJP had to lie low in the next
two elections, before roaring back
in 2014. With 282 seats (31 per cent
votes), the BJP became the first nonCongress party in India to have a
parliamentary majority of its own.
Together with the National Democratic Alliance with which it had an
electoral adjustment, the party has
336 seats, almost 62 per cent parliamentary majority. These heights
were unimaginable even for a diehard right-winger at the start of the
journey.
And all this while, the rigidity
has increased not only across the nation, but also within the right wing
itself. Nag has been able to capture
the infighting that has seen the likes
of L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh
getting waylaid, and the “flexibility
and liberalism” of Atal Bihari Vajpayee being replaced by the “superb
organisational skills” of Narendra
Modi only because the “RSS bosses
had made up their mind.”
With religious fanaticism being
one of the main worries of the modern world, The Saffron Tide is bound
to come in handy for anyone trying
to make sense of the phenomenon as
it develops in a country that is home
to about 15 per cent of the global
population.
The Saffron Tide: The Rise of
the BJP (POLITICS)
By Kingshuk Nag
Rupa Publications, India
ISBN 978-81-291-3127-0
247pp. Rs 500
saw nothing at all.
One day his son Sultan Walad
went into the ladies’ chambers to
tell Kira Khatun what was happening. Just as Maulana loved
Sultan, Sultan too was duty-bound
to his father. Unable to bear Maulana’s agitation, he was hoping
that Kira’s company would calm
his father down.
His Greek
stepmother was so
beautiful that even
Sultan felt tempted
sometimes.
At other times she appeared
similar to the Virgin Mary. Maulana too was apprehensive about
Kira’s loveliness, and seldom allowed her out of the house.
Kira came to the library late
that same evening. As always,
Maulana was astonished to see
her. Once again he felt that she
was not of this world, that she had
come from an invisible universe
somewhere else, as someone, as
a poet of the future would write,
who visited but once, never to be
seen again.
— You here, Bibijaan? Maulana took Kira’s hand.
— I haven’t seen you in a long
time, Maulana. You never visit
us anymore. I’m told you’re always in the library.
— Hmm . . . Come.
— Don’t you feel
the urge to see me
anymore, Maulana?
— Of course I do. I do see you,
Kira. In my dreams. Kira began to laugh like a mad woman.
Maulana was transfixed by her
beauty and laughter.
The laughter stopped suddenly. Kissing her husband’s feet,
Kira said, ‘I beg your pardon,
Maulana. I should not have asked
this question. Nor do I know why
I laughed. Forgive me, Maulana.’
Maulana sat down next to
Kira, putting his hand on her
back he said, ‘You know I never
lie, Kira.’
Excerpted with permission
from A Mirrored Life, Rabisankar
Bal, translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha, Random
House India.
Seven ThouSand
YearS of flYing
But back we are now to ancient glory; So let history yield to
a fabled story, Shaming pedestrian fact and pariah Reason,
inaugurating a wondrous, A magical, a nationalist season
 baDRi Raina
Seven thousand years before they
Could properly light a spark
With stones, we had aeroplanes.
The crafts flew invisible-spiritual,
Carrying realized rishis across
Galaxies, leaving neither body
Nor wreck in sight, only emanations;
Alas, that in modern times that ancient
Marvel came to be sold as Star Trek,
Wherein conjured imitations fly
To fake stations and false destinations.
Woe that soon after, five thousand
Years ago, we had a loss of brains;
The Congress Party came to power,
And lost us all our timeless gains.
One after the other, invaders rode
Across our sanaatan land, and
We had no planes left to fight
Off the horde. Did I hear you say
That there was no Congress Party
Till 1885? Well, there you again,
Distorting history to suit the leftist brain.
The fact is that five thousand years ago,
Nehru compromised our nuclear
Stockpiles with pompous call
To non-alignment and non-proliferation.
Thus, when the bearded marauders
With drawn scimitars descended upon
Our plains, we had no bombs left
To exterminate their generation.
Thus is the Congress guilty not just
Of enslaving us but importing untouchability.
The Internationalist Nehru did one
Other heinous thing: in his noblesse
Of vision, he palmed off Pythagoras
To the primitive Greeks, leaving Bharat
Bereft of mathematics for thousands
Of weeks, till our Saffron Science
Went into huddle, and brought back
The planes, the Pi, the Pythagoras,
The nuclear know-how back into
Currency out of the Congress muddle.
If you look closely with transcendent eye,
You may see the Wright brothers
Craning their necks askance at the Saffron
Congress, acknowledging how their
1903 feat was rottenly filched from
Vedic texts, and how in fact, they
Had been incarnations of two
Eight thousand year old Brahmin saints,
Carrying in their genes secrets
Pertaining to engines and aeroplanes.
But back we are now to ancient glory;
So let history yield to a fabled story,
Shaming pedestrian fact and pariah
Reason, inaugurating a wondrous,
A magical, a nationalist season.
Dr Badri Raina is a distinguished commentator on politics, culture and society. A Fulbright
Scholar and PhD from Madison, Wisconsin, Prof Raina taught English literature at the University
of Delhi for over four decades and is the author of the much acclaimed "Dickens and the Dialectic of Growth." He has several collections of poems, essays and translations to his credit.
6 Sunday
11 01 2015

Kashmir Observer

Next round of 2G, 3G airwaves auctions from Feb 25
NEW DELHI: The next round of spectrum auction
in 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 megahertz (MHz) will
start from Feb 25, it was announced on Saturday.
The Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for auction
of spectrum in 2100 MHz, 1800 MHz, 900 MHz
and 800 MHz bands was issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Friday, an
official statement said.
The total spectrum put to auction is 103.75 MHz
in 800 MHz band, 177.8 MHz in 900 MHz band and
99.2 MHz in 1800 MHz band — a total of 380.75
MHz in 800, 900 and 1800 MHz. The details of
2100 MHz bands would be announced later, it
mentioned. “Validity of spectrum in this auction
shall be 20 years. There is also option of deferred
payment. The auction format is simultaneous,
Marginal growth in
car sales likely in
current fiscal: SIAM
NEW DELHI: Helped by better consumer sentiment
and excise duty sops on vehicles, cars sales in the
country rose by 2.46 per cent in 2014.
In 2013, car sales had registered a decline of 9.59 per
cent, the first fall in car sales in eleven years.
Passenger car sales in the January-December, 2014,
period rose to 18.51 lakh units from 18.07 lakh units
in 2013, according to data released by the Society of
Indian Automobile Industry (SIAM).
While the industry body does not see sales growth
for the current fiscal to be negative due to cars getting
dearer following expiry of excise duty cuts, growth is
likely to be marginal at around one per cent.
“Only three months are left for the fiscal to end.
While excise duty sops have expired, we are anticipating some positives in terms of lowering of interest rates. Globally, fuel prices are also coming down,
that should also have a positive impact,” SIAM Deputy
Director-General Sugato Sen said.
Meanwhile, the domestic car sales soared by 15.26
per cent to 1.53 lakh units in December, mainly driven by advance purchases by customers in anticipation of price rise in January as it was expected that
excise duty concessions would not be extended.
While the growth in December is the highest so far
in the ongoing fiscal, Mr. Sen said this was mainly
because of the low base of last year when cars sales
had declined considerable. Sequentially, sales were
down as compared to November when sales stood at
1.56 lakh units, he added.
Asked about the commercial vehicle segment,
which saw sales drop by 11.8 per cent to 6.06 lakh
units in 2014, Mr. Sen said the sector had seen some
improvement, but did not perform well as “real economic activity is still to gain steam.”
Sales of commercial vehicles rose by 9.01 per cent to
51,000 units in December.
multiple-round, ascending auction,” the statement
said. The last date for submission of application by
the telecom service providers is February 6.
The Cabinet on Monday approved the proposal
of the DoT to proceed with auction in 800, 900
and 1800 (mega hertz) MHz bands and finalised
its reserve prices.
“The reserve price approved is Rs.3,646 crore
pan-India per MHZ in 800 MHz, Rs.3,980 crore for
900 MHz band pan India excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Jammu and Kashmir; Rs.2,191
crore pan India (excluding Maharashtra and West
Bengal) in 1800 MHz band,” the statement said.
In December 2015, seven licences each of Idea
Cellular and Reliance Communications, four licences of Bharti Airtel and six licences of Voda-
RBI Governor hails decision
to free banks
MUMBAI : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan
on Friday said that the decision of the
Government to give freedom to public
sector banks (PSBs) to function independently is a “land mark decision”.
He was speaking at the convocation
ceremony of the Indira Gandhi Institute
of Development Research (IGIDR) here.
The Finance Ministry had issued a
direction to banks recently asking them
to take decisions without fear or favour
and to ignore extraneous considerations in commercial decisions, in the
aftermath of the ‘Gyan Sangam’, which
was attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr. Modi said at the Gyan Sangam,
the two-day bankers’ meet arranged to
discuss banking reforms, that the Government will not interfere in the functioning of public sector banks. He also
called for ending “lazy banking” and
said that banks must prioritise lending
to employment-generating sectors.
Dr. Rajan said that institution plays an
important role in the intellectual development of students. While asking students
to pay back to the society, Dr. Rajan remembered, institution builders like Dr.
Varghese Kurien, who built up a brand like
Amul, T. N. Seshan, former Election Commissioner and Vinod Rai, former CAG.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley,
who was the Chief Guest at the convoca-
tion, congratulated the institute for the
gender “reverse disparity” in favour of the
women. Over 70 per cent of the students
who passed out today were women.
Mr. Jaitley also said that the election
results recently proved that castes and
dynasties will no more attract voters as
they are interested only in governance
and economic growth.
Meanwhile visiting the LIC corporate
Office here, Mr. Jaitley said that onethird of the country would soon be insured by LIC by partnering with Prime
Minister's Jan DhanYojana.
He said that LIC was a role model of
how a public sector institution should
function and appreciated claims performance of LIC, which was much better
than the private sector.
The Finance Minister also said that
millions had built their houses with LIC’s
support and people’s savings were channelised and invested in infrastructure.
LIC also generated employment directly through employees and agents and
indirectly by investing in the economy.
THE GyAn SAnGAM, the two-day bankers’ meet arranged to discuss banking reforms, that the
Government will not interfere in the functioning of public sector banks
fone will complete their 20-year term after which
they should be renewed. The estimated revenues
from this auction are Rs.64,840 crore (excluding
2100 MHz spectrum) of which Rs.16,000 crore is
expected to be realized in the current financial
year (2014-15).The revenue target from spectrum
auction set by the government in the 2014-15
budget is Rs.45,471 crore.
Cyprus Airways shuts down
after E.U. order on state aid
NICOSIA: Cypriot national airline, Cyprus Airways was shut down following a European Commission ruling Friday that the company had illegally
received state aid.
Cypriot Minister of Finance, Harris Georgiades and Minister of Communications, Marios Demetriades said at a joint press conference that the licence of the government-owned company was revoked and its flying programme terminated with immediate effect, according to a Xinhua report.
The Ministers also announced alternative arrangements for Cyprus Airways passengers following the termination of the ailing carrier’s operations.
“These alternative arrangements... are possible to include the use of
chartered airplanes, the transportation of passengers with another airline
to his or her destination... or any combination of the above,” the Ministers
said in a statement.
The decision to immediately shut down the Cypriot national air carrier,
which was established in 1947, came after the European Commission, the
executive body of the European Union (E.U.), announced that Cyprus Airways would have to pay back about 100 million euros (about $118 million)
in state aid it has received since 2007.
“Cyprus Airways needs to pay back all incompatible aid received,” E.U.
Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager said.
The commissioner ruled that the state aid gave the company an undue
advantage over its competitors in breach of E.U. rules.
The commission also found that Cyprus Airways “had no realistic perspective of becoming viable without continued state subsidies” and that
injecting more money into the company would not achieve a turn-around”.
Cyprus government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides had said earlier
that the government was prepared for any scenario, having made plans for
the establishment of a new airline in association with the private sector so
as to safeguard air communication in the island country.
He also said that the government made provisions for the company’s
500-strong staff.
Several staff members gathered outside Cyprus Airways headquarters
in protest of its closure as the board met inside the building to plan the
company’s winding down.
Cyprus Stock Exchange had announced that it decided to delist the company’s shares as of Jan 13 after it failed to submit preliminary financial
statements from 2012 onwards.
Efforts by the government last year to sell Cyprus Airways either to the
low-cost airline Ryanair or Greece’s Aegean Airlines failed as they did not
follow their initial expression of interest with firm offers.
From Front Page
Stable Govt
this evening, the BJP leader described India as the 'mosaic'
of all religions.
"Rather than finding fault with each other or engaging in
number games, if we engage in bettering the life of people, that
is what the country needs," Madhav said.
Lauding the contributions of the Christian community, he
said several initiatives have been undertaken by them, which
has benefited large sections of the society.
"We are guided by great values the country has given from
time immemorial. Irrespective of our religions we cherish those
values... We all believe in the great values of 5000 years of history the country has given to mankind. We need to take forward
the values which have guided the country since millennium."
"Government can secure freedom and secure equality
through law. We have laws to punish people who practise inequality. But fraternity cannot be achieved through government action. It is here social and religious leaders have to play
an important role and propagate the fact that we are one fraternity, irrespective of caste, religion."
"No religion is complete. Every religion has its internal differences. We all have to live like a family, brothers in the country.
This cannot be achieved through any act," Ram Madhav said.
Exhorts
pending cases and asked the Chief Secretary to send him
all the cases which relate to policy or significant decisions. He
urged them to take all necessary steps to achieve the objectives
of good and responsive governance in the State, at all levels of
functioning.
Modi praises
rally was also attended by Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS in PMO
and BJP’s State Unit Chief Jugal Kishore who was felicitated in
the rally by Modi for his role in the recent JK Assembly elections
where BJP won 25 seats.
It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister was projected as the face of the BJP's campaign in the Jammu and Kashmir elections and addressed eight rallies in the state during
November-December Assembly elections.
The other top party leaders, including BJP president Amit
Shah, National General Secretary Ram Lal, union minister Arun
Jaitley, also visited the Jammu and Kashmir in the Assembly
elections and addressed rallies.
Union Transport
separate cell in the office and is directly accepting the bids,
sources said.
A senior bureaucrat in the state government wishing confirmed the development. “The step is first of its kind taken by
the government of India. Maintenance of highway and other
central sponsored roads was maintained by the State Government’s PWD department, BRO, and National Highways Author-
ity of India but for the first time the government of India has
changed the system with the reason best to known to them,”
he said.
Meanwhile, one of the officials in the office of union transport ministry told KNS that the step has been taken to bring
in transparency and accountability in the system. “We believe
that this move will help us verify progress of actual work on
ground,” he said. (KNS)
Hurriyat
Jammu and Kashmir State.
“The joint parliamentary committee’s recommendations for
the permanent settlement of west Pakistan refugees in the state
is wicked conspiracy to change the demography of the state
and to alter the special status enjoyed by Jammu and Kashmir
state,” Sagar said while addressing the meetings.
He said the anti-Jammu and Kashmir elements, since the day
one has been implying different tactics to change the demography of the state and today they have raked up such issue again.
“Different parliamentary committees have recommended
many different things for the state like the return of the power
projects to J&K, restoration of autonomy, and revoking the black
laws like AFSPA from the state, but all the government there
in centre binned these recommendations,” Sagar said adding
“Now that the another JPC has made recommendations for settling west Pakistan refugees, and giving them the citizenship
and voting rights, central government seems like in a hurry to
make this happen as soon as possible; we can smell a rat in
these recommendations.”
He said conspiracies like these were even hatched in 2008,
when there were attempts to transfer land to shrine board,
which was a dangerous attempt to fiddle with special status of
Jammu and Kashmir.
“But the fallout of the land row agitation proved to be dangerous which was witnessed by the country and entire world,”
he said and continued “As per the article 370 and the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, no non-state residents can get state
subject or the voting rights.”
Four Burglars
burglaries. “During the investigation of the cases police succeeded in apprehending four burglars, from their instances large
quantities of stolen merchandize were recovered from different
places,” he added.
He identified the arrested burglars as Omar Jan of Zewan, Tawseef Mir of Pampore, Muzafar Misgar and Manzoor Chopan both
residents of Khonmou. With the arrests of these four burglars
and the recoveries made from them Police have solved 2 cases of
burglaries that had taken place in Zewan and Khonmou areas in
the recent days, the officer claimed and added that two FIR’s vide
numbers 1/2015 and 3/2015 under section 379,109,457,380 have
been registered against the burglars. (CNS)
sunday
11 01 2015 Kashmir Observer

NEWS

French Hunt For Gunman’s Girlfriend After Bloody Siege Climax
This combination of images released by the French police
shows Hayat Boumeddiene (L) and Amedy Coulibaly (R),
suspected of being involved in the killing of a policewoman
in Montrouge on January 8. - AFP
thousands of people as well as
the leaders of countries including Germany, Britain, Italy and
Spain.
Questions were also mounting over how the three men
— brothers Cherif and Said
Kouachi, and supermarket gunman Coulibaly — had slipped
through the security net after
it emerged that all three were
known to the intelligence agencies.
With fears spreading in the
wake of the attack, the United
States warned of a global threat,
telling its citizens to beware of
“terrorist actions and violence”
all over the world.
Boko Haram has
killed 2,000,
says Amnesty
YOLA (NIGERIA): Hundreds of
bodies — too many to count —
remain strewn in the bush in
Nigeria from an Islamic extremist attack that Amnesty International on Friday suggested is
the "deadliest massacre" in the
history of Boko Haram.
District head Baba Abba
Hassan said most victims are
children, women and elderly
people who could not run fast
enough when insurgents on
January 3 drove into Baga, firing
rocket-propelled grenades and
assault rifles on town residents.
The insurgents also seized a key
military base at Baga, which is
on the border with Chad. A security official said the soldiers
fought for hours but fled when
no reinforcements arrived and
they ran out of ammunition.
"The human carnage perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists
in Baga was enormous," Muhammad Abba Gava, a spokesman for poorly armed civilians
in a defense group that fights
Boko Haram, said. He said the
civilian fighters gave up on trying to count all the bodies. "No
one could attend to the corpses
and even the seriously injured
ones who may have died by
now," Gava said.
An Amnesty International
statement said there are reports the town was razed and
as many as 2,000 people killed.
If true, "this marks a disturbing and bloody escalation
of Boko Haram's ongoing onslaught," said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty
International.
The previous bloodiest day
in the uprising involved soldiers gunning down unarmed
detainees freed in a March 14,
2014, attack on Giwa military
barracks in Maiduguri city.
Amnesty said then that satellite imagery indicated more
than 600 people were killed
that day. The 5-year insurgency
killed more than 10,000 people
last year alone, according to the
Washington-based Council on
Foreign Relations. More than
a million people are displaced
inside Nigeria and hundreds of
thousands have fled across its
borders into Chad, Cameroon
and Nigeria.
Suicide
bombing by
10-year-old
girl kills 19
MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA: A
suicide bomb attack by a
young girl thought to be as
young as 10 in the northeast
Nigerian city of Maiduguri
killed 19 people, police said
on Saturday.
Borno State police spokesperson Gideon Jubrin told
reporters: “Casualty figure: 20
dead and 18 injured, including the female suicide bomber
that detonated the improvised
explosive device.”
The blast happened at about
12:40 pm near the live chicken
section of the Monday Market
in the Borno State capital,
which was targeted twice in a
week by female bombers late
last year. There was no immediate claim of responsibility
but Boko Haram militants have
increasingly used women and
young girls as human bombs.
Civilian vigilante Ashiru
Mustapha said the explosives
detonated as the girl was being
searched at the entrance to the
market. “The girl was about
10 years old and I doubt much
if she actually knew what
was strapped to her body,”
he told AFP.“In fact, she was
searched at the entrance of the
market and the metal detector
indicated that she was carrying
something.”
“But sadly, the explosion
went off before she was isolated, killing at least 10 people
and injuring many others.”
TTP claims attack on
Rawalpindi imambargah
ISLAMABAD: The Jamatul Ahrar
faction of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Saturday
claimed responsibility for Friday's
bomb attack on an imambargah
in Rawalpindi, which killed eight
people and wounded 16 others.
The powerful explosion on
Friday night in the city triggered
chaos as dozens of minority Shias
gathered at the imambargah to
distribute alms to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad
(Peace be Upon Him).
“We claim responsibility of
the attack on the imambargah
and vow to continue such attacks,” spokesman of Jamatul Ahrar, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said in an
email.
Pakistan has strengthened its
own offensive against the Taliban
since their attack on Peshawar’s
Army Public School on December
16 killed 150 people, 134 of them
children.
The country ended its six-yearold moratorium on the death penalty in terror cases last month in
the wake of the massacre.
Nine convicted militants have
been hanged so far since the de
facto ban on capital punishment
ended. To further boost its efforts, the government on Friday
announced it was setting up nine
military courts to hear terrorismrelated cases.
Hollande, meanwhile, described the attack on the supermarket as an “appalling antiSemitic act” and said: “These
fanatics have nothing to do
with the Muslim religion.“
Hidden under sinks
and in fridges
The Kouachi brothers were
cornered in a printing business
in Dammartin-en-Goele outside Paris Friday after a firefight
with police that Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said left
Said with a minor neck wound.
The brothers took the manager
hostage, later releasing him
after he helped Said with his
wound, while a second man hid
beneath a sink upstairs, said
Molins.
The second man was able to
text security forces information from inside the premises,
a source said, and survived the
assault unharmed. The gunmen
had a hefty cache of arms including Molotov cocktails and a
loaded rocket-launcher.
One witness described a
terrifying face-to-face encounter with one of the suspects,
dressed in black, wearing a
bullet-proof vest and carrying
what looked like a Kalashnikov.
The salesman told France
Info radio that one of the brothers said: “Leave, we don't kill
civilians anyhow".
As French elite forces moved
into place around the building,
with snipers deployed on roofs
and helicopters buzzing overhead, a fresh drama unfolded
in eastern Paris with a hail
of gunfire around lunchtime.
There, Coulibaly — suspected of
gunning down a policewoman
a day after the Charlie Hebdo
massacre — stormed a Jewish
supermarket hours before the
Sabbath, killing four shoppers
and taking others hostage.
However, up to five people
— including a three-year-old
boy— survived hidden inside a
refrigerator for five hours, with
police pinpointing their location using their mobile phones,
prosecutors and relatives said.
Police swarmed to the Vincennes area, ordering terrified
residents to stay indoors.
Outside the kosher supermarket, an AFP reporter saw
at least one body lying at the
scene, where the sliding glass
door of the shop was completely shattered.
“It's war!” shouted a mother as she pulled her daughter
away.
As the sun set shortly after
5:00 pm local time, the two Islamist Charlie Hebdo gunmen
charged out of the building
with guns blazing before being
cut down. Shortly afterwards
security forces moved in on the
supermarket, where Coulibaly
had just knelt to do his evening
prayer when the special forces
struck.
BFM TV revealed police were
able to exploit a lapse in his defences as he had not hung up
his phone after speaking to one
of their reporters.
Slipping through
the net
Meanwhile,
questions
mounted as to how the three
men could have slipped
through the security net. As the
drama reached its climax, links
emerged showing the brothers
and Coulibaly were close allies
and had worked together.
Molins, the prosecutor, said
Terrorists have waged war on
Prophet & Quran: Nasrallah
BEIRUT: The leader of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says terrorist groups
threaten Islam, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and the holy
Quran by committing heinous
crime against humanity.
Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah
made the remarks during a ceremony marking the birth anniversary Prophet Mohammad
(PBUH) in Beirut's southern
suburbs of Dahiyeh on Friday.
“Today I tell you very clearly
that those groups pose a threat
to countries of the region for
today and tomorrow. It became
clear that those groups pose a
threat to Islam itself as a religion and a mission, to the Messenger and to the Quran,” Nasrallah added.
He said the terrorist groups
offend Islam when they "behead thousands of people and
kill thousands of people in Yemen for commemorating the
Prophet's birth anniversary."
"Those offensives are supported by being easily circulated across several geographical locations, starting from
Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, to
the states that facilitated visas for terrorists to travel into
our country," Nasrallah further
noted.
Nasrallah’s remarks came after al-Qaeda-affiliated gunmen
stormed the Paris headquarters
of the satirical weekly, Charlie
Hebdo, on Wednesday, gunning
down a dozen people, including eight journalists, two police
officers, a maintenance worker
and a visitor.
France has been known to be
among main countries supporting al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists as well as ISIL Takfiri terrorist militants in the Middle East.
At present, ISIL terrorists
control some parts of Syria and
Iraq. They are engaged in crimes
against humanity in the areas
under their control and have
terrorized and killed people
of all communities, including
Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
Nasrallah also pointed to the
peaceful nature of anti-regime
protests in Bahrain, noting that
recent detention of Bahraini
opposition leader, Sheikh Ali
Salman, implies that the Bahraini officials have reached a
deadlock.
"The people of Bahrain have
legitimate rights. They decided
to launch peaceful revolution in
contrary to other movements
in the world. They are shot but
they didn't shoot (a bullet).
They were killed on roads but
they didn't kill anyone, and held
no knife…. Leaders of opposition, headed by Sheikh Issa Qassem, as well as al-Wefaq group
headed by Sheikh Ali Salman –
have agreed upon the peaceful
dialogue," the Hezbollah leader
added.
Bahraini forces detained
Salman on December 28, two
days after he was re-elected as
al-Wefaq’s leader.
He was remanded in custody on January 5 for two more
weeks, pending an investigation into charges, including
seeking to change the regime
by force.
The arrest has sparked massive public anger in the tiny Persian Gulf sheikdom.
Al-Wefaq has said regime
forces use excessive force
against peaceful protesters.
Since mid-February 2011,
thousands of protesters have
been holding held numerous
rallies in the streets of Bahrain,
calling for the Al Khalifa royal
family to relinquish power.
Former Pakistani Air
Force man hanged
ISLAMABAD: A former Pakistan Air Force chief technician, convicted for an assassination attempt on former
president Pervez Musharraf,
has been executed, a media
report said Saturday.
Khalid Mehmood was executed in Rawalpindi's Central
Jail Friday night, Dawn online
reported.
Mehmood was sentenced
to death Oct 3, 2005, for his
involvement in an assassination attempt on Musharraf
Dec 14, 2003 in Rawalpindi.
The attack involved a pow-
erful explosion targeting the
former president's motorcade
as it was passing over a bridge
in the garrison city.
The motorcade narrowly
escaped the explosion and no
one was injured.
Mehmood was shifted to
the jail Oct 27, 2010.
According to an ARY News
report, Khalid was the seventh to be executed out of the
nine terrorists found guilty of
trying to assassinate Musharraf.
Prior to hanging, the jail
authorities arranged Kha-
lid's meeting with his family
members.
His belongings were handed over to the family after the
execution.
On Dec 17, Pakistan lifted a
moratorium on death penalty
in terror-related cases, following a terrorist attack on
the Army Public School in Peshawar Dec 16, in which Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
militants massacred over 140
students and teachers.
Khalid was the 10th convict
to be hanged since the moratorium was lifted.
Terror SponSorS Facing BacklaSh
I
ran’s Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says those supporting terrorism in the
Middle East have now been targeted with terrorist attacks in their own countries.
Referring to the recent deadly terrorist attacks in France, Larijani said, “These incidents showed that the countries that were behind terrorism in the Middle East have now
become entangled [in trouble caused] by the very same terrorists.”
He made the remarks while addressing a ceremony on Islamic unity in the northwestern
Iranian city of Urumiyeh.
Larijani said that all Muslims are united in their teachings and beliefs but there are people
who want to break this unity.
“We (Muslims) all follow one religion; but, certain people are today
creating irregularities in Islamic countries and they either have a mission for breaking unity or are so ill-minded as to seek to sow discord
between Shias and Sunnis in the name of Takfirism,” Larijani said.
He slammed the foreign sponsors of terrorism in the Middle East and said, “They created
numerous security problems by their presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Look what has happened now; everything is messed up in France and no one has security.”
Coulibaly had “threatened to
kill all the hostages” if police
moved in on the Kouachi brothers, and he had said the supermarket was booby-trapped. All
three had a radical past and
were known to French intelligence.
Cherif Kouachi, 32, was a
known jihadist who was convicted in 2008 for involvement
in a network sending fighters to
Iraq. His brother Said, 34, was
known to have traveled to Yemen in 2011, where he received
weapons training from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP). It also emerged that the
brothers had been on a US terror watch list “for years”.
Cherif told French TV he was
acting on behalf of the Yemenbased AQAP while Coulibaly
said he was a member of the
Islamic State group.
Coulibaly, 32, who met Kouachi in prison, was sentenced to
five years in prison in 2013 for
his role in a failed bid to break
an Algerian Islamist, Smain Ait
Ali Belkacem, out of jail. Prime
Minister Manuel Valls said the
carnage they left in their wake
showed there had been “clear
failings” in intelligence.
The Islamic State group's
radio praised them as “heroes”
and Somalia's Shebab militants, Al Qaeda's main affiliate
in Africa, hailed their "heroic"
act. While the immediate dan-
ger appeared to have cleared,
a chilling new warning came
from AQAP whose top sharia official Harith al-Nadhari threatened France with fresh attacks,
the SITE monitoring group said.
"It is better for you to stop
your aggression against the
Muslims, so perhaps you will
live safely. If you refuse but to
wage war, then wait for the glad
tiding."
'We stand with you'
As the world rallied to
France's side, US President
Barack Obama vowed assistance.
“I want the people of France
to know that the United States
stands with you today, stands
with you tomorrow,” Obama
said, describing France as
America's “oldest ally”.
Some of France's best-loved
cartoonists, as well as two
police officers, were killed at
Charlie Hebdo, a magazine that
infuriated Muslims by repeatedly publishing mocking cartoons of Prophet Muhammad
(Peace be Upon Him).
Also on Friday, the mourning
capital shone the words “Paris
Est Charlie “(Paris Is Charlie)
on the Arc de Triomphe monument, playing on the phrase “I
Am Charlie” (Je Suis Charlie)
that has taken centre stage at
rallies around the globe and
featured heavily on social media.
India's First
Cow Minister
TRANS ASIA NEWS
JAIPUR/ INDIA: Even in a
deeply devout India where
the cow is revered, a
government ministry
dedicated to the protection of the animal
is a first.
Otaram Devasi, 48,
is the western Indian
state of Rajasthan's
minister in charge
of cow affairs. As for
himself, India's firstever minister for the
'divine' bovine likes
to address himself
as "gaupalan mantri" — “cow welfare
minister”.
Rajasthan’s
right-wing Hindu
administration of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) has established a
government department for the preservation and protection
of cows and to start
research institutions,
or cow science universities, focused on the
rearing and health of
the animal.
The government led by
O
f
f
t
r
a
c
k
Vasundhara Raje promptly
announced a ministry for the
protection of cows, which was
later transformed to a "department" after the move struck
a constitutional hurdle since
Indian states can't set up new
ministries.
Devasi, who himself owns
"20-25 cows", wants the canvas for cow protection to be
bigger. "I believe if cows have
to be saved then every state
in India must have separate
ministries for cows," he says,
insisting that he's not being
just rhetorical.
For his desert state, there
are three things high on his
agenda: clamping down on
rampant cattle smuggling,
introduction of a helpline
number on the lines of 108
ambulance services to help
cattle in distress besides starting a one-of-its-kind "sanctuary" for cows near Bikaner or
Jaisalmer.
India produced 3.643
million tons of beef, of which
1.963 million metric tons was
consumed domestically and
1.680 million metric tons was
exported. However, most of
the exported beef is buffalo
meat.
Two Ukraine soldiers
killed in new
upsurge in fighting
KIEV: Ukraine's military on
Saturday reported the death
of two soldiers in the past day
of fighting with pro-Russian
insurgents in the separatist
east.
Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko added that 20
soldiers were wounded in
clashes in the mostly Russianspeaking Lugansk region.
The toll brings to six the
number of Ukrainian troops
reported killed since Thursday
evening — an escalation since
the two warring sides agreed a
new December 9 truce aimed
at stemming fighting that has
claimed some 4,700 lives.
The upsurge in violence
comes ahead of talks that
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hopes to stage next
week with Russia's Vladimir
Putin at a mini-summit in
Kazakhstan that would also
be attended by the leaders of
Germany and France.
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel and French President
Francois Hollande have indicated in the past few days
that too little has been done
to achieve a lasting ceasefire
to make political dialogue
worthwhile at this stage.
C M Y K
PARIS: French forces were frantically hunting for the girlfriend
of an Islamist gunman on Saturday, as the country mourned
17 dead in three blood-soaked
days that shook the nation to
its core.
After President Francois
Hollande warned the threats
facing France “weren't over”
and Islamist groups issued
chilling warnings of fresh attacks,
authorities
pursued
Hayat Boumeddiene, said to be
"armed and dangerous". She is
the partner of Amedy Coulibaly,
who died on Friday when security forces stormed a Jewish
supermarket in eastern Paris
where he had taken terrified
shoppers hostage.
He killed four hostages during the siege and called friends
from the scene urging them to
stage further attacks. Hollande
held an emergency meeting of
key ministers early Saturday,
hours after a dramatic end to
twin sieges that also resulted in
the death of two brothers who
had killed 12 at the offices of
the Charlie Hebdo magazine on
Wednesday.
As France's bloodiest week
in decades drew to a close, the
mood began to turn to one of
grim national reflection.
President Francois Hollande
said he would attend a march
of unity in Paris on Sunday expected to draw hundreds of


Kashmir Observer
news
C M Y K
C M Y K
8 SUNDAY 11 01 2015
Soon, a long-lasting cure for sensitive teeth
SRINAGAR: Good news for people with
sensitive teeth. Scientists working on
a long term treatment to relieve from
the jolt of pain people get while eating
something too hot or cold.
Chun-Pin Lin and colleagues note that
tooth sensitivity is one of the most common complaints among dental patients.
Not only does it cause sharp pains, but it
can also lead to more serious dental problems. The condition occurs when a tooth's
enamel degrades, exposing tiny, porous
tubes and allowing underlying nerves to
become more vulnerable to hot and cold.
Current treatments, including special
toothpastes, work by blocking the openings
of the tubes. But the seal they create is superficial and doesn't stand up to the wear-
and-tear of daily brushing and chewing.
The researchers have now made a novel
paste based on the elements found in
teeth, namely calcium and phosphorus.
They applied the mixture to dogs' teeth
and found that it plugged exposed tubes
more deeply than other treatments. This
depth could be the key, the researchers
conclude, to repairing damaged enamel
and providing longer-lasting relief from
tooth sensitivity. The research is published in the journal ACS Nano.
The researchers have now made a novel pasTe based on the elements found in teeth, namely calcium and phosphorus.
They applied the mixture to dogs' teeth and found that it plugged exposed tubes more deeply than other treatments
The participants, who ranged
in age from 45-84, also completed surveys that assessed
their mental health, levels of
optimism, and physical health,
based upon self-reported extant medical diagnoses of arthritis, liver and kidney disease.
Hernandez said that at the
population level, even this
moderate difference in cardiovascular health translates
into a significant reduction in
death rates and this evidence,
which is hypothesized to occur through a biobehavioral
mechanism, suggests that
prevention strategies that target modification of psychological well-being.
Optimists had significantly better blood sugar and total cholesterol levels than their counterparts and they also were more
physically active, had healthier
body mass indexes and were
less likely to smoke, according
to a paper on the research that
appears in the January/February 2015 issue of Health Behavior and Policy Review.
Hernandez concluded that
the findings may be of clinical significance, given that a
2013 study indicated that a
one-point increase in an individual's total-health score on
the LS7 was associated with
an 8 percent reduction in their
risk of stroke.
Karachi: In religiously conservative Pakistan, a television call-in advice show is tackling an issue rarely discussed in public: Sex.
Once a week, a doctor appearing on
HTV’s “Clinic Online” focuses on sexual
issues, fielding questions about sexually
transmitted disease, fertility and how
to deal with husbands having multiple
wives in this Muslim-majority country of
180 million people.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” said Faizan
Syed, the CEO of HTV, a private satellite
channel. “The biggest question was how
society would perceive or handle it.”
The answer is surprisingly well. Before the
first episode aired, Syed said producers discussed every aspect of the show, including
whether to air it late at night to ensure that
the audience was mostly adults and not children. In the end, Syed said they decided to
air it during the day when men likely would
be at work and women at home alone, making it easier for them to call the show.
The show doesn’t mirror the occasional
salaciousness of American daytime television talk shows or the winking raunchiness of Dr Ruth Westheimer. Instead,
the Karachi-shot show aired nationwide
features Dr Nadeem Uddin Siddiqui clinically answering questions, mainly from
women calling in from villages or remote
areas of the country. Many women in Pakistan don’t even have a basic education, let
alone a working knowledge of sex.
“We decided our prime target is the
housewives, who are the vulnerable of
the society compared to men,” Syed said.
Most of the women ask about impotence
and infertility of their partners and how to
get them to go to a doctor for a consultation.
One woman described how her husband
would go to his second wife for sex, leaving the first wife neglected. In Islam, men
are allowed to have four wives although the
practice is not universally accepted.
The caller asked Siddiqui how she could
fulfil her own sexual desires. Siddiqui
said all he could advise her to do was to
turn to religion and prayer.
During another call, a woman described
how her 29-year-old single nephew was
becoming sexually aggressive with the
women in the house. Siddiqui advised
her to take him for a psychological consultation and arrange for him to be married as soon as possible.
But even in this show there are boundaries, as it is conscious of not appearing to
promote sex outside of marriage.
Dr Meraj-ul-Huda Siddiqui, a religious
scholar associated with the Islamist party
Jamaat-e-Islami, who is not related to the
show’s host, said a television show discussing sexual problems and diseases is
not against Islam. But he cautioned that
the show must keep its content within
the religious and social values of society.
Some Pakistanis, asked about the show,
said it filled an important niche.
“It is a good effort to address the issues
of people who live in remote areas of
the country and especially women,” said
Salman Ali, a banker in Karachi who occasionally watches the show.
18-year-old to advise railways
MuMbai: All Monika More, 18-yearold college girl, remembers of that
horrific day on January 11 when she
tripped at Ghatkopar railway station
platform while trying to catch a train
is falling headlong onto the tracks.
Fortunately, she does not recall the
train running over her arms.
“I went blank and woke up many hours
later in KEM [King Edward Memorial
Hospital] Hospital,” she said from her
simple home in suburban Kurla where
her parents, brother and grandmother
have left no stone unturned to get her
back to living a normal life. When the
family realised that she had lost both
her arms, “we were in shock for days and
all of us trembled constantly”, said her
grandmother who calls her granddaugh-
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ter “himmatwali”, or courageous girl.
Her family thinks it was her bravery,
spirit and the understanding of the dangers of travelling in Mumbai’s suburban
trains that prompted star cricketer and
Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar to
nominate her recently as member of
the Central Railway Divisional Railway
Users’ Consultative Committee.
Showing off the card given by Central
Railway, she said: “I hope I get a chance
to meet Sachin some day and say a big
‘thank you’ to him for nominating me.”
As member of this committee, “I would
have to visit railway stations twice a
month, observe all the shortcomings
and problems and report on it”.
While rushing to catch a train, Monika
had stumbled into a pit, which was dug
when a signal pole was removed. Her
father Ashok, who works for a travel
company, knows that it was the railways’ negligence that was the cause of
the accident. However, “We do not have
the time or the financial resources to file
a case against the railways,” he said.
But as member of the committee, Monika wants “rail travel to be made safer
for women. The presence of a policeman in a ladies compartment is important,” she says firmly. “We do have
a compartment for handicapped commuters, but the general public always
travels in it. This must be stopped.” She
is afraid of travelling in trains and her
mother has to accompany her daily in
an autorickshaw to Shreemati Nathibai
Damodar Thackersey Women’s Univer-
sity where she is studying commerce.
She said: “The gap between the train
and platform must be reduced. In case
of an accident, there must be adequate
facilities to move an accident victim
immediately to the hospital and an ambulance at every railway station is essential.” Had Monika been taken to the
hospital promptly, she may not have lost
her arms. “I would have probably lost
my life if it wasn’t for two young men,
Naseem Choudhury and Amjad Khan.”
“[They] who rushed her to hospital,”
her grandmother adds. “The two boys
inquire about her regularly and during
their last visit, Monika tied ‘rakhi’ to
them.” According to Hindu custom, a
sister ties rakhi or a sacred thread on her
brother’s wrist to celebrate their bond.
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Father strangles
5 sleeping kids
ISLAMABAD: A man strangled
his five children to death on
Friday in Pakistan’s Sindh
province.
The children were between the
ages of one and 12 and were
sleeping when their father
strangled them one by one.
The incident took place in
Matiari district, Geo News
reported.
The accused was apprehended by neighbours and handed
over to the police.
According to witnesses, the
man had also abused his wife
and thrown her out of the
house a few days before.
Just feel cold to stay slim
SRINAGAR: A new study has revealed that exposure to cold
temperatures increases levels of a newly discovered protein
that is critical for the formation of brown fat, the type of fat
in our bodies that generates heat.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found
that with extended exposure to chilly air, the protein, called
transcription factor Zfp516, also helps the more abundant
white fat in our bodies - the kind that stores excess energy become more similar to brown fat in its ability to burn energy.
The researchers found that mice with boosted levels of the
Zfp516 protein gained 30 percent less weight than control
mice when both groups were fed a high-fat diet.
Hei Sook Sul, UC Berkeley professor of nutritional science and
toxicology, said that knowing which proteins regulate brown
fat is significant because brown fat is not only important for
thermogenesis, but there is evidence that brown fat may also
affect metabolism and insulin resistance.
He said that if one can somehow increase levels of this protein through drugs, they could have more brown fat, and
could possibly lose more weight even if eating the same
amount of food.
Unlike white fat, which stores excess energy, brown fat burns
energy to keep us warm. Brown fat gets its hue from relatively high levels of mitochondria, the cell's power station. In
humans, brown fat was thought to be present only in infants,
but stores of it were recently discovered in adults around
such vital areas as the heart, brain, neck and spinal cord.
The study was published online in the journal Molecular Cell.
Eating almonds decreases belly fat
SriNaGar: Including almonds in your daily diet could help reduce
belly fat, a well-established heart disease risk factor, says a study.
A daily snack of 1.5 ounces (42 gram) of almonds instead of a highcarbohydrate muffin, eaten as part of an overall healthy diet, improved a number of heart disease risk factors in study participants.
"Our research found that substituting almonds for a highcarbohydrate snack improved numerous heart health risk
factors, including the new finding that eating almonds reduced belly fat," said lead researcher of the study Claire Berryman from Pennsylvania State
University.
"Choosing almonds as a snack
may be
a simple way to help fight
the onset of metabolic
and cardiovascular diseases," Berryman said.
The twelve-week, randomised,
controlled
clinical study, was conducted in 52 overweight,
middle-aged adults who had high
total and LDL
(low-density lipoprotein) or "bad" cholesterol but were otherwise healthy.
Participants ate cholesterol-lowering diets that were identical except that one group was given a daily snack of 42 gram
of whole natural almonds, while the other group was given
a banana muffin that provided the same number of calories.
Participants were provided all meals and snacks in amounts
based on their calorie needs to maintain body weight, and
followed each diet for six weeks.
The results showed the diet containing the almond snack,
compared to the muffin snack, decreased abdominal fat,
total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol non-HDL-cholesterol and
other blood fats. In addition, the diet with the muffin snack
reduced HDL (good) cholesterol more than the almond diet.
The study appeared in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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SRINAGAR: A new study has
demonstrated that people
who are optimistic are likely
to have healthy hearts.
The study conducted at University of Illinois examined
associations between optimism and heart health in
more than 5,100 adults and
suggested that people who
have upbeat outlooks have
significantly better cardiovascular health.
Lead author Rosalba Hernandez, a professor of social work
at the University of Illinois,
said that individuals with the
highest levels of optimism
have twice the odds of being
in ideal cardiovascular health
compared to their more pessimistic counterparts and this
association remains significant, even after adjusting for
socio-demographic characteristics and poor mental health.
In accordance with AHA's
heart-health criteria, the researchers allocated 0, 1 or 2
points, representing poor, intermediate and ideal scores,
respectively to participants
on each of the seven health
metrics, which were then
summed to arrive at a total
cardiovascular health score.
Participants' total health
scores ranged from 0 to 14,
with a higher total score indicative of better health.
In Pakistan, a TV show focuses
on a topic once taboo: Sex
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Optimistic people have
healthier hearts