Introduction to KashmirForum.org Blog

I launched the website and the Blog after having spoken to government officials, political analysts and security experts specializing in South Asian affairs from three continents. The feedback was uniformly consistent. The bottom line is that when Kashmiris are suffering and the world has its own set of priorities, we need to find ways to help each other. We must be realistic, go beyond polemics and demagoguery, and propose innovative ideas that will bring peace, justice and prosperity in all of Jammu and Kashmir.

The author had two reasons to create this blog. First, it was to address the question that was being asked repeatedly, especially, by journalists and other observers in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, inquiring whether the Kashmiri society was concerned about social, cultural and environmental challenges in the valley given that only political upheaval and violence were reported or highlighted by media.

Second, the author has covered the entire spectrum of societal issues and challenges facing Kashmiri people over an 8-year period with the exception of politics given that politics gets all the exposure at the expense of REAL CHALLENGES that will likely result in irreversible degradation in the quality of life and the standard of living for future generations of Kashmiris to come.

The author stopped adding additional material to the Blog once it was felt that most, if not all, concerns, challenges and issues facing the Kashmiri society are cataloged in the Blog. There are over 1900 entries in the Blog and most commentaries include short biographical sketches of authors to bring readers close to the essence of Kashmir. Unfortunately, the 8-year assessment also indicates that neither Kashmiri civil society, nor intellectuals or political leadership have any inclination or enthusiasm in pursuing issues that do not coincide with their vested political agendas. What it means for the future of Kashmiri children and their children is unfathomable. But the evidence is all laid out.

This Blog is a reality check on Kashmir. It is a historical record of how Kashmir lost its way.

Vijay Sazawal, Ph.D.
www.kashmirforum.org

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Bankruptcy in Planning

Riyaz says when the government cooks up unwise plans, why blame ordinary citizens for being irresponsible

Dal Lake City Riyaz Ahmad (Greater Kashmir)

The government has shelved the idea of a cantilever bridge along Boulevard after there was a political opposition to the move. But the very mooting of this idea tells us there is something seriously wrong with the way the government mulls its development strategy for the city. For one, it is not for the first time that a dumb idea like this has been floated, it is only the latest in a series that if carried through to their logical conclusion would have divested Srinagar city of an important part of its aesthetic and cultural appeal.

To start with, there was a move to demolish Zainakadal bridge in downtown. And the reason offered was that they were unsafe for traffic. Similarly, there was some controversy about the government’s plan to build a gateway to downtown Srinagar near Baba Demb. While, these decisions can be explained as part of the normal process of the development of Srinagar, it is the thinking behind them that shocks. Why is it that this government comes up with the development plans that may address the immediate infrastructural demands but damage something that is enduring – an old bridge or more appalingly the Dal lake, that already shrinking symbol of Kashmir’s natural beauty. Those who thought of building a cantilever around the lake to facilitate more traffic should have known that this will further shrink the water expanse of Dal lake. But still the idea was mooted and made public and subsequently withdrawn under pressure.

If this is how the government would choose to look after Dal, why blame the people who are converting its waters into a land mass and building houses. In fact, it is this thinking in large part that even the massive allocations of money – an RTI last year found around Rs 215 crores have been spent on lake’s conservation - have made little redeeming difference to the lake’s long term chances of survival. Its water expanse has contracted and the colonies within the lake that were slated to be relocated remain very much there. 

However, Srinagar’s problems are not only Dal-specific. It is a city that is fast falling apart and losing its charm. It is expanding horizontally and this growth is indiscriminate and unchecked, submerging the beauty of the city, with government, of course, playing the spectator. The new colonies are guided by the sick commercial pursuits of a rapacious land mafia. To get a proof, one need not go farther than the wide marshy stretch of the land between Bemina and Batmaloo where one can witness a chaotic spectacle of the work in progress on hundreds of residential houses. Big imposing bungalows reeking of wealth, ostentatious medium sized structures and the petty, obnoxious dwellings are coming up side by side in full anarchic glory.

And this is why in 2010, Srinagar was adjudged as the fourth dirtiest city in India, an ironical designation for a place blessed with nature’s bounty. Having Dal lake, Mughal gardens and Zabarwan hills in the backdrop did nothing to tamper this label. And this is here that the government becomes responsible. A government which is willing to sacrifice Dal for a banal need for road-widening rubs off its atrocious notions of development on the people at large and thus widens the space for civic violations in the society. This is an attitude that needs to be corrected if we are going to even begin to think of the well-being of Srinagar and take steps to preserve its natural beauty. While what has been lost so far due to our collective ignorance and stupid government policies is not restorable for eternity, there is a need to rethink the development of Srinagar. And this rethinking should not only be about reclaiming Srinagar as a physical space but also regenerating it as a cultural and social place.

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