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

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Playing by Different Rules - 2

Ajaz exposes the duplicity

(Mr. Ajaz ul Haque, 42, was born in Srinagar. He completed his school and college education in South Kashmir. He is presently on the faculty as Producer in the University of Kashmir Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMRC), and a columnist for the Greater Kashmir. In leisure time he enjoys reading.)
VIP's First

What Taj Mohiuddin's guard did to a traffic policeman on duty is nothing new. This cop-beating-cop story is new only because of the sameness of the character. The theme is unchanged. Let all die but minister has to be the first to go. If he is late by a second, that will finish us as a people. So cling to walls, climb a lamppost on the road, lie flat, still yourself, arrest your beat, but ensure that he (along his cavalcade) doesn't waste a minute more. Don't forget he is on a life-saving mission as `important' as attending a marriage party. Since the victim of this terror turned out to be a cop himself, hence the news. We are familiar with this (what by any standards of languages can't be given a better name than) hooliganism.

Minister apart, an `ordinary VIP' (contradiction intentional) carrying the airs and graces of a so called Very Important Person literally kicks out all on the road to pierce his way through. These VIP drivers (their company adequately justifies the title) want to simply fly. The masters are happy in seeing their chauffeurs roar on the road to throw an impression around that the man they are carrying is no way unimportant. This attitude of our prominent people is becoming a new form of malignancy eating us physically and emotionally as well. One wonders as to why are these guardians and makers of the law in a hysterical haste. Why do they want to trample over human bodies to reach their destinations. A pleasure ride of a VIP is to be conducted as an emergency affair. Ambulances carrying patients are not that desperate to reach hospitals as is a VIP entourage to reach the spot. Higher the profile of a person, wilder the behaviour. A VIP car honking from behind and the cavalcade literally unleashing terror on the roadside reminds one of the Dogra rule. We hear it from our elders that how nightmarish would a Maharaja's leisurely walk prove for the people. As the king would stroll around the city, subjects had to scurry to save themselves so that they are spotted. Though the times have changed, but the mindset of our rulers stays the same.
I

t doesn't happen with politicians alone. It's true with all those who wield power. Bureaucrats, administrators, police high-ups and even academics are not free of this infirmity. This desire to be different always drives one crazy, no matter who you are. Suggesting measures to check the menace will be the most inconsequential we can do.

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