Sajjad surveys the impact of global recession on Kashmir's economy
(Mr. Sajjad Bazaz, 45, was born in Srinagar. He attended the Khalsa high school and the Sri Pratap College in Srinagar. He received his bachelor's degree in Media and his master's degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Kashmir. Mr. Bazaz has over two decades of experience in journalism (both print & electronic), and he is author of the book "Bankwatch" which is about a financial scenario with particular reference to the J&K state. He is currently incharge of corporate communications department in a leaduing financial instution in J&K. Mr. Bazaz likes to spend leisure time watching movies and enjoying company of his friends.)
Flirting with recession
Nowadays global financial crisis has become a universal topic for all. Everybody is relating everything to this meltdown. In fact, it is the ‘recession’, which has become a buzzword. But what actually is the impact of this economic recession on our economy or on our day to day life needs a serious thought.
Before going into the realities of recession, I am reminded of a young city boy, who didn’t hesitate to carve out his living in difficult time by selling slippers. Actually, working in a private business establishment, the frequent hartals during the Amarnath land row left him penniless. On the day when Eidgah chalo was organized during the land crisis, I heard someone loudly inviting people to buy something in the wee hours. It was not fully audible what the guy was selling. His pitch of the voice was indicating that he was coming closer to my home. I ventured out of my home to see if he was selling vegetables or some other eatables. I spotted this young boy dressed properly in jeans and T-shirt carrying a gunny bag. On inquiring, I came to know that he was not selling eatables or vegetables, but slippers. He was insisting me to buy one and at the same time asked for a cup of tea as he told me that he had left his home in wee hours just to earn something for next two to three days.
Basically, he was apprehensive about the situation and he had nothing in hand to feed his family who were dependent on him. In his own way he carved out the way to beat the impact of hartals. The point here is that the people of this land know how to earn when there are extreme conditions. Actually, the last two decades have trained a common man here how to survive in a situation when economic activities come to a grinding halt.
Coming back to recession aspect, recent statistics are showing that small and entrepreneurial businesses are suffering badly due to the global recession. Regardless of the increased struggle, many entrepreneurs still prefer working on their own and for themselves. Reports suggest that approximately 70% of small business start-ups survive the first two years and fewer than half survive the first four. But this is not the case here, as the current recession doesn’t have impact on the local economy, as is projected with carpet industry discussed as a case in point.
Take the case of our cottage industry. For the last two decades, it is under severe threat as the welfare of our weavers, artisans and small entrepreneurs has always been at stake. But today this gloom on our thousands of artisans is attributed to the global economic meltdown that has already imperiled major global economies. The situation was pointed out when a sharp decline in export of the Valley’s exquisite handicrafts was reported in the past few months, with carpet industry worst hit. The sale of carpets has dropped considerably and as per reports, it is estimated that over 1.50 lac artisans and weavers would be out of job within next few months.
It is not for the first time that carpet industry is reported to be dying a slow death. The artisans whose families have been engaged in the making carpets for generations have slowly been turning to other professions much before the advent of global financial crisis. Basically it has been on account of the low profitability involved in carpet making which has forced the artisans to carve out their living from other vocations. Almost 90% of the demand for carpets in the country is met by the carpet-producing units in Amritsar, Rajasthan, Agra, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Export of Kashmiri garments has always been on decline. The state government has a precedence to act as a silent spectator to this situation and starts reacting when the situation worsens.
Meanwhile, if we go by definition of recession, in simpler times, it is an extended decline in general business activity. And this has been a general feature of the Kashmir’s economic scenario, at least during the past two decades, which witnessed bloody turmoil.
Many economists use declines in gross domestic product to define a recession. Broadly defined, a recession is a downturn in a nation's economic activity. The consequences typically include increased unemployment, decreased consumer and business spending, declining stock prices etc. Others define a recession as the time when business activity has reached its peak and starts to fall until the time when business activity bottoms out. When the business activity starts to rise again it is called an expansionary period. By this definition, the average recession lasts about a year or so.
Speaking in local context, our economy is conflict ridden, which manifests itself in two ways. One is the large-scale investment in real estate; the other is lots and lots of small shops that have sprung up in the valley and continue to do so. During the years of conflict, almost every family in Srinagar opened a shop, because nobody wanted to step out. No wonder, then, that the construction sector accounts for more than three-fourth of industrial growth in the state.
Then there is a big factor, which has almost overshadowed real picture of our economy. This is known as parallel economy. During the past two decades, Kashmir has witnessed tremendous flow of money form unidentified sources both within and outside India. Estimates suggest that between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 2,000 crore is the size of the parallel economy. This includes money flowing in from foreign countries, funds the Indian security forces get and also the unaccounted for money that some influential possess.
To sum it up, whatever negative things appear on our economic scene cannot be attributed to the global financial meltdown. Recession may be a buzzword for global economies today, but here it is depression, which has enveloped our economy since 1990. Because we have been living with recession for decades now. Once a recession lasts longer and has a larger decline in business activity, it turns into depression.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
An Ode to Women
Afshana adds her voice in glory of her gender on the International Women's Day
(Ms. Syeda Afshana, 35, was born in Srinagar. She attended the Vishwa Bharti High School in Rainawari, Srinagar, and the Government Women's College in Srinagar where she received a B.Sc. degree. She completed her Master's degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the Kashmir University in 1999 and was the Gold Medallist (first position holder) in her graduating class. She is currently a Lecturer in the Media Education Research Centre (MERC) of the Kashmir University and pursuing her doctorate on the role of internet after 9/11.)
Woman: colourful contradiction
People of different idiosyncrasies have described woman differently. From ballads to odes, plays to novels, she has been portrayed in various roles variably. Whether it is Maxim Gorky’s heroine Nilovna, Bathsheba of Thomas Hardy, Lady Macbeth of Shakespeare or Keat’s La Belle Della Sans Merci—no holds have been barred by whimsical wordsmiths to highlight, delight, slight and blight woman!
Fiction apart, in factuality woman is much more than a bundle of traditional fables and over killed clichés. She is a special creation of Almighty with an extra special purpose of life, contrary to what drowsy poets and demented feminist writers have been aligning to her. She is the perfect workmanship of God; the true glory of Angels; the rare miracle of Earth; and the sole wonder of the World. Mankind is indebted to her: first for life itself and then for making it worth having. Aptly said—
Wajood-i-Zan Say Hai Tasweerey Kainaat Main Rang….
Down the memory lane, one can trace out her journey, when not long ago in the West she was tied up to a horse and carried through the streets. Those were the times when Christianity had declared her as Devil Incarnate and the church authorities were seriously discussing if she had a soul at all. She wasn’t any better in the East where she was burnt alive with her dead husband. However, that was the ephemeral dark period in the history of her existence. Perhaps. Since then she has been going ‘up and up and on the ladder of emancipation’.
Initially she had individual champions speaking for her. John Stuart Mill and Mary Wollstonecraft, for instance. Today she has whole organizations working for her ‘cause’ such as the Women’s Lib or the United Nations and has the entire media in her support. In addition to much-talked international conferences every year, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day for her betterment. Indeed, it appears as an enviable privilege for the Eve of today, who is always lamenting and clamouring for her ’rights’. She barely misses any opportunity to present herself as the most ‘oppressed and deprived’. Women’s Day, in such context, fortuitously comes in handy for her to sell hogwash slogans and mottos of ‘rebellion’ against all.
Rallies, seminars and debates mark the day which she brags wholly as hers. And seemingly at odds with the whole world, she leaves no stone unturned to hold all and sundry responsible for her present ‘plight’.
Woman’s at best a contradiction still – this is what Alexander Pope opines in his moral essays. Does not his assessment about woman sound solid and relevant? It’s really damn difficult to suggest ‘woman’s nature’ in abstraction. In the contemporary world, there are any numbers of stereotype images ranging from King Lear’s wife (Schemer) to Portia (dispenser of justice) in Shakespeare’s plays to Hardy’s women like Bathsheba wherein Hardy expresses a certain cynicism with regard to their conduct to the Victorian prudishness.
Once one descends into history to look for the essence of woman, it becomes a strenuous and an uncertain exercise, for woman has always lived by her heart and not head. One fails to understand, even today, the intricate psychology of woman, especially that of the East. On one hand, she is out and out intoxicated with the concept of liberalism, and contrarily she blames others for the deplorable fall-out of such intoxication. How crazy!
In fact, the problem with her is that she isn’t able to identify and sense the consequences of rubbing shoulders with men in almost every field. To satisfy her false ego, she cares a tinker’s damn for her identity. In the pursuit of so-called emancipation and freedom, she is, in fact, seeking slavery to world of hypocrite and lustful men. Hardly does she realize that true freedom is in refusal to sell one self and true solace in recognizing the poverty of her material affluence.
No doubt, today’s woman breathes and lives amidst the concept of feminism. ‘Don’t make coffee, make policy’—such slogans are continuously being injected into her mind. She is being bombarded with ‘Hate-Man-Hate-Mankind’ type of rabid feminism.
However, to sustain the aura of her individuality, and above all, the essence of her womanhood, her feminism should be of different kind, beyond the comprehension of the high academic culture of so-called feminism. Because she must know that she is neither competing with men nor trying to show them down. She should simply realize and value what she has been gifted with: the infinite power of life-affirming love and maternity. Her language should not be the language of separation, narcissism and competition; it should be the language of love, patience and generosity.
So, let her formulate good policies. Without forgetting how to prepare a cup of coffee as well! Let life and its pristine melody touch her. All along the years, and not just on the eve of March 8.
(Ms. Syeda Afshana, 35, was born in Srinagar. She attended the Vishwa Bharti High School in Rainawari, Srinagar, and the Government Women's College in Srinagar where she received a B.Sc. degree. She completed her Master's degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the Kashmir University in 1999 and was the Gold Medallist (first position holder) in her graduating class. She is currently a Lecturer in the Media Education Research Centre (MERC) of the Kashmir University and pursuing her doctorate on the role of internet after 9/11.)
Woman: colourful contradiction
People of different idiosyncrasies have described woman differently. From ballads to odes, plays to novels, she has been portrayed in various roles variably. Whether it is Maxim Gorky’s heroine Nilovna, Bathsheba of Thomas Hardy, Lady Macbeth of Shakespeare or Keat’s La Belle Della Sans Merci—no holds have been barred by whimsical wordsmiths to highlight, delight, slight and blight woman!
Fiction apart, in factuality woman is much more than a bundle of traditional fables and over killed clichés. She is a special creation of Almighty with an extra special purpose of life, contrary to what drowsy poets and demented feminist writers have been aligning to her. She is the perfect workmanship of God; the true glory of Angels; the rare miracle of Earth; and the sole wonder of the World. Mankind is indebted to her: first for life itself and then for making it worth having. Aptly said—
Wajood-i-Zan Say Hai Tasweerey Kainaat Main Rang….
Down the memory lane, one can trace out her journey, when not long ago in the West she was tied up to a horse and carried through the streets. Those were the times when Christianity had declared her as Devil Incarnate and the church authorities were seriously discussing if she had a soul at all. She wasn’t any better in the East where she was burnt alive with her dead husband. However, that was the ephemeral dark period in the history of her existence. Perhaps. Since then she has been going ‘up and up and on the ladder of emancipation’.
Initially she had individual champions speaking for her. John Stuart Mill and Mary Wollstonecraft, for instance. Today she has whole organizations working for her ‘cause’ such as the Women’s Lib or the United Nations and has the entire media in her support. In addition to much-talked international conferences every year, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day for her betterment. Indeed, it appears as an enviable privilege for the Eve of today, who is always lamenting and clamouring for her ’rights’. She barely misses any opportunity to present herself as the most ‘oppressed and deprived’. Women’s Day, in such context, fortuitously comes in handy for her to sell hogwash slogans and mottos of ‘rebellion’ against all.
Rallies, seminars and debates mark the day which she brags wholly as hers. And seemingly at odds with the whole world, she leaves no stone unturned to hold all and sundry responsible for her present ‘plight’.
Woman’s at best a contradiction still – this is what Alexander Pope opines in his moral essays. Does not his assessment about woman sound solid and relevant? It’s really damn difficult to suggest ‘woman’s nature’ in abstraction. In the contemporary world, there are any numbers of stereotype images ranging from King Lear’s wife (Schemer) to Portia (dispenser of justice) in Shakespeare’s plays to Hardy’s women like Bathsheba wherein Hardy expresses a certain cynicism with regard to their conduct to the Victorian prudishness.
Once one descends into history to look for the essence of woman, it becomes a strenuous and an uncertain exercise, for woman has always lived by her heart and not head. One fails to understand, even today, the intricate psychology of woman, especially that of the East. On one hand, she is out and out intoxicated with the concept of liberalism, and contrarily she blames others for the deplorable fall-out of such intoxication. How crazy!
In fact, the problem with her is that she isn’t able to identify and sense the consequences of rubbing shoulders with men in almost every field. To satisfy her false ego, she cares a tinker’s damn for her identity. In the pursuit of so-called emancipation and freedom, she is, in fact, seeking slavery to world of hypocrite and lustful men. Hardly does she realize that true freedom is in refusal to sell one self and true solace in recognizing the poverty of her material affluence.
No doubt, today’s woman breathes and lives amidst the concept of feminism. ‘Don’t make coffee, make policy’—such slogans are continuously being injected into her mind. She is being bombarded with ‘Hate-Man-Hate-Mankind’ type of rabid feminism.
However, to sustain the aura of her individuality, and above all, the essence of her womanhood, her feminism should be of different kind, beyond the comprehension of the high academic culture of so-called feminism. Because she must know that she is neither competing with men nor trying to show them down. She should simply realize and value what she has been gifted with: the infinite power of life-affirming love and maternity. Her language should not be the language of separation, narcissism and competition; it should be the language of love, patience and generosity.
So, let her formulate good policies. Without forgetting how to prepare a cup of coffee as well! Let life and its pristine melody touch her. All along the years, and not just on the eve of March 8.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Kashmir's Industrial Icons are Fast Disappearing
Who Can believe Kashmir's brand factories like the Silk Weaving Factory in Raj Bagh or the Joinery Mill in Pampore are about to disappear!
9 PSUs come under axe, 6 in row
MUDDASIR ALI (Greater Kashmir)
Srinagar: At a time when the economic meltdown has hit the job industry across the globe, the government has closed down nine of its public sector undertakings resulting in unemployment to hundreds of people.
Besides, six other factories including Government Silk Weaving factory, Rajbagh, Government Bemina Woolen Mills, Government Joinery Mill Pampore and Bari Bramina, knitting factory Jammu, and Modern Rosin and Turpentine factory, Miran Sahib are at the verge of closure due to the inadequate infrastructure, manpower and government’s lack of interest to revive the units.
Under the control of J&K Industries Department the sickness of the factories with least chances of their revival have been cited by the government as reasons for closing down the nine factories even as government has admitted that the units were lacking modern technology and manpower for past many years.
WOOLEN MILLS SRINAGAR:
Facing a closure threat, the building and machinery of the unit once renowned for production of quality tweeds, blankets and worsted suiting is in a dilapidated condition for want of purchase of equipments, repair and replacement of machinery and major up gradation of existing infrastructure.
For want of revival the factory, which once used to produce 3.58 metric lakhs of cloth annually has incurred accumulated losses of Rs 4493 lakhs till March 2008. The engagement of additional 91 employees than required in the unit established in 1971 has also led to increase in the losses suffered over the years.
SILK WEAVING FACTORY:
Established in 1939 with an annual production of 3.50 metric tons of silk annually, the unit has almost become defunct as the entire plant and the machinery installed in it has outlived its life as no major up gradation has been undertaken since 1941.
Government said due to the frequent breakdown in the obsolete machinery, the production of the factory has decreased drastically contributing to the sickness of the factory.
Craving for modernization of its infrastructure which was imported from United Kingdom and Belgium, the factory has suffered accumulated losses of Rs 3680 lakhs till last year.
Lack of modern machinery, unskilled manpower and least attention by the successive governments towards the factories has been cited as the reason for the growing sickness of other four industries.
Government wakes up to sickness of factories:
Two separate sub-committees with members from various government departments have been set up to consider the revival plans for Rs 163 lakhs and Rs 260 lakhs respectively for Woolen and Silk factories. Government is also mulling the preparation of revival plans for Joinery Mills Pampore and Bari Bramina, knitting factory and Modern Rosin and Turpentine factory.
9 PSUs come under axe, 6 in row
MUDDASIR ALI (Greater Kashmir)
Srinagar: At a time when the economic meltdown has hit the job industry across the globe, the government has closed down nine of its public sector undertakings resulting in unemployment to hundreds of people.
Besides, six other factories including Government Silk Weaving factory, Rajbagh, Government Bemina Woolen Mills, Government Joinery Mill Pampore and Bari Bramina, knitting factory Jammu, and Modern Rosin and Turpentine factory, Miran Sahib are at the verge of closure due to the inadequate infrastructure, manpower and government’s lack of interest to revive the units.
Under the control of J&K Industries Department the sickness of the factories with least chances of their revival have been cited by the government as reasons for closing down the nine factories even as government has admitted that the units were lacking modern technology and manpower for past many years.
WOOLEN MILLS SRINAGAR:
Facing a closure threat, the building and machinery of the unit once renowned for production of quality tweeds, blankets and worsted suiting is in a dilapidated condition for want of purchase of equipments, repair and replacement of machinery and major up gradation of existing infrastructure.
For want of revival the factory, which once used to produce 3.58 metric lakhs of cloth annually has incurred accumulated losses of Rs 4493 lakhs till March 2008. The engagement of additional 91 employees than required in the unit established in 1971 has also led to increase in the losses suffered over the years.
SILK WEAVING FACTORY:
Established in 1939 with an annual production of 3.50 metric tons of silk annually, the unit has almost become defunct as the entire plant and the machinery installed in it has outlived its life as no major up gradation has been undertaken since 1941.
Government said due to the frequent breakdown in the obsolete machinery, the production of the factory has decreased drastically contributing to the sickness of the factory.
Craving for modernization of its infrastructure which was imported from United Kingdom and Belgium, the factory has suffered accumulated losses of Rs 3680 lakhs till last year.
Lack of modern machinery, unskilled manpower and least attention by the successive governments towards the factories has been cited as the reason for the growing sickness of other four industries.
Government wakes up to sickness of factories:
Two separate sub-committees with members from various government departments have been set up to consider the revival plans for Rs 163 lakhs and Rs 260 lakhs respectively for Woolen and Silk factories. Government is also mulling the preparation of revival plans for Joinery Mills Pampore and Bari Bramina, knitting factory and Modern Rosin and Turpentine factory.
Export of Carpets From Kashmir Nose Dives as Global Recession Grows
Kashmiri economist says that market share for Kashmiri carpets is less than 7% and decreasing
Global meltdown casts its spell on world famed Kashmir carpet industry
Shabir Ibn Yusuf (Kashmir Times)
SRINAGAR: The last 20 years of unending turmoil could not affect the 700 year old popular carpet industry of Kashmir, but now recession is threatening the industry if the officials and the people associated with it are believed.
Meanwhile Jammu and Kashmir Bank is devising a plan to support the carpet weavers in these troubled times.
The valley, according to official records, has at least 200,000 weavers that create expensive silk and woolen carpets and these are sold in Europe, USA and many other countries in the world.
Official records maintain that last year, exports were down to 135 million compared with 174 million in 2006. And the demand is declining and importers are canceling the orders. This year, officials at the government's handloom department expect sales to reach a maximum of 2 billion rupees.
Muneer Ahmad is associated with carpet industry, he says that now there are fewer buyers. "Industry is getting affecting badly. Now there are fewer buyers and foreign buyers are canceling their orders," he said adding, "The two decades of turmoil could not affect the industry in such a way."
Ishfaq Ahmad who runs a carpet showroom says, "We used to sell five to six carpets a day, but during the past 15 days we have sold only two," adding, "Buyers are offering us very low rates, and if we agree we will incur huge losses."
The valley of Kashmir is dotted with rolling meadows, gushing streams and beautiful lakes, and is one of the popular tourist destinations, with visitors often picking up carpets as souvenirs.
Noted economist and Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Bank Dr Haseeb Drabu, two days ago, while inaugurating series of new branches and ATMs in the valley also admitted that carpet industry is under tremendous threat and the Bank is devising a plan to help the weavers. "Carpet industry is under tremendous threat and the weavers will have no other option but to shift to other vocations," he said adding, "As against sale of 1,85000 carpets in the global market, this year we have been able to sell just 12000 carpets and this is simply the adverse impact of global melt down. To support the weavers in such situation, the bank is devising a plan to provide financial support to the people associated with the trade," he said.
Global meltdown casts its spell on world famed Kashmir carpet industry
Shabir Ibn Yusuf (Kashmir Times)
SRINAGAR: The last 20 years of unending turmoil could not affect the 700 year old popular carpet industry of Kashmir, but now recession is threatening the industry if the officials and the people associated with it are believed.
Meanwhile Jammu and Kashmir Bank is devising a plan to support the carpet weavers in these troubled times.
The valley, according to official records, has at least 200,000 weavers that create expensive silk and woolen carpets and these are sold in Europe, USA and many other countries in the world.
Official records maintain that last year, exports were down to 135 million compared with 174 million in 2006. And the demand is declining and importers are canceling the orders. This year, officials at the government's handloom department expect sales to reach a maximum of 2 billion rupees.
Muneer Ahmad is associated with carpet industry, he says that now there are fewer buyers. "Industry is getting affecting badly. Now there are fewer buyers and foreign buyers are canceling their orders," he said adding, "The two decades of turmoil could not affect the industry in such a way."
Ishfaq Ahmad who runs a carpet showroom says, "We used to sell five to six carpets a day, but during the past 15 days we have sold only two," adding, "Buyers are offering us very low rates, and if we agree we will incur huge losses."
The valley of Kashmir is dotted with rolling meadows, gushing streams and beautiful lakes, and is one of the popular tourist destinations, with visitors often picking up carpets as souvenirs.
Noted economist and Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Bank Dr Haseeb Drabu, two days ago, while inaugurating series of new branches and ATMs in the valley also admitted that carpet industry is under tremendous threat and the Bank is devising a plan to help the weavers. "Carpet industry is under tremendous threat and the weavers will have no other option but to shift to other vocations," he said adding, "As against sale of 1,85000 carpets in the global market, this year we have been able to sell just 12000 carpets and this is simply the adverse impact of global melt down. To support the weavers in such situation, the bank is devising a plan to provide financial support to the people associated with the trade," he said.
Data About Female Foeticide in J&K State Points to Alarming Trend in the Jammu Region
The data is clear - compared to Jammu region, Kashmir valley loves its daughters but needs to do more
Jammu: Beset with male child syndrome, the dwindling sex ratio in the state yet again reflected “criminal psyche” of people towards fair-gender in the male-dominant society.
Fresh survey by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics for 2008 in all 22 districts of the state has once again brought to the fore a grim picture.
Among 22 districts, Udhampur has attained the dubious distinction of having lowest sex ratio of 880 females per 1,000 males in sharp contrast to 894/1000 males in 2006.
Likewise, 2008 statistics of Rajouri (895), Reasi (899), Samba (896), Jammu (889), Kathua (913), Kishtwar (931), Poonch (920), Doda (933), Leh (939), Kargil (916), Anantnag (944), Bandipora (948), Baramulla (939), Budgam (930), Ganderbal (948), Kulgam (908), Kupwara (930), Pulwama (933), Shopian (948), Srinagar (940) and Ramban (973) also reflect mindset of the people.
In 2006 Rajouri had 894, Jammu 878, Kathua 911, Poonch 906, Doda 943, Leh 951, Kargil 939, Anantnag 933, Baramulla 932, Budgam 923, Kupwara 917, Pulwama 961 and Srinagar had 950 females per 1000 males.
Official sources told The Tribune that female foeticide has gained alarming proportion in five districts of Jammu, Reasi, Rajouri, Samba and Udhampur where sex ratio is not even 900 females per 1,000 males.
A senior doctor of Government Medical College said: “Female foeticide has been going on in private nursing homes and the government has utterly failed to check the crime.”
“One girl child out of seven female babies is being eliminated inside mother’s womb in Jammu district alone,” he said, adding that if the trend continues, districts like Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur and Reasi in particular would witness a steep decline in sex ratio in the coming years. Time has come for the administration to tighten noose around disgruntled radiologists, and society at large, too, should wake up to the unethical practice, he said.
A retired official of the Directorate of Health Services candidly admitted that the state government has failed to implement the J&K Preconception and Prenatal Sex Selection/Determination (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2002 in letter and spirit.
Though sex determination still goes on in various clinics, the government alone could not be held responsible for this malady, he said, adding that the people themselves were responsible for promoting the unethical practice. To get rid of the menace, the society had to be awakened and NGOs and schools should contribute their bit in educating the people and the children, he said.
(The Tribune)
Jammu: Beset with male child syndrome, the dwindling sex ratio in the state yet again reflected “criminal psyche” of people towards fair-gender in the male-dominant society.
Fresh survey by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics for 2008 in all 22 districts of the state has once again brought to the fore a grim picture.
Among 22 districts, Udhampur has attained the dubious distinction of having lowest sex ratio of 880 females per 1,000 males in sharp contrast to 894/1000 males in 2006.
Likewise, 2008 statistics of Rajouri (895), Reasi (899), Samba (896), Jammu (889), Kathua (913), Kishtwar (931), Poonch (920), Doda (933), Leh (939), Kargil (916), Anantnag (944), Bandipora (948), Baramulla (939), Budgam (930), Ganderbal (948), Kulgam (908), Kupwara (930), Pulwama (933), Shopian (948), Srinagar (940) and Ramban (973) also reflect mindset of the people.
In 2006 Rajouri had 894, Jammu 878, Kathua 911, Poonch 906, Doda 943, Leh 951, Kargil 939, Anantnag 933, Baramulla 932, Budgam 923, Kupwara 917, Pulwama 961 and Srinagar had 950 females per 1000 males.
Official sources told The Tribune that female foeticide has gained alarming proportion in five districts of Jammu, Reasi, Rajouri, Samba and Udhampur where sex ratio is not even 900 females per 1,000 males.
A senior doctor of Government Medical College said: “Female foeticide has been going on in private nursing homes and the government has utterly failed to check the crime.”
“One girl child out of seven female babies is being eliminated inside mother’s womb in Jammu district alone,” he said, adding that if the trend continues, districts like Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur and Reasi in particular would witness a steep decline in sex ratio in the coming years. Time has come for the administration to tighten noose around disgruntled radiologists, and society at large, too, should wake up to the unethical practice, he said.
A retired official of the Directorate of Health Services candidly admitted that the state government has failed to implement the J&K Preconception and Prenatal Sex Selection/Determination (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2002 in letter and spirit.
Though sex determination still goes on in various clinics, the government alone could not be held responsible for this malady, he said, adding that the people themselves were responsible for promoting the unethical practice. To get rid of the menace, the society had to be awakened and NGOs and schools should contribute their bit in educating the people and the children, he said.
(The Tribune)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Defining Kashmiriyat through the Eyes of a Specialist in Comparative Religious Philosophies
Maroof's thought provoking essay highlights the role of shared spirituality in defining one's cultural identity, and no where is that aspect more relevant than in an ancient land called Kashmir
(Dr. Muhammad Maroof Shah, 31, was born in Kunan, Bandipore. He has pursued a career in veterinary medicine and animal husbandry, completing Bachelors's degree in veterinary sciences (BVSc) at the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry (FVSc & AH), Shuhama campus of the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K), and MA English through the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). He is presently posted as a Veterinary Assistant Surgeon (VAS) at the Government Sheep Breeding Farm in Dachigam. Dr. Shah is the author of two books, and has lectured as a visiting fellow at the Jaipur University on Western Philosophy. In his leisure time he pursues studies in comparative religion, philosophy and literature.)
Kashmir: The question of identity
It is idle to talk of identity in traditional cultures like Kashmir. The crisis of identity is a modern problem and grafting it on traditional cultures is inadmissible. Kashmiryat doesn’t cater to the problem of identity, neither does it need to. Alienation, crisis of identity, need for an identity card or house/land of one’s own are all modern issues that arise only in a particular context of secular nationalism.
For the cultures rooted in Tradition (as traditionalist authorities understand the term which is metaphysical understanding of what the Quran calls as Din-al-Haneef) the question of personal identity is irrelevant. In fact a person named so and so is inexistent according to the spirit centred traditions. Roots are never severed from God or the real home in heaven in the first place and there is no warrant for any identity crisis. Mythical origin of Kashmir may still be held to give it a divine anchorage. Its history, as the history of other traditional cultures, is less important and what is to be foregrounded is the meta-history that informs its historical unfoldment. What gives individuality to traditional cultures is a shared spiritual/metaphysical space, a distinct expression of spiritually grounded cultural forms. Geographical boundaries are often transposed into what has been called sacred geography. Modern nation states and their aggressive nationalism are often based on certain shared linguistic, geographical and historical ground and it is not connected with the sacred in any sense. While talking of Kashmiri culture and identity one can’t sideline its spiritual orientation, its grounding in the sacred. It is not to be reduced to regionalism of any sort. It can’t be defined in theological terms because mystical ethos of Kashmir has to be approached in terms of more universal notion of metaphysics. Kashmir has been the home of almost all great religions, Semitic and non-Semitic and in fact it is a model state showing how religions can live with one another and complement rather than compete for the spiritual requirements of people.
Kashmiryat, if at all it could be delimited in terms of geography, still can’t be exclusively defined. Once upon a time the Kashmiri Kingdom extended far wider than it currently does. Does this mean that we should attempt to regain our previous glory in terms of the land? Kashmiryat is neither a geographical nor a religious, theological, or political notion.
It is the question of identity of Kashmir that has been hotly debated in recent times. In the light of perennialist insights this vexed issue could be resolved in a satisfactory way. We can't bracket any period of history or any of the major traditions Kashmir has been hosting in determining its present identity. A locally rooted but transcendentally grounded universally valid identity that could not be disputed by any sect is provided by Reshiyyat that can't be identified with or subsumed under any one historical movement or religious tradition. Identities must be trans-national trans-ideological in an age that swears by coexistence. They must have a heavenly foundation rather than one manufactured on earth. Kashmir has housed or appropriated most of the major world traditions. It has been argued that to its sacred ambience all great religions and civilizations – Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim – have contributed. Reshiyyat (Kashmiri adaptation of Sufism) rather than any imported model based on this worldly secularist humanism is an ideal framework to give it a locally grounded global identity. Reshiyyat asks us to transcend all local, regional, divisive identities perpetrated by various groups and to be grounded in the universal or cosmic or divine Reshi identity that duly encompasses and appropriates other identities as well.
The whole world will be ours if we rediscover our lost Reshi identity. Shiekh Nuruddin became Jagat Guru or Shiekh-ul-Alam by transcending all identities of self, caste, race, nationality and even religion taken in its exclusivist sense. In his universalistic inclusive humanitarian transcendental cosmopolitan vision of Reshiyyat could alone by true Kashmiriyat grounded.
Kashmiryat can’t be understood as Kashmiri nationalism. The concept of nationalism is foreign to the metaphysically oriented civilizations; it is a modern heresy ill applicable either in Hindu or in Islamic milieu. The mystical/metaphysical grounding of any culture implies that modern political appropriations of it are suspect. Traditionally Indians have never been power hungry or nationalistic in the modern sense. They have in fact been soft preys because of their different priorities. Being more interested in the territory of their souls/spirit they have been somewhat indifferent to external territories and borders. Kashmir has been religiously and culturally a part of both India and Pakistan – more precisely this subcontinent. Its present political status is not to be linked to its ancient history or religion and culture which it shares with both Pakistan and India. Kashmir is a political problem which is better not linked with any politically motivated discourse or appropriation of Kashmiryat. It is an abuse of Kashmiryat to be deployed for narrow party or political ends.
Kashmir’s independent sovereign self or spirit or individuality is yet to be properly discerned and it needs in depth study of its religions, mythologies, folklore and most importantly the underlying metaphysic, of which all these are applications or expressions in symbolical or mythological language. Kashmir’s essence (and thus identity), as the essence of all traditional cultures, is to be discerned at the most fundamental level or ground of metaphysics. And it is sad to note that there have been hardly any serious attempts at approaching the issue in such terms. It is most often presumed that Hindu, Saivist, Buddhist and Islamic discourses are not expressions of a single identifiable Tradition, different expressions of a Unitarian (tawhidic) metaphysic but different, often contradictory religious/theological formulations. It is assumed that we have different philosophies/metaphysical formulations to contend with. Reshi “synthesis” of all indigenous philosophical/religious traditions is yet to be appreciated and metaphysically expressed by our scholars. And we are talking of inclusive notions of Kashmiryat! It is also to be lamented that our culturologists (if we have any) have yet to understand and identify the metaphysical basis of different cultural dimensions of Kashmir. From the particularities of dress to our religious and social rituals and different traditional crafts nothing is explicable except with reference to metaphysics or beliefs received from timeless dimension in which prophets and sages live and breathe. Unless we have an all-comprehensive and inclusive understanding of all cultural expressions, all folk beliefs, all religious traditions which encompass us (and this primarily needs metaphysical instead of theological/sociological/literary or linguistic analysis or approach) we can’t talk of Kashmiri culture or Kashmiri identity. Comprehensive conception of Kashmiryat requires understanding the Tradition, the metaphysic that underlies diverse religious and philosophical expressions that we find here.
(Dr. Muhammad Maroof Shah, 31, was born in Kunan, Bandipore. He has pursued a career in veterinary medicine and animal husbandry, completing Bachelors's degree in veterinary sciences (BVSc) at the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry (FVSc & AH), Shuhama campus of the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K), and MA English through the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). He is presently posted as a Veterinary Assistant Surgeon (VAS) at the Government Sheep Breeding Farm in Dachigam. Dr. Shah is the author of two books, and has lectured as a visiting fellow at the Jaipur University on Western Philosophy. In his leisure time he pursues studies in comparative religion, philosophy and literature.)
Kashmir: The question of identity
It is idle to talk of identity in traditional cultures like Kashmir. The crisis of identity is a modern problem and grafting it on traditional cultures is inadmissible. Kashmiryat doesn’t cater to the problem of identity, neither does it need to. Alienation, crisis of identity, need for an identity card or house/land of one’s own are all modern issues that arise only in a particular context of secular nationalism.
For the cultures rooted in Tradition (as traditionalist authorities understand the term which is metaphysical understanding of what the Quran calls as Din-al-Haneef) the question of personal identity is irrelevant. In fact a person named so and so is inexistent according to the spirit centred traditions. Roots are never severed from God or the real home in heaven in the first place and there is no warrant for any identity crisis. Mythical origin of Kashmir may still be held to give it a divine anchorage. Its history, as the history of other traditional cultures, is less important and what is to be foregrounded is the meta-history that informs its historical unfoldment. What gives individuality to traditional cultures is a shared spiritual/metaphysical space, a distinct expression of spiritually grounded cultural forms. Geographical boundaries are often transposed into what has been called sacred geography. Modern nation states and their aggressive nationalism are often based on certain shared linguistic, geographical and historical ground and it is not connected with the sacred in any sense. While talking of Kashmiri culture and identity one can’t sideline its spiritual orientation, its grounding in the sacred. It is not to be reduced to regionalism of any sort. It can’t be defined in theological terms because mystical ethos of Kashmir has to be approached in terms of more universal notion of metaphysics. Kashmir has been the home of almost all great religions, Semitic and non-Semitic and in fact it is a model state showing how religions can live with one another and complement rather than compete for the spiritual requirements of people.
Kashmiryat, if at all it could be delimited in terms of geography, still can’t be exclusively defined. Once upon a time the Kashmiri Kingdom extended far wider than it currently does. Does this mean that we should attempt to regain our previous glory in terms of the land? Kashmiryat is neither a geographical nor a religious, theological, or political notion.
It is the question of identity of Kashmir that has been hotly debated in recent times. In the light of perennialist insights this vexed issue could be resolved in a satisfactory way. We can't bracket any period of history or any of the major traditions Kashmir has been hosting in determining its present identity. A locally rooted but transcendentally grounded universally valid identity that could not be disputed by any sect is provided by Reshiyyat that can't be identified with or subsumed under any one historical movement or religious tradition. Identities must be trans-national trans-ideological in an age that swears by coexistence. They must have a heavenly foundation rather than one manufactured on earth. Kashmir has housed or appropriated most of the major world traditions. It has been argued that to its sacred ambience all great religions and civilizations – Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim – have contributed. Reshiyyat (Kashmiri adaptation of Sufism) rather than any imported model based on this worldly secularist humanism is an ideal framework to give it a locally grounded global identity. Reshiyyat asks us to transcend all local, regional, divisive identities perpetrated by various groups and to be grounded in the universal or cosmic or divine Reshi identity that duly encompasses and appropriates other identities as well.
The whole world will be ours if we rediscover our lost Reshi identity. Shiekh Nuruddin became Jagat Guru or Shiekh-ul-Alam by transcending all identities of self, caste, race, nationality and even religion taken in its exclusivist sense. In his universalistic inclusive humanitarian transcendental cosmopolitan vision of Reshiyyat could alone by true Kashmiriyat grounded.
Kashmiryat can’t be understood as Kashmiri nationalism. The concept of nationalism is foreign to the metaphysically oriented civilizations; it is a modern heresy ill applicable either in Hindu or in Islamic milieu. The mystical/metaphysical grounding of any culture implies that modern political appropriations of it are suspect. Traditionally Indians have never been power hungry or nationalistic in the modern sense. They have in fact been soft preys because of their different priorities. Being more interested in the territory of their souls/spirit they have been somewhat indifferent to external territories and borders. Kashmir has been religiously and culturally a part of both India and Pakistan – more precisely this subcontinent. Its present political status is not to be linked to its ancient history or religion and culture which it shares with both Pakistan and India. Kashmir is a political problem which is better not linked with any politically motivated discourse or appropriation of Kashmiryat. It is an abuse of Kashmiryat to be deployed for narrow party or political ends.
Kashmir’s independent sovereign self or spirit or individuality is yet to be properly discerned and it needs in depth study of its religions, mythologies, folklore and most importantly the underlying metaphysic, of which all these are applications or expressions in symbolical or mythological language. Kashmir’s essence (and thus identity), as the essence of all traditional cultures, is to be discerned at the most fundamental level or ground of metaphysics. And it is sad to note that there have been hardly any serious attempts at approaching the issue in such terms. It is most often presumed that Hindu, Saivist, Buddhist and Islamic discourses are not expressions of a single identifiable Tradition, different expressions of a Unitarian (tawhidic) metaphysic but different, often contradictory religious/theological formulations. It is assumed that we have different philosophies/metaphysical formulations to contend with. Reshi “synthesis” of all indigenous philosophical/religious traditions is yet to be appreciated and metaphysically expressed by our scholars. And we are talking of inclusive notions of Kashmiryat! It is also to be lamented that our culturologists (if we have any) have yet to understand and identify the metaphysical basis of different cultural dimensions of Kashmir. From the particularities of dress to our religious and social rituals and different traditional crafts nothing is explicable except with reference to metaphysics or beliefs received from timeless dimension in which prophets and sages live and breathe. Unless we have an all-comprehensive and inclusive understanding of all cultural expressions, all folk beliefs, all religious traditions which encompass us (and this primarily needs metaphysical instead of theological/sociological/literary or linguistic analysis or approach) we can’t talk of Kashmiri culture or Kashmiri identity. Comprehensive conception of Kashmiryat requires understanding the Tradition, the metaphysic that underlies diverse religious and philosophical expressions that we find here.
Living the Life to the Fullest
Dr. Beg addresses how golden age is really a golden period in personal development
(Dr. Mirza Ashraf Beg, 69, was born in Sarnal, Anantnag. He did his primary schooling at the Primary Hanfia School in Anantnag and completed his F. Sc. from the Government Degree College in Anantnag. He completed his medical degree (MBBS) from the Government Medical College Srinagar, University of Kashmir, in 1967, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pathology from the Government Medical College Jammu, University of Jammu, in 1981. He served as the Medical Director of the Civil Hospital, Pahalgam, until 1983 and subsequently held senior administrative positions in the health service system of Saudi Arabia, including participation in a joint program with the Johns Hopkins University and the University of South Florida for a United Nations project related to environmental and ecological impact of the 1991 Gulf War. He is an Executive Member of the Jammu and Kashmir Red Cross (nominated by the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir), Member of General Medical Council, Jammu and Kashmir, Medical Council of India, Saudi Medical Council, and General Medical Council, London. He is proficient in Kashmiri, Urdu, Hindi, English, Arabic.)
The Driftwood and the Deadwood
"If you plan for hundred years plant trees. If you plan for thousand years plant industries. If you plan for generations plant humans" - Mao Tse Tung
While traveling on the national highway from Qazigund to Varmul one can see thousands of poplar trees and scores of Chinars on both the sides of the road that have lived their life. The tall poplars in their youth looked like angels of peace clad in greens welcoming the guests and the majestic chinars provided cool breeze and shelter during rains and snow for the pedestrians. Nature has a fixed life span for all the living things in this universe. Thus every soul that takes birth has to die and once dead the body has either to be cremated or buried howsoever dear or important. Looking on the dead poplar trees on both the sides of the road gives a horrible look and reminds as if they have none of their own to burry or cremate them. Even when lifeless we could make them beneficial to mankind and essentially to environment and ecology of the universe by putting them in a carbon sink pool usage.
A Chinar tree once in majestic gigantic robes is not only a carbon sequestration factory but provides shelter to huge populace of fauna and multiple organisms thus creating a niche unparallel of. The chinar of Kashmir is matching with our Himalayas in its grace and grandeur. I have seen its siblings in Syracuse New York too, again not as graceful as a Kashmiri chinar at Naseembagh or in Mughal gardens at Achabal, Shalimar and Padshahibag at Bijbehara. The old poplar trees that we see on the two sides of our highway are indigenous Kashmiri popular. Poplar that has broad leaves and is more robust in girth (green tunnel near Sangam) has been imported and are hybrids from Russia, Italy etc. It consumes more water hence sets up sever competition for other vegetation.
Similarly humans too have an active role up to a certain age when retirement should be accepted gladly. That way one can make room for the new incumbents that not only brings forth fresh ideas and spirits for the growth of future but also utility of vibrant energy bestowed in the youth by the Almighty. Retirement in no way means that the person has become redundant or outmoded. Neither does it mean that the person has become useless. In fact at the age of superannuation the person becomes more matured and experienced and can play a better role in a different field that needs less energy and requires lesser working hours such as social service or community development on voluntary basis.
One can make the best use of his/her lifetime experience and can invest his deposits in a better way. Under the present circumstances when both husband and wife are forced to go out of home to their workplaces a retired asset at home can render a helping hand by looking after the younger generation such as grand children. That is what we mean by planting men for future generations. Do gardening and grow vegetables in your kitchen garden that keeps fit and happy. For city dwellers where gardening or kitchen garden is not a possibility helping patients in hospitals is one of the best options and for a change read books. Develop a hobby for writing that is the best treatment for depression. Never forget to take a walk, play a sport and visit your friends.
For politicians too we need to have an age limit for active politics. Otherwise they become a liability rather than an asset. There are some people whose memory is affected in old age and they can’t keep a balance in their utterances resulting in to a great national loss. That is one of the reasons we witness unruly scenes in our parliamentary and assembly sessions. (It was tragic to see an angry Somnath Chatterji the speaker scolding the hooligans in the parliament other day. He also wished that the geriatric lot is not voted to power in the coming elections.) The sever degree of the forgetfulness is called Alzheimer’s disease in which sometimes the patient forgets even the way to his/her home.
No doubt we must respect our national heroes in politics but it is no use to keep them on board even when they are on ventilators. Here I must say that driftwood and deadwood are two different entities. Driftwood too serves a lot of useful purpose. We do get a blessed grandeur by their mere presence in our drawing rooms and are the sources for many inspirations. Thus we must use their presence to get to inspirations which can produce advancement and growth for the benefit of the future generations.
(Dr. Mirza Ashraf Beg, 69, was born in Sarnal, Anantnag. He did his primary schooling at the Primary Hanfia School in Anantnag and completed his F. Sc. from the Government Degree College in Anantnag. He completed his medical degree (MBBS) from the Government Medical College Srinagar, University of Kashmir, in 1967, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pathology from the Government Medical College Jammu, University of Jammu, in 1981. He served as the Medical Director of the Civil Hospital, Pahalgam, until 1983 and subsequently held senior administrative positions in the health service system of Saudi Arabia, including participation in a joint program with the Johns Hopkins University and the University of South Florida for a United Nations project related to environmental and ecological impact of the 1991 Gulf War. He is an Executive Member of the Jammu and Kashmir Red Cross (nominated by the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir), Member of General Medical Council, Jammu and Kashmir, Medical Council of India, Saudi Medical Council, and General Medical Council, London. He is proficient in Kashmiri, Urdu, Hindi, English, Arabic.)
The Driftwood and the Deadwood
"If you plan for hundred years plant trees. If you plan for thousand years plant industries. If you plan for generations plant humans" - Mao Tse Tung
While traveling on the national highway from Qazigund to Varmul one can see thousands of poplar trees and scores of Chinars on both the sides of the road that have lived their life. The tall poplars in their youth looked like angels of peace clad in greens welcoming the guests and the majestic chinars provided cool breeze and shelter during rains and snow for the pedestrians. Nature has a fixed life span for all the living things in this universe. Thus every soul that takes birth has to die and once dead the body has either to be cremated or buried howsoever dear or important. Looking on the dead poplar trees on both the sides of the road gives a horrible look and reminds as if they have none of their own to burry or cremate them. Even when lifeless we could make them beneficial to mankind and essentially to environment and ecology of the universe by putting them in a carbon sink pool usage.
A Chinar tree once in majestic gigantic robes is not only a carbon sequestration factory but provides shelter to huge populace of fauna and multiple organisms thus creating a niche unparallel of. The chinar of Kashmir is matching with our Himalayas in its grace and grandeur. I have seen its siblings in Syracuse New York too, again not as graceful as a Kashmiri chinar at Naseembagh or in Mughal gardens at Achabal, Shalimar and Padshahibag at Bijbehara. The old poplar trees that we see on the two sides of our highway are indigenous Kashmiri popular. Poplar that has broad leaves and is more robust in girth (green tunnel near Sangam) has been imported and are hybrids from Russia, Italy etc. It consumes more water hence sets up sever competition for other vegetation.
Similarly humans too have an active role up to a certain age when retirement should be accepted gladly. That way one can make room for the new incumbents that not only brings forth fresh ideas and spirits for the growth of future but also utility of vibrant energy bestowed in the youth by the Almighty. Retirement in no way means that the person has become redundant or outmoded. Neither does it mean that the person has become useless. In fact at the age of superannuation the person becomes more matured and experienced and can play a better role in a different field that needs less energy and requires lesser working hours such as social service or community development on voluntary basis.
One can make the best use of his/her lifetime experience and can invest his deposits in a better way. Under the present circumstances when both husband and wife are forced to go out of home to their workplaces a retired asset at home can render a helping hand by looking after the younger generation such as grand children. That is what we mean by planting men for future generations. Do gardening and grow vegetables in your kitchen garden that keeps fit and happy. For city dwellers where gardening or kitchen garden is not a possibility helping patients in hospitals is one of the best options and for a change read books. Develop a hobby for writing that is the best treatment for depression. Never forget to take a walk, play a sport and visit your friends.
For politicians too we need to have an age limit for active politics. Otherwise they become a liability rather than an asset. There are some people whose memory is affected in old age and they can’t keep a balance in their utterances resulting in to a great national loss. That is one of the reasons we witness unruly scenes in our parliamentary and assembly sessions. (It was tragic to see an angry Somnath Chatterji the speaker scolding the hooligans in the parliament other day. He also wished that the geriatric lot is not voted to power in the coming elections.) The sever degree of the forgetfulness is called Alzheimer’s disease in which sometimes the patient forgets even the way to his/her home.
No doubt we must respect our national heroes in politics but it is no use to keep them on board even when they are on ventilators. Here I must say that driftwood and deadwood are two different entities. Driftwood too serves a lot of useful purpose. We do get a blessed grandeur by their mere presence in our drawing rooms and are the sources for many inspirations. Thus we must use their presence to get to inspirations which can produce advancement and growth for the benefit of the future generations.
Imagine saffron fields becoming plots for housing construction
Basharat reports on an impending tragedy
(Mr. Syed Basharat, 29, was born in Kreeri, Baramulla, and did his schooling in Kreeri, and later in Uri and Sopore. He graduated from the Degree College in Baramulla and completed his Master's degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the Kashmir University in 2005. He has been a reporter for Kashmir Images, a Srinagar based daily, London based website Gaashonline.Com, and a Srinagar based journal, Globe. Currently, he is working as a special correspondent with Jammu based daily newspaper, The Kashmir Times.)
Saffron vanishing due to official apathy as farmers convert farms into commercial space
SRINAGAR: Callousness, coupled with the inherited lethargy of the State
government, is what has led to the vanishing of Kashmiri saffron; the yield of
which has drastically slowed down during the last one decade, the farmers
associated with the Saffron cultivation said. However, shifting blame on farmers
the authorities allege that farmers are no more interested in cultivating the
yellow gold. Instead they want to sell the saffron land or raise structures on
the same.
Figures given by the farmers reveal a drastic decline in the world’s costliest
spice. President Saffron Growers and Dealers Association, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat alias Pampori while talking to the Kashmir Times said: “In late 1980s the annual yield of saffron was 35 to 40,000 Kilograms in the entire State. But the same was 7000 Kilograms in 2006; in 2007 it was 12,000 Kilograms and last year it declined to 4000 Kilograms only! The government’s concern can be well gauged that since 1947, there has been only one awareness seminar cum workshop in Saffron sector that took place on June 13, 2001 organised by union ministry of commerce at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology (SKUAST).”
On the other hand these figures are contradicted by a subject matter specialist
Tariq Ahmad Shah who blames farmers for the decline of the costliest spice in
Kashmir. Shah says: “The farmers want to use the saffron land for constructions
or simply want to sell it against huge sums. Investment for better yield and
crop conservation is not their concern.”
According to Shah in 2004-05 the total yield of Saffron in Kashmir division was
69 quintals which was cultivated over 3100 hectares of land. In 2005- 06 this
figure raised to 75 quintals cultivated over 3200 hectares. In 2006-07 the yield
was and the area under cultivation remained the same. And in the year 2007-08
the yield slowed down to 68 quintals only cultivated over 3800 hectares of land.
A major decline is revealed if these figures are compared with that of 1996- 97.
In that year the yield was 175 quintals and in 2001-02 it came down to 36
quintals only. Reasons, Shah said are, no assured irrigation, and engaging
labourers from the outside state who are mostly unskilled. Besides, he added
that the ratio of saffron comb and that of the land in which it is sowed matters
in terms of yield.
Shah further said that the government had already organised many programmes to enhance awareness level of farmers but all in vain. “It is not only the investment but lack of proper irrigation, and poor quality fertilisers which experts said, are the other reasons for the declining saffron,” Shah observed further.
In Iran he added that the farmers sow five tons of saffron combs per hectare
while as in Kashmir farmers sow 10-20 quintals per hectare. “Scientifically
saffron plant population should be 25000 per kanal. There is late recycling of
these plants in Kashmir. The farmers change these plants with the new ones after
around 25 years. Besides farmers compliant about pollution which does not affect
the entire saffron cultivation area,” Shah opined. He advised that the organic
manure should be used 20 tons per hectare that means one ton per Kanal.
It is pertinent to mention here that in Kashmir the saffron comes second after
the fruit industry in terms of its economic importance. It is grown in 226
villages in five districts of the State which include Anantnag, Pulwama,
Srinagar, Budgam, Doda and Kishtwar.
According to Pampori it is the lackadaisical attitude of the government towards
this sector besides drought, disease and pollution which have been the worst
factors contributing to a sharp decline of this multipurpose orange colour
spice. “It was only after the Kashmiri saffron started declining that saffron
from Iran started landing in India. It is the callousness of the state
government which is responsible for the decline in saffron production,” Pampori
said.
He complained of no irrigation, no subsidy on fertilisers, no insurance and
above all no formal training to the farmers for the low yield of the spice in Kashmir.
(Mr. Syed Basharat, 29, was born in Kreeri, Baramulla, and did his schooling in Kreeri, and later in Uri and Sopore. He graduated from the Degree College in Baramulla and completed his Master's degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the Kashmir University in 2005. He has been a reporter for Kashmir Images, a Srinagar based daily, London based website Gaashonline.Com, and a Srinagar based journal, Globe. Currently, he is working as a special correspondent with Jammu based daily newspaper, The Kashmir Times.)
Saffron vanishing due to official apathy as farmers convert farms into commercial space
SRINAGAR: Callousness, coupled with the inherited lethargy of the State
government, is what has led to the vanishing of Kashmiri saffron; the yield of
which has drastically slowed down during the last one decade, the farmers
associated with the Saffron cultivation said. However, shifting blame on farmers
the authorities allege that farmers are no more interested in cultivating the
yellow gold. Instead they want to sell the saffron land or raise structures on
the same.
Figures given by the farmers reveal a drastic decline in the world’s costliest
spice. President Saffron Growers and Dealers Association, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat alias Pampori while talking to the Kashmir Times said: “In late 1980s the annual yield of saffron was 35 to 40,000 Kilograms in the entire State. But the same was 7000 Kilograms in 2006; in 2007 it was 12,000 Kilograms and last year it declined to 4000 Kilograms only! The government’s concern can be well gauged that since 1947, there has been only one awareness seminar cum workshop in Saffron sector that took place on June 13, 2001 organised by union ministry of commerce at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology (SKUAST).”
On the other hand these figures are contradicted by a subject matter specialist
Tariq Ahmad Shah who blames farmers for the decline of the costliest spice in
Kashmir. Shah says: “The farmers want to use the saffron land for constructions
or simply want to sell it against huge sums. Investment for better yield and
crop conservation is not their concern.”
According to Shah in 2004-05 the total yield of Saffron in Kashmir division was
69 quintals which was cultivated over 3100 hectares of land. In 2005- 06 this
figure raised to 75 quintals cultivated over 3200 hectares. In 2006-07 the yield
was and the area under cultivation remained the same. And in the year 2007-08
the yield slowed down to 68 quintals only cultivated over 3800 hectares of land.
A major decline is revealed if these figures are compared with that of 1996- 97.
In that year the yield was 175 quintals and in 2001-02 it came down to 36
quintals only. Reasons, Shah said are, no assured irrigation, and engaging
labourers from the outside state who are mostly unskilled. Besides, he added
that the ratio of saffron comb and that of the land in which it is sowed matters
in terms of yield.
Shah further said that the government had already organised many programmes to enhance awareness level of farmers but all in vain. “It is not only the investment but lack of proper irrigation, and poor quality fertilisers which experts said, are the other reasons for the declining saffron,” Shah observed further.
In Iran he added that the farmers sow five tons of saffron combs per hectare
while as in Kashmir farmers sow 10-20 quintals per hectare. “Scientifically
saffron plant population should be 25000 per kanal. There is late recycling of
these plants in Kashmir. The farmers change these plants with the new ones after
around 25 years. Besides farmers compliant about pollution which does not affect
the entire saffron cultivation area,” Shah opined. He advised that the organic
manure should be used 20 tons per hectare that means one ton per Kanal.
It is pertinent to mention here that in Kashmir the saffron comes second after
the fruit industry in terms of its economic importance. It is grown in 226
villages in five districts of the State which include Anantnag, Pulwama,
Srinagar, Budgam, Doda and Kishtwar.
According to Pampori it is the lackadaisical attitude of the government towards
this sector besides drought, disease and pollution which have been the worst
factors contributing to a sharp decline of this multipurpose orange colour
spice. “It was only after the Kashmiri saffron started declining that saffron
from Iran started landing in India. It is the callousness of the state
government which is responsible for the decline in saffron production,” Pampori
said.
He complained of no irrigation, no subsidy on fertilisers, no insurance and
above all no formal training to the farmers for the low yield of the spice in Kashmir.
The Glory of an Ancient Town Named Bijbehara
Iqbal takes us on a historical journey through a Kashmir town named after King Vijay
(Mr. Iqbal Ahmad, 48, was born in Parigam Chek, Kulgam. He is a graduate with Diploma in Numastics, Archaeology and Heritage. He is an archaeologist, writer, and a cultural historian. Mr. Iqbal Ahmad has published 12 reference books on Kashmir archaeology and heritage.)
The historic town
Bijbehara, one of the interesting and important places to archaeologists in the recent past has filled a large gap of missing cultural sequences of Kashmir. Excavations carried at Semithan yielded tremendous archaeological and numismatic materials which have helped historians to reconstruct the missing sequences to its considerable extent.
Bijbehara is a very ancient site. Its present name is a corrupt form of Vijayaswara which basically was the name of a temple believed to have been raised by some Vijaya named king’. The town is situated about 40 km from Srinagar in south Kashmir. The place in its earlier excavations revealed few magnificent stone images of Hindu deities.
These images housed in the Sri Partap Singh (SPS) museum are considered the earliest stone images discovered so far and are dated to the period earlier to 6th century AD. (Though there have been un-official reports of some more earlier images found from the valley, those have gone unrecorded). Earlier to these stone images, Kashmiri sculptor looks to have used terracotta for making of the images. Such terracotta miniature figures and heads have survived from the sites of Ushkar, Baramulla and Parihaspura. Various miniature type terracotta figures were also found at Semithan (ancient Chakradhara near Bijbehara).
Those images are dated to 1st and 2nd century AD and there is every possibility that the Bijbehara school, which earlier was involved in making of terracotta images, later shifted towards stone material. As the stone was more hard to survive for long periods, a close association in various features of terra-cotta figures and stone images of the area is also observed. Both types of images are dressed in Hellenistic style and compare well with a number of images of Gandhara school.
The material clings to the body with a series of dense pleats between the legs indicated by string folds, a feature which is very common in the early art of both Kashmir and Gandhara observes John Siudmak. It is very interesting to note that the early images of Kashmir as come across in Bijbehara have more Hellenistic influence and less Gupta. In the medieval aged sculptures as found from Pandhrethan and Parihaspura sites Hellenistic features have been dominated by more Gupta styles while the later sculptures of Avantipura and Varinag sites, local influence has been a dominant force, not only in the body and costume treatment but of particular interest is the retention of personified attributes, which disappeared in usage in the rest of India in post Gupta periods but continued in Kashmir up to the lost stages of sculptural arts says Robert E Fisher in his article, 'Later stone sculptures published in Marg’.
The greater traditions of the Kashmiri sculptural art later also impressed Ladakh i.e. why many Kashmiri images mostly of bronze were reported to have appeared in the art market of Ladakh. The sculpture traditions which appeared from Bijbehara and Ushkar (Southern and Northern parts of Kashmir) date to the period 6th century AD, were then cultivated in later schools. Before attempting to that let us have the brief descriptions of the two master piece sculptures of this earlier group of Bijbehara sculpture art preserved in SPS Museum
Kartikeya Plate No 1: The six armed Kartikeya identified by his vehicle the peacock in its several features compares with Gandhara images. The arrangement of the hair and the wavy locks falling over its shoulders, the folds of the drapery like features quietly resemble to similar features of the Gandhara images while fleshy body with powerful shoulders compares it with Pandhrethan sculptures.
It wears a pearl necklace from which hangs a diamond pendant. The floral garland loops in front of the body falls near the knees. Boarders of armlets and belt are studded with pearls. A short dagger is attached at his waist. This is unique to Kashmiri versions but is rarely found on the early sculptures.
The sculpture is damaged by its four arms, the other two hands visible do not hold anything. The right hand is placed upon the neck of the peacock, the vehicle of the god, and the left holds the hem of the drapery. The Dhoti reaches to its ankles with floods in between its legs Headless
Deity Plate No 2: Another goddess from Bijbehara is damaged by its head, arms and other attributes. Since the prongs' of a trident are partly visible at the right side of its foot, is identified as a form of Durga. The image is purely dressed in Hellenistic style compares closely with a number of Gandhura images. It is shown wearing a high waisted chiffon and a long scarf. A cord passes over the left shoulder and forms a loop in front of her body. The scarf falls in a series of folds at her feet. This treatment may be watched on many early standing female deities known in terracotta.
(Mr. Iqbal Ahmad, 48, was born in Parigam Chek, Kulgam. He is a graduate with Diploma in Numastics, Archaeology and Heritage. He is an archaeologist, writer, and a cultural historian. Mr. Iqbal Ahmad has published 12 reference books on Kashmir archaeology and heritage.)
The historic town
Bijbehara, one of the interesting and important places to archaeologists in the recent past has filled a large gap of missing cultural sequences of Kashmir. Excavations carried at Semithan yielded tremendous archaeological and numismatic materials which have helped historians to reconstruct the missing sequences to its considerable extent.
Bijbehara is a very ancient site. Its present name is a corrupt form of Vijayaswara which basically was the name of a temple believed to have been raised by some Vijaya named king’. The town is situated about 40 km from Srinagar in south Kashmir. The place in its earlier excavations revealed few magnificent stone images of Hindu deities.
These images housed in the Sri Partap Singh (SPS) museum are considered the earliest stone images discovered so far and are dated to the period earlier to 6th century AD. (Though there have been un-official reports of some more earlier images found from the valley, those have gone unrecorded). Earlier to these stone images, Kashmiri sculptor looks to have used terracotta for making of the images. Such terracotta miniature figures and heads have survived from the sites of Ushkar, Baramulla and Parihaspura. Various miniature type terracotta figures were also found at Semithan (ancient Chakradhara near Bijbehara).
Those images are dated to 1st and 2nd century AD and there is every possibility that the Bijbehara school, which earlier was involved in making of terracotta images, later shifted towards stone material. As the stone was more hard to survive for long periods, a close association in various features of terra-cotta figures and stone images of the area is also observed. Both types of images are dressed in Hellenistic style and compare well with a number of images of Gandhara school.
The material clings to the body with a series of dense pleats between the legs indicated by string folds, a feature which is very common in the early art of both Kashmir and Gandhara observes John Siudmak. It is very interesting to note that the early images of Kashmir as come across in Bijbehara have more Hellenistic influence and less Gupta. In the medieval aged sculptures as found from Pandhrethan and Parihaspura sites Hellenistic features have been dominated by more Gupta styles while the later sculptures of Avantipura and Varinag sites, local influence has been a dominant force, not only in the body and costume treatment but of particular interest is the retention of personified attributes, which disappeared in usage in the rest of India in post Gupta periods but continued in Kashmir up to the lost stages of sculptural arts says Robert E Fisher in his article, 'Later stone sculptures published in Marg’.
The greater traditions of the Kashmiri sculptural art later also impressed Ladakh i.e. why many Kashmiri images mostly of bronze were reported to have appeared in the art market of Ladakh. The sculpture traditions which appeared from Bijbehara and Ushkar (Southern and Northern parts of Kashmir) date to the period 6th century AD, were then cultivated in later schools. Before attempting to that let us have the brief descriptions of the two master piece sculptures of this earlier group of Bijbehara sculpture art preserved in SPS Museum
Kartikeya Plate No 1: The six armed Kartikeya identified by his vehicle the peacock in its several features compares with Gandhara images. The arrangement of the hair and the wavy locks falling over its shoulders, the folds of the drapery like features quietly resemble to similar features of the Gandhara images while fleshy body with powerful shoulders compares it with Pandhrethan sculptures.
It wears a pearl necklace from which hangs a diamond pendant. The floral garland loops in front of the body falls near the knees. Boarders of armlets and belt are studded with pearls. A short dagger is attached at his waist. This is unique to Kashmiri versions but is rarely found on the early sculptures.
The sculpture is damaged by its four arms, the other two hands visible do not hold anything. The right hand is placed upon the neck of the peacock, the vehicle of the god, and the left holds the hem of the drapery. The Dhoti reaches to its ankles with floods in between its legs Headless
Deity Plate No 2: Another goddess from Bijbehara is damaged by its head, arms and other attributes. Since the prongs' of a trident are partly visible at the right side of its foot, is identified as a form of Durga. The image is purely dressed in Hellenistic style compares closely with a number of Gandhura images. It is shown wearing a high waisted chiffon and a long scarf. A cord passes over the left shoulder and forms a loop in front of her body. The scarf falls in a series of folds at her feet. This treatment may be watched on many early standing female deities known in terracotta.
Catching up With the Times
Javaid's brilliant discourse exposes the disharmony between our Social Spaces and the world beyond
(Professor Javaid Iqbal Bhat, 30, was born in Anantnag. He completed his Bachelor's degree from the Amar Singh College, Srinagar, and his M.A. and M. Phil. from the Centre for English Studies in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was nominated for the President of India Gold Medal for the highest Final Grade Point Average (FGPA) in the Masters Programme, and got Distinction for his M. Phil. dissertation on Salman Rushdie's "Shalimar the Clown." He currently teaches as a permanent faculty in the Post Graduate Department of English at the South Campus of the University of Kashmir.)
Restructuring the Social Space
The idea is stale. Ideally, it should not require re-statement. But the way its importance and implications have been ignored it would not be out of place to repeat it once again. And it goes somewhat like this: There is a clear and direct connection between the way members of the political class think, and the way masses in a given geographical area carry on their routine thinking mechanism. In other words the Mind of Politics must be positively studied in relation to the Mind of the Society. The connection is intimate and permanent. If fragmentation and incoherence is noticed, as it is in our case-no doubt about that, on one side the imprint is surely cast on the other.
And this mutual exchange of incoherence and fragmentation has congealed in the form of a symbiotic association. Incoherent behavior lacking any logical explanation on one side feeds on the same emerging from the other end. When and how it was created here and from which end did it begin first is a question covering many dimensions, not all of which would be taken for fear of losing focus. For a start it is easier to analyze the problem through the prism of the social space.
The Social Space is mixed, “impure” and heterogeneous. As the name indicates it belongs to the society. Here the individual members move out of their private sphere and interact with each other. They no longer retain their individual reserve. This Space gives rise to a sort of concourse of diverse voices. It is here that little circles of conversation are made possible; opinions are formed, modified and challenged. The reigning ideas of the state are articulated and sought to be clarified for comprehension. The typical Social Space of a certain geographical area can serve as a clearer mirror of the Social Mind. Through the bits of variegated conversation an image of the larger social processes and institutions can be conveniently sketched out.
Kashmir is no different in terms of the nature and constitution of the Social Spaces. There are many of them where people across age, color and gender meet and converse. One of the most common is the interior of a local bus. The thought of a bus might put off many people but it is never to be forgotten that it is in the buses that the largest movement of Kashmiris takes place from one area to another. A cross regional interaction of dialects, concerns and pre occupations occurs inside these modern marvels. The tone, color and content of these exchanges have undergone many changes and dramatic modifications. Not long ago the content was predominated by ethical and religious elements. Rather God consciousness was uppermost in the minds of the participants in the Social Space. Link by link the Social Spaces connected together gave birth to a discourse that was heavily oriented towards some sacred and irrevocable values. It was also the time when the Space was out of bounds for the females. The function was still limited to the domestic space. Today when they have entered the Social Space, and are negotiating the delicate bend between domesticity and “publicity” the language and character of the social discourse has transformed far away from the point for recognition. To the shock of many and relief of few. Between this shock and relief takes birth a Mind which is high on incoherence, low on coherence and stark on fragmentation, dim in unity and wholesomeness.
But where exactly is the source of this fragmentation and incoherence? There may be many reasons with people. Mine has to do with the very structure of the Social Space. Its structure is not compatible with the nature of the Age. There is a basic mismatch between the matrix and orientation of the social conversation and the structure of the place in which it takes place. For an example return to the local bus. The structure, for the most part, was introduced on the roads of the valley in the middle of the twentieth century, the character and constitution of this has remained as it was some sixty years before. Today the verbal interaction in the interior may veer round the overnight twenty -twenty match and the cheer girls yet exactly there where this happens you are struggling to share space with a member of the opposite sex. Nearly like the proverbial square peg in a round hole. Or to rephrase, a more flexible linguistic discourse in an inflexible metallic box. The content and the container do not harmonize. They create tense opposing poles. From this polarity and opposition springs an inchoate and disorderly discourse. The inside of the bus only goes on to symbolize the conservative Social Space and the far more advanced general aura. Unlike other places like Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata where the writer had a privilege to pay a visit, our Social Spaces are far behind the spirit of the Time. The spacious roads there find spacious commercial vehicles moving on them. The interior is suitably distributed amongst the different passengers. For the handicapped, senior citizens, men and women seats are reserved. No one feels it decent to encroach upon someone else’s area. The common community spaces have been thoroughly overhauled to match with the changing environs. All this fosters climate for a clear and refined social discourse. And it is necessary to keep them in sync with the ruling ideas of the day. Not here though does it apply. Only if by some divine intervention all the members of the ruling class travelling in ambassador cars and private jets, spending days and nights in specially designed air conditioned chambers are lifted for a day and put in the local bus like social spaces, would they realize the urgency of updating and reconstituting their structure. Such a rearrangement would sure be recipe for a social revolution. And for the moment our purpose would be served; the social content would get a suitable container for a fine and clear articulation.
The point therefore is very simple. A direct relationship exists from one end to the other. A circular chain is formed. Structure of the Social Spaces. Social Discourse. Finally the Political Mind. And then back to the first point. A local bus is merely an example. The kind of which can be discovered everywhere around us. They are all crying for attention. Unfortunately the gap between the ruling class and the ruled has increased so much that the very idea of diverting their attention to these problems sounds plain stupid and ridiculous. But then someone has to raise the “stupid” problems and help create a good atmosphere where in people do not feel forced to limit their imagination to the resolution of the pestering menace of overload and seat fabrication but frame creative ideas about the state, society and the world. An innovative social engineering is needed. One which would alter the orthodox character and construction of our Social Spaces. Not just remove and adjust some peripheral nuts and bolts but a basic reconfiguration that would bring the structure in tune with the new ideas and influences which shape the social mind. That would, importantly, require a heart filled with the feelings of masses, and a conscience alive to the “ridiculous” thoughts of the ruled. Is that available?
(Professor Javaid Iqbal Bhat, 30, was born in Anantnag. He completed his Bachelor's degree from the Amar Singh College, Srinagar, and his M.A. and M. Phil. from the Centre for English Studies in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was nominated for the President of India Gold Medal for the highest Final Grade Point Average (FGPA) in the Masters Programme, and got Distinction for his M. Phil. dissertation on Salman Rushdie's "Shalimar the Clown." He currently teaches as a permanent faculty in the Post Graduate Department of English at the South Campus of the University of Kashmir.)
Restructuring the Social Space
The idea is stale. Ideally, it should not require re-statement. But the way its importance and implications have been ignored it would not be out of place to repeat it once again. And it goes somewhat like this: There is a clear and direct connection between the way members of the political class think, and the way masses in a given geographical area carry on their routine thinking mechanism. In other words the Mind of Politics must be positively studied in relation to the Mind of the Society. The connection is intimate and permanent. If fragmentation and incoherence is noticed, as it is in our case-no doubt about that, on one side the imprint is surely cast on the other.
And this mutual exchange of incoherence and fragmentation has congealed in the form of a symbiotic association. Incoherent behavior lacking any logical explanation on one side feeds on the same emerging from the other end. When and how it was created here and from which end did it begin first is a question covering many dimensions, not all of which would be taken for fear of losing focus. For a start it is easier to analyze the problem through the prism of the social space.
The Social Space is mixed, “impure” and heterogeneous. As the name indicates it belongs to the society. Here the individual members move out of their private sphere and interact with each other. They no longer retain their individual reserve. This Space gives rise to a sort of concourse of diverse voices. It is here that little circles of conversation are made possible; opinions are formed, modified and challenged. The reigning ideas of the state are articulated and sought to be clarified for comprehension. The typical Social Space of a certain geographical area can serve as a clearer mirror of the Social Mind. Through the bits of variegated conversation an image of the larger social processes and institutions can be conveniently sketched out.
Kashmir is no different in terms of the nature and constitution of the Social Spaces. There are many of them where people across age, color and gender meet and converse. One of the most common is the interior of a local bus. The thought of a bus might put off many people but it is never to be forgotten that it is in the buses that the largest movement of Kashmiris takes place from one area to another. A cross regional interaction of dialects, concerns and pre occupations occurs inside these modern marvels. The tone, color and content of these exchanges have undergone many changes and dramatic modifications. Not long ago the content was predominated by ethical and religious elements. Rather God consciousness was uppermost in the minds of the participants in the Social Space. Link by link the Social Spaces connected together gave birth to a discourse that was heavily oriented towards some sacred and irrevocable values. It was also the time when the Space was out of bounds for the females. The function was still limited to the domestic space. Today when they have entered the Social Space, and are negotiating the delicate bend between domesticity and “publicity” the language and character of the social discourse has transformed far away from the point for recognition. To the shock of many and relief of few. Between this shock and relief takes birth a Mind which is high on incoherence, low on coherence and stark on fragmentation, dim in unity and wholesomeness.
But where exactly is the source of this fragmentation and incoherence? There may be many reasons with people. Mine has to do with the very structure of the Social Space. Its structure is not compatible with the nature of the Age. There is a basic mismatch between the matrix and orientation of the social conversation and the structure of the place in which it takes place. For an example return to the local bus. The structure, for the most part, was introduced on the roads of the valley in the middle of the twentieth century, the character and constitution of this has remained as it was some sixty years before. Today the verbal interaction in the interior may veer round the overnight twenty -twenty match and the cheer girls yet exactly there where this happens you are struggling to share space with a member of the opposite sex. Nearly like the proverbial square peg in a round hole. Or to rephrase, a more flexible linguistic discourse in an inflexible metallic box. The content and the container do not harmonize. They create tense opposing poles. From this polarity and opposition springs an inchoate and disorderly discourse. The inside of the bus only goes on to symbolize the conservative Social Space and the far more advanced general aura. Unlike other places like Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata where the writer had a privilege to pay a visit, our Social Spaces are far behind the spirit of the Time. The spacious roads there find spacious commercial vehicles moving on them. The interior is suitably distributed amongst the different passengers. For the handicapped, senior citizens, men and women seats are reserved. No one feels it decent to encroach upon someone else’s area. The common community spaces have been thoroughly overhauled to match with the changing environs. All this fosters climate for a clear and refined social discourse. And it is necessary to keep them in sync with the ruling ideas of the day. Not here though does it apply. Only if by some divine intervention all the members of the ruling class travelling in ambassador cars and private jets, spending days and nights in specially designed air conditioned chambers are lifted for a day and put in the local bus like social spaces, would they realize the urgency of updating and reconstituting their structure. Such a rearrangement would sure be recipe for a social revolution. And for the moment our purpose would be served; the social content would get a suitable container for a fine and clear articulation.
The point therefore is very simple. A direct relationship exists from one end to the other. A circular chain is formed. Structure of the Social Spaces. Social Discourse. Finally the Political Mind. And then back to the first point. A local bus is merely an example. The kind of which can be discovered everywhere around us. They are all crying for attention. Unfortunately the gap between the ruling class and the ruled has increased so much that the very idea of diverting their attention to these problems sounds plain stupid and ridiculous. But then someone has to raise the “stupid” problems and help create a good atmosphere where in people do not feel forced to limit their imagination to the resolution of the pestering menace of overload and seat fabrication but frame creative ideas about the state, society and the world. An innovative social engineering is needed. One which would alter the orthodox character and construction of our Social Spaces. Not just remove and adjust some peripheral nuts and bolts but a basic reconfiguration that would bring the structure in tune with the new ideas and influences which shape the social mind. That would, importantly, require a heart filled with the feelings of masses, and a conscience alive to the “ridiculous” thoughts of the ruled. Is that available?
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