A Tribute to a Kashmiri Wetland Master

Mohammad recalls the life and times of a great environmentalist named Dr. Chaman Lal Trisal

(Dr. Mohammad Rashid-ud-din Kundangar, 62, was born in Srinagar. He completed his Masters degree in Botany, and Doctoral/Postdoctoral degree in Hydrobiology through the University of Kashmir. He served as a lecturer in Botany and Head of the Hydrobiology Research laboratory or about 25 years. Prof. Kundangar has about hundred research publications to his credit and has been actively involved in environmental studies with special reference to aquatic resources of the J&K State. He is the approved research guide of University of Kashmir, Barkatullah University, Bhopal, University of Roorkee and has supervised a number of M Phil candidates and PhD scholars. He has been the Chief Investigator of various state and centrally sponsored minor and major research projects. He was a founder Director Research & Development, J&K Lakes and Waterways Development Authority, and preceding retirement from the government service served as Principal of the Degree College. Dr Kundangar is the author of a number of books and is the Dean of Academics and the Head of the Department of Lake Sciences and Water Management in the SSM College of Engineering, the only privately run engineering institute in the valley. Dr Kundangar has been the consultant ecologist for various J&K government departments and a member of the Wetland Committee set up by Government of India. He has attended number of National and International conferences and toured various Asian and European countries.)

A Tribute to Wetland Master

The term “wetland” is defined in the text of the Convention on the Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (the Ramsar Convention).That is, wetlands are “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters.”Wetlands support a disproportionately large part of the human population. The Wetlands serve as Kidneys of the planet and are crucial for the wellbeing and survival of humankind and living beings.

Freshwater resources need to be managed with ecological constraints and human needs in mind. Its freshwater strategy calls for a holistic approach, which includes conservation of catchment and watershed areas as well as tackling issues such as pollution and wasteful consumption. This art of understanding and managing of wetlands in India and even in our valley of Kashmir was masterized by none else than a Kashmiri Wetland Expert known as Dr. Chaman.Lal Trisal.

Dr. Trisal in his Comprehensive Management Action Plan for Wular Lake in the capacity of Director Wetlands International-South Asia and the team leader of the report writes, “The Comprehensive Management Action Plan is based on evaluation of Ecological and socio-economic features of Wular and associated wetlands within Jhelum River Basin. A critical analysis of these features provides the rationale for identification of objectives including the factors governing these features. Steps are critical to understanding of the basic characteristic of Lake Ecosystem and its dynamics within river basin. Adapting this approach helps to undertake measures for development of specific action plan for sustainable management which can be monitored through indicators sensitive to change in the ecosystem”. He further adds that the Action Plan aims at mainstreaming of Wetlands of Kashmir valley in the National Developmental Planning process. Emphasis has been laid on improving livelihood of socially and economically weaker sections of the society which are entirely dependant on Wetlands for their livelihoods. The Action plan has a special focus on poverty reduction through sustainable resource development and is in line with the approach followed by Planning Commission in the 10th Five Year Plan.

Dr.Trisal though less known in the valley but was indeed one of the leading wetland experts of national and international repute. Four decades ago, a simple and docile village boy from Trisal Pulwama joined S.P.College and became my classmate and soon after a close friend. He was popularly called as “CHAMANI-TRISAL”. We passed B. Sc. together and again remained classmates in the Post graduate Department of Botany of University of Kashmir. Both of us choose the Aquatic Ecology for our Ph. D. Programme but this time our Supervisors were different. During my course of PhD. Programme I, got appointed as Lecturer in Botany and had to leave the University as a full time scholar and my association with my fellow colleagues and with Trisal got discontinued. Nothing was heard about him and it was after a gap of fifteen years, Dr.Trisal met me in S.P.College where he had come in connection with the B.ED exam of his wife. I was heading the Hydrobiology Research Lab and it was now known to me that he happens to be one of the Directors in the Ministry of Environment and Forests Govt. of India and looking after Wetlands Conservation in India. It was this meeting with him and subsequent correspondence followed by his and his fellow colleague and friend, yet another Kashmiri wetland expert Dr. Sidarath Kaul’s active support which gave a real boost to Hydrobiology Lab at S.P.College and in fact brought it due recognition at National and International level. Flow of funds besides procurement of valuable instruments accelerated the research activities of the lab. and dozens of scholars were able to have their Mphil and PhD. degrees.

It was the same duo (“Chunu-Munu”) who paved the way for putting the proposal of Dal lake Conservation Programme in the agenda of National Lakes Conservation Programme of Govt. of India and suggested for having an independent Lake Authority for Dal Lake, a pre-requisite criterion for financial assistance.

By this time, Dr.Trisal had already established his vision by playing a crucial role in shaping of the National Wetland Programme. He represented India in the Ramsar Convention and was nominated to its first Scientific and Technical Review Panel. He contributed immensely to India’s position in all Conference of Parties Meeting.

Dr. Trisal left the Ministry in 1996 to establish the Wetlands International – South Asia office in New Delhi. In 1997, he launched his first major initiative in north east with the support of India Canada Environment Facility. The project implementation lasted for more than 7 years and was an ambitious programme for conservation of Loktak Lake, with focus on collection of scientific data on various wetland functions and ecological processes and building capacity at multiple levels for lake management. He travelled far and wide into the state despite civil unrest, worked extensively with communities and became the voice of the numerous villages which had faced the implication of lake degradation. He always challenged established scientific knowledge and urged scientists to test and enrich their understanding by dealing with real world situations, in particular by internalizing traditional knowledge and natural resource management practices. Of particular mention is one workshop on management of lake vegetation organized in 2002 in Imphal which was attended by several senior scientists from entire country. To their surprise, he asked all community leaders to take the centre-stage and express their opinions of lake management. The attending scientists were given the task of decoding the community anecdotal knowledge into management practices. No wonder, the recommendations set a new direction to the perspective of management of Loktak Lake vegetation. It is to his credit that Loktak Development Authority transformed from an engineering organization to an organization capable of implementing integrated wetland management initiative. He particularly focused on role of water in wetland management, and designed initiatives aimed at supporting integration of wetlands into river basin management. It was this recognition that was behind the invitation by Ramsar Convention Secretariat to present the guidelines for integrating wetlands into river basin management in the Conference of Parties Meeting held in Costa Rica in 1999.

Dr. Trisal in parallel then focused on Chilika Lake, wherein he had played a pivotal role in preventing shrimp aquaculture during his tenure in the Ministry. He initiated a systematic hydro-biological monitoring which ultimately laid the foundation of first environment flows initiative in India. His ability to transform the myriad information of ecological processes into concrete management actions made him a champion of systematic wetland management. Several state governments called on his expertise to formulate management plans. From the period 2004 till 2009, he wrote management plans for Loktak Lake (Manipur), Rudrasagar Lake (Tripura), Kolleru Lake (Andhra Pradesh), East Kolkata Wetlands (West Bengal), Vembanad Kol Wetlands (Kerala), and Wular Lake (J&K).

His extensive knowledge on the high altitude systems made him an avid supporter of their priority consideration in conservation and management programmes. He played a crucial role in initiating a dialogue between Himalayan countries – India, China, Bhutan and Nepal. He always pressed for a regional action to conserve the high altitude wetlands, more importantly as an adaptation to climate change. His efforts yielded the Delhi Declaration on conservation of Himalayan wetlands endorsed by four countries in February 2008. When he breathed his last on 10th of September 2009, he was reportedly working on a book on wetlands and climate change adaptation primarily focused on high altitude systems.

Dr. Trisal’s death is not only my personal loss but a great loss to the Nation and to the wetland lovers and scientists. I have lost a friend with whom I had association of forty long years and I hold him the champion of Wetland Conservation. Across the globe where as people mourn your death, we in your native land mourn both for you and for the wetlands which are being plundered mercilessly both at govt level and through private agencies. Wetlands of your time viz; around Bemina, Chandmari, Mirgund, Narkara, Hokera Baghi-Arath have gone for ever and rest are on the verge of extinction. One can find new established colonies with newly coined names.

So let God rest your soul in peace and give courage to the bereaved family particularly to Sudesh (wife) Deepshikha, Priya and Monal (daughters).

Putting Faith in a Single Agenda Civil Society

Sajjad would like to revisit options, but a civil society that sees its world through a political prism alone is not the one that can ever deliver justice to all, especially minorities

(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.)

Civil society must strengthen the institutions of peace and justice

Kashmir is one of the world's longest unresolved international conflicts between in which India and Pakistan are engaged. Both the countries are engaged in horse-trading for control over the disputed territory of Kashmir. In other words, since 1947 Kashmir is a dispute which has bedeviled relations between Pakistan and India. It has led to three wars, in 1947, 1965, and 1971. Both the countries were almost on the brink of fourth war in Kargil in 1999. Even as both countries at regular intervals initiated dialogue and peace process, but it floundered without making any meaningful development vis-avis Kashmir imbroglio and the relations between the two countries continue to remain strain.

For Pakistani Kashmir is the ‘unfinished business of Partition’; it is the missing ‘K’ in the word Pakistan. Pakistan insists that in accordance with the United Nations resolutions a plebiscite needs to be held to ascertain the ‘will of the people of Kashmir.’ For India, Kashmir ‘lawfully acceded’ to India when the Maharaja of Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession to India in 1947. In reply to Pakistan’s demands for the plebiscite India maintains that the fact that elections have been held in Kashmir since 1952 is proof that the ‘will of the people of the state’ has been ascertained and there is no need for a UN plebiscite.

Six decades have witnessed the problem being discussed and most of the times without any concrete solutions being put forward. Historically speaking, unique nature of Kashmir has always been recognised by India and, in 1949, incorporated it into the Indian Constitution. The special Article 370 granted most governing powers to the people of J&K, except for defense, foreign affairs, currency and communications. The State received its own constitution and flag and the state Assembly was to decide which Indian laws, if any, would be permitted to apply to the state. Notably, these concessions were quite remarkable for a constitution that was otherwise centralized. However, the strength of the Kashmir constitution did not last long. From 1953 onwards Article 370 was systematically whittled down, which is known to everybody and does not need elaboration.

Meanwhile, since 2002 there have been increasing attempts by India and Pakistan to try to resolve the Kashmir issue. The reasons are not hard to find. Indian claims to regional power or global power status are useless if it remains embroiled in a conflict that once led Clinton to refer to South Asia as “the most dangerous place on the earth.” Pakistan too faces a lot of domestic and international pressure. The Taliban factor under the current circumstances has challenged the internal security of Pakistan and on October 9, at least 50 people were killed and 120 others injured when a suspected Taliban suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car in a busy Peshawar market, the deadliest attack in six months that pushed Pakistan to vow that army would march into militants’ den to flush them out.

One of the major obstacles in the way of lasting solution is the lack of meaningful Kashmiri representation in Indo-Pak negotiations. Even as the Government of India has held several meetings with several separatist cadres, it is opposed trilateral dialogue. But most of the political commentators and analysts have been advocating tripartite talks as a means of negotiating solution to the Kashmir problem, which means talks between Government of India, Government of Pakistan and people of Kashmir. Needless to mention that demand for tripartite talks is a long pending demand of separatist cadres.

We cannot ignore the hard fact that the impasse over Kashmir cannot end over night. All possible options need to be revisited and all the parties involved in the dispute need to rethink their strategy, which should revolve around the peace and prosperity of the people of the state. Above all, it is the human suffering which has to end in this geographically remote location and peoples’ dignity has to be restored. Tragically, lack of realistic approach on the parties is only delaying a way forward to the solution of the problem.

Unofficial dialogues between influential actors in civil society are to be focused and will be useful for breaking down false negative stereotypes. Besides, other people-to-people contacts will help to counter the chauvinist propaganda and mindset in India as well as Pakistan. Basically it is the chauvinistic attitude what has led to the Kashmir problem so stubborn and the power elites so inflexible and unyielding. Unless a the problem is tackled with a broad mind, the peace constituencies will remain too weak to pressure their respective governments to reach a reasonable and fair compromise.

Here India has to understand that it cannot pretend that there is no dispute in Kashmir and has to offer both dialogue and build close cultural, economic and social ties with Pakistan. Today India also needs to reassure the Pakistani leadership that India will not take advantage of present Taliban factor by causing any problems on Pakistan’s eastern frontier. Here it is noteworthy that international analysts on Indo-Pak relations too have, in lieu of strong India and Afghanistan ties from the 1950s, vehemently said that India needs to calm any Pakistani fears that this Indo-Afghan cooperation has an anti-Pakistan flavor.

On short-term basis, the need of the hour, if at all parties are sincere, is to see an end to the vexed problem, maximum autonomy in accordance with the original intentions of Article 370 should be restored. The LoC should become irrelevant for the people of the state. Both India and Pakistan should immediately accept all international human rights and humanitarian law, including the International Criminal Court, and amend their own laws accordingly, which even India has not done. The international community can help through indirect mediation.

For quite some time now mainstream political leadership in the state too has been talking about resolution of Kashmir issue. The separatist cadres’ ultimate goal too is resolution of the imbroglio. But we haven’t seen any interaction between these two warring factions (mainstream and separatist cadres) on the issue. Can’t they join hands if both are pursuing resolution of the problem? If there is consensus between the mainstream and separatist cadres on the modalities seeking resolution of the issue, then let them form a conglomerate, board the bus and seek what has not been sought during the past six decades – end to Kashmir imbroglio.

At the moment these ideas may seem a wish list. But nothing is impossible. It is a matter of will. Here the civil society too has a vital role to play - vigorously strengthen the forces of peace and justice.

How Much do Indians and Pakistanis Care for Kashmir?

Nazir has seen meetings on Kashmir come and go, but there is a marked trend towards growing number of non-Kashmiris in such parlays

(Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani, 59, is a jurist. He was born in Naranthal (Jalshree) village near Baramulla and was a student at the Government Degree College in Baramulla. Subsequently, he studied English Literature and Politics at the University of Kashmir, Law at the Sindh Muslim Law College in the Karachi-Pakistan, Islamic Law at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), International Law at the Queen Mary University London, Victimology at Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik - former Yugoslavia, Peace Keeping/Humanitarian Operations & Election Monitoring from Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento S. Anna - Pisa Italy, and has a Ph.D. in the Jurisprudence of UN Resolutions and Kashmir Case. He successfully argued a constitutional writ petition in the High Court of Azad Kashmir from December 1992 to April 1999 on the question of self determination and duties of AJK Government. As a lead human rights advocate he has faced a sentence of 5 years imprisonment and 15 lashes and a death sentence during the Martial Law of General Zia in Pakistan. Dr. Gilani has introduced awareness around the title of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to a Rights Movement since 1877 and the respective sovereign claims of India and Pakistan since 1948.)

Intra Kashmir Dialogue: It is a good pastime engagement

Three-day intra-Kashmir conference organized by Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR) in Srinagar is a commendable civil society effort. It will increment the constituency of freely expressed opinions and resource the instrument of dialogue. However, it is discomforting to see that a culture of ‘secondary victimization’ of the people of Kashmir has started to expand.

Retired military officers and bureaucrats have found Kashmir as an easy pastime engagement. During the currency of their active service they fight tooth and nail their turf and discourage every effort made for ‘peace’ and ‘dialogue’. They ink policies and laws to violate human rights and subscribe to torture. Just at the close of their youthful and authoritative tenures of active service, the warriors and cynics turn to Kashmir for peace and dialogue.

Before one accredits and examines the merits of the Intra Kashmir Dialogue one has to reconcile the conflict in two statements one made by Mirwaiz Omar on Friday at Jamia Masjid that “The appointment of special envoy on Kashmir by OIC is diplomatic victory for the resistance movement. The 56 member countries of OIC have unanimously supported the right to self determination of people of Jammu and Kashmir” against the other statement made on Friday at the opening session of Intra Kashmir Dialogue by former foreign secretary of Pakistan Himayun Khan that “Kashmiris from both sides of LoC were neither heard nor listened by their respective governments. The two governments have also not brought the element of settlement into public.”

If Khan is to be believed that “Kashmiris were neither heard nor listened”, then Mirwaiz has no good news for us. The appointment of an OIC envoy on Kashmir does not make an iota of difference if it is to end up in the same manner in which our politics and militancy has ended up by causing a huge number deficit in the numericals required for a successful conclusion of self determination. More so we have failed to take the process of life of common people ahead towards achieving a quality of life in Kashmir.

Institutions like Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR) should not allow themselves as temporary life boats to the retired or discreetly sponsored compositions for these events. A casual look at the participants from Pakistani side of Kashmir does not have a serious merit to take any pride or consolation. There is no doubt that some of them are State Subjects and have a right to travel to the other part of Kashmir and enter into a free dialogue with other State Subjects there. We need to encourage more and more intra Kashmir dialogue. We need to discourage efforts of waste and secondary victimization of the people, whose life and habitat has badly suffered since 1948 and more so after 1990.

The non issuance of visa to Ershad Mehmood and the non participation of chief of Liberation League retired chief justice Abdul Majeed Malik are unfortunate. If Ershad Mehmood as a State Subject and noted peace activist was no threat to the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 2001 and at three other intra Kashmir forums, he should have not been treated as a security threat this time. He continues to remain a State Subject. Justice Majeed Malik is a sober balance for any such dialogue. As a close associate of late K H Khurshid he enjoys the confidence and trust of over 2.5 million Kashmiri refugees living in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan.

The principal flaw in the representation remains that there is a deliberate effort from both sides of LOC to discourage the credible refugee representation at these forums. It may be because these voices are too loud and overbearing and do not adjust with the political culture being sponsored since 1990. There has been a coordinated effort to erode the impact of Kashmiri refugee leadership since 1948. K H Khurshid although a trusted confidant of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, yet was deposed, arrested and humiliated. He was always labelled as a ‘suspect’. The 2.5 million Kashmiri refugees have failed to resurrect their representative ability in politics in Azad Kashmir and their representation in the AJK assembly has no substantive character or influence. They are numbers and nouns.

One wonders as to why Kashmiris do not have the love and affection for their cause. If they had they would have advised the sponsors of the fourth intra Kashmir Dialogue to balance their ‘sarkari’ list with an equal number of genuine contributors. Names like justice Sharif Hussain Bukhari, retired col. Dr. Ali Mohammad Mir, M. Y. Shah, G. M. Mir, Dr. A. Basit, justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gilani, Sharif Tariq, Khalid Ibrahim and many others spread all over Azad Kashmir and Pakistan in various disciplines should have been involved to advance the constituency of wisdom on the subject. A non participation of Kashmiri Diaspora would make such efforts far less meaningful. It seems that the post 1990 political culture is so badly tainted that it has lost courage, confidence and conscience.

One should thank former foreign secretary of Pakistan Himayun Khan for agitating in the interests of the people of Kashmir. However, such an interest during the days of authority in Pakistan would have helped us a lot. It is too late and self serving. Even now he could have advised the CDR to make the list genuine and justifiable. As regards Mirwaiz the appearances at the OIC contact group or at other meetings is no more than a routine. Everything is stale and scripted and does not have any relevance to peoples cause.

So far as the bureaucrats of Pakistan are concerned, the post retirement or even the interest during their active service is not reliable. I remember when I finished my lecture at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad in early 1990s a Pakistani diplomat (senior ambassador) came to me and said “Gilani Sahib don’t overdo on Kashmir. I (he) was with Japanese ambassador last night. He said the talk of Kashmir is making us sick”. I was shocked at his comments and so where others around us.

In the same manner when I was a member of an 11 member delegation nominated by President Asif Ali Zardari (incidentally named first in the list) to receive Tipperary International Peace Award which was conferred posthumously on Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in a ceremony in Tipperary, Ireland on Friday April 25, 2008 a lead member in the delegation, who is now an ambassador told me at the breakfast table, “Gilani Sahib why don’t you Kashmiris call it off and settle down by accepting the LOC”. If Benazir had been alive, I may have succeeded to block his desire to become the ambassador a second time. Our tragedy is just helping non Kashmiris to remain relevant and Lawrence seems to be correct about Kashmiri character in many ways.

It does not mean that retired Indian military officers and bureaucrats who have turned to peace in Kashmir would be different in any manner. Intra Kashmir Dialogue for all of them is a good pastime engagement.

The Besieged Hangul

Nature's Gift, Man's Folly

Experts Need to Come Together for Conserving Wildlife, Ecology: Governor

Abrar Lone (Rising Kashmir)

Srinagar: The three-day International Conference on “Conservation of Hangul and Endangered Deer Species” concluded here on Monday, 12 October 2009, with the Governor, N. N. Vohra, Chief Guest at the valedictory session.

The Conference was organized by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K) in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and the State Wildlife Protection Department.

The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the University, addressing the valedictory session, said that Jammu and Kashmir has a fragile environment and gave a clarion call to the environmentalists, conservationists and experts to come together for preserving, conserving and sustaining the environment, ecology, fauna and flora and water bodies in the State. He expressed serious concern over the growing shrinkage of glaciers, forest cover and water bodies and near extinction of many wildlife species and stressed that if this trend is not reversed the very survival of mankind could be in danger.

Referring to Hangul, the Governor observed that heavy human biotic interference led to decrease in its numbers and now Hangul is among the critically endangered species, like Markhor, Himalayan Bear, and Musk Deer. He called for taking all possible measures for its protection, conservation and propagation. He said that along with the statutory and punitive provisions, greater awareness needs to be created among the people at large in regard to Hangul conservation.

The Governor said that Jammu and Kashmir has been gifted by nature with enchanting natural beauty and hoped that at least some of the participants in the Conference would visit some of the tourist spots in and around Srinagar.

The Governor, on the occasion, released a publication brought out by the SKUAST titled “Endangered Wetlands of Kashmir Valley”.

The Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K, Prof. Anwar Alam, said that 150 scientists from within and outside the country had deliberated upon the subject during the past three days. He called for people’s participation to conserve Hangul and put forth several suggestions for the purpose and said that carrying capacity of Hangul habitats should be improved by taking various scientific measures.

The Vice Chancellor said that the recommendations presented by the Chairmen of various technical sessions will be brought out in the form of a compendium.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the Director, Resident Instruction/Dean Post-Graduate Studies, SKUAST-K, Prof. Syed Sajjad Hussain, gave a resume of the deliberations of the Conference.

The Organizing Secretary of the Conference, Dr. Khursheed Ahmad presented vote of thanks.

The Chairmen of the five technical sessions of the Conference presented the recommendations of the respective sessions on the occasion.

The experts recommended that for the conservation of Hangul, a separate disease diagnosis centre, post mortem lab and other necessities need to be established handled by trained veterinarians.

President Association of Indian Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians and principal scientist wildlife, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Prof. B.M Arora while talking to Rising Kashmir on the sidelines of the function said that breeding, captive management, cloning and health care can result in a vibrant population of reproductively healthy animals with a better sex and female fawn ratio. “Animal specialists should be included in the rescue team of the wildlife department so that the animals could be protected,” he added. The experts blamed the encroachment of humans a major cause for the extinction of wildlife.

The Director, WWF Central Asian Program, Dr. Olga Pereladova meanwhile recommended for according priority to health management of wild animals. “Similarly, identification of separate pastures besides providing a special protection in ecological corridors is also important,” he said.

Prominent among those present at the valedictory function were the Commissioner/Secretary Forests, Shantmanu, participants of the Conference from within and outside the country, faculty members of the SKUAST, scholars, students and senior officers.

It Can Only Get Worse in Kashmir

We know it is bad news when the Minister personally delivers it at the International Workshop on Climate Change, Glacial Retreat and Livelihood


Joint Efforts Needed To Protect Glaciers, Water Bodies: Environment Minister

Muddasir Ali (Greater Kashmir)

Srinagar: With global warming already showing its signs in Jammu and Kashmir in the form of untimely climatic changes, the Jammu and Kashmir government candidly admitted Monday that no concrete steps had been taken to preserve the environment and to arrest the phenomenon which could lead to ecological disaster.

“A lot of paper work has been done on climatic changes but a huge question mark hangs on its implementation. We have an Environment Department but it is not taking concrete steps to work on climatic changes,” Minister for Forests, Environment, Mian Altaf, said at the inaugural function of a 3-day “International Workshop on Climate Change, Glacial Retreat and Livelihood” at the SKICC here.

However, the minister quickly added that the department was short of manpower. “We have to set it right. The government can adopt the models (already) being implemented by different countries to preserve the environment,” he said.

“Coordinated efforts between the government and people are needed to preserve water bodies, glaciers, forests and other natural resources,” Altaf said, adding that no system could ever be perfect even as the government was making efforts to stop the degradation of environment.

“Along with global efforts, the state should formulate policies to tackle climate change locally, and a state mechanism needs to be evolved for micro level solutions that require a sincere response from bureaucracy, civil society. NGOs and the media,” he said.

Over the past few years, Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed frequent and freakish climate changes including rains and long periods of dryness lessening the water levels in rivers and streams and fall in horticulture and agriculture production.

More importantly, the changes, which experts believe were occurring due to the effects of global warming, result in fast depletion of glaciers, the lifeline of water bodies in Kashmir. According to a study, glaciers in this part of the Himalayan range are receding faster than ever.

“The (untimely) climatic changes are a matter of grave concern as these impact forests and agriculture with the potential to affect the livelihood of people,” Altaf said.

He said the department would be releasing a declaration on climate changes at the end of the workshop.

The vice-chancellor, Kashmir University, Prof Riyaz Punjabi, criticized the government for doing little on the front. “There is not much scientific data available on climate changes in Jammu and Kashmir but the indicators are already there,” he said.

“We need to pool the data in a coordinated manner and formulate the strategy to deal with the issue which has far reaching consequences,” the VC said. Kashmir, Prof Punjabi said, used to have a pattern of seasons but the region had now lost one of them, Sount Kaal, a season which used to arrive prior to spring.

The minister of state for Forests, Shabir Ahmad Khan, also addressed the function.
The workshop was organized jointly by the state government, the University of Kashmir and The Energy and research Institute.

Head Glaciologist from TERI, Prof Syed Iqbal Hasnain, while giving a scientific assessment of the glacier receding and carbon soot levels rise, said warming of the climate system was unequivocal as was evident from the fourth assessment report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

So Near and Yet So Far

Tanveer recounts a personal triumph, but more than that it is a triumph that overcame boundaries and religions to score one for the humanity

(Mr. Tanveer Ahmed, 37, was born in Gurutta, Tehsil Sensa, in the Kotli district of Azad Kashmir. He received his school education in Luton, Bedfordshire, U.K., and completed his college education from Dunstable College and the Thames Valley University, where he received his B.A. Honors in Economics. He has done various professional courses relating to financial markets and IT. Mr. Ahmed is a free lance journalist and an activist. His personal interest are diverse covering sports, reading, music, travel, adventure and food.)

A Quiet Triumph for Humanity

It has now been nearly three months since my naani (maternal grandmother) reunited with her brother and sister. They were separated in October 1947. Witnessing the two sisters meet for the first time after that, yards forward of the family home in Mendhar (District Poonch in Indian-administered Kashmir), was nothing short of an epiphany for me.

I spent the last 22 of my 37 years trying to make this happen, and for the most part, it seemed an unattainable dream. Since April 2005, staying put in Pakistan-administered Kashmir — I came down from the United Kingdom — was my only means to ensure my dream was attained.

In these four years, two months and 11 days of my adamant insistence that this reunion must take place, it was just good fortune that old age and chronic health issues did not take any of the three siblings beyond return and India and Pakistan did not embark on a nuclear holocaust despite Mumbai.

Week after week, I watched divided families benefit from the cross-LOC bus service, except mine. The phenomenon of Chinese goods moving easier across the LOC than divided families, even the societal disgrace of not pursuing a living — nothing — absolutely nothing, tempted me to forego my project.

It was an angst-ridden period, but it gave me ample opportunity to examine human relationships and analyse the way politics and politicians herd us like sheep into a protective ‘national’ net that restricts and exploits us rather than allow us to utilise our strengths. I still find it difficult to believe that the impossible has occurred.

It is a bizarre coincidence that I am writing from an inner suburb of Rawalpindi, namely Arjun Nagar. Adjoining this is Mohalla Mohan Pura. As the names suggest, these localities have strong Hindu origins where, prior to the bloody partition of 1947, most of the residents here would have been of the Hindu faith, their heritage perhaps dating back thousands of years. Yet, just like my naani’s family in what is now Pakistani-administered Kashmir (Nikyal), they were all hounded out and those that survived, would now be living in various parts of India.

These mohallas of Rawalpindi or Nikyal for that matter have long ceased to be what they were. You would need to strain your eyes to notice any remnant of an old mandir and this is why I would contend that the whole sub-continent has become agonisingly indigent without coexistence. Our time with naani’s family gave me a refreshing tenor of how the region might have been.

Meeting her siblings almost instantaneously wiped out my naani’s misery and marginalisation of the past sixty-two years. Mourning face to face over their deceased parents and younger brother could almost be described as a luxury they had been deprived of for decades. The happiness and joy of reunion overwhelmed that sorrow like a balm. Naani seemed young again — after all, the three siblings could only visualise each other in the shape and form of when they were last together in their late childhood-early teens. Her voice got inflection, she no longer appeared to be the chronic heart patient that she was. In the time we spent with her family, even her diet and consequently her body frame changed as she finally began to enjoy food. From my childhood, I had always wondered why she ate so little — the reason now became so abundantly obvious.

Accompanying my naani and me on this trip was of course my naana (maternal grandfather), without whose involvement this 22-year-old dream of mine would have remained forlornly unattainable. For him this trip was into ‘traditional enemy territory.’ Thus the Jinnah cap was an essential item of attire. It came as quite a shock to him that Hindus and Muslims coexisted peacefully on the other side and that Muslims had no restrictions on worship. In a matter of days, it dawned on him that when you look beyond religious-cum-national identity, we were all homo-sapiens after all. He was pleasantly surprised that “they eat, laugh and swear like us.” Indeed, the Pahaari (the region of Kashmir that lies to the South and West of the Kashmir vale, traverses the LOC and is made up of Hindus and Muslims) cultural affinity was what he could readily relate to. By the end of our stay he was even waxing lyrical about Mahatma Gandhi’s attempts to keep the nation intact.

Which brings me to a dream that has been taking shape in my head these past few years. Is there scope for a Pahaari inspiration for reunion of the subcontinent? They didn’t cause the division of the sub-continent but suffered much because of it (my naani’s family being a case in point), and could possibly play a key role in reunion.

Alas, reality is much harsher than it should be. South of us in Kashmir, getting Punjabis on either side of the divide to forgive and forget is a mammoth task. Furthermore, India and Pakistan still have difficulty sitting across a table. Negative elements on either side are intent on sustaining separation. In our Pahaari region, if the constraining demands of Indian and Pakistani identity are loosened and crucially, if the legitimate security concerns of our Hindu minority are appropriately addressed, our people would be willing to listen, learn and revise. Evaluating history in a balanced manner and exploring opportunity in a globalised world requires that we embrace, not constrict our diversity.

Even this is asking for a lot. It is not just the tedious cross-LOC application process. Many Hindus on the Indian-administered side are apprehensive about visiting their ancestral homes and relatives, if any, on the Pakistani-administered side, not least because of security concerns. They are also aware that for many people on our side of the divide, being Pakistani necessitates being anti-Hindu (synonymous with anti-India). Unfortunately, no amount of entente between India and Pakistan in the past few years has changed that pernicious perception. For activists such as myself, there is a non-existent institutional framework for developing cross-LOC initiatives, zero space for civil society and on top of that, an endemically corrupt administration whose sustenance lies in maintaining the status quo. That should provide the reader with a reasonable idea of how far we are from the road to progress and reconciliation.

The final morning of our visit across the LOC was extremely painful. Naani’s sister fainted and collapsed as she watched her sister depart. Her nieces wailed and nephews wept incessantly.

Sensa (our home tehsil in district Kotli of Pakistan-administered Kashmir) was only about 70 kilometres away, yet we all knew for reasons more than obvious that this reunion may never happen again.

Nevertheless, Vedic chants and exclamations of Masha-allah and Subhan-allah did, do and will coexist in this region.

To read the pre-script to this article, please open the link:

http://kashmirforumorg.blogspot.com/2009/06/victim-of-circumstances.html

Using the Shopian Tragedy to Make a Point

Even when the rape and murder of two young women in Shopian remains unproven and even less certain is if any security forces were involved, Mehmood sees political ramifications that go beyond the two unfortunate victims

(Mr. Mehmood-ur-Rashid, 36, was born in Srinagar. He graduated from the Amar Singh College, Srinagar. He has been active in journalism for over ten years, and currently works at the Greater Kashmir, having worked in the past at the Rising Kashmir as the Features Editor. The columnist is presently the GK Magazine Editor.)

Theorizing Shopian

What happened in Shopian, and the events that preceded and followed this incident, can be explained by using various theoretical frameworks that have emerged after an in-depth study of the conflict zones, periods of intense violence and the crises that develop when conflicts become chronic and violence, instead of being an event, becomes a condition.

The first thing that strikes in this incident is the overwhelming presence of state forces in the midst of population. Living in a state of fear entire populations are subjected to humiliating treatment every time they conduct the routine of their life. No area of their life escapes the evil eye of ‘security’. The placement of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and the District Police Lines in the entire area, where the incident occurred, gives a fare idea of how those passing through that area must have been feeling. A perpetual state of fear gripping an entire population over many years and a complete sway enjoyed by the personnel belonging to different security agencies makes an ideal situation for extreme cases of violence like the one that happened in Shopian. It reminds us of Linda Green’s study about socialization of terror in Xe’caj, Guatemala. Like in Xe’caj, towns and villages of Kashmir are faced with the subordination of political authority to the local army commander. In such situations violence is bound to happen as Scheper–Hughes emphasize that ‘violence is intrinsic to the military’s nature and logic’.

Impunity is another theoretical proposition that throws light on what happened in Shopian. Since Shopian was not the first case of rape and murder in Kashmir, many having happened before, those who committed it knew that none before was punished. The impunity enjoyed by the State forces under the twin cover of special laws and the practice of state over all these years, makes it easier for them to think of such horrible crimes. Like in all the conflict zones, the ‘dual issues of impunity and accountability are obstacles in the way of peace and social justice’ in Kashmir. The deliberate attempts of the government machinery to suppress the details of the incident and let the culprits go scot free is a fit case for lack of accountability and availability of impunity. When in one of the villages of the same district of Shopian, some years back, an incident of mass rape happened no one was punished for that. How could that not set a precedent among the security camps situated in the same locality.

So the heavy presence of troops, breakdown of local political authority and the absolute impunity enjoyed by the troops make an ideal atmosphere for incidents such as the one that occurred in Shopian, to happen.

The first thing that came to surface after the incident was the state’s brazen denial. This way attempt was made to exonerate the security forces who represent the Indian control of Kashmir. Since people directly connected the incident to the Indian oppression, Omar Abdullah’s statement was typical of a quisling behavior. Omar also spoke about the people’s lack of trust on government machinery. All this fits into the conceptual framework provided by Hannah Ardent about power, violence, opinion and quisling governments. In pure states power and violence appear distinctly as in the case of foreign invasion. Had there been a direct military rule or its subtle constitutional substitute, governor’s rule established in J&K, instead of a civil government, it would have been difficult for India to defend her forces at international level. Since a local government is in place violence turns impure and hence refuses a clear vision. In this situation the real source of violence, oppression and military presence, get off from the vision and it all gets projected as an administrative or law and order problem. This is how the government did in this case.

The admission of the chief minister that people do not trust government institutions and any inquiry conducted into the matter will have to face this difficult situation, shows that the power no more belongs to the government and its excessive use of violence becomes understandable. From the heavy presence of troops to the acts of rape and murder violence rules this place. Since power comes from people and requires opinion and numbers, this government is powerless. The shrinking of power, according to Hannah Ardent, automatically gives birth to violence. That power belongs to people when they act in unison becomes manifest in what happened after the incident. What could have been hushed up so easily by the police and civil administration became impossible for government only when people rose against the incident and the entire Kashmir burst into protests. The same government which flagrantly denied rape and called it a case of drowning was compelled to confess that ‘something has happened’ and established a commission to look into the matter. This theoretical framework of power being inherently present in the group and a government denuded of public opinion resorts to violence aptly describes the behavior of government machinery towards the incident of Shopian.

Another theoretical proposition that fits here is the subjectivity of women. Vena Das’s work on violence, gender and subjectivity throws good amount of light on this incident. The notion of masculinity is boldly present in this whole affair. Every time a protest rally marches on the streets there are only men shouting slogans and thus trying to speak on behalf on the pain inflicted on women. The group of local elders that now spearheads the agitation in Shopian, Majlis-e-Mushawarat, has no women member in it; this ‘makes visible the imagination of the nation as a masculine nation’, and brings into sharp focus the ‘subjectivity of women’ and ‘gendered acts of violation such as rape.’

These theoretical allusions used here in the context of Shopian can be used extensively in all the cases of terror committed by India. This can help develop an academic critique of the India’s presence in Kashmir.

For facts regarding the "Shopian Incident," please check:

http://www.kashmirforum.org/shopian-tragedy.htm

Preserving Rich Biodiversity and Wildlife

Mubashir says without a firm political resolve it will all disappear

(Mr. Taha Mubashir Husain, 37, was born and raised in Bandipore. He received his schooling and higher education all around the Wullar Lake in the Bandipore area. He has a post-graduate degree in Ecology and Environment. He is the spokesperson of the Kashmir Environmental Protection Coordination Organization (KEPCO), and on behalf of the KEPCO received an award on Wild Life Protection in Srinagar on October 2, 2007. Presently he is serving in the J&K Department of Education. He is a nature conservation activist and environmental protection is his motto and in his leisure time he promotes environmental education.)


Wildlife-Conflict Mitigation and Conservation

Wildlife to the human being means the undomesticated animals in their natural habitat like forests, grasslands and deserts but ecologically includes both flora ad fauna, hence a human misunderstanding of the values of wildlife and its role in linking the food chain that guarantees survival of life at this planet. The colorful birds, animals and other life forms are important in maintaining the biodiversity and ecological balance.

Nature has bestowed Kashmir with an immense biodiversity and rich gene pool resources with priceless treasures. Dense lush green forests, alpine pastures, snow bound peaks, glaciers, gushing rivers, streams and fascinating wetlands like Wullar , Dal, Hokersar, Hygam etc offering conducive breeding grounds for the migratory birds which add to the color and beauty of the valley. Kashmir exhibit rich diversity of wild flora and fauna.

The flora includes coniferous forests occurring between 1600m to 3200m being temperate dominated by the Blue pine (Pinus wellichiana), Kail (Pinus excelcia), Pinus roxburgy, Deodar (Cedrus deodra), Silver fir (Abies webiana), Walnut (Juglans regia), Mulberry (Morus alba). Alpine pastures immediately follow the tree line ending with Birch (Betula utilis) between 3200 to 3600m, the alpine vegetation is largely comprised of herbs and shrub species like junipers and rhododendrons, the vegetation is scarce between 3600-4100m. The fauna of Kashmir includes wild goats like Markhor and Ibex, antelopes like Chhiru, deer’s like Hangul or Kashmir Stag, Musk Deer, Spotted Deer, Shapoo, Black Bears, Leopards, Wolf, Fox, Monkeys and the birds like Western Tragopon, Himalayan Monal Pheasant etc.

As such the human-wild animal conflict is not a new phenomena occurring globally, in Kashmir too this conflict is witnessed as a historical one. But this human-animal conflict has certainly escalated in the past two decades. Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and common leopard (Panthra pardus fusca) are frequently in encounters with the human being and livestock resulting in the loss of life and injuries, besides the loss of property and damage to agriculture and horticulture. The obvious reasons of these conflicts are mostly of human origin in nature i.e. loss in forest cover due to wanton deforestation and loot of the green gold, change in land use pattern, human interference and presence of armed forces inside the forests and wildlife habitats, stone quarrying and mine blasting near the forest areas, forest fires, ban on grazing of livestock in high altitude pasture by the armed forces and natural factors like increase in the wild life populations, decline in the natural prey base, change in the predator behavior due to easy excess of the stray dogs, global warming and climate change.

Against more than 50% of the very dense forests in 1950’s, presently only 30% remains under dense forest cover in Kashmir with a big proportion of the forests as bare and denuded. The Forest Survey of India, however, indicates that total forest cover in Jammu and Kashmir has undergone a little change. There has been in fact a marginal (1.85%) increase since 1987; however, the dense forest cover has declined by 19% approximately but the open forest cover has undergone about 36% up during 1987-2003. Major problems identified in the loss of forest cover are of economic in nature besides the unplanned developmental works. Forest fires have been instrumental in reducing the forest cover. Most of the forest fires have been alleged to be the result of a deep rooted nexus between smugglers and some forest officials with sole aim of eliminating evidences after wanton plunder. The presence of armed forces in the forests and wildlife habitats is not only altering the movement of wild animals but is posing a serious threat to their survival. Ban on high altitude gazing pastures by the armed forces has resulted in the scarcity of prey to wildlife species as the shepherds and nomads are unable to carry their livestock to such grazing pastures.

Trans-LOC movement of the wild animals is greatly hampered due to barbed electrified fencing along the Line of Control resulting in the confiscation of these animals at various places and impeding their movement to the adjoining natural habitats like Gilgit, Iskardu, Hunza, Chitral, Chilas and the In Kashmir valley over a period of time, the wildlife has been managed exclusively for the game purpose and accordingly rules were framed to protect the wild life species. The Jammu and Kashmir Department of Wildlife Protection (DWLP) came into existence in 1982 and evolved from the erstwhile Game Preservation Department, with the specific aim of the wildlife protection and promotion of their natural habitats besides avoiding the conflicts. Out of its total geographical area of 15948 sq. km, Kashmir valley accounts for 50.96% (8128 sq. km.) territorial forest area and the wildlife habitat or Protected Area Network (PAN) accounts for 10.53% (1680 sq. km.) currently managed by the DWLP. This Protected Area Network (PAN) includes 02 National Parks, 07 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 13 Wildlife Conservation Reserves and 08 Wetland reserves. But, presently the Department of Wildlife Protection lacks the adequate infrastructure, trained and well equipped manpower and required transport facilities.

The DWLP, however, has recently signed a MOU with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to impart and assist various wildlife management issues like mitigation of human-wild animal conflict, Markhor conservation, execution of Hangul recovery plan, rescue and rehabilitation of displaced wildlife species, capacity building and training in legal and wildlife crime issues to frontline staff of the Wildlife Department. Although WTI has come out with various key recommendations like the augmentation of infrastructure and manpower, habitat improvement and restoration, awareness generation, establishment of monitoring and evaluation system, decision making during the conflict situations, establishment of a central mitigation command center and rapid response teams to mitigate the human- wild animal conflict and translocation of the confiscated animals. A recently submitted Comprehensive Management Action Plan (CMAP) on Wullar Lake to the Department of Wildlife Protection by the Wetlands International South Asia (WISA) envisages the establishment of wildlife sanctuary within the Wullar Catchments in Bandipore forests being the summer habitat of Hangul and to create a full-fledged high altitude breeding center for the highly rare and threatened wildlife species within the premises of Kashmir Forest Training Institute, Chittarnar, Bandipore for their restocking and rehabilitation.

Other conservation measures like strengthening of existing PAN, installation of sophisticated cameras to sight the wild animal movement and capture traps along the vulnerable forest areas in close proximity to human habitations tranquilizer guns and related accessories, translocation and rehabilitation of the confiscated animals on modern scientific lines and strengthening coordination among the frontline territorial forest and wildlife staff along with the local communities, police and the civil administration besides immediate medicare and compensation without any prior documentation to the conflict victims need to be adopted for timely consideration at the gross root level.

Although Jammu and Kashmir enjoys a special status of its own Wildlife (Protection) Act 1978 amended in 2002, but to its dismay J&K is a unique state violating its own constitution and laws. Here forests are bestowed to the armed forces to denude the forests and disturb the wild animals, timber smugglers are nourished through nexus between the forest officials even top brass forest officers have been found culpable in the forest plunder and vanishing the wildlife habitat. National Parks are turned into the guest/ health resorts to appease the ‘Ruling Masters’. Wildlife Sanctuaries and Reserves are ascended to ‘Golf Courses’ to exhibit the ostentatious “Imperial Glory”. Protected Area Network gets exploited and so-called tourism development jeopardizing the Ecological Interest. Here short term economic benefits aimed at the revenue centric approaches are adopted without realizing their long term ecological implications.

To save our rich Biodiversity and Wildlife a firm political resolve aimed at the basics of ‘Conservation’ rather than ‘Exploitation’ , is the need of hour. Obliteration of Wildlife Habitat and decline in Forests cover will certainly cause Disappearance of the Wildlife.

Powering the RTI in Jammu & Kashmir

Arjimand sees hope and promise in Mr. Habibullah's appointment as the J&K CIC

(Mr. Arjimand Hussain Talib, 34, is a columnist/writer and a development professional who matriculated from Tyndale Biscoe Memorial School in 1991. He subsequently graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Bangalore University and has a diploma in journalism as well. He is an alumni of the International Academy for Leadership, Gummerbach, Germany. Arjimand writes regular weekly columns for the Greater Kashmir and The Kashmir Times since 2000 on diverse issues of political economy, development, environment and social change and has over 450 published articles to his credit. His forthcoming book: "Confronting the Myths: A Critical Analysis of the Political Economy of Jammu & Kashmir," will be published soon. He is currently working with an international development organisation, undertaking projects evaluation and developing contingency plans in some 11 countries in Asia and Africa.)


From Here, Reforms!

Though belatedly, Wajahat Habibullah’s appointment as J&K’s Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) is a welcome step. For the advocates of a meaningful right to information (RTI) in our state, the absence of the CIC in J&K has been a serious lacuna in our information law. But the real work starts now.

Mr. Wajahat is one of those rare individuals in India’s establishment who understand and analyse the circumstances of J&K well. His significant role in the efforts to make RTI meaningful in India is well recognised. Despite a plethora of hurdles, his role in supporting the efforts for more-than-a-cosmetic RTI in J&K is well known too. But many uneasy questions remain. That extra mile required to supplement our RTI with a clean-up of our governance system is still elusive.

The appointment of a CIC, as envisaged in the J&K Right to Information Act, 2009, has come at an interesting time. The creation of and public response to an e-mail based public grievance cell set up by the Omar government is equally interesting. It is good to have a chief minister who understands and appreciates information and communications technology. But we must guard to get carried away by symbolism at the cost of substance.

The fact is that even the 2009 J&K RTI Act in its amended form does not put J&K people’s right to information at par with the rest of India. Our e-governance project for the civil secretariat has been a big flop. Community Information Centres (CICs) have still a long way to go before they could act as a strong tool to strengthen local self governance. The nature of our current administrative systems and processes is primitive. They are intrinsically a mismatch with the requisites of today’s modern governance needs. The bottom line is that J&K needs administrative reforms.

To begin with, let us understand a substantive and serious right to information alone is no guarantee to better governance. J&K needs administrative reforms which will help fine tune our service delivery systems. We badly need a new system which will bring time-sensitivity in the discharge of our public works. We need to reinvent the processes and procedures which are a legacy of the colonial era. We need to make information and communications technologies take over the paper file system, to save precious time and energy in doing petty works. We need to simplify the public approval and decision-making mechanisms. We cannot live with 18th century administrative systems in the 21st century and expect the RTI law to do a miracle.
It is well known that the categories of information excluded in J&K’s RTI seriously inhibit people’s ability to access information on many substantive matters of governance and public security. There is still a serious dearth of awareness among public officials about people’s right to information. The appointment or designation of information officers as stipulated in the 2009 RTI Act is still far from complete. Even the level of awareness among the general public about the admissible and inadmissible kinds of information is quite low.

The element of vagueness in many provisions of J&K’s RTI law makes the process of information seeking cumbersome, and, in some instances, even impossible. Information seeking continues to be costly to common people, and, of course, time consuming. Even as some basic information is possible to access under the law, macro-level information remains tightly shielded. J&K needs both micro and macro aspects of its governance to be subjected to reasonable scrutiny. Only one would not do.

The on-line system of grievance receipt introduced by Omar Abdullah has generated a good deal of public response. The month of September has come up with some interesting news on this front. As per official figures, 1650 complaints have been received through e-mails by the grievance redressal cell set up for the purpose since September 4 alone. The cell has also received about 1000 complaints on the toll-free phone set up for the same purpose.

In the absence of clear cut statutory systems, this grievance redressal system is likely to die down with time. Even if certain issues are possible to correct at the lower levels of the administration, there is currently no system to hold the senior government officials or departments responsible for professional irresponsibility. Humanly, it is not possible for Omar Abdullah to track the process of all the complaints and their redressal system. This grievance cell needs some sort of statutory teeth. Or else, it will become just a medium of communicating complaints, devoid of follow-up measures.

The idea of turning this grievance cell into a full-fledged call centre is not bad. The networking of the block-level based 134-odd community information centres (CICs) with this grievance redressal cell is an important achievement. However, this kind of ‘e-governance’ without the backing of a proper legislative framework could turn futile. These must be designed to serve more purposes than mere emailing and desk top publishing.

The setting up of J&K e-governance Agency is a welcome move too. But again, in the absence of administrative reforms, it would be an endeavour to no where. We have already lost several crores of rupees in the e-governance project of the civil secretariat, which turned out to be a big flop. There was no customisation of the software purchased from a South India-based firm because no statutory system was developed based on our needs and requirements. There was a mismatch between the information systems, processes and procedures between the borrowed software and our established systems. Any e-governance initiative is likely to reach a natural cul de sac in the absence of a reformed administrative system. Such a system cannot be software-driven. It has to be powered by the right kind of legislation.

We must also not lose sight of the thousands of the corruption cases lying with the State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) since decades. The reason a huge number of cases remain pending there is that the SVO is not appropriately empowered to take decisive and punitive actions. There continues to be a great merit in the suggestion of transforming this ‘organisation’ into an independent ‘commission’. The state of the State Accountability Commission (SAC) created with a lot of fanfare is another grim example.

J&K State today needs to seriously consider implementation of the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC). Turning a blind eye to them would be a great folly.

Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

Tajamal unlocks the mystery of the unfathomable

(Mr. Tajamal Hussain, 53, was born in Safakadal area of Srinagar. He graduated from the Sri Partap College, Srinagar, and completed his MBA from the Andhra University in Waltair, followed by a post-graduate diploma in International Trade from the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in New Delhi. He is currently working in Srinagar. Mr. Hussain in his leisure time writer for local dailies and electronic opinion borads.)

Waiting in the Queue

You can be standing in front of a door of an ATM machine. Someone will brazenly walk right in front of you as the previous person exits the vestibule. He or she will pretend not to see you…until you stop him! The fellow may express his sorrow. He who does not have any idea about allowing personal space to the fellow citizen does not also care about his privacy while the latter operates his bank accounts to draw cash from the ATM. He will simply be on your head within the vestibule flouting the privacy required for operating your bank account and would pester you nonstop to either surrender your turn in his favor (irrespective of whether you finished with your transaction or not) or in an avuncular tone advise you as to how to operate your transaction and even suggest the amount of cash you should draw. Tell this fellow to refrain, and he will simply be with his hackles up to dismiss your request with scorn.

Standing in a queue requires patience, discipline, self respect and respect for others. It calls for a strong belief in the existence of good and fair play. The hatred for standing in the queue is some thing that perhaps unites India and Kashmir. Every one amongst us has had to go through the ordeal of standing in the queue at some point of time or the other. It is an everyday story once we wake up in the morning and are off to catch a bus to college or office. When we get into the bus, to buy a ticket, we are again waiting in queue. The same process haunts us every where in the canteen or on our way back. According to Advanced Gerontcrats enterprise, Indians on an average spend 12% of their lives in the queues. This however does not include the time that takes in commuting before they reach the tail end of the queue. The world records in the queue whether the longest, the fastest, the most patient queue, all belong to India. Queuing is such a national trait that the Indian athletes are invariably found in the queue to finish. Whether it is the union cabinet standing in a queue to welcome the President or Prime Minister, the queue is every where. The 3.2 kms long queue in Delhi to collect MTNL bills a decade and a half ago is a record in itself. The fastest moving queue in India was recorded at a movie theatre showing the film ‘Hot Nights’ in Hissar, Haryana. It took a mere 5 minutes and 40 seconds for 581 people, all men, to buy tickets and enter the hall.

During college days one of my friends (he is now holding a senior position in the government) dared to stand in front of a cinema in the city to buy a ticket. In the maddening rush as the unruly cine goers jostled each other, the hapless fellow managed to elbow his way through the crowd to push his hand into the ticket counter. The ticket seller seated behind the grill handed over the ticket to him. As he pulled himself out of the crowd after a great struggle, to his astonishment the sleeve of his shirt covering his right arm, was torn asunder to leave no trace thereof. Imagine the plight of the poor fellow!

In past the rare exception nevertheless was the claustrophobic queue forced upon us 3rd class cine goers in our childhood in the famous iron cage of the Palladium cinema, right in the centre of Lal Chowk, Srinagar. No sooner did the ticket vendor open the window to sell tickets than a dozen or so of mustachioed hooligans (with lot of muscle) suddenly appear from some where to leap across heads in the cage to worm their way atop tens of the queued heads in the cage to the counter to walk away with a wad of tickets to be later sold in ‘black’ to the same disgruntled lot who were imprisoned for several hours in the narrow cage. It was not many minutes before, much to the disappointment of the people waiting in the queue; the shutter at the ticket counter would suddenly and unexpectedly close down.

The turmoil that a person goes through, while standing in a queue, is unmatched. When you see your life going at a glacial speed and to know that even after hours of patient waiting, you are still not the first in line, all hell wants to break loose. But then the sanity prevails amidst all the pushing and shoving, or else one may lose the privileged spot that he occupies and may be sent back to square one. Life is a cruel thing for everyone in the queue and the willingness to get over with it is what gives people the strength to stand in it for hours while the discomfort one is facing is rising with the minute. And that too when one is made to stand in a queue (the analogue of what in the automotive world constitutes "bumper to bumper" traffic) without any personal space that has evolved over the ages to keep at bay transgressors, looking for breaks in the queue. Multiple queues follow the Murphy’s Law, “Whatever queue you join, no matter how short it looks, will always take the longest for you to get served” and thus, it is safer to stay put in one’s queue rather than go around looking for a quicker way to get to your goal.

In 1979 Dr. Kuabakoonam Balasubramanium of the University of Quebec, using a handsome grant, did some pioneering research on Indian queues, the laws and the paradoxes thereof. Bala laws, that he devised on the basis of this extensive research, are capsuled here under for us all to remember and brave the turmoil of standing in the queue;

1. The length of the queue is inversely proportion to the time you have to stand in the one.
2. You discover you are in wrong queue only when you reach the counter.
3. You always reach the counter at lunch time or closing time.
4. When you reach the counter on time, the tickets are over.
5. When you do get the tickets they are the wrong ones and therefore; a) you have to go to the tail end of the queue to get them changed or b). You have to go to the refund counter where 1 and 2 apply
6. When there are no obstacles, the queue moves quickly and when you buy the right ticket the teller has no change.
7. The teller always has his say.
8. The other queue always moves faster.
9. When you switch to the other queue the original queue gathers momentum.
10. When you are finally the second person in the queue the guy in front of you develops a complicated problem which takes half an hour to sort out.
11. When others jump the queue no one says anything. When you jump the queue hoots and jeers follow.
12. Every one in the queue will want to borrow your pen; when you want a pen no one will have one.
13 You are always caught napping when they open an extra counter.