Archive For The “General” Category
Visakhapatnam, Oct 6 : Thirteen live bullets of 0.32 bore revolver were recovered from a woman passenger at Visakhapatnam Airport on Tuesday, police said.
The bullets were found in the baggage of a 73-year-old woman when she was leaving for Hyderabad.
During the baggage scanning, security personnel found 13 bullets. This sent the security staff of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the airport into a tizzy.
The woman, a resident of Visakhapatnam, was not having any license or valid documents.
A case under Arms Act was registered against her.
She, however, claimed that she was not aware of the presence of bullets in her bag.
She told police that she was carrying the bag of a relative who recently passed away. She was going to her relatives in Hyderabad.
She told police that the deceased had a pistol license.
She said he must have kept the bullets in the bag but she was not aware of this when she packed her baggage.
--IANS
ms/shs.
Source: IANS
The bullets were found in the baggage of a 73-year-old woman when she was leaving for Hyderabad.
During the baggage scanning, security personnel found 13 bullets. This sent the security staff of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the airport into a tizzy.
The woman, a resident of Visakhapatnam, was not having any license or valid documents.
A case under Arms Act was registered against her.
She, however, claimed that she was not aware of the presence of bullets in her bag.
She told police that she was carrying the bag of a relative who recently passed away. She was going to her relatives in Hyderabad.
She told police that the deceased had a pistol license.
She said he must have kept the bullets in the bag but she was not aware of this when she packed her baggage.
--IANS
ms/shs.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 6 : The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya was awarded with a PhD degree from Bhavnagar University in Gujarat on Tuesday.
The Maharaja Krishnakumar Singh Ji Bhavnagar university conferred him PhD degree on the 'Role of Gram Vidyapith in community development and future challenge'.
He commenced his PhD education on December 18, 2017 and completed on October 01, 2021.
The minister is learnt to have appeared for viva on October 1 at the university.
The Bhavnagar university in a tweet said, "We are happy to announce that our student and union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has got PhD on a 'Role of Gram Vidyapiths in Community Development and Future Challenges'.
The university said further that we are hopeful that his mastery over the subject will benefit the rural higher education."
The minister tagged the university in his tweet and said: "I thank the university, my guide and everyone who supported me in my research journey.
This PhD journey has taken me from gross knowledge to subtle knowledge. This is a very important milestone in my life."
The Union Health Minister Mandaviya also holds the charge of Chemicals and Fertilizers ministry.
---IANS
avr/shs.
Source: IANS
The Maharaja Krishnakumar Singh Ji Bhavnagar university conferred him PhD degree on the 'Role of Gram Vidyapith in community development and future challenge'.
He commenced his PhD education on December 18, 2017 and completed on October 01, 2021.
The minister is learnt to have appeared for viva on October 1 at the university.
The Bhavnagar university in a tweet said, "We are happy to announce that our student and union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has got PhD on a 'Role of Gram Vidyapiths in Community Development and Future Challenges'.
The university said further that we are hopeful that his mastery over the subject will benefit the rural higher education."
The minister tagged the university in his tweet and said: "I thank the university, my guide and everyone who supported me in my research journey.
This PhD journey has taken me from gross knowledge to subtle knowledge. This is a very important milestone in my life."
The Union Health Minister Mandaviya also holds the charge of Chemicals and Fertilizers ministry.
---IANS
avr/shs.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 5 : As Amazon and Flipkart dominate headlines in the festive sale season, other e-commerce and luxury fashion brands are also witnessing bumper sales especially from the tier 2 and 3 cities, keeping their cash registers ringing.
Fashion e-commerce giant Myntra reported record-breaking 19 million visitors on the first day of its sale and 6 lakh items were purchased in the first hour.
The first day witnessed customers shopping over 4 million items, of which 40 per cent of the orders were from tier 2 and 3 cities and beyond.
Top categories for women were women's ethnic, women's westernwear, beauty and personal care and for men, it was casualwear, occasion wear, workwear and sports apparel.
"The remarkable participation from new customers at 20 per cent during the opening of the event and 40 per cent of the orders being placed from tier 2 and 3 cities and beyond, goes on to show the impact our consumer engagement initiatives, celebrity associations, as well as a substantial festive offering, has created," said Amar Nagaram, CEO, Myntra.
An integral part of the Flipkart Group, Myntra has partnered with over 5,000 leading fashion and lifestyle brands in the country.
Reliance Group's online fashion e-retailer Ajio, which organised festive sales from September 30 till October 4 with multiple celebrities like Sidharth Malhotra and Sonam K Ahuja endorsing its #BigBoldSale campaign, has received tremendous response from across the country.
Luxury lifestyle platform Tata CLiQ Luxury is hosting its annual '10 on 10' sale from October 6-15, that will have attractive offers on luxury brands across categories,
Through the '10 on 10' sale, Tata CLiQ Luxury is looking at sales doubling across categories.
"For the 10 on 10 sale, we have curated a range of thoughtful gifting options to celebrate stories and special bonds this festive season.
To offer the best deals this season, we have expanded our assortment and are introducing exciting offers on luxury brands across multiple categories," said Gitanjali Saxena, Business Head-Global Luxury, Tata CLiQ Luxury.
Tata CLiQ is owned by Tata UniStore Limited of Tata Group, and operates in categories such as electronics, fashion, footwear and accessories.
"With more than 100 per cent YoY growth and increase in customer base, we are expecting a strong festive season this year," Saxena added.
According to Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR), this is where highly niche, uber-luxe, bespoke e-commerce platforms catering to the niche consumer demographic are doing extremely well.
"In sharp contrast to the large e-commerce platforms that cater to value-conscious buyers with attractive discounts and offers, these niche e-commerce platforms prioritise convenience over cost," Ram told IANS.
Global market research firm Forrester expects online retailers in India to generate about (Dollar) 9.2 billion in sales during the 2021 festive month, up 42 per cent (year-over-year) from the estimate of (Dollar) 6.5 billion in festive month sales during 2020.
In just the first week (October 3 to 10), it estimates that (Dollar) 6.4 billion of online sales, about 70 per cent of the festive month total online sales, will happen.
"Now, users from tier-two and tier-three cities are also contributing significantly to the market growth.
Around 75 million online buyers will participate during this festive season, of which 50 million will come from tier-two cities and beyond," said Jitender Miglani, senior forecast analyst, Forrester.
--IANS
na/pgh.
Source: IANS
Fashion e-commerce giant Myntra reported record-breaking 19 million visitors on the first day of its sale and 6 lakh items were purchased in the first hour.
The first day witnessed customers shopping over 4 million items, of which 40 per cent of the orders were from tier 2 and 3 cities and beyond.
Top categories for women were women's ethnic, women's westernwear, beauty and personal care and for men, it was casualwear, occasion wear, workwear and sports apparel.
"The remarkable participation from new customers at 20 per cent during the opening of the event and 40 per cent of the orders being placed from tier 2 and 3 cities and beyond, goes on to show the impact our consumer engagement initiatives, celebrity associations, as well as a substantial festive offering, has created," said Amar Nagaram, CEO, Myntra.
An integral part of the Flipkart Group, Myntra has partnered with over 5,000 leading fashion and lifestyle brands in the country.
Reliance Group's online fashion e-retailer Ajio, which organised festive sales from September 30 till October 4 with multiple celebrities like Sidharth Malhotra and Sonam K Ahuja endorsing its #BigBoldSale campaign, has received tremendous response from across the country.
Luxury lifestyle platform Tata CLiQ Luxury is hosting its annual '10 on 10' sale from October 6-15, that will have attractive offers on luxury brands across categories,
Through the '10 on 10' sale, Tata CLiQ Luxury is looking at sales doubling across categories.
"For the 10 on 10 sale, we have curated a range of thoughtful gifting options to celebrate stories and special bonds this festive season.
To offer the best deals this season, we have expanded our assortment and are introducing exciting offers on luxury brands across multiple categories," said Gitanjali Saxena, Business Head-Global Luxury, Tata CLiQ Luxury.
Tata CLiQ is owned by Tata UniStore Limited of Tata Group, and operates in categories such as electronics, fashion, footwear and accessories.
"With more than 100 per cent YoY growth and increase in customer base, we are expecting a strong festive season this year," Saxena added.
According to Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR), this is where highly niche, uber-luxe, bespoke e-commerce platforms catering to the niche consumer demographic are doing extremely well.
"In sharp contrast to the large e-commerce platforms that cater to value-conscious buyers with attractive discounts and offers, these niche e-commerce platforms prioritise convenience over cost," Ram told IANS.
Global market research firm Forrester expects online retailers in India to generate about (Dollar) 9.2 billion in sales during the 2021 festive month, up 42 per cent (year-over-year) from the estimate of (Dollar) 6.5 billion in festive month sales during 2020.
In just the first week (October 3 to 10), it estimates that (Dollar) 6.4 billion of online sales, about 70 per cent of the festive month total online sales, will happen.
"Now, users from tier-two and tier-three cities are also contributing significantly to the market growth.
Around 75 million online buyers will participate during this festive season, of which 50 million will come from tier-two cities and beyond," said Jitender Miglani, senior forecast analyst, Forrester.
--IANS
na/pgh.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 5 : A day after an agreement with the administration over the issue of death of four farmers among nine killed at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Tuesday said the agreement was only to pave way for the last rites of those deceased farmers, but the agitation will continue.
"The agreement with the administration on Monday was only to pave way for the last rites to be performed.
Our demands remain the same. The morality or lack of it, of the present government already stands fully exposed. SKM will soon announce a programme of action for getting these main demands met, and the agitation will not be called off until then," the SKM said in a release here.
The SKM has demanded the immediate arrest of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ashish Mishra Teni, who belongs to BJP, and his accomplices.
The SKM also demanded dismissal of Teni and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from their posts immediately.
Farmers are protesting Teni's alleged comments, followed by his son Ashish Mishra allegedly mowing down four farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri while Khattar's video instigating violence against farmers had gone viral, both on Sunday.
"It was only a matter of time that the true narrative of the reality of the incidents in Lakhimpur Kheri had to emerge," the SKM said, referring to a video about the Lakhimpur Kheri incident that too has gone viral on social media platforms.
The SKM had immediately called an emergency Panchayat and announced an agitation at that village.
On Monday, for several hours together, the farmers had blocked the roads leading to the place where the incident had taken place and kept the four dead farmers' bodies in a glass-topped enclosures.
They had claimed they would neither move from there, nor allow last rites of the farmers till their demands in connection with Teni and Mishra were met.
Several hours later, around noon, farmers' leader Rakesh Tikait from the Bhartiya Kisan Union visited the place and held a meeting with the Uttar Pradesh administration.
Announcing that the issues are resolved, he requested the agitating farmers to make way and asked the families of the deceased and the victims to go home.
"SKM leader Tajinder Virk, who was grievously injured in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre was operated upon, with a neuro-surgery procedure, after being shifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram.
He is reported to be out of danger now, and SKM wishes him and all other injured persons a full and speedy recovery," a release from the SKM said.
The SKM also said, it condemned the arrest and detention of Gurnam Singh Chaduni, SKM leader by the Uttar Pradesh government for many hours since Monday evening.
"The undemocratic and authoritarian behaviour of the Uttar Pradesh government is illegal and challenged by SKM.
It is clear that the Yogi government is wary of the truth of Lakhimpur Kheri massacre emerging fully in front of the world and is protecting its own," the release said.
The SKM condemned the attempts of the Uttar Pradesh government to prevent people from Punjab to come to Lakhimpur Kheri.
--IANS
niv/pgh.
Source: IANS
"The agreement with the administration on Monday was only to pave way for the last rites to be performed.
Our demands remain the same. The morality or lack of it, of the present government already stands fully exposed. SKM will soon announce a programme of action for getting these main demands met, and the agitation will not be called off until then," the SKM said in a release here.
The SKM has demanded the immediate arrest of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ashish Mishra Teni, who belongs to BJP, and his accomplices.
The SKM also demanded dismissal of Teni and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from their posts immediately.
Farmers are protesting Teni's alleged comments, followed by his son Ashish Mishra allegedly mowing down four farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri while Khattar's video instigating violence against farmers had gone viral, both on Sunday.
"It was only a matter of time that the true narrative of the reality of the incidents in Lakhimpur Kheri had to emerge," the SKM said, referring to a video about the Lakhimpur Kheri incident that too has gone viral on social media platforms.
The SKM had immediately called an emergency Panchayat and announced an agitation at that village.
On Monday, for several hours together, the farmers had blocked the roads leading to the place where the incident had taken place and kept the four dead farmers' bodies in a glass-topped enclosures.
They had claimed they would neither move from there, nor allow last rites of the farmers till their demands in connection with Teni and Mishra were met.
Several hours later, around noon, farmers' leader Rakesh Tikait from the Bhartiya Kisan Union visited the place and held a meeting with the Uttar Pradesh administration.
Announcing that the issues are resolved, he requested the agitating farmers to make way and asked the families of the deceased and the victims to go home.
"SKM leader Tajinder Virk, who was grievously injured in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre was operated upon, with a neuro-surgery procedure, after being shifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram.
He is reported to be out of danger now, and SKM wishes him and all other injured persons a full and speedy recovery," a release from the SKM said.
The SKM also said, it condemned the arrest and detention of Gurnam Singh Chaduni, SKM leader by the Uttar Pradesh government for many hours since Monday evening.
"The undemocratic and authoritarian behaviour of the Uttar Pradesh government is illegal and challenged by SKM.
It is clear that the Yogi government is wary of the truth of Lakhimpur Kheri massacre emerging fully in front of the world and is protecting its own," the release said.
The SKM condemned the attempts of the Uttar Pradesh government to prevent people from Punjab to come to Lakhimpur Kheri.
--IANS
niv/pgh.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 5 : Veer Savarkar: The man who could have prevented Partition by Uday Mahurkar and Chirayu Pandit is a candid, self-professed effort to set the record straight on the rightwing icon.
Such an attempt would need to pitch Savarkar against the leading lights of the time, and it does so.
The book, expected out later this month, suggests a retelling of history and makes two essential points - the missed opportunities during the national movement that Savarkar views might have helped avoid, and the times that he seemed prescient in identifying key problems, primarily on national security.
The preface by Mahurkar says: The epilogue in this book deals with how the absence of Savarkarian vision has affected our national psyche and prevents us from realizing our true potential.
It illustrates with examples how the lack of Savarkarian vision has led to distortions in history which, in turn, have affected our national vision and left our mind fractured in many other areas.
It further analyses what today's India would have been like had Savarkarian vision been implemented soon after Independence.
A reading of the preface suggests a link between nationalism and militarization. At this point, Savarkar is positioned against Gandhi, Congress and non-violence. Mahurkar describes how he tries to analyse Savarkar's belief vis-a-vis the Congress that complete non-violence against an 'unprincipled enemy' is a perversion of virtue.
It goes on to suggest that the Balakot strike was based on this belief. Mahurkar, in fact, draws a causal link between the basis of Pakistan and the 'Muslim-appeasement policy of the Congress'.
It is natural, therefore, that such a line of thinking should lead to the diminution of Gandhi - even Sardar Patel does not appear as the great unifier as he was a signatory to the resolution to give provinces the right to self-determination.
The book recalls a story, now increasingly in the public domain, of the meeting between Britain's post-War prime minister Clement Attlee and West Bengal's then acting governor P.B.
Chakraborty where the former noted that Gandhi's influence on Britain's decision to grant independence to India was 'minimal'.
It refers instead to the role of the Azad Hind Fauj and the threat of Indian soldiers returning from Europe at the end of WWII as more notable reasons.
This fits in neatly with the Savarkarian postulate. Any interpretation of history, especially, one that carries a political message, would be selective in approach.
The role of the Azad Hind Fauj, the naval uprising and the threat of returning Indian soldiers notwithstanding, there were other factors that were just about as important - like Britain's own diminished position in the post-War global power equations, America's role in leaning on Britain on the issue of India's independence.
And of course, Gandhi's unquestioned role since he came on the scene to organise the Indian masses, his great skills as a communicator that facilitated this, and giving them a moral compass to be guided by.
The tepid presentation of Gandhi is perhaps natural for a book on Savarkar, who had been a critic of the Mahatma.
Mahurkar and Pandit capture the essence of Savarkar's Hindutva when they cite his call to Hindus to join the British Indian forces in 1939.
They say that two years ago, in 1937, he had suspected that separatist Muslims would demand India's partition.
His call to Hindus was aimed at making sure they got arms training in view of the "future threat to the unity and integrity of India".
Mahurkar notes Savarkar had marked that Hindus were fewer in number in the army on the basis of population-ratio.
And that had he not given the call for militarization of Hindus, Pakistan would have "tried to swallow more areas of partitioned India apart from Kashmir".
There is a view that Savarkar has been under represented in the national movement, that he is an unsung hero of Indian history, and that his Hindutva -- for which he has been reviled by ideological opponents -- was both pragmatic and modernist.
This book could provide the space and the argument to fill that gap.
One of the attractions of the book is a foreword by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who says, "Savarkar did not get his due even in free India".
He also says how the Hindutva icon could rightly anticipate the future, especially on issues of national security.
--IANS
am/.
Source: IANS
Such an attempt would need to pitch Savarkar against the leading lights of the time, and it does so.
The book, expected out later this month, suggests a retelling of history and makes two essential points - the missed opportunities during the national movement that Savarkar views might have helped avoid, and the times that he seemed prescient in identifying key problems, primarily on national security.
The preface by Mahurkar says: The epilogue in this book deals with how the absence of Savarkarian vision has affected our national psyche and prevents us from realizing our true potential.
It illustrates with examples how the lack of Savarkarian vision has led to distortions in history which, in turn, have affected our national vision and left our mind fractured in many other areas.
It further analyses what today's India would have been like had Savarkarian vision been implemented soon after Independence.
A reading of the preface suggests a link between nationalism and militarization. At this point, Savarkar is positioned against Gandhi, Congress and non-violence. Mahurkar describes how he tries to analyse Savarkar's belief vis-a-vis the Congress that complete non-violence against an 'unprincipled enemy' is a perversion of virtue.
It goes on to suggest that the Balakot strike was based on this belief. Mahurkar, in fact, draws a causal link between the basis of Pakistan and the 'Muslim-appeasement policy of the Congress'.
It is natural, therefore, that such a line of thinking should lead to the diminution of Gandhi - even Sardar Patel does not appear as the great unifier as he was a signatory to the resolution to give provinces the right to self-determination.
The book recalls a story, now increasingly in the public domain, of the meeting between Britain's post-War prime minister Clement Attlee and West Bengal's then acting governor P.B.
Chakraborty where the former noted that Gandhi's influence on Britain's decision to grant independence to India was 'minimal'.
It refers instead to the role of the Azad Hind Fauj and the threat of Indian soldiers returning from Europe at the end of WWII as more notable reasons.
This fits in neatly with the Savarkarian postulate. Any interpretation of history, especially, one that carries a political message, would be selective in approach.
The role of the Azad Hind Fauj, the naval uprising and the threat of returning Indian soldiers notwithstanding, there were other factors that were just about as important - like Britain's own diminished position in the post-War global power equations, America's role in leaning on Britain on the issue of India's independence.
And of course, Gandhi's unquestioned role since he came on the scene to organise the Indian masses, his great skills as a communicator that facilitated this, and giving them a moral compass to be guided by.
The tepid presentation of Gandhi is perhaps natural for a book on Savarkar, who had been a critic of the Mahatma.
Mahurkar and Pandit capture the essence of Savarkar's Hindutva when they cite his call to Hindus to join the British Indian forces in 1939.
They say that two years ago, in 1937, he had suspected that separatist Muslims would demand India's partition.
His call to Hindus was aimed at making sure they got arms training in view of the "future threat to the unity and integrity of India".
Mahurkar notes Savarkar had marked that Hindus were fewer in number in the army on the basis of population-ratio.
And that had he not given the call for militarization of Hindus, Pakistan would have "tried to swallow more areas of partitioned India apart from Kashmir".
There is a view that Savarkar has been under represented in the national movement, that he is an unsung hero of Indian history, and that his Hindutva -- for which he has been reviled by ideological opponents -- was both pragmatic and modernist.
This book could provide the space and the argument to fill that gap.
One of the attractions of the book is a foreword by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who says, "Savarkar did not get his due even in free India".
He also says how the Hindutva icon could rightly anticipate the future, especially on issues of national security.
--IANS
am/.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 5: Between Friday and Monday, a total of 145 Chinese air force planes flew into Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in a flagrant violation of its sovereignty.
China has been regularly, and increasingly, trespassing into Taiwan's marine and air spaces over the last two years.
It has been intimidating its eastern democratic neighbour in the hope of annexing it into the mainland one day.
But the 145 aircraft over four days was setting a new record of intimidation.
In response, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) scrambled combat patrol aircraft and issued radio warnings to the Chinese aircraft.
It also alerted its air defence missile systems to monitor Chinese fighters.
October 1 is Chinese national day while October 10 is Taiwanese National Day--anathema to Beijing as it cuts at the heart of its One China Policy (OCP).
The Chinese air force, known as the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) flew 38 planes on Friday--the Chinese National Day, followed by 39 on Saturday, 16 on Sunday and 52 on Monday into Taiwan's ADIZ.
China is not only testing the waters by flexing its muscles, it is also trying to demoralise Taiwan.
According to China experts, Beijing is reacting to the increased, and successful, mobilisation by the US, Japan, Taiwan, Australia in the Indo-Pacific in response to China's aggression against its neighbours and also the South China Sea (SCS).
The recent AUKUS (Australia, the UK and the US) military pact on equipping Australia with nuclear-power submarines to take on China has also rattled the latter.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) quotes Wen-Ti Sung, an expert on China's foreign policy at the Australian National University, as saying that Beijing's show of force against Taiwan was for international and domestic audiences.
Sung said: 'It (AUKUS) is a big deal that signals Australia's greater willingness to be engaged with security [issues] in Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
It will be increasing deterrence against China, and China does not look upon [that] very favourably.'
China has publicly said that it plans to merge Taiwan to the mainland even if it has to annex it militarily.
On the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1, 2021, President Xi Jinping had said: 'No one should underestimate the resolve, the will and ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity,' in reference to Taiwan.
The US took note of the air space harassment.
In a statement Washington said: 'The United States is very concerned by the People's Republic of China's provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability.
We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan.'
The US, which is a strong ally to a democratic Taiwan, reinforced that it will 'continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability'.
Washington added that American commitment to Taiwan is 'rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region'.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
--indianarrative.
Source: IANS
China has been regularly, and increasingly, trespassing into Taiwan's marine and air spaces over the last two years.
It has been intimidating its eastern democratic neighbour in the hope of annexing it into the mainland one day.
But the 145 aircraft over four days was setting a new record of intimidation.
In response, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) scrambled combat patrol aircraft and issued radio warnings to the Chinese aircraft.
It also alerted its air defence missile systems to monitor Chinese fighters.
October 1 is Chinese national day while October 10 is Taiwanese National Day--anathema to Beijing as it cuts at the heart of its One China Policy (OCP).
The Chinese air force, known as the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) flew 38 planes on Friday--the Chinese National Day, followed by 39 on Saturday, 16 on Sunday and 52 on Monday into Taiwan's ADIZ.
China is not only testing the waters by flexing its muscles, it is also trying to demoralise Taiwan.
According to China experts, Beijing is reacting to the increased, and successful, mobilisation by the US, Japan, Taiwan, Australia in the Indo-Pacific in response to China's aggression against its neighbours and also the South China Sea (SCS).
The recent AUKUS (Australia, the UK and the US) military pact on equipping Australia with nuclear-power submarines to take on China has also rattled the latter.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) quotes Wen-Ti Sung, an expert on China's foreign policy at the Australian National University, as saying that Beijing's show of force against Taiwan was for international and domestic audiences.
Sung said: 'It (AUKUS) is a big deal that signals Australia's greater willingness to be engaged with security [issues] in Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
It will be increasing deterrence against China, and China does not look upon [that] very favourably.'
China has publicly said that it plans to merge Taiwan to the mainland even if it has to annex it militarily.
On the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1, 2021, President Xi Jinping had said: 'No one should underestimate the resolve, the will and ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity,' in reference to Taiwan.
The US took note of the air space harassment.
In a statement Washington said: 'The United States is very concerned by the People's Republic of China's provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability.
We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan.'
The US, which is a strong ally to a democratic Taiwan, reinforced that it will 'continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability'.
Washington added that American commitment to Taiwan is 'rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region'.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
--indianarrative.
Source: IANS
Abohar, Oct 4 (IANS/ 101Reporters) An unobservant traveller, driving from Rajasthan and entering Punjab through the city of Abohar in the Fazilka district, might completely miss the fact that they are passing through a wildlife sanctuary.
The animals know to keep away from the open and busy roads criss-crossing the land. And there are no forests here, only farmlands.
The sanctuary is essentially a close-knit community of nearly a dozen densely populated villages where hundreds of the rare blackbuck roam fearlessly in the fields amidst the bustle of agrestic life.
The forest department does not own any land in this area and yet there is a thriving wildlife sanctuary, home to thousands of wild animals.
The sanctuary, which begins from the Punjabi village of Bazidpur Bhoma, is also home to over 30,000 people of the Bishnoi community.
The Bishnois are a Hindu sect founded in the late 15th century in Rajasthan and are well-known for their fierce love for the environment and all things living.
The Bishnois here in Abohar have solidified that legacy over the last century by allowing their private land to moonlight as a special reserve for the protection of the Krishna (blackbuck) and Chinkara deer (Indian gazelle).
Establishing a 'private' sanctuary
The person credited for the founding of the sanctuary is Chaudhary Sant Kumar Bishnoi of Dotaranwali village, born in the year 1915.
Sant Kumar grew up in the tradition of wildlife preservation; his father and grandfather were persistent in their patrols to drive poachers out of the area.
Sant Kumar was more radical and started fining the poachers and handing them over to the police. He mobilised people in the surrounding villages to become more proactive in protecting the deer, eventually forming the All India Wildlife Defense Bishnoi Committee (AIWDBC).
At the request of the Bishnois, the Punjab Government issued a notification in the year 1975, declaring the villages of Raipura, Dotaranwali, Rajwali, Sardarpura, Khairpura, Sukhchain, Seetoguno, Maharana, Himmatpura, Rampura, Narainpura, Bishanpura and Bazidpur Bhoma as the Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Sant Kumar was felicitated with the Indira Gandhi Environment Award in 1992, and he passed away six years later.
In 2000, the 13 villages were legally declared a sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Ashok Bishnoi, the grandson of Chaudhary Sant Kumar and a retired forest range officer, is now the National Vice President of the AIWDC.
He told 101Reporters: "Thousands of people of the Bishnoi community are involved in protecting wildlife.
They guard these creatures day and night. As a result, this is the only area in Punjab where blackbucks are now found."
Guardians of the blackbuck
The Bishnois are zealous in their mission to protect the wildlife here and have been managing the sanctuary with the support of the forest department.
The Forest Department has deployed 11 employees in the sanctuary and, together with 10 daily wage contract workers, they oversee the vast reserve spread over 46,513 acres.
But the real deterrent for hunters and poachers are the Bishnois who number in the thousands.
The other communities living here, though small in number, have assimilated into the Bishnoi way of life and are just as committed to the cause.
RD Bishnoi, head of the Punjab branch of the AIWDBC, said that many a time unarmed Bishnois have caught gun-wielding poachers and handed them over to the police.
When the wildlife is in any perceivable danger, even women single-handedly take on the hunters, he said.
Anita Rani, Acting Range Officer, Punjab Forest and Wildlife Protection Department, credits the Bishnoi community for the lack of poaching in the area for several years now.
"The people of the Bishnoi community have saved these innocent creatures. They are always ready to protect them from poachers and provide first aid if they get injured," she told 101Reporters.
For the last 26 years, Rajendra Bishnoi has been guarding the sanctuary.
He said: "The forest department and the villagers work day and night. We have no fixed work hours. As soon as there is information about a wild animal being injured, we immediately reach the spot. If it is a minor injury, the animal is treated on the spot and freed. If it is serious, it is taken to the rescue centre for treatment. Many times we have even taken injured animals to Ludhiana."
Apart from the blackbuck, other animals such as nilgais, pheasants, hares, jackals, wild cats, porcupines, wild boars and black ducks are also found in abundance.
The community here takes efforts to make arrangements for food and water for the animals at different places in the fields.
From birth to death, the Bishnois nurture the wildlife around them like they are part of a large family.
RD Bishnoi said that the community performs the last rites of animals killed in accidents. Sometimes, after the death of a female deer, villagers are known to bottle-feed the newborn fawns.
"Visitors come here in large numbers and find inspiration to protect nature," said Kuldeep, the watchman at the Shaheed Mata Amrita Devi Bishnoi Park that was inaugurated last year by former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
The state government spent Rs 10 crore to construct this memorial in Maharana village to honour the sacrifice of 363 Bishnois in Jodhpur three centuries ago, who laid down their lives to protest the felling of trees by the king for his new palace.
In the shadow of this memorial, the Bishnois continue to cement their legacy.
A dogged situation
The sanctuary also has its fair share of difficulties and a recent development has left the Bishnois between a rock and a hard place.
Attacks by stray dogs on deer are increasing. Also, the barbed cobra wire that was installed around the fields to protect the crops from wandering animals has been causing fatal injuries to the deer during dog attacks.
RD Bishnoi said: "When we raised our concerns, the administration banned cobra wire. So far, most of the cobra wires have been removed. But the dogs are still a threat as their number is increasing exponentially. These dogs attack the deer whenever they get the chance. In the last two years, about three dozen deer have died in dog attacks. Many nilgais have also been killed by dogs."
With the last wildlife census conducted in the area ten years ago, there are no recent numbers to drive home the seriousness of the situation and, in fact, there are conflicting views.
According to Rani, when the census in 2011 found about four thousand deer in the sanctuary. She believes that this number has not decreased as the Bishnois have consistently protected them. But RD Bishnoi said that the number of deer has been falling due to the dog attacks. Rani promises a new census soon. "We had sent a proposal to the Wildlife Institute of India Dehradun in this regard, which they have accepted," she said.
Ashok Bishnoi considers the increasing number of stray dogs a major threat to the sanctuary. "For us, all living beings are equal. We cannot protect the deer at the cost of harming or torturing the dogs. The administration should come up with a safe and speedy resolution for the stray dog problem," he said, highlighting the helplessness of the Bishnois in handling the dog attacks.
Forest department officials have taken up the issue with the district administration who are considering a sterilisation drive for the stray dogs.
But in the meanwhile, the number of dead blackbucks and nilgais are piling up, according to locals.
(The author is a Hanumangarh-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
--IANS
amarpal/ksk/.
Source: IANS
The animals know to keep away from the open and busy roads criss-crossing the land. And there are no forests here, only farmlands.
The sanctuary is essentially a close-knit community of nearly a dozen densely populated villages where hundreds of the rare blackbuck roam fearlessly in the fields amidst the bustle of agrestic life.
The forest department does not own any land in this area and yet there is a thriving wildlife sanctuary, home to thousands of wild animals.
The sanctuary, which begins from the Punjabi village of Bazidpur Bhoma, is also home to over 30,000 people of the Bishnoi community.
The Bishnois are a Hindu sect founded in the late 15th century in Rajasthan and are well-known for their fierce love for the environment and all things living.
The Bishnois here in Abohar have solidified that legacy over the last century by allowing their private land to moonlight as a special reserve for the protection of the Krishna (blackbuck) and Chinkara deer (Indian gazelle).
Establishing a 'private' sanctuary
The person credited for the founding of the sanctuary is Chaudhary Sant Kumar Bishnoi of Dotaranwali village, born in the year 1915.
Sant Kumar grew up in the tradition of wildlife preservation; his father and grandfather were persistent in their patrols to drive poachers out of the area.
Sant Kumar was more radical and started fining the poachers and handing them over to the police. He mobilised people in the surrounding villages to become more proactive in protecting the deer, eventually forming the All India Wildlife Defense Bishnoi Committee (AIWDBC).
At the request of the Bishnois, the Punjab Government issued a notification in the year 1975, declaring the villages of Raipura, Dotaranwali, Rajwali, Sardarpura, Khairpura, Sukhchain, Seetoguno, Maharana, Himmatpura, Rampura, Narainpura, Bishanpura and Bazidpur Bhoma as the Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Sant Kumar was felicitated with the Indira Gandhi Environment Award in 1992, and he passed away six years later.
In 2000, the 13 villages were legally declared a sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Ashok Bishnoi, the grandson of Chaudhary Sant Kumar and a retired forest range officer, is now the National Vice President of the AIWDC.
He told 101Reporters: "Thousands of people of the Bishnoi community are involved in protecting wildlife.
They guard these creatures day and night. As a result, this is the only area in Punjab where blackbucks are now found."
Guardians of the blackbuck
The Bishnois are zealous in their mission to protect the wildlife here and have been managing the sanctuary with the support of the forest department.
The Forest Department has deployed 11 employees in the sanctuary and, together with 10 daily wage contract workers, they oversee the vast reserve spread over 46,513 acres.
But the real deterrent for hunters and poachers are the Bishnois who number in the thousands.
The other communities living here, though small in number, have assimilated into the Bishnoi way of life and are just as committed to the cause.
RD Bishnoi, head of the Punjab branch of the AIWDBC, said that many a time unarmed Bishnois have caught gun-wielding poachers and handed them over to the police.
When the wildlife is in any perceivable danger, even women single-handedly take on the hunters, he said.
Anita Rani, Acting Range Officer, Punjab Forest and Wildlife Protection Department, credits the Bishnoi community for the lack of poaching in the area for several years now.
"The people of the Bishnoi community have saved these innocent creatures. They are always ready to protect them from poachers and provide first aid if they get injured," she told 101Reporters.
For the last 26 years, Rajendra Bishnoi has been guarding the sanctuary.
He said: "The forest department and the villagers work day and night. We have no fixed work hours. As soon as there is information about a wild animal being injured, we immediately reach the spot. If it is a minor injury, the animal is treated on the spot and freed. If it is serious, it is taken to the rescue centre for treatment. Many times we have even taken injured animals to Ludhiana."
Apart from the blackbuck, other animals such as nilgais, pheasants, hares, jackals, wild cats, porcupines, wild boars and black ducks are also found in abundance.
The community here takes efforts to make arrangements for food and water for the animals at different places in the fields.
From birth to death, the Bishnois nurture the wildlife around them like they are part of a large family.
RD Bishnoi said that the community performs the last rites of animals killed in accidents. Sometimes, after the death of a female deer, villagers are known to bottle-feed the newborn fawns.
"Visitors come here in large numbers and find inspiration to protect nature," said Kuldeep, the watchman at the Shaheed Mata Amrita Devi Bishnoi Park that was inaugurated last year by former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
The state government spent Rs 10 crore to construct this memorial in Maharana village to honour the sacrifice of 363 Bishnois in Jodhpur three centuries ago, who laid down their lives to protest the felling of trees by the king for his new palace.
In the shadow of this memorial, the Bishnois continue to cement their legacy.
A dogged situation
The sanctuary also has its fair share of difficulties and a recent development has left the Bishnois between a rock and a hard place.
Attacks by stray dogs on deer are increasing. Also, the barbed cobra wire that was installed around the fields to protect the crops from wandering animals has been causing fatal injuries to the deer during dog attacks.
RD Bishnoi said: "When we raised our concerns, the administration banned cobra wire. So far, most of the cobra wires have been removed. But the dogs are still a threat as their number is increasing exponentially. These dogs attack the deer whenever they get the chance. In the last two years, about three dozen deer have died in dog attacks. Many nilgais have also been killed by dogs."
With the last wildlife census conducted in the area ten years ago, there are no recent numbers to drive home the seriousness of the situation and, in fact, there are conflicting views.
According to Rani, when the census in 2011 found about four thousand deer in the sanctuary. She believes that this number has not decreased as the Bishnois have consistently protected them. But RD Bishnoi said that the number of deer has been falling due to the dog attacks. Rani promises a new census soon. "We had sent a proposal to the Wildlife Institute of India Dehradun in this regard, which they have accepted," she said.
Ashok Bishnoi considers the increasing number of stray dogs a major threat to the sanctuary. "For us, all living beings are equal. We cannot protect the deer at the cost of harming or torturing the dogs. The administration should come up with a safe and speedy resolution for the stray dog problem," he said, highlighting the helplessness of the Bishnois in handling the dog attacks.
Forest department officials have taken up the issue with the district administration who are considering a sterilisation drive for the stray dogs.
But in the meanwhile, the number of dead blackbucks and nilgais are piling up, according to locals.
(The author is a Hanumangarh-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
--IANS
amarpal/ksk/.
Source: IANS
Chandigarh, Oct 4 : Book on Kareena Kapoor Khan is a political statement, a tale of two sex workers and a social movement dedicated to fighting racism, says a Punjab-origin Canadian author.
The recently released book puts the story of the Bollywood diva in the broader context of the political environment and its spillover effect on the film industry.
"From Nazneen to Naina -- 20 years of Kareena Kapoor Khan in Bollywood and what that means for India and the rest of the world" was launched on her birthday in Chandigarh last month.
Author Gurpreet Singh told IANS over the phone that it is focussed on continued trolling of Khan on social media by the followers of a right wing ideology.
He says Khan is being subjected to unnecessary criticism for marrying a Muslim man, adopting Khan as her last name and naming her two sons as Taimur and Jeh, which are being purposely misinterpreted as the names of the Muslim conquerors.
The journalist-cum-author believes it is all because of the political environment that has polarised Bollywood much as the rest of society.
"This has emboldened the trolls that won't leave any opportunity to brand her and her husband Pakistanis," he says.
Singh pointed out that she was attacked on microblogging site Twitter when she stood up for an eight-year-old Muslim girl who was raped and murdered in Kathua and remained steadfast not to change the name of her eldest son Taimur in spite of backlash.
Singh, who is a journalist by profession and has been closely following developments in India, insists that these controversies cannot be delinked from the overall situation.
At least one publisher wanted Singh to remove all political references which he refused to do.
The book was eventually published by Chetna Parkashan in Ludhiana.
Being humane, the book talks about the tale of two sex workers, where the writer through the characters of Chameli and Rosie played by Khan in her films "Chameli" and "Talaash", takes up the plight of sex workers, particularly since the lockdown.
"Covid-19 has forced more poor women into prostitution, and their lives have become more difficult in the absence of social safety nets and stringent regulations to ensure physical distancing.
India, which is at present the second most affected country in the world after the US, is unable to deal with the financial crisis and health risks faced by its sex workers.
'Chameli' and 'Rosie' not only speak for themselves, but others in their profession," Singh writes.
The book, named for characters Khan has played in films, speaks about how amid the pandemic lockdown, the actress used Instagram to support the Black Lives Matter campaign and condemn the brutal murder of George Floyd, whose dying gasps under Derek Chauvin's knee led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the US.
Singh, who openly admits his fascination for Khan, has also criticized her in the book for remaining indifferent to many pressing issues, like the ongoing farmers' movement in India.
"Although she claims to be passionate about the environment and organic farming, she never spoke out for farmers." Singh says that he believes in giving credit where it belongs, but will never shy criticising her for what is missing.
Although he acknowledges her outspokenness on issues, such as racism and repression, he still believes that she needs to do more and to be more consistent in her positions on human rights and social justice.
(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
--IANS
vg/dpb.
Source: IANS
The recently released book puts the story of the Bollywood diva in the broader context of the political environment and its spillover effect on the film industry.
"From Nazneen to Naina -- 20 years of Kareena Kapoor Khan in Bollywood and what that means for India and the rest of the world" was launched on her birthday in Chandigarh last month.
Author Gurpreet Singh told IANS over the phone that it is focussed on continued trolling of Khan on social media by the followers of a right wing ideology.
He says Khan is being subjected to unnecessary criticism for marrying a Muslim man, adopting Khan as her last name and naming her two sons as Taimur and Jeh, which are being purposely misinterpreted as the names of the Muslim conquerors.
The journalist-cum-author believes it is all because of the political environment that has polarised Bollywood much as the rest of society.
"This has emboldened the trolls that won't leave any opportunity to brand her and her husband Pakistanis," he says.
Singh pointed out that she was attacked on microblogging site Twitter when she stood up for an eight-year-old Muslim girl who was raped and murdered in Kathua and remained steadfast not to change the name of her eldest son Taimur in spite of backlash.
Singh, who is a journalist by profession and has been closely following developments in India, insists that these controversies cannot be delinked from the overall situation.
At least one publisher wanted Singh to remove all political references which he refused to do.
The book was eventually published by Chetna Parkashan in Ludhiana.
Being humane, the book talks about the tale of two sex workers, where the writer through the characters of Chameli and Rosie played by Khan in her films "Chameli" and "Talaash", takes up the plight of sex workers, particularly since the lockdown.
"Covid-19 has forced more poor women into prostitution, and their lives have become more difficult in the absence of social safety nets and stringent regulations to ensure physical distancing.
India, which is at present the second most affected country in the world after the US, is unable to deal with the financial crisis and health risks faced by its sex workers.
'Chameli' and 'Rosie' not only speak for themselves, but others in their profession," Singh writes.
The book, named for characters Khan has played in films, speaks about how amid the pandemic lockdown, the actress used Instagram to support the Black Lives Matter campaign and condemn the brutal murder of George Floyd, whose dying gasps under Derek Chauvin's knee led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the US.
Singh, who openly admits his fascination for Khan, has also criticized her in the book for remaining indifferent to many pressing issues, like the ongoing farmers' movement in India.
"Although she claims to be passionate about the environment and organic farming, she never spoke out for farmers." Singh says that he believes in giving credit where it belongs, but will never shy criticising her for what is missing.
Although he acknowledges her outspokenness on issues, such as racism and repression, he still believes that she needs to do more and to be more consistent in her positions on human rights and social justice.
(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
--IANS
vg/dpb.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 4: On an election campaign trail, when I visited Sogam -- the capital of the Kupwara district's picturesque Lolab valley and the residential village of the then Minister of Law Mushatq Ahmad Lone, 110 km from Srinagar--on 8 September 2002, an all-pervading sense of fear was writ large on every civilian face.
Nobody uttered a word when I enquired about the prospects of peoples' participation in the elections.
One of the residents pointed to the five posters scribbled in Urdu and pasted on the wooden shutters of a shop, barely 100 metres short of the National Conference Minister's house.
With purported signatures and stamps of five jihadist organisations, the hand bills warned death to anybody participating in the elections.
The 'commanders' had decreed that a democratic exercise was 'prohibited in Islam'. In my report for a Jammu newspaper, I published that anything--catastrophic--was possible in Lolab.
Three days later, on Wednesday, September 11, 2002, the NC's MLA and candidate for his third consecutive Assembly election, Mushtaq Lone, who had also served as Minister of State for Home, was gunned down along with one security guard and four other Police personnel and a civilian at a public meeting.
A caller, who identified himself as Mohammad Shakeel, the spokesman of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), told a local news agency over telephone that the attack had been carried out by his organisation and led by a 15-year-old militant Abu Veqas.
An identical claim poured from Al-Aarifeen Squad.
On the previous Friday, an independent candidate, Abdul Rehman Sheikh, had been shot dead in the same district's Handwara segment.
Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen had set the deadline of September 10 for all candidates to withdraw from the poll race or face consequences.
Even as the election in Lolab was countermanded, Mushtaq Lone's contractor-brother, Mohiuddin Lone, who was among the first four militants who laid down arms and engaged in talks with the then Union Home Minister Shankarrao Chavan, was shot dead close to his home on December 5, 2002.
In the previous year, 2001, on June 23, Union Minister of Commerce Omar Abdullah, accompanied by State Minister Mushtaq Lone, had a narrow escape when the militants from the nearby Sheikhnar forest targeted their helicopter while landing in Sogam.
The alert pilot quickly took the helicopter out of the militants' firing range and diverted to Kupwara where the Ministers addressed a small gathering.
Before Omar's landing back in Srinagar, the LeT spokesman Abdullah Gaznavi called me to record his statement.
"Your friend (Omar) had a providential escape today. Had he landed, he would have gone. But rest assured, next time we will have him," Gaznavi said. Omar, as well as the then SSP Kupwara, Ghulam Mohammad Dar, confirmed the militants' ambush and firing when I shared with them Gaznavi's claim.
Some residents claim that the militants also fired rockets towards the Union Defence Minister George Fernandez's helicopter when he arrived in after Mushtaq Lone's killing in September 2002.
Sitting on the centre of a 5 km x 26 km valley, Sogam remained infested with militants--mostly foreigners from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Pakistan--from 1990 to 2003.
Their codename for Lolab was 'University'. The maximum bloodshed occurred in the years from 1996 to 2002, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and Masood Azhar launched Jaish-e-Mohammad after Pakistan's retreat in Kargil.
According to one investigation, one of Mushtaq Lone's assassins, who later got killed in a suicide attack on Police in the Kupwara town, used to stay as a Special Police Officer at the Police Station of Sogam.
"Notwithstanding a thick military concentration, it was like a completely liberated zone.
Nobody would dare to act or speak against the militants. All those who did were killed. Today, it is a totally different situation. There's no fear but most of us avoid speaking out to media on record. We fear, after consolidating their gains in Afghanistan, Pakistan could divert them to Kashmir and they would start a fresh spell of bloodshed here," a 65-year-old shopkeeper shared his nightmarish memories when I visited Sogam after 19 years on Friday, October 1.
A 38-year-old IAS officer said that the militants in the Sogam belt lost their public support completely mainly due to the brutal civilian killings, followed by introduction of mobile phone after 2003.
"The situation is a little different in Lalpora area where militants and separatists still enjoy a degree of the support," he added quickly.
Senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ashraf Sehrai, who is believed to be among the founders of Hizbul Mujahideen, as also Manan Wani, the Aligarh Muslim University's Ph.D scholar-turned-militant, were from Lalpora area.
Sehrai, who succeeded hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani as Chairman of the pro-Pakistan faction of the Hurriyat Conference, died early this year after contracting Covid-19 at a jail in Jammu early this year.
Manan Wani got killed in an encounter with security forces in Shatgund Handwara in October 2018.
Mushtaq Lone's assassination was preceded by a trail of killings in Sogam.
Residents remember when two Kashmiri Pandits Ratan Lal and Prudman Krishen Bhat were killed respectively in March and April 1990.
A 70-year-old businessman recollected how a Pandit woman was shot dead at her home. Years later, it was followed by the murder of a local photographer 'Gasha Batta', another Pandit.
Despite a chain of such killings, some Pandits like Rita stayed put at Lalpora where a large number of her fellow villagers participated in the marriage ceremony of her daughter.
A poor Muslim shepherd was labelled as Army's informer and hanged to death against a mulberry tree in Sogam.
A woman from Habbakadal, Srinagar, who was in the 8th month of her pregnancy, and a local barber Nisar Ahmad Hajam, were beheaded over the same unsubstantiated allegation.
One cold blooded murder was committed at the entrance of Sogam's Jamia Masjid.
Three gunmen with boots entered the mosque when the residents were performing their late evening prayers.
They caught hold of a civilian, Nazir Ahmad Mir, labelled him as an informer of the Army and dragged him out.
One of the terrorists held him by his legs, another by head and yet another chopped off his head with butcher's mutton cleaver.
They left back the torso and left with the man's severed head.
The year 2010 IAS topper Shah Faesal's father Ghulam Rasool Shah was shot dead at his home in the same village in 2002 when he refused shelter to some foreign terrorists and, according to some residents, objected to a commander's offer of a handshake to a woman.
Prominent businessman Haji Ghulam Hassan Shah and journalist Sajid Yusuf Shah's mother and uncle were also shot dead in the same village.
Journalist Asiya Jeelani was killed while her associate, human rights activist Khuram Parvez's leg was amputated after an Improvised Explosive Device hit their vehicle at Chandigam, short of Sogam, in 2004.
According to the residents, the terrorists killed around 50 civilians of Sogam from 1990 to 2003 while an equal number of the militants were also killed by security forces.
The militants and their accomplices torched about 50 houses of the displaced Pandits. The security forces too set on fire a number of the militants' houses. "In the last 17 years, we have enjoyed peace. We wish Lolab-the valley Iqbal praised for its beauty in his poets-never again becomes a university of terror," said a retired school teacher.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
--indianarrative.
Source: IANS
Nobody uttered a word when I enquired about the prospects of peoples' participation in the elections.
One of the residents pointed to the five posters scribbled in Urdu and pasted on the wooden shutters of a shop, barely 100 metres short of the National Conference Minister's house.
With purported signatures and stamps of five jihadist organisations, the hand bills warned death to anybody participating in the elections.
The 'commanders' had decreed that a democratic exercise was 'prohibited in Islam'. In my report for a Jammu newspaper, I published that anything--catastrophic--was possible in Lolab.
Three days later, on Wednesday, September 11, 2002, the NC's MLA and candidate for his third consecutive Assembly election, Mushtaq Lone, who had also served as Minister of State for Home, was gunned down along with one security guard and four other Police personnel and a civilian at a public meeting.
A caller, who identified himself as Mohammad Shakeel, the spokesman of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), told a local news agency over telephone that the attack had been carried out by his organisation and led by a 15-year-old militant Abu Veqas.
An identical claim poured from Al-Aarifeen Squad.
On the previous Friday, an independent candidate, Abdul Rehman Sheikh, had been shot dead in the same district's Handwara segment.
Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen had set the deadline of September 10 for all candidates to withdraw from the poll race or face consequences.
Even as the election in Lolab was countermanded, Mushtaq Lone's contractor-brother, Mohiuddin Lone, who was among the first four militants who laid down arms and engaged in talks with the then Union Home Minister Shankarrao Chavan, was shot dead close to his home on December 5, 2002.
In the previous year, 2001, on June 23, Union Minister of Commerce Omar Abdullah, accompanied by State Minister Mushtaq Lone, had a narrow escape when the militants from the nearby Sheikhnar forest targeted their helicopter while landing in Sogam.
The alert pilot quickly took the helicopter out of the militants' firing range and diverted to Kupwara where the Ministers addressed a small gathering.
Before Omar's landing back in Srinagar, the LeT spokesman Abdullah Gaznavi called me to record his statement.
"Your friend (Omar) had a providential escape today. Had he landed, he would have gone. But rest assured, next time we will have him," Gaznavi said. Omar, as well as the then SSP Kupwara, Ghulam Mohammad Dar, confirmed the militants' ambush and firing when I shared with them Gaznavi's claim.
Some residents claim that the militants also fired rockets towards the Union Defence Minister George Fernandez's helicopter when he arrived in after Mushtaq Lone's killing in September 2002.
Sitting on the centre of a 5 km x 26 km valley, Sogam remained infested with militants--mostly foreigners from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Pakistan--from 1990 to 2003.
Their codename for Lolab was 'University'. The maximum bloodshed occurred in the years from 1996 to 2002, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and Masood Azhar launched Jaish-e-Mohammad after Pakistan's retreat in Kargil.
According to one investigation, one of Mushtaq Lone's assassins, who later got killed in a suicide attack on Police in the Kupwara town, used to stay as a Special Police Officer at the Police Station of Sogam.
"Notwithstanding a thick military concentration, it was like a completely liberated zone.
Nobody would dare to act or speak against the militants. All those who did were killed. Today, it is a totally different situation. There's no fear but most of us avoid speaking out to media on record. We fear, after consolidating their gains in Afghanistan, Pakistan could divert them to Kashmir and they would start a fresh spell of bloodshed here," a 65-year-old shopkeeper shared his nightmarish memories when I visited Sogam after 19 years on Friday, October 1.
A 38-year-old IAS officer said that the militants in the Sogam belt lost their public support completely mainly due to the brutal civilian killings, followed by introduction of mobile phone after 2003.
"The situation is a little different in Lalpora area where militants and separatists still enjoy a degree of the support," he added quickly.
Senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ashraf Sehrai, who is believed to be among the founders of Hizbul Mujahideen, as also Manan Wani, the Aligarh Muslim University's Ph.D scholar-turned-militant, were from Lalpora area.
Sehrai, who succeeded hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani as Chairman of the pro-Pakistan faction of the Hurriyat Conference, died early this year after contracting Covid-19 at a jail in Jammu early this year.
Manan Wani got killed in an encounter with security forces in Shatgund Handwara in October 2018.
Mushtaq Lone's assassination was preceded by a trail of killings in Sogam.
Residents remember when two Kashmiri Pandits Ratan Lal and Prudman Krishen Bhat were killed respectively in March and April 1990.
A 70-year-old businessman recollected how a Pandit woman was shot dead at her home. Years later, it was followed by the murder of a local photographer 'Gasha Batta', another Pandit.
Despite a chain of such killings, some Pandits like Rita stayed put at Lalpora where a large number of her fellow villagers participated in the marriage ceremony of her daughter.
A poor Muslim shepherd was labelled as Army's informer and hanged to death against a mulberry tree in Sogam.
A woman from Habbakadal, Srinagar, who was in the 8th month of her pregnancy, and a local barber Nisar Ahmad Hajam, were beheaded over the same unsubstantiated allegation.
One cold blooded murder was committed at the entrance of Sogam's Jamia Masjid.
Three gunmen with boots entered the mosque when the residents were performing their late evening prayers.
They caught hold of a civilian, Nazir Ahmad Mir, labelled him as an informer of the Army and dragged him out.
One of the terrorists held him by his legs, another by head and yet another chopped off his head with butcher's mutton cleaver.
They left back the torso and left with the man's severed head.
The year 2010 IAS topper Shah Faesal's father Ghulam Rasool Shah was shot dead at his home in the same village in 2002 when he refused shelter to some foreign terrorists and, according to some residents, objected to a commander's offer of a handshake to a woman.
Prominent businessman Haji Ghulam Hassan Shah and journalist Sajid Yusuf Shah's mother and uncle were also shot dead in the same village.
Journalist Asiya Jeelani was killed while her associate, human rights activist Khuram Parvez's leg was amputated after an Improvised Explosive Device hit their vehicle at Chandigam, short of Sogam, in 2004.
According to the residents, the terrorists killed around 50 civilians of Sogam from 1990 to 2003 while an equal number of the militants were also killed by security forces.
The militants and their accomplices torched about 50 houses of the displaced Pandits. The security forces too set on fire a number of the militants' houses. "In the last 17 years, we have enjoyed peace. We wish Lolab-the valley Iqbal praised for its beauty in his poets-never again becomes a university of terror," said a retired school teacher.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
--indianarrative.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 4 : Reflecting a deep-rooted sense of community, time, and geography, three debut authors and two Malayalam translations feature in the shortlist of the Rs 25 lakh JCB Prize for Literature 2021, India's most coveted literary award that celebrates the very finest achievements in Indian writing announced on Monday.
The shortlist:
"Anti-Clock", translated from Malayalam by Ministhy S.
(Penguin Random House India, 2021)
"Name Place Animal Thing" by Daribha Lyndem (Zubaan Publishers Pvt.
Ltd., 2021)
"The Plague Upon Us" by Shabir Ahmad Mir (Hachette India, 2020)
"Delhi: A Soliloquy" by M.
Mukundan, translated from Malayalam by Fathima E.V. and Nandakumar K. (Westland, 2020)
"Gods and Ends" by Lindsay Pereira (Penguin Random House India, 2021)
Daribha Lyndem, Shabir Ahmad Mir and Lindsay Pereira are the debut authors.
The winner will be announced November 13.
Each of the five shortlisted authors will receive Rs 1 lakh; the translators will receive an additional Rs 50,000.
If the winning work is a translation, the translator will receive an additional Rs 10 lakh.
Announcing the shortlist, Mita Kapur, Literary Director of the JCB Prize, said: "Things are looking up slowly and there are a few things that have kept us going through these times: empathy, love, art.
The publishing industry has powered on in bringing a treasure trove of literature from all regions of India to the forefront to reach out to readers here and throughout the world.
"Now more than ever, we need to listen to the other, lose ourselves in a new story. These books will spirit you away to worlds unknown, yet familiar in the emotions each human heart shares with the other," Kapur added.
Presenting a cross-section of the multiple diversities in India, Jury Chair Sara Rai said the five novels "speak in layered voices often laced with irony.
Inventive and insightful in the way only literature can be, they create disparate worlds, each a microcosm with larger resonances and significance.
"The anguish of Kashmir, the turbulence of ethnic conflict in the Northeast, the disharmony of lives spent in narrow social and psychological confines, each with their specific difficulties -- the novels dive deep into these particular, ordinary lives and come up having discovered in them the extraordinary," Rai added
With Covid-19 restrictions slowly easing, the Prize is back this year with new on-ground collaborations with stand-alone book stores and Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters with the aim to provide wider access to the novels across India and create a one-on-one interaction between readers and books.
The Prize is also collaborating with Amazon Books India for the fourth year in a row as its official online partner to ensure that the shortlisted books reach people in every corner of the country.
--IANS
vm/dpb.
Source: IANS
The shortlist:
"Anti-Clock", translated from Malayalam by Ministhy S.
(Penguin Random House India, 2021)
"Name Place Animal Thing" by Daribha Lyndem (Zubaan Publishers Pvt.
Ltd., 2021)
"The Plague Upon Us" by Shabir Ahmad Mir (Hachette India, 2020)
"Delhi: A Soliloquy" by M.
Mukundan, translated from Malayalam by Fathima E.V. and Nandakumar K. (Westland, 2020)
"Gods and Ends" by Lindsay Pereira (Penguin Random House India, 2021)
Daribha Lyndem, Shabir Ahmad Mir and Lindsay Pereira are the debut authors.
The winner will be announced November 13.
Each of the five shortlisted authors will receive Rs 1 lakh; the translators will receive an additional Rs 50,000.
If the winning work is a translation, the translator will receive an additional Rs 10 lakh.
Announcing the shortlist, Mita Kapur, Literary Director of the JCB Prize, said: "Things are looking up slowly and there are a few things that have kept us going through these times: empathy, love, art.
The publishing industry has powered on in bringing a treasure trove of literature from all regions of India to the forefront to reach out to readers here and throughout the world.
"Now more than ever, we need to listen to the other, lose ourselves in a new story. These books will spirit you away to worlds unknown, yet familiar in the emotions each human heart shares with the other," Kapur added.
Presenting a cross-section of the multiple diversities in India, Jury Chair Sara Rai said the five novels "speak in layered voices often laced with irony.
Inventive and insightful in the way only literature can be, they create disparate worlds, each a microcosm with larger resonances and significance.
"The anguish of Kashmir, the turbulence of ethnic conflict in the Northeast, the disharmony of lives spent in narrow social and psychological confines, each with their specific difficulties -- the novels dive deep into these particular, ordinary lives and come up having discovered in them the extraordinary," Rai added
With Covid-19 restrictions slowly easing, the Prize is back this year with new on-ground collaborations with stand-alone book stores and Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters with the aim to provide wider access to the novels across India and create a one-on-one interaction between readers and books.
The Prize is also collaborating with Amazon Books India for the fourth year in a row as its official online partner to ensure that the shortlisted books reach people in every corner of the country.
--IANS
vm/dpb.
Source: IANS