Kashmir Festival in June: 7-Days Tulip festival concludes

The 7-Days Tulip Festival concluded here today amid great fan fare with beating of drums and display of music by JK Armed Police Pipe Band at the foot hills of Zabarwan, 7 kms away from the summer capital. The festival was organized by the Tourism and Floriculture Departments.

  Director Floriculture, Dr. Ghulam Sarwar Naqash, Director Tourism Mr. Farooq Ahmad Shah, senior officers of Information, JKTDC and other department besides media persons and tourists from country and abroad were present on the occasion. Representatives of Tour and Travel agencies, House Boat Owners and Hotel and Restaurant Associations were also present. 

  The Director Floriculture while welcoming the guests said that 80,000 tourists visited the garden last year and about 15000 tourists visited the garden during the seven day festival. Of these, about 95 per cent were tourists from country and abroad.

  Director Tourism in his speech said that the department has taken host of measures to promote tourism in the valley which is the mainstay of our economy. He said the infrastructure is being developed at the Tourist destinations to attract more and more tourists adding that this would help boost the economy of the people associated directly or indirectly with this industry. He announced that Kashmir festival will be celebrated in June this year.

  On the occasion, the Information department presented a variety cultural programme which enthralled the audience. The J&K Cultural Academy had also arranged cultural programmes during the festival week.

  Other features of the festival were special local folk and other cultural programmes and installation of stalls by the Kashmir Government Arts Emporium, Handicrafts department and Agro Industries Development Corporation Kashmir cuisine were also kept at the JKTDC stall which was liked by the tourists.

  Mr. Hilal Ahmad Mattoo, Cultural Artist of Information department presented a skit which was applauded by the audience.

  Later, the Director Tourism gave away prizes among the departments who had installed stalls during the festival.

First Kashmiri separatist declares to contest Lok Sabha polls

Senior separatist leader Sajjad Lone has decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections. He is the first separatist leader of his stature to join the democratic process since the outbreak of militancy over two decades ago.

Separatists in Jammu and Kashmir have previously rejected the democratic process. But now, the younger son of slain separatist leader and chairman of the People's Conference Abdul Gani Lone is garnering support for his election bid from Baramullah constituency in north Kashmir thus Indian democracy another breakthrough in Jammu and Kashmir.
Gulam Mohiuddin Sofi, a former minister and a confidant of Sajjad's father, is come out in support of Sajjad Lone.
Sofi won an election from Handwara assembly constituency in 2002 and later became a minister in the coalition government of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.
But he lost to the National Conference candidate Chowdhary Muhammad Ramzan in Handwara in the December 2008 assembly elections.
"Sajjad Lone has a lot of goodwill and support, especially in Kupwara district," said a political analyst who did not want to be identified by name because of obvious risks.
So why did Sajjad Lone's sister Shabnum, who fought as an independent from Kupwara assembly constituency last year, got defeated by the National Conference? Many feel that this happened because Shabnum never enjoyed the support of the People's Conference.
Though Sajjad Lone is yet to formally announce his decision, mainstream parties like the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have started looking at him as a serious contender.
The PDP has decided to field a senior leader and former minister, Muhammad Dilawar Mir, from Baramullah.
Mir lost the December elections to National Conference but is still seen as a formidable candidate.
Of the six assembly seats in the Baramullah Lok Sabha constituency, the National Conference won Sopore and Rafiabad while the Congress won the Uri seat. The Gulmarg seat went to former minister Ghulam Hassan Mir, who had fought as an independent.
"The so-called Sajjad factor is likely to become evident during the Lok Sabha elections. This could be a serious challenge to both the National Conference and PDP," said Qaramat Qayoom, a resident of Baramullah town.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the Baramullah seat was won by Abdul Rashid Shaheen of the National Conference.
Though the National Conference is yet to announce its candidate for Baramullah, insiders suggest at least three names are doing the rounds. They include Shaheen and Sharief-ud-Din Shariq.
"The choice would have to be made keeping in view the fact that both Sajjad Lone and the PDP would pose a challenge to our candidate," said a senior National Conference leader here.
More than who wins and loses the seat, the participation of a senior separatist leader in the poll process will mean that Indian democracy has already won. After that, political observers will keenly watch the extent to which the Sajjad factor hurts the prospects of the major parties.

Politicians haven’t stopped catering to vote bank politics

The political season which usually surfaces after every six years in every Assembly segment of the country is at its full boom in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. All the political parties are shouting with high pitch in-front of the common man, making tall promises with an assurance to end their miseries to influence and attract them in their favour so they could get votes. But soon after these political leaders are voted to power they forget everything. Even it becomes hard for the general public to meet these leaders once they are voted to power. People having high hopes to get their problems solved are even deprived of to meet these leaders by the security personnel at the gates of political leaders’ residences by telling them that these leaders are either out of station or sleeping or busy in meetings or in the ‘bathroom’. Yet people are befooled and their eternal in compelled to caste votes as they are easily targeted by the politicians catering vote bank politics. Despites knowing that these leaders will not solve their problems, people trust on them and cast their votes with renewed hopes that this time their problems will be solved but their hopes are shattered by all the politicians (parities have no relevance as a politician after all is a politician), as being done for past several years. Why these leaders keep on betraying the voters’ despites knowing that they have to face the same public after six years and did not pay any attention towards the solution of peoples’ problems? Why the same promises are repeated after every six years? Should not these leaders take the problems of people seriously? So the trust on politicians could be strengthened. Infect the trust of voters on politicians is weakening day after day which is resulting in formation of coalition governments. As every individual electorate hopes that the new party or the new leader will his problem seriously but it seems a never ending practice. Politicians will continue their way and people will suffer.

The coalition patched up between the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress (I) in J&K following the 2002 elections, collapsed following protests over the Amarnath land transfer. Apart from the communal polarization and wave of anti-India protests that have preceded it, a repeated failure of governance in the past decade also make the 2008 elections crucial. The first elections in Kashmir held in 1951 catapulted the National Conference (NC) under tutelage of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah to power. However the subsequent elections that followed were mired in charges of blatant rigging by New Delhi. One exception to this were the 1977 Assembly elections, held after the lifting of the Emergency imposed by the former Prime Minister (PM), Indira Gandhi, whose party was routed allowing the NC to emerge victorious. However the electoral process lay suspended from 1990 as insurgency gripped the state, only to be rekindled in late 1996. The 1996 elections, regarded as fair, once again catapulted the NC to power. The 2002 elections built upon this process were acknowledged as being 'free and fair' by the international community. Disillusionment with what was popularly perceived to be a corrupt and insensitive government led people to vote for the opposition PDP, which too soon failed on the governance front. Instead corruption and narrow politics, as revealed by the political opportunism of the PDP in the Valley and the BJP in Jammu, over the Amarnath land row, ruled roost. Unfortunately, it is shocking that our governments fail time after time and that even their so called corrective measures are deeply flawed. There is no competent minister to ensure good governance. It is even more shocking that politicians have not stopped catering to vote bank politics and are themselves orchestrating divisive politics.

What happened to the concept of the right person for the job irrespective of caste, religion or gender? Has the Congress forgotten, or maybe not even realized, that the Indian population does not care for divisiveness or our gender/caste/religious differences? And the greatest proof of that is that they voted a party to power that had a foreigner at the helm.
It is shocking that the ruling government will not only keep dabbling in divisive politics but will not even save us from the horrific fall out of it. The Shiv Sena and MNS claimed that north Indians are a menace to Mumbai but it is only them that have held the city to ransom.

It is only their political groups that have repeatedly over months and years vandalized the city, thrashed cab drivers, burnt hundreds of buses, hit and beat innocents on the street, brought the economic hub of India continually to a stand still with forced Bandhs and cost the tax payers thousands of crores in damages and loss of revenue. For years despite our cries for help, politicians did nothing about it and pretty much looked the other way.
It is shocking that despite Mumbai being the economic hub of the country and putting out over 40 percent of the country’s taxes that the city still lacks security and infrastructure.

It is shocking that 50 odd years post independence that as a nation we still lack infrastructure, accountability, transparency and a solid game plan to rid corruption, poverty and terror on our streets.

Our politicians take so much care about their personal security (paid for by our tax money) and care so little about the citizens of the country that elected them.
Despite mammoth budgets for our Defence fund we have ineffective metal detectors to protect the common man, ineffective bullet proof vests to protect our brave forces, and the use of NSG Commandos only for politicians.

It is taken so long for national outrage. However, better late than never and it is time to demand action.

It is time to listen to the people and care for them, because a democracy is ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’.

As observed the 2008 Assembly elections seems historic one because of the unexpected large turnout of voters but the terror attacks in Mumbai have overshadowed them. The Mumbai terror attacks have clouded the 2008 polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Surprising many, more than 60 percent voter turnout has been recorded in the first three of the seven phases of the election despite Muslim separatists' boycott call. The global attention turned toward the terror attacks. The elections, which attracted long queues at the places considered out of reach of the voters or where the electorates were seen as hostages to the will of the separatists and militants, were relegated to obscurity. Though there seems is a sea change in the attitude and approach of the people during the ongoing elections and this election could have made its mark in the world newspapers and media, the way people turned out to vote, voice their aspirations for development, road connectivity, bridges, water and electricity. Now it would be the responsibility of politicians to respect the sentiments and aspirations of people and they should focus on development, upliftment of the society and at the most ensure security of the citizens.

See the symbol of the Congress is the hand. The same hand can either caress and comfort the population or slap them repeatedly. The choice is theirs.

Politicians are accountable for what they do and also what they don’t do. Inaction is also action. If politicians don’t stop catering to vote bank politics and show the public visible change in their decades old strategies very soon, I am sure the public will make sure they change these leaders…. Their time to effect change starts…. now!