Tag: kashmir

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Enough said

With Ved Bhasin’s passing…

We are slowly losing the few voices of dissent in a changing world. Ved Bhasin’s was one of those voices.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

When I first heard the news of the passing away of the Jammu-based veteran journalist Ved Bhasin this week, my first reaction was: ‘We have lost a brave man who spoke and wrote so fearlessly…’ Ved will always be remembered for writing with conviction and passion.

He was a soft-spoken man with a core of steel. You could be fooled by the mild serenity on his face, but he could surprise you with his sharp views. Never one to mince his words or dilute details of horrifying tragedies in the Kashmir region, he continued to be fearless in his writing to his last days.

I met him five times in my life, and every time he impressed with his bold insights. I once asked him, “Don’t you fear the backlash that your words can cause? The State machinery does not let anyone get away easily.” He just shook his head and said, “Right from my teenaged days, I never gave up a cause that affected people. I have already detailed the struggles and threats I have faced till date. I have my wife to thank for standing by me all these years – not once did she hold me back from exposing the truths about political corruption.”

Ved was one of the on-ground journalists who was an integral part of the changing landscape of Kashmir. As the region changed and became more vulnerable to attacks and militancy, Ved’s writings became fiercer, more incisive. He was always rooted in the Kashmir soil and very close to its people. For a person who had seen it all in the region, I often urged him to write his autobiography. Such a book, I explained, would trace the development of Kashmir and how the State machinery had always overlooked the upliftment of its masses. He would only smile and say, “Maybe someday I will.”

I wish he had. His autobiography would certainly be an extraordinary work, backed by extraordinary reportage rooted in a place of terrible beauty.

(Picture courtesy www.risingkashmir.com)

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Enough said

Nothing’s changed in Kashmir

Where is all the money from Government packages going? There seems to be no change on the ground in Kashmir.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

I visited the Kashmir Valley last fortnight, my first visit since the terrible floods of 2014 and the PDP-BJP tie up in the State. I was curious to see what changes were underway in the State; after all, a lot of Government money is being poured into the area by way of ‘packages’ worth crores of rupees.

As expected, nothing has changed. There are no traces of any help being given. The roads are still run down and broken. The pavements are still dented, the bridges still damaged, the garbage still sitting in undisturbed piles. Amidst all of this, only one thing has changed – strays abound in this once-beautiful city. They were not there before.

There is little transparency or accountability in this conflict zone, and nobody dares question the political tie-up in the State. The PDP’s rationale when allying with the BJP was that the tie-up would help get finance to repair the damage of the flood. But it has more than a year, and the supposed packages have still not done their work. Why is this so?

I wonder if those announced packages have reached J&K, or are they still stuck in file jottings? Or has the money come in but the repair and restoration happening at a glacial pace – so glacial, that they show no signs anywhere? In the backdrop of all this is the people’s resentment about the PDP tying up with the Right wing BJP.

What has been introduced in J&K is the presence of more check points. The police and army seem in total control of the place and its people.

The worst hit are the State’s young, especially those who were born in the 1990s and who have never seen the face of peace. There are no recreational centres, playgrounds and reading rooms for the youth, and this lack of a venting space is making the youth very volatile. The youth are not impressed by speeches made in Delhi, they want basic dignity and freedom. If the PDP does not recognise this in time, it has a potential problem on its hands.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.digitaljournal.com. Image is a file picture used for representational purpose only)

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Enough said

Urdu for the soul

A recent study proves that reading Urdu and Urdu couplets could aid brain development, even help in staving off dementia.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Will our politics never settle down? Are we condemned to be in a constant state of flux? Going by what is happening in Delhi and Kashmir, one would have to agree that things are not going well for the country. One trend to emerge from all of this is the new ‘fashion’ of politicians going on retreats, either to introspect or to get back their health. So while Rahul Gandhi ‘retreated’ to introspect on the future of the Congress party, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal decided to get away from the capital to help settle his blood sugar levels. Every day we are entertained with pictures of him in the media, either practicing yoga or some natural remedy for his cough and cold, so at least it seems he is getting what he signed up for.

Arvind’s battle with diabetes will be a much simpler one, I’m afraid, than the battle of facing what is happening in the AAP at the moment. Brewing revolt, too many ambitious party members and a host of information leaks are plaguing the AAP. While Delhi watches in suspense about development unfolding every day, there is another battle brewing in Jammu and Kashmir, where opportunism recently joined hands and came to power. Till last autumn, I noticed that the saffron brigade was flourishing only in the Pampore region of the Kashmir Valley, but now it seems to be spreading everywhere. The BJP has not been able to grab any plum ministries in the State Government, but the RSS has now got an opportunity to spread its network. Don’t be surprised if, within a year, you hear of RSS shakhas and RSS-run schools spring up in the Kashmir Valley. The saffron will go much beyond Pampore from now on.

Moving on from these mind-boggling developments to some mind-clearing ones.

A recent study by the Lucknow-based Centre for Biomedical Researches (CBMR) reveals that Urdu can save our brains. Published in a recent edition of the international journal, ‘Neuroscience Letters’, the study states that reading the Urdu script and Urdu couplets helps in brain development. It is a detailed report that outlines how reading Urdu couplets and reciting them helps in controlling emotions, cope with stress and even delay dementia. It is also helpful for children with learning disabilities.

This means that reading Urdu could have large implications for one’s mental faculties. What’s more, Urdu couplets are steeped in passing and romance, so reading them is doubly enjoyable!

I would go as far as suggesting that Urdu be introduced as one of the prime languages in our primary schools, however, I am also aware of how this sentiment will be attacked with communal propaganda. But why see Urdu as a language of the Musalmaans of this country? Let State Governments introduce it in schools as a pilot project and let every child, irrespective of religion, learn to read it. There is nothing religious about Urdu, just as there is nothing religious about any language. Urdu derives many of its words and phrases from different languages such as Hindi, Braj, Persian, Sanskrit and Arabic. In that sense, it is a connecting language – and in today’s times, don’t we all need that connection with each other?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.theguardian.com)

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Enough said

Books are our only pleasure

In times as turbulent as the ones we live in, only the reading habit can divert us and provide much-needed hope.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

There is so much to write, so much to think about even as I write. I wasn’t even too sure about where to begin this column – should I write about the few positives in our country, or talk instead of the destruction in West Asia?

Then I thought – I’ll write on the positives. God alone knows we need to focus on the positives in these turbulent times.

This year is Mulshi Premchand’s 134th birth anniversary, and there is a series of events lined up to celebrate the life and times of this writer, here in the national capital. Even as I muse over Premchand’s contribution to the collective Indian psyche – he wrote endlessly on human relationships amidst an unchanging social fabric – I realise that the biggest source of happiness and positivity for us humans today, is reading.

New Delhi is witnessing at least one book launch a day, and this trend is sure to accelerate with the onset of September, when literary festivals will slowly begin. Recently, the capital was witness to the launch of two new books – a volume on Khushwant Singh to mark his 99th birthday (he would have turned 99 on August 15), and aptly titled 99. The book is a collection of his essays, stories and poems.

The other event was the launch of Srinager-based writer and academic Shahnaz Bashir, who has written his debut novel, The Half Mother. I spoke to the author (in pic on right) Shahnaz Bashirabout the book and its title, and he said, “The story grew up within me. I had always been thinking of writing a small non-fiction piece on disappearances in Kashmir. I thought that every loss in Kashmir was getting lost in the general database of facts and statistics.

“The loss was, and still is, becoming dangerously normal, that, for example, if people do not die, the way they die here, it will be abnormal. That if you write the stories of the disappeared as small newspaper reports maybe a hundred times over, it would look like a normal daily report, and then this normality enters into our psyches. It seems somewhat normal that this person disappeared, that that mother is looking for her son, that a wife is going to be remarried because her husband and couldn’t be found, so forth.

“And then this is my writerly politics to expand the fact as much as possible because I think that so much that is happening to us is not only unheeded but also internationally ignored. We have only statistics, you know, so I believe it is really important to expand it as much as possible and that expansion can largely be done with fiction. In fiction, you would not only write about what actually happened but you would be able to write it much better, that how it happened that happened. And that is how The Half Mother happened,” he explained.

Then there was the launch of Kunwar Natwar Singh’s book, One Life Is Not Enough. The autobiography was bound to create a stir. Given Singh’s background as India’s former External Affairs Minister and a diplomat who had interacted with the Who’s Who in international politics, he obviously has had a long career in Indian politics. He was part of the Congress Government till the Volcker Controversy erupted in 2005, which led to his resignation from the Manmohan Singh cabinet. The man’s writing lineage is also an interesting one – over the years, he has authored several books, such as The Legacy of Nehru, Tales From Modern India, Yours Sincerely, My China Diary, and The Magnificent Maharaja, among others.

At the launch, Natwar spoke at length about the significance of the Congress party in a secular democracy as ours. I am still pondering over this view that there is no alternative to the Congress party for this country.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy indiatoday.intoday.in, Shahnaz Bashir)

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Kharcha paani

Bollywood comes home as rupee falls

A report on impact of sliding rupee on overseas shooting reveals that producers are opting to shoot within the country.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

That the sliding Indian rupee is causing problems to everybody is apparent, but it has taken its toll also on one of the country’s biggest industries – the film industry.

Used to shooting in exotic locales, Bollywood film producers are now wary of fixing schedules that need an overseas shooting spell. This finding comes from a report by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India), which reveals that producers are now preferring to shoot within India or in less expensive foreign destinations.

“Bollywood films’ influx towards exotic foreign location has registered a significant decline to the extent of 30 to 35 per cent in the last four months due to the falling Rupee,” says the paper on ‘Weak rupee dampens spirits of Bollywood film-makers in foreign locations’. DS Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM said, “Due to a fall in the Rupee, Indian filmmakers are not just restricting their shooting outside, but are opting  [to shoot] within the country rather than going abroad. There will be more cut-down in the number of films shot abroad, especially medium or low budget films, and producers will opt for less expensive destinations in South East Asia, Middle East and South Africa.”

shooting in indiaIt turns out that spending by Indian producers to overseas locations has fallen sharply in recent months, as they are looking for cheaper options, or places offering better incentives within India. So, the influx of Indian filmmakers towards foreign locations has decreased by over 30 per cent.

“For film-makers, the cost turns out to be much higher from foreign countries mainly from USA, UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Ireland and Denmark in Europe.  Indian film producers are also reducing the number of days [of shooting] and looking to offset those costs by opting for shorter duration stays and looking at budget accommodation options,” Rawat said.

There are certainly some changes in travel patterns as a majority of filmmakers are opting for non-dollar destinations such as Sri Lanka, Dubai, Bali and Phuket, or sticking to domestic destinations such as Kashmir, Kerala and Goa, adds the ASSOCHAM paper. The paper further points out that the demand for destinations like Kashmir, Kerala, Ladakh, Goa, Himachal and Sikkim have seen a spurt in Indian filmmakers.

Over the past four months, travel costs and accommodation have gone up by around 25 to 30 per cent. The falling Rupee is definitely resulting in a slowdown in foreign location and spending abroad amongst Indian filmmakers.

(Pictures courtesy www.ifilmindia.com, www.voanews.com)

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Overdose

The killing of a poster boy

Jatin Sharma wonders if Afzal Guru was really a terrorist, or yet another name in a disenchanted Valley. Or both.

Before reading this column, I have a request to make of you.

I request all of you to junk all the images that you have in mind, shed all your preconceived notions that have been served by the media, remove all the biases and the prejudices that you may have developed over the years.

Be untainted by the ‘truths’ of the world, unmoved by the emotions that the media has garnered and for the next few minutes, think that you are in an ideal world.

Now that your mind is sufficiently cleared of your personal feelings, read on.

Centuries ago, the world was divided into kingdoms. India was a land that was akin to a sone ki chidiya. See, already I can feel the pride that you are feeling right now. Your chin went up by an angle of 10 degrees, and you just inflated your chest. But the truth is, the time when India was the fabled golden sparrow, its people were still ailing. The people had no food and were constantly at the mercy of their kings. While the kings fought wars once in a while to double or safeguard their riches, the common man fought every day for food and other necessities. Whenever the king was challenged by a common man, either that man was sent to confinement or was silenced forever. His crime? Disrespecting the king.

Centuries later, the world is divided into countries. India is a land known as an ‘upcoming superpower’. There, I can feel the pride that you are feeling right now. Your chin went up by an angle of 10 degrees, and you just inflated your chest. But the truth is, that while India is an upcoming superpower, its people are still ailing. The people don’t have the freedom to express themselves (writing a blog is not something major, and even this column is not that big a change) and live a life where they are not at the mercy of the police, the bureaucrats and the politicians. While the politicians are letting us protest over lesser issues (like rape, as no politician is involved in that high-profile case; Lokpal, as they know a Bill will only be passed with their consent or a diesel-petrol hike, because they know they will decrease 50 paise and all will be well); the common man is fighting every day to be heard. Whenever the government is challenged by a common man, either that man is tagged as a threat to the nation, or a terrorist, or a Maowadi.

There are hundreds and thousands of stories of oppression on the people, by the people in power. We fear FIRs, as we fear that we would be tortured instead of the culprit. We fear going to politicians as they will tell us to shell out money or leave the matter like it is. We fear questioning bureaucrats because they know that they can’t be replaced till the time that they decide to retire. We fear the election process because we are afraid of the gallery of dacoits we have to choose from.

Are we really free then? Are we really an awesome country, if our ‘safe’ blogs will just be discussed and dismissed? Are we a free country if till the time I follow what those in power want me to follow, I am safe? Are we a free country if the moment someone questions things, we term them terrorists?

Afzal Guru was hanged the same way that Kasab was. But the difference is that Afzal Guru was an educated man, an MBBS student who had surrendered to the BSF.

My point is: no amount of money can lure you to be a traitor unless there is a long pending issue that the Government has ignored for long. No amount of money can force you to insult your motherland unless the kings of democracy let people come out and hear them out without bias. Look at Kashmir – more than anything else, the issue is now an ego tussle between two nations, with the Kashmiris suffering in between. They are hostile, yes, but so is the Government. Right now the people of Kashmir want to protest in the wake of Afzal Guru’s hanging. But the Government has imposed a curfew there, and jammed mobile networks, apart from cutting Internet lines.

When was the last time that people actually responsible for several crimes were brought to book? When two Indian soldiers were beheaded on the border, what did our powerful country do to those who beheaded them? Did our upcoming superpower nation book them in any manner? Forget anything else, were those involved in the beheadings even caught?

A Kashmiri all-girl rock band had to give up music because some idiot issued a fatwa in their name. The government failed then, too. The rape ordinance was passed, but one recommendation was not taken into consideration: that politicians who are rapists should not be able to contest elections. This recommendation was scrapped by the Government, while the rest were approved.

If you think about it, Afzal Guru the terrorist could have been Dr Afzal Guru, and he could have treated several patients in the Valley, but he didn’t. Why not? We should know the entire story before passing a judgement. We should acknowledge that Kashmir is burning every day. Right now they are going through a ban on Internet and mobile services, and not for the first time. How would you feel if that happened to you? To be reminded constantly that you are under somebody’s control, that you would be silenced if you don’t say what is not favourable to the one who controls you?

Terrorism and internal terrorism are two different issues. While terrorism can be tackled with power and force and killings, internal terrorism has to be tackled with love and tact. We rejoice Afzal Guru’s hanging because he was the poster boy for the Parliament attacks. But are we sure that no more Afzal Gurus will erupt from the Valley in the future? Did we really kill an attacker, or did we just kill another name?

I’m sure you’re a bit confused. But your confusion tells me that you are starting to think, and that is most important.

Don’t let the media or a few Facebook statuses and emotionally-charged tweets turn your mind. That is what the people in power want. They want you to be just a tool, a vote that is remembered only once in five years. Think and you start living every day.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who says he doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else.

(Picture courtesy indiatvnews.com)

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