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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Kashmir: the alternative news roundup

By Murtaza Shibli
February 24, 2018

Since the 1990s, there has been far too much news about violence, death and destruction in Jammu and Kashmir. For the last two years, such news has, once again, become so common that it fails to shock us anymore.

While such news is quite depressing and we must not lose sight of the reality that it depicts, life in Kashmir goes on. This week, I have selected some news clippings from various Srinagar-based newspapers (both Urdu and English) to illustrate other aspects of life in the valley. I have edited these items to excise redundancy and ensure brevity.

‘Kashmiri students leave for Andaman and Nicobar’: Under a special student exchange programme of the education department of Jammu and Kashmir, 40 students have left for a trip to Andaman and Nicobar. Kashmir Education Director Dr Ittu said that such trips allow for a mutual exchange among students from various parts of the country and familiarises them with different cultures.

Students will visit Chennai to get acquainted with various teaching practices. They will also visit the museum associated with former Indian president, A P J Abdul Kalam. Education Secretary Farooq Ahmed Shah, while felicitating the students, said that the education department will continue to sponsor such programmes and is sending one more group of students through the exchange very soon. He revealed that the government plans to send 10,000 students on various trips in 2018. He also thanked the central [Indian] ministry of human resources for supporting the programme. (Srinagar Times, Tuesday, February 20, 2018)

‘Two students from Khansahib Budgam make remote-controlled car, wait for commendation from the government’: Two students – one from class 10 and another from class 11 – from Khansahib Budgam have invented a car that works on a remote control, winning them laurels from the community. The students claimed that if they are provided financial support by the government, they can bring this ‘modern car’ to the market. According to the news agency APA, Sheikh Azeeb and Rafeel Shah, the inventors, have claimed that their car can travel several kilometres and is faster than many cars in the market. (Srinagar Times, Tuesday, February 20, 2018)

‘Tangmarg residents worried about frequent power cuts’: Residents of Ferozpora, Qazipora, Katapora Soun and Drang areas of Tangmarg have complained that the electricity department has been subjecting them to endless miseries due to unscheduled power cuts. “They have created a strange schedule that they interpret according to their own convenience,” a resident alleged. A group of residents led by Shahnawaz Ahmed Wani, the president of the Trader’s Association Tangmarg, presented a memorandum to the tehsil authorities to reconcile the electricity supply schedule. They gave the government a week to address the situation and threatened that the people of the area will return their electricity meters to the government and take to the streets in case of official inaction. (Daily Kashmir Uzma, February 20, 2018)

‘Young painters’ camp concludes at Gulshan Ground’: The three-day painters’ camp organised during an Indian Red Cross Mela concluded at Gulshan Ground, Police Lines, Gandhi Nagar in Jammu. The event was inaugurated by NN Vohra, the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and Usha Vohra, the first lady of Jammu and Kashmir State on February 17. The painters created artwork on different themes such as nature, the environment and the empowerment of women by using acrylic colours and crayons. The camp was attended by dignitaries, artists and art lovers. (Rising Kashmir, February 20, 2018)

‘Fair price shop dealers stage protest, demand permanent jobs in Pulwama’: Hundreds of fair price shop dealers staged a protest in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district to demand jobs in the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department as regular employees. The protesting dealers stayed away from the ongoing training on point of sale (POS) machines, which the department is introducing to collect sales-related data.

“We will not adopt the POS machines and will not take part in the training unless our demands are accepted,” said Shakeel Ahmad Mir, the district president of the Fair Price Shop Dealers Association, Pulwama. There are around 3,502 people who run fair price shops in the state on a monthly commission. “We get five percent of the total sales as our wages,” said Sheikh, adding that they earn Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 per month. “It becomes difficult for us to manage household affairs with this meagre amount,” he said. (Rising Kashmir, February 20, 2018)

‘Locals of Kunzar aghast over dumping garbage in school vicinity’: The locals of Kunzar and teachers of the Government Girls High School are up in arms against the municipal committee for dumping garbage in the vicinity of the school, a practice that not only attracts dogs but also is a source of diseases. The locals claim to have made several efforts to stop this practice. But they have failed to elicit any response from the authorities. The garbage is dumped on the banks of a local stream that is the main source of drinking water for more than 80 villages. The matter has been highlighted countless times in the media. But no measures have been taken by the concerned authorities to resolve it. (the Kashmir Images, February 20, 2018)

‘Halal or not? Hoteliers’ body admits “doubt over slaughter”’: Accepting the uncertainty over the slaughter of chicken imported to the valley, the region’s hoteliers’ body claims to have asked all its constituents to refrain from using the dressed chicken meat in their kitchens. The Department of Animal Husbandry had recently declared the dressed chicken meat imported into the valley as “unhygienic and not halal”. However, Aijaz Ahmad Kaloo, a Srinagar-based trader associated with the business, termed these reports as a conspiracy to bring their trade down. He said: “The chicken is being sold by Muslims only. Many of them have performed Haj or Umrah. I myself visited them to check whether it was halal or not”. (The Kashmir Monitor, February 20, 2018)

Twitter: @murtaza_shibli