Street Quarrel

 http://youtu.be/OF5nfT4g-PQ

I can’t help my basic character to settle the issue between the two warring groups involved in a street quarrel. Mid seventies, in Zaindar Mohalla I received a slap from Jumea Guer when I snatched butcher’s sword from both Gulea puej and Jumea Guer in turn and saved them from committing a murder for a trifle issue. Both till date express their gratitude for my timely indulgence.

Haji Ali Mohammad Dar is in the habit of lending money and other services at odd hours to needy people without any personal interest or any expectation in return. In the instant case the borrower failed to liquidate the loan of Rs.20,000 for the last one year. He often escapes with one excuse or the other. Haji Ali Mohammad Dar did not mind for repayment. Last month, the borrower said that he would pay him soon after encashment of a cheque in his name. Haji Ali Mohammad cordially told him not to mind. He may pay it at his convenience. Both usually come across each other on the roadside.

2^nd July, 2014, Haji Ali Mohammad Dar wished Aslam  Alikum to the borrower. In response, he said: “Don’t you have eyes. Don’t you know there was hartal for many days…..”

Haji Ali Mohammad Dar could not help to lose his cool. On my intervention, he showed me his cheque book and said that he keeps the cheque book always in his pocket to meet the need of the needy. He has announced his help from one thousand to one lac in his surrounding area. At odd hours to meet any emergency his conveyance becomes a public property. Many around at the gathering of the street quarrel substantiated the statement of Haji Sahab. He deserved and I saluted him

"Hia Gulia -higha Gulia alaan ma koruekh"

http://youtu.be/Lrb4pgPC68w

January 1990, the terrorists assured achievement of the end results within a fortnight. Rehmane from Patshahi Bagh spent the sleepless night and early next morning he called Gulla across the road: "Hia Gulia -higha Gulia alaan ma koruekh". Since 1990,though their achievement towards the end they assured is zero , but they definitely took a long leap from rags to riches. Now it is the turn of the general masses who suffered brunt of militancy to ask for the accountability from the multimillionaires of the last two decades. The flood ravaged sufferers suffered heavy losses. Reliable sources said that estimate of their losses can easily assessed from the income tax returns they submitted for the last couple of years. Unfortunately the calamity does not differentiate between those who looted our houses and the one who refused to accept our leftover property for even peanuts. The reason, I believe is that the witness to the crime is as criminal if he prefers to be a mute spectator as the criminal himself. In support of my conviction, Haji Sahab quoted an Aayat from the holy Book Koran. I pray God/Allah/Bagwan to pardon us for all the sins we may have committed.

 Bríjû dàss te Girdass chhú vanàn låsív tû båsív.

Regards from,

B K Dass

A wanderer in exile at 75

From Jammu a temporary abode at Kunjwani.

.9419240029                                                                                                                            “Mezareabal tanie chi hazar tufaan, Vujarea gachi gachi kabaer ti ravem”-(Dolwal) 

 Please visit my blog at  bkdass.blogspot.ae                                                                                    

Mass Movement for restoration of the holy relic

http://youtu.be/NJSVTHCyoYc

In the chill cold of !963-64, Moie Muqadus, the holy relic of Prophet Mohammad disappeared from the chest, under the safe custody  of the keepers at Dargah Haratbal, Srinagar, Kashmir in early Dec 1963 and was restored in 1964.

 The News spread like a wild fire. Sea of believers came on the road. Community ‘langar’ (food outlets) punctuated the city roads instantaneously. The crowd snowballed by each passing moment. Regular traffic came to an abrupt halt. People from far and distant villages footed the distance to join the mammoth protest rallies in the city.

Shamusdin M.A., LL B unknown person said to be a petition writer with little political know how and political maneuvering had taken over as Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir from the outgoing PM Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad. He was a National Conference worker and took part actively in anti Maharaja politics . He was jailed in 1946-47 and thus qualified to be a freedom fighter.

Kashmiri Pundits and Kashmiri Sikhs, knowing little about the relic, joined the rallies with their respective flags in hand..All would assemble at Lal Chowk with their respective flags tossing against the chill cold of 'Chillie Kalan'.

Religious slogan of each community would end with a common slogan "Moie Muqadus ko vapus karo; vapus kero ai zalimo-moieay muqadus pak ko"

The Pundits with Bagva janda in hand:"Jai kara hur hur Mahadev; jo bolay so abhie-Hindu Dharm ki jai; Sanatan Dharm ki jai; Bharat Mata ki jai;"Moie Muqadus ko vapus karo; vapus kero ai zalimo-moieay muqadus pak ko"

The Sikhs with yellow colour Nishan Sahab flag:"Bolay so Nihal-Sat Sriakal; Vahe Guru.ji ka Khalsa-Vai Guru ji ka Fatah;"Moie Muqadus ko vapus karo; vapus kero ai zalimo-moieay muqadus pak ko"

The Muslim with green colour Islamic flag in hand: " Naarai Tuqbeer-Allah O Akbar;Nalie Risala-ya Rasul Allah...."Moie Muqadus ko vapus karo; vapus kero ai zalimo-moieay muqadus pak ko".

The Administration was taken over by the Army. Army Officers were astonished to see people from all the communities with one common mission- Restoration of Moie Muqadus.

One day the agitators decided to see the PM Shamusuldin at his official residence beside the Church.  L D Thakur the then IGP in fluent Kashmiri appealed the masses that misplacement of the holy relic was equally a matter of anguish for him. He was one among the grieved masses in grief. The only difference was that he was in uniform and others in chivies. If allowed he too be allowed to join the protest rallies. He further advised them not to throw kangri or any stone on an armed soldier.

People raised the slogan L D Thakur zindabad and carried him on their shoulder.

It was the wisest step taken by Pundits and Sikhs, failing which both could be target of the wrath.

1990, had the militants from the majority community not targeted the Pundits,  the minority community had no alternative but to show their participation out of fear and to escape the horrors of militancy. Batav Bagar .....reversed the slang practically  towards them and they paid a heavy price for their blunder.

HIG stands for higher income Group

Rich and poor is a relative term. I believe rich is the one who despite modest living is in a position to lend articles of domestic use to those who are in wanting of the same. My maternal grandmother would often say ‘Bud dedh ghaie so yemisunz bud lokhra kheie’ ( Rich is the woman whose big amount of cooked rice others may eat)

Possession of three things in the family had given us the feel that we were from the HIG, a privileged class.  One of the three, I already mentioned was ‘My bicycle’. The other two were one pair of grinder called ‘Gretinie’ and half kg weight iron that had the capacity for 250gm of charcoal to work.

Because of its smaller size, the grinder looked very cute and assumed the female name ‘Gretinie’. It had maintained its weight like a damsel to around 5 kg. Heavier and bigger ones are called ‘Grutea’ and it is masculine in gender.

The Gretinie offered her free services to all our neighbours around at Zaindar Mohalla. Most of the beneficiaries were from nearby pujie Mohalla. Zoonae, Fatea, Rajea, Zohera and many others used to come to grind roasted broken rice. At times, they would carry the Gretinie to their home. For its light weight, it would often visit different household in the mohalla. While making mention of Zoonea, Fatea, Rajea and others, I remembered their mothers Aez Dedh, Rahat Dedh, Dolaut. They were always with a smile on their faces. Their laughter used to be thunderous. They were past masters in cutting jokes that would blush others. Most of the beneficiaries of the Gretinie were Muslims by faith.

The half Kg. wt iron was palm sized with broken sieve assembled together by binding wire. Its area of operation was within the radius of 1.25 kms. Main beneficiaries of the iron were from my community. It used to make a complete round of the area from the epicenter M Dass Swinging palace that used to swing whenever any cyclist would pass  by to Kathihal, Watalkhod, Dadikadal etc. From the first borrower, it would go ahead to the next and from the next to the other in the queue.   I believe its area of operation was unilateral in upstream direction. I don’t recall any in the downstream direction.

One of the two maternal uncles was relatively richer. Though he did possess neither bicycle nor Gretinie not to speak of the iron to press clothes, but the family possessed one carom board for the only son, one glittering kerosene stove and one heavily mended truck tube not worthy to fit even the spare wheel.

We often used to borrow the mended tube and enjoy floating ride from Kathleshwar ghat to Purshyar ghat with an air of a relation of the one from the privileged class. Maternal aunt was nice enough to lend us her kerosene stove to be special on a school excursion. She believed in Dr. Manmohan Singh policy of first come first served. Among all her relations from our school, it was the first aspirant who was obliged. For her benevolence I salute my Mami and pray her happy and an excellent life style free from any ailment and anxiety. I pray peaceful life to her.

Brijdass te Girdass chu   venan lasiv te basiv

Sadh Bhawna And Flag March

Quote:" The armed insurgency in Kashmir is gradually changing course to thrive on more homegrown militants, rather than foreign fighters, with social media as a rampant and virtually unchecked tool, an internal assessment of the army has said.

The 14-page analysis -- which HT has viewed -- also raises concerns that glaring policy failures now threaten to undo precious gains made against terror outfits in Kashmir.

Unquote: The 14-page analysis is only a facade. It is the brain child of those who advocate thinning of the Down Town Area by allotment of residential plots in favour of the stone pelters and job for them to eradicate the menace. I heard Bilal Khan (Name changed), Senior Superintendent of Police making fun of the proposal when he to his colleague on the other end said: “We ought to send our children for stone pelting rather than to impart quality education to them. As stone pelters job and plot worth lacs were assured to them when with Degree in hand their future was uncertain.
In the initial years of militancy one young Army Major mocked at his relation at Jammu for the scare of militancy. He boasted and claimed that Army is capable of restoring normalcy within days and not months or years. After a few months active combat in the valley, the two met again at Jammu. The Officer in uniform said: “You were right to predict that the menace is surmountable. The militant caught alive in the crack down or in the encounter is handed over to local police for legal action after preliminary investigation. Next time again the same militant is netted in the same action and in the same fashion handed to local police. The hide and seek continues unabated. The menace will never come to an end. Vested interests will never let it be over. It is a goldmine for many.”
Sadhbawna is no solution. Solution lies in ensuring protection to those who are loyal to India and to those who don’t favour militancy.
As rightly said by the late Zia-Ul-Haq, we all Kashmiris are the progeny of Brahmans. Brahman militant will always prove a round peg in a square hole. We still scare our children by saying: “Khokhea ha oie”. One name in Kashmir is enough to scare lacs. On the day Z A Bhutoo was assassinated, Hassea Pachie and one burqa clad lady chased lacs of people at Chotta Bazar Crossing. The two managed the show that the then D C Srinagar, Abdul Hamid Khan and SSP Kirmani along with a contingent of police force failed to do. Engaging Indian Army for the purpose that could be managed by police action or by counter insurgents or renegades is a wrong policy. Flag March is conducted to make show of the force. It becomes meaningless when it becomes a daily routine and substitutes or replaces Head constable Balji.
During the days of Sadiq regime, unprecedented fires were attributed to Jansangh. Some believed Jansangh was a ferocious bird that sucked blood of its prey. One farmer Subhana(Name changed) in Badgam rushed to his field to caution his wife to get indoor, lest like Ruhuet (name changed) she too fell prey to the ferocious bird Jansangh. He told her as an eyewitness that Jansangh came flying, placed its beak on Rahtees neck and sucked her blood to let her die.
S K Dhar dressed in overcoat and a hat with feather in it was on wheel. He stopped his ambassador car on the Humhama road to inspect the land we had purchased. The moment me, I K Raina and S K Dhar set foot on the road, the village girls collecting herbs left their baskets and sickles behind and ran crying :”Mojaie Jangsangh hi aave”

Kehrie Planners of Naya Kashmir & not Kehrie Khodie( Planners' not Khuda's disaster)

1960, Prof Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, professor of Economics delivered lecture on Malthusian theory on population. It says that the population is either controlled by preventive checks or by positive checks. Preventive checks, he explained are caesareans, vasectomy, etcetera.

Positive checks are when nature in absence of preventive checks intervenes and balances the population. He explained that when population overtakes the resources to sustain it, a big chunk of population is washed away by floods, epidemics, wars, earthquakes, fires, famines, droughts…..that we name as natural calamity. 

Before he concluded his lecture, he said “Sumjay”. Unlike the pin drop silence in his class, I responded “Sumjnay walay sumuj ghuiay-na sumjay woh anadee hai”. It broke all the records and the whole class including the Professor burst into thunderous laughter.

On the birth of his fifth child, I suggested Prof. Ali Bhat for planning his family. He said: “Allah talla chue  kunie tulkis kemis tie rizikh vatnavan”.

I said: “Your child is not an insect that needs only food. Your child is a human being. He needs proper care, education, health care and above all to be groomed as a civilized citizen full of virtues.”

1990 turmoil is a positive check. In view of Malthusian theory, I don’t accuse my Muslim brethren for my exodus. People of highest values looked for the evacuated houses. Stationery shops, vegetable sellers, cloth merchants, butchers were seen selling looted gas cylinders. From barber to beggar, labourer to laundry owner, government officials to business men turned to the profession of property dealers. Parents of many children supplied recruits for arms training across the border. Parents of the few preferred migration to safer zones. Parents of many contributed to the brigade of stone pelters.  Parents of the few controlled their children and let them not get astray or become fodder to the bullet in exchange of the pelted stone.

'Toleavoer'

Likewise, I believe it is sin to say September 2014 ferocious flood was ‘Kehrie Khodaie’ when it is the proof of Malthusian Theory of population and positive check. Until late fifties, Jawahar Nagar was farmland, Doodh Ganga, now shopping complex used to run water mill, Nalie Maer was a water channel with tiled basin, now a road to bear the extra ordinary load of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Bemina Colony, Degree College Bemina was a water body until late sixties. Balgarden and Narsing  Garh were farm lands. Vegetable growers used to irrigate their fields by ‘Toleavoer’ and draw water from the then Doodh Ganga, now a shopping complex.

Drabiyar Temple after vandalized by militants

Rugh Nath Mandir Srinagar in ruins after vandalized by terrorists

M Dass House in ruins after it was set ablaze by terrorists twice in Aug.1990. Window and door frames looted by locals

This devastation due to ferocious flood is not kehrie Khodie, but kehrie planners of Naya Kashmir

This device is called 'Tolevoer' in Kashmiri language. It is the indigenous method to irrigate ones vegetable farm. One beam in horizontal position is hinged over the pole in vertical position. Appreciable weight is tied to the rear end of the beam in the horizontal position. Arm of portion of the beam towards the weight tied to it is shorter than the portion towards the source of water. Round bottom bucket (known as duel) is tied with a rope to the water source end. The farmer pulls down the rope until the duel is filled with water. Then with little upward force he pulls up the bucket. The weight tied on the other end and his application of minimum upward force draws the bucket to the surface of the land. The round bottom 'duel' tilts easily to irrigate the land. Without reading Archimedes three principles of lever, buoyancy, Statics and Dynamics in any professional College, they do practicals without the supervision of the late Prof. J N Dhar or Prof. T N Kilam. Cheers for their innovative scientific methods.

onal College, they do practicals without the supervision of the late Prof. J N Dhar or Prof. T N Kilam. Cheers for their innovative scientific methods.

All these floating houses vanished. The inmates occupied the evacuated houses of Kashmiri Pundits in exile.

Excursion in a doonga is dream of the past 

Water bodies once navigated have become roads

This was their floating house

Anchar Lake now residential colony

Beware! No Hanky-Panky with Nature.

Until late sixties it was the Anchar Lake

Nature is not to be blamed for the ferocious floods of September, 2014, that caused havoc. Let us see how bad we have been with the nature. To what an extent the nature is expected to tolerate our fiddling? For their commission from the so called ‘developmental works’, natural water ways and water resources have been buried and converted into roads and residential colonies. Nalie Maer, though changed into a road continues to have its name as Nalie Maer Road. Anchar Lake has been converted into a residential colony with the construction of inroads in the lake. Taj Hotel mounted on the Zabarvan Hill, overlooking the Dal Lake mocks at its saviour, the LAWDA (Lake and Water Ways Development Authority). The Santour Hotel is the first encroachment on the Dal Lake made by the Government that had to protect it against any encroachment. In my childhood, it was Bode Dal and Lokuet Dal. Now in my youth at 75, it is reduced and squeezed beyond recognition to a big pond. 1996, Farooq Abdullah had announced restoration of all ponds at Jammu that were functional until 1947 and did conserve rain water. All nallahs of Jammu and Kashmir have been usurped by colonizers. The forest land of monkeys and other forest animals has been encroached. If they come down to their own habitat, we raise hue and cry, little realizing that we encroached upon their land. Late forties, I used to accompany my grandmother for a dip into the Doodh Ganga on auspicious occasions of 'Sumree Mavus'. Today Doodh Ganga has been converted into a Shopping Complex by the authors of Naya Kashmir. Height of mockery is the existence of the signboard at Karan Nagar Crossing pointing towards Doodh Ganga Road.

Distributary  from the river Sindh that once supplemented  the Anchar lake

Until 1990, the year of my exodus, a big chunk of the population of the city used to live in their ‘Bahatch’ and ‘Doongas’ (Big floating boats housing the family and the goods they used to deal with) on either side of the river Jhelum and the river Keteakoel, Rainawari Waterways, besides, Chunthi koel and other rivers. Surprisingly, all ‘Bahatch’ and ‘Doongas’ vanished immediately after the start of the 1990 Tributturmoil in the valley. Boatmen that lived in ‘Bahatch’ and ‘Doongas’ occupied the evacuated houses on either bank of these rivers. The house of Pundit Amar Nath Mattoo, the then Headmaster Biscoe School at Zaindar Mohalla is under the ownership of Mohammad Ramzan, who used to anchor his ‘bahatch’ under the verandah beside the lawn of the house. The house of Pundit Amar Nath Saproo, the then Chief Manager SRTC at Zaindar Mohalla changed its ownership to Azim who used to ferry passengers across the river. The house of Tulsi Nath Misri the then Head Master Biscoe School, once abode of educationists turned into the infamous haunted brothel that once involved ministers, and bureaucrats.

Once Anchar Lake

At times of floods, this population that lived on water would never be liability of rescuers. They would provide ‘Khoech’ to the administration to rescue marooned ones. Haji Mohammad Jamal Haroon used to live in his ‘bahatch’ in my neighbourhood. He shifted to Mahjur Nagar flood prone area. To day to ferry him from the second storey of his house, boat from Mahrashtra had to be requisitioned.

Once Anchar Lake

30^th August, 2014 on Amar Singh College Alumni meet, Professor Mohammad Shafi Pundit IAS, retired Chief Secretary suggested to the Principal that Master Plan for the college should be prepared before rising of buildings here and there to cause eyesore. Professor Pundit’s sarcastic smile to the response that a team of Engineers formulated the master plan revealed volumes. Construction of Girls Hostel beside the compound wall of the Government Polytechnic Jammu in the premises of MAM College is one more catastrophe of the planners.

Department of Environment and Pollution Control Board along with Jehlum valley Medical college (submerged under flood waters of 2^nd September, 2014) stand on the land at Bemina that was water body until 1965.

The fourth Tawi Bridge at Bagwati Nagar Jammu designed by a team of engineers from IIT Delhi was reportedly redesigned to accommodate allotment of land in the name of Ministers and Bureacrats got washed away in the September 2014 flash flood.

Let all vow not to do any hanky-panky with the Nature hereafter.

Roads laid through the Anchar Lake is the Developmental work of our Government